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Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius

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Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius
Theatrical release poster
Directed byJohn A. Davis
Screenplay byJohn A. Davis
David N. Weiss & J. David Stem
Steve Oedekerk
Story byJohn A. Davis
Steve Oedekerk
Produced bySteve Oedekerk
John A. Davis
Albie Hecht
StarringDebi Derryberry
Patrick Stewart
Martin Short
Rob Paulsen
Jeffrey Garcia
Frank Welker
Carolyn Lawrence
Crystal Scales
CinematographySteve Kolbe
Chris Sherrod
Edited byGregory Perler
Jon Price
Music byJohn Debney
Production
companies
Distributed byParamount Pictures
Release date
  • December 21, 2001 (2001-12-21)
Running time
82 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$30 million
Box office$102,992,536[1]

Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius is a 2001 American computer-animated comic science fiction film based on a few three-minute animated shorts shown on Nickelodeon between the years 1999-2002, and a pilot in 1998. The film was produced by Nickelodeon Movies, O Entertainment, and DNA Productions, and distributed by Paramount Pictures. It was produced using off-the-shelf software (messiah:studio and LightWave 6) by DNA Productions. The film was released December 21, 2001.[2]

Later, the film spun off into two television series. The first series, The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius, premiered on July 20, 2002 and ended on November 25, 2006. The second, Planet Sheen premiered on October 2, 2010 but was cancelled on February 15, 2013.

It was nominated for the first Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, but lost to Shrek. It was the only animated Nickelodeon film to ever be nominated in that category until Rango was nominated in 2011 and won.

Plot

A rocket carrying two boys and a robotic dog: Jimmy Neutron (Debi Derryberry), Carl Wheezer (Rob Paulsen) and Goddard (Frank Welker). Jimmy is attempting to launch a communications satellite made out of a toaster, hoping to communicate with an alien species he believes exists somewhere out in the universe. Unfortunately, the pulse rockets fail, and the rocket crash lands on his roof. He is reprimanded by his parents (Mr. Hugh Neutron (Mark DeCarlo) and Mrs.Judy Neutron (Megan Cavanagh), and misses the bus to school. Later, Jimmy, Carl, and Sheen spot a poster for an amusement park called "Retroland." However, Judy Neutron wouldn't let Jimmy go because it was a school night.

An alien race called the Yolkians. King Goobot V (Patrick Stewart) and his assistant, Ooblar (Martin Short), watch a pre-recorded message from Jimmy, featuring him introducing himself and explaining about life on Earth. He sets a course for Earth and kidnaps all the parents in the city, leaving fake notes on the refrigerators to tell the kids they've gone to Florida for an "extended vacation".

Carl spots a shooting star (actually a Yolkian ship because of the sound it makes), so he, Jimmy, and Sheen (Jeffrey Garcia) wish for no more parents so they could have fun all the time. Nick (Hal Sparks) then says that Jimmy will take them to the aliens, and he'll take it from there. He organizes the other children in town to build spaceships from the Retroland rides to travel there and get their parents back.

They reach the planet Yolkus, home of the Yolkian race. Eventually they are captured by Goobot, who tells them the parents are to be sacrificed to their god, Poultra. He shows the kids Jimmy's video, thanking him for helping him find a suitable species for their ritual. After an unusual ceremony (in which the parents under mind control do the Chicken Dance), Poultra, a colossal three-eyed reptilian chicken, hatches from her egg.

Everyone escapes with the adults in tow, but Goobot follows them in his ship at the head of the Yolkus fleet, with Poultra not far behind.Jimmy reunites with his parents, and they make it home.

Cast

Additional voices were provided by: Jack Angel, Jeannie Elias, Bill Farmer, Philip Proctor, Rodger Bumpass, Mary Kay Bergman, Toran Caudell, Erik von Detten, Mickie McGowan, Mona Marshall, Hynden Walch, Bill Striglos and Gregg Berger.

