On November 8, 2024, it was announced a sequel Animal Crackers 2 is currently in production and will be released in 2026.[6]
Plot
In 1962, brothers "Buffalo" Bob and Horatio Huntington ran a traveling circus together, doing well despite their vastly different personalities. After a show, the circus' resident gypsy fortune-teller Esmeralda presents her beautiful niece Talia to her employers, asking them to give her a job. Bob and Horatio are immediately smitten with the lovely woman, but her affections are solely for Bob.
When the pair announces their plans to marry in 1964, Horatio becomes furious and delivers a request to his brother, asking him to choose him or Talia. Bob marries Talia, and Esmerelda gives them a mysterious box as a wedding gift, which allows them to open a new circus. Buffalo Bob's Rootin' Tootin' Animal Circus is known for animals performing amazing and seemingly impossible feats.
Years later, Bob's nephew Owen marries his childhood friend Zoe at the circus, where they first met as kids. Following the initial excitement, however, Owen soon discovers he has to work as a taste tester for Zoe's father, Mr. Woodley, at his dog biscuit factory. His co-worker Binkley is trying to create a new type of dog biscuit, which is ruined by Mr. Woodley's assistant, Brock.
A few years later, Horatio, whose luck has taken a severe downturn since his fight and split with Bob, sneaks into Bob and Talia's dressing rooms, trying to find the secret to the magic animals, and accidentally starts a fire that seemingly kills Bob and Talia. Their funeral is attended by Owen, Zoe, and their daughter Mackenzie. Horatio unexpectedly visits and announces that he'll be taking over the circus. Huntington and his henchmen Mario Zucchini, Samson, Stabby, and El Diablo start a fight, causing the Huntingtons to leave.
Before they leave, circus pets Old Blue and Zena give the Huntingtons the mysterious box, and they later discover it holds animal crackers. Owen eats one and turns into a hamster. The Huntingtons return to the circus to figure out how this happened. They learn from the clown Chesterfield that the animal crackers will turn the user into the animal they eat, but it contains only one human cracker to change them back. Later, he tells them they inherited the circus. Zoe is excited, but Owen, determined to please Mr. Woodley, decides to continue his job. Zoe restores the circus while Owen stays at the dog biscuit factory. Frustrated that Zoe quit her job, Mr. Woodley considers Brock her replacement.
Buffalo Bob's Rootin' Tootin' Animal Circus reopens but is a disaster upon the discovery of no animals. Owen reluctantly decides to eat the animal crackers and performs stunts as an animal. By the end of the day, Owen grows to like it and decides to quit his job. As he finishes packing up, though, Brock unwittingly eats one of the animal crackers and turns it into a mandrill. To catch up with him, Owen turns into a lion, but Brock gets captured by Mario Zucchini, who also steals animal cracker pieces. Upon returning home, Owen soon discovers he has lost the human cracker and will remain an animal forever. He attempts to adapt to life as a different animal but has little success. Binkley discovers the animal crackers and aggressively persuades Mr. Woodley to attend the circus.
At one performance, Horatio appears and offers Owen's mountain gorilla form his human cracker (which Mario had also unknowingly stolen) in exchange for the circus. Owen refuses, thinking that remaining an animal will at least keep his family together. Horatio initiates Plan B, where Owen is forced into the deal by Horatio's hybridized henchmen, who help Horatio force-feed him the human cookie. The circus performers then come across the scene, and a fight breaks out, with some of them assuming animal forms to fight.
As his henchmen are defeated, Horatio eats some animal crackers and turns into a six-limbed Chimera. He then is confronted by Old Blue and Zena, who reveal themselves as Bob and Talia, alive but forever trapped in animal form due to the destruction of their human crackers in the fire. They ask Horatio to redeem himself, but he refuses despite being horrified by what happened. Horatio flies up while grasping them. Owen uses Bullet Man in his black rhinoceros form to shoot down Horatio as he, Horatio, and Bob land in the net while Mackenzie turns into a Golden snub-nosed monkey to save Talia. Afterwards, Owen's lion form, Zoe's elephant form, Mackenzie's monkey form, and the circus performers work together to subdue Horatio. As Horatio vows to have his revenge, Owen turns him into a hamster as Bullet Man quotes In Memoriam A.H.H. from Alfred Lord Tennyson.
As the circus performers, Owen, Zoe, and Mackenzie, regain their human forms, Chesterfield gleefully tells the caged henchmen that their human crackers are broken as a side effect of eating the broken pieces, and it will take him a while to figure out whose parts go to whom. Mario subsequently tells Chesterfield to take his time with the others in agreement. Horatio demands to be released from his hamster cage to no avail as he starts running on a hamster wheel. Having witnessed the performance and Brock still being in mandrill form, Mr. Woodley reevaluates his views on Owen and the circus. With Binkley, he creates a new circus souvenir using her failed experiments.
By the next show, they made animal crackers that caused the eater's skin to temporarily take on the color and patterns of the animal whose crackers they eat. Owen consumes a new animal cracker in the box and takes the stage as a dragon.
