| Vanellope's Adventures | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Audrey Wells |
| Produced by |
Audrey Wells Roy Allen Smith Stephen Swofford |
| Screenplay by |
Scott Alexander Larry Karaszweski |
| Story by |
Audrey Wells Alicia Kirk Andrei Svislotski Bosco Ng |
| Starring |
Sarah Silverman Tom Hanks Mo'Nique Lane Styles Cameron Boyce Ginnifer Goodwin Ed O'Neill Audrey Wells Michael J. Fox Billy Connolly Catherine O'Hara |
| Music by |
Hans Zimmer John Powell |
| Cinematography | Cory Rocco Florimonte |
| Edited by |
Sarah K. Reimers Tatiana S. Reigel |
| Production company |
Dice Productions |
| Distributed by |
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures |
| Release dates |
October 7, 2016 (El Capitan Theatre) October 21, 2016 (United States) |
| Running time | 90 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $150 million |
| Box office | $575 million |
Vanellope's Adventures is a 2016 American animated musical adventure film directed by Audrey Wells in her feature directorial debut from a screenplay penned by writing duo Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski based on a story by Wells, Alicia Kirk, Andrei Svislotski, and Bosco Ng, released by Walt Disney Pictures, and marks the first feature film to be produced by Dice Productions. The voice cast consists of Sarah Silverman, Tom Hanks, Mo'Nique, Lane Styles, Cameron Boyce, Ginnifer Goodwin, Ed O'Neill, Wells, Michael J. Fox, Billy Connolly, and Catherine O'Hara. Set in Anythingville, a world where anything can happen, the film centers on a group of its citizens, including Vanellope von Schweetz and Woody, the latter of whom who doesn't believe Anythingville is real, signing a deal with a wicked sorceress dragon for a jolly kingdom's 10-year-old princess to become the first child to be married.
Vanellope's Adventures premiered at the El Capitan Theatre in Los Angeles on October 7, 2016, and was released theatrically in the United States on October 21. The film grossed $575 million worldwide and received universal acclaim, with critics praising its animation, story, characters, music, and voice acting. The film was nominated for several awards, including two Academy Award nominations: Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song for "In Anythingville, Anything Can Happen", and is considered one of the best animated films ever made. Vanellope's Adventures' popularity is credited with helping establish Dice as a major animation studio, and the Vanellope von Schweetz character as a pop culture phenomenon. Its success also launched a multimedia franchise, being followed by several sequels, theme park attractions, television specials, television shows, short films, and merchandising, starting with 2017's Vanellope's Adventures 2.
Plot[]
Anythingville is a place where its inhabitant citizens, Anythingizens, consisting of humans and anthropomorphic objects and/or creatures, co-exist under a simple motto: "In Anythingville, anything can happen". One day, in a town called Things Happen Town, Vanellope von Schweetz and her friends Judy Hopps the rabbit and Hank the Eastern Pacific red octopus are invited to the Town Square to attend Lawrence Broderick West's new instatement as the new mayor of Anythingville following the retirement of his parents, Mr. and Mrs. West. However, a no-nonsense and reclusive cowboy named Woody brushes off an invitation to the ceremony, because he is visibly the only Anythingizen who does not think Anythingville exists and despises the other Anythingizens. Later, Lawrence becomes the new mayor of Anythingville.
The next day, Vanellope, Judy, Hank, Vanellope's pet iguana Iggy, Lawrence, and his advisor, a floating plastic bowl named Mr. Ziploc, come over to Woody's solitary log cabin to invite him to bring the West family's family motto to one Anythingville's most popular areas, Tokorassachusetts. Woody initially refuses, but Vanellope brings him along regardless. Once they get to Tokorassachussets, they are greeted by its jolly king and queen, Marcus and Wilhelmina Hill III, and their young ten-year-old daughter and the princess, Jenny Hope Hill (aka J. H. Hill), at the kingdom castle. Meanwhile, outside the kingdom, Del Norte, an evil dragon sorceress who was exiled by Marcus and Wilheimina from Tokorassachussets for her evildoing, spies on the newcomers and J. H., and plots to use this to her advantage to get revenge for her exile.