Reception

The film currently holds a 75% "Certified Fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with the critics consensus: What Jimmy Neutron lacks in computer animation, it makes up for in charm and cleverness.[3] According to Metacritic, the film also holds a score of 65/100, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[4]

Rita Kempley of Washington Post praised the film, saying that "this little charmer both celebrates and kids the corny conventions of family sitcoms".

Nell Minow of Common Sense Media enjoyed the "stylish 3-D computer animation, good characters", giving the film 3 out of 5 stars.[5]

Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly gave this film a B+, calling it " a lickety-split, madly packed, roller-coaster entertainment that might almost have been designed to make you scared of how much smarter your kids are than you".[6]

Paul Tatara of CNN.com called this film "the most delightfully original children's film of 2001".[7]

Roger Ebert of Chicago Sun-Times gave this film a 3/4 score, saying that "it doesn't have the little in-jokes that make Shrek and Monsters, Inc. fun for grown-ups. But adults who appreciate the art of animation may enjoy the look of the picture".[8]

Box office

The film was financially successful, bringing in $13,833,228 on its opening weekend for an average of $4,407 from 3,139 theaters, and ended up with a total of $80,936,232 domestically, and the film did better overseas bringing in $22,056,304 which made a total of $102,992,536 worldwide. It had a budget of roughly $30 million.[citation needed] It is one of only twelve feature films to be released in over 3,000 theaters and still improve on its box office performance in its second weekend, increasing 8.7% from $13,832,786 to $15,035,649.[9]

Awards

Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius was nominated for the first Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, but lost to Shrek, released by DreamWorks. It was the first release from Nickelodeon Movies to receive an Academy Award nomination.

Soundtrack

The movie soundtrack was released in 2001 after the movie was released, by Jive Records and Nick Records.[10]

No.TitleArtistLength
1."Leave It Up to Me"Aaron Carter2:59
2."Pop" (Deep Dish Cha-Ching Remix)*NSYNC4:13
3."Parents Just Don't Understand"Lil' Romeo, 3LW, and Nick Cannon3:55
4."Intimidated"Britney Spears3:17
5."He Blinded Me with Science"Melissa Lefton and The Matrix3:15
6."A.C.'s Alien Nation"Aaron Carter3:23
7."Kids in America"No Secrets3:06
8."The Answer to Our Life"Backstreet Boys3:17
9."The Chicken Dance"Stupid1:32
10."I Can Count on You"True Vibe3:46
11."We Got the Beat"The Go-Go's2:31
12."Go Jimmy Jimmy"Aaron Carter2:38
13."Parents Just Don't Understand (Bonux Mix)"Lil' Romeo, 3LW, and Nick Cannon 
14."Blitzkrieg Bop"The Ramones2:12
15."Jimmy Neutron Theme"Bowling for Soup2:08

Additionally, a promotional CD containing the score by John Debney was released for Academy Award consideration.

No.TitleLength
1."Jimmy's Rocket Machine"1:55
2."Parents"1:17
3."Ready-To-Go-To-School Machine"1:49
4."Nick"0:50
5."Oyster & Diamond"0:34
6."Alien Space Craft/Jimmy's Message"3:02
7."Options"0:49
8."Sneak Out"1:09
9."Invasion Alert"0:34
10."Alien Abduction"1:13
11."The Wish"0:47
12."Launch"2:22
13."Beauty Of Space/Meteor"2:25
14."The Alien Planet"1:12
15."Prisoners"1:42
16."Cindy & Jimmy"1:34
17."Cell Dog Phone & Rescue"3:09
18."Stadium"0:23
19."Bring On The Humans"0:47
20."The Incubation"0:48
21."Sacrifice/The Plan"2:18
22."Jimmy To The Rescue"2:02
23."Escape From The Planet/The Big Chase"2:42
24."Jimmy Is The Winner/Apologise"2:15
25."The End"0:13

Genius, Sheenius or Inbetweenius

An event that aired on May 25, 2007, Nickelodeon rehired the original voice actors of Jimmy, Sheen and Carl to return for a special audio commentary version of the film that features their animated counterparts' silhouettes, spoofing Mystery Science Theater 3000.

