Vanellope & Friends (2016 film)

Vanellope & Friends
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Chris A. Bailey Rob Renzetti Viki Anderson
Produced by	Audrey Wells Stephen Swofford
Screenplay by	Scott Alexander Larry Karaszweski
Story by	Chris A. Bailey Rob Renzetti Viki Anderson Scott Alexander Larry Karaszweski
Starring	Sarah Silverman Tom Hanks Isabella Kai Rice Imelda Staunton Cameron Boyce Ginnifer Goodwin Ed O'Neill Michael J. Fox Billy Connolly
Music by	Hans Zimmer John Powell
Cinematography	Alan Stewart
Edited by	Christopher K. Gee
Production companies	Walt Disney Pictures Dice Productions
Distributed by	Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
Release date	October 21, 2016
Running time	93 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$100 million
Box office	$456 million

Vanellope & Friends is a 2016 American animated comedy musical fantasy film directed by Chris A. Bailey, Rob Renzetti, and Viki Anderson in their feature directorial debuts from a screenplay penned by writing duo Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski. The film features the voices of Sarah Silverman, Tom Hanks, Isabella Kai Rice, Imelda Staunton, Cameron Boyce, Ginnifer Goodwin, Ed O'Neill, Michael J. Fox, and Billy Connolly (in his final film role before retirement). Set in Anythingville, a world where anything can happen and where humans co-exist in peace with anthropomorphic objects and animals, the film centers on Vanellope von Schweetz and Woody, the latter of whom who doesn't believe Anythingville is real, going on a trip with her friends to the Hader's Kingdom, a kingdom ruled by an jolly, optimistic king. When they strike a deal with a wicked shapeshifting sorceress, Vanellope and the group race against time to get the king's daughter and her love interest share true love's kiss in three days to make them the first married children, otherwise Vada will claim her and take over the Hader's Kingdom.

Produced by Dice Productions as its first film, Vanellope & Friends was released theatrically in the United States on October 21, 2016 by Walt Disney Pictures. The film received universal acclaim from critics for the story, animation, characters, voice acting, songs, humor, and fidelity to Disney's classics. It was also a box office success, earning $456 million worldwide on a $100 million budget. The film was nominated for a number awards including the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. It is the first installment in the Vanellope & Friends film series, being followed by fifteen sequels that were also box office successes, beginning with Vanellope & Friends: 4th Of July in 2017 and ending with Vanellope Ever After in 2028.

Plot

Humans and anthropomorphic objects and creatures co-exist in harmony in Disneyville, the most magical star in the sky. One day, Vanellope von Schweetz and her friends Judy Hopps the rabbit and Hank the Eastern Pacific red octopus are headed for the Anythingville Town Square to attend Lawrence Broderick West's new instatement as the new mayor of Anythingville. However, Vanellope falls behind when stepping on a mango, and is chased by two angry Texas Longhorns after accidentally ruining their meal. He is reluctantly saved and protected from the bulls by a no-nonsense cowboy named Woody. Vanellope thanks him while following him to his solitary log cabin in the Anythingville Forest. When Vanellope mentions Anythingville's motto, "In Anythingville, anything can happen", to Woody, he brushes it off, as he is the only one who thinks Disneyville does not exist. Vanellope catches up with her friends and makes it in time to see Lawrence become the new mayor.

The next day, Vanellope brings Judy, Hank, and her pet iguana Iggy to the log cabin to meet Woody, much to his disgruntlement. Soon, Lawrence and his advisor, a floating plastic bowl named Mr. Ziploc, invite Vanellope and her friends to show to the Haders' Kingdom that anything can happen. Woody initially refuses to come, but is pressured by Vanellope into coming along anyway and reluctantly agrees. Once they get to the Haders' Kingdom, they are greeted by its jolly, fun-loving king, Marcus Hader III, his jester, a talking banana named Banana, and his young ten-year-old daughter and the princess, Jenny Hader, at the kingdom castle. Meanwhile, far outside of the kingdom, Vada del Norte, a sorceress who can shapeshift into a dragon and was banished by Marcus from the kingdom for her evildoing, uses her magic to spy on the newcomers and Jenny, and plots to use this to her advantage to get revenge for her exile.

