Animations, Inc. (also known as Animations, Incorporated) is a 1998 American animated comedy film produced by Imagine Entertainment and United Saints Studios for Universal Pictures. Featuring the voices of Matthew Broderick, Scott Bakula, James Woods, Jeremy Irons, Tara Strong and Jasmine Guy, the film was directed by Ron Howard from a screenplay by David Lindsay-Abaire and Tim Hill. The film centers on two animations, the lion Simba (Broderick) and his cat partner and best friend Danny (Bakula), who are employed at the titular energy-producing factory Animations, Inc., which generates power by scaring children. However, the animated world believes that the children are toxic, and when a little human girl Bubbles (Strong) sneaks into the factory, she must be returned home before it is too late.
Danny Elfman and James Newton Howard, who composed the music.
Animations, Inc. was released in theaters in the United States on July 17, 1998. Upon its release, it received critical acclaim and was a commercial success, grossing over $928 million worldwide to become the third highest-grossing film of 1998. Animations, Inc. saw a 3D re-release in theaters on December 12, 2008. A prequel titled Animations University, which was directed by Matthew O'Callaghan, was released on June 22, 2007. A television series titled Animations at Workpremiered on Netflix on July 18, 2018.
Plot[]
In a world inhabited by animations, the city of Animatropolis harnesses the screams of children for energy. At the Animations, Incorporated factory, skilled animations employed as "scarers" venture into the human world to scare children and harvest their screams, through doors that activate portals to children's bedroom closets. The work is considered dangerous, as children are believed to be toxic and capable of killing a animation through physical contact. Energy production is declining because children are becoming less afraid, and the company's CEO, Scar, is determined to prevent the company's collapse.
One evening after work, Simba, a top-ranking scarer, discovers that an active door has been left in the station of Hades, his rival. He inspects the door and accidentally lets a young human girl into the factory. Frightened, Simba unsuccessfully attempts to return the girl, who escapes into Animatropolis, interrupting Danny, Simba's best friend and assistant, on a date with Sawyer, his girlfriend and the receptionist of Animations Inc., at a food restaurant. Chaos erupts when other animations see the girl, but Simba and Danny escape with her before the Child Detection Agency (CDA) arrives and quarantines the restaurant. Forced to keep the girl hidden in their apartment for the night, Simba soon realizes that the girl is not toxic and her laughter is very powerful.
The next day, Simba and Danny take the girl to the factory disguised as a animation. While Danny seeks out her door, Simba grows attached to her and nicknames her "Bubbles". Hades, waiting in ambush for the girl, captures Danny by accident and reveals his plan to kidnap children and harvest their screams using his new invention, the scream extractor. Simba rescues Danny and they head to the training room to report Hades to Mr. Scar. There, he forces Simba to give a scare demonstration, which frightens Bubbles and makes Simba realize how wrong scaring children is. Bubbles reveals herself and Danny tells Scar about Hades' plan. However, he reveals he is on Hades' side, kidnaps Bubbles and uses a door to exile Danny and Simba to the Himalayas. Simba heads to a nearby village to get back to the factory, but Danny initially refuses to go with him.
Simba saves Bubbles from the scream extractor, and Hades proceeds to attack him. Danny returns to reconcile with Simba and exposes Hades, who pursues them and Bubbles into the enormous door storage vault; Hades manages to catch up, but is defeated by Bubbles. The trio then hurl Hades through a door to the Everglades, which they then destroy, leaving Hades permanently trapped in the human world. When Danny and Simba locate Powerpuff Girls' door, Scar, accompanied by the CDA, brings it down to the scare floor to arrest Danny and Simba. Danny distracts the CDA while Simba and Bubbles escape, leading Scar into the training room, where he reveals his conspiracy to kidnap as many children as necessary to keep the company afloat. Danny records the conversation and reveals it to the CDA, and Scar is arrested. Joanna Watterson, Danny's secretary, who reveals herself as the CDA's undercover director, orders Simba to send Bubbles home, and after Simba sadly says goodbye to Bubbles, the door is shredded.
Afterwards, Simba retools the company's power generation method to harvest children's laughter instead of screams, as laughter is ten times more powerful. With the energy crisis solved, the factory is now focused on making children laugh to collect energy; Danny becomes the company's top comedian, and Simba is named the new CEO. Danny surprises Simba by revealing he rebuilt Powerpuff Girls' shredded door. Simba enters the door and reunites with Bubbles.
Cast[]
Main article: List of Animations, Inc. characters
- Matthew Broderick as Simba, a lion, intimidating but well-meaning scarer at Animations, Inc. At the film's beginning, he has been the "Best Scarer" at Animations, Inc. for several months running.
- Scott Bakula as Danny, an ambitious, optimistically naïve orange tabby cat assistant who is Simba's best friend, roommate, and coworker. He is charming and generally the more organized of the two, but he is prone to neurotics, and his ego sometimes leads him astray.
- Tara Strong as Bubbles, is the "softest and sweetest" of the Powerpuff Girl. Her signature color is blue, her personality ingredient is "sugar", and she has blonde hair in pigtails who is unafraid of any animation except Hades, the scarer assigned to her door. She believes Simba is a large cat and refers to him as "Kitty".
- James Woods as Hades
- Jeremy Irons as Scar, the CEO of Animations, Inc., a job passed down through his family for three generations, who is secretly in league with Hades.
- Jasmine Guy as Sawyer, a receptionist for Animations, Inc. and Danny's girlfriend.
- Sandra Searles Dickinson as Joanna "Jojo" Watterson, the administrator for Scare Floor F, where Simba, Danny, and Hades work. She is secretly the head of the CDA, operating undercover inside Animations, Inc.
- Brian Murray as John Silver, a former Animations, Inc. employee who was banished to the Himalayas. His appearance is a cyborg who leads the mutiny on the RLS Legacy.
- Keith David as Dr. Facilier, Randall's beleaguered assistant.
- Frank Welker and Casey Kasem as Scooby-Doo and Shaggy, two small janitor animations who idolize Simba and operate the Door Shredder when required.
- Billy West as Bugs Bunny, a good friend of Scar who manages Scare Floor F.
- Cameron Diaz as Fiona, a talent recruiter who trains new animations to scare children.
- Richard Kind as Tom, an accident-prone trainee scarer for Animations, Inc.
- Dan Castellaneta as Homer Simpson, a scarer at Animations, Inc. In a running gag throughout the film, he repeatedly makes contact with objects from the human world, resulting in CDA agents tackling him, shaving his entire body, and sterilizing him. He is good friends with coworker Peter Griffin.