Mr. Popper's Penguins (film): Difference between revisions
mNo edit summary |
|||
| Line 24: | Line 24: | ||
==Plot== |
==Plot== |
||
Thomas "Tom" Popper Jr. is a divorced realtor entreprenuer whose father traveled to many far places around the world during his childhood. He uses methods of experiencing adventures to get CEOs of businesses into selling their buildings to Popper's real estate company. When he gets home to his apartment after an unsuccessful attempt to convince his children to stay a weekend with him, he learns that his father has passed away during an adventure to Antartica. Popper is called to his lawyer who tells him his father's last will asks for his son to be given a souvenir from his last adventure. The next week a crate containing a gentoo penguin (Captain) shows up at his doorstep. After the penguin annoys him Mr. Popper tries to send the penguin back to the crew of Captain Popper. Eventually, due to a miscommunication with a crewmember of Captain Popper on the telephone, more penguins arrive (Bitey, Stinky, Lovey, Nimrod, and Loudy), bringing the total to six. Popper initially intends to donate the penguins to a pest control of some sort, but changes his mind when his children, Janie Popper and Billy Popper, think that the penguins are Billy's birthday present. That night Mr. Popper meets with New York Zookeeper Nat Jones, who asks Mr. Popper for the penguins, having been tipped off by Popper's assistant for a pest problem. Popper tries to stall him by asking him to collect the penguins another time. Nat Jones agrees but not before warning that the conditions in Popper's apartment are not good enough to raise penguins. Popper is forced to pay the board of his apartment to keep the penguins with him in his apartment home and lie to his arrogant neighbor Kent about there being no animals in his home. |
Thomas "Tom" Popper Jr. is a divorced realtor entreprenuer whose father traveled to many far places around the world during his childhood. He uses methods of experiencing adventures to get CEOs of businesses into selling their buildings to Popper's real estate company. When he gets home to his apartment after an unsuccessful attempt to convince his children to stay a weekend with him, he learns that his father has passed away during an adventure to Antartica (awesome spelling whoever wrote this). Popper is called to his lawyer who tells him his father's last will asks for his son to be given a souvenir from his last adventure. The next week a crate containing a gentoo penguin (Captain) shows up at his doorstep. After the penguin annoys him Mr. Popper tries to send the penguin back to the crew of Captain Popper. Eventually, due to a miscommunication with a crewmember of Captain Popper on the telephone, more penguins arrive (Bitey, Stinky, Lovey, Nimrod, and Loudy), bringing the total to six. Popper initially intends to donate the penguins to a pest control of some sort, but changes his mind when his children, Janie Popper and Billy Popper, think that the penguins are Billy's birthday present. That night Mr. Popper meets with New York Zookeeper Nat Jones, who asks Mr. Popper for the penguins, having been tipped off by Popper's assistant for a pest problem. Popper tries to stall him by asking him to collect the penguins another time. Nat Jones agrees but not before warning that the conditions in Popper's apartment are not good enough to raise penguins. Popper is forced to pay the board of his apartment to keep the penguins with him in his apartment home and lie to his arrogant neighbor Kent about there being no animals in his home. |
||
At the same time, Popper is given the task of buying Tavern on the Green, an old restaurant where he used to eat with his father as a child, with the intent of tearing it down and building a new development in its place. However, its elderly owner, Selma Van Gundy, will only sell it to someone who she deems a person of true value. Popper has two unsuccessful meetings with her, and explaining his business methods she refuses to sell it to him, leaving Popper to be rushed by his bosses to make sure the company gets the tavern. Having the penguins around helps Popper to become closer to his children. He also begins dating their mother, Amanda Popper, again, and for the first time his children are happy to stay nights with him. The penguins eventually lay three eggs. Two of the eggs hatch and one doesn’t. Popper becomes so obsessed with seeing the last egg hatch, losing his job in the process when he angers his bosses for not focusing on the tavern for them. |
At the same time, Popper is given the task of buying Tavern on the Green, an old restaurant where he used to eat with his father as a child, with the intent of tearing it down and building a new development in its place. However, its elderly owner, Selma Van Gundy, will only sell it to someone who she deems a person of true value. Popper has two unsuccessful meetings with her, and explaining his business methods she refuses to sell it to him, leaving Popper to be rushed by his bosses to make sure the company gets the tavern. Having the penguins around helps Popper to become closer to his children. He also begins dating their mother, Amanda Popper, again, and for the first time his children are happy to stay nights with him. The penguins eventually lay three eggs. Two of the eggs hatch and one doesn’t. Popper becomes so obsessed with seeing the last egg hatch, losing his job in the process when he angers his bosses for not focusing on the tavern for them. |
||
Revision as of 18:57, 2 August 2012
| Mr. Popper's Jenkins | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Mark Waters |
