Baby Geniuses

Last updated

Baby Geniuses
Baby geniuses poster.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Bob Clark
Screenplay by
  • Bob Clark
  • Greg Michael
Story by
Produced bySteven Paul
Starring
Cinematography Stephen M. Katz
Edited byStan Cole
Music by Paul Zaza
Production
companies
Distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing [1]
Release date
  • March 12, 1999 (1999-03-12)
Running time
95 minutes [2] [3]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$12 million [1]
Box office$36.5 million [1]

Baby Geniuses is a 1999 American family comedy film directed by Bob Clark and written by Clark and Greg Michael, from a story by Clark, Steven Paul, Francisca Matos, and Robert Grasmere. It stars Kathleen Turner, Christopher Lloyd, Kim Cattrall, Peter MacNicol, and Ruby Dee.

Contents

The film has the distinction of being the first full-length feature to use computer-generated imagery for the synthesis of human visual speech. 2D warping techniques were used to digitally animate the mouth viseme shapes of the babies which were originally shot with their mouths closed. The viseme shapes were sampled from syllables uttered by the babies on the set.

Baby Geniuses was almost universally panned by critics, who lambasted its acting, humor, special effects, writing, and directing, but it grossed $36.5 million worldwide against a production budget of $12 million. In 2004, it was followed by a sequel, Superbabies: Baby Geniuses 2 , which was a box office bomb, and received even worse critical reviews, receiving a nomination for Worst Picture at the 25th Golden Raspberry Awards.

Plot

Two scientists, Dr. Elena Kinder and Dr. Heep use genius-baby studies to fund BabyCo's theme park "Joyworld". According to Dr. Kinder's research on toddlers/babies, babies are born possessing vast, universal knowledge and speak a secret yet impossible-to-translate baby pre-language called Babytalk. However, at age 2–3, the knowledge and language are lost as the babies "cross over" by learning how to speak human languages. All babies raised in Dr. Kinder's underground research facility were adopted from the orphanages Babyco supports (as they serve to filter out which babies should or shouldn't be raised under the Kinder Method) and transformed into small geniuses through use of the Kinder Method, and then used in experiments to decipher this secret yet impossible-to-translate language used by the eight baby geniuses.

One mischievous toddler, Sylvester (the only one of her toddlers raised via the use of the superior version of the Kinder Method), nicknamed "Sly", makes repeated attempts to escape Dr. Kinder's research facility. One night, Sylvester goes into a diaper truck and succeeds. The next morning, he is surprised to run into his long-lost normal twin brother, Whit, in a Joyworld playground. Although Sylvester and Whit share a telepathic bond, each has no idea of the other's existence. The guards from Dr. Kinder's research facility capture Whit, mistaking him for Sylvester, and take him back to Dr. Kinder's research facility. Sylvester is taken home by Whit's adopted mother, Robin, who is Dr. Kinder's niece. Dr. Kinder and the seven other baby geniuses are shocked that Whit and Sylvester switched places at the mall, but Dr. Kinder becomes excited and begins to see this as an opportunity to do a cross-evaluation on the twins. However, when she comes to Dan Bobbin's place, she realizes that Dan can understand babies. After the attempts to retrieve Sylvester fail, Dr. Kinder decides to move the research facility to Liechtenstein, and they have no choice but to make Whit the only normal baby to be raised in this research facility until they can find a possible way to get Sylvester back to her research facility.

The babies at Bobbin's place hypnotize Lenny, the bus driver, to drive to Dr. Kinder's research facility. Once at the research facility, Sylvester goes to the control room to set the robots from the theme park on the lab scientists. When the Bobbins return home, their natural daughter Carrie tells her father that the children are in Dr. Kinder's research facility. At the end of the fight, Dr. Kinder captures Whit and takes him to the helicopter pad on the roof. Robin and Dan chase them to the roof, where Dr. Kinder reveals that she and Robin are not related and that Robin was adopted at age 2. After Dr. Kinder is arrested by the police, Sylvester and Whit come together on the roof to cross over.

Dan and Robin adopt Sylvester. Dan is still curious about the secrets of life; but, as the twins have crossed over, they no longer know those secrets. Carrie, their sister, doesn't reveal anything (just giving her father a Sly smile) because adults are never meant to know their secrets.

