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Animal Crackers (2017 film)

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Animal Crackers
A tigers paw holding one animal cracker that has been taken out of a box full of animal cracker. The words "Animal Crackers" are in the middle and the words "A magical adventure in every box" are at the top both in orange with a blue border.
Theatrical release poster
Directed by
Written by
Produced by
  • Scott Christian Sava
  • George Lee
  • Marcus Englefield
  • Jamie Thomason
  • Leiming Guan
  • Jaime Maestro
  • Nathalie Martinez
Starring
Edited byXimo Romero
Music byBear McCreary[1]
Production
companies
Distributed byNetflix
Release dates
  • June 12, 2017 (2017-06-12) (Annecy)
  • July 21, 2018 (2018-07-21) (China)
  • July 24, 2020 (2020-07-24) (United States)
Running time
105 minutes
Countries
  • United States
  • Spain
  • China
LanguageEnglish
Budget$17 million[3]
Box office$9.5 million[4]

Animal Crackers is a 2017 American-Chinese 3D computer-animated comedy-fantasy film directed by Scott Christian Sava and Tony Bancroft, and written by Sava and Dean Lorey, based on the animal-shaped cookie. The film stars the voices of John Krasinski, Emily Blunt, Danny DeVito, Ian McKellen, Sylvester Stallone, Raven-Symoné and Patrick Warburton.

The film premiered at Annecy International Animation Film Festival on June 12, 2017. It was released in China on July 21, 2018.[4] Initially set to be released in the United States on multiple release dates through various distributors, who faced financial difficulties.

It is scheduled for a July 24, 2020 release on Netflix.[5]

Plot

In 1962, brothers Bob and Horatio Huntington run a traveling circus, remaining on good terms despite carrying different ambitions. During a performance in Indiana, their gypsy partner Esmerelda introduces them to her niece Talia. The two brothers are instantly infatuated by her, but Talia gradually ends up falling for Bob, slowly infuriating Horatio. When he finds out about their engagement, Horatio tells Bob to either choose between Talia or himself to spend his future with. Bob ultimately decides to stick to his heart and marries Talia. On their wedding day, Esmerelda gives the couple a mysterious box as a gift, which allows for them open a new circus; Buffalo Bob's Rootin' Tootin' Animal Circus, known for their magical animals performing defying stunts.

Years later, Bob's young nephew Owen falls for a girl named Zoe during a performance at the circus. When they grow up, Owen proposes to Zoe with a clown's red nose in the middle of the circus ring. Everyone at the circus is initially excited, until Zoe's father Mr. Woodley persuades Owen to come work at his dog biscuit factory (to prove himself to his father-in-law), where he is given the position of taste testing. Meanwhile, Horatio, whose success has depleted since his split with Bob, begins sneaking into Bob's circus at night, trying to find the secret to the magic animals. One night, he gets into a scuffle with circus pets Old Blue the Bloodhound and Zena the Tuxedo cat when they discover him, and accidentally starts a fire that burns down part of the circus. Owen later learns later that Bob and Talia died in the fire, and he and Zoe, along with their daughter Mackenzie, attend their memorial service at the burnt down circus. Horatio makes an unexpected visit at the service, announcing that he's going take over the circus because of Bob's apparent "betrayal" for choosing Talia over him years before. He and his henchmen engage a fight with the performers, causing Owen and his family to leave the service.

Before the Huntingtons leave, circus pets Old Blue and Zena give them the mysterious box that opened the circus. In the car, Owen discovers that the mysterious box holds animal crackers. During a stop, Owen inadvertently eats one of them and turns into a Guinea pig, during an car chase he turns intro an Kodiak bear To figure why, they return to the circus after finding a note explaining the cookies. They learn from clown Chesterfield that the animal crackers are the secret to the circus; they'll turn the user into the animal they eat, and that it always remains full of an unlimited amount of animals, but there's only one human cookie for each to change them back to their normal selves. Later, he tells the couple they've inherited the circus. While Zoe is excited, Owen, still wanting to prove himself to Mr. Woodley, is reluctant, and decides to remain at the dog biscuit factory. He continues his job there while Zoe restores the circus. Mr. Woodley, angered that his daughter left her job, begins to consider her fellow employee, egotistical saboteur Brock, to become his successor.

