Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs premiered at the Mann Village Theater in Los Angeles, California on September 12, 2009, and was released in the United States six days later on September 18 of that same year. It earned $243 million worldwide on a budget of $100 million at the box office.[4] The film received generally positive reviews from critics, who praised its colorful visuals, humor, characters, voice acting, and the score, while the simple character designs were said to be unfitting. The film has since been expanded into a franchise, with a sequel, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2, released on September 27, 2013, as well as an animated television series based on the film that premiered on Cartoon Network on February 20, 2017, with none of the original cast returning.
Aspiring scientist Flint Lockwood lives in Swallow Falls, a tiny island in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. Sardines are the base of Swallow Falls' economy, but since the Baby Brent Sardines cannery went bankrupt (due to worldwide dislike of sardines), the townspeople are forced to eat the remaining supply. Flint also frequently clashes with the townspeople, including his childhood bully and the namesake mascot of Baby Brent Sardines Brent McHale, the athletic police officer Earl Devereux, and his widowed, technophobic fisherman father Tim, who are always annoyed with his failed inventions.
One day, Flint invents the "Flint Lockwood Diatonic Super Mutating Dynamic Food Replicator" (FLDSMDFR), a machine that turns water into food. Flint decides to power the machine by hooking it up to the nearby power substation, sending it rocketing through town and subsequently destroying a cheap amusement park conceived by the town’s mayor, Shelbourne, before ultimately shooting up into the sky. This earns Flint the ire of townspeople and the disappointment of Tim. Afterwards, a dejected Flint meets Samantha "Sam" Sparks, a weather reporter intern whose big break was ruined by the incident. After a short argument, food starts raining from the sky. Flint, Sam, and the townspeople stare in awe as brightly colored clouds approach the town and begin to rain cheeseburgers, delighting the residents and revealing the experiment was a success.
At everyone's request, Flint creates a communication device to send food orders to the machine, and Swallow Falls (which is renamed Chewandswallow) becomes a successful "food tourism" destination. This subsequently demoralizes Brent while Earl befriends Flint. As Flint and Sam grow closer, Sam opens up to Flint about her history of being bullied and the shame she feels about her nerdy demeanor, though Flint insists she's beautiful the way she is.
That night at dinner, Flint and Tim have a falling-out over Flint's success. After investigating a giant hotdog, Flint discovers that the food is starting to “over-mutate”. Despite this, Shelbourne, now morbidly obese, dismisses these concerns and convinces Flint to use the invention anyway. At the grand opening of Chewandswallow, Flint ignores a concerned Sam when she tries to convince him to turn the machine off. The celebration is cut short when a large tornado of spaghetti and meatballs ravages the town. Flint rushes to his lab to turn off the FLDSMDFR but finds Shelbourne busy using the machine to order a "Vegas-style all-you-can-eat-buffet". During a scuffle with Flint, Shelbourne accidentally destroys the communication device. Having gained sentience, the FLDSMDFR creates a massive food storm that sends colossal food to various cities and their landmarks.
After reconciling with Tim, Flint places the kill code on a USB flash drive, and redesigns his flying car to reach and destroy the FLDSMDFR with the aid of Sam, her talented cameraman Manny, Flint's pet monkey Steve, and a redeemed Brent, Flint departs for the machine while Earl rallies the townspeople to build boats. As they approach the machine in the sky, they find that it now serves as the core of a giant meatball-like mass, pulling in massive amounts of moisture from the Earth’s atmosphere. The machine sends living food to attack them, which causes Flint to lose the USB. This prompts him to call Tim and ask him to email the kill code file to his phone. Tim agrees, and heads to the lab. As Sam, Brent and Flint enter the meatball, they are accosted by living roast chickens, one of which Brent manages to take control of after it eats him.
Back in Chewandswallow, Shelbourne abandons the townsfolk to leave the island, and a dam containing leftovers collapses, creating an avalanche of food that destroys the town. Earl and his family narrowly escape while Tim manages to re-send the code to Flint's cell phone. While lowering Flint down a tunnel using rope, Sam gets cut by a piece of peanut brittle, causing a severe allergic reaction. Flint implores Brent to take Sam back to the car and get her a shot, but she refuses to let Flint go. They confess their love for each other before Flint cuts the rope and plummets down.
