Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (film)

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs is a 2009 American computer-animated science fiction comedy film produced by Sony Pictures Animation and loosely based on the 1978 children's book of the same name by Judi and Ron Barrett. It was written and directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller in their directorial debuts, and stars the voices of Bill Hader, Anna Faris, Bruce Campbell, James Caan, Bobb'e J. Thompson, Andy Samberg, Mr. T, Benjamin Bratt, Neil Patrick Harris, Al Roker, Lauren Graham, and Will Forte. In the film, an aspiring inventor named Flint Lockwood develops a machine that can convert water into food following a series of failed experiments. After the machine gains sentience and begins to develop food storms, Flint must destroy the machine in order to save the world.

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
Theatrical release poster
Directed byPhil Lord
Christopher Miller
Produced byPam Marsden
Screenplay by
  • Phil Lord
  • Christopher Miller
Based onCloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
by Judi Barrett
Ron Barrett
Starring
Music byMark Mothersbaugh [1][2][3]
Edited byRobert Fisher Jr.
Production
companies
Distributed bySony Pictures Releasing[5]
Release date
  • September 12, 2009 (2009-09-12) (Los Angeles)[6]
  • September 18, 2009 (2009-09-18) (United States)
Running time
90 minutes[5]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$100 million[7]
Box office$243 million[7]

The film premiered in Los Angeles on September 12, 2009, and was released in the United States six days later on September 18 by Sony Pictures Releasing under its Columbia Pictures label. It earned over $243 million worldwide on a budget of $100 million at the box office.[7] The film received generally positive reviews from critics, who commended its colorful visuals, humor, characterizations, and voice acting, while the simple character designs and plot were mostly criticized. The film has since been expanded into a franchise, with a sequel, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2, released on September 27, 2013, as well as an animated television series based on the film premiering on Cartoon Network on February 20, 2017, with none of the original cast returning.

Plot

Flint Lockwood is an aspiring scientist who lives in Swallow Falls, a fictional tiny island in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean that has sardines as the base of its economy, but the Baby Brent Sardines cannery has gone bankrupt due to worldwide disgust of sardines as food, which was all the residents had to eat from then on. Flint lives with Tim, his widowed father, and his pet monkey, Steve. One day, Flint invents a machine that transforms water into food called the "Flint Lockwood Diatonic Super Mutating Dynamic Food Replicator" (FLDSMDFR). Flint turns on the FLDSMDFR in his laboratory, but ends up overloading and subsequently shorting out his house's electrical supply. Flint then decides to power the machine by hooking it up to the nearby power substation. When Flint turns the machine back on, it ends up rocketing through town, destroying Sardine Land (a park conceived by the town’s mayor) before ultimately shooting up into the sky. While recovering from his failure, Flint meets Samantha "Sam" Sparks, a weather intern whose big break was ruined by the incident. Their conversation is curtailed when brightly colored clouds float over the town and begin to rain cheeseburgers.

The town rejoices in their new food choices, and Flint creates a communication device to send orders to the machine and order it to create different types of food. As a result, Swallow Falls (now renamed Chewandswallow) suddenly becomes a successful "food tourism" destination. Flint and Sam grow closer and Sam opens up to Flint about her bullied past and how she felt like she had to hide who she truly was: a “nerd”. Flint encourages Sam to be herself because she’s beautiful just the way she is, and the two almost kiss. Everything is going well until the townsfolk start greedily requesting food from Flint's machine. Flint notices that the food is beginning to grow larger in size. Although Flint is concerned that the food is starting to "over mutate", the now morbidly obese mayor sees it as profitable for him and the city, and guilt trips Flint into continuing to make food rain. Citizens and worldly tourists in Chewandswallow are blissful until suddenly a large tornado formed of spaghetti and meatballs threatens the town. Flint rushes to his lab to turn off the FLDSMDFR by sending a "kill code" to stop the machine, but the mayor, while trying to stop him by throwing a giant radish at him, accidentally destroys the communication device after ordering a Vegas-style all-you-can-eat buffet (VSAYCB). Now unable to control the machine, the FLDSMDFR creates a massive food storm which threatens the entire world, and colossal food downpours terrorize various cities and their landmarks.

Flint soon loses hope; however, Tim encourages him to fix the mess. Flint gains self-confidence, places the kill code in a USB flash drive, and builds a new flying car to reach and destroy the FLDSMDFR, with the aid of Sam, her cameraman Manny, Steve and Brent (namesake of the Baby Brent Sardines cannery). As they approach the machine in the sky, they find that it is now serving as the core of a giant meatball asteroid which it created, where clouds go in the top and large food storms comes out the bottom. The machine sends living food to attack them as the flash drive with the kill code flies out of the window when a slice of bread smashes the window. Flint calls Tim to go to his lab to email a kill code file to his phone. Back at Chewandswallow, the citizens and tourists escape while the last leftovers fall. Mt. Leftovers collapses, causing an avalanche of food that destroys the town. Despite the avalanche ravaging Flint's lab, Tim manages to re-send the kill code to Flint's cell phone from there. Flint, Sam and Brent then go inside the giant meatball. Sam lowers Flint down a tunnel, and suddenly the giant meatball jolts, causing Sam to fall accidentally, get cut by a piece of peanut brittle, and her face and arms begin swelling up. Flint instructs Brent to take Sam back to the plane and get her a shot, but Sam refuses to let Flint go. They two confess their attraction for each other before Flint selflessly cuts the rope and plummets down. Sam and Brent make it back to the plane after Brent fights off the roast chickens.

