| The Cupcake the Koala Movie | |
|---|---|
| Directed by |
Alan Zaslove |
| Produced by |
Alan Zaslove Meredith Roberts Gary Krisel |
| Written by | Alan Zaslove |
| Based on |
Percy the Panda by Alan Zaslove |
| Starring |
Jodi Benson Cree Summer Steve Schatzberg Daryl Sabara Skye McCole Bartusiak Dakota Fanning Christopher Lloyd |
| Music by | J. A. C. Redford |
| Edited by | H. Lee Peterson |
| Production companies |
Walt Disney Pictures Children's Workshop, LLC Walt Disney Television Animation |
| Distributed by |
Buena Vista Pictures Distribution |
| Release date | June 13, 2003 |
| Running time | 88 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $90 million |
| Box office | $858 million |
The Cupcake the Koala Movie is a 2003 American animated musical adventure film based on the television show Percy the Panda created by Alan Zaslove, produced by Walt Disney Television Animation and Children's Workshop, LLC, and released by Walt Disney Pictures. It is the second theatrically released Percy the Panda film, after 1999's The Percy the Panda Movie, and the first Percy the Panda project overall to be animated using computer-generated imagery instead of the regular traditional animation. Directed, co-produced, and written by Zaslove, the film stars the voices of Jodi Benson, Cree Summer, Steve Schatzberg, Daryl Sabara, Skye McCole Bartusiak, Dakota Fanning, and Christopher Lloyd. In the film's story, Cupcake the Koala is charged a $150 fee by Koalafé after an accident and participates in a children's bicycle race in New York City and win a $1,000 prize in order to pay her debt, and meets a brown brownie-loving koala named Brownie the Koala during her travels.
The Cupcake the Koala Movie was released theatrically in the United States on June 13, 2003 by Buena Vista Pictures Distribution. The film received generally positive reviews and grossed over $858 million worldwide and becoming the third highest-grossing film of 2003, the highest-grossing Percy the Panda film and the highest-grossing film based on an animated television series. A third film, Percy the Panda's Christmas Countdown, was released on December 1, 2006. A fourth film, The Parker the Penguin Movie, was released on February 5, 2010. A fifth film, Percy the Panda's Beginnings, was released on January 19, 2018. A sixth film, Percy the Panda: New to Khan Park, is scheduled to released on September 5, 2025.
Plot[]
At Khan Park, Percy the Panda and the Friendly Animal Gang watch kids ride bicycles in a bicycle race on Cupcake the Koala's birthday. Cupcake receives a bike the right size for her as a birthday present, but later, when she attempts to ride her bike, the fact that she is not yet used to riding a bike results in her to wind up accidentally riding out of control across Khan Park. Cupcake bike's tire bumps into some rocks, and she falls off her bike.
That night, Cupcake learns about The Great Bicycle Championship, a five-days-a-week bike race event that determines the all-time champion biker, taking place in New York City. Captivated by the idea of being a champion, Cupcake decides to become the first koala to win the Great Bicycle Championship. After practicing riding a bicycle and riding for a long time to be ready, Cupcake leaves a note for her friends and flies on a plane to New York.
In Manhattan, Cupcake arrives at the Great Bicycle Championship, where meets the coach, mechanic, starter, and owner of the race, Dr. Willy Walsh, and befriends the riders, including R. A. Robert Albert, Xochitl X. Tchaikovsky, and Abigail S. Wendt. Despite talent and confidence, R. A. struggles with teamwork due to egocentrism. During Monday's practice race, Cupcake's bike's rear tire blows out before she can win. The races ends in a four-way tie between Cupcake, R. A., Xochitl, and Abigail. Marvelously astonished by the tie, Walsh announces a decisive tiebreaker tournament scheduled for Saturday, the winner of which will take home a tiebreaker prize.