| Screenplay by | Sean Anders John Morris Jared Stern |
| Produced by | John Davis |
| Starring | Jim Carrey Angela Lansbury |
| Cinematography | Florian Ballhaus |
| Edited by | Bruce Green |
| Music by | Rolfe Kent |
Production companies | |
| Distributed by | 20th Century Fox |
Release date |
|
Running time | 95 min |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $55 million[1] |
| Box office | $187,361,754 [2] |
Mr. Popper's Penguins is a live-action family comedy film distributed by 20th Century Fox starring Jim Carrey, very 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.[3]
Plot
Thomas "Tom" Popper Jr. is a divorced realtor entreprenuer whose father traveled to many far places around the world during his childhood. He uses methods of experiencing adventures to get CEOs of businesses into selling their buildings to Popper's real estate company. When he gets home to his apartment after an unsuccessful attempt to convince his children to stay a weekend with him, he learns that his father has passed away during an adventure to Antartica (awesome spelling whoever wrote this). Popper is called to his lawyer who tells him his father's last will asks for his son to be given a souvenir from his last adventure. The next week a crate containing a gentoo penguin (Captain) shows up at his doorstep. After the penguin annoys him Mr. Popper tries to send the penguin back to the crew of Captain Popper. Eventually, due to a miscommunication with a crewmember of Captain Popper on the telephone, more penguins arrive (Bitey, Stinky, Lovey, Nimrod, and Loudy), bringing the total to six. Popper initially intends to donate the penguins to a pest control of some sort, but changes his mind when his children, Janie Popper and Billy Popper, think that the penguins are Billy's birthday present. That night Mr. Popper meets with New York Zookeeper Nat Jones, who asks Mr. Popper for the penguins, having been tipped off by Popper's assistant for a pest problem. Popper tries to stall him by asking him to collect the penguins another time. Nat Jones agrees but not before warning that the conditions in Popper's apartment are not good enough to raise penguins. Popper is forced to pay the board of his apartment to keep the penguins with him in his apartment home and lie to his arrogant neighbor Kent about there being no animals in his home.
At the same time, Popper is given the task of buying Tavern on the Green, an old restaurant where he used to eat with his father as a child, with the intent of tearing it down and building a new development in its place. However, its elderly owner, Selma Van Gundy, will only sell it to someone who she deems a person of true value. Popper has two unsuccessful meetings with her, and explaining his business methods she refuses to sell it to him, leaving Popper to be rushed by his bosses to make sure the company gets the tavern. Having the penguins around helps Popper to become closer to his children. He also begins dating their mother, Amanda Popper, again, and for the first time his children are happy to stay nights with him. The penguins eventually lay three eggs. Two of the eggs hatch and one doesn’t. Popper becomes so obsessed with seeing the last egg hatch, losing his job in the process when he angers his bosses for not focusing on the tavern for them.
Nat Jones sneaks in the apartment one night when becoming impatient with Popper and after an argument with Popper, warns him in frustration that penguins can only survive in the cold or zoo and vows to get the penguins sometime; as a result Popper puts snow in his apartment, and lowers his temperature for the penguins.
After a few days of waiting for the egg, upon realizing from Nat Jones that the egg can’t be hatched, Popper feels he is not capable of raising the penguins and reluctantly donates them to Nat Jones for the New York zoo. He then is re-hired by his bosses, and refocuses his attention on purchasing the Tavern on the Green. His children and ex-wife, however, are disappointed in his decision, seeing it as wrong. The next day his ex-wife prepares to go to Africa for three weeks with her boyfriend Rick who takes an interest in Popper, and leave the kids in his care. When preparing for the next press conference to sell the tavern, Popper drops his keys and finds a lost letter from his father, which had been delivered with the first penguin, Captain.
In it, his father tells him to hold his children close and love them, just as this penguin would love him. Having a change of heart, Popper asks his children and ex-wife to help him get the penguins back from the zoo before the press conference at the tavern and before his ex-wife goes to Africa.
Popper and his family interrogate Nat Jones about the penguins, but Jones claims that the penguins were separated and traded to other zoos as planned. However, immediately after that Popper finds that Jones is lying about them having done it already, with help from the shouting penguin named Loudy. He frees the penguins from a cooler in the office and locks Jones inside when he attempts to recapture the penguins by holding up a raw fish for them. When preparing to escape, Popper and his family notice that Jones has managed to escape and security guards are looking everywhere for them. While in a gift shop, Captain is separated from the group when he gets tangled in a kite and escapes to the roof. Popper asks his assistant Pippy to create a distraction so that Popper and his family can escape. Captain falls off the roof of the gift shop, and with the help of the kite, finally gets his chance to fly. Popper and his family manage to escape with the penguins and flee to the tavern with Jones in pursuit on a golf-cart.