Zoe persuades Owen to come to the grand re-opening of Buffalo Bob's Rootin' Tootin' Animal Circus. However, it turns out to be a disaster when the audience finds out that there are no animals at the circus. Owen is at first reluctant to do anything, acknowledging he is not a performer, but is otherwise persuaded by Mackenzie, the other performers, and the dying audience. While he is at first suspicious of performing stunts as an animal, he soon grows to enjoy it, and by the end of the day, Owen decides to quit the dog biscuit factory, declaring that the circus is his family. However, as he finishes is packing up at the factory, Brock unwillingly takes the animal cracker box, eats one of the cookies and turns into a mandrill. To catch up with Brock, Owen turns into a lion, but Brock falls out of a window, where Horatio's henchman Mario Zucchini takes the box before Owen comes out and scares him away, forcing him to leave it behind in the process.

Returning home, Owen discovers he has lost the human cookie, meaning that he'll be an animal forever. Zoe doesn't accept this, but has hopes that Owen can adjust to life as a certain animal. Woodley's employee Binkley, who has been trying to come up with a new type of dog biscuit, discovers the magical animal crackers, and she persuades Mr. Woodley into going to the circus to see his family. Weeks pass, and Owen can not find a suitable animal to remain as, and his relationship with his family starts to suffer. One night, during a circus performance, Horatio arrives with Owen's human cookie, offering to turn him back to normal as long as he gives him the circus. Owen refuses, believing that he remain an animal as long as it'll keep his family together. Angered, Horatio forces Owen into the deal, while also bringing in his henchmen, now mutated into animal hybrids from the broken pieces of animal crackers brought by Mario earlier.

The circus performers discover Horatio's presence immediately afterwards and work together to stop the henchmen, and give Owen back the box. However, Horatio, dissatisfied with how they use the animal crackers, eats the remaining broken cookies he has and turns himself into a chimera. Old Blue and Zena then reveal themselves to be Bob and Talia; they explain that they escaped the fire, but their human cookies were destroyed, meaning they can never be human again. They ask Horatio to stop and redeem himself for his evil deeds. Horatio refuses, and flies up into the air with them. Owen, Zoe and Mackenzie work together to save Bob and Talia and capture Horatio, with Owen turning him into a hamster as punishment. Mr. Woodley, who saw the performance, reevaluates his views on the circus and allows Owen and Zoe to continue working there. He and Binkley decide to rework the failed dog biscuit experiments into a new circus souvenir. Owen and Zoe now work happily at the circus, with Owen going on the stage once more as a new transformation: a dragon.

Cast

  • John Krasinski as Owen Huntington, MacKenzie's father, Zoe's husband, Horiato and Buffalo Bob's nephew and the circus owner[6]
    • Brendan Sava as a young Owen[7]
  • Emily Blunt as Zoe Huntington, MacKenzie's mother and Owen's wife[6][8]
    • Noelle Ellison Thomason as a young Zoe
  • Lydia Rose Taylor as Mackenzie Huntington, Owen and Zoe's daughter.[9][10]
  • Ian McKellen as Horatio P. Huntington, Buffalo Bob's brother and Owen's uncle.[9][11]
  • Danny DeVito as Chesterfield, the circus's top clown[9][12]
  • Sylvester Stallone as Bullet-Man, the human cannon ball who only says his name until the end of the movie [9]
  • Raven-Symoné as Binkley, Owen and Zoe co-worker at the dog biscuit factor[9][13]
  • Patrick Warburton as Brock, A big strong employee of Mr. Woodley who likes to pick on Owen and Binkley.[9]
  • Wallace Shawn as Mr. Woodley,[14] Zoe's father, Mackenzie's grandpa, and Owen's father-in-law
  • Gilbert Gottfried as Mario Zucchini, a small motorcycle rider who thinks Horatio's his minion.[9][15]
  • Harvey Fierstein as Esmeralda the Fortune Teller, Talia's aunt [9][16]
  • Tara Strong as Talia, Esmeralda's niece and Buffalo Bob's wife.[9][17]
  • James Arnold Taylor as Buffalo Bob, Talia's husband, Horiato's brother and Owen's uncle and former owner of the circus.[9][18]
  • Kevin Grevioux as Samson the Strong Man[19]
  • Tony Bancroft as Stabby the Knife Thrower
  • Anthony Sava as El Diablo the Fire Breather
  • Donna Lynne Sava as Petunia the Fat Lady
  • Alyssa Trama as Gretchen the Bearded Lady

