Vanellope & Friends (2016 film)

Disney In The House: Introduction is a 2016 American live-action/animated comedy-drama fantasy film directed by Chris A. Bailey, Rob Renzetti, and Vixi Anderson in their feature directorial debuts from a screenplay penned by writing duo Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszweski. John Lasseter served as the film's executive producer. The film's cast features Sarah Silverman, Ginnifer Goodwin, Ed O'Neill, Tom Hanks, Dakota Fanning, Spencer Breslin (both from archive recordings of their child voices), Owen Laramore, Michael J. Fox, Max Casella, Chris Rock, and Billy Connolly. The film's score was composed by Hans Zimmer and John Powell.

Disney In The House: Introduction
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Chris A. Bailey Rob Renzetti Vixi Anderson
Produced by	Gary Marsh Gary Krisel
Screenplay by	Scott Alexander Larry Karaszweski
Story by	John Lasseter Gary Marsh Gary Krisel Chris A. Bailey Rob Renzetti Vixi Anderson Scott Alexander Larry Karaszweski
Starring	Sarah Silverman Ginnifer Goodwin Ed O'Neill Tom Hanks Dakota Fanning Spencer Breslin Owen Laramore Michael J. Fox Max Casella Chris Rock Billy Connolly
Music by	Hans Zimmer John Powell
Cinematography	Newton Thomas Sigel
Edited by	Jhoanne Reyes Jennifer Lame
Production company	Walt Disney Pictures Walt Disney Wonder Studios Reel FX Animation Studios
Distributed by	Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
Release date	October 5, 2016 (Hollywood) October 18, 2016 (United States)
Running time	110 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$90 million
Box office	$671 million

Produced by Walt Disney Wonder Studios as its first film, it was released theatrically in the United States on October 18, 2016 by Walt Disney Pictures. The film grossed $671 million worldwide against its $90 million budget and received critical acclaim for its heartwarming story, the performances of Silverman, Hanks, Fanning, and Laramore, and the CGI animation on the Disney characters. The film also has a rare 100% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes and received four Academy Award nominations including Best Picture.

The film's success led to nine sequels: Disney In The House: 4th Of July, Disney In The House: Christmas, Disney In The House: Wild Wild West, Disney In The House: Musical Melody, Disney In The House: Off To Adventure Camp, Disney In The House: Time Travel, Disney In The House: Return To Adventure Camp, Disney In The House: World Animals, and Disney In The House: Oceans on July 4, 2017, December 26, 2017, May 11, 2018, December 25, 2018, March 3, 2019, June 13, 2019, September 23, 2019, December 23, 2019, and February 25, 2020.

Plot

Humans and Disney characters co-exist in harmony in Disneyville, the most magical star in the sky. Mayor Lawrence Pierce and Mr. Ziploc take Vanellope von Schweetz and her pet iguana Iggy on a history tour and introduce them to Judy Hopps, Hank, Woody, Agent P, and the Little Green Men. When they build shelter for Woody, Vanellope tells them her sad backstory of when poachers arrested her former friend Banana; Vanellope has been wanting to make her own family ever since. A knight named Murray hitches them on a ride to the Hader's Kingdom, much to Woody's disgruntlement.

King Marcus, the ruler of the Hader's Kingdom, greets the gang. After introducing them to his son, Conrad, they spy on Conrad's sister Sally's singing about longing to marry her brother. Vanellope comforts Sally by saying Conrad would never abandon her, but Woody angrily admonishes Vanellope for deliberately bringing bad luck on her family (saying Sally is too young to be married) and laments that he has not been anywhere since a dragon killed his neighbor. Woody finally agrees to help Sally marry Conrad. After the successful date at the kingdom's pizza place, the group helps a spy named Agent Gadget retrieve three gems out of the hands of a murderous outlaw couple named Ginny and Alan.

By the time they arrive at Ginny and Alan's lair, the dragon chases them, but they narrowly escape when the dragon gets caught on a chandelier. Conrad takes Sally for a rowboat ride across a lagoon, and the two kiss. While looking for a way back to the Hader's Kingdom, Vanellope comes across Banana. Banana reveals that his plan was to lure her to the poachers to be arrested, as revenge for abandoning him when his youthful heist went bad. After a few pleas from her next-door neighbor Marka, Vanellope turns herself in to the poachers and becomes discouraged. In jail, a skeleton named Skull Housetown informs Vanellope that the dragon is headed for the Hader's Kingdom. Realizing Banana intended to destroy Disneyville all along, Vanellope escapes jail, with help from Woody, who has finally realized the truth of Lawrence's motto. Vanellope, Judy, Hank, Woody, Sally, Conrad, Gadget, Mr. Ziploc, Lawrence, Iggy, Agent P, and the Little Green Men return to the Hader's Kingdom to tell Marcus about the situation.

The dragon arrives at that moment, under Banana's commands. Gadget is reprimanded by Banana, who forces Gadget to reveal his duplicity to Vanellope and the others, because he was secret working for him and was not a real spy. As Vanellope and the others turn hostile towards him, Gadget asks for their trust, having had a change of heart. Enraged, Banana closes in on Vanellope to kill her, but Woody throws him into a kitchen and into a painting, which injures and instantly kills him. Using Sally as bait, Vanellope and Gadget lure the dragon to his death. The bridge crumbles as the dragon is killed, and Vanellope grabs the rope Sally and Gadget are holding. Gadget resigns himself to his fate, lets go of the rope to sacrifice himself, and dies, giving Vanellope the advantage to save Sally.

