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The Oogieloves in the Big Balloon Adventure

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The Oogieloves in the Big Balloon Adventure
Theatrical release poster
Directed byMatthew Diamond
Written byScott Stabile
Story byScott Stabile
Kenn Viselman
Produced byKenn Viselman
Gayle Dickie
StarringChazz Palminteri
Cloris Leachman
Jaime Pressly
Christopher Lloyd
Cary Elwes
Toni Braxton
CinematographyPeter Klein
Edited byGirish Bhargava
Music byJoseph Alfuso
Robert Rettberg
Distributed byKenn Viselman Presents
Release date
  • August 29, 2012 (2012-08-29)
Running time
87 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$20 million (Production)[1]
$40 million (+ Marketing)[2]
Box office$1,065,907[1]

The Oogieloves in the Big Balloon Adventure is a 2012 American children's film produced by Kenn Viselman and directed by Matthew Diamond. It is based loosely off the children's television series My Bedbugs.[3] It stars Toni Braxton, Cloris Leachman, Christopher Lloyd, Chazz Palminteri, Jaime Pressly, and Cary Elwes. Marketed as an "interactive film", The Oogieloves encourages the viewers in the theater to sing and dance along.[4]

The film was released on August 29, 2012.[4] On its opening weekend, the film became one of the biggest box office disasters of all time for films released in at least 2,000 theaters, receiving negative reviews from critics and audiences. The film was released on DVD on February 5, 2013, exclusively at Walmart.[5]

Plot

On Schluufy's birthday, the Oogieloves, Goobie, Zoozie, and Toofie, and their friends J. Edgar, Windy Window, and Ruffy, work on organizing a party. Everything is going as planned until J. Edgar trips and loses the last five magical balloons in all of Lovelyloveville, prompting The Oogieloves to set out and find the magical balloons in time for the party. Along the way, they meet Dotty Rounder, Bobby Wobbly, Marvin Milkshake, Rosalie Rosebud, and Lola and Lero Sombrero.

Cast

  • Iris Farrugia as Ruby Rosebud
  • Randy Carfagno as Ruffy
  • Mia Elliott as Windy
  • Taras Los as Schluufy (voice)
  • Guistina Chirco as Marna
  • Nick Drago as J. Edgar

Production

"I just got that what we need to do is allow children to be children, allow them to behave the way they would behave. And so if we created a film that allowed for that, that actually embraced it and encouraged it, we would have an incredibly different experience – not only would it be a different experience on the screen, but it would be a much more successful experience on the shelf. Because you can bond with these characters in a way that you can't bond in another film, because now they're your friends, now they're asking for your help. We break the fourth wall down – we use auditory and visual cues to tell kids when to stand up and sit down. Literally, they are the catalyst for the adventure. And it changes the whole experience."

Kenn Viselman, on the purpose and idea of an interactive children's movie.[6]

The film was written by Scott Stabile and produced by Kenn Viselman, who was behind the American localization of the British children's series Teletubbies and Thomas & Friends. Viselman claims that he and Teletubbies creator Anne Wood had multiple disputes with each other, because Wood refused to let Viselman pursue a film adaptation of the show.[6] The film is loosely based of the characters from the children's tv show My Bedbugs which Viselman had invested in.[7]

After seeing Madea Goes to Jail in a theater, where he saw how the audience members would shout out advice to the characters on screen, Viselman was partially inspired to create a children's film in the vein of Teletubbies with the interactive aspect, allowing the children to sing, dance, and respond to the characters on screen.[6] He felt that "The idea of interactivity isn't new, but the idea of interactivity in a theater is."[8]

