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 refer ...

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the characters are interwo ...

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 o ...

Warner Animation Group The Warner Animation Group (WAG) is an American animation studio serving as the computer-animated feature film label of Warner Bros.' theatrical film production and distribution division, Warner Bros. Pictures. Established on January 7, 2013, ...

Warner Bros. Pictures Warner Bros. Pictures is an American film production and distribution company of the Warner Bros. Pictures Group division of Warner Bros. Entertainment (both ultimately owned by Warner Bros. Discovery). The studio is the flagship producer of li ...

Sergio Pablos Sergio Pablos is a Spanish animator, director and screenwriter. While at the helm of his company (The SPA Studios), Pablos developed several concepts for animated feature films, most notably the original ideas upon which ''Despicable Me'' (Unive ...

Channing Tatum Channing Matthew Tatum (born April 26, 1980) is an American actor. Tatum made his film debut in the drama ''Coach Carter'' (2005), and had his breakthrough role in the 2006 dance film '' Step Up''. He gained wider attention for his leading rol ...

James Corden James Kimberley Corden (born 22 August 1978) is an English television host, actor, comedian, and singer. In the United Kingdom, he is best known for co-writing and starring in the critically acclaimed BBC sitcom '' Gavin & Stacey''. In the ...

Zendaya Zendaya Maree Stoermer Coleman ( ; born September 1, 1996) is an American actress and singer. She has received various accolades, including two Primetime Emmy Awards. ''Time'' magazine named her one of the 100 most influential people in the ...

Common Common may refer to: Places * Common, a townland in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland * Boston Common, a central public park in Boston, Massachusetts * Cambridge Common, common land area in Cambridge, Massachusetts * Clapham Common, originally ...

LeBron James LeBron Raymone James Sr. (; born December 30, 1984) is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "King James", he is widely considered one of the greatest p ...

Danny DeVito Daniel Michael DeVito Jr. (born November 17, 1944) is an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. He gained prominence for his portrayal of the taxi dispatcher Louie De Palma in the television series ''Taxi'' (1978–1983), which won him a Gold ...

Jimmy Tatro James Richard Tatro is an American actor, comedian, writer and YouTube personality. He is the creator and star of the YouTube channel ''LifeAccordingToJimmy'', which has more than 3.4 million subscribers and over 713 million video views. Tatro ...

Yeti The Yeti ()"Yeti"
''

Himalayas The Himalayas, or Himalaya (; ; ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the planet's highest peaks, including the very highest, Mount Everest. Over 10 ...

