Open Season (2006 film)
| Open Season | |
|---|---|
 Open Season promotional poster | |
| Directed by | Roger Allers Jill Culton Anthony Stacchi |
| Written by | Steve Bencich Ron J. Friedman |
| Starring | Martin Lawrence Ashton Kutcher Matthew W Taylor Jon Favreau Gary Sinise Debra Messing Jane Krakowski Billy Connolly Georgia Engel Patrick Warburton |
| Music by | Ramin Djawadi (score) Paul Westerberg (songs) |
| Distributed by | Sony Pictures Entertainment |
Release dates | September 29, 2006 (US, CN) October 4, 2006 (NL) October 5, 2006 (IL) October 6, 2006 (BR, VE) October 13, 2006 (UK, PL, MX) |
Running time | 99 min. |
| Language | English |
| Budget | US$85 million |
Open Season is a computer-animated film produced by Sony Pictures Animation and directed by Roger Allers, Jill Culton and Anthony Stacchi. It was released on September 29 2006 by Columbia Pictures. It features a role reversal, with woodland creatures that are traditionally hunted teaming up against hunters, much like the classic Warner Bros. shorts. It has also been released in the IMAX 3D format. A video game for the film was released on multiple platforms.
Summary
Template:Spoiler A grizzly bear named Boog (voiced by Martin Lawrence), domesticated by park ranger Beth (voiced by Debra Messing), helps the deer Elliot (voiced by Ashton Kutcher) to escape from the mullet-sporting hunter, Shaw (voiced by Gary Sinise). After the animals are drawn together into the forest they become lost just as hunting season begins, made worse by the fact that Boog doesn't know how to survive in the wild.
Cast
| Actor | Animal | Character |
|---|---|---|
| Martin Lawrence | Male Bear | Boog |
| Ashton Kutcher | Male Deer | Elliot |
| Matthew W Taylor | Male Porcupine | Buddy |
| Jon Favreau | Male Beaver | Reilly |
| Debra Messing | Female Human | Park Ranger Beth |
| Jane Krakowski | Female Deer | Giselle |
| Gary Sinise | Male Human | Shaw |
| Patrick Warburton | Male Deer | Ian |
| Billy Connolly | Male Squirrel | McSquizzy |
| Georgia Engel | Female Human | Bobbie |
| Cody Cameron | Male Dachshund | Mr. Weenie |
| Gordon Tootosisis | Male Human | Gordy |
| Nika Futterman | Female Skunk | Maria the Skunk |
| Danny Mann | Male Duck | Psycho Duck: Serge |
| Michelle Murdacoo | Female Skunk | Rosie the Skunk |
| Fergan Riely | Female Beaver | O'Toole |
| Frank Welker | Rabbits & Beavers | Rabbits & Additional Beavers |
- There was a man named Bob who is the husband of Bobbie and owner of Mr. Weenie. He never speaks in the film, mostly because his wife does not let him.
Critical reception
Open Season received mixed reviews from critics - on Rotten Tomatoes, critical opinion was split almost evenly in half. All commended the film's animation but some slated its use of crude humour, celebrity voiceovers and similarities to other CG films such as Shrek and Madagascar (both Boog and Eliott are similar to Donkey and Shrek; Boog is a domesticated animal venturing out into the wild). One of the directors, Jill Cutton, denies this connection[citation needed], stating that Boog and Eliott are both sidekicks rather than one of them being a hero with a sidekick tagging along (as happened in Shrek). Some critics did, however, think that it was well suited for its younger audience as well as keeping adults from being bored.
Audiences were similarly divided but were slightly more approving - as of January, 2007, the film has been given a weighted average of 5.7/10 by 1,769 voters on the Internet Movie Database. Some audiences praised the film for its snappy comic timing and good intentions, but many noticed the instances of deja vu in the storyline.
Box Office performance
The film opened to a surprise US$ 23 million in its first week, in over 3,833 theaters. In its second week, it made US$ 16 million. To date, January 1 2007, it has made over US$ 84 million within the United States, along with around $93 million at the foreign box office.[1] So far, it has exceeded expectations.
Soundtrack
The soundtrack includes original music scored by Ramin Djawadi with help by and original songs written by Paul Westerberg, formerly of The Replacements. You may listen to the songs here.