Back in Tokorassachussets, Vanellope and Woody catch J. H. looking out the castle window in her room at a boy named Dexter via binoculars. J. H. explains to Vanellope and Woody that she has a crush on Dexter and wishes to be engaged with and marry him one day. While Vanellope supports J. H.'s wish, Woody believes she can't marry someone since she is a child. Spying on the trio, Del Norte's two flying cobras, Hawley and Dawley, who can turn invisible and see from far away, convince the trio to visit Del Norte, who can use her powers to help J. H. win Dexter's love. Hawley and Dawley take the trio to Del Norte's hideout, where she creates a potion that will give J. H. three sunsets she must forfeit her star necklace in exchange for: Within the third sunset, J. H. and Dexter must share true love's kiss, otherwise she'll belong to Del Norte as part of her garden of other living tulips she imprisoned. J. H. agrees; she, Vanellope, and Woody are unaware that the contract is secretly part of Del Norte's evil plan.
When J. H., Vanellope and Woody arrive back to Tokorassachussets, they return to her room and explain to the other Anythingizens about J. H.'s wish to marry Dexter and the contract with Del Norte. This gives Vanellope, J. H., and Lawrence the idea of making J. H. and Dexter the first pair of kids to get married, so that they can show Marcus and Wilhelmina that the West family motto is real. However, Woody is fed up with enduring what he calls "childish nonsense", In a disagreement between Woody and Vanellope, it is revealed that the reason he doesn't believe in Anythingville is because he blames it for causing an incident years ago in which his late wife and kid fell off a cliff when hiking. Since then, he has refused to believe in Anythingville just so believing in Anythingville can't cause either himself or anyone around him to meet the same fate as his family. Vanellope and the others comfort Woody, who reluctantly agrees to help J. H. on the condition that they return him to his log cabin afterwards.
Vanellope and her friends sew and create a new dress and makeup to prepare J. H. for a date with Dexter. Outside, the Anythingizens meet Dexter, who is unaware of the deal J. H. made with Del Norte and becomes enamored with her. After a group dinner, Vanellope, J. H., and the Anythingizens present the "first married children" plan to Marcus and Wilhelmina, who triumphantly greenlight and schedule it for Sunday, which is the third day. At a nearby park with a lake, Great Grand Gazeboo, on the evening of the second day, J. H. and Dexter almost kiss, but are thwarted by Hawley and Dawley. Furious at J. H.'s close success, Del Norte creates a potion she uses to disguise herself as a J. H. clone. The next day, the real J. H. runs downstairs at the thought that she won Dexter's love upon hearing the announcement of his wedding. However, she, Vanellope, and Woody discover that Dexter, having been cast under a hypnotic enchantment by the false J.H. that made him forget about the real J. H., will be married to the false J. H. by sunset, which upsets her. Woody's refusal to believing that Anythingville exists overtakes him again, leading him to coldly criticize Vanellope and the Anythingizens and return to his log cabin.
Later, Woody, having realized that Anythingville is real after all and that, with Vanellope and the others around him, he had his perfect life with him all along, returns to Tokorassachussets, where he apologizes to Vanellope and the Anythingizens and finally officially decides to believe in Anythingville going forward. As Vanellope and the Anythingizens reconcile with Woody, they all hear the false J. H. singing and discover her true indenity: Del Norte in disguise. Woody devises a plan to advantageously use Anythingishness to sabotage the wedding and reunite the real J.H. with Dexter. At the kingdom courtyard, Vanellope, Woody, the real J. H., and the Anythingizens attack the J. H. clone. In the chaos, the necklace, which the false J. H. wears with the spell in its locket, is destroyed, breaking the fake J. H.'s enchantment over Dexter. The real J. H. is about to kiss him, but the sun sets. J. H. turns into a tulip, while Del Norte turns back to her true form. Marcus and Wilhelmina confront Del Norte, but as the contract is indestructible, Marcus and Wilhelmina agree to take their J. H.'s place, losing their authority over Tokorassachussets. J. H. reverts to her human form, while her parents become tulips to everyone's horror. As Del Norte declares herself the new queen of Tokorassachussets, J. H. subdues her, causing her to accidentally kill Hawley and Dawley. Enraged, Del Norte becomes enormous and creates a storm of wind and rain that infests the kingdom with several arcus clouds. She even puts most of the Anythingizens under a spell, forcing them to bow down before her. Vanellope and Woody, who aren't put under the spell, hop onboard one of the arcus clouds and use a baking tray to ricochet Del Norte's fiery breath spell, disintegrating her.