Three days after Conrad and Sally finally marry, the bridge is rebuilt, and Vanellope and the gang head home. Judy, Hank, Mr. Ziploc, and Lawrence move in with Iggy and Vanellope. Everyone in Disneyville celebrates with the song "We Are Family", and the film ends.

Cast

• Sarah Silverman as the voice of Vanellope von Schweetz, an adorable, high-spirited, and heroic adolescent with a Canadian-accent who is a resident of Disneyville.
• Ginnifer Goodwin as the voice of Judy Hopps, an anthropomorphic street-wise bunny and a resident of Disneyville.
• Ed O'Neill as the voice of Hank, an anthropomorphic hotshot and good-humored red octopus and Disneyville's greatest septopus.
• Tom Hanks as the voice of Woody, a well-meaning but over-cautious and domesticated resident of Disneyville.
• Dakota Fanning as Sally Hader, the pretty, elegant, and graceful princess of the Hader's Kingdom and Conrad's younger sister.
• Spencer Breslin as Conrad Hader, the handsome, good-hearted, and compassionate prince of the Hader's Kingdom and Sally's older brother.
• Chris Rock as Agent Gadget, a super spy. He is later turned out to be a duplicitous bounty hunter sent by Banana, but he is actually nice and careful. Before Rock was cast, Robert Downey Jr. and Brad Pitt were considered.
• Michael J. Fox as the voice of Mr. Ziploc, an anthropomorphic plastic bowl and the news messenger of Disneyville.
• Owen Laramore as Lawrence Pierce, an easygoing and optimistic know-it-all and the mayor of Disneyville.
• Frank Welker as the voice of Iggy, Vanellope's pet iguana who can only communicate through chittering. Welker provided the vocal effects for Iggy.
• Dee Bradley Baker as the voices of The Little Green Men, residents of Disneyville who are the most excited about Vanellope's dream. Baker also voices Agent P, a citizen of Disneyville and a platypus who is good partners with the Little Green Men.
• Samantha Morton and Sam Elliott as Ginny and Alan, a murderous outlaw husband and wife couple.
• Billy Connolly as Marcus III Hader, the optimistic and elderly Scottish-accented ruler of the Hader's Kingdom and Conrad and Sally's father. Christopher Lee showed interest in playing the character, but died on June 7, 2015. Connolly, Ed Begley Jr., Brendan Gleeson, and John Cleese considered replacing Lee before Connolly ultimately received the role.
• David Krumholtz as Murray, a knight who invites Vanellope and her family to the Hader's Kingdom.
• Max Casella as the voice of Banana, Vanellope's former friend who was sent to jail by poachers. He is later revealed to have been plotting to destroy Disneyville as revenge.
• Miguel Ferrer as Commander, the ruthless leader of the illegal poachers. This was the last live-action role for Ferrer before his death on January 19, 2017.
• Helena Bonham Carter as Marka, a British-accented woman and Vanellope's next door neighbor.
• Andy Dick as the voice of Skull Housetall, a Swedish-accented skeleton who warns Vanellope about Banana's evil plan.

Box office

The film opened on October 18, 2016, and was projected to gross $100-110 million in its opening weekend. It grossed $300 million in the United States and Canada, and $371 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $671 million at the end of the theatrical run on March 19, 2017, ten days before Disney In The House: 4th Of July was released. It was Walt Disney Wonder Studios' highest-grossing film before being surpassed by Disney In The House: Time Travel in 2019. With a theatrical run lasting for five months, it has had the longest theatrical run of any Walt Disney Wonder Studios film before being surpassed by Disney In The House: Time Travel (which ran in theaters for six months) in December 25, 2019.

Critical response

Disney In The House: Introduction was universally loved by critics and audiences alike. It has a 100% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 200 reviews. The consensus reads, "Full of classic family entertainment, eye-popping CGI animation, and a thrilling cast, Disney In The House: Introduction marks a successful film debut for Walt Disney Wonder Studios". Metacritic signed the film to a score of 93 out of 100 based on 34 critics, indicating "universal acclaim". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film a grade of "A+" on an A+ to F scale.

Ty Burr of The Boston Globe gave the film 5 out of 5 stars, saying, "Disney In The House: Introduction is the greatest movie of all-time. It is capable of captivating kids". Alison Willmore of Vulture called the film "surprisingly sensational". According to Sarah Silverman's performance of Vanellope von Schweetz, Richard Roeper of Chicago Sun Times gave the film "Two Thumbs Up" and wrote, "There's no protagonist better than Vanellope". Anthony Lane of New Yorker wrote, "Using Dakota Fanning's child voice from archive recordings is just a nicer idea than I can ever imagine". Leonard Maltin of Entertainment Tonight called the film "clever and laugh-out-loud funny". Tim Grierson of Paste wrote, "Disney In The House: Introduction is irresistible".