Producers: Producers: Michelle Raimo Kouyate, Stephen Curry, Erick Peyton, Adam Rosenberg and Rodney Rothman   Director: Tyree Dillihay   Screenplay: Aaron Buchsbaum and Teddy Riley   Cast: Caleb McLaughlin, Gabrielle Union, Stephen Curry, Nicola Coughlan, Nick Kroll, David Harbour, Jenifer Lewis, Aaron Pierre, Patton Oswalt, Andrew Santino, Bobby Lee, Eduardo Franco, Sherry Cola, Jelly Roll, Jennifer Hudson, Wayne Knight, Ayesha Curry, Dwayne Wade, Kevin Love, Angel Reese, A’ja Wilson, Andre Iguodala, Joe La Puma, VanVan and Adam Pally Distributor: Sony/Columbia Pictures

Grade: C

The title of this animated basketball-based family flick plays on the idea of The Greatest of All Time, of course, but more specifically it refers to its main character, Will Harris (voiced genially by Caleb McLaughlin).  He’s a young kid—in the goat sense—who lives in a Zootopia-like town dominated by devotion to the local roarball team, the Thorns—roarball being a heightened version of basketball, in which the players are various animals of both genders and the plays are physically astronomical.  Will’s been brought up by his single mom, waitress Louise (Jennifer Hudson), as an avid fan of the Thorns, and especially of the team’s longtime star, panther Jett Fillmore (Gabrielle Union).

Will’s now on his own, struggling to earn money for his rent at the house of Frank (Wayne Knight), a gerbil with an uncountable number of children, by rushing around as a delivery boy at the diner owned by Carol (Ayesha Curry), where Louise worked before she died.  Will’s dream is to be a player for the Thorns himself, but local bully Grizz (Jelly Roll), a nasty bear, bans him from the practice court.  When the place is invaded by arrogant Mane Attraction (Aaron Pierre), a horse who’s the star of the Thorns’ major rivals, the Magma, however, Will gains notoriety by using his skill in shooting three-pointers to humiliate the stallion.

That leads Flo (Jenifer Lewis), the cunning, money-grubbing owner of the Thorns, to sign Will to a contract, much to the distress of Jett though her teammates, rhinoceros  Archie (David Harbour), giraffe Lenny (Stephen Curry),  Komodo dragon Modo (Nick Kroll) and ostrich Olivia (Nicola Coughlan) and their wimpy coach, monkey Dennis (Patton Oswalt), are more accepting, especially after Will is called from the bench after Jett fouls out and scores a winning basket.

Flo’s decision to spotlight Will as the Thorns’ next generation star riles Jett, who’s apoplectic over a promotional spot that would have her pass a torch to him.  But when he takes her to Carol’s diner and introduces her to all the fans there, explaining how the place fostered his love of the team, she mellows.

It’s here that the movie’s two obvious, and utterly hackneyed lessons, come to full flower for the youngsters in the audience.  One, of course, is to follow your dream, whatever the obstacles—epitomized by Will.   The other is to learn that there’s no “I” in team, a bit of wisdom one can come to no matter what your age—as Jett now realizes, even urging long-downtrodden Dennis to be a real coach again.  There follows, of course, the Thorns’ bumps-and-all journey through the season-ending playoffs, culminating, you’ll have no trouble predicting, in a big game against Mane and Magma in which a serious injury seems to spell a disaster made worse by an announcement from Flo.  The closing manages to bring in a third lesson—the inevitable stress on family, whether biological or not.

There’s nothing wrong with the movie’s messages, even though they’re hardly surprising.  But the package in which they’re delivered is messy.  It’s aimed at the NBA crowd, with a hip-hop inflected score from Kris Bower, but roarball isn’t really basketball in any recognizable form; it’s a supersized version of the game, dominated by athleticism befitting a Marvel hero (or heroine, as the case may be).  Nor is it concerned with games as back-and-forth contests.  It skips over most of the action to concentrate on those final moments when the score is close and somebody must come up with a special move to win the day.

All of which is clothed in an animation style which some will consider wildly imaginative but can better be described as tiresomely gaudy, not so much eye-popping as eye-exhausting.

And it’s so jam-packed with characters, all energetically colorful, that it’s hard to keep them straight: there are friends and frenemies of Will, other players from teams with names like the Shadows and the Shivers, courtside commentators, referees, assorted fans and cute kiddies.  They’re all well voiced, as are the main figures, but only occasionally does one break through, like Knight’s Frank, especially in a cute scene in which he’s literally inundated by a tidal wave of his children. Editor Clare Knight deals with all of it as well as one has a right to expect, but it’s a losing battle.

“GOAT” aspires to be a slam-dunk celebration of b-ball that’s both soulful and fun, but its familiar themes and overjuiced style make for a middling kidflick.