Monsters vs. Aliens (franchise)

''Monsters vs. Aliens'' is a media franchise made by DreamWorks Animation. The franchise began with the 2009 film '' Monsters vs. Aliens'' and has since grown to include two short films, a television special, a television series, and a tie-in video game.

The franchise follows a group of monsters: Susan (also called Ginormica), a woman who was struck by an asteroid on her wedding day and grew to be 50 feet tall; B.O.B., an indestructible gelatinous mass who was created when a dessert topping was crossed with a tomato; The Missing Link, a 20,000-year-old macho fish man, who was thawed out from deep ice by scientists; Dr. Cockroach, Ph.D., a scientist who became a bug guy after his experiment went wrong; and Insectosaurus, a massive bug who was mutated by nuclear radiation. The monsters are assigned by the U.S. Government to defend Earth from alien invasions and supernatural threats.

Feature film

''Monsters vs. Aliens'' (2009)

''Monsters vs. Aliens'' is a 2009 American computer-animated 3D science fiction action comedy film. It was DreamWorks Animation's first feature film to be directly produced in a stereoscopic 3D format instead of being converted into 3D after completion, which added $15 million to the film's budget.

The film involves the story of Susan Murphy who is excited to be married to weatherman Derek Dietl. But moments before her ceremony, she gets unexpectedly struck by a radioactive asteroid and during the ceremony, she grows up to a size of 50 feet tall. Once she grows into a giant, known as Ginormica, she gets whisked away by the United States Army and gets sent to a secret maximum security prison where she meets other monsters who had been rounded up over the past 50 years: Dr. Cockroach, (a scientist who became part cockroach during an experiment), The Missing Link, (a 20,000 year old macho fish ape who was thawed out from deep ice), B.O.B. (an indestructible gelatinous blob who was injected with salad dressing as a tomato), and Insectosaurus (a 350 grub who was mutated by nuclear radiation). The monsters do not fit in with society and are kept in the prison by General W.R. Monger, the army officer who is in charge of the facility. All the monsters get released when they are called in to save the world from an invasion by Gallaxhar, a villain from outer space, who wants to use the asteroid that hit Susan as the key to his invasion.

The film was originally scheduled for a May 2009 release, but the release date was moved to March 27, 2009. It was released on DVD and Blu-ray September 29, 2009, in North America and included the easter egg to the upcoming movies and previews. The film features the voices of Reese Witherspoon, Seth Rogen, Hugh Laurie, Will Arnett, Conrad Vernon, Rainn Wilson, Kiefer Sutherland, Stephen Colbert, and Paul Rudd.

Cancelled sequel

Despite its success in the United States market, DreamWorks Animation's CEO, Jeffrey Katzenberg was quoted in the ''Los Angeles Times'' that a sequel would not be made because of the film's weak performance in some key international markets. "There was enough of a consensus from our distribution and marketing folks in certain parts of the world that 'doing a sequel' would be pushing a boulder up a hill." After the release of ''Megamind'', Katzenberg commented ''Shark Tale'', '' Monsters vs. Aliens'', and ''Megamind'': "All shared an approach and tone and idea of parody, and did not travel well internationally. We don't have anything like that coming on our schedule now."

Television special

''Monsters vs Aliens: Mutant Pumpkins from Outer Space'' (2009)

''Mutant Pumpkins from Outer Space'' is a 2009 Halloween special, directed by Peter Ramsey. It premiered in Ireland on RTÉ One on October 26, 2009, and aired in USA on the NBC channel on October 28, 2009. The special was first released on DVD in the UK on September 27, 2010, exclusive to Tesco stores, and in US it was released on September 13, 2011, and on September 27, 2011, along with ''Scared Shrekless''. It was released on DVD and Blu-ray on August 28, 2012, as part of ''Shrek's Thrilling Tales'' (''DreamWorks Spooky Stories'').

After saving the day from Gallaxhar's wrath, Susan and her fellow monsters go back to Susan's home in Modesto, California; just in time for Halloween celebrations. Susan spends time with her parents, while the other monsters join in trick-or-treating and collect a large amount of candy. Later, it is revealed that the monsters came to destroy mutant pumpkins disguised as Jack-o-lanterns. When the pumpkins begin to eat children's candies to grow larger, the monsters and children defeat them by throwing excessive candy to bloat them up and explode them. But, in a twist ending, some of the pumpkin "blood" (a green goo that mutated the ordinary pumpkins) falls into a planting of carrots, causing a mutant carrot to be formed.

Short films

''B.O.B.'s Big Break'' (2009)

''B.O.B.'s Big Break'' is a 3D animated short prequel film. The short premiered on Nickelodeon in 2D on September 26, 2009, and was released 3 days later in 2D and 3D on the ''Monsters vs Aliens'' Blu-ray Disc, Blu-ray and the double DVD pack.

