Spy Kids | |
---|---|
Created by | Robert Rodriguez |
Original work | Spy Kids (2001) |
Owner | Troublemaker Studios |
Years | 2001–present |
Print publications | |
Book(s) | List of books |
Comics | List of comics |
Films and television | |
Film(s) |
|
Animated series | Spy Kids: Mission Critical (2018) |
Audio | |
Soundtrack(s) |
|
Miscellaneous | |
Total Box Office | $550.3 million |
Spy Kids is an American media franchise centered on a series of spy action comedy films created by Robert Rodriguez. The plot follows various children, who discover that their respective parents are spies and become involved in an espionage organization when their parents go missing. The films include Hispanic themes, as Rodriguez is of Mexican descent. [1]
Spy Kids was influenced by elements of the James Bond movies, through the genre of family films. Rodriguez has stated that the first movie was "a fusion of Willy Wonka and James Bond", [2] while the second was the " Mysterious Island and James Bond mix".
The spy organization in the films is called the OSS. These initials are from the Office of Strategic Services, a former U.S. intelligence organization during World War II which later evolved into the CIA. The character Donnagon Giggles was named after William Joseph Donovan, the director of the original OSS. [3] The initials in the Spy Kids universe are never specified on screen, but, in one of the books, they stand for the Organization of Super Spies.
One of the main themes of Spy Kids is the unity of family. The children have adult responsibilities, and a lesson is that keeping secrets from family members can have a negative effect on relationships. The first film also deals extensively with sibling rivalry and the responsibility of older children. There is also a strong sense of Latino heritage.
The other films were shot with High Definition digital video, [4] parts of the third film using an anaglyphic process to create the 3-D effect. Audiences were given red/blue 3D glasses with their tickets in movie theatres. Four sets of these glasses were also included in the DVD release. The third film was used as a test for a special Texas Instruments digital projector which can project polarized 3D, which does not require the red-blue lenses, later reused for The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl in 3-D (2005). [5] [6]
Film | U.S. release date | Director | Screenwriter(s) | Producers |
---|---|---|---|---|
Spy Kids | March 30, 2001 | Robert Rodriguez | Elizabeth Avellán and Robert Rodriguez | |
Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams | August 7, 2002 | |||
Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over | July 25, 2003 | |||
Spy Kids: All the Time in the World | August 19, 2011 | |||
Spy Kids: Armageddon [7] | September 22, 2023 | Robert Rodriguez | Robert Rodriguez & Racer Max | David Ellison, Dana Goldberg, Don Granger, Racer Max, Robert Rodriguez and Elizabeth Avellán |
After retiring from espionage for ten years, Gregorio and Ingrid (Antonio Banderas and Carla Gugino) are pulled back into duty for their important assignment despite the fact they were out of practice, and were captured. Their two children, Carmen and Juni (Alexa Vega and Daryl Sabara), stay with their uncle Felix Gumm (Cheech Marin) and discover the truth of their parents' past, which they had neglected to tell them because they were afraid that if they knew, they would picture danger at every corner; and decide to rescue them. On their first mission, Carmen and Juni manage to bring around their estranged uncle, Isador "Machete" Cortez (Danny Trejo), a genius gadget inventor and Juni helps to redeem a TV show host named Fegan Floop (Alan Cumming). Together, Carmen and Juni thwart the plan of Floop's notorious second in-command Alexander Minion (Tony Shalhoub) to develop an army of androids resembling young children (including Carmen and Juni themselves) for a mastermind named Mr. Lisp (Robert Patrick) and his partner Ms. Gradenko (Teri Hatcher). The robots based on Carmen and Juni became part of Floop's show.