, above the clouds and hidden away from sight. Migo is a yeti who abides by the law of the ancient stones held by the Stonekeeper, the yetis' leader. Migo's father, Dorgle, projects himself through the air each morning to hit a gong with his head, as the yetis believe this wakes up the sun. While learning how to ring the gong, Migo is distracted by the Stonekeeper's daughter, Meechee, whom he has a crush on, and misses the gong, landing outside the village. There, Migo witnesses a plane crash and finds a "smallfoot" (human), whom the yetis believe is mythical. Migo runs back to inform the villagers, but he lacks proof, and Stonekeeper claims he is lying and banishes him from the village. Migo is suddenly visited by rejected yetis Gwangi, Kolka, and Fleem, who do not believe in the stones, and bring him to the Smallfoot Evidentiary Society (S.E.S.), which is led by Meechee. She convinces Migo to travel below the clouds despite the stones telling them that there is nothing underneath. After some hesitation, Migo agrees to go, but his rope snaps and Migo falls, where he discovers land. Percy Patterson is a British human filmmaker of wildlife documentaries who has lost most of his viewership. He meets the pilot who saw Migo, and in an attempt to regain his fame, tries unsuccessfully to convince his assistant, Brenda, to dress up as a yeti for filming. Migo arrives and unknowingly scares Percy when trying to communicate with him due to yeti's and human's inability to understand each other. When Migo inadvertently terrifies Percy by his attempted communication, Percy attempts to shoot Migo with a tranquilizer dart. However the errant dart ends up hitting Percy, rendering him temporarily unconscious. Migo then decides to abduct the unconscious Percy by stuffing him into a sleeping bag that he straps to his chest for the return trip home. During the long trek back up the mountain, Migo and Percy encounter a severe blizzard which blows them into a nearby cave. Migo discovers that Percy has frozen completely solid. He quickly lights a fire and ties Percy up over a fire to thaw him out and save his life. As Percy regains consciousness, he believes that Migo is trying to cook him alive. Percy breaks free from the rope and proceeds to film and upload a cell phone video of Migo while narrating that the yeti is threatening to eat him, before attempting to escape. While chasing after Percy, Migo's toe becomes ensnared in a bear trap and Percy takes pity on Migo by removing the trap and bandaging his wound. Realizing that the yeti is trying to communicate with him, Percy agrees to go with Migo and they head back up the mountain overnight, where they reunite with the S.E.S. the next morning. The yetis are confused by Percy's appearance, but happily embrace him and learn about his culture, much to Stonekeeper's dismay. Later, Stonekeeper takes Migo inside the palace and reveals the truth: yetis used to live below the clouds, but were forced into hiding by the vicious humans who mercilessly attacked them. To keep themselves safe, the yetis created the stones, and the clouds are actually steam made by the yetis' daily tasks to keep them hidden from the humans below. Meanwhile, Meechee is able to develop a rudimentary line of communication with Percy by referring to crude chalk drawings that Percy scribbles on her cave wall. In order to protect the yeti village, Migo agrees to continue Stonekeeper's lie by telling the yetis that Percy, who is now experiencing

altitude sickness Altitude sickness, the mildest form being acute mountain sickness (AMS), is the harmful effect of high altitude, caused by rapid exposure to low amounts of oxygen at high elevation. People can respond to high altitude in different ways. Sympt ...

, is just a hairless

wild yak The wild yak (''Bos mutus'') is a large, wild bovine native to the Himalayas. It is the ancestor of the domestic yak (''Bos grunniens''). Taxonomy The ancestor of the wild and domestic yak is thought to have diverged from '' Bos primigeniu ...

. Stonekeeper takes Percy and locks him in an ice box, so Percy will be unable to alert other humans of the yetis' whereabouts. Migo later discovers that Meechee took Percy away to return him home, and jumps down the mountain with Gwangi and Kolka following suit. Percy recovers and discovers that his video of Migo has generated significant public excitement, but then notices that Meechee has become distracted by the wonders of

Kathmandu , pushpin_map = Nepal Bagmati Province#Nepal#Asia , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 = Bagmati Prov ...

and accidentally causes a public disruption. Meechee is attacked by the police, but is rescued by Gwangi, Kolka and Migo. As Migo tries to explain to Meechee that humans are monsters, they see a mural depicting a yeti attacking people and realize that humans view them as monsters. The yetis try to make it back to the mountain, but are chased by a SWAT helicopter that Stonekeeper takes down using his stones. Migo attempts to divert the police away from the other yetis, when Percy arrives on his snowmobile and shoots Migo with a tranquilizer gun to protect him. The police chase and capture Percy in his yeti suit, and arrest him for public disturbance and fraud. Back at the village, inside the palace, Migo explains the truth to the yetis and apologizes for lying to them. He tells the others that even though humans may still be scared of the yetis, they should try to communicate with them. The yetis leave the village, and when Percy and Brenda notice them, they emerge from the crowd and stand up for the yetis. The rest of the humans slowly welcome the yetis and accept them into their lives.