Production

Development and writing

In 2010, Scott Christian Sava wrote a screenplay for Animal Crackers but was unable to garner any interest. In June 2013, Harvey Weinstein had seen a short film of the screenplay made by Sava[20] and two months later the Weinstein brothers made an offer to buy the rights to Animal Crackers.[21] Sava co-directed the movie with Tony Bancroft and co-wrote the screenplay with Dean Lorey.[21]

Financing the movie were executive producers Mu Yedong on behalf of Wen Hua Dongrun Investment Co., La Peikang, board chairman of China Film Co., and Sam Chi for Landmark Asia.[22]

Despicable Me character designer, Carter Goodrich, was hired in October 2014.[2]

Pre-production

The voice cast was completed by casting director Jamie Thomason.[9]

In the last week of October and throughout November, 2014, Sava via the Animal Crackers Facebook page, there were sneak peeks to the look of some characters along with announcing the voice cast for those characters Kevin Grevioux as Samson the Strong Man,[19] James Arnold Taylor as Buffalo Bob,[18] Tara Strong as Talia,[17] Harvey Fierstein as Esmerelda the Fortune Teller,[16] Gilbert Gottfried as Mario Zucchini,[15] and Raven-Symoné as Binkley.[13]

On November 6, 2014, Blue Dream Studios announced Sylvester Stallone, Danny DeVito, and Ian McKellen as lead voice cast.[9] On February 3, 2015, John Krasinski and Kaley Cuoco joined the cast as Owen and Zoe Huntington, respectively.[6] On March 30, 2015, Emily Blunt replaced Cuoco due to a scheduling conflict.[8]

"When I was writing Animal Crackers I had specific voices in my head. Certain characters I wrote with actors in mind. Horatio was always Sir Ian McKellen. Brock was totally Patrick Warburton. Bullet-Man could be no one else but Stallone! To find out that each and every one of these actors have agreed to come on board this film and bring these characters to life… I'm flipping out," said Sava.[9]

It was announced via Sava's Facebook page that his son, Brendan, would play 12-year-old Owen Huntington and his wife, Donna, would play the Fat Lady.[citation needed] On May 22, 2015, it was revealed that Wallace Shawn had been cast as Mr. Woodley, Zoe's (Blunt) father.[14]

Filming

On January 27, 2015, Sava announced on Facebook via the Animal Crackers page that first day of "studio sessions with the actors" began in Los Angeles.[6]

Music

The film's original score was composed by Bear McCreary,[1] and its soundtrack includes original songs by Toad the Wet Sprocket, Huey Lewis and the News, Howard Jones, and Michael Bublé.[23]

Soundtrack

Animal Crackers: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Soundtrack album by
Various artists
ReleasedJuly 10, 2020
Recorded2015-2016
GenreFilm soundtrack
Length45:45
LabelSony Masterworks
Track listing
No.TitleMusicLength
1."Welcome" (John Adair version)Ian McKellen2:08
2."While We're Young"Huey Lewis and the News3:40
3."Like That"Fleur East3:08
4."The Tractor"Chris McDougall, Leslie Austin, Dayan Kai2:39
5."Master of the Ring"Connor Clark2:50
6."Could've Been Mine"Ian McKellen, Gilbert Gottfried2:09
7."We're in This Together"Howard Jones4:52
8."Don't Stop Me Now" (2011 remaster)Queen3:12
9."One of Those Days"Toad the Wet Sprocket2:42
10."Today (Is Yesterday's Tomorrow)"Michael Bublé3:22
11."Lost and Found"Katie Herzig4:43
12."Animal Crackers Overture"Bear McCreary5:22
13."Papa Bear"Bear McCreary2:57
14."Showtime"Bear McCreary2:23
Total length:45:45

