| Follow That Koala! | |
|---|---|
| Directed by |
Owen Laramore Kaitlyn Porras |
| Produced by |
Owen Laramore Kaitlyn Porras Teresa Cheng Chris Jenkins |
| Screenplay by |
Anna Boden Ryan Fleck |
| Story by |
Owen Laramore Kaitlyn Porras Anna Boden Ryan Fleck |
| Starring |
Isabela Merced Tina Fey Skylar Betteridge Christopher Mintz-Plasse Sacha Baron Cohen Wendi McLendon-Covey Maitreyi Ramakrishnan Leigh-Allyn Baker |
| Music by | Michael Giacchino |
| Cinematography | Renato Falcão |
| Edited by | Darren T. Holmes |
| Production company |
HumboldtMation |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. Pictures |
| Release date | August 16, 2024 |
| Running time | 95 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $100 million |
| Box office | $1.212 billion |
Follow That Koala! is a 2024 American animated adventure comedy film produced by HumboldtMation and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. Directed by Owen Laramore and Kaitlyn Porras from a screenplay penned by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck, the film features the voices of Isabela Merced, Tina Fey, Skylar Betteridge, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Sacha Baron Cohen, Wendi McLendon-Covey, Maitreyl Ramakrishnan, and Leigh-Allyn Baker. Set in Humboldt County, California, the film's story centers on Delilah, a koala with autism, taking Teddy, a bear cub from a circus, to visit her parents with the assistance of Kai, a kangaroo police officer, while on the run from Franco, a security guard dalmatian who thinks she's a "bear-thief".
Follow That Koala! was released in the United States on August 16, 2024. The film received universal acclaim from critics and was a box office success, grossing $1.212 billion worldwide and becoming the fourth highest-grossing film of 2024, and the highest-grossing animated film Warner Bros. has released. It also was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. A sequel, The Return of That Koala!, is scheduled to released on July 3, 2030.
Plot[]
In a version of Humboldt County, California inhabited by anthropomorphic animals, an autistic, fun-loving young adult koala named Delilah heads to the Picker's Circus near Bayshore Mall and watches the star attraction, an elephant known as the Great Master. He introduces a bear cub named Teddy, who accidentally wrecks the show due to stage fright. The Great Master hires Delilah to do a magic trick. Teddy and Delilah disappear and end up in the basement. After Teddy bonds with Delilah over their loneliness, she explains the circus took her away from her parents, Dianne and Davidson, and her home at Bear Mountain in Willow Creek. Delilah vows to take her home at any and all given costs.
Meanwhile, a self-absorbed and single-minded dalmatian security guard named Phil Franco is hired, and hires a tough-spirited kangaroo named Kai K. Kangaroo from the Eureka Police Department to find Teddy. The chief of police, a Holstein cow named Emmanuel, agrees on the condition that Teddy not being back at the circus before the weekend would result in her dismissal. At Bayshore Mall, Delilah and Teddy hop on board a boxcar for the Bear Mountain Express, where Kai finds them, but can't get them off the boxcar before the train leaves the station and becomes annoyed with Delilah's autism. The next day, after a fight between Cupcake and Kai causes the boxcar to separate from the rest of the Bear Mountain Express, Delilah and Kai agree to a deal; they take Teddy to visit her parents under the condition that Kai escort Teddy back to the Picker's Circus after that.
As Delilah, Kai, and Teddy head towards Bear Mountain in Willow Creek (where Kai secret wants to turn the one who took Teddy out of the Picker's Circus in to Phil as part of a deal), they meet a farmer, a German Shepherd named James and his daughter Jane and spend the night at their farm house. Back at the Picker's Circus, Phil discovers that Delilah is trying to take Teddy to Willow Creek and sets out to arrest her, falsely labeling her to have "bear-napped" Teddy. That night, Kai receives a call from the Great Master and Emmanuel that Humboldt has assumed Delilah to be a bear-napper and Teddy's disappearance is jeopardizing the Picker's Circus' future and his career. Delilah and Kai have a disagreement over whether Teddy should be returned to the Picker's Circus or visit her family. After their falling-out culminates in Kai accidentally revealing her deception, Delilah frustratedly shuns Kai.