Cast

Production

Director Bob Clark became involved with the film in 1994 when he ran into Jon Voight at a play who told Clark of a script his production company, jointly owned by Steven Paul, Crystal Sky Pictures had acquired that centered around intelligent babies. [6] Clark took the script from Voight and expressed to him and Paul that he did not think the premise would work. [6] However Clark changed his mind when Voight and Paul showed him a one minute proof of concept film they had done with some babies sitting around a table in a management meeting like they were executives with their mouths morphed to appear as if they were talking. [6] The script Clark read was a much more fanciful fairy tale concept involving babies in a family discovering a hole that leads them to Baby World, inhabited by infants with only a few adults around. [6] Clark eventually rewrote the script, jettisoning that plot completely in favor of the corporate intrigue angle desiring to go with a more realistic presentation of the concept. [6] Adult actors were tested for the babies' voices, but this idea was quickly rejected with the producers opting for child voice overs. [6]

The film's concept was conceived by producer Steven Paul, who was inspired by a moment in his life when he saw two babies communicating together at a Barneys New York. David Saunders, the then-president of Sony's Triumph Films, wasn't sure that the film could work until he saw the movie Babe , which had similar use of mouth morphing. [7] The studio held auditions for babies in about six cities. Triplet actors Miles, Leo, and Gerry Fitzgerald were almost three when they were cast in the dual role of Wilt and Sly. Jim Wagner, the film's baby wrangler, noted that the actors "still looked like babies. And with triplets, you can work longer hours than you can with twins." [7] The film was shot for 50 days, wrapping in March 1997. [7]

The film faced numerous delays. It was originally planned to be released around Christmas 1997. [8] Due to the incomplete visual effects, the film was postponed to April 10, 1998, [9] [10] then January 29, 1999, [11] and then ultimately March 12, 1999. [11] Baby Geniuses was one of the final films to be produced under Sony's Triumph Films label before it shuttered in 1997. [12] The film was briefly handed off to Columbia TriStar Home Video for a Direct-to-video release, but eventually reverted back to a theatrical release. [6]

Reception

Baby Geniuses was panned by critics and audiences alike for its flat direction, awkward acting, overreliance on toilet humor and shoddy special effects. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported that only 2% of critics gave the film a positive review, based on 45 reviews. Its final consensus reads: "Flat direction and actors who look embarrassed to be onscreen make Baby Geniuses worse than the premise suggests." [13] The film received a normalized score of 6 out of 100 on Metacritic based on 14 critics, indicating the reviews as "overwhelming dislike". [14] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B−" on an A+ to F scale. [15]

Roger Ebert gave the film 1.5 stars out of 4, writing, "Bad films are easy to make, but a film as unpleasant as Baby Geniuses achieves a kind of grandeur. And it proves something I've long suspected: Babies are cute only when they're being babies. When they're presented as miniature adults (on greeting cards, in TV commercials or especially in this movie), there is something so fundamentally wrong that our human instincts cry out in protest." [16]

In a positive review, Dwayne E. Leslie of Box Office Magazine gave the film 3 out of 5 stars. He compared the film to Look Who's Talking , calling it a "step beyond" for its use of computer-animated mouths "instead of using facial gestures to get implied meanings across." The reviewer also labeled the film as "a live action Rugrats cartoon". [17]

Box office

The film made over $5 million in its opening weekend, [18] and was the 10th highest-grossing PG-rated movie of 1999. [19]

Awards and nominations

AwardCategorySubjectResult
Stinkers Bad Movie Awards [20] Worst Picture Steven Paul Nominated
Most Painfully Unfunny ComedyNominated
Worst Director Bob Clark Won
Worst Child Performer Leo, Gerry and Myles Fitzgerald Nominated
Least "Special" Special EffectsNominated

Sequel and other media

Although the film was not received well by critics, its commercial success on home video prompted a sequel, Superbabies: Baby Geniuses 2 . Bob Clark returns to direct the sequel. Jon Voight, who was previously co-executive producer for Baby Geniuses, stars in the film as the antagonist, Bill Biscane. [21] With reception much worse than the original, it was a box office bomb and is widely considered among the worst films of all time.

In 2011, an original series based on the films was announced. The series has so far aired in Italy [22] and the Far East[ where? ]. Additionally, the series was released as a set of movies. Baby Geniuses and the Mystery of the Crown Jewels, which features episodes 1–4, was released direct-to-video in 2013. Episodes 5–8, Baby Geniuses and the Treasures of Egypt, came out in 2014, and episodes 9–12, were released as Baby Geniuses and the Space Baby in 2015. The series follow the Baby Squad Investigators, or B.S.I., as they pursue Big Baby (voiced by Christopher Bones), his father Beauregard Burger (Andy Pandini), and the international thief Moriarty (Jon Voight).