Back in the Haders' Kingdom, Jenny explains to the group that it's her dream to marry a boy her age named James W. Anderson. However, Woody is disgusted by the idea, believing that she can't be married due to her age. Her rival, Hailie Heaney, who also wants the prince to marry her, rips up Jenny's princess dress and shoves her into the kingdom fountain. Jenny breaks into tears as she runs for her room, with Vanellope and Woody following. When they get to her room, Vada's two flying cobras, Hawley and Dawley, who can turn invisible, convince the trio to visit Vada, who can use her powers to help Jenny win the love of her life. Hawley and Dawley take the trio to Vada's hideout, where Vada makes a deal with Vanellope, Woody, and Jenny and creates a potion that will give Jenny three days before she can turn into a tulip: Within sunset on the third day, Jenny and James must share true love's kiss, or she will otherwise belong to Vada as part of her garden of living tulips she imprisoned. Jenny and Vanellope agree, and Woody reluctantly does so too; the three are unaware that the contract is secretly part of Vada's plan.

When Jenny, Vanellope and Woody begin walking back to the Hader's Kingdom, They find Lawrence, Judy, Hank, Mr. Ziploc, and Iggy, who have been looking for the trio, and inform about the situation Jenny is in. However, Woody, fed up with enduring what he calls "childish nonsense", blames Vanellope for ruining his "perfect life" in the cabin and tries to leave. Vanellope and Woody get into a argument over Woody's refusal to believe in Anythingville, during which he reveals that the reason for him not believing in Anythingville was because he blames it for being the cause of an incident years ago in which his late wife and kids fell off a cliff when hiking. Vanellope and the others comfort him with a hug, and he finally agrees to help on the condition that Vanellope lets him have his perfect life back afterwards. Back in Jenny's room, Vanellope instructs her friends to sew and create a new dress and makeup to get her pretty and prepared for a date with James.

The group meet James, who is unaware of Vada's situation and offers to take Jenny out on a date at a nearby lake called Great Grand Gazeboo the next day, to which she excitedly agrees. Jenny and James spend time together and bond. On the night of the second day, Jenny and James almost kiss, but are thwarted by Hawley and Dawley. Furious at Jenny's close success, Vada creates a potion she uses to disguise herself as a young girl at Jenny's age named Nerissa and appears just outside the kingdom. When James spots Nerissa, she casts a hypnotic enchantment that makes him forget about Jenny. The next day, Jenny runs downstairs at the thought that she won James' love upon hearing the announcement of his wedding. However, she, Vanellope, and the others discover that James will be married to Nerissa at the courtyard by sunset, which breaks her heart. Outside the castle, Woody's refusal to believing in Anythingville once again gets the best of him. In a last attempt to claim that Anythingville is just "childish nonsense", Woody indirectly insults them as being extremely selfish, breaking their hearts and causing them to turn their backs on him.

A little while later, Iggy and Mr. Ziploc hear Nerissa singing and discovers her true identity: Vada in disguise. As Woody, having realized that Anythingville is real after all, is reconciling with Vanellope and her friends, Mr. Ziploc and Iggy inform the group of their discovery. Vanellope, Woody, Jenny, Lawrence, Judy, and Hank run for the courtyard, while Mr. Ziploc and Iggy stop the wedding with the help of various animals. In the chaos, a necklace that she wears with the spell in its locket, breaking the enchantment over James. James reunites with Jenny and is about kiss her, but the sun sets. Jenny starts to turn into a tulip, while Vada turns back to her true form. Wracked with horror by what Vada did to his daughter, Marcus confronts Vada and demands her to turn Jenny back into a human, but the contract is indestructible. At Vada's urging, Marcus agrees to take his daughter's place as a tulip, giving up his crown and his authority over the Haders' Kingdom. Vada reverts Jenny back into a human and changes her father into a tulip to everyone's horror. Vada declares herself the new queen, but just as she is about to kill Jenny with her magic, Vanellope and Woody intervene, causing her to accidentally kill Hawley and Dawley. Enraged, Vada turns to her dragon form and takes Jenny hostage as she flies to the top of the castle, creating a storm of wind and rain and rising several arcus clouds into the sky with her magic. She even puts everyone under a spell, forcing them to bow down before her. Vanellope appears defeated by Vada's magic, but is revealed to have survived and used Lawrence's magic wand to become the Wizardess of Anything, with magical powers, a gold robe and pointed hat covered with silver stars, white gloves, and rainbow-colored hair. With her magic, Vanellope hops onboard and levitates one of the clouds to rescue Jenny. When Vada lets out a breath of fire aimed at Vanellope, she lets out a burst of her magic powers, which ricochets the fire and blasts Vada, causing her to explode to dust. Jenny almost falls to her death, but Vanellope, using the cloud, catches her, and they float down to safety.