As agents of the OSS, Carmen and Juni try to save the daughter (Taylor Momsen) of the President of the United States (Christopher McDonald) while facing a particularly hard competition with Gary and Gerti Giggles (Matt O'Leary and Emily Osment), the two children of a double-dealing agent Donnagon Giggles (Mike Judge), whom Carmen and Juni helped to rescue them from the first film. Juni gets fired from the OSS after fighting with Gary over a smaller version of the transmooker, a device that can shut off all electronic devices even though it was Gary who started the fight. Juni loses his spot for the best spy kid of the year award, while Donnagon plans to steal the transmooker to take over the world. On their second mission, Carmen and Juni follow the trail to the mysterious island of Leeke Leeke which is home to Romero (Steve Buscemi), an eccentric scientist who attempted to create genetically miniaturised animals, but instead ended up with his island inhabited by mutant monsters. Eventually, Donnagon is fired and Gary is suspended, and the transmooker is destroyed. Juni is offered his job back, but in order to take a break from the OSS, he retires to start his own private eye agency.
After retiring from the OSS, Juni is thrust back into service when an evil mastermind named Sebastian "The Toymaker" (Sylvester Stallone) creates a fictional video game called Game Over, which hypnotizes its users. Carmen was sent on a mission to disable the game, but disappeared on Level 4. With the help of his maternal grandfather, Valentin Avellan (Ricardo Montalban), who uses a wheelchair, Juni is sent after Carmen and helps her to disable the game in order to save the world. It is revealed that Sebastian was the one who disabled Valentin in the first place. Instead of avenging his former partner, Valentin forgives Sebastian who is redeemed.
The OSS has become the world's top spy agency, while the Spy Kids department has become defunct. Marissa (Jessica Alba), a retired spy, is thrown back into the action along with her two stepchildren, Rebecca and Cecil (Rowan Blanchard and Mason Cook), when a maniacal Timekeeper (Jeremy Piven) attempts to take over the world. In order to save the world, Rebecca and Cecil must team up with Marissa.
The fifth installment titled Spy Kids: Armageddon , served as a relaunch of the franchise, involves a plot that centers on a multicultural family. Robert Rodriguez is again writer/director, while the project is a joint-venture production between Skydance Media and Spyglass Media Group. [8] [9] The film is scheduled for distribution on Netflix, [10] making it the second Spy Kids project produced for the platform. [7] Gina Rodriguez, Zachary Levi, Everly Carganilla and Connor Esterson were set to star, [11] along with Billy Magnussen [12] and D. J. Cotrona. [13] The plotline for the film: "When the children of the world's greatest secret agents unwittingly help a powerful Game Developer unleash a computer virus that gives him control of all technology, they must become spies themselves to save their parents and the world". [14] Production of the film wrapped in late August 2022, [15] [16] and was released on Netflix on September 22, 2023. [17]
Though the movie does not include other characters from the franchise, Rodriguez confirmed that it takes place in the same continuity as the previous installments. [18]
In September 2023, Rodriguez confirmed that Netflix intends to develop additional Spy Kids movies, [18] with the filmmaker expressing hope to begin production on a sequel the following year. [19] Rodriguez explained that Armageddon incorporated a new family because so much time had passed since All the Time in the World, and so he wanted to incorporate a new set of characters before returning to what came before; confirming that he intends to bring back "legacy characters" from the previous installments in future movies. [18]
Series | Seasons | Episodes | First released | Last released | Showrunner(s) | Network(s) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Spy Kids: Mission Critical | 2 | 20 | April 20, 2018 | November 30, 2018 | F.M. De Marco | Netflix |
An animated series based on the films, Spy Kids: Mission Critical, was released on Netflix in 2018. [20] The first and second seasons both consist of 10 episodes [21] and is produced by Mainframe Studios. [22] Robert Rodriguez was one of the executive producers on the show.
This section includes characters who will appear or have appeared in franchise.