Related Research Articles

<i>Batman & Robin</i> (film) 1997 superhero film by Joel Schumacher

Batman & Robin is a 1997 American superhero film based on the DC Comics characters Batman and Robin by Bill Finger and Bob Kane. It is the fourth and final installment of Warner Bros.' initial Batman film series, a sequel to Batman Forever (1995), and the only film in the series made without the involvement of Tim Burton in any capacity. Directed by Joel Schumacher and written by Akiva Goldsman, it stars George Clooney as Bruce Wayne / Batman and Chris O'Donnell as Dick Grayson / Robin, alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger, Uma Thurman, and Alicia Silverstone. The film follows the eponymous characters as they attempt to prevent Mr. Freeze (Schwarzenegger) and Poison Ivy (Thurman) from taking over the world, while at the same time struggling to keep their partnership together.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jon Voight</span> American actor (born 1938)

Jonathan Vincent Voight is an American actor. The recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, and four Golden Globe Awards as well as nominations for four Primetime Emmy Awards. In 2019, he was awarded the National Medal of Arts. Films in which Voight has appeared have grossed more than $5.2 billion worldwide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sylvester Stallone</span> American actor and filmmaker (born 1946)

Sylvester Gardenzio Stallone is an American actor and filmmaker. He has received numerous accolades, including a Golden Globe Award and a Critics' Choice Award, as well as nominations for three Academy Awards and two BAFTA Awards. Stallone is one of only two actors in history to have starred in a box-office No. 1 film across six consecutive decades.

<i>The Dark Knight Returns</i> 1986 four-issue comic book miniseries by Frank Miller

The Dark Knight Returns is a 1986 four-issue comic book miniseries starring Batman, written by Frank Miller, illustrated by Miller and Klaus Janson, with color by Lynn Varley, and published by DC Comics. It tells an alternative story of Bruce Wayne, who at 55 years old returns from a decade of retirement to fight crime while facing opposition from the Gotham City police force and the United States government. The story also features the return of classic foes Two-Face and the Joker, and culminates in a confrontation with Superman, who is now a pawn of the government.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tweety</span> Warner Bros. theatrical cartoon character

Tweety is a yellow canary in the Warner Bros. Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of animated cartoons. His characteristics are based on Red Skelton's famous "Junior the Mean Widdle Kid." He appeared in 46 cartoons during the golden age, made between 1942 and 1964.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sylvester the Cat</span> Warner Bros. theatrical cartoon character

Sylvester J. Pussycat Sr. is a fictional character, an anthropomorphic cat in the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons. Most of his appearances have him often chasing Tweety Bird, Speedy Gonzales, or Hippety Hopper. He appeared in 103 cartoons in the golden age of American animation, lagging only behind superstars Bugs Bunny, Porky Pig, and Daffy Duck. Three of his cartoons won Academy Awards, the most for any starring a Looney Tunes character: they are Tweetie Pie, Speedy Gonzales, and Birds Anonymous.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carrie-Anne Moss</span> Canadian actress (born 1967)

Carrie-Anne Moss is a Canadian actress. After early roles on television, she rose to international prominence for her role of Trinity in The Matrix series (1999–present). She has starred in Memento (2000), for which she won the Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Female, Red Planet (2000), Chocolat (2000), Fido (2006), Snow Cake (2006), for which she won the Genie Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role, Disturbia (2007), Unthinkable (2010), Silent Hill: Revelation (2012), and Pompeii (2014). She also portrayed Jeri Hogarth in several television series produced by Marvel Television for Netflix, most notably Jessica Jones (2015–2019).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christian Slater</span> American actor (born 1969)

Christian Michael Leonard Slater is an American actor. He made his film debut with a leading role in The Legend of Billie Jean (1985) and gained wider recognition for his breakout role as Jason "J.D." Dean, a sociopathic high school student, in the satire Heathers (1988). He received critical acclaim for playing the title role in the USA Network television series Mr. Robot (2015–2019): it earned him the 2016 Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Series, Miniseries or Television Film, and additional nominations for that award in 2017 and 2018.

<i>Superbabies: Baby Geniuses 2</i> 2004 film by Bob Clark

Superbabies: Baby Geniuses 2 is a 2004 American family action comedy film directed by Bob Clark and written by Gregory Poppen, from a story by Steven Paul. The sequel to the 1999 film Baby Geniuses, it stars Jon Voight, Scott Baio, and Vanessa Angel. Following the events of the first film, four babies can communicate with each other using baby talk and have knowledge of many secrets. The baby geniuses become involved in a scheme by media mogul Bill Biscane, later revealed to be known as Kane, who kidnaps children everywhere. Helping the geniuses is a legendary super-baby named Kahuna who stops Biscane's plots and saves children from being kidnapped by Biscane and his minions. He joins up with several other babies in an attempt to stop Biscane, who intends to use a state-of-the-art satellite system to control the world's population by brainwashing them and forcing people to not be active and watch TV for the rest of their lives.