Score

Animal Crackers: Original Motion Picture Score
Film score by
Bear McCreary
ReleasedJuly 10, 2020
Recorded2017
GenreScore
Length1:14:03
LabelSony Classical
Bear McCreary chronology
Fantasy Island: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
(2020) 		Animal Crackers: Original Motion Picture Score
(2020)

All tracks written and composed by Bear McCreary.

Track listing
No.TitleLength
1."Animal Crackers Overture" (Extended Version)5:51
2."The Huntington Brothers"3:28
3."Life at the Circus"3:59
4."The Dog Food Factory"4:54
5."News of the Fire"1:45
6."Circus Memorial"3:58
7."Holy Moly"2:35
8."Zucchini Chase"4:16
9."Little Cookie Me"3:22
10."The Magic Is Gone"3:01
11."Brock and Woodley"3:43
12."Papa Bear" (Extended Version)3:13
13."A Helping Hoof"1:58
14."The Tiger"3:14
15."Monkeying Around"3:58
16."An Offer From Horatio"3:40
17."Freak Fight"3:54
18."Chimera"5:57
19."Showtime" (Extended Version)6:40
Total length:1:12:58
Bonus tracks
No.TitleLength
20."Fanfare for Bulletman"0:45
21."Blue Dream Studios Logo"0:20
Total length:1:14:03

Release

The film had its world premiere in competition at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival on June 12, 2017.[24][25] The film was originally set to be released on April 28, 2017 by Relativity Media, however, a financial crisis within the company prevented them from releasing the film. It was then set to be released on September 1, 2017 by upstart film studio Serafini Releasing before they also shut down.[26] A few months later, in November 2017, it was announced that Entertainment Studios would distribute the film worldwide. In April, Sava posted on Facebook that film was set for a release date of August 10, 2018.[27] The deal with Entertainment Studios was dropped in June 2018.[28]

It is scheduled to be released on July 24, 2020, by Netflix.[29][30]

