This kids’ baseball movie has so much inspirational blather it makes you want to shove a bat down your throat, yet the computer-animation artists behind it hit enough dazzling and witty visual notes to keep you from self-inflicted injury. A lot of the charm comes from the setting – 1930s New York City, where a dedicated, 10-year-old Yankees fan sets out to retrieve Babe Ruth’s stolen bat in the midst of a World Series battle versus the Chicago Cubs (recalling the Cubs as competitive is a good joke in and of itself).