<i>How to Kill Your Neighbors Dog</i> 2000 American film

How to Kill Your Neighbor's Dog is a 2000 American black comedy film written and directed by Michael Kalesniko. It stars Kenneth Branagh and Robin Wright Penn.

<i>Muppets from Space</i> 1999 film directed by Tim Hill

Muppets from Space is a 1999 American science fiction comedy film directed by Tim Hill, written by Jerry Juhl, Joseph Mazzarino, and Ken Kaufman, produced by Brian Henson and Martin G. Baker, and the sixth theatrical film featuring the Muppets. The film stars Muppet performers Dave Goelz, Steve Whitmire, Jerry Nelson, Bill Barretta, and Frank Oz, as well as Jeffrey Tambor, F. Murray Abraham, David Arquette, Josh Charles, Hollywood Hogan, Ray Liotta, Rob Schneider and Andie MacDowell. In the film, Gonzo attempts to discover his origins. After he and Rizzo the Rat are captured by government officials during his search, Kermit the Frog and the rest of the Muppets set out to rescue them.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Miko Hughes</span> American actor

Miko John Hughes is an American actor known for his film roles as a child, such as Gage Creed in Pet Sematary (1989), Kindergarten Cop (1990), Apollo 13 (1995), Spawn (1997), Mercury Rising (1998), Wes Craven's New Nightmare (1994), as well as his recurring role as Aaron on Full House from 1990 to 1995.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Kind</span> American actor (born 1956)

Richard Bruce Kind is an American actor and comedian. His television roles include Dr. Mark Devanow in Mad About You, Paul Lassiter in Spin City (1996–2002), Stargate Atlantis (2006), Andy in Curb Your Enthusiasm (2002–2021), and Captain Stan Yenko in East New York (2022–2023). He appeared in the films Johns (1996), Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (2002), I Want Someone to Eat Cheese With (2006), Big Stan (2007), A Serious Man (2009), The Angriest Man in Brooklyn (2014), All We Had (2016), Rifkin's Festival (2020), Tick, Tick... Boom! (2021), and The Out-Laws (2023).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter Bradshaw</span> British writer and film critic

Peter Nicholas Bradshaw is a British writer and film critic. He has been chief film critic at The Guardian since 1999, and is a contributing editor at Esquire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Batman in film</span> Film adaptations of the DC superhero

The Batman franchise, based on the fictional superhero Batman who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics, has seen the release of various films. Created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger, the character first starred in two serial films in the 1940s, Batman and Batman and Robin. The character also appeared in the 1966 film Batman, which was a feature film adaptation of the 1960s television series starring Adam West and Burt Ward, who also starred in the film. Toward the end of the 1980s, the Warner Bros. studio began producing a series of feature films starring Batman, beginning with 1989's Batman, directed by Tim Burton and starring Michael Keaton. Burton and Keaton returned for the 1992 sequel Batman Returns, and in 1995, Joel Schumacher directed Batman Forever, with Val Kilmer as Batman. Schumacher also directed the 1997 sequel Batman & Robin, which starred George Clooney. Batman & Robin was poorly received by both critics and fans, leading to the cancellation of a sequel titled Batman Unchained.

<i>Bullet to the Head</i> 2012 American film, director Walter Hill

Bullet to the Head is a 2012 American action film directed by Walter Hill. The screenplay by Alessandro Camon was based on the French graphic novel Du plomb dans la tête written by Matz and illustrated by Colin Wilson. The film stars Sylvester Stallone, Sung Kang, Sarah Shahi, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Christian Slater, and Jason Momoa. Alexandra Milchan, Alfred Gough, Miles Millar, and Kevin King-Templeton produced the film. The movie follows a hitman (Stallone) and a cop (Kang) who are forced to work together to bring down a corrupt businessman (Akinnuoye-Agbaje) after they are targeted by the businessman's assassin (Momoa).

Leo, Gerry and Myles Fitzgerald are Canadian former child actors, currently involved in ice hockey, best known for their joint roles as Sylvester (Sly) and Whit in the 1999 film Baby Geniuses. They also appeared in the sequel, Superbabies: Baby Geniuses 2, in 2004.

