FEW movies, let alone animated ones, can claim to offer a history lesson as well as be entertaining. Mr Peabody & Sherman, a father and son story, does just that as it time travels to the French Revolution, Troy and the Italian Renaissance.

Marie Antoinette, King Tutankhamen, Leonardo da Vinci and George Washington are all part of the impressive castlist as our heroes travel through time and space in their Wayback machine.

At the heart is a father-son relationship with a difference. Father, that’s Mr P, is a dog and not just any old mutt. He talks, has a brain than makes Einstein look like a dumb blonde, the Nobel prize and a time machine. His adopted son, that’s Sherman, is a boy who spoils his first day at school by biting schoolgirl bully Penny as she mocks his canine father.

A home visit from the aggressive child protective officer Mrs Grunion, who threatens to take Sherman away from his father, triggers a madcap race through time and space that propels the titular duo on a dangerous history lesson.

This is an animated feature – based on characters created for segments in the 1960s TV series The Rocky And Bullwinkle Show – that has as many jokes and japes for adults as it does for younger cinema-goers. A movie, in fact, that should make everyone happy.

The voices behind the leading characters – Ty Burrell and Max Charles – won’t ring any bells, but there are more familiar names among the supporting cast including Mel Brooks, Allison Janney and Stanley Tucci.