Boog and Elliot's Midnight Bun Run

''Open Season'' is a 2006 American animated adventure comedy film directed by Jill Culton and Roger Allers from a screenplay by Nat Mauldin, Steve Bencich and Ron J. Friedman, and features the voices of Martin Lawrence, Ashton Kutcher, Gary Sinise, and Debra Messing. Produced by Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animation (as its first feature film), and distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing, the plot follows Boog, a domesticated grizzly bear, who is let go into the woods, and teams up with a one-antlered mule deer named Elliot to return to his old home before open season starts.

''Open Season'' premiered at the Greek Theatre on September 25, 2006, and was released in theaters in the United States on September 29. It received mixed reviews from critics and was a box office success, earning $201 million against an $85 million budget. The first in the ''Open Season'' film series, it was followed by '' Open Season 2'' (2008), '' Open Season 3'' (2010), and '' Open Season: Scared Silly'' (2015). A video game based on the film was released, and a television series, '' Open Season: Call of Nature'', was released in 2023.

Plot

In a small town called Timberline, Colorado, a domesticated grizzly bear named Boog lives with his adoptive caretaker, a park ranger named Beth, who has raised him since he was a cub, and spends his days as the star attraction of the town's nature show. One day, hunting fanatic Shaw drives into Timberline with a one-antlered mule deer named Elliot tied to the hood of his truck. After Beth confronts Shaw, Boog frees Elliot, who becomes convinced that they are friends, and that night, Elliot finds Boog sleeping in the garage and convinces him to sneak out, and the two end up raiding PuniMart, a local convenience store in town. Eventually, Elliot runs away while Boog is caught by Gordy, the town's sheriff and Beth's best friend, who returns Boog to Beth and tells her that Boog's feral instincts may be emerging and it may be time to release Boog into the wild.

The next morning, Elliot is being chased by Shaw, and goes to Boog for help at the nature show. Boog tries to get rid of him, but the audience mistakes him for attacking Elliot and goes into a panic. Beth tranquilizes them both just before Shaw fires his own gun, then flees before Gordy can arrest him, and taking Gordy's advice, Beth relocates Boog and Elliot into the Timberline National Forest two days before open season. They are relocated above the waterfalls, where they will be legally safe from hunters.

Boog is initially enraged to have lost his home, but lacking outdoor survival skills, he reluctantly takes Elliot as his guide to get him back home to reunite with Beth. They encounter unwelcoming forest animals, including a Scottish-accented squirrel named McSquizzy and his gang of fellow acorn-throwing squirrels, beaver Reilly and his construction worker team, and Elliot's estranged herd, led by Ian, and Giselle, a doe that Elliot has a crush on. Eventually, Boog and Elliot start to bond after realizing they are both outcasts, and Boog considers letting Elliot stay with him when they get back home.

The next day, Elliot attempts to help Boog leave the forest, but it becomes evident he has no clue where they are going. The two are confronted by Shaw and accidentally destroy Reilly's dam trying to get away, causing a flash flood which sends the animals and Shaw plummeting down the waterfall into the hunting grounds. Everyone at first blames Boog for sending them into the hunting grounds but Elliot manages to defend Boog from them. Boog then accuses him of lying about knowing the way, leading him to confess that he thought if Boog spent time with him, he would befriend him. Realizing Elliot has betrayed him, Boog ends his friendship with him and angrily storms off, but ends up in Shaw's log cabin. Upon discovering Shaw's taxidermy collection and Shaw returning and discovering him, Boog escapes and finds a nearby road leading back to Timberline. Realizing the danger the animals are in and seeing a few hunters pass by in their trucks, Boog returns to the woods, reconciles with Elliot, and rallies the animals to defend themselves against the hunters. They scavenge supplies from an RV owned by a traveling couple named Bob, who is mute and Bobbie, who are looking for Bigfoot, while their pet dachshund Mr. Weenie joins the forest animals.

The next day, Boog leads a revolution against the hunters, ending with them running away after McSquizzy blows up their trucks with a large propane tank. Shaw returns for a final showdown with Boog, but before he can shoot Boog, Elliot throws himself in front of Boog and takes the shot, prompting Boog to confront Shaw and tie him up with his own gun. Afterwards, Boog discovers that Elliot survived, only losing his other antler. The forest animals thank Boog for his help and take out their vengeance on Shaw by smothering him with honey and pillow feathers, sending him fleeing into the woods. Beth later returns in a helicopter to take Boog back home, but, having learned to appreciate his new home, he decides to stay in the forest with Beth's blessing.