Characters | Films | Television | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Spy Kids | Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams | Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over | Spy Kids: All the Time in the World | Spy Kids: Armageddon | Spy Kids: Mission Critical | |||
Season 1 | Season 2 | |||||||
Carmen Cortez | Alexa Vega Addisyn Fair Y | Alexa Vega | Ashley Bornancin V | |||||
Juni Cortez | Daryl Sabara | Carter Hastings V | ||||||
Isador "Machete" Cortez | Danny Trejo | Danny Trejo C | Character is silent | |||||
Fegan Floop | Alan Cumming | Christian Lanz V | ||||||
Felix Gumm | Cheech Marin | |||||||
Donnagon Giggles | Mike Judge | |||||||
Alexander Minion | Tony Shalhoub | |||||||
Gregorio Cortez | Antonio Banderas | Christian Lanz V | ||||||
Ingrid Avellan Cortez | Carla Gugino | Mira Sorvino V | ||||||
Ms. Gradenko | Teri Hatcher | |||||||
Mr. Lisp | Robert Patrick | |||||||
Devlin | George Clooney | George Clooney | D. J. Cotrona | |||||
Gary Giggles | Matt O'Leary | |||||||
Gerti Giggles | Emily Osment | |||||||
Romero | Steve Buscemi | |||||||
Valentin Avellan | Ricardo Montalbán | |||||||
Helga Avellan | Holland Taylor | Holland Taylor A | ||||||
Dinky Winks | Bill Paxton | |||||||
Alexandra | Taylor Momsen | |||||||
President of the United States | Christopher McDonald | |||||||
Sebastian The Toymaker | Sylvester Stallone | |||||||
Arnold | Ryan Pinkston | |||||||
Francis | Bobby Edner | |||||||
Rez | Robert Vito | |||||||
Demetra The Deceiver | Courtney Jines | |||||||
Francesca "Cesca" Giggles | Salma Hayek | |||||||
The Guy | Elijah Wood | |||||||
Rebecca Wilson | Rowan Blanchard | |||||||
Cecil Wilson | Mason Cook | |||||||
Maria Wilson | Belle Solorzano & Genny Solorzano | |||||||
Marissa Cortez-Wilson | Jessica Alba | |||||||
Wilbur Wilson | Joel McHale | |||||||
Agent Argonaut | Elmo Ricky Gervais V | |||||||
Danger D'Amo The Timekeeper | Jeremy Piven Jett Good Y | |||||||
Tick-Tock | Jeremy Piven | |||||||
Editor / Cameraman | Wray Krawford | |||||||
Patricia "Patty" Tango-Torrez | Everly Carganilla | |||||||
Antonio "Tony" Tango-Torrez | Connor Esterson | |||||||
Nora Torrez | Gina Rodriguez | |||||||
Terrence Tango | Zachary Levi | |||||||
Rey “The King” Kingston | Billy Magnussen | |||||||
Heck Knight | Joe Schilling V | |||||||
Glitch | Caitlyn Bairstow V | |||||||
Gablet | ||||||||
Ace | Nicholas Coombe V | |||||||
Claudia Floop Scorpion | Nesta Cooper V | |||||||
Sir Awesome | Richard Ian Cox V | |||||||
Peter St. Ignatius PSI | Travis Turner V | |||||||
Golden Brain | Tom Kenny V | |||||||
Spurious Visage | ||||||||
Professor Küpkakke | ||||||||
Kopi Vasquez | Candi Milo V | |||||||
Vida Immortata | ||||||||
Desmond "Dez" Vasquez | Yuri Lowenthal V | |||||||
Zedmond "Zed" Vasquez | ||||||||
Jaime Vasquez | ||||||||
Jason "Improv" Pietranthony Improvisario | ||||||||
Bradley Feinstein Mint Condition | Patton Oswalt V | |||||||
Dr. Chad Jericho | Thomas Lennon V | |||||||
JT the Worm | Bobcat Goldthwait V | |||||||
Agent No-One | Terrence Stone V | Robert Englund V |
Film | Crew/Detail | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Composer(s) | Cinematographer(s) | Editor | Production companies | Distributing company | Running time | ||
Spy Kids | Danny Elfman, Gavin Greenaway, Heitor Pereira, John Debney, Robert Rodriguez, Los Lobos, and Harry Gregson-Williams | Guillermo Navarro | Robert Rodriguez | Troublemaker Studios Dimension Films | Miramax Films | 1 hour 28 minutes (theatrical/DVD version) 1 hour 31 minutes (Special Edition/Blu-ray version) | |
Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams | John Debney & Robert Rodriguez | Robert Rodriguez | 1 hour 40 minutes | ||||
Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over | Robert Rodriguez | 1 hour 24 minutes | |||||
Spy Kids: All the Time in the World | Robert Rodriguez & Carl Thiel | Robert Rodriguez & Jimmy Lindsey | Robert Rodriguez & Rebecca Rodriguez | The Weinstein Company | 1 hour 29 minutes | ||
Spy Kids: Armageddon | Rebel Rodriguez, John Debney & Robert Rodriguez | Robert Rodriguez | Robert Rodriguez | Troublemaker Studios Skydance Media Spyglass Media Group | Netflix | 1 hour 37 minutes |
Film | Release date | Box office gross | Budget | Ref(s) | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
North America | Other territories | Worldwide | ||||
Spy Kids | March 30, 2001 | $112,719,001 | $35,215,179 | $147,934,180 | $35,000,000 | [23] |
Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams | August 7, 2002 | $85,846,429 | $33,876,929 | $119,723,358 | $38,000,000 | [24] |
Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over | July 25, 2003 | $111,761,982 | $85,339,696 | $197,101,678 | $32,500,000 | [25] |
Spy Kids: All the Time in the World | August 18, 2011 | $38,538,188 | $47,026,122 | $85,564,310 | $27,000,000 | [26] |
Total | $348,865,600 | $201,457,926 | $550,323,526 | $132,500,000 | ||
Though the first and second film received positive reviews, the series experienced a steadily declining critical reception with each film.
Film | Rotten Tomatoes | Metacritic | CinemaScore [27] |
---|---|---|---|
Spy Kids | 93% (128 reviews) [28] | 71 (27 reviews) [29] | A |
Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams | 75% (135 reviews) [30] | 66 (29 reviews) [31] | A– |
Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over | 45% (141 reviews) [32] | 57 (30 reviews) [33] | B+ |
Spy Kids: All the Time in the World | 23% (61 reviews) [34] | 37 (14 reviews) [35] | B+ |
Spy Kids: Armageddon | 55% (33 reviews) [36] | 55 (10 reviews) [37] |
Novelizations of the films Spy Kids, Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams, and Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over were released by Disney-Hyperion. They were adapted by Megan Stine, Kiki Thorpe, and Kitty Richards.
The posters and end of the credits for each film say "Read the Talk/Miramax Books", telling the viewers to read the print retelling.
In 2002, KD Novelties made a personalized children's book based on Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams. [38]
Between 2003 and 2004, Disney-Hyperion released ten novels of a book series titled Spy Kids Adventures, written by Elizabeth Lenhard.
From 2001 to 2004, children's anthology magazines Disney Adventures and BBC Magazines' Disney's Comic published over a dozen syndicated short comics that accompanied the first three films as well as additional stories for Disney's Comic. They were written by Steve Behling and/or Michael Stewart, penciled and inked by Christine Norrie, colored by John Green (with the exception of the April 2002 issue's comic The Big Drop, which was colored by Atomic Paintbrush, and the Disney Adventures Comic Zone first issue's comic Tomorrow Trouble, which was colored by Hi-Fi Color Design), and lettered by Michael Stewart.
In July 2003, McDonald's published a six-issue limited series based on Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over. It was distributed in McDonald's Happy Meals to promote the film, bundled with Happy Meal toys as well as anaglyph 3D glasses made for the comics.