Voice cast

*

Channing Tatum Channing Matthew Tatum (born April 26, 1980) is an American actor. Tatum made his film debut in the drama ''Coach Carter'' (2005), and had his breakthrough role in the 2006 dance film '' Step Up''. He gained wider attention for his leading rol ...

as Migo, a young male

yeti The Yeti ()"Yeti"
''

James Corden James Kimberley Corden (born 22 August 1978) is an English television host, actor, comedian, and singer. In the United Kingdom, he is best known for co-writing and starring in the critically acclaimed BBC sitcom '' Gavin & Stacey''. In the ...

as Percy Patterson, a British human filmmaker of wildlife documentaries trying to get back in the spotlight, who becomes Migo's Smallfoot best friend. *

Zendaya Zendaya Maree Stoermer Coleman ( ; born September 1, 1996) is an American actress and singer. She has received various accolades, including two Primetime Emmy Awards. ''Time'' magazine named her one of the 100 most influential people in the ...

as Meechee, a young female yeti, the Stonekeeper's daughter, Thorp's younger sister, the leader of S.E.S., and Migo's love interest. *

Common Common may refer to: Places * Common, a townland in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland * Boston Common, a central public park in Boston, Massachusetts * Cambridge Common, common land area in Cambridge, Massachusetts * Clapham Common, originally ...

as Stonekeeper, the condescending yeti

chief Chief may refer to: Title or rank Military and law enforcement * Chief master sergeant, the ninth, and highest, enlisted rank in the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force * Chief of police, the head of a police department * Chief of the bo ...

and father of Thorp and Meechee. *

LeBron James LeBron Raymone James Sr. (; born December 30, 1984) is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "King James", he is widely considered one of the greatest p ...

as Gwangi, a large purple male yeti who is part of the S.E.S. * Gina Rodriguez as Kolka, a female yeti who is part of the S.E.S. *

Danny DeVito Daniel Michael DeVito Jr. (born November 17, 1944) is an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. He gained prominence for his portrayal of the taxi dispatcher Louie De Palma in the television series ''Taxi'' (1978–1983), which won him a Gold ...

as Dorgle, a short male yeti who is the village gong ringer and Migo's widowed father. * Yara Shahidi as Brenda, Percy's morally conscious assistant, who does not believe in yetis until the end of the film. * Ely Henry as Fleem, a small male yeti who is part of the S.E.S. *

Jimmy Tatro James Richard Tatro is an American actor, comedian, writer and YouTube personality. He is the creator and star of the YouTube channel ''LifeAccordingToJimmy'', which has more than 3.4 million subscribers and over 713 million video views. Tatro ...

as Thorp, a slow-witted male yeti who is the Stonekeeper's son and Meechee's older brother. * Patricia Heaton as Mama Bear, a

himalayan brown bear The Himalayan brown bear (''Ursus arctos isabellinus''), also known as the Himalayan red bear, isabelline bear or Dzu-Teh, is a subspecies of the brown bear and is known from northern Afghanistan, northern Pakistan, northern India, west China an ...

Migo and Percy encounter in a cave while waiting out a blizzard. In the UK release, the part of Mama Bear was performed by Emma Bunton. *

Justin Roiland Mark Justin Roiland (born February 21, 1980) is an American voice actor, animator, writer, producer, and director. He is best known as the co-creator of Adult Swim's ''Rick and Morty'' and its subsequent franchise. He voices the show's titular ...

as Garry, a paranoid male yeti. *

Jack Quaid Jack Henry Quaid (born April 24, 1992) is an American actor. He made his acting debut with a minor role in the dystopian film ''The Hunger Games'' (2012) before his breakout role as vigilante Hughie Campbell in the Amazon Prime Video superhero ser ...

as Pilot, a human airplane pilot who crashes on the mountain and who Migo first meets. Additional voices are provided by Kelly Holden Bashar, Jonathan Kite, Joel McCrary, Clare Sera, Jessica Tuck, Peter Ettinger, Jonathan Mangum, Vanessa Ragland, Luke Smith, and

Rick Zieff Richard Evan Zieff (born November 1, 1961), also known as Danny Katiana, is an American actor and voice-over coach. Career His career in voice-overs dates back to the mid-1980s. He has also appeared in such films as ''Mississippi Burning'', '' ...

