Friend Story

Friend Story is a 2012 American live action and animated buddy-comedy adventure film produced by Regency Enterprises and directed by Richard Rich, released by 20th Century Fox, Friend Story was the first feature-length live action and animated film and the first film produced by Regency Enterprises. Friend Story follows a group of animal friends who pretend to be lifeless whenever humans are present, and focuses on the relationship between Jaune Tom, a pullstring cowboy cat doll (John Goodman), and Yogi Bear, an astronaut action figure (Dan Aykroyd). The film was written by Richard Rich, Andrew Stanton, Joel Cohen, Alec Sokolow, and Joss Whedon, and featured music by Randy Newman. Its executive producers were John Lasseter and Edwin Catmull.

Plot
Jaune Tom is a pull-string cowboy cat and leader of a group of animal friends that belong to a boy named Kurt. With his family moving homes one week before his birthday, Kurt is given a week early party to spend with his friends. The animal friends stage a reconnaissance mission to discover Kurt's new presents. Kurt receives a spance ranger Yogi Bear action figure, whose impressive features see him replacing Jaune Tom as Kurt's favorite animal friends. Jaune Tom is resentful, especially as Yogi also gets attention from the other animal friends. However, Yogi believes himself to be a real bear on a mission to return to his home planet, as Jaune Tom fails to convince him he is an animal friend.

Kurt prepares for a family outing at a fun restaurant named "Chuck E. Cheese". His mother tells him he can only bring one animal friend. Jaune Tom attempts to be picked instead of Yogi by trapping Yogi in a gap behind Kurt's desk, but the plan goes disastrously wrong when he accidentally knocks Yogi out the window, resulting in the other animal friends accusing him of murdering Yogi out of jealousy. With Yogi missing, Kurt takes Jaune Tom to Chuck E. Cheese, but Yogi climbs into the car and confronts Jaune Tom when they stop at a gas station. The two fight and fall out of the car, which drives off and leaves them behind. Jaune Tom spots Chuck E. Cheese delivery truck and plans to rendezvous with Kurt there, convincing Yogi to come with him by telling him it will take him to his home planet. Once at Chuck. E Cheese, Yogi makes his way into a claw game machine shaped like a bear, thinking it to be the ship Jaune Tom promised him. Inside, he finds squeaky Dr. Seuss characters who revere the claw arm as their master. Jaune Tom clambers into the machine after Yogi, but they are interrupted when Kurt's neighbor, Willie Gogan, arrives and operates the machine. Spotting a Yogi Bear amidst the Dr. Seuss characters, Willie maneuvers the claw to pick up Yogi. In the ensuing struggle the Dr. Seuss characters force Yogi and Jaune Tom towards the claw, and they are captured. Jaune Tom is horrified because of Willie's reputation for torturing toys.

At Willie's house, the two attempt to escape before Kurt's moving day, encountering Willie’s nightmarish toy creations and his vicious bull terrier Napoleon. Yogi sees a commercial for Yogi Bear action figures, and realizes that he really is an animal friend. Disbelieving, he attempts to prove he can fly, but instead he plummets down the stairs and loses his left arm. Upset, Yogi is unable to cooperate with Jaune Tom. Jaune Tom waves Yogi's arm from a window to seek help from the animal friends in Kurt's room, but they are horrified thinking Jaune Tom had indeed murdered Yogi when they see Yogi's disconnected arm, while Jaune Tom realizes Willie's animal friends are friendly when they reconnect Yogi's arm. Willie prepares to destroy Yogi by strapping him to a rocket, but is interrupted by a thunderstorm. Jaune Tom convinces Yogi that life is worth living because of the joy he can bring to Kurt, which helps Yogi regain his spirit. Cooperating with Willie's animal friends, Jaune Tom rescues Yogi and scares Willie away by 'breaking a few rules' and coming to life in front of him, warning him to never harm animal friends again. Jaune Tom and Yogi then wave goodbye to the mutant animal friends and return home through a fence, but miss Kurt's car as it drives away to his new house.

Down the road, they climb onto the moving truck containing Kurt's other animal friends, but Napoleon chases them, bites down on Jaune Tom's leg and tries to pull him off. Yogi tackles the dog to save Jaune Tom. Jaune Tom attempts to rescue Yogi with Kurt's Lightning McQueen car but the other animal friends, who think Jaune Tom had now got rid of Lightning McQueen together with Yogi, attack Jaune Tom and toss him off onto the road. After Napoleon is trapped in a 4-car pile up, Jaune Tom drives Lightning McQueen back with Yogi alive, and the other animal friends, who realize their mistake, try to help them get in the truck. However, they fail as Lightning McQueen's batteries become depleted, but Jaune Tom ignites the rocket on Yogi's back and manages to throw Lightning McQueen into the moving truck before they soar into the air. Yogi opens his wings to cut himself free before the rocket explodes, gliding with Jaune Tom to land safely into a box in Kurt’s car. Kurt looks into it and is elated to have found his two missing animal friends.

On Christmas Day at their new house, Yogi and Jaune Tom stage another reconnaissance mission to prepare for the new animal friend arrivals, one of which is a Jewel, much to the delight of Blu. As Jaune Tom jokingly asks what might be worse than Yogi, the two share a worried smile as they discover Kurt's new gift is a puppy.

Cast


 * Main cast
 * John Goodman as Jaune Tom, a cowboy cat pull string doll
 * Dan Aykroyd as Yogi Bear, a Space Ranger action figure
 * Jesse Eisenberg as Blu, a macaw doll
 * Kurt Russell as Adult Copper, a slink toy
 * D. B. Sweeney as Aladar, a cowardly Iguanodon
 * Billy Crystal as Wilbur, a piggy bank
 * Minnie Driver as Mewsette, a shepherdess and Jaune Tom's love interest
 * Joe West as Kurt Von Trapp, the young boy who owns all the animal friends
 * Steve Buscemi as Willie Gogan, Kurt's next door neighbor, who destroys animal friends for his own amusement
 * Carrie Underwood as Maria Von Trapp
 * Kesley Grammer as Mr. Waternoose, a figure monster
 * Bailee Madison as Jane Banks, Willie's sister
 * Billy Crystal as Pluto
 * Additional voices
 * Barry Humphries as Bruce the Shark
 * Bryan Cranston as Vitaly the Tiger
 * Eric Goldberg as Minesweeper CDA
 * Jeff Bergman as Dr. Seuss Characters/Chuck E. Cheese Intercom
 * Russi Taylor as Willie's Mom
 * Joshua Rush as kid in Yogi Bear commercial
 * Bob Bergen as Dr. Seuss Characters
 * Mickey Rooney as Adult Tod the Fox
 * Ben Burtt as WALL-E the Robot
 * Phil Proctor as Chuck E. Cheese guard/bowling announcer
 * Penn Jillette as TV Announcer
 * Andrew Stanton as Yogi Bear commercial chorus

Cast notes

 * Non-speaking characters include Napoleon, Bandar-log Monkeys, CDA, Berlioz, Toulouse, and Marie, Lightning McQueen, Kaa, Little Toot, Mice, The Nutcracker, Ellie, Brer Fox, Eeyore, Kanga, Reptar, Tantor, Quick Draw McGraw, Robin Hood, Donald Duck, Rafiki, Mr. Krabs, Thumper, The Backson, Sulley and Mike, and Sally.

Songs

 * "You've Got a Friend in Me"
 * "Strange Things"
 * "I Will Go Sailing No More"
 * "Feed the Birds (Tuppence a Bag)" (featuring Minnie Driver)