Animated television series about families might just be the longest of long-form entertainment. We need look no further than “The Simpsons”, which has run for over thirty years and for a while has been the only scripted show introduced in the 1980s still in production. “King of the Hill” endured for thirteen years. “Family Guy” is twenty seasons in.

It makes sense when you think about it. Cartoons are relatively cheap and fast to produce. They can play all over the world with even modest cultural translation efforts. A voice cast ages gracefully off-camera and since adults often voice children characters, even they can remain perpetually young. While long runs can challenge shows to stay creative, the inherent versatility of animation gives storytellers in that medium carte blanche to do whatever they want. All the while, the notion of nuclear family may evolve, but it’s been around forever and isn’t fading from relevance anytime soon.

Long runs don’t just provide everyone involved with lifelong financial security, as syndication deals reward all based on the number of timeslots they can fill. They also give the creators an opportunity to grow and expand. The makers of “Bob’s Burgers”, a Sunday night fixture at Fox since the beginning of 2011, have decided to follow in the footsteps of “The Simpsons”, “South Park”, “Aqua Teen Hunger Force” and others by attempting to translate small screen success into a big screen attraction.

The Bob’s Burgers Movie is an outlier at Disney, a production with a modest budget and moderate box office ambitions. That distinguishes it from the three big budget spectacles the studio's trailers promoted before my advance screening, for Pixar’s Lightyear, Marvel’s Thor: Love & Thunder, and James Cameron’s Avatar: Way of the Water. Disney has more or less killed the mid-sized movie, relegating them to streaming service fodder, be it their signature Disney+ or the grownup-oriented Hulu. But in development years before Disney even purchased Fox, Bob's gets a wide theatrical release and during prime summer moviegoing season.

It’s a nice reminder, especially at this time of year, that not every movie has to be an event. To loyal fans of the series, maybe this is an event, but to the less devoted, this is simply a light diversion. It sets out not to rewrite mythology or establish some kind of cinematic universe, but to make you laugh with the kind of character-driven comedy it’s known for.

The plot finds the eponymous burger joint run by Bob (voiced by H. Jon Benjamin) and his family of five in danger of getting shut down when they can’t make their rent payment and also can’t persuade the bank to extend them some additional credit. The diner’s situation goes from dim to doomed when a giant sinkhole forms on the street right outside the establishment.

Our attentions shift from financial ruin to an old mystery when Louise (Kristen Schaal), trying to prove her maturity to a classmate who calls her a baby, finds herself face to face with a rotting skeleton deep inside the sinkhole. Louise and her older siblings, Gene (Eugene Mirman) and Tina, investigate the murder that they think the family’s rich, eccentric landlord (Kevin Kline) has been framed.

Meanwhile, Bob, Linda, and their thoughtful friend Teddy try to save the place by heading over to the carnival grounds and trying to make an unlicensed food cart work while the diner is inaccessible.

This movie has the runtime of about five episodes of the series but doesn’t overthink that leap, sticking with what works and not trying to reinvent the wheel. The murder mystery has more to it than most episode storylines, but the whole thing is fun and spry. While it could pose an opportunity to win over new fans, this instead prefers simply to entertain existing ones. And it’s effective in much the same way 2007’s The Simpsons Movie was. This forgoes star cameos and a calculated soundtrack design just to serve up the wit and diversion we’ve come to expect. Will it enter the public consciousness or catch the attention of those who’ve spent more than a decade ignoring the show? That’s doubtful. But those already familiar with this offbeat family and its signature eccentricities will find themselves smiling and laughing for close to two enjoyable hours.