| # | Song | Artist | Where Played |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Meet Me In The Meadow" | Paul Westerberg | Credits |
| 2 | "Love You In The Fall" | Paul Westerberg | Credits |
| 3 | "I Belong" | Paul Westerberg | Film |
| 4 | "I Wanna Lose Control (Uh Oh)" | Deathray | Film |
| 5 | "Better Than This" | Paul Westerberg | Film |
| 6 | "Wild Wild Life" | Talking Heads | Film |
| 7 | "Right to Arm Bears" | Paul Westerberg | Film |
| 8 | "Good Day" | Paul Westerberg | Film |
| 9 | "All About Me" | Paul Westerberg | Film |
| 10 | "Wild As I Wanna Be" | Deathray | Credits |
| 11 | "Whisper Me Luck" | Paul Westerberg | Film |
| 12 | "I Belong" (Reprise) | Pete Yorn | Film |
| - | "Wild As I Wanna Be" | Paul Westerberg | iTunes exclusive |
RingTales
The Open Season website contains 2D cartoon shorts called RingTales. Here is a list of all RingTales shorts:
- How to drink out of a stream
- McSquizzy's remote
- Hide in plain sight
- Dynamite
- Camouflage
- Security camera
- Duck call
- Quack
- Rabbit Ball
- Pull my antler
- Whites of their eyes
- This old dam
- Pepper spray
- Hacksaw
- Hunting no hunting
- You had to be there
- Poor reception
- Danger signs
- Shoot me
- The cliff
Vehicles
- Toyota Land Cruiser
- 1950s automobiles
- Chevrolet Pickup 1955-57
- International Harvester Scout
Animals featured
Living animals
- Brown Bear
- Striped Skunk
- Mule Deer
- North American Porcupine
- Mallard
- Rabbit
- American Beaver
- Squirrel
- Dog
- Human
- Salmon
Dead Specimens
Inaccuracies
- Porcupines can't shoot their quills.
- Skunks are nocturnal.
- Skunks use their musk to fend off predators and attract mates, not skunk fog as shown with Rosie and Maria.
- Beth was concerned about letting Boog free just before open season, but in both Canada and United States hunting grizzly bears is illegal.
Ratings
- Brazil: The movie received a rating of Livre (general public) by the Department of Justice.
- Finland: The film received a K-7 (for those aged 7 and above) certification from the Finnish Board of Film Classification.
- Ireland: A Parental Guidance rating was given by the Irish Film Censor's Office.
- Netherlands: The film received an AL (suitable for all ages) rating from the Kijkwijzer system.
- Singapore: The movie was given a Parental Guidance rating from The Media Development Authority.
- Switzerland: The movie received a 7+ rating (no one under the age of 7 admitted) in both, Canton of Vaud and Canton of Geneva.
- United Kingdom: The film received a Parental Guidance rating from the British Board of Film Classification.
- United States: The film received a Parental Guidance rating from the Motion Picture Association of America for some rude humor, mild action, and brief language.
DVD and Blu-Ray
This movie was released on DVD and Blu-Ray on January 30, 2007. It includes deleted scenes, Audio Commentary, I Wanna Lose Control music video, Swept Away documentary and other disc extras. More information (including cover art) can be found at this link.
Trivia
- Smokey the Bear was a real-life bear cub that was rescued by a ranger. Though not put on a live show, he became a major advertising symbol.
- This is one of two movies Ashton Kutcher will be starring in being released on September 29, 2006, the other being the action drama The Guardian.
- The music featured in the trailer is "Boom Boom Boom" by the Outhere Brothers.
- The music featured at the beginning of the trailer is "Should I Stay or Should I Go" by The Clash.
- The characters featured in the trailer are: Shaw, McSquizzy, Elliot (feet only), Porcupine, Rosie and Maria, Ian, Ducks, Riely, Ian, Rabbits and (quickly) Giselle. Boog and Elliot are also shown at the end of the teaser.
- Ashton Kutcher was revealed to play a quick part as the Japanese speaking salmon in the October issue of Nickelodeon Magazine.
- The blue porcupin resembles Sonic the Hedgehog.
- This is Sony's third Imax 3D film.
- It was revealed on an online behind-the-scenes clip that 1/3 of the lines were improvised by Martin Lawrence and Ashton Kutcher.
- Several RingTales can be seen of the official website in the Trailers and Pictures section.
- A jackalope can be seen in the basement of Shaw's house as he sings "Teddy Bear's Picnic".
- Shaw's fate is revealed early on during the credits: he is mistaken to be Bigfoot by Bob and Bobbie, and is struck by their van. He wakes to find himself tied to their hood.
- A reference to Braveheart is made right after the battle against the hunters. On Mr. Weenie, McSquizzy shouts "FREEDOM!".
- Both Martin Lawrence and Ashton Kutcher starred on successful sitcoms on the Fox network: Lawrence was on Martin, Kutcher was on That '70s Show.
- When Boog and Elliot are in the store, Kid Cuisine can be seen in the freezer.
- The "woo-hoo" candy bars resemble Butterfingers.
- One of the characters uses a Sony Ericsson cell phone.
- Grey squirrels are indigenous to North America, so the Scottish accent portrayed by all of the squirrels is an anomaly.
- While eating animal crackers, Boog states "The giraffes, they taste almost like the elephants". This line parodies a Mitch Hedberg joke in which he claimed that animal crackers make people think that all animals taste the same. The joke continues that a giraffe tastes just like a hippopotamus.
- When Shaw has just returned to his lodge he exclaims, "Someone's been sitting in MY chair!" just as the three bears do in Goldilocks.