| Vanellope & Friends: Music Circus | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Kevin Lima |
| Produced by | Audrey Wells Tatiana Wells Brian Larky Helen Kalafatic Margot Pipkin |
| Screenplay by | Alicia Kirk |
| Story by | Andrei Svislotski Alicia Kirk |
| Starring | Sarah Silverman Violet Hicks Kris Kristofferson Meryl Streep |
| Music by | Theodore Shaprio |
| Cinematography | Javier Aguirresarobe |
| Edited by | Jim May |
| Production companies |
Dice Productions |
| Distributed by | Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures |
| Release date | June 29, 2018 |
| Running time | 106 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $130 million |
| Box office | $456 million |
Disney In The House: Music Circus is a 2018 American animated jukebox musical circus comedy film produced by Dice Productions and released by Walt Disney Pictures. Directed by Kevin Lima, it is the sequel to Vanellope & Friends: Wild Wild West and the fifth installment in the Vanellope & Friends film series. It stars the voices of Sarah Silverman, Violet Hicks, Kris Kristofferson, and Meryl Streep. In the film, Vanellope von Schweetz, Judy Hopps, and Hank befriends an atychiphobic 11-year-old girl who dreams to become a violinist like her once-famous grandfather, who now owns a struggling circus threatened with foreclosure by a bank representative camel. In an effort to prevent this, they get the idea of staging the first-ever "Music Circus".
Vanellope & Friends: Music Circus was released in the United States on June 29, 2018. The film grossed over $456 million worldwide and received mixed-to-positive reviews from critics, with some considering it an improvement over its predecessor, and praising the soundtrack, voice acting, and animation, although the screenplay received some criticism. A sequel, Vanellope & Friends: Off To Adventure Camp, was released on January 30, 2019.
Plot[]
In the springtime in Anythingville, Vanellope von Schweetz, Judy Hopps, and Hank meet a benevolent but clumsy 11-year-old Melanie K. Mothersbaugh, who dreams of playing a violin at a music show like her grandfather, Marsh, who was once a famous violinist, but is now the owner of a financially struggling circus. However, she feels unable to pursue her dream because of her atychiphobia, making her violin sound like a cow, and from the possibility of playing in front of so many people making her afraid of becoming a unwanted nobody. Vanellope decides to make the first ever "Music Circus".
Marsh arrives at Melanie's house and takes her, Vanellope, Judy, and Hank to his circus. Intrigued by the idea of the show, Ruthie Edelman, a camel who is a bank representative, greenlights the show, but warns the group that they have a week to get the show up and running, and she will repossess the circus if the show is not successful. Through an inspiring speech, Vanellope convinces everyone to work hard to make the Music Circus the greatest music show in Anythingville. Marsh, Melanie, Vanellope, Judy, and Hank hire two anthropomorphic butterflies named Pink and Blue who have a passion for being shot out of a cannon, Ken the color worm, a snake-like worm made of snap-beads who is a trapeze artist and acrobatic, Mellow-phant Elephant, a tightrope walking African elephant, the band O-Turkey, which consists of March, Mable, Mae, and Maggie, four sisters dressed in turkey costumes, CJ, a clown who tells jokes via professional rapping, and Skater-Boy, an 11-year-old skateboarding boy.
Days later, the show is completed and ready for the world to see, drawing more attention and costumers to the circus than ever. The show goes on well until it is time for Melanie to play the violin during the "Ring of Fire" act, when her atychiphobia keeps getting the better of her once again. Suddenly, the "Ring of Fire" act dangerously goes awry. Everyone manages to escape as the Music Circus is caught on fire and falls apart, but Melanie's violin is destroyed. Distraught and thinking that she isn't cut out for playing violins and doesn't belong anywhere, Melanie runs off, Vanellope's troupe disbands, and Ruthie repossesses the lot.
Vanellope hears Melanie sadly sing, which inspires her to reinstate the show, and Melanie reconciles with Vanellope. The group reunite and rebuild the most of the former Music Circus and put on the show, singing their songs and performing their acts, as a crowd is drawn to the scene as the show is broadcast on the news. When it is Melanie's turn to play the violin, Ruthie interrupts and demands everyone to leave for trespassing the bank's private property. Determined not to let her dream end again, Melanie finally overcomes her atychiphobia and plays the violin for the crowd. After Melanie finishes, though, Ruthie, in a last ditch effort to keep the circus her property, throws Vanellope off a high catwalk as a fatal punishment, but, with the help of the troupe, Melanie rescues Vanellope.
With the Music Circus spectacularly successful, Melanie, happy that the crowd she played the violin for loves her, enjoys her newfound popularity alongside Vanellope and the gang, while Ruthie is arrested. Shortly afterwards, Marsh buys the lot from the bank, the circus is rebuilt and reopened, and the group gets ready to perform another great show.
Cast[]
- Sarah Silverman as Vanellope von Schweetz, a resident of Anythingville who comes up with the idea of the first Music Circus and becomes its ringmaster.
- Violet Hicks as Melanie K. McAdams, a 10-year-old girl who dreams of becoming a violinist, but suffers from atychiphobia and fear of becoming a nobody, since her violin makes acute cow sounds.
- Kris Kristofferson as Marshall McAdams, a former country singer and violinist who is Melody's grandfather and now owns a struggling
- Meryl Streep as Ruthie Edelman, a bank representative llama who threatens to possess the circus if the show is not successful.
- Ginnifer Goodwin as Judy Hopps
- Ed O'Neill as Hank
- Ashley Tisdale and Ariana Grande as Pink and Blue, two anthropomorphic butterflies who are butterfly cannonballs.
- Warwick Davis as Ken the color worm, a snake-like worm made of snap beads who is a trapeze artist and acrobat.
- Brad Garrett as Pillow-Phant Elephant, an pillow-like elephant who can walk on a tightrope.
- Scarlett Estevez, Carlotta von Falkenhayn, Callie Haverda, and Mackenzie Hancsicsak as March, Mabel, Mae, and Maggie, four sisters who are the members of the band Whirl-Girls.
- will.i.am as C.J., a clown who is a professional at rapping.
- Zackary Arthur as Skater-Boy, an 11-year-old boy who is a skateboarder.
- Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Melody's mom
- Jason Mantzoukas as Melody's dad
- Fred Willard as a news anchor who documents Vanellope's music show.
Box office[]
In the United States, Vanellope & Friends: Music Circus was released alongside Life of the Party and.Breaking In, and was projected to gross anywhere around $100--135 million in its opening weekend. The film earned $180 million in the United States and $276 million in other territories, for a total of $456 million worldwide, against a $130 million production budget.
Critical response[]
Vanellope & Friends: Music Circus received mainly positive reviews from film critics, On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a 67% approval rating based on 185 reviews. The consensus reads, "Vanellope & Friends: Music Circus is better than the franchise's previous installment, with a craftily-concepted enough (if relatively unambitious) jukebox musical that will keep viewers of any age entertained in spite of its somewhat thinly-written story". Metacritic gave the film a score of 60 out of 100 based on 50 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews. Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.