Meanwhile, back in Khan Park, Percy realizes that Cupcake forgot to bring her doll, Koala Dollala, and sets out for New York on his hot air balloon to bring Koala Dollala back to Delilah. After searching through Central Park, Times Square, Grand Central Station, Rockerfeller Center, and even the Statue of Liberty, Percy finally locates Cupcake and return Koala Dollala to her. As the bike race week progresses, Cupcake, R. A., Xochitl, and Abigail other cross the finish line in ties. During this time, Wayward begins to bond with Cupcake and the other riders.
In Friday's practice race, while Cupcake, R. A., Xochitl, and Abigail are heading towards the finish line neck-to-neck, R. A.'s desperateness to win overtakes him again, conflicting him between choosing either helping his newfound companions or prolonging his ego. A heated argument between Cupcake and R. A. over who should deserve the tiebreaker prize ensues as they pedal towards the finish line, and all the riders crash into each other, causing them to get their bikes damaged and to lose first place, and Walsh sadly cancels the tiebreaker tournament. In the aftermath of the disaster, Cupcake and Wayward berate each other for ruining their chances of winning and relinquish their friendship. Regretful of leaving Khan Park for a delusional dream, Cupcake sadly decides to leave New York.
Later, Percy finds Cupcake about to enter the airport and comforts her by helping her realize that the best and most important thing about a bike race is not winning, but support from friends and loved ones. With her confidence restored and sadness turned into happiness by this message, Cupcake resolves to continue participating in the Great Bicycle Championship and restoring for just for the fun of it. Meanwhile, R. A.'s memories of his time with his new friends overtake him, causing him to finally come to understand what is much more important and fulfilling in life than winning and trophies, as well as to let go of his arrogance.
Cupcake reunites with R. A., Xochitl, and Abigail, and she and R. A. apologize for their earlier behavior and reconcile. Walsh repairs all the bikes and reinstates the tiebreaker tournament. However, Xochitl later betrays Cupcake, R. A., and Abigail, and deliberately pops their bikes' tires, revealing that she instigated both Cupcake's tire popping in the first race and the other riders crashing the night before. Having endured bad luck all her life, she had manipulated Walsh into creating the Great Bicycle Championship and is adamant about wanting only herself winning without anyone thwarting it for her.
Cupcake, R. A., Abigail, and Percy ask Walsh to switch out the popped tires. In the tiebreaker race, Cupcake makes a remarkable comeback lead. However, once Cupcake closes in for the finish line, an angered Xochitl tries to subdue Cupcake, but R. A. saves her by being rammed instead. This causes him to be brutally injured and his bike to be re-damaged, much to everyone's horror. Just before crossing the finish line, Cupcake comes to R. A.'s aid and helps him across. Xochitl celebrates finally winning, but is condemned by the audience and expelled by Walsh, while Cupcake is praised for her integrity, compassion, and great sportsmanship. However, the joy of the moment is short-lived as Cupcake, Percy, Abigail, and the riders mourn for R. A.'s injury. Cupcake and R. A. bid each other a sad farewell before an ambulance arrives to take him to the hospital. On Percy's hot air balloon, Cupcake and Percy return to Khan Park.
A few weeks later, after recovering from his injuries, R. A. visits Khan Park to reunite with Cupcake, joined by Walsh, Abigail, and the riders, as Walsh has decided to hold another Great Bicycle Championship tournament in Khan Park dedicated to Cupcake after being inspired by her integral actions in the tiebreaker tournament. Cupcake, Wayward, Abigail, and the other riders begin the race.
Cast[]
- Jodi Benson as Cupcake the Koala
- Cree Summer as Brownie the Koala
- Daryl Sabara as R. A. Robert Albert, a talented but arrogant three-time winner of the Great Bicycle Championship whom Cupcake befriends.
- Skye McCole Bartusiak as Xochitl X. Tchaikovsky, one of the riders in the Great Bicycle Championship. She is later revealed to have blackmailed Walsh into creating the Great Bicycle Championship in an attempt to prove that only she wins and others lose, as revenge for bad luck she endured in her lifetime.
