Planet 51
Planet 51 | |
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Directed by | Jorge Blanco |
Screenplay by | Joe Stillman |
Story by |
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Produced by |
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Starring | |
Edited by | Alex Rodríguez |
Music by | James Brett |
Production companies |
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Distributed by |
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Release dates |
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Running time | 91 minutes[3] |
Countries |
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Language | English |
Budget | €49 million[4] (US$70 million)[2] |
Box office | $105.6 million[2] |
Planet 51 is a 2009 animated science fiction comedy film directed by Jorge Blanco and co-directed by Javier Abad and Marcos Martínez, from a script by Joe Stillman, based on an original idea by Abad, Blanco, Martínez, and Ignacio Pérez Dolset. Starring Dwayne Johnson, Jessica Biel, Justin Long, Gary Oldman, Seann William Scott and John Cleese, the film follows an astronaut who lands on an alien planet, as one of the aliens helps him return to his ship while evading the military.
An
Planet 51 was released on 20 November 2009 in the United States and Canada by
Plot
On Planet 51,[N 1] green extraterrestrials live peacefully in a society reminiscent of the United States during the 1950s, although the planet's and their nature provide notable differences from Earth and, notably, ignorance about astronomy leads to believing that the whole Universe extends for almost 500 miles.
One day, a mysterious spacecraft lands in the city of Glipforg. NASA[N 2] astronaut Captain Charles T. "Chuck" Baker emerges from it and is shocked to find the planet inhabited. Panicked, Chuck escapes to the town's planetarium, where he meets teenage alien Lem, who works there part-time. Chuck convinces Lem to help return him to his spacecraft before command module Odyssey in Planet 51's orbit departs for Earth in three days and leaves him stranded. Planet 51's army, led by the paranoid General Grawl, arrives to inspect and deduces that the astronaut is an alien invader bent on turning the planet's population into zombies, similar to how invaders are depicted in media, and a manhunt ensues.
Lem enlists the help of his best friend Skiff, an eccentric
Lem gets his job back, but is determined to rescue Chuck and gets into his flying car. Joined by Skiff, Neera, her younger brother Eckle, and Rover, Lem tracks down Base 9's location in the desert to a gas station where Skiff inadvertently opens a gate to the underground base. They free Chuck from Kipple and find his spacecraft, but they are cornered by Grawl and his forces. Bent on eliminating the human, Grawl reveals he has the base rigged to explode. Lem attempts to reason with the General to not shoot Chuck but inadvertently activates the countdown. Enraged, Grawl attempts to shoot Lem, but Eckle tosses a hook to him and ignites an explosive, causing him to be trapped under debris. Chuck rescues him before launching his spacecraft into Planet 51's orbit, escaping Base 9's destruction. After admiring Planet 51's view from space, Lem successfully asks Neera out on a date, while Grawl expresses his gratitude to Chuck for saving him. Chuck returns Lem, Skiff, Neera, Eckle, Rover, and a redeemed Grawl home, allows Rover to stay behind with Skiff, who has bonded with the probe, and bids Lem and the rest of the town farewell before launching back into space.
In a
Voice cast
- Dwayne Johnson as Captain Charles T. "Chuck" Baker, a human NASA-astronaut.
- Justin Long as Lem Korplog, a teenage boy living in Glipforg on Planet 51.
- Long also voices Rover, a robotic vehicle probe that studies the planet (mostly rocks).
- Jessica Biel as Neera, a teenage girl and Lem's love interest.
- Seann William Scott as Skiff, Lem's best friend, who works at a comic-book store.
- Freddie Benedict as Eckle, Neera's younger brother.
- Gary Oldman as General Grawl of the Army of Planet 51, who fear an alien invasion.
- John Cleese as Professor Kipple, a scientist and Grawl's right-hand man.
- Mathew Horne as Soldier Vesklin, a gullible soldier.
- James Corden as Soldier Vernkot, another gullible soldier.
- Alan Marriott as Glar, a ukulele-playing hippie.