Isador "Machete" Cortez, who appeared in all four Spy Kids film series as a supporting character, additionally had a series of two stand-alone films: Machete and Machete Kills , also written and directed by Robert Rodriguez. However, the Machete films share little in common with the Spy Kids films thematically and are not considered direct spin-offs, the first film instead being an adult-oriented action exploitation film, with the second film introducing science fiction elements; both films additionally share several cast members and characters with the Spy Kids films. [57] The idea for a Machete film came from a fake trailer promoting the Grindhouse double-feature by Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino. [58] Trejo and Rodriguez have made two conflicting statements regarding its canonicity to the Spy Kids films; Trejo claimed that the films depict "what Uncle Machete does when he's not taking care of the kids", [58] while Rodriguez said in a Reddit AMA that they are alternate universes. [59] Regardless, Rodriguez claimed that he was prompted by an incident on the set of the first Machete film to start envisioning a fourth film in the main Spy Kids film series, casting Jessica Alba as Machete's sister Marissa, a different character to the one she portrayed in Machete, with Trejo additionally reprising his role alongside her. [60] [61] [62] [63]
Professor Ludwig Von Drake is a cartoon character created in 1961 by The Walt Disney Company. He is the paternal uncle of Donald Duck. He was first introduced as the presenter in the cartoon An Adventure in Color, part of the first episode of Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color on NBC. According to the episode The Hunting Instinct of that series he and Donald Duck's father are brothers. He is described as a scientist, lecturer, psychologist, and world traveler. The character displayed his "expert" knowledge on a variety of subjects in eighteen episodes of the classic anthology series, as well as on a number of Disneyland Records.
Robert Anthony Rodriguez is an American filmmaker, composer, and visual effects supervisor. He shoots, edits, produces, and scores many of his films in Mexico and in his home state of Texas. Rodriguez directed the 1992 action film El Mariachi, which was a commercial success after grossing $2.6 million against a budget of $7,000. The film spawned two sequels known collectively as the Mexico Trilogy: Desperado (1995) and Once Upon a Time in Mexico (2003).
Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over is a 2003 American spy action comedy film co-produced, written, shot, edited, composed, and directed by Robert Rodriguez. It is the sequel to Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams (2002) and the third installment in the Spy Kids film series. The film stars Antonio Banderas, Carla Gugino, Alexa Vega, Daryl Sabara, Ricardo Montalbán, Holland Taylor, Mike Judge, Cheech Marin, and Sylvester Stallone.
Alexa Ellesse PenaVega is an American actress and singer. She is known for her roles as Carmen Cortez in the first four Spy Kids films and Julie Corky in the 2004 film Sleepover. In 2009, she starred as the title character Ruby Gallagher in the ABC Family series Ruby & the Rockits.
Daryl Christopher Sabara is an American actor. He is known for portraying Juni Cortez in the Spy Kids film series, and for a variety of television and film appearances, including The Polar Express, Wizards of Waverly Place, Father of the Pride, Keeping Up with the Steins, Halloween, The Green Inferno, World's Greatest Dad, Grimm, The Boondocks, America's Most Talented Kid, and Weeds.
Troublemaker Studios is an American production company founded and owned by filmmaker Robert Rodriguez and producer Elizabeth Avellán. The company is based in Austin, Texas and is at the former site of the Robert Mueller Municipal Airport. It shares space with Austin Studios, which is managed by the Austin Film Society, and houses production offices, sound stages and the largest green screen in Texas.
Spyglass Media Group, LLC is an independent film and television production and finance company founded by Gary Barber and Roger Birnbaum in 1998.
The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl in 3-D is a 2005 American 3D superhero adventure film co-written and directed by Robert Rodriguez and originally released in the United States on June 10, 2005, by Miramax Films and Dimension Films. The production companies were Dimension Films, Columbia Pictures and Troublemaker Studios. The film uses the anaglyph 3D technology, similar to the one used in Rodriguez's Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over (2003). The film stars Taylor Lautner, Taylor Dooley, Cayden Boyd, David Arquette, Kristin Davis and George Lopez. Many of the concepts and much of the story were conceived by Rodriguez's children, most notably Racer Max.
Machete is a 2010 American exploitation action film directed by Robert Rodriguez and Ethan Maniquis. The film is an expansion of a fake trailer of the same name published as a part of the promotion of Rodriguez's and Quentin Tarantino's 2007 Grindhouse double-feature. Machete continues the B movie and exploitation style of Grindhouse, and includes some of the footage from the original.
