Chances are, if you’re reading this and you know of Marsupilami, you know him from a short-lived Disney animated series from the early 1990s. What you may not realise that the character was created all the way back in 1952 by Belgian artist André Franquin. First published in the popular French comics magazine Spirou, he graduated not only to his own title but a wave of animated series, videogames, and merchandise. He predates Peyo’s Smurfs by six years.

In 2012 Marsupilami featured in a live-action/CGI hybrid film. Directed by Alain Chabat, it grossed almost 50 million euros in Europe, but did not emerge for Australian viewers until now. Thanks to Amazon Prime, fans of Francophone comics and animation can now experience HOUBA! On the Trail of the Marsupilami for themselves.

French TV journalist Dan Geraldo (Chabat) returns to the South American republic of Palombia, where he once reported on a violent civil war. He has come to interview the leader of the secretive Paya tribe, but instead finds himself lost between a race to find an elusive fountain of youth, satisfying an ancient prophecy, and the overthrow of a military general turned President. Weaving its way through it all, of course, is the fabled and elusive marsupilami – a sort of cross between a monkey and cat deep within the jungles of Palombia.

Chabat presents a family oriented comedy with a lot of energy and a wild, scattershot approach to its jokes and humour. Should a joke fail to land, it is soon followed by another that might work better. The approach certainly guarantees the film will be at least reasonably amusing for most viewers, but it also leads to a very messy storyline. Too many characters are doing too many things for the film to find a proper focus.

Chabat presents an appealing lead, as does Jamel Debbouze as local tourist guide and marsupilami obsessive Pablito. A highlight is Lambert Wilson as General Pochero, a tin-pot dictator with a penchant for Celine Dion. Not only is he funny throughout, he is the focus of the film’s best sequence. As for the marsupilami, it is pleasingly animated and used with a surprising amount of restraint. There are elements that chafe a little – it is hard not to side-eye how the film represents Palombia’s indigenous peoples – but the film as a whole seems so good-natured that it seems easy to forgive.

Among the variety of live-action adaptations of cartoons and comics, this is a lightweight but amiable diversion. With French cinema often sitting next to arthouse for Australian audiences and distributors, it is nice to see something so openly populist and entertaining to watch.