<i>Escape Plan</i> (film) 2013 American prison action thriller film by Mikael Håfström

Escape Plan is a 2013 American prison action thriller film starring Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger, and co-starring Jim Caviezel, 50 Cent, Vinnie Jones, Vincent D'Onofrio and Amy Ryan. It was directed by Swedish filmmaker Mikael Håfström, and written by Miles Chapman and Jason Keller. The first film to pair up Stallone and Schwarzenegger as co-leads, it follows Stallone's character Ray Breslin, a lawyer turned prison security tester who is incarcerated in the world's most secret and secure prison, and recruits fellow inmate Emil Rottmayer, portrayed by Schwarzenegger, to stage a breakout. The film is the first installment of the Escape Plan film series.

Events in 1956 in animation.

Events in 1950 in animation.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Baby Geniuses at Box Office Mojo
  2. ↑ "Baby Geniuses". British Board of Film Classification . Archived from the original on February 2, 2017. Retrieved January 20, 2017.
  3. ↑ "Detail view of Movies Page". afi.com. Archived from the original on September 27, 2015. Retrieved July 31, 2015.
  4. ↑ Beck, Karen (February 6, 1998). "The faces of our Baby Geniuses". Alberni Valley Times. p. 1. Archived from the original on August 14, 2022. Retrieved August 14, 2022.
  5. ↑ Hill, Veronica (January 30, 1998). "Hughes provides voice of twins in 'Baby Geniuses'". Daily Press. p. 21. Archived from the original on August 14, 2022. Retrieved August 14, 2022.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Szebin, Frederick C. (February 1999). "Baby Geniuses". Cinefantastique . Fourth Castle Micromedia. Retrieved February 25, 2023.
  7. 1 2 3 Farber, Stephen (June 1, 1997). "Out of the Mouth of Babes, The Wisdom of 'Goo-Goo'". The New York Times. Archived from the original on August 14, 2022. Retrieved August 14, 2022.
  8. ↑ Dunldey, Cathy (March 3, 1997). "Turner and Lloyd join the cast of 'Baby' faces". Oakland Tribune. p. 22. Archived from the original on September 30, 2024. Retrieved August 14, 2022.
  9. ↑ Beck, Marilyn (February 17, 1998). "Marilyn Beck's Hollywood". The Sacramento Bee. p. 28. Archived from the original on August 14, 2022. Retrieved August 14, 2022.
  10. ↑ Beck, Karen (February 6, 1998). "The faces of our Baby Geniuses". Alberni Valley Times. p. 12. Archived from the original on August 14, 2022. Retrieved August 14, 2022.
  11. 1 2 Johnson, Malcolm (January 17, 1999). "Art Films Stuck in Traffic". Hartford Courant. p. 103. Archived from the original on August 14, 2022. Retrieved August 14, 2022.
  12. ↑ "Sony folds low-budget outfit Triumph Films". Variety . April 11, 1997. Archived from the original on July 9, 2021. Retrieved July 3, 2021.
  13. ↑ "Baby Geniuses (1999)". Rotten Tomatoes . Fandango Media. Archived from the original on January 17, 2021. Retrieved January 13, 2021.
  14. ↑ "Baby Geniuses Reviews". Metacritic . CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on November 17, 2020. Retrieved July 4, 2020.
  15. ↑ "Find CinemaScore" (Type "Baby Geniuses" in the search box). CinemaScore. Archived from the original on August 9, 2019. Retrieved December 28, 2022.
  16. ↑ "Baby Geniuses movie review and film summary - Roger Ebert". Archived from the original on October 30, 2021. Retrieved October 30, 2021.
  17. ↑ Leslie, Dwayne E. (March 1999). "Baby Geniuses - Box Office Review". Box Office Magazine. Archived from the original on February 5, 2010. Retrieved August 14, 2022.
  18. ↑ "Baby Geniuses Box Office Totals". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on August 21, 2014. Retrieved August 20, 2014.
  19. ↑ "Baby Geniuses Yearly Chart". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on July 15, 2014. Retrieved August 20, 2014.
  20. ↑ "1999 22nd Hastings Bad Cinema Society Stinker Awards". Stinkers Bad Movie Awards . Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on October 17, 2006. Retrieved May 10, 2013.
  21. ↑ Beck, Marilyn (March 30, 1999). "More 'Baby Geniuses' are on the way". Kenosha News. p. 23. Archived from the original on September 30, 2024. Retrieved August 14, 2022.
  22. ↑ "Baby Geniuses 3: BSI (Baby Squad Investigators)". Minerva Pictures. Archived from the original on April 23, 2014.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.