In a pre-credits scene, Shaw, still tarred and feathered, emerges from the woods that night, and gets run into by Bob and Bobbie, who humorously mistake him for Bigfoot.

Cast

Production

The ideas for ''Open Season'' came from cartoonist Steve Moore, who is known for his comic strip '' In the Bleachers''. Moore and producer John Carls submitted the story to Sony in June 2002, and the film immediately went into development. On February 29, 2004, Sony Pictures Animation announced the beginning of the production on ''Open Season'', its first CGI-animated film.

The film location was inspired by the towns of Sun Valley, Idaho and McCall, Idaho, and the Sawtooth National Forest. References to the Lawn Lake, Colorado, Dam flood, Longs Peak, and other points of interest in the area are depicted in the film.

The rendering services used were Hewlett-Packard and Alias Maya.

The Sony animation team developed a digital tool called shapers that allowed the animators to reshape the character models into stronger poses and silhouettes and subtle distortions such as squash, stretch, and smears, typical of traditional, hand drawn animation.

To choose the voice cast, Culton blindly listened to audition tapes, unknowingly picking Lawrence and Kutcher for the lead roles. Their ability to improvise significantly contributed to the creative process. "They really became meshed with the characters", said Culton. Until the film's premiere, Lawrence and Kutcher never met during production.

Reception

Critical response

Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale.

Kevin Smith gave the film a thumbs up during an appearance as a guest critic on '' Ebert and Roeper'', saying: "If your kids like poop jokes as much as I do, ''Open Season'' will put a big smile on their faces". However, Richard Roeper gave the film a thumbs down, saying, "It's just okay, the animation is uninspired".

Box office

''Open Season'' opened number one with $23 million on its opening weekend. It grossed $88.6 million in the United States and $112.2 million in foreign countries, making $200.8 million worldwide. The film was released in the United Kingdom on October 13, 2006, and opened at number three, behind ''The Departed'' and '' The Devil Wears Prada''.

Accolades

The film was nominated for six Annie Awards, including Best Animated Feature (lost to ''Cars''), Best Animated Effects, Best Character Design in a Feature Production, Best Production Design in a Feature Production, and Best Storyboarding in a Feature Production.

Home media

''Open Season'' was released on DVD, Blu-ray, and UMD Video on January 30, 2007. It includes an animated short called ''Boog and Elliot's Midnight Bun Run''. The film was later released to 3D Blu-ray on November 16, 2010.

Video game

A video game based on the film was released on September 18, 2006 for PlayStation 2, Xbox, Xbox 360, Nintendo DS, GameCube, Game Boy Advance, PlayStation Portable, and Microsoft Windows. For Wii, it was released on November 19, 2006, together with the console's launch.

Music

The soundtrack includes an original film score by Ramin Djawadi and several original songs by Paul Westerberg, formerly of The Replacements. ''Rolling Stone'' gave the film's soundtrack three stars out of five, as did AllMusic.

''Open Season—Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (10″ LP)'' includes three songs that did not appear on the soundtrack CD: An alternative version of "I Belong", Paul Westerberg's own version of "Wild as I Wanna Be", and Reyli's "Tú eres el amor", which played during the credits in the Latin American Spanish dubbed version of the film. In the dubbing of the same language, Reyli also performed the voice of Boog.

The theme song of the Japanese version is called "Tookage" by Chemistry.

Franchise

''Open Season'' was followed by three direct-to-video sequels: '' Open Season 2'' (2008), '' Open Season 3'' (2010), and '' Open Season: Scared Silly'' (2015). A majority of the characters' voices were recast, with Michelle Murdocca (Maria) being the only cast member to appear in all sequels.

A 2D animated series ''Open Season: Call of Nature'' was released in 2023.

References

External links

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{{Portal bar, Film, United States, Speculative fiction, Comedy, Cartoon, Animation, Animals, 2000s

2006 films
2006 children's films
2006 computer-animated films
2006 3D films
3D animated films
2006 American animated films
Animated films about talking animals
American children's animated adventure films
American children's animated comedy films
American 3D films
American computer-animated films
Animated buddy films
Films adapted into television shows
Animated films set in forests
Films set in Oregon
Columbia Pictures animated films
Columbia Pictures films
Films about hunting
Films scored by Ramin Djawadi
Films directed by Jill Culton
Films directed by Roger Allers
Films produced by Michelle Murdocca
IMAX films

Sony Pictures Animation films
2006 directorial debut films
2000s English-language films
Animated films set in the Western United States
Films with screenplays by Steve Bencich
Films with screenplays by Ron J. Friedman