Mr. Popper's Penguins (film)

Mr. Popper's Penguins is a 2011 American comedy film distributed by 20th Century Fox, directed by Mark Waters, produced by John Davis, co-produced by Davis Entertainment Company and Dune Entertainment, written by Sean Anders, John Morris and Jared Stern with music by Rolfe Kent and starring Jim Carrey, Carla Gugino, Madeline Carroll, Maxwell Perry Cotton, Angela Lansbury, Desmin Borges, Philip Baker Hall, Dominic Chianese, Clark Gregg, Ophelia Lovibond, Jeffrey Tambor, David Krumholtz, Henry Keleman, Dylan Clark Marshall with Frank Welker and James Tupper. It was loosely based on the children's book of the same name. The film was originally slated for a release on August 12, 2011, but was moved up to June 17, 2011. The film received mixed reviews from critics and it earned $187.3 million on a $55 million budget.

Plot
In an opening flashback, Thomas Popper, Jr., is a kid whose father traveled around the world during his childhood in the 1970s. Popper rarely gets to see his dad during his travels and communicates to him through shortwave radio.

In the present time, Thomas Popper, Jr., is now a divorced real estate entrepreneur and a father of two children. After coming home from work one day, Popper learns that his father has died during an adventure to Antarctica and, as per his will, has left him with a "souvenir" from his adventures in Antarctica. The following week, a crate containing a gentoo penguin, named Captain, shows up at his door. Popper gets immediately annoyed with the penguin and locks her in a bathroom before going to work. After Captain accidentally floods his house with bath water, Popper calls his father's organization asking to return the penguin, but, due to a miscommunication, ends up receiving a shipment of 5 more penguins.

Popper intends to give them away to the zoo, but changes his idea when his children, Janie and Billy, think that the animals are Billy's birthday present. An incensed Popper is forced to spend evenings taking care of the penguins and bribing the apartment clerk to not rat him out to the board, as pets are not allowed in the apartment. At one point, he receives an offer to take the penguins off his hands from Nat Jones, the antagonistic zookeeper at the New York Zoo, who warns him that the penguins won't survive at his house.

At work, Popper is given the task of buying Tavern on the Green, the only privately owned real estate in Central Park that is an old restaurant where he used to eat with his father when he was a child. However, its elderly owner, Selma Van Gundy, will only sell it to a person of true value. Popper has unsuccessful meetings with her, and she refuses to sell the restaurant to him.

As time goes on, having the penguins around helps Popper become closer to his children. He also begins dating their mother, Amanda Popper again. The penguins lay three eggs. Two eggs hatch, and one doesn’t. Popper becomes obsessed with seeing the last egg hatch, causing him to lose his job. Eventually Popper realizes that the egg can’t be hatched, and, by persuasion from Nat Jones, decides to donate the penguins to the New York Zoo. Then, he is re-employed but his children and former wife are disappointed by his decision.

Popper finds a letter from his father- included in the original crate with Captain but lost when Popper broke the crate by accident- telling him to hold his children close and love them and apologizing for not being a better father that Popper needed. Having second thoughts, Popper asks his children and former wife to help him get the penguins back from the zoo. They find the penguins, free them and they get away and flee to the tavern. Upon seeing how Popper had reunited his family and saved the penguins, Van Gundy sells him the restaurant. Popper decides to renovate and reopen the restaurant. Popper and his family travel to Antarctica with the penguins, allowing them to live with their own kind. Popper's first penguin, Captain, reveals to have laid another egg. Popper tells his children that they'll visit them when the baby is born.