.

Production

Writers Glenn Ficarra and John Requa conceived of ''Smallfoot'', interested in a story about

Yeti The Yeti ()"Yeti"
''

Bigfoot Bigfoot, also commonly referred to as Sasquatch, is a purported ape-like creature said to inhabit the forest of North America. Many dubious articles have been offered in attempts to prove the existence of Bigfoot, including anecdotal claims o ...

; they drew inspiration from an original idea by

Sergio Pablos Sergio Pablos is a Spanish animator, director and screenwriter. While at the helm of his company (The SPA Studios), Pablos developed several concepts for animated feature films, most notably the original ideas upon which ''Despicable Me'' (Unive ...

. The concept for ''Smallfoot'' was in development before director Karey Kirkpatrick joined the project in July 2016; he viewed an

animatic A storyboard is a graphic organizer that consists of illustrations or images displayed in sequence for the purpose of pre-visualizing a motion picture, animation, motion graphic or interactive media sequence. The storyboarding process, in th ...

in which Percy was a "ski bum type" with no motivation on his personality in the first drafts of the script and repetitive gag lines, and so they added more elements in his later revisions by giving arc and depth to his character. Kirkpatrick also said Meechee was undeveloped, and she was made head of the S.E.S. in rewrites. Observing

Brexit Brexit (; a portmanteau of "British exit") was the Withdrawal from the European Union, withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU) at 23:00 Greenwich Mean Time, GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February 2020 Central Eur ...

and a rise in nationalism, Kirkpatrick also drew inspiration: On May 11, 2017, it was announced that the film was in-production with

Channing Tatum Channing Matthew Tatum (born April 26, 1980) is an American actor. Tatum made his film debut in the drama ''Coach Carter'' (2005), and had his breakthrough role in the 2006 dance film '' Step Up''. He gained wider attention for his leading rol ...

,

Zendaya Zendaya Maree Stoermer Coleman ( ; born September 1, 1996) is an American actress and singer. She has received various accolades, including two Primetime Emmy Awards. ''Time'' magazine named her one of the 100 most influential people in the ...

, and Gina Rodriguez providing the lead voice roles. Ely Henry was originally hired as a

scratch vocal A scratch vocal is a vocal performance that a singer records to provide a reference track that music producers and audio engineers can use as they craft other pieces of the recorded song. Most of the time, the singer ultimately re-records the voc ...

for the film four years before its release, however was later invited to join the cast and subsequently voiced Fleem in the final product. The film was animated by

Sony Pictures Imageworks Sony Pictures Imageworks Inc. is a Canadian visual effects and computer animation studio headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia, with an additional office on the Sony Pictures Studios lot in Culver City, California. SPI is a unit of Sony Pi ...

, who had also provided animation for the

Warner Animation Group The Warner Animation Group (WAG) is an American animation studio serving as the computer-animated feature film label of Warner Bros.' theatrical film production and distribution division, Warner Bros. Pictures. Established on January 7, 2013, ...

's ''

Storks Storks are large, long-legged, long-necked wading birds with long, stout bills. They belong to the family called Ciconiidae, and make up the order Ciconiiformes . Ciconiiformes previously included a number of other families, such as herons an ...

'', and utilized Autodesk Maya for the animation process. Ryan O'Loughlin, a

DreamWorks Animation DreamWorks Animation LLC (DWA, also known as DreamWorks Animation Studios and simply known as DreamWorks) is an American animation studio that produces animated films and television programs and is a subsidiary of Universal Pictures, a divisio ...

veteran, was originally the film's director, but was replaced by Kirkpatrick.

Music

The score for the film was composed by Heitor Pereira. The songs were written by Karey Kirkpatrick and his brother

Wayne Kirkpatrick Wayne Kirkpatrick (born c. 1961) is an American songwriter and musician born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana who now lives in Nashville, Tennessee. He graduated from Baton Rouge Magnet High School in 1979. His younger brother is American screenwrite ...