Upon seeing how Popper had reunited his family and rescued the penguins, Van Gundy agrees to sell him the restaurant saying that her desire to know what he is worth, was a test to make sure the boy (Popper) sitting with his father at her restaurant years ago, wasn't lost. But rather than tear it and the park down as once planned, Popper orders the the restaurant renovated and to be reopened. Immediately after Van Gundy makes the deal with Popper, Nat Jones arrives with the police to arrest Popper for theft of the penguins. After explaining the story in front of the crowd and police, the officers agree to spare Popper from prison if they determine by test who the penguins love. Nat Jones holds up a sardine for the penguins thinking they love fish more than Popper, but the penguins go to Popper much to Nat Jones's dismay. The crowd applauds for Popper and when Nat Jones grows hysterical about attempts to getting Popper arrested for the zoo break in, the touched police officers arrest Jones instead. While he is legally in the right, Van Gundy is able to protect Mr. Popper from arrest due to her friendship with New York's Mayor thus leaving Popper back in custody of the penguins.
At the end of the film, Popper and his family travel to Antarctica with the penguins, allowing them to live with their own kind and promising to visit on occasions. Popper's first penguin, Captain, is revealed to have laid another egg. Popper tells his children that they'll have to come back and visit when the baby, who he named Bald Eagle (after the code name he used for his father), is born. He then concludes by saying "Thanks Captain. You're the best gift I have ever gotten."
Cast
- Jim Carrey as Thomas "Tom" Popper Jr., a realtor who becomes the caretaker of a family of penguins and the protagonist
- Carla Gugino as Amanda Popper, Tom's ex-wife and the mother of his children
- Madeline Carroll as Janie Popper, Tom's daughter
- Maxwell Perry Cotton as Billy Popper, Tom's son
- Angela Lansbury as Selma Van Gundy, the elderly owner of the Tavern on the Green
- Philip Baker Hall as Mr. Franklin
- Dominic Chianese as Mr. Reader
- Clark Gregg as Nat Jones, a penguin zookeeper and the film's main antagonist who desires the penguins for his zoo.
- Ophelia Lovibond as Pippi, Tom's assistant
- Jeffrey Tambor as Mr. Gremmins
- David Krumholtz as Kent, Popper's arrogant unkind neighbor who is suspicious about Popper having pets in his home which is forbidden.
- James Tupper as Rick
- Patrick O'Sullivan as Thomas "Tom" Popper Sr. (uncredited)[citation needed], Tom's late father
The Penguins
- Peter Cullen voiced Captain – the leader of the penguins (hence her name), she wants to learn to fly, despite that fact that penguins can't fly.
- Reno Wilson voiced Nimrod – gets his name for being the clumsiest of the group.
- Clark Gregg voiced Stinky – prone to acute flatulance, Stinky can be derived for his white tail feathers.
- Lovey – notable for hugging others, Lovey's distinguishing characteristic is the black heart pockmark on the left of her chest (similar to Happy Feet character Norma Jean).
- Loudy – the noisiest of the penguins, Loudy is distinguished by his loud braying and more jagged white patterns around the eyes.
- Bitey – a bit of a nipper, Bitey has a white stripe down the middle of his head.
Production
Originally, Ben Stiller was supposse 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.[4] Mark Waters was chosen to direct. Filming began in October 2010 and finished in January 2011.[citation needed]
On September 21, 2010, it was confirmed that Carla Gugino had joined the cast.[5]
Rhythm and Hues Studios did the penguin animations for certain shots.[citation needed].
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.
Box office and critical reception
The film 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, who were 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.
The film has received mixed reviews from critics, with a Rotten Tomatoes rating of 48%, based on 136 reviews, as of February 2012. The consensus reads "blandly inoffensive and thoroughly predictable." It was released in Blu-ray and DVD on December 6, 2011 along with The Help, The Debt, Cowboys & Aliens and The Hangover Part II.[6]
References
- ^ Kaufman, Amy (16 June 2011). "Movie Projector: Costly 'Green Lantern' hopes to shine in its box office debut". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 19 June 2011.
- ^ http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=mrpopperspenguins.htm
- ^ Chitwood, Adam (16 December 2010). "First Set Photos of Jim Carrey in MR. POPPER'S PENGUINS". Collider. Retrieved 2 April 2011.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ Jagernauth, Kevin (22 June 2010). "Ben Stiller Drops out of 'Mr. Poppers Penguins,' Jim Carrey, Jack Black & Owen Wilson Eyeing Lead Role". The Playlist. Retrieved 2 April 2011.
- ^ Tyler, Josh (21 September 2010). "Carla Gugino Joins Mr. Popper's Penguins And Might Do Something Good After All". Cinema Blend. Retrieved 2 April 2011.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ "Mr. Popper's Penguins – Rotten Tomatoes". Retrieved 17 June 2011.