Spy Kids is a 2001 American spy action comedy film co-produced, written, edited, co-composed, and directed by Robert Rodriguez. The film stars Alexa Vega, Daryl Sabara, Danny Trejo, Antonio Banderas, Carla Gugino, Alan Cumming, Teri Hatcher, Cheech Marin, Robert Patrick, and Tony Shalhoub.
Spy Kids: All the Time in the World is a 2011 American spy action comedy film co-produced, written, co-shot, co-composed, and directed by Robert Rodriguez. It is the standalone sequel to Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over (2003) and the fourth installment in the Spy Kids film series. The film stars Jessica Alba, Joel McHale, Alexa Vega, Daryl Sabara, Rowan Blanchard, Mason Cook, Ricky Gervais, and Jeremy Piven.
Skydance Media, LLC is an American production company based in Santa Monica, California. Founded by David Ellison in 2006, the company entered a five-year partnership to co-produce and co-finance films with Paramount Pictures starting in 2009, and renewed the agreement twice extending to 2021. The company specializes in films, animation, television, video games, and sports.
Paramount Animation is an American animation studio, serving as the animation division and label of Paramount Pictures, a subsidiary of Paramount Global. The division was founded on July 6, 2011, following the box office success of Paramount's own Rango and the end of their distribution deal with DreamWorks Animation in 2012.
Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams is a 2002 American spy action comedy film co-produced, written, shot, edited, co-composed, and directed by Robert Rodriguez. It is the sequel to Spy Kids (2001) and the second installment in the Spy Kids film series. The film stars Antonio Banderas, Carla Gugino, Alexa Vega, Daryl Sabara, Mike Judge, Ricardo Montalbán, Holland Taylor, Christopher McDonald, Cheech Marin, and Steve Buscemi.
The Evil Queen, also known as the Wicked Queen, Queen Grimhilde, or just the Queen, is a fictional character who appears in Walt Disney Productions' first animated feature film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) and remains a villain character in their extended Snow White franchise. She is based on the Evil Queen character from the 1812 German fairy tale "Snow White".
Isador Cortez, primarily known under the alias of Machete, is the name of two fictional characters who are featured in the Spy Kids and Machete films. Both versions of the character are played by Danny Trejo. The Spy Kids and Machete film series depict different versions of the character, and Rodriguez has stated that their continuities are not connected.
Spy Kids: Mission Critical is an animated adventure-comedy television series based on the Spy Kids franchise. Its first season was released on Netflix on April 20, 2018. Before the series was released, it was renewed for a second season, which was released on November 30 the same year.
The following is a list of unproduced Robert Rodriguez projects in roughly chronological order. During his long career, film director Robert Rodriguez has worked on a number of projects which never progressed beyond the pre-production stage under his direction. Some of these projects are officially cancelled or fell apart in development.
We Can Be Heroes is a 2020 American superhero film written and directed by Robert Rodriguez. It is both a standalone and legacy sequel to the 2005 film The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl in 3-D. Rodriguez was also the cinematographer and editor of the film, which stars YaYa Gosselin, Lyon Daniels, Andy Walken, Hala Finley, Lotus Blossom, Dylan Henry Lau, Andrew Diaz, Isaiah Russel-Bailey, Akira Akbar, Nathan Blair, and Vivien Lyra Blair. It was released on December 25, 2020, by Netflix and received mixed reviews from critics. A sequel is in development.
Spy Kids: Armageddon is a 2023 American spy action comedy film co-produced, shot, edited, co-composed, and directed by Robert Rodriguez, who co-wrote it with his son, Racer Max. It is the standalone sequel to Spy Kids: All the Time in the World (2011) and the fifth installment in the Spy Kids film series. Produced by Skydance Media, Spyglass Media Group and Troublemaker Studios, the film stars Gina Rodriguez, Zachary Levi, Connor Esterson, and Everly Carganilla.
Rodriguez shot SPY KIDS 2 entirely with High Definition digital cameras