With Del Norte destroyed, her spells are undone: the storm dies down, the Anythingizens are freed, and Marcus, Wilhemina, and the other tulips revert to original human forms. J. H. finally confesses her love to Dexter, who, seeing sincerity in J. H., reciprocates her feelings, and they share their first kiss, and finally get married the next day. Vanellope, Woody, Lawrence, and the Anythingizens bid J. H., Dexter, Marcus, and Wilhelmina farewell as they depart back to Things Happen Town, where Woody relocates his log cabin to Things Happen Town and invites his newfound friends for regular visits, even joining Vanellope and the Anythingizens in Anythingish activities. The film ends with Anythingville being revealed to be a magical star in the sky inside of a book at a library.
Cast[]
- Sarah Silverman as Vanellope von Schweetz, an outgoing, friendly, optimistic, and empathic Anythingizen who, like every other Anythingizen (sans Woody), believes about the motto of anything happening in Anythingville. She is also the narrator of the story.
- Tom Hanks as Woody, a reclusive cowboy who initially is the only Anythingizen who doesn't believe Anythingville exists.
- Mo'Nique as Del Norte, a wicked dragon sorceress who was banished from Tokorassachussets for her evildoing and plots to get revenge on Marcus and Wilhelmina.
- Lane Styles as Jenny Hope Hill (or J. H. for short as commonly referred to by other characters), the 10-year-old princess of Tokorassachussets and the daughter of Marcus and Wilhelimina.
- Cameron Boyce as Lawrence Broderick West, a easygoing, friendly, optimistic 18-year-old human who becomes the 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.
- Audrey Wells as Iggy, Vanellope's pet iguana who can communicate through distinctive chittering.
- Michael J. Fox as Mr. Ziploc, an anthropomorphic floating plastic bowl who is Lawrence's majordomo and best friend.
- Billy Connolly as Marcus Hill III, the optimistic king of the Tokorassachussets, Wilhelmina's husband, and J.H.'s father.
- Catherine O'Hara as Wilhelmina Hill III, the optimistic queen of Tokorassachussets, Marcus' wife, and J.H.'s mother.
- Pierce Gagnon as Dexter W. Anderson, a 10-year-old boy who is J. H.'s love interest.
- Adam Buxton as Hawley and Dawley, Vada's two flying cobra henchmen.
- Frank Welker as James, Dexter's pet dog.
- Bill Wise and Cassandra Lee Morris as Greg and Tilly West, Lawrence's parents who retire from their careers at the beginning of the film.
Production[]
Development[]
In September 30, 2013, it had been reworked as an original animated film titled "Anythingville" picked up by then-new and Disney-acquired animation studio Dice Productions and late founder and CEO Audrey Wells, who would then direct and co-write the film. John Lasseter, the then-chief creative officer of Pixar, Walt Disney Animation Studios, and DisneyToon Studios, became CCO of Dice Productions, and served as the movie's executive producer.
Writing[]
During the writing of Anythingville, Wells wanted to story to be about a world where anything could "literally happen", inhabited by animals, humans, and anthropomorphic objects called "Anythingizens". Originally, King Louie from The Jungle Book and Penny from The Rescuers would be the two main stars. Louie would have been the easy-going, wise-cracking, wise mayor Anythingville who loves for anything to happen at any opportunity (with a catchphrase: "In Anythingville, anything can happen", while Penny would've been the only Anythingizen not to believe that Anythingville exists and lives reclusively from others. The plot would've focused on Louie trying to convince Penny to let go of her grumpy exterior and get a chance to believe in Anythingville. However, some story reels proved "mediocre" to many Disney executives, who, complained that Penny had been made "more of a jerk". In December 18, 2013, the team at Dice rewrote the script drastically: Penny was replaced by Woody as the only Anythingizen to disbelieve in Anythingville's existence, and would become a, empathic, big-hearted, optimistic fellow who believes in Anythingville most so than anyone, while King Louie was removed and replaced by an original human character named "Lawrence Broderick West", while the "In Anythingville, anything can happen" catchphrase was still retained. However, because Wells decided that Penny wasn't the "hot cool girl" she thought would click with audiences, the crew removed Penny and replaced her with Vanellope, deciding she would make a better "girl" main character for moviegoers to root for, while the "empathic, big-hearted, optimistic" personality trait was also still retained for Vanellope. Also, she and the Dice crew liked the Vanellope character so much that, on January 31, 2014, Disney's executives decided to allow Dice to rename Anythingville to "Vanellope's Adventures".