There, he finds the machine which tries to shoot food at Flint he sneaks behind the machine and swings and ties the machine up and connects the phone to a port. To his horror, Flint discovers that Tim accidentally sent him the wrong file, which is a funny cat video, so he is unable to stop the FLDSMDFR which then breaks free and shoots food everywhere with Flint still holding on to it. Flint then uses his Spray-On Shoes formula on the machine by plugging the hole where the food comes out, causing it and the giant meatball to explode, seemingly killing him. With the machine destroyed, the food storm subsides and everyone is able to return safely to Chewandswallow. Flint is revealed to have survived the explosion by letting go of the machine and falling down the tunnel at the last second before the explosion. Tim finally shows his appreciation for his son and his inventions, and Flint and Sam celebrate with a kiss.

Meanwhile, the Mayor, still stranded into the water, mutters to himself: "This was not well thought out," ending the movie.

Voice cast
  • Bill Hader as Flint Lockwood: a young, timid, unsuccessful but determined inventor and Sam's love interest.
    • Max Neuwirth as young Flint Lockwood.
  • Anna Faris as Sam Sparks: a formerly nerdy weather intern from New York City and Flint's love interest. She develops a severe allergic reaction to anything peanut-based.
  • Neil Patrick Harris as Steve: Flint's sugar-addicted pet monkey who can communicate through a speak and spell thought-translating device.
  • James Caan as Tim Lockwood: Flint's desperate but caring technophobic fisherman father.
  • Bruce Campbell as Mayor Shelbourne: the corrupt, greedy and selfish mayor of Swallow Falls. Unhappy with his status as a small town mayor, he sees Flint as his route to greater success. He becomes obese through constant eating.
  • Andy Samberg as "Baby" Brent McHale: the arrogant and dim-witted mascot of Baby Brent's Sardines and Flint's former rival.
  • Mr. T as Officer Earl Devereaux: the town's athletic cop and Cal's father.
  • Bobb'e J. Thompson as Calvin 'Cal' Devereaux: Earl's young son.
  • Benjamin Bratt as Manny: Sam's Guatemalan cameraman and former doctor, comedian, and pilot.
  • Al Roker as Patrick Patrickson: the anchorman of the weather station.
  • Lauren Graham as Fran Lockwood: Flint's deceased mother who had always believed in her son and always expressed it unlike her husband Tim.
  • Will Forte as Joe Towne: a bearded redneck citizen of Swallow Falls who appears on numerous occasions throughout the film.
  • Angela Shelton as Regina Devereaux: Earl's wife and Cal's mother.

Production

On May 9, 2003, a year after establishment, Sony Pictures Animation announced its first animated slate, including Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, a film adaptation of the book of the same name. The Brizzi brothers were brought to direct the film, with Wayne Rice adapting the screenplay.[8] In 2006, it was reported that the film had been helmed by new directors and writers, Phil Lord and Christopher Miller.[9]

After a year working on the script, they were fired for story issues and replaced with new writers, who after a year were also fired. Lord and Miller were then re-hired in 2006. The two completely redid the script, this time with the creative input of their crew. The new draft had the protagonist as a failed inventor who wanted to prove himself to his town. The two were almost fired again after Amy Pascal, then-head of Sony Pictures, criticized the film for a lack of story. Although the film succeeded on the comedic front in the animatic stage, Pascal cited the lack of an anchoring relationship in the film as a failure in the story telling. Unable to create new characters and environments to suit the new story demands, the two elevated the character of the tackle shop extra to be the protagonist's father, thereby creating the relationship Pascal had requested. The pair's experience on Cloudy taught them two valuable lessons: the power of creative collaboration and the importance of emotion in a story.[10]

On September 18, 2008, Variety announced that Bill Hader and Anna Faris had signed on to voice the two lead characters, with James Caan, Bruce Campbell, Mr. T, Andy Samberg, Neil Patrick Harris, Bobb'e J. Thompson, Benjamin Bratt, Al Roker, Lauren Graham, and Will Forte also in the voice cast.[11] Lord and Miller said later that year that it would be a homage to, and a parody of, disaster films such as Twister, Armageddon, The Core, and The Day After Tomorrow.[12] Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs is the second film after Monster House that was made using the animation rendering software Arnold.[13]

Music
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
Soundtrack album by
Mark Mothersbaugh
ReleasedSeptember 15, 2009
Recorded2009
StudioAir Lyndhurst Studios
Angel Studios
Abbey Road Studios
Henry Wood Hall
GenreFilm score
Length65:16
LabelSony Pictures Entertainment
Mark Mothersbaugh chronology
Fanboys
(2009)		 Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
(2009)		 Ramona and Beezus
(2010)

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs is the soundtrack to the film of the same name, released under Sony Pictures Entertainment on September 15, 2009. The music of the film and this album are both credited to be composed and produced by American composer Mark Mothersbaugh of Devo.

Track listing

All music is composed by Mark Mothersbaugh, except where noted.

No.TitlePerformerLength
1."Raining Sunshine" (Matthew Gerrard, Jay Landers, Charlie Midnight)Miranda Cosgrove3:44
2."Swallow Falls" 0:47
3."Introducing Flint" 4:16
4."The Latest Invention" 1:23
5."The Mayor/Earl Warns Flint" 1:17
6."Sam's Big Break" 0:50
7."Powering Up" 1:05
8."Failure Again" 1:54
9."Meatier Shower" 3:10
10."A Father's Love" 1:19
11."Ice Cream Wonderland" 1:22
12."Snowball!" 1:15
13."The Mayor's Big Plan" 1:16
14."Activation and the Jell-O Dome" 1:39
15."Sam and Flint Bond" 2:00
16."Doubting Dad/Mutations" 2:57
17."The Spaghetti Twister" 3:08
18."Aftermath" 2:26
19."Flint's Determination" 2:44
20."The Food Storm" 2:08
21."The Mission Begins" 2:36
22."Outside the Meatball" 1:57
23."Inside the Meatball" 1:