Vanellope & Friends: Off To Adventure Camp

Vanellope & Friends: Off To Adventure Camp
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Andrew Adamson
Produced by	Audrey Wells Stephen Swofford
Screenplay by	Evan Spiliotopoulos Samantha Silver Joey Manderino
Story by	Andrew Adamson Evan Spiliotopoulos Samantha Silver Joey Manderino
Starring	Sarah Silverman Lulu Wilson Ginnifer Goodwin Ed O'Neill Mckenna Grace Pierce Gagnon Tom Wilkinson Rita Moreno Sally Hawkins
Music by	Harry Gregson-Williams
Cinematography	Erik Messerschmidt
Edited by	Ivan Bilancio
Production companies	Walt Disney Pictures Dice Productions
Distributed by	Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
Release date	January 30, 2019 (United States)
Running time	91 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$150 million
Box office	$871 million

Vanellope & Friends: Off To Adventure Camp is a 2019 American animated musical adventure film produced by Dice Productions and distributed by Walt Disney Pictures. Directed by Andrew Adamson, it serves as the sequel to Vanellope & Friends: Music Circus and the sixth installment in the Vanellope & Friends film series. The film stars the voices of Sarah Silverman, Lulu Wilson, Ginnifer Goodwin, Ed O'Neill, Mckenna Grace, Pierce Gagnon, Tom Wilkinson (in his final role in a Hollywood feature film role before his death in 2023), Rita Moreno, and Sally Hawkins. In the film, Vanellope von Schweetz and her new friend, an 11-year-old junior camper named Aaliyah Y. Sandoval, going on a two-night camping trip to Anythingville's most famous camp site, Adventure Camp, with their friends. The first day goes as planned, but on the second day, Vanellope and Aaliyah get separated from Adventure Camp and the other campers, and have to find a way to get back to Adventure Camp before the end of the trip.

Vanellope & Friends: Off To Adventure Camp was released theatrically in the United States on January 30, 2019. This was one of the last Dice films with the involvement of Audrey Wells and John Lasseter, following Wells' death in October 2018 (this was thus dedicated to her memory) and Lasseter's exit from Disney in December of that same year. The film received acclaim from critics and audiences, who praised the writing, humor, animation, music, and voice acting. It was also met with successful box office numbers, grossing over $871 million worldwide against its $150 million budget by the end of its theatrical run, and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. A sequel, Vanellope & Friends: Time Travel, was released on April 10, 2019.

Plot

11-year-old Aaliyah Y. Sandoval is going to a two-night trip to Adventure Camp with her friends Joanna Alyn Lind and Brandon Breslin. Onboard Ben the bus, they meet Vanellope von Schweetz, Judy Hopps, and Hank who are also going to Adventure Camp for the same two nights. Aaliyah loses her backpack, and she and Vanellope jump out to of Ben get it back. Aaliyah and Vanellope find her backpack and yearn to get back to Adventure Camp. The Wise Old Owl, a wise old horned owl, shows up and advises them to follow a map that explains that to get to Adventure Camp, they must go over the river and through the woods. Aaliyah and Vanellope accept the map and begin following it after the Wise Old Owl gives them a horn to blow in case they need her help.

Meanwhile, at Adventure Camp, after Ben drops off the campers, they realize Aaliyah and Vanellope are missing, and Judy, Hank, Joanna, Brandon, and Adventure Camp's founder, Mr. Marks, hop on his camp ranger jeep and set out to find them. As Aaliyah and Vanellope follow the map, they go through the river onboard a canoe. Aaliyah catches a fish, but when Vanellope tries to catch some baby salmon with her fishing rod, she is pulled into the river by the mother, but Aaliyah jumps into the water and rescues her. Water leaks into the canoe, so Vanellope and Aaliyah paddle to an island where they enlist the help of its inhabitant chipmunks to help them build a big raft. When the raft is finished, they continue following the river, but the raft is eventually destroyed when they fall over a giant waterfall, though they still have the map. As they continue on their way on foot, they have several misadventures throughout their path, like an encounter with the Arch-Leaves, a tribe of archers covered of leaves and successfully passing the Alpha Arch-Leaf's Test of Battle, escaping quicksand, and taking a rare conifer cone (Aaliyah's favorite) from a pine tree and escaping just before the pine tree falls.

Later, Vanellope and Aaliyah are excited to find Adventure Camp in the distance, but disappointed to find out that it is dark as it is the second (and final) night in the campers' trip, so they put out a campsite for the night. Aaliyah remains optimistic and uses the horn to call the Wise Old Owl, who flies to and informs Mr. Marks (who, after he, Judy, Hank, Joanna, and Brandon have almost given up and were heading back to camp), who agrees to pick her up in the morning and lets her parents know. In the morning, Vanellope and Aaliyah look out into the view to see the Adventure Camp camping trip about to end. Suddenly, the cliff rocks underneath Aaliyah give way, sending her hanging on for dear life quite a way below the edge. Vanellope uses the horn to call the Wise Old Owl, who leads Mr. Marks, Joanna, and Berlioz to Aaliyah and Vanellope. Mr. Marks, Joanna, Brandon, Judy, Hank, and the Wise Old Owl engineer the rescue by using a rope and climbing harness tied to the jeep while Vanellope relays the instructions to Mr. Mark, and together, they pull Aaliyah back to safety.

Vanellope, Aaliyah, Judy, Hank, Joanna, Berlioz, Mr. Marks, and the Wise Old Owl make it to Adventure Camp, where Anya reunites with her friends and family. Through song, Aaliyah confesses her love for Adventure Camp and everyone and everything in it, joined in by Vanellope, Joanna, Brandon, Mr. Marks, the campers, her family, and even the Wise Old Owl. When the camping trip finishes, Vanellope and the kids pack their things and hop onboard Ben. As Ben drives, Aaliyah and Vanellope share their adventure with their friends, and think about making plans for the next time they go on a two-night camping trip.

Cast

• Sarah Silverman as Vanellope von Schweetz
• Lulu Wilson as Aaliyah Y. Sandoval, a 11-year-old junior camper.
• Ginnifer Goodwin as Judy Hopps
• Ed O'Neill as Hank
• Mckenna Grace as Joanna Alyn Lind, a camper who is Aaliyah's friend.
• Pierce Gagnon as Brandon Breslin, a camper who is Aaliyah's other friend and love interest.
• Tom Wilkinson as Mr. Marks, the creator of Adventure Camp. This was Wilkinson's last film role in a mainstream Hollywood feature film before his death in 2023.
• Rita Moreno as the Wise Old Owl, a strong and intelligent horned owl and a friend of Mr. Marks.
• Sally Hawkins as Sheryl Sandoval, Aaliyah's mother.
• Andy Dick as Ben, a bus who takes Aaliyah and her friends to Adventure Camp.

Box office

In the United States, Vanellope & Friends: Off To Adventure Camp was released alongside Miss Bala, and was projected to gross anywhere around $220--250 million in its opening weekend. It ended up with $428 million in the opening weekend. It ended its theatrical run on April 11, 2019, grossing $395 million in the United States and Canada, and $476 million in other territories, adding up to a total of over $871 million worldwide. It is the highest-grossing camping film.

Critical response

Vanellope & Friends: Off To Adventure Camp was largely acclaimed by critics, with an 97% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 132 reviews. The site's consensus reads, "A "return-to-form" for the Vanellope & Friends franchise, Vanellope & Friends: Off To Adventure Camp is also the best choice for moviegoers looking for a fun camping trip". Metacritic calculated a score of 90 out of 100 based on 30 critics, indicating "universal acclaim". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film a grade of "A+" on a A+ to F scale.