Writing duo Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski were brought in to help the crew settle with the final plot: "Vanellope and Woody, the latter of whom doesn't believe Anythingville exists, are summoned with their friends to the magical kingdom of Tokorassachussets to help its 10-year-old princess be the first child to be married". It is often pointed out, even by the Dice employees and the Disney executives that the crew mixed Disney Renaissance's musical whim up with Pixar's upper-class charm out of feelings that these two forces would be, as Wells descried, "perfect to combine as one". Story reels proved promising to Disney's executives, who complemented that the idea of the first married child was "the most riveting idea around that no executive of any other Hollywood distributor would've ever had the guts to greenlight before" and would also call Vanellope and Woody's dynamic "much more of an acceptable improvement over Louie and Penny's story". As a bonus, they even proposed to purchase and incorporate Dice Productions into their list of assets, which Wells and the crew accepted.
For the villain, Del Norte, story writer Alicia Kirk thought of making her a human sorceress named "Vada Del Norte" who can shapeshift into a dragon. However, the crew settled on making her a sorceress who is completely a dragon altogether, thus dropping "Vada" from the character's name.
The film originally featured a character named Hailey Havara, another girl at J.H.'s age, who also had a big crush on Dexter, which would result in the two getting into competitive quarrels for who would win the boy's heart. However, for whatever reason, Dice removed the Hailey character in entirety from the film. However, a deleted scene of Hailey can be seen on physical media releases, and this abandoned idea would later be reused in 2019's Vanellope's Adventures: Time Travel.
Casting[]
When the project was the unproduced "Anythingville", Kennedi Clements and Robin Williams were originally selected to voice Penny and Louie. After the supposed story reel "mediocrity" and the rewrite, Williams dropped out, and Tom Hanks returned to reprise the role of Woody. Clements dropped out as well when Penny was written out and replaced with Vanellope, and Sarah Silverman was cast to reprise her role from Wreck-It Ralph. It was also announced that Cameron Boyce would be the voice of Lawrence. Three months later, it was also announced that Michael J. Fox had been cast in the role of Mr. Ziploc, a plastic bowl who is Lawrence's news messenger and best friend. With the release of the second trailer, Judy Hopps from Zootopia and Hank from Finding Dory were confirmed to have been secretly included in the film under Disney's permission, with Ginnifer Goodwin and Ed O'Neill reprising their respective roles from those two films, which were released the same year as this film. Wells provided vocal effects for Iggy's speech through chittering.
For the voice of Del Norte, Sheryl Lee Ralph and Mo'Nique were considered, to which the latter accepted. Mo'Nique extensively studied dragons, along with their history, folklore, and biology, to provide the most idea vocal tone for preparation for the character's voice. Lane Styles had even joined the cast as Jenny Hope Hill, commonly referred to as "J.H." by other characters, a 10-year-old princess who Wells described "has a strong obsession with romance and wants to experience it in reality one day".
Animation[]
Since the film is set in a world where anything literally happens, Dice's team wanted to visually capture the place in a "fun, imaginative way all around". The studio hired a group of 100 animators to work on the animation. The production designers had unique ways to design the main landmarks of Anythingville explored specifically for the film that stand out from real life; Things Happen Town is designed like a "small "Main Street, USA-esque town that's not huge, but, regardless, big enough for Anythingville's most "Anythingish" possibilities that are most capable of happening; Del Norte's Dragon cave is designed like a shadowy, sad cavern with a garden infested with former-people-turned-tulips; the main location, Tokorassaschussets, is designed like a magical mixture of modern Los Angeles and medieval kingdoms with a castle resembling Sleeping Beauty Castle. For For Sheomar De La Palace, a palace looking like a lobby in the form of a lovely palace, Wells and some animators visited Disneyland's neighboring Anaheim Majestic Garden Hotel for inspiration. The kingdom's fountain, the "Centerfountain", inspired an indoor fountain inside the Dice Productions campus in San Diego, California that can still be seen today as it appears in the film, coincidentally called "the Centerfountain".
