''Wheely'', also released as ''Wheely: Fast and Hilarious'' is a 2018 Malaysian 3D

computer-animated Computer animation is the process used for digitally generating animations. The more general term computer-generated imagery (CGI) encompasses both static scenes ( still images) and dynamic images (moving images), while computer animation refe ...

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

written and directed by Yusry Abd Halim as his first animated film.Moore, Roger (17 March 2019
Family Movie Review: “Wheely” is “Cars” without the Pixar touch
''Movie Nation''. Retrieved 24 September 2021.Nasser, Ashraf (15 July 2018
"Wheely" bakal kembalikan kegemilangan KRU Studios?
(in Malay). ''Cinema Online''. Archived from th
original
on 27 October 2020. Retrieved 24 September 2021. It was released in Malaysia on 16 August 2018. Critically, the film received negative reviews, with critics calling it a

mockbuster A mockbuster (also known as knockbuster or a drafting opportunity) is a film created to exploit the publicity of another major motion picture with a similar title or subject. Mockbusters are often made with a low budget and quick production to max ...

Pixar Animation Studios Pixar Animation Studios (commonly known as Pixar () and stylized as P I X A R) is an American computer animation studio known for its critically and commercially successful computer animated feature films. It is based in Emeryville, Californi ...

's film ''

Cars A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people instead of goods. The year 1886 is regarded as t ...

''.

Plot

After a really bad crash, Wheely was demoted from a 3-time rookie racer to a downtown cabbie with a mountain of debt and a bruised ego. The cause of the accident is no other than Putt Putt, his philosophical/Feng Shui practitioner fan turned to-best friend. Everything was fine until Wheely fell "head-over-wheels" over Bella, a supermodel from the upper echelons of society. To make things worse...she's got a boyfriend! Luckily for Wheely, Bella finds his street smart, ghetto-like, funny-guy character appealing.... but just before he gets the chance to get to know her better, her stuck-up boyfriend Ben, gets in the way. And that's not all.... Wheely's faced with an even bigger problem when his dream girl gets "car-napped" by a global syndicate masterminded by an monstrous 18-wheeler truck, Kaiser.

Cast

Ogie Banks Ogie Banks (born June 13, 1973) is an American voice actor. He is best known for his roles as Clawd Wolf in ''Monster High'', and Luke Cage and Miles Morales in ''Ultimate Spider-Man''. He also voices Dylan in the ''Bratz'' franchise and Omoi in ...

as Wheely, a shy and good-hearted yellow

Mitsubishi Evo The Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution, popularly referred to as the 'Evo', is a sports sedan and rally car based on the Lancer that was manufactured by Japanese manufacturer Mitsubishi Motors from 1992 until 2016. There have been ten official versio ...

that suffered a fatal racing accident, the main protagonist *Gavin Yap as Putt Putt, a green

Piaggio Vespa Vespa () is an Italian luxury brand of scooters and mopeds manufactured by Piaggio. The name means wasp in Italian. The Vespa has evolved from a single model motor scooter manufactured in 1946 by Piaggio & Co. S.p.A. of Pontedera, Italy to ...

, the Wheely's best friend *Frances Lee as Bella, an attractive red

Alfa Romeo GT The Alfa Romeo GT (Type 937) is a coupe automobile that was produced by the Italian automaker Alfa Romeo between 2003 and 2010. The GT was introduced in March 2003 at the Geneva Motor Show.Fiat Chrysler Automobiles EMEA PressNEW ALFA GT COUPÉ, W ...

*Thomas Pang as Ben, a dark green

Buick XP2000 XP2000 or XP-2000 was the name of a concept car produced by Buick of General Motors (GM). It was assembled in 1995 by GM's Australian division Holden, and first showcased at the North American International, Chicago, and Los Angeles auto shows ...

, the Bella's boyfriend *Jay Sheldon as Frank, a rusty

Ford Econoline The Ford E-Series (also known as the Ford Econoline or Ford Club Wagon) is a range of full-size vans manufactured and marketed by the Ford Motor Company. Introduced for model year 1961 as the replacement for the Ford F-Series panel van, the E-Se ...

, that is known as a

cardiologist Cardiology () is a branch of medicine that deals with disorders of the heart and the cardiovascular system. The field includes medical diagnosis and treatment of congenital heart defects, coronary artery disease, heart failure, valvular hear ...

. Sheldon also voices Ryan the Commenyator a blue helicopter who narrates Wheely's race *Brock Powell as Kaiser, an evil blue

Volvo FH The Volvo FH is a heavy truck range manufactured by the Swedish company Volvo Trucks. It was originally introduced in late 1993 as the FH12 and FH16. FH stands for Forward control High entry, where numbers denominate engine capacity in litres. The ...

, who is the leader of a luxury "car-napping" syndicate *Raymond Orta as Parmo, a

Mini Cooper Mini Cooper may refer to: *Cars of the original Mini series called the "Mini Cooper", made by the British Motor Corporation and its successors 1961–1971, and 1990–2000 *Cars of the Mini (marque), including a number of different models produced ...