With Vada dead, her spells are undone, the storm dies down, and Marcus and the other tulips revert to original human forms. Having finally proved that anything can happen in Anythingville, Vanellope is hailed as a hero by everyone in the kingdom for their heroism, determination, and honesty. Sometime later, Jenny and James finally get married. Jenny, James, Marcus, and everyone else in the kingdom bid farewell to Vanellope, Woody, Lawrence, and the gang as they depart for home to continue Anythingville's legacy.

Cast

• Sarah Silverman as Vanellope von Schweetz, an outgoing, overly friendly, optimistic resident of Anythingville who believes the most about the motto of anything happening in Anythingville. She is also the narrator of the story.
• Tom Hanks as Woody, a well-meaning but misanthropic, no-nonsense, reclusive cowboy who initially is the only Anythingville resident who doesn't believe Anythingville exists.
• Cameron Boyce as Lawrence Broderick West, the easygoing, friendly, optimistic know-it-all mayor of Anythingville.
• Ginnifer Goodwin as Judy Hopps, a bunny who is Vanellope's friend.
• Ed O'Neill as Hank, a red octopus who has the ability to breathe on land and is Vanellope's other friend.
• Michael J. Fox as Mr. Ziploc, an anthropomorphic floating plastic bowl who is Lawrence's majordomo and best friend.
• Billy Connolly as Marcus III Hader, the optimistic king of the Hader's Kingdom and Jenny's father.
• Isabella Kai Rice as Jenny Hader, the pretty, elegant, and graceful princess of the Hader's Kingdom.
• Noah Schnapp as James W. Anderson, the handsome, good-hearted, and compassionate prince and Jenny's love interest who she is to be married to.
• Imelda Staunton as Vada del Norte, a wicked sorceress who can shapeshift into a dragon and was banished from the Hader's Kingdom for her evildoing, so she wants to claim Jenny as hers and take over the kingdom for revenge.
• Audrey Wells as the vocal effects for Iggy, Vanellope's pet iguana who can only communicate through chittering.
• Max Casella as Banana, an anthropomorphic banana and Marcus' assistant.
• Dee Bradley Baker as Hawley and Dawley, Vada's two flying cobra henchmen.
• Ella Anderson as Hailie Heaney, Jenny's arch-rival who despises and harasses her as they compete for James' affection.
• Larry King as Sir Crosby, Marcus' no-nonsense and loyal steward.
• Frank Welker as Dexter, James' pet dog.
• Miguel Ferrer and Sam Shepard as Caramel and Crank, two bulls who get angry at Vanellope for ruining their meal at the beginning of the film. This was Ferrer's last theatrical film appearance in his lifetime before his death in 2017.

Box office

In the United States, Vanellope & Friends was released alongside Mechanic: Resurrection, and was projected to gross $100--105 million in its opening weekend. It grossed $179 million in the United States and Canada, and $277 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $456 million at the end of the theatrical run on January 26, 2017.

Critical response

Vanellope & Friends was universally loved by critics and audiences alike. It has a 97% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 200 reviews. The consensus reads, "Vanellope & Friends is a creative take on the idea of anything happening that will leave fans of classic Disney films with a smile on their faces". Metacritic signed the film to a score of 90 out of 100 based on 39 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, "Vanellope & Friends is this one of this year's greatest animated movies. 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". Leonard Maltin of Entertainment Tonight called the film "clever and laugh-out-loud funny". Tim Grierson of Paste wrote, "Vanellope & Friends is one of the most irresistible, fun, and adventurous animated films I've ever seen".