Film promotion

These shorts were used to promote the film. They have all been released on the official Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius DVD release of the film. All of the inventions in each short was seen again at some point in the TV series (except for the Pain-Transference helmet). Clips from similar versions of these shorts, along with clips from the unaired "Runaway Rocketboy" pilot appeared in the teaser trailer for Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius. The biggest difference between the clips seen in the trailer and the original shorts is that Jimmy wears the white and red striped shirt he wore in the pilot, rather than his trademark shirt.

Short Overview
Carl Squared Carl asks Jimmy lots of questions when he clones himself. The cloning machine is seen again in "Send in the Clones"'and "The Trouble with Clones."
Calling All Aliens Jimmy receives a message, thinking that it is from aliens. But when he says "school goddard", he gets teleported to school. And tries several attempts to try to communicate with the aliens. Aliens are also mentioned in Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius (Movie)
Cookie Time Jimmy has a remote control that controls time. He asks his mom for a cookie and gets it. He keeps rewinding but Goddard bites the remote and sends them back to the prehistoric era. The remote is seen again in "Sorry, Wrong Era".
Hyper Corn Jimmy invents his Hyper Cube, to store infinite items in one small place. But, it's dinner time and they are having creamed corn, which Jimmy hides in his Hyper Cube. After Jimmy's dad thinks it's a brain teaser puzzle and breaks it, Jimmy finds out he likes it after all. The Hyper Cube makes appearances in the episodes "Hypno Birthday to You" and "Holly Jolly Jimmy", although it looks different from in the original short.
New Dog, Old Tricks Jimmy introduces his robotic dog, Goddard to Cindy and her dog, Humphrey who Cindy says is the best dog in Retroville. However after showing each other new tricks, Goddard wins the argument. Humphrey makes brief cameos in other episodes. NOTE: A clip from a slightly different version of this short appeared in the original theatrical trailer for Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius. This version ends with Goddard putting himself back together after Jimmy says, "I can fix that".
Pain Pain Go Away Jimmy visits the dentist, using his Pain-Transference Helmet to transfer the pain to Cindy. He gets in trouble, though, when Cindy snatches the helmet the next day and retaliates by injuring herself and sending the pain to Jimmy.
Sea Minus Jimmy accidentally uses his Matter Transporter to move the Neutron's House underwater! The Matter Transporter is seen again in "My Son, the Hamster".
Ultralord vs. The Squirrels Sheen gets his new Ultralord Action Figure in a tree, Jimmy must get it back with his Hypno Ray invention to keep it away from the squirrels. The Hypno Ray is seen again in "Hypno Birthday To You". NOTE: A clip from a slightly different version of this short appeared in the original theatrical trailer for Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius. In the trailer version, the scenes take place in the park, rather than in Jimmy's backyard, and Sheen is replaced by Nick Dean.

References

  1. ^ "Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2010-02-06.
  2. ^ "Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius". RottenTomatoes.com. Retrieved 21 October 2013.
  3. ^ "Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius (2001)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2010-02-06.
  4. ^ "Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius". Metacritic. Retrieved 2012-12-08.
  5. ^ "Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius Movie Review". Commonsensemedia.org. Retrieved 2014-06-07.
  6. ^ "Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius Review | Movie Reviews and News". EW.com. 2002-01-04. Retrieved 2014-06-07.
  7. ^ "CNN.com International - Breaking, World, Business, Sports, Entertainment and Video News". Archives.cnn.com. Retrieved 2014-06-07.
  8. ^ Emerson, Jim (2001-12-21). "Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius Movie Review (2001) | Roger Ebert". Rogerebert.suntimes.com. Retrieved 2014-06-07.
  9. ^ "Smallest Second Weekend Drops". boxofficemojo.com. Box Office Mojo. Retrieved March 27, 2014.
  10. ^ "Various - Music From The Motion Picture 'Jimmy Neutron Boy Genius'". Discogs.com. Discogs. Retrieved January 10, 2014.