Cast

 * Jim Carrey as Tom Popper
 * Henry Keleman as Young Tom Popper
 * Dylan Clark Marshall as Younger Tom Popper
 * Carla Gugino as Amanda Popper
 * Madeline Carroll as Janie Popper
 * Maxwell Perry Cotton as Bill Popper
 * Angela Lansbury as Selma Van Gundy
 * Clark Gregg as Nat Jones
 * Desmin Borges as Daryl
 * Philip Baker Hall as Mr. Franklin
 * Dominic Chianese as Mr. Reader
 * Ophelia Lovibond as Pippi Pepenopolis
 * Jeffrey Tambor as Mr. Gremmins
 * David Krumholtz as Kent
 * James Tupper as Rick
 * Frank Welker as the voice of Captain, Nimrod, Lovey, Loudy, Bitey, Stinky, and other penguin offspring
 * Brian T. Delaney as Tom Popper Sr.

Production
Originally, Ben Stiller was supposed to play Mr. Popper, and Noah Baumbach was originally going to direct, but they dropped out. Owen Wilson, Jack Black, and Jim Carrey were all considered to replace Stiller, with the role eventually going to Carrey. Mark Waters was chosen to direct. Filming began in October 2010, and finished in January 2011. On September 21, 2010, it was confirmed that Carla Gugino joined the cast as Tom's former wife Amanda Popper. Rhythm and Hues Studios did the penguin animations for certain shots. The musical score was ambitious, with music playing nearly throughout. It was written by Rolfe Kent, and orchestrated by Tony Blondal. It was recorded at the scoring stage at 20th Century Fox in Century City, Ca. with a 78-piece orchestra. An online Museum Slide Game created by designer Mark Kavanaugh as promotional material for the film is still accessible.

The penguins portrayed in the film were a mix of real penguins and CGI.

Music
Rolfe Kent scored the music for the film and on its soundtrack. The soundtrack also contains "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds" written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, "Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!" written by Jule Styne and Sammy Cahn, "Sweet N' Lo" written by Erwin Lehn, "Doo Wah Dooh Wah" written and performed by Syd Dale, "Set 'Em Up Joe" written by Werner Tautz, "Spin Spin" written by Steve Sidwell, "Go Get It" written and performed by Jeff Cardoni, "Piano Lounge" written by Daniel May and Marc Ferrari, "Ice Ice Baby" performed by Vanilla Ice and music from the Charles Chaplin movies.

Theatrical release
Mr. Popper's Penguins was theatrically released on June 17, 2011 by 20th Century Fox.

Critical response and box office
Mr. Popper's Penguins earned $6.4 million on opening day and $18.4 million over the three-day weekend, ranking in third place behind Green Lantern and Super 8. The opening was at the high end of 20th Century Fox's expectations, which was predicting a mid- to high teens opening. In its second weekend, the film faced competition from Cars 2 and dropped 45% to $10.1 million and ranked in fifth place. Over the four-day Independence Day holiday weekend, it ranked in eighth place after dropping 34% to $6.7 million. The film has earned $68,224,452 domestically and $119,137,302 in foreign countries, grossing a total of $187,361,754 worldwide.

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 47% based on 142 reviews with an average rating of 5.2/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Blandly inoffensive and thoroughly predictable, Mr. Popper's Penguins could have been worse – but it should have been better." On Metacritic, the film has a score of 53 out of 100 based on 30 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A–" on an A+ to F scale.

Accolades

 * BMI Film & TV Awards 2012
 * Kids' Choice Awards, USA 2012
 * MovieGuide Awards 2012

Home media
Mr. Popper's Penguins was released on Blu-ray and DVD on December 6, 2011. It includes a short film called Nimrod and Stinky's Antarctic Adventure.

Soundtrack

 * "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" – Written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney
 * "Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow! – Written by Jule Styne and Sammy Cahn
 * "Sweet N' Lo" – Written by Erwin Lehn
 * "Doo Wah Dooh Wah" – Written and Performed by Syd Dale
 * "Set 'Em Up Joe" – Written by Werner Tautz
 * "Spin Spin" – Written by Steve Sidwell
 * "Go Get It" – Written and Performed by Jeff Cardoni
 * "Piano Lounge" – Written by Daniel May and Marc Ferrari
 * "Ice Ice Baby" – Performed by Vanilla Ice
 * "All Music" – Composed by Rolfe Kent
 * Music from the Charles Chaplin movies