Everyone's Hero

Everyone's Hero is a 2006 American computer-animated sports comedy film directed by Colin Brady, Christopher Reeve (his only film as a director before his death in October 2004) and Daniel St. Pierre. It was produced by IDT Entertainment in Toronto, with portions outsourced to Reel FX Creative Studios. It was distributed by 20th Century Fox and released theatrically on September 15, 2006. Everyone's Hero earned $16 million worldwide during its theatrical run. The film stars Jake T. Austin, William H. Macy, Rob Reiner, Brian Dennehy, Raven-Symoné, Robert Wagner, Richard Kind, Dana Reeve, Joe Torre, Mandy Patinkin, Forest Whitaker, Robin Williams and Whoopi Goldberg. Everyone's Hero was released on DVD on March 20, 2007, by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment.

Plot
Set in 1932 during the Great Depression, Yankee Irving is a young baseball fan, whose father Stanley works as a custodian for Yankee Stadium. While the two are on the premises, a thief steals Babe Ruth's famous bat Darlin'. As a result, Stanley is blamed and temporarily dismissed until Darlin' can be found. An irate Stanley then accuses Yankee for stealing it and setting him up (which he would regret later on). The real thief is Lefty Maginnis, a cheating pitcher for the Chicago Cubs. Lefty works for the Cubs' general manager Napoleon Cross, who desires to see the Cubs defeat the Yankees during the 1932 World Series.

Determined to reclaim the bat, Yankee journeys across the country to Chicago, where the next World Series' games will be held. After getting the bat back, Yankee decides to return it to Babe Ruth and thereby clear his father's name. Darlin' and her counterpart Screwie (a baseball who she constantly argues and bickers with. Though near the end, they finally become friends), are able to speak. Much of the plot is driven by Lefty's attempts to steal back the bat from Yankee, with comical results. Other scenes involve Yankee meeting others who help him in his quest: several hobos, Marti - an African American girl, her baseball pitcher father Lonnie "the Rooster" Brewster, and Babe Ruth himself.

A series of improbable coincidences allows Yankee himself to play for the Yankees, resulting in the archetypal home run (technically, a series of errors after an infield pop-up that allows him to round the bases). This restores the morale of the Yankees, who score 7 more runs to take the lead and win the World Series. Cross tries to talk Babe Ruth out of accepting the victory, saying that Yankee is too young to be a counting player. This leads to the arrest of Cross, who simply says that he was a fan that cheated. When his involvement is revealed, Lefty is banished from the team and arrested. Stanley is cleared and officially reinstated as the stadium's custodian. Yankee and his new baseball friends, Screwie and Darlin, celebrate the Yankee’s World Series win in a victory parade.

Cast
Additional voices by Ritchie Allen, Rochelle Hogue, Sondra James, Matthew Laborteaux, Greta Martin, Christie Moreau, Sean Oliver, Charles Parnell, Dennis Pressey, Tyler James Williams and Cornell Womack.
 * Jake T. Austin as Yankee Irving; a young boy who dreams of being a baseball player
 * Rob Reiner as Screwie; a baseball who bickers over with his counterpart, Darlin
 * Whoopi Goldberg as Darlin; a baseball bat owned by Babe Ruth who bickers over with Screwie
 * Robin Williams (uncredited in honor of his good friend Christopher Reeve) as Napoleon Cross; the general manager of the Chicago Cubs
 * William H. Macy as Lefty Maginnis; a cheating baseball player
 * Brian Dennehy as Babe Ruth; a famous baseball player
 * Forest Whitaker as Lonnie "the Rooster" Brewster; an African American king of the curve ball, who is the star pitcher in the Negro Leagues and father of Marti
 * Raven-Symoné as Marti Brewster; Lonnie's daughter
 * Mandy Patinkin as Stanley Irving; Yankee's father and custodian at Yankee Stadium
 * Dana Reeve as Emily Irving; Yankee's mother
 * Cherise Booth as Rosetta Brewster
 * Ritchie Allen as Officer Bryant
 * Jason Harris Katz (credited as Jason Harris) as Announcer
 * Ed Helms as Hobo Louie
 * Ray Iannicelli as Conductors/Umpire
 * Gideon Jacobs as Bully Kid Tubby
 * Richard Kind as Hobo Andy / Maitre'D
 * Marcus Maurice as Willie
 * Will Reeve as Big Kid
 * Ron Tippe as Hobo Jack
 * Robert Wagner as Mr. Robinson, the general manager of the New York Yankees and Stanley's boss
 * Joe Torre as New York Yankees manager
 * Jesse Bronstein as Sandlot Kid #1
 * Ralph Coppola as Sandlot Kid #2
 * Conor White as Bully Kid Arnold

Home media
Everyone's Hero was released on DVD on March 20, 2007 by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment. The movie was released on Blu-ray on March 5, 2013 and is exclusive to Walmart stores.

Box office
In its opening weekend, the film grossed $6.1 million in 2,896 theaters in the United States and Canada, ranking #3 at the box office, behind Gridiron Gang and The Black Dahlia. By the end of its run, Everyone's Hero grossed $14.5 million in the US and $2.1 million internationally, for an approximate total of $16.6 million worldwide.

Critical reception
At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the film received an average score of 51% based on 20 reviews, which indicates "mixed" reviews. Another aggregator, Rotten Tomatoes, scored the film 42% based on 69 reviews. The website's critical consensus reads, "Everyone's Hero is such a predictable and bland tale that it'll appeal mostly to little kids; others seeking something in Pixar's league are looking in the wrong ballpark." Jack Matthews of the New York Daily News wrote, "Whoever wanders into the theater should leave a winner". L.A. Weekly called the themes "fairly pro forma" and cited the film's "antique Rockwellian look" as "its greatest pleasure". Gregory Kirschling of Entertainment Weekly rated it B− and wrote, "Everyone's Hero re-creates Depression-era America with surprisingly agreeable anachronistic panache", though he criticized the character designs.

Cable syndication
In the United States, Cartoon Network aired Everyone's Hero on April 12, 2009. Cartoon Network later added the movie to its rotating lineup again on November 5, 2016, treating it as the network premiere of the movie. In Latin America, Cartoon Network Latino aired the film on November 23, 2011. In Asia, Disney Channel premiered May 29, 2012. It also aired on Disney XD in the United States on April 8, 2013, and March 7, 2014.

Soundtrack
The soundtrack, released on the Columbia Records/Sony Music Soundtrax labels, features tracks by the star of the film Raven-Symoné, Grammy-winners Wyclef Jean, Brooks & Dunn, Mary Chapin Carpenter, and various other artists.


 * 1) The Best – John Ondrasik – 3:49
 * 2) Keep On Swinging – Brooks & Dunn – 4:12
 * 3) Dream Like New York – Tyrone Wells – 3:44
 * 4) Chicago (That Toddling Town) – Chris Botti featuring Lyle Lovett – 2:16
 * 5) The Best Day of My Life – John Randall featuring Jessi Alexander – 3:13
 * 6) Keep Your Eye on the Ball – Raven-Symoné – 2:27
 * 7) What You Do – Wyclef Jean featuring Kontrast – 3:12
 * 8) Swing It – Brooks & Dunn – 3:34
 * 9) Take Me Out to the Ballgame – Lonestar – 2:43
 * 10) The Bug – Mary Chapin Carpenter – 3:48
 * 11) The Tigers – John Debney featuring Paris Bennett – 1:46
 * 12) At Bat – John Debney – 3:44