- Rupert Degas as Chief Gorlock.
Production
Planet 51 is based on the original idea by Jorge Blanco, Marcos Martínez, Ignacio Pérez Dolset and Javier Abad. The film finished production by June 2009.[10]
The name change from Planet One to Planet 51 was a result of the demands made from another entity branded "Planet One" which produces children and teen TV programmes. They made contact with the film's producers early on to resolve the trademark and brand confusion issues. The Spanish film company behind it, Ilion Animation Studios, made an offer to the existing entity for all ownership rights to their "Planet One" trademarks and related website URLs. Planet One chose not to take that offer and to protect their brand and trademarks that had been active for many years. As a result, the film's producers chose to rename the film Planet 51: a reference to the top-secret military base,
The character of Lem was named by screenwriter Joe Stillman after Polish science-fiction writer Stanisław Lem. Since the film was intended to be a parody of American pulp science fiction shot in Eastern Europe, Stillman thought it would be hilarious to have the name hint about a writer whose works have nothing to do with "little green men" stereotypes.[11]
Release
In November 2007,
The movie was released in the US on 20 November 2009. The movie was then released a week later in Spain, on 27 November 2009, where it was distributed by DeAPlaneta.
Home media
The film was released by
Reception
Box office
The film was released in 3,035 cinemas, grossing $3.2 million on its opening day and $12.6 million over the weekend, resulting in the number four position at the box office behind 2012, The Blind Side and The Twilight Saga: New Moon respectively.[12] During its theatrical run, it made over $42 million, with a total of $105 million worldwide.
Critical response
On Rotten Tomatoes 23% of 110 reviews were positive, with an average score of 4.2/10. The site's consensus reads: "Planet 51 squanders an interesting premise with an overly familiar storyline, stock characters, and humor that alternates between curious and potentially offensive."[13] Metacritic, gave it a score of 39, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews", based on 21 reviews.[14]
Adam Markovitz of
Accolades
Award | Category | Nominee | Result |
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Artios Award[19] | Outstanding Achievement in Casting - Animation Feature | Ruth Lambert and Robert McGee | Nominated |
Cinema Writers Circle Awards[20][21] | Best New Artist | Jorge Blanco | Won |
European Film Awards[22] | Best Animated Feature Film | Jorge Blanco, Javier Abad and Marcos Martínez | Nominated |
Goya Awards[23][24] | Best Animated Film | Won | |
Best Original Song | Tom Cawte for the song "Stick It to the Man" | Nominated |
Soundtrack
Planet 51 | |
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Decca Label Group |
The soundtrack album for the film was released by
No. | Title | Artist(s) | Length |
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1. | " London Metropolitan Orchestra | 7:19 | |
13. | "Shine Supernova" | Cody Simpson | 9:19 |
Total length: | 42:54 |
Video games
A video-game based on the film was announced in November 2009. The game, an
Notes
References
- ^ "Cine y producción audiovisual". Grupo Planeta. Archived from the original on 9 February 2015. Retrieved 9 February 2015.
- ^ a b c "Planet 51". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 30 November 2013. Retrieved 17 December 2013.
- ^ a b Kapko, Matt (9 March 2010). "Planet 51 on Blu-ray and DVD, Plus More". Animation World Network. Archived from the original on 29 May 2011. Retrieved 29 June 2012.
- ^ a b Adler, Tim (4 April 2010). "New Spanish Film Law Bad for Hollywood". Deadline. Archived from the original on 17 December 2013. Retrieved 17 December 2013.
- ^ "Planet 51 (EN)". Lumiere. Archived from the original on 21 June 2018. Retrieved 26 June 2017.
- ^ "Planet 51 (2009)". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 11 April 2018. Retrieved 28 August 2022.
- ^ a b Hopewell, John (27 November 2007). "New Line lands on 'Planet 51′". Variety. Archived from the original on 12 January 2015. Retrieved 17 December 2013.