The next morning, Kai, having a change of heart, changes her mind, but Phil arrives in a helicopter and corners Delilah. Kai comes to Delilah's defense, betrays Phil, throws him into a rain barrel while Teddy lets out a tremendously magnificent roar that scares the pilot into flying away. Delliah reconciles with Kai, and Delilah, Kai, and Teddy say goodbye to James and Jane, escape in a hollowed-out school bus, and arrive at Bear Mountain, where Teddy reunites with her parents. At the same time, however, Phil arrives, sedates Teddy with tranquilizer darts, and captures and arrests her, Kai, and Delilah and incarcerates them onboard a cargo plane.
In the plane, as Delilah and Kai prepare to resign themselves to facing the consequences, they overhear Phil privately talking to his co-pilot in the cock pit and piece together Phil's plan: Phil lied to the public about Delilah and will keep Teddy for himself and kill her, ensuring the Great Master's the Picker Circus shuts down permanently and the Great Master will be out of a job. Without Phil noticing, Delilah steals his keys and frees them while Teddy distracts him. Delilah, Kai and Teddy jump out of the helicopter with parachutes. Phil pursues them and grabs Kai, but loses his grip and falls into a pond. Upon returning to the Picker's Circus, Delilah and Kai return Teddy to the Great Master and trick Phil into exposing his plot to the Great Master and the audience, and he is arrested.
With the Picker's Circus' glory, the Great Master's career, and Delilah's good reputation restored, the crowd cheer for Delilah and Kai, and Teddy waves goodbye to Delilah and Kai. Several days later at Sequoia Park, Teddy reunites with Delilah and Kai, with the Great Master revealing that her parents have joined his act, and Teddy now has her family. Delilah, Kai, Teddy, the Great Master, his assistant Jennifer, Emmanuel, Jane, James, and Teddy's parents come together to celebrate Teddy and her family.
Cast[]
- Isabela Merced as Delliah, a fun-loving young koala with autism who is a Eureka High School student. She takes Teddy home to visit her family, but ends up on the run because of it.
- Tina Fey as Kai C. Kangaroo, a tough-as-nails red kangaroo who is an officer for the Eureka Police Department. Although she can sometimes come off as cynical, she genuinely cares about Humboldt County and all who live in it.
- Skylar Betteridge as Teddy, a bear cub who is a performer at the Picker Circus. As energetic and excitable as she can be, she also suffers severe trauma from being separated from her mom and dad when she was acquired by the Picker's Circus.
- Christopher Mintz-Plasse as Phil Franco, a single-minded and selfish dalmatian who is a security guard and views Delilah as a "bear-napper" for stealing Teddy from the Picker's Circus.
- Sacha Baron Cohen as the Great Master, an African elephant who is an English magician and the star attraction of the Picker's Circus.
- Leigh-Allyn Baker as Chief Emmanuel, a Holstein cow who is the chief of Police at the Eureka Police Department.
- Zachary Levi as Beck Benson, a grey crowned crane who is a news reporter for Humboldt County.
- Roger Craig Smith as Farmer James, a kind German Shepherd who is a farmer at the Humboldt Valley Ranch.
- Adelyn Lebaron as Jane, James' daughter who befriends Cupcake and Teddy.
- Jennifer Lawrence as Kimberley-Forlord Bergel, the mayor of Eureka.
- Laraine Newman and David Koechner as Dianne and Davidson, Teddy's parents.
- Jessica Szohr as Tiffany, an emu and Phil's quirky assistant.
- Ellie Kemper as Jennifer, a spoonbill and the Great Master's lovely assistant.
Reception[]
Box office[]
Follow That Koala! opened theatrically on August 16, 2024, and grossed about $156 million during its opening weekend. It has grossed $511 million in North America and $701 million in other territories. The film ended its theatrical run on March 4, 2025, having grossed $1.212 billion worldwide, against a $100 million production budget.
Critical response[]
Critics and audiences praised Follow That Koala! upon release. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a 98% rating based on 324 reviews. The site's consensus reads, "Follow That Koala! is sure to provide audiences another successful animated film from Eureka-Arcata". On Metacritic, it has a score of 87 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.