Cast
John Krasinski as Owen Huntington, MacKenzie's father, Zoe's husband, Talia's step-nephew, Horatio and Buffalo Bob's nephew and the circus owner.[7]
Emily Blunt as Zoe Huntington, MacKenzie's mother, Owen's wife, Talia's stepniece-in-law, Horatio and Buffalo Bob's niece-in-law.[7][9]
Noelle Ellison Thomason portrays young Zoe.
Danny DeVito as Chesterfield, the circus's funniest clown who had gotten fat from the foods that he ate.[10][11]
Ian McKellen as Horatio P. Huntington, Buffalo Bob's older brother, Owen's uncle, Zoe's uncle-in-law, and Mackenzie's great uncle who was envious of his brother's success. He hates it when Zucchini calls him his "henchman" and keeps correcting him because he is his master, not his henchman. Horatio's Chimera form has the head of a white-maned lion, the horns of a Bighorn sheep, the tail, legs and body of a crocodilian, the wings of a bat, and the humanoid arms of a Komodo dragon.[10][12]
Raven-Symoné as Binkley, Zoe's childhood friend and Owen's co-worker who works to make the type of dog biscuit to impress Mr. Woodley.[10][13]
Wallace Shawn as Mr. Woodley,[14] Zoe's father, Mackenzie's grandpa, and Owen's father-in-law who runs a dog biscuit factory. He originally didn't like that Owen was Zoe's husband and kept calling Owen a "deadly man", but later accepted it later in the film.
Gilbert Gottfried as Mario Zucchini, a dwarf motorcycle rider who thinks Horatio is his minion, which is actually the other way around as Horatio keeps correcting him. When Mario ate the broken pieces of the animal crackers, he sported the head and paws of a snowshoe hare and the shell and back legs of a tortoise while maintaining his hair, jacket, and pants.[10][16]
Tara Strong as Talia, Esmeralda's niece, Buffalo Bob's girlfriend, later wife, Owen's step-aunt, Zoe's step-aunt-in-law and Mackenzie's great step-aunt who is trapped in the form of a cat named Zena. She speaks with a soft Italian accent.[10][17]
James Arnold Taylor as Buffalo Bob, Talia's husband, Horatio's younger brother and Owen's uncle/former owner of the circus, Zoe's uncle-in-law and Mackenzie's great uncle who is trapped in the form of a bloodhound named Old Blue.[10][18]
Kevin Grevioux as Samson, a strongman with a beard and no hair who is one of Horatio's henchmen. When Samson ate the broken pieces of the animal crackers, he sported the head of a Texas Longhorn and the arms of a mountain gorilla while maintaining his torso and legs giving him an appearance that is similar to the Minotaur.[19]
Lydia Rose Taylor as Mackenzie Huntington, Owen and Zoe's daughter, Mr. Woodley's granddaughter, Talia's great step-niece, Buffalo Bob and Horatio's great niece.[10][20]
Tony Bancroft as Stabby (uncredited in the Netflix release), a knife thrower and one of Horatio's henchmen. When Stabby ate the broken pieces of the animal crackers, he sported the head, stomach, and tail of a Saltwater crocodile and the torso and paws of a Bengal tiger while maintaining his hair, goatee, and boots.
Anthony Sava as El Diablo, a fire breather in a devil-like outfit and one of Horatio's henchmen. When El Diablo ate the broken pieces of the animal crackers, he sported the head of a frog and the wings of a bat in place of his arms while maintaining his outfit.
Donna Lynne Sava as Petunia (uncredited in the Netflix release), a fat lady that Mario would be aroused by.
Alyssa Trama as Gretchen, a former bearded lady who underwent electrolysis that Bob and Talia paid for.
Noelle Ellis Thomas as Girl in Crowd (uncredited in the Netflix release)
Logan Sava as Kid in Crowd (uncredited in the Netflix release)
In 2011, Scott Christian Sava wrote a comic book for Animal Crackers but was unable to garner any interest. In June 2013, Harvey Weinstein had seen a short film of the screenplay made by Sava[21] and two months later the Weinstein brothers made an offer to buy the rights to Animal Crackers.[22] Sava co-directed the movie with Tony Bancroft and co-wrote the screenplay with Dean Lorey.[22]
Financing the movie were executive producers Mu Yedong on behalf of Wen Hua Dongrun Investment Co., La Peikang, board chairman of China Film Co., and Sam Chi for Landmark Asia.[23]
Despicable Me character designer, Carter Goodrich, was hired in October 2014.[24]
Pre-production
The voice cast was completed by casting director Jamie Thomason who also serves as the voice director.[10]
"When I was writing Animal Crackers I had specific voices in my head. Certain characters I wrote with actors in mind. Horatio was always Sir Ian McKellen. Brock was totally Patrick Warburton. Bullet-Man could be no one else but Stallone! To find out that each and every one of these actors have agreed to come on board this film and bring these characters to life… I'm flipping out," said Sava.[10]
It was announced via Sava's Facebook page that his son, Brendan, would play 12-year-old Owen Huntington and his wife, Donna, would play the Fat Lady.[citation needed] On May 22, 2015, it was revealed that Wallace Shawn had been cast as Mr. Woodley, Zoe's (Blunt) father.[14]
Animation
The film's animation was created in Autodesk Maya, and rendered with Arnold. In an effort to save costs, it was produced at Blue Dream Studios Spain, a 5,000-square foot house in Valencia that the director, Sava, founded in early 2014. More than 120 animators worked on the film.