While fighting the machine, Flint discovers that Tim accidentally sent him the wrong file. However, he uses his Spray-On Shoes formula to stop the machine, causing it and the giant meatball to explode, the explosion seemingly killing him. With the machine destroyed, the food storms subside and everyone is able to return safely to Chewandswallow. Flint is revealed to have survived the explosion, being safely returned to Earth by his experimental animals, the “Rat Birds”. Tim finally shows his appreciation for his son and his inventions, and Flint and Sam celebrate with a kiss.
Bill Hader as Flint Lockwood, an unsuccessful and timid but determined young inventor, and Sam's love interest. Hader also voices the FLDSMDFR, Flint's invention
Max Neuwirth as the young Flint
Anna Faris as Samantha "Sam" Sparks, a weather intern from New York City and later Flint's love interest
Neil Patrick Harris as Steve, Flint's pet vervet monkey and best friend, who communicates through a thought translator Flint invented
After a year working on the script, Lord and Christopher Miller were fired for story issues and replaced with new writers, who after a year were also fired. Lord and Miller were then re-hired in 2006. The two completely redid the script, this time with the creative input of their crew. The new draft had the protagonist as a failed inventor who wanted to prove himself to his town. The two were almost fired again after Amy Pascal, then-head of Sony Pictures, criticized the film for lack of story. Although the film succeeded on the comedic front in the animatic stage, Pascal cited the lack of an anchoring relationship in the film as a failure in the story telling. Unable to create new characters and environments to suit the new story demands, the two elevated the character of the tackle shop extra to be the protagonist's father, thereby creating the relationship Pascal had requested. The pair's experience on Cloudy taught them two valuable lessons: the power of creative collaboration and the importance of emotion in a story.[8]
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs is the second film after Monster House that was made using the animation-rendering software Arnold.[10] Justin K. Thompson served as production designer.[11]
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs is the soundtrack to the film of the same name, released under Sony Pictures Entertainment on September 15, 2009. The music of the film and this album are both credited to be composed and produced by American composerMark Mothersbaugh of Devo and Rugrats fame. "Raining Sunshine", performed by Miranda Cosgrove, was released as a promotional single on August 24, 2009.[12]
The Japanese version has "Rainbow Forecast" by Shoko Nakagawa play during the end credits.
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs premiered on September 12, 2009, at the Mann Village Theatre in Los Angeles, California.[3] The film had its wide release on September 18, 2009, along with a digitally re-mastered release to IMAX 3D theatres.[13]
Home media
The film was released on DVD, Blu-ray Disc, and PSP UMD on January 5, 2010 in the United States and Canada.[14][15] A 3D Blu-ray was released on June 22, 2010. It was the first 3D Blu-ray sold individually in the United States.[16] The film was filmed in 2.40:1 widescreen. Most copies present the film in two discs and present the film in either 1.78:1 widescreen or 2.40:1 widescreen.