Reception

Critical response

The Oogieloves in the Big Balloon Adventure received generally negative reviews, with a 29% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 21 reviews,[9] and a score of 32% on Metacritic, based on 11 reviews.[10] Loren King of the Boston Globe considered The Oogieloves to be a "dumbed-down mash-up of the least creative parts of Teletubbies, Barney & Friends and Pee-wee's Playhouse" which preschoolers would enjoy due to its interactivity, but would be a waste of time for parents "in a world where Sesame Street is on TV every day [and/or] even in a world where Sesame Street didn’t exist." King also questioned whether the intent of the film was to set the stage for future merchandising of its characters.[11] Mark Olsen of the Los Angeles Times criticized The Oogieloves for being a "prefab construction meant to appear like a beloved set of characters", and for being "so ineffectual and disengaging that it may be better to call it just plain dumb."[12]

Box office

In its debut weekend, Oogieloves proved to be the biggest box office bomb of all time for films released in at least 2,000 theaters.[13] Its production budget was $20 million, in addition to another $40 million in marketing costs.[2] On August 29, 2012, the film opened at #17 at the box office to $102,564 in 2,160 theaters, with a per-theater average of $47.[1] Box Office Mojo said the film "needs at least $5 million to avoid being dubbed a legendary flop".[14] It grossed only $445,000 in its opening weekend, surpassing Delgo for the lowest opening weekend of a film in 2,000 or more theaters.[15] Delgo also played in the same number of theaters as Oogieloves. The film has the second worst opening weekend per-theater average for a widely released film at $206.[15] "To put that in perspective, if each location played Oogieloves five times a day on one screen at an average ticket price of $7, that would translate to fewer than two people per showing", according to Box Office Mojo.[15] Over the life of its exhibition in theaters, the film grossed a grand total of $1,065,907 as measured by total box office gross, only Delgo had a worse theatrical gross by total gross; however, The Oogieloves played for 23 days while Delgo played for only seven.[1]

Accolades

The film was nominated for Worst Picture and Worst Screen Ensemble at the 33rd Golden Raspberry Awards.[16]

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Oogieloves In The BIG Balloon Adventure". Box Office Mojo. Amazon.com. Retrieved September 17, 2012.
  2. ^ a b Kaufman, Amy (30 August 2012). "'The Possession' will scare off competition over slow Labor Day". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2 September 2012.
  3. ^ http://www.dbusiness.com/DBusiness/September-October-2012/Mike-Chircos-Big-Adventure/
  4. ^ a b Heritage, Stuart (2012-05-02). "The Oogieloves in the Big Balloon Adventure: stand by for PR perfection | Film | guardian.co.uk". Guardian. Retrieved 2012-09-04.
  5. ^ http://www.movieweb.com/news/the-oogieloves-in-the-big-balloon-adventure-dvd-arrives-february-5th
  6. ^ a b c "CinemaCon 2012: 'Teletubbies' Pioneer Tries to Revolutionize Children's Entertainment". The Hollywood Reporter. Prometheus Global Media. 2012-04-23. Retrieved 2012-09-04.
  7. ^ http://www.dbusiness.com/DBusiness/September-October-2012/Mike-Chircos-Big-Adventure/
  8. ^ "Flixclusive Interview: Kenn Viselman (Oogieloves)". Flixist. August 14, 2012. Retrieved September 15, 2013.
  9. ^ "The Oogieloves in the Big Balloon Adventure". Rotten Tomatoes. Flixster. Retrieved September 5, 2012.
  10. ^ "The Oogieloves in the Big Balloon Adventure". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved September 3, 2012.
  11. ^ "First there was 'Teletubbies,' now 'Oogieloves'". Boston Globe. Retrieved 12 March 2013.
  12. ^ "Review: 'The Oogieloves' should quietly float away". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 12 March 2013.
  13. ^ "The year Liam Neeson punched a wolf in the face: Movies of 2012 – NBC News Entertainment". NBCNews.com. Retrieved 11 January 2013.
  14. ^ Ray Subers (August 30, 2012). "Forecast: 'The Possession' Set To Haunt Theaters Over Labor Day". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved August 31, 2012.
  15. ^ a b c Ray Subers (September 2, 2012). "Weekend Report: 'The Possession' Leads Typically Quiet Labor Day". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved September 3, 2012.
  16. ^ "Razzie Awards 2013: Full List of Nominees". ABC News. Retrieved 12 March 2013.

External links

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