Disney In The House: Oceans is a 2020 American live-action/animated fantasy musical film produced by Walt Disney Wonder Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. The sequel to Disney In The House: World Animals and the ninth and final installment in the studio's classic Disney In The House franchise, the film was directed by Sarah Jane Cunningham and Suzie V. Freeman in their directorial debuts. The plot centers on Vanellope von Schweetz on an adventure underwater to save the Mermaid Kingdom by defeating an evil mermaid who plots to destroy it. In the film's ensemble cast, Sarah Silverman, Ginnifer Goodwin, Dakota Fanning, Owen Laramore, and Ed O'Neill reprise their roles from the previous eight films. Andy Dick, who played numerous characters in the first eight films, played Hax the Hammerhead Shark in this film. The returning cast is joined by Iris Apatow, Gwyneth Paltrow, Kirsten Dunst, and Whoopi Goldberg, who play the new characters introduced.
| Disney In The House: Oceans | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Sarah Jane Cunningham Suzie V. Freeman |
| Produced by | Gary Marsh Gary Krisel |
| Screenplay by | Roger S.H. Schulman |
| Story by | Sarah Jane Cunningham Suzie V. Freeman Gary Marsh Gary Krisel |
| Starring | Sarah Silverman Iris Apatow Gwyneth Paltrow Ginnifer Goodwin Whoopi Goldberg Owen Laramore Dakota Fanning Kirsten Dunst Ed O'Neill |
| Music by | Christophe Beck |
| Cinematography | Owen Roizman Moria Morel |
| Edited by | William J. Caparella |
| Production company | Walt Disney Pictures Walt Disney Wonder Studios |
| Distributed by | Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures |
| Release date | February 25, 2020 |
| Running time | 90 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $150 million |
| Box office | $175 million |
The film was released theatrically across the United States on February 25, 2020. It was the studio's fifteenth and final feature film and the final Disney In The House film in which Michael J. Fox played Mr. Ziploc. Despite receiving generally positive reviews from critics and winning two Academy Awards for Best Cinematography and Best Visual Effects, the film underperformed at the box office, causing Walt Disney Wonder Studios' bankruptcy. Its financial shortcomings and the studio's closure were largely attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic's impact on the film industry, which led to the widespread closure of movie theaters; Disney made the film available digitally two months after its release. A reboot series was produced by Olaramore04 Studios, starting with a 2021 reboot film.
Plot
By the end of summer in Disneyville, Vanellope Von Schweetz, Judy Hopps, Beth Pierce, Hank, Iggy, Mr. Ziploc, and Lawrence Pierce make a trip to Disneyville Beach. Vanellope tries to get across the ocean to prove the water is warm, but is washed away to shore. They hitch a submarine ride under the sea with its driver, Roger Redford. A young teenage mermaid named Lily and her dolphin friend Blowhole spot the submarine and meets Vanellope and the others. At that moment, a hammerhead shark named Hax chases them to the surface. While Blowhole holds off the shark, Lily gives Vanellope a magic crown, which transforms Vanellope into a mermaid. Without Hax noticing, Vanellope and Lily dive into the ocean.
Merci, the queen of the mermaid kingdom and Lily's mother, reveals she has three missing sea creature cases and assigns each mermaid one. When she comes to Vanellope, she doubts her potential and puts her in charge of her daughter. Vanellope is disappointed, but Lily and decide to help her solve all three cases. An evil mermaid named Marina O'Malley who was banished from the kingdom by Merci for her evildoing and is also Hax's master, plots to get revenge on Merci. Meanwhile, Judy decides they should search for Vanellope. Suddenly, the submarine fills up with water, and Judy, Beth, Lawrence, Iggy, Mr. Ziploc, Hank, and Roger escape and get to the surface before it explode, bringing a life raft in the process.
After saving a sea turtle and a yellow tang fish, the trio comes across a Siamese fighting fish. Hax comes towards the fish, but Vanellope, and Lily rescue the fish and scare away Hax. In a heated argument, Vanellope angrily accuses Lily of wasting her time as a mermaid and swims off after Lily unintentionally hurts her feelings. O'Malley, having to have watched their entire argument, captures Lily. Merci witnesses Lily's capture and informs a still-infuriated Vanellope of O'Malley's evil plan. Vanellope, feeling remorseful over leaving Lily, enlists the help of Merci and Blowhole to follow O'Malley and save Lily. Merci demands Lily's release, but, because her shield is inviolable, she agrees to take her daughter's place as O'Malley's prisoner, giving up her trident and losing her power over the Mermaid Kingdom.