In April 2021, Sony signed a deal with Disney giving them access to their legacy content, including Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs and its sequel to stream on Disney+ and Hulu and appear on Disney's linear television networks. Disney's access to Sony's titles would come following their availability on Netflix.[17][18]
Art book
In August 2009, Insight Editions published a companion book to the film called The Art and Making of Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs.[19][20]
Reception
Critical response
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a rating of 86% based on 142 reviews, with an average rating of 7.3/10. The consensus statement reads, "Quirky humor, plucky characters and solid slapstick make this family comedy a frenetically tasty time at the movies."[21] On Metacritic it has a weighted average score of 66 out of 100, based on 24 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[22] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale.[23]
Ernest Hardy of LA Weekly stated the film "is smart, insightful on a host of relationship dynamics, and filled with fast-paced action". Hardy also applauded the 3-D effects which "are wonderful, full of witty sight gags that play out both center-screen and on the periphery".[24]Michael Phillips of the Chicago Tribune gave the film a mixed review stating that "Crazy doesn't always equal funny, and the gigantism of this 3-D offering's second half puts a damper on your enjoyment. But look: This film wasn't made for you, or me. It was made for dangerously, easily distracted 9-year-olds."[25] Sandie Angulo Chen of Common Sense Media gave the film three stars out of five, saying that it was "age-appropriate food adventure goes down easily."[26]
Box office
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs earned a total of $243 million on a reported budget of $100 million. Of the gross, 51%, or $124,870,275, came from the domestic market, while the rest, $118,135,851, from other territories.[4] The film earned $8,137,358 on its opening Friday, and ranked #1 at the box office with a total of $30.3 million for the first weekend.[27] On its second weekend, it remained at #1 with a decrease of only 17%.[28]
A sequel, titled Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2, was released on September 27, 2013. Directed by Cody Cameron and Kris Pearn, and it is based on an original idea, where Flint and his friends must again save the world from his food machine, which survived the explosion in the prequel. This time, the machine gains the ability to produce living food beasts.[34] Most of the main cast reprised their roles, but Earl, the town cop, is now voiced by Terry Crews since Mr. T declined to reprise the role. New cast also includes Kristen Schaal as orangutan Barb, and Will Forte in his new role of Chester V.[35]
On October 9, 2014, DHX Media announced that it will develop and produce a television series based on the film franchise, titled Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs: The Series.[36] The series will be traditionally animated and will consist of twenty-six 22-minute episodes.[36] It will take place before the first film, showing Flint Lockwood as a high school student who dreams of becoming a serious scientist.[36] In his adventures, he will be joined by Sam Sparks, a new girl in town and the school's "wannabe" reporter, along with Flint's dad Tim, Steve the Monkey, Manny as the head of the school's audiovisual club, Earl as a school gym teacher, Brent as a baby wear model, and mayor Shelbourne.[36] DHX Media will handle the global television and non-US home entertainment distribution, along with worldwide merchandising rights, while Sony will distribute home entertainment in the US.[36] Commissioned by Teletoon in Canada, the series will air on Cartoon Network in the United States,[37] and on the Boomerang channel in other territories.[38] None of the original cast returned for the show and were replaced by Canadian voice actors.
Erick Elías Rabinovitz is a Mexican actor. Elías began acting with a screen debut in DKDA: Sueños de juventud (2000), followed by roles in Amigos x siempre (2000). He became known in the reality show Protagonistas de Novela (2003), where he was the winner. He participated in projects of the American network Telemundo, such as; Gitanas (2004), El cuerpo del deseo (2005), El Zorro, la espada y la rosa (2007), Betty en NY (2019) and 100 días para enamorarnos (2020). He got his first starring role in the telenovela Tormenta en el paraíso. From there followed roles as protagonists in Niña de mi corazón (2010), Ni contigo ni sin ti (2011), Porque el amor manda (2013), El color de la pasión (2014) and El hotel de los secretos (2016), the first series that Televisa produced for Blim.
Sony Pictures Animation Inc. is an American animation studio owned by Sony Entertainment's Sony Pictures Entertainment through their Motion Picture Group division and founded on May 9, 2002. Most of the studio's films are distributed worldwide by Sony Pictures Releasing under their Columbia Pictures label, while all direct-to-video releases are released by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.
Sony Pictures Imageworks Inc. is a Canadian visual effects and computer animation studio headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia and Montreal, Quebec, with an additional office on the Sony Pictures Studios lot in Culver City, California. SPI is a unit of Sony Pictures Entertainment's Motion Picture Group.
Cody William Cameron is an American voice actor, film director and storyboard artist best known for directing Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2. He voiced many animated characters, including Pinocchio and the Three Little Pigs in the Shrek series and Mr. Weenie in the Open Season franchise.
Judi Barrett is an American author and art teacher most well known for her picture books for children, including Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs and Animals Should Definitely Not Wear Clothing.
Born February 4, 1953, Veteran animation editor H. Lee Peterson’s credits for Walt Disney Feature Animation include assistant editor for The Little Mermaid, and lead film editor for Aladdin, Pocahontas, Dinosaur, Home on the Range and the short film The Prince and the Pauper; starring Mickey Mouse.
