Technoville is an 2020 American animated science fiction adventure film directed by Mike Mitchell and Jenny Harder. The film stars Zac Efron, Seth Rogen, Genesis Rodriguez, Mona Marshall and Damon Wayans Jr., who had been leading the voice roles. It was produced by Movie Land Animation Studios, Chernin Entertainment and Color Force from the screenplay from Chris Meledandri, Jenny Harder and John Lasseter.
Technoville had its world premiere at CTN Animation Expo on February 28, 2020. The film title will be released on March 13, 2020 by Warner Bros. Pictures under the Movie Land Animation Studios banner.
Contents
Plot
|
Uh-oh!
This section was empty. You can help The JH Movie Collection's Official Wiki by expanding it. (???) |
Cast
- Zac Efron as David Martinez
- Seth Rogen as Robert Martinez
- Genesis Rodriguez as Addison Martinez
- Mona Marshall as Sarah Martinez
- Damon Wayans Jr. as Tim Martinez
Production
Development
In July 2017, Movie Land Animation Studios announced a "suburban science fiction technology world" film at the Warner Bros. Studios at Leavesden, with Mike Mitchell and Jenny Harder were set to direct the film from the screenplay from Chris Meledandri, Jenny Harder and John Lasseter and story by Chris Wedge and Karey Kirkpatrick. On December 12, 2018, the title was revealed, while Jenny Harder was set to produce the film and Chris Meledandri announced as to be co-writing the script with John Lasseter. Mike Mitchell was previously collaborated for Trolls and Jenny Harder was previously collaborated for Being Good.
You know, as Movie Land Animation Studios had already begun the process of starting development of movies with budgets of around $320 million. The intellectual property for these films was meant to be supplied by Movie Land Animation Studios among others and included Penguinopolis, Smash of Claws, The Animals in the Attic and Stickman 2: Larry's Adventure had been approaching the original crew from the television series to make a high-profile, animated theatrical feature-length film adaptation and had long wanted to partner with Warner Bros. Pictures to release the film given the network's extraordinary legacy in the world of animation, including some of the most enduring characters on cable television history.
Mike Mitchell and Jenny Harder agreed to make a feature film version of the show with the promise it would be the first of a planned trilogy. During development stages of the film, he and his co-director Joaquim Dos Santos, and co-writer Karey Kirkpatrick, intended to revisit some of the greatest films of the time, with Being Good, Trolls and The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part having the core inspirations for the film.
Casting
On December 12, 2018, Zac Efron, Seth Rogen, Genesis Rodriguez, Mona Marshall and Damon Wayans Jr. were announced as starring in the film. While having recorded most of their lines separately, Efron and Rogen did some of their recording sessions together due to their chemistry because "[t]hey've worked together before [in Monsters vs. Aliens and The Lorax] and hung out together".
Animation
The character animation and computer graphics are provided by Movie Land Digital Production Services (MLDPS) "animation and vfx (which were led by MLPDS’s studio in London, England, with William Renschen and Marlin Rodriguez serving as vfx supervisor)". The team uses computer animations and computer graphics imageries.
Design
The crew used the same processes from the original television series in the making of the film, most notably the 'skroutlines', which was a seamless blend of a more traditional screenplay with a more simple outline which resembled strong short stories and gave the storyboard artists such as Maurice Fontenot, Abigail Nesbitt and Guy Moore all the creative and aesthetic freedom neccessary. Warburton and Willems themselves provided the film's animatics.
It took around a year for two animators to create 10 seconds of footage that reflected the producers's vision; the animation work developed from there. During initial development, the directors worked with a single animator to establish the film's look. This number eventually grew to 60 animators during production. It became clear that this would not be enough to complete the film on time, so the crew was expanded further. The number had reached 142 animators by February 2019 and at one point to 177 animators, the largest animation crew that Movie Land Digital Production Services had ever used for a film. Animation work was completed in April 28, 2019.
The CGI and hand-drawn animation for the film was combined with "line work and painting and dots and all sorts of comic book techniques" to make it look like it was created by hand, which was described as "a living painting". This was achieved by artists taking rendered frames from the CGI animators and working on top of them in 2D, with the goal of making every frame of the film "look like a comic panel". Lord described this style of animation as "totally revolutionary", and explained that the design combines the in-house style of Sony Pictures Animation with the "flavor" of digital artists such as Christopher Arambulo Cosgrove and Chris Lawrence.
The directors all felt that the film would be one of the few that audiences actually "need" to watch in 3D due to the immersive nature of the animated world created, and the way that the hand-drawn animation elements created specifically for the film create a unique experience; Persichetti described this experience as a combination of the effects of an old-fashioned hand-drawn multiplane camera and a modern virtual reality environment.
Music
On April 16, 2019, Henry Jackman and W. Gregory Turner, who previously composed the score for Being Good and Jumanji: The Next Level, were revealed to be composing the film's score. The film's soundtrack will be released on March 10, 2020 by WaterTower Music.
Release
Technoville will be released on March 13, 2020 by Warner Bros. Pictures under the Movie Land Animation Studios banner, in IMAX, Dolby Cinema, RealD 3D and 2D theaters.
Marketing
- The teaser trailer was released on June 6, 2019 and was shown online and in theaters before The Secret Life of Pets 2 and Toy Story 4.
- The first trailer was released on September 27, 2019 before Abominable exclusively at AMC Theaters.
- The final trailer was released on February 1, 2020 and was shown online and in theaters before Sonic the Hedgehog.
Home media
Technoville is released on digital on April 7, 2020 during the 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic. The next month, it was announced that the film will be streaming on Movie Land Television.
Reception
In the United States, Mexico and Canada, Technoville is released alongside I Still Believe, The Roads Not Taken and Never Rarely Sometimes Always, and was projected to gross $45–50 million from 4,200 theaters in its opening weekend. The film held early advance screenings on February 29, and made $650,000 from 470 theaters. It then made $12.1 million on its first day, including $2 million from Thursday night previews. The film went on to debut to $39.1 million, topping the box office but marking the third-ever lowest start for a MLAS film. While the film remained in first in its second weekend, it dropped 73% to $10.5 million (the worst-ever second weekend for a MLAS film), and was part of the lowest total-grossing weekend since October 1998, with all films combining for just $55.3 million.
Critical response
|
|
Uh-oh!
This section was empty. You can help The JH Movie Collection's Official Wiki by expanding it. (???) |
References
External links
Coming soon!
| Films directed by Mike Mitchell |
|---|
| Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo (1999) • Surviving Christmas (2004) • Sky High (2005) • Shrek Forever After (2010) • Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked (2011) • The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water (2015) • Trolls (2016) • The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part (2019) • The Secret Life Of Pets 2 (2019) • Technoville (2020) • Kung Fu Panda 4 (2024) |
| v - e - dFilms directed by Jenny Harder |
|---|
| Being Good (2017) • Earl's Back to School (2019) • Technoville (2020) |