Many years before the events of the first film, Dr. Cockroach Doctor of Philosophy, Ph.D. and The Missing Link are trying to outwit Captain W.R. Monger to escape from Area 52, the government's top-secret holding cell, by disguising their escape plan as celebrating an oblivious B.O.B.'s "birthday". Cockroach's escape attempt by feeding B.O.B. a chemical mixture to turn him into a bomb instead results in B.O.B. temporarily acquiring the ability to read minds, and allowing them to find out about a secret exit from Area 52. Unfortunately, the plan fails when B.O.B. smashes the jet they were using to escape believing it to be a piñata, with the resulting explosion erasing B.O.B.'s new power. Afterwards, Link and Dr. Cockroach are forced to endure their humiliating defeat at B.O.B.'s "birthday party" by being mocked by both Monger and The Invisible Man.

''Night of the Living Carrots'' (2011)

''Night of the Living Carrots'' is a 2011 13-minute 3D Halloween short film based on '' Monsters vs. Aliens'', and a sequel to Monsters vs. Aliens: Mutant Pumpkins from Outer Space, ''Mutant Pumpkins from Outer Space''. It was directed by Robert Porter. First part of the short premiered on October 13, 2011, and the second part five days later, for a limited time, exclusively on the Nintendo 3DS video service. It was released on August 28, 2012, on DVD and Blu-ray as a part of ''Shrek's Thrilling Tales'' (''DreamWorks Spooky Stories'').

Following the cliffhanger at the end of ''Mutant Pumpkins from Outer Space'', the mutated carrot has spawned hundreds of zombie carrots, which can take control of a person's mind after biting them. Dr. Cockroach determines that the only way to defeat the carrots and free their victims is for B.O.B. to eat all of the carrots (specifically because B.O.B. has no brain and, thus, is immune to the carrots' mind control powers). Eventually, albeit reluctantly, B.O.B. agrees. At the end of the short, B.O.B. is turned into a giant zombie carrot, though this is never explained or followed up on.

Television series

''Monsters vs. Aliens'' (2013–2014)

A computer-animated television series based on the film, titled ''Monsters vs. Aliens'', aired on Nickelodeon between March 23, 2013 and February 8, 2014. A total of 26 episodes consisting of 2 11-minute segments were released. The cast featured new voice actors for the characters of Susan (Riki Lindhome), Dr. Cockroach (Chris O'Dowd), The Missing Link (Diedrich Bader), and B.O.B. (Eric Edelstein). This series was partly produced by New Zealand CG animation studio Oktobor Animation. The series was cancelled after one season due to low ratings and plans to refocus on more "Nickish" shows.

Cast and characters

* A dark gray cell indicates the character did not appear in that installment.
* An indicates an appearance through previously recorded material.
* A indicates an actor or actress was not credited for their respective role.
* A indicates a younger version of a character.

Additional crew and production details

Video games

The video game ''Monsters vs. Aliens (video game), Monsters vs. Aliens'' was released on March 24, 2009 on Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Nintendo DS, PlayStation 2, and Wii. The game, developed by Beenox and Amaze Entertainment, allows users to play through scenes from the movie as Susan, The Missing Link, and B.O.B., and features drop-in/out co-op. Players can play as Dr. Cockroach, Ph.D. in multiplayer co-op, as well as Insectosaurus in the Nintendo DS version of the game. The music was composed by James Dooley (composer), Jim Dooley, with live brass recorded at the Warner Brothers Eastwood Scoring Stage. The Monsters Vs. Aliens Videogame has garnered a Metacritic score of 63 for the Xbox 360 version of the title.

Another video game titled ''Madagascar Kartz'' was released by Activision on October 27, 2009, for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii, and Nintendo DS. Mainly based on the ''Madagascar (franchise), Madagascar'' franchise, the game also features B.O.B. and a racetrack based on the spaceship from ''Monsters vs. Aliens.''

Another video game titled ''Super Star Kartz'' was released by Activision on November 15, 2011, for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii, Nintendo DS, and Nintendo 3DS. The game features 14 different characters from DreamWorks' films – ''Monsters vs. Aliens'', ''Madagascar'', ''Shrek'', and ''How to Train Your Dragon (franchise), How to Train Your Dragon''.

A free mobile game based on the 2013 TV series, titled ''B.O.B.'s Super Freaky Job'', was developed by Adrenaline and released on October 10, 2013 to iOS and Android (operating system), Android. In the game, player must guide B.O.B. through challenges by rotating the world around him, to obtain spare parts for Dr. Cockroach, and earn stars for the Presidential Medal.

Chronology

Chronological order of the ''Monsters vs. Aliens'' franchise history:

# '' Monsters vs. Aliens'' (2009)
# ''B.O.B.'s Big Break'' (2009)
# ''Monsters vs. Aliens: Mutant Pumpkins from Outer Space'' (2009)
# ''Night of the Living Carrots, Monsters vs. Aliens: Night of the Living Carrots'' (2011)
# Monsters vs. Aliens (TV series), ''Monsters vs. Aliens'' (2013–2014)

References

External links

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{{DreamWorks animated films

Monsters vs. Aliens (franchise),
Science fiction franchises
DreamWorks Animation franchises
Film franchises introduced in 2009
American animated fantasy films
American animated science fiction films
Animated film series
Science fiction film franchises
Comedy film franchises
American monster movies
Computer-animated films
Children's film series