O'Malley turns Merci into a helpless sea creature and takes the trident and tries to kill Vanellope and Lily, but Judy, Beth, Hank, Lawrence, Iggy, Mr. Ziploc, and Roger appear. She tries to kill Vanellope, but Lily intervenes, causing O'Malley to inadvertently kill Hax. Vanellope steals the trident and turns Merci back into a mermaid. Merci regains her power and defeats O'Malley, and Lily and Vanellope reconcile.
With O'Malley gone, the Mermaid Kingdom goes back to normal. At sunrise, Vanellope gives Lily the crown, and happily turns into her natural form. Lily presents Vanellope with a seashell necklace. The two share a hug and bid each other a heartfelt farewell. Back on the beach, Vanellope, Judy, Beth, Hank, Iggy, Mr. Ziploc, and Lawrence say goodbye to Roger and decide to go to the Disneyville Aquarium.
In a mid-credits scene, the gang is at the aquarium, and Judy tries to take a picture of seals, but they bark and throw fish at her, much to her dismay.
Cast
- Sarah Silverman as Vanellope, a resident of Disneyville. She is the film's protagonist.
- Iris Apatow as Lily Polliwogs, Merci's teenage daughter and the princess of the Mermaid Kingdom. She is the film's deuteragonist.
- Ginnifer Goodwin as Judy Hopps, a resident of Disneyville and one of Vanellope's best friends.
- Dakota Fanning as Beth Pierce, Lawrence's younger sister and one of Vanellope's friends.
- Ed O'Neill as Hank, Disneyville's greatest septopus and one of Vanellope's friends.
- Frank Welker as Iggy, an iguana and Vanellope's pet.
- Michael J. Fox as Mr. Ziploc, an anthropomorphic plastic bowl and the news messenger of Disneyville.
- Owen Laramore as Lawrence Pierce, the mayor of Disneyville and Beth's older brother.
- Gwyneth Paltrow as Mariana O'Malley, an exiled evil mermaid, who plots to destroy the Mermaid Kingdom to make a home for her sharks. She is the film's antagonist.
- Kirsten Dunst as Blowhole, a dolphin and Lily's best friend. She is the film's tritagonist.
- Whoopi Goldberg as Merci Polliwogs, the queen of the Mermaid Kingdom and Lily's mother. She is the film's tetartagonist.
- Brian d'James Arcy as Roger Redford, a submarine driver.
- Andy Dick as Hax, a hammerhead shark who chases the submarine.
Box office
The film opened on February 25, 2020, and grossed $70 million in its opening weekend. It has earned $77 million in the United States and Canada, and $98 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $175 million. Produced on a $150 million budget, it failed at the box-office, causing the closure of Walt Disney Wonder Studios. At the same month it was closed, it was speculated that the gross for Disney In The House: Oceans was significantly affected by the 2019-20 coronavirus pandemic.
Critical response
Despite the box-office failure, Disney In The House: Oceans received positive reviews, with an 73% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The site's consensus reads, "Even though Disney In The House: Oceans can't quite keep this franchise from ending, it still has screen-accurate visuals, colorful cinematography, and an awesome cast". On Metacritic, The film has a score of 71 out of 100 based on 25 critics, indicating, "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film a grade of "A-" on an A+ to F scale.
Asher Luberto of The Playlist gave the film a positive review, saying, "The visual aspects of mermaids in this film are really screen-accurate". Richard Roeper of Chicago Sun Times gave the film "Two Thumbs Up". David Ansen of Newsweek gave the film a positive review, saying, "As directed by Sarah Jane Cunningham and Suzie V. Freeman, Disney In The House: Oceans delivers great cinematography, humor, visuals, writing, music, and performances, with potentially good results". Rene Rodriguez of The Hiami Herald gave the film a positive review, saying, "As always, Vanellope is just as funny as she was in the previous eight movies".
Antonio Quirke of Londing Evening Standard gave the film a negative review, saying, "While it's no melody, it may irritate young viewers who are not fans of the franchise".