. The film originally had no songs until six months into production when the suggestion of making the film a musical came from

Toby Emmerich Toby Emmerich (born February 8, 1963), is an American producer, film executive, and screenwriter. He has been with Warner Bros. for much of his career, and formerly served as the chairman of the Warner Bros. Pictures Group. Biography Emmerich ...

, who was recently elected as chairman of the Warner Bros. Pictures Group at the time, partially because the Kirkpatrick brothers had previously written the music and lyrics for the Tony-winning Broadway musical ''

Something Rotten! ''Something Rotten!'' is a musical comedy with a book by John O'Farrell and Karey Kirkpatrick and music and lyrics by Karey and Wayne Kirkpatrick. Set in 1595, the story follows the Bottom brothers, Nick and Nigel, who struggle to find succes ...

''. The songs include "Perfection" performed by Channing Tatum, "Wonderful Life" performed by Zendaya, "Percy's Pressure" performed by James Corden (music from the song "

Under Pressure "Under Pressure" is a song by the British rock band Queen and singer David Bowie. Originally released as a single in October 1981, it was later included on Queen's 1982 album ''Hot Space''. The song reached number one on the UK Singles Chart, ...

", additional lyrics by Karey and Wayne Kirkpatrick), "Wonderful Questions" performed by Tatum & Zendaya, "Let It Lie" performed by

Common Common may refer to: Places * Common, a townland in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland * Boston Common, a central public park in Boston, Massachusetts * Cambridge Common, common land area in Cambridge, Massachusetts * Clapham Common, originally ...

, "Moment of Truth" performed by

CYN Cynthia "Cyn" Nabozny (born May 13, 1993) is an American singer and songwriter. Personal life Cyn was born on May 13, 1993 in Michigan. She has described her parents' divorce, which occurred when she was a toddler, as "a big driver of her lov ...

, and "Finally Free" perfromed by

Niall Horan Niall James Horan ( ; born 13 September 1993) is an Irish singer-songwriter. He rose to prominence as a member of the boy band One Direction, formed in 2010 on the singing competition '' The X Factor''. The group released five albums and went ...

(written by Horan, Ian Franzino, Andrew Hass, John Ryan and Julian Bunetta). The soundtrack peaked at number 8 on the ''Billboard'' 200. The song "Finally Free" peaked a couple of Billboard charts including number 39 on Mexico Ingles Airplay chart and number 2 on Bandsintown X Billboard Top Livestream Artists chart.

Release

The film was released on September 28, 2018.

Marketing

In late summer 2018, American pizza chain Chuck E. Cheese's announced that they would be the official partner of the film. Marketing materials for the film, in particular a series of posters in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

advertising the cast of the film with phrases such as "

Zendaya Zendaya Maree Stoermer Coleman ( ; born September 1, 1996) is an American actress and singer. She has received various accolades, including two Primetime Emmy Awards. ''Time'' magazine named her one of the 100 most influential people in the ...

is Meechee", turned into a minor

Internet meme An Internet meme, commonly known simply as a meme ( ), is an idea, behavior, style, or image that is spread via the Internet, often through social media platforms. What is considered a meme may vary across different communities on the Internet ...

(in a short song by Gabriel Gundacker).

Home media

''Smallfoot'' was released on Digital on iTunes, Movies Anywhere, Microsoft Store, Vudu, and Amazon Prime on December 4, 2018, and on DVD, Blu-ray, Blu-Ray 3D, 4K Ultra and Digital Copy on December 11, 2018. The releases also included a short film, titled ''Super Soozie''.

Reception

Box office

''Smallfoot'' grossed $83.2 million in the United States and Canada, and $130.9 million in other territories, for a total worldwide gross of $214.1 million. In the United States and Canada, ''Smallfoot'' was released alongside ''

Night School A night school is an adult learning school that holds classes in the evening or at night to accommodate people who work during the day. A community college or university may hold night school classes that admit undergraduates. Italy The Scuola ...

