Animation can be a tough venture for filmmakers: The target audience tends to be young children, who simultaneously have a limited attention span while still demanding entertainment at every corner. But then if the story is too juvenile or too preachy, or if the animation itself isn’t eye-catching, then you lose the parents, the all-important keepers of the wallet. And even when an animated film becomes an exquisite piece of cinema, their audiences aren’t necessarily going to run out and buy a stuffed yeti plush afterward.
Writer-director Jill Culton (“Open Season”) understands this mix of priorities, and her latest film “Abominable” falls somewhere in the middle of it all, with a story that’s sweet but formulaic, jokes that are juvenile but not annoying, and the use of gorgeous colors and textures.