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs is a children's book written by Judi Barrett and illustrated by Ron Barrett. It was first published in 1978 by Atheneum Books, followed by a 1982 trade paperback edition from sister company Aladdin Paperbacks. It is now published by Simon & Schuster. Based on a 2007 online poll, the National Education Association listed the book as one of its "Teachers' Top 100 Books for Children". It was one of the "Top 100 Picture Books" of all time in a 2012 poll by School Library Journal.
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs is a video game tie-in based on the film of the same name which is also based upon the 1978 children's book of the same name. The game allows the player to control Flint Lockwood, the film's hero as he must save his town and the world from the rain of food, fighting highly mutated food enemies and using his gadgets to help him on the way.
The 37th Annual Annie Awards, honoring the best in animation for 2009, were held on February 6, 2010, at Royce Hall in Los Angeles, California.
Paul and Gaëtan Brizzi are twin French artists, painters, illustrators, animators, and film directors.
Philip Anderson Lord and Christopher Robert Miller are American filmmakers. They are the creators and co-stars of the adult animated sitcom Clone High, and the writers and directors of the animated films Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009) and The Lego Movie (2014), as well as the directors of the live-action comedy film 21 Jump Street (2012) and its sequel, 22 Jump Street (2014).
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 is a 2013 American animated science fiction comedy film produced by Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animation, animated by Sony Pictures Imageworks, and distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing. The sequel to the 2009 film Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, the film was directed by Cody Cameron and Kris Pearn from a screenplay written by Erica Rivinoja and the writing team of John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein. Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, the directors of the previous film, returned as executive producers, and also conceived the story with Rivinoja. Bill Hader, Anna Faris, James Caan, Andy Samberg, Neil Patrick Harris, and Benjamin Bratt reprise their roles from the first film, while Will Forte, who voiced Joseph Towne in the first film, voices Chester V in this film. New cast members include Kristen Schaal as Chester's orangutan assistant, Barb, and Terry Crews as Earl Devereaux, replacing Mr. T. The film's plot focuses on Flint Lockwood and his friends returning to Swallow Falls to save the world after the presumed-destroyed Flint Lockwood Diatonic Super Mutating Dynamic Food Replicator (FLDSMDFR) reactivates, this time creating sentient food creatures.
"New" is a song written by Paul McCartney. It was originally recorded by McCartney and produced by English musician Mark Ronson for McCartney's sixteenth studio album New, and appears as the sixth track on the album. After being released early on the iTunes Store as a track available to download from New on 28 August 2013, the song was released as a single on 2 September 2013 and available exclusively on Amazon.com. The single's premiere on 28 August was concurrent with the official reveal of New on the same day. The single gained heavy airplay on Japanese radio stations, where it became a number 4 hit on the Japan Hot 100.
Greg Franklin is an American cartoonist and animation director. He is the co-founder of Six Point Harness (6PH), a Los Angeles-based animation studio that develops and produces animated television programming, feature films, music videos and web-based content.
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs is a science fiction comedy media franchise produced by Sony Pictures Animation and loosely based on the book of the same name by Judi Barrett. The films have received generally positive reviews from critics. The series has grossed $517 million at the box office.
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs is a 2D animated television series developed by Mark Evestaff and Alex Galatis for Cartoon Network and YTV. It is produced by DHX Media and Sony Pictures Animation in association with Corus Entertainment via YTV Canada Inc.. Based on the children's book and the film series of the same name, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs is the first television series to be produced by Sony Pictures Animation and was animated using Toon Boom Harmony.
WildBrain Studios is the in-house television studio arm of Canadian entertainment company WildBrain based in Vancouver, British Columbia, which was established in 2016 as DHX Studios.
Kaan Kalyon is a Turkish American screenwriter and story development artist. He was the co-writer of Disney's Pocahontas (1995) and Hercules (1997), and the story artist in Treasure Planet (2002). In addition, Kalyon has worked with Sony and Columbia pictures as the story artist for Surf's Up (2007) and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009) and was the head of story for Hotel Transylvania (2012). He has also worked on several animated television series' including Widget (1990), Tiny Toon Adventures (1991–92) and Bébé's Kids (1992).
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