'', ''

Little Women ''Little Women'' is a coming-of-age novel written by American novelist Louisa May Alcott (1832–1888). Alcott wrote the book, originally published in two volumes in 1868 and 1869, at the request of her publisher. The story follows the live ...

'' and ''

Hell Fest ''Hell Fest'' is a 2018 American slasher film directed by Gregory Plotkin and written by Seth M. Sherwood, Blair Butler, Akela Cooper and from a story by William Penick, Christopher Sey and Stephen Susco. The film stars Amy Forsyth, Reign Edward ...

'', and was projected to gross $25–30 million from 4,131 theaters in its opening weekend. The film made $6.5 million on its first day, including $850,000 from Thursday night previews, more than the Warner Animation Group's previous September release ''

Storks Storks are large, long-legged, long-necked wading birds with long, stout bills. They belong to the family called Ciconiidae, and make up the order Ciconiiformes . Ciconiiformes previously included a number of other families, such as herons an ...

'' ($435,000 in 2016). It went on to debut to $23 million, finishing second at the box office behind ''Night School''. It made $14.3 million in its second weekend and $9.1 million in its third, dropping 37% each time and finishing third and fifth, respectively.

Critical response

On

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...

, the film holds an approval rating of based on reviews, with an average rating of . The website's critical consensus reads, "''Smallfoot'' offers a colorful distraction that should keep younger viewers entertained - and a story whose message might even resonate with older audiences." On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

, the film has a weighted average score of 60 out of 100, based on 25 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by

CinemaScore CinemaScore is a market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts based on the data. Background Ed Mintz founded Ci ...

gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale, while

PostTrak PostTrak is a U.S.-based service that surveys film audiences for film studios. History The service conducts surveys in the top 20 markets in the U.S. and Canada with the use of polling cards and electronic kiosks. A PostTrak report for a film ...

reported filmgoers gave it 4 out of 5 stars.

Accolades

Possible sequel

In September 2018, writers Glenn Ficarra and John Requa expressed hope for a sequel, with Requa stating that they "could make a whole other movie just on that shtick that we came up with". Ficarra added "Hopefully, we are lucky enough to be in that position. But you have to wait for the world to digest it to a certain extent... We have a myriad of ideas. Just in the discarded notions that we have entertained over the last 6 years." In October 2018, on the subject of a sequel director Karey Kirkpatrick stated, "Haven't gone there yet, but you know it's really just the importance of truth. And the way to get to truth is by asking questions and never losing your sense of wonder and curiosity that leads to bridging a gap between the 'us' and the 'them'. I mean, we are often given misconceptions about things that make us different. And the only way to break through that is to question it and you won't question things without a sense of curiosity and wonder. So never lose that. All the songs basically have something to do with that."

References

External links

* * {{Portal bar, Cartoon, Animation, Comedy, Film, United States 2010s American animated films 2010s children's animated films American adventure comedy films American children's animated adventure films American children's animated comedy films American children's animated musical films American computer-animated films American musical comedy films 2018 films 2018 3D films 2018 computer-animated films Warner Bros. Animation animated films Warner Bros. films Warner Bros. animated films Warner Animation Group films Films about cryptids Animated films about friendship American animated feature films Animated films based on children's books 2010s musical films 2010s musical comedy films 2010s monster movies Films directed by Karey Kirkpatrick Films scored by Heitor Pereira Films set in Asia Films set in the Himalayas Animated films set in Kathmandu Films with screenplays by Karey Kirkpatrick Films about Yeti 3D animated films 2010s children's adventure films 2018 comedy films Animated films set in Nepal 2010s English-language films

Voice cast

Production

Music

Release

Marketing

Home media

Reception

Box office

Critical response

Accolades

Possible sequel

See also

References

External links