Filming
On January 27, 2015, Sava announced on Facebook via the Animal Crackers page that first day of "studio sessions with the actors" began in Los Angeles.[7]
The film had its world premiere in competition at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival on June 12, 2017.[26][27] The film was originally set to be released on April 28, 2017 by Relativity Media, however, a financial crisis within the company prevented them from releasing the film. It was then set to be released on September 1, 2017 by upstart film studio Serafini Releasing before they also shut down.[28] A few months later, in November 2017, it was announced that Entertainment Studios would distribute the film worldwide. In April, Sava posted on Facebook that the film was set for a release date of August 10, 2018.[29] The deal with Entertainment Studios was dropped in June 2018.[30]
Eventually, the distribution rights were bought by Netflix and the film was released on July 24, 2020 on the platform.[31][5] It was the second-most streamed film on its opening weekend.[32]
Home media
The film was released on digital and on-demand on April 18, 2023 by Lionsgate and Gravitas Ventures.[33] Allied Vaughn would later release the film on DVD and Blu-Ray on October 3, 2023.[34] These releases were not authenticated or approved by director Scott Christian Sava, and are presumed to be licensed through investor Mayday Productions or another unknown outside entity.[35]
Reception
Critical response
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 64% based on 22 reviews, with an average rating of 6.00/10. It had a critical consensus which read: "Animal Crackers is far from the most distinctive animated fare, but its wacky humor and zippy speed make it a decent diversion for younger viewers."[36] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 60 out of 100 based on 5 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[37]
In Annecy 2017 movie review, Jordan Mintzer of The Hollywood Reporter states that the story is "mostly predictable directions despite the limited pleasure of seeing those mighty morphin power crackers in action." He also noted that the filmmakers seem to have "put more thought into the livelihood of their snacks than they did into the main characters, who mostly come across as stock cartoon types." Overall, he stated about the film could be considered "passable enough, though it's far from the level of Sausage Party or Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, to name some other edible animation tales."[38] Peter Debruge of Variety Magazine wroted the film that it's "uniquely suited to the medium of animation, considering that live action (even heavily CG-embellished live action) simply wouldn't support all those dramatic transformations […] and the wonderfully anthropomorphic behavior each of those species requires." He also wroted that the film "asserts its own identity, combining some of the most distinctive voices with an ensemble of personality-rich, sequel-ready characters. And best of all: Absolutely no animals were harmed in the making of this film."[39]
Renee Schonfeld of Common Sense Media gave the film three stars out of five, describing a "fantastical tale has wacky characters, music, and cartoon peril."[40]Nell Minow of RogerEbert.com rated the film three stars out of four, saying that the character designs are "average" and the action scenes are "energetic and staged with a strong sense of space." She also noted that the subplot is "drags a little […] in the middle of Horatio's plot […]."[41] David Ehrlich of IndieWire gave the film a rate 2.5 stars out of 5 (Grade: B-), stating that the movie is "turned out kind of…decent." He saids that the film is "something of a musical. Imagine the spirit of "The Greatest Showman" with the graphics of "Mario Kart 64" and you'll be on the right track." He noted that the animation is "low-budget kids fare," while the script is "decent" and "some delightful voicework." He also noted that the ending is "much like "The Odyssey," the long and bloodsoaked journey of "Animal Crackers" has a reasonably happy ending."[42] Jack Bottomley of Starburst Magazine rated the film also three stars out of five, saying that it's "not perfect but it's a good directorial debut for Sava that is ultimately fun and offers families a wacky afternoon's viewing, with an uplifting final note and, in these tough times, that's a good thing to strive for and achieve." He says about the film's screenplay is "does not re-invent the wheel here, and it does take a little time to build up the steam it needs as it heads towards its cracker-induced animal shapeshifting concept." He also saws about a "few moments when it occasionally threatens to dampen some creatively exciting ideas with a few different sub-plots and techniques but eventually they bring it together nicely for a grand climax…which is actually kind of appropriate considering the plot." He praised the climax, animation, and character designs that "remind a bit of the work of Laika." Likewise, the film's composer Bear McCreary called it "moments too and meshes well with some good visual colour and pop."[43] Patrick Gibbs of SLUG Magazine reviewed the film about the animation is "not Pixar level, but it's good enough, with its own style and sensibilities and lots of colorful imagery." He also noted that the voice cast is "delightful," and the "goofy premise allows for some very fun moments that are a blast for kids."[44] John Serba of Decider wrote the film that it's "kind of a mess." He also wrote that the animation is "modest budget," the themes are "relegating any potential," and the plot is a "ill-defined amongst a lot of rubble." He enjoys how it's "blend of musical sequences and occasionally problematic depictions of circus artists reminded [him] of both The Greatest Showman and Tod Browning's Freaks."[45]
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