Although primarily made using computer animation, certain moments do incorporate traditional animation done by Disney animation veterans Mark Henn and Eric Goldberg, such as in J.H.'s imagination when dreaming of her and Dexter together, or Woody's backstory of why he doesn't believe in Anythingville. There is also a live action segment in both the beginning and end of the film, where the story of the film is told through a book titled "Anythingville", the original title of the film. These latter sequences were filmed on location at the San Diego Public Library.
Soundtrack[]
In similar veins to many of Walt Disney Animation Studios' films, the film features musical numbers. Five original songs, "In Anythingville, Anything Can Happen", "You & I" (performed by Styles), "Sad Unlucky Personalities" (performed by Mo'Nique), "A Time When I Believed" (performed by Hanks), and "Tell Him You Much You Love Him" (performed by Silverman, Goodwin, and O'Neill), were composed by Disney exceutive music producer Chris Montan, with lyrics to all five written by Montan, Wells, and music supervisor Tom McDougall. Originally, there were going to be two additional songs that never made the final cut: "My Morning Routine", where Vanellope performs her daily morning routine, and "We Welcome You to Tokorassachussets" where choruses of Anythingizens greet Vanellope and her friends when they arrive in the kingdom. The latter was removed because the lyrics were deemed too overly similar to "In Anythingville, Anything Can Happen". However, both deleted songs can be seen on physical home media releases. The film also includes Lenka's "Everything at Once", Erin Hamilton's cover of "Dream Weaver", Chic's Le Freak, Carrie Underwood's "Some Hearts", Brandi Carlile's "Dreams", and Survivor's "Eye of the Tiger". Hans Zimmer and John Powell composed the film's score. The soundtrack was released on October 14, 2016, by Walt Disney Records.
Release[]
Theatrical[]
On January 31, 2014, when it was then named Anythingville and renamed Vanellope's Adventures, Disney announced that the film would be released in theaters on October 21, 2016. The film's world premiere was held at the El Capitan Theatre on October 14---21, 2016.
Home media[]
Vanellope's Adventures was released by Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment on Blu-ray (2D and 3D) and DVD on February 14, 2017, on a Valentine's Day, with a digital release a week earlier on January 10, 2017. Due to the film featuring a theme of love, Disney's executives chose the Valentine's Day date for the film's release on physical media. The film was also released on the streaming service Disney+ on its launch date on November 12, 2019.
Marketing[]
The teaser trailer for the film was released online on December 25, 2015. Another teaser trailer was released on on April 25, 2016. The first official trailer was released online on July 4, 2016. The second official trailer was released on September 22, 2016. Subway released seven kid's meal toys promoting the film. On September 22, 2016, the same day as the second official trailer, the film received a G rating from the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA).
Reception[]
Box office[]
In the United States, Vanellope's Adventures was released alongside Mechanic: Resurrection, and was projected to gross $100--105 million in its opening weekend. It grossed $230 million in the United States and Canada, and $345 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $575 million at the end of its theatrical run on February 27, 2017.
Critical response[]
Vanellope's Adventures was universally acclaimed by critics and audiences alike. In particular, praise was aimed toward the animation, musical moments, characters, humor, well-written narrative, clever approach to (literally) anything happening (the concept of the first child to be married in particular), and homage to both the Disney Renaissance and the Pixar films of the 1990s and 2000s. It has a 96% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 200 reviews. The consensus reads, "Vanellope's Adventures is a engaging take on the idea of anything happening embodying (and intelligently parodying) Pixar and Disney in Dice Productions' debut spectacle that will appease moviegoers of all ages". Metacritic signed the film to a score of 89 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.