- Dakota Fanning as Abigail S. Wendt, a rider in the Great Bicycle Championship who is Wayward's love interest.
- Steve Schatzberg as:
- Percy the Panda
- Cheese the Mouse
- Bill the Rhino
- Christopher Lloyd as Dr. Willy Walsh, the bike race's jolly, friendly, optimistic mechanic, coach, and owner.
- Will Ryan as:
- Parker the Penguin
- Richard the Rabbit
Production[]
Development[]
Months after the success of The Percy the Panda Movie, a sequel was announced by creators Steve Schatzberg, Leslie Daryl Zerg, Alan Zaslove, and Tad Stones to be in development under the name The 2nd Percy the Panda Movie. The plot would have focused on the Friendly Animal Family reuniting with Zaida and Zuir when three naughty boys release animals from a zoo, and they would need to find the animals one-by-one and bring them back to the zoo. In May 31, 2000, Disney announced that they decided to instead make a film centered on Cupcake the Koala called The Cupcake the Koala Movie, with production beginning on July 30, 2000 that same year. Animation was done using the computer-generated imagery instead of the regular traditional animation.
Casting[]
In December 8, 2001, it was announced by Disney executives that Steven Weber would return to voice Percy for the second installment. Jodi Benson, who voiced the character since the passing of Mary Kay Bergman in 1999, voices Cupcake in the film. The rest of the show's regular voice cast returned. A few weeks later, Daryl Sabara, Skye McCole Bartusiak, and Dakota Fanning were cast as the children Cupcake befriends in the Great Bicycle Championship, with Christopher Lloyd's casting revealed a month later.
Music[]
The film's score was composed by J.A.C. Redford, who returns from the first film. The soundtrack was released on CD on September 1, 2003 by Walt Disney Records.
Release[]
Theatrical[]
The Cupcake the Koala Movie was released in theaters on September 5, 2003.
Home media[]
The Delilah the Koala Movie was released on VHS and DVD by Walt Disney Home Entertainment on February 24, 2004. On July 5, 2011, it was released on Blu-ray and again on DVD. It was released on Ultra HD 4k on August 6, 2019. On November 12, 2019, the first two films became available to watch on Disney+.
Marketing[]
The film was anticipated by children, parents, and Percy the Panda fans, so much so that Disney executives put up a huge marketing campaign to promote the film. The first trailer was released on January 11, 2003, followed by a second trailer on April 30, 2003, and a third trailer on July 18, 2003. Promotion includes a THX trailer in which Cupcake, Percy, and Parker perform the Deep Note with early musical instruments, which premiered in theaters with the film.
Reception[]
Box office[]
In the United States and Canada, The Cupcake the Koala Movie was released alongside Catch Me If You Can and The Hours, and was projected to gross $80 million in its opening weekend. The film grossed $150 million in the opening weekend, including $39 million in its first day, ranking 3rd at the box office. The film closed from theaters on November 21, 2003, grossing $340 million domestically and $518 million internationally, for a worldwide total of $858 million, against a $90 million production budget, making it a box office success. It is the highest-grossing film based on an animated television series, the highest-grossing Percy the Panda feature film, the sixth highest-grossing film of 2004, and the third highest-grossing animated film of 2003. The film's success has been attributed to heavily high anticipation among the Percy the Panda fanbase.
Critical response[]
The Cupcake The Koala Movie received positive reviews from critics and audiences. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a 78% approval rating based on 179 reviews. The site's critical consensus reads, "The Cupcake The Koala Movie befits Percy the Panda's titular cupcake-loving green friend well for the theatrical spotlight, while also preserving the spirit of the beloved preschool-oriented franchise wonderfully for computer animation". According to Metacritic, which calculated a score of 66 out of 100 based on 30 critics, The Cupcake the Koala Movie received "generally favorable" reviews. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film a grade of "A-" on an A+ to F scale, the same grade earned by the original film.