QUICK - hide the lasagne! It’s been a while but, this weekend, Garfield returns to cinemas.

Strictly speaking, The Garfield Movie isn’t actually out until next Friday, not in the sense of a wide release. It’s a quirk of the industry, this. When a studio previews their sparkly new film a week early, any takings are added to the official opening a week later. In short, it’s a sly trick to guarantee a place atop the box office, while boosting word of mouth among the target audience.

There’s no doubting the target audience of The Garfield Movie. It’s a computer animated toon from The Emperor’s New Groove director Mark Dindal. All garish and palatable. Dindal also directed Disney’s abominable Chicken Little but we shan’t hold it against him. Not immediately.

It’s curious that Garfield should always skew so young on the big screen. As the world’s most syndicated comic strip, his readers are, invariably, adults. Regardless, Dindal’s film is the third family friendly feature to spawn from Jim Davis’ original sketches, following the live action duo of the noughties.

Bill Murray voiced a decidedly sardonic Garfield in those films but here finds himself replaced by the more generic Chris Pratt. He of Marvel and Super Mario renown. Nicholas Hoult is Garfield’s trusty owner Jon, while Harvey Guillén barks along dimwittedly as Jon’s canine companion Odie.

When his long-lost father, Vic (Samuel L. Jackson), reappears in his life, Garfield finds himself stolen from a life of luxury - and lasagne! - and unto the streets. It’s a heist adventure, with additional voice work from Hannah Waddingham and Ving Rhames.

The Garfield Movie need not excel to exceed the crushingly low bar of the live action films and makes no great effort to do so. The result is a purrrrfectly acceptable distraction for audiences under 10, who should find ample giggles across the 101 minute runtime.

Pratt remains an unremarkable force within the world of animation but it’s not so hard to see why they keep hiring him. In an age of undemanding animation - of Minions and Mario - Pratt’s your man.

A brief note on the 25th anniversary of Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, which proved a surprise box office hit last week. I caught it and confirmed my suspicions. It hasn’t aged well at all.