- ^ a b c d Siegel, Tatiana; McNary, Dave (8 July 2008). "'Planet 51′ heads into Sony orbit". Variety. Archived from the original on 12 January 2015. Retrieved 17 December 2013.
- ^ *"Planet One Poster" Archived 29 April 2023 at the Wayback Machine from TrailerAddict, 12 December 2007.
- Ilion Animation Studios. 26 November 2007. Retrieved 31 January 2008. [dead link]
- ^ "Lem wśród zielonych ludzików". Archived from the original on 7 November 2018. Retrieved 2 January 2017.
- ^ "'New Moon' wolfs down $140.7M in opening weekend". Associated Press. Retrieved 22 November 2009.
- ^ "Planet 51". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Archived from the original on 27 November 2022. Retrieved 15 November 2022.
- CNET Networks. Metacritic. Archivedfrom the original on 23 November 2009. Retrieved 22 November 2009.
- ^ a b "Planet 51 Movie Review". Entertainment Weekly. 18 November 2009. Archived from the original on 21 November 2009. Retrieved 22 November 2009.
- ^ Roger Ebert (18 November 2009). "Planet 51 Movie Review". Chicago Sun-Times. Archived from the original on 21 November 2009. Retrieved 22 November 2009.
- ^ "The astronaut's the alien on 'Planet 51'". The Philadelphia Inquirer. 20 November 2009. Archived from the original on 21 November 2009. Retrieved 22 November 2009.
- ^ "The Pleasantly Mediocre Planet 51". The Village Voice. 17 November 2009. Archived from the original on 21 November 2009. Retrieved 22 November 2009.
- ^ "2010 Artios Award Winners". Casting Society of America. 1 November 2010. Archived from the original on 24 March 2015. Retrieved 26 September 2015.
- ^ "Medallas del CEC a la producción española de 2009". Círculo de Escritores Cinematográficos. Archived from the original on 10 February 2011. Retrieved 26 September 2015.
- ^ Belinchon, Gregorio (9 February 2010). "Celda 211 triunfa en los premios CEC". El Pais. Archived from the original on 27 September 2015. Retrieved 26 September 2015.
- ^ "Three nominees for the Best Animated Feature Film prize". Cindeuropa. 21 September 2010. Archived from the original on 27 September 2015. Retrieved 26 September 2015.
- ^ "Los Goya 2010 - Finalistas" (PDF). Academia de las Artes y las Ciencias Cinematográficas de España. 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 February 2010. Retrieved 26 September 2015.
- ^ Hopewell, John (14 February 2010). "'Cell 211' dominates Goya awards". Variety. Archived from the original on 27 September 2015. Retrieved 26 September 2015.
- ^ "Planet 51 (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)". iTunes. January 2009. Archived from the original on 1 October 2015. Retrieved 26 September 2015.
- ^ "Planet 51". Amazon. Archived from the original on 28 September 2015. Retrieved 26 September 2015.
- ^ Beanz (31 December 2009). "Planet 51: The Game Review". GameGrin. Archived from the original on 28 December 2022. Retrieved 28 December 2022.
- ^ "Planet 51 Game Details Announced". IGN. 25 February 2009. Archived from the original on 4 July 2012. Retrieved 29 June 2012.
- ^ Jones, Simon (17 June 2009). "FIREBRAND Games Announces Planet 51 The Game On Nintendo DS". Peppermint. Archived from the original on 21 April 2013. Retrieved 29 June 2012.
- ^ Graft, Kris (13 October 2009). "Planet 51 Online Game Using Trinigy Vision Engine". Gamasutra. Archived from the original on 25 August 2021. Retrieved 29 June 2012.
- ^ "Planet 51". iTunes. Archived from the original on 7 May 2012. Retrieved 29 June 2012.
- ^ "Planet 51 Racer". iTunes. Archived from the original on 5 June 2014. Retrieved 29 June 2012.
External links
- Official website
- Planet 51 at IMDb
- Planet 51 at Metacritic
- Planet 51 at Box Office Mojo
- Planet 51 at Rotten Tomatoes