, one of Kaiser's henchmen *Armando Valdes-Kennedy as Rumble, a

Chevrolet Camaro The Chevrolet Camaro is a mid-size American automobile manufactured by Chevrolet, classified as a pony car. It first went on sale on September 29, 1966, for the 1967 model year and was designed to compete with the Ford Mustang. The Camaro share ...

, one of Kaiser's henchmen *Tamiyka White as Momma, a Jamaican-accented orange

VW Beetle The Volkswagen Beetle—officially the Volkswagen Type 1, informally in German (meaning "beetle"), in parts of the English-speaking world the Bug, and known by many other nicknames in other languages—is a two-door, rear-engine economy car, ...

, the Wheely's mother *

Barbara Goodson Barbara Goodson is an American voice actress who has done voice-over work in cartoons and shows. Her best-known role was providing the English dub voice of the main villain Empress Rita Repulsa in the ''Power Rangers'' franchise, starting with ' ...

as Sergeant Street, a

Ford Crown Victoria The Ford Crown Victoria ("Crown Vic") is a full-size sedan that was marketed and manufactured by Ford. The successor to the Ford LTD Crown Victoria, two generations of the model line were produced from the 1992 to 2012 model years. The Ford ...

, that takes care of Gasket City *Chris Jai Alex as Crank, a ship that transports Kaiser *Khairil Mokhzani Bahar as Joe Flo, a red 1991 Nissan Silvia *Gavin Yap as Brad, an orange and white 2002 Subaru Impreza WRX STi. Yap also voices Ryan the Commentator a red helicopter who narrates Wheely's race * Joe Murray as Royston, a wealthy blue 1960 Jaguar Mark 2 who is Ben's father * Ghafir Akbar as the Director, a unnamed purple

Willys Willys (pronounced , "Willis" ) was a brand name used by Willys–Overland Motors, an American automobile company, founded by John North Willys. It was best known for its design and production of World War II era and later military jeeps (MBs ...

model jeep who directs a commercial that Bella is acting * Diong Chae Lian as Amy a yellow

Daewoo Matiz Daewoo ( ; Hangul: , Hanja: , ; literally "great universe" and a portmanteau of "dae" meaning great, and the given name of founder and chairman Kim Woo-choong) also known as the Daewoo Group, was a major South Korean chaebol (type of conglomerat ...

who is Wheely's biggest fan

Production

Yusry Abdul Halim came up with the idea for the film in 2014 under the name of KL Taxi. But when we it get marketed the internationally buyers didn’t get the "KL" name. So Yusry immediately changed the title to Wheely. His brother Norman, added that the car photos went through various inspirations for the character designs, with the concept being expanded on the storyline. “We got two

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

writers who sneaked into the KRU Creative studios in

Ipoh , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Ipoh in Perak , pushpin_map = #Malaysia#Asia#Earth , pushpin_mapsize = 275px , pushpin_map_caption = Ipoh in Malaysia , coordinates ...

to work on the script but we eventually realized that the humour and sensibilities don't fit intro our movie. We wanted the movie to be have American charm rather than British, which explains why Wheely is not red and white like regular taxis in Malaysia “Yes but you know, back in the 80's our taxis were yellow and black, so it’s still Malaysian in that sense,” said Norman. With half of the animation handled at Invector Heads studio in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, KRU produced stereoscopic 3D version exclusive for

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

Release and reception

''Wheely'' was released in Malaysia on 16 August 2018, and had a worldwide gross of $1,340,799, the highest grossing country being Poland with $348,806. ''Wheely: Fast and Hilarious'' was also released in Australian theatres on November 9th, 2018, distributed by Odin Eye's Entertainment alongside Universal Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. Critically, the film received negative reviews, with critics calling it a

's film ''

''.Clarke, Cath (19 April 2019
Wheely review – shameless Cars rip-off skids along the hard shoulder
''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

''. Retrieved 24 September 2021.Wheely
at ''

Radio Times ''Radio Times'' (currently styled as ''RadioTimes'') is a British weekly listings magazine devoted to television and radio programme schedules, with other features such as interviews, film reviews and lifestyle items. Founded in May 1923 by J ...

''. Reviewed by Luxford, James on 18 April 2019. Retrieved 24 September 2021.Wheely
at

Common Sense Media Common Sense Media (CSM) is an organization that reviews and provides ratings for media and technology with the goal of providing information on their suitability for children.

. Reviewed by Chen, Sandie Angulo on 12 April 2019. Retrieved 24 September 2021. But according to Norman Abdul Halim, the movie is not a rip-off of Cars "it has its own unique characters, designs, plot, storyline and flavour."

References

External links

* *{{rotten tomatoes, wheely 2018 films Malaysian animated films Malaysian auto racing films Malaysian 3D films Mockbuster films 2018 comedy films 2018 computer-animated films 2010s children's animated films 2010s children's comedy films English-language Malaysian films Animated films about auto racing Animated films about automobiles Films about kidnapping 2018 direct-to-video films KRU Studios films