References

  1. ^ a b "Bear McCreary to Score 'Animal Crackers'". Film Score Monthly. July 8, 2016. Retrieved July 8, 2016.
  2. ^ a b Wendy Mitchell (October 24, 2014). "Odin's Eye boards Animal Crackers". Screen Daily. Retrieved February 4, 2015.
  3. ^ Mintzer, Jordan (June 16, 2017). "'Animal Crackers': Film Review | Annecy 2017". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved August 5, 2017.
  4. ^ a b http://www.cbooo.cn/m/677231
  5. ^ Desowitz, Bill (June 15, 2020). "'Animal Crackers' Trailer: Netflix's Rescued Animated Feature Gets Summer Streaming Date". Indie Wire. Retrieved June 17, 2020.
  6. ^ a b c d Dominio Patten (February 3, 2015). "'Animal Crackers' Adds Kaley Cuoco & John Krasinski To Voice Cast – Berlin". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved February 4, 2015.
  7. ^ Scott Christian Sava (February 5, 2015). "How wonderful is @johnkrasinski? My son Brendan is playing "young Owen"…". Tumblr. Archived from the original on September 6, 2015. Retrieved August 4, 2015.
  8. ^ a b D'Alessandro, Anthony (March 30, 2015). "Emily Blunt Takes Bite Of 'Animal Crackers'; 'Neon Demon' Cast Is Set – Film Briefs". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved August 3, 2015.
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Jeff Sneider (November 6, 2014). "Sylvester Stallone, Danny DeVito, Ian McKellen Lead 'Animal Crackers' Voice Cast". TheWrap. Retrieved December 29, 2014.
  10. ^ Scott Christian Sava (July 30, 2015). "Zoe (Emily Blunt) and her daughter Mackenzie (Lydia Taylor)". Facebook. Retrieved August 3, 2015.
  11. ^ Scott Christian Sava (July 30, 2015). "Horatio P. Huntington (Sir Ian McKellen)". Facebook. Retrieved August 3, 2015.
  12. ^ Scott Christian Sava (March 24, 2015). "n/a". Facebook. Retrieved August 4, 2015.
  13. ^ a b Scott Christian Sava (November 17, 2014). "When we set out to cast the voice of Binkley… Jamie was quick to push Raven-Symoné to the top of the list. And quite honestly… we never looked further…". Facebook. Retrieved December 29, 2014.
  14. ^ a b Scott Christian Sava (May 22, 2015). "Ladies and gentlemen… Zoe's (Emily Blunt) dad, MR. WOODLEY played by the incomparable Wallace Shawn!…". Facebook. Retrieved May 23, 2015.
  15. ^ a b Scott Christian Sava (November 13, 2014). "Mario Zucchini was written as a "henchman" who's "schtick" is he only speaks Italian… except… he doesn't know Italian…". Facebook. Retrieved December 29, 2014.
  16. ^ a b Scott Christian Sava (November 12, 2014). "Esmerelda the Fortune Teller… Yes… I named our 67 Cougar after a character from the movie. Yes… it's awesome!". Facebook. Retrieved December 29, 2014.
  17. ^ a b Scott Christian Sava (November 1, 2014). "Final SNEAK PEEK of the week…Talia will be played by the Inimitable (I looked it up… it means incapable of being imitated, matchless, irreplaceable) Tara Strong!…". Facebook. Retrieved December 29, 2014.
  18. ^ a b Scott Christian Sava (October 31, 2014). "Another SNEAK PEEK today! Buffalo Bob (circa 1960's) to be played by the great James Taylor (Obi-freakin-Wan Kenobi on Clone Wars)!!!…". Facebook. Retrieved December 29, 2014.
  19. ^ a b Scott Christian Sava (October 30, 2014). "Here is a SNEAK PEEK at one of our characters!…". Facebook. Retrieved December 29, 2014.
  20. ^ Blue Dream Studios (April 2013). "Animal Crackers "Proof of Concept" Test". Vimeo. Retrieved December 29, 2014.
  21. ^ a b Keith Ryan Cartwright (December 2, 2014). "Franklin father turns 'Animal Crackers' for kids into feature film". tennessean.com. Retrieved December 29, 2014.
  22. ^ Dave McNary (November 5, 2014). "Chinese Investors Board Animated 'Animal Crackers' (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved December 29, 2014.
  23. ^ "Interview: Dean Dinning of Toad the Wet Sprocket". Surviving the Golden Age. Retrieved May 30, 2017.
  24. ^ "Despicable Me 3, Animal Crackers to Debut at Annecy Fest".
  25. ^ "Annecy Unveils Full Lineup Of 23 Animated Features". April 24, 2017.
  26. ^ Scott Christian Sava (February 21, 2018). "UPDATE! So… what's going on with the release date?". Facebook. Retrieved May 7, 2018.
  27. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (November 29, 2017). "Byron Allen's Entertainment Studios Bites Into Animal Crackers, Eyes 2018 Release". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved May 7, 2018.
  28. ^ "After 7 months of waiting… and waiting… and waiting, we're done".
  29. ^ Hopewell, John (May 20, 2020). "Netflix's 'The Cuphead Show!' 'Nezha Reborn,' 'The Summit of the Gods' Set for Annecy". Variety. Retrieved May 20, 2020.
  30. ^ Desowitz, Bill (June 15, 2020). "'Animal Crackers' Trailer: Netflix's Rescued Animated Feature Gets Summer Streaming Date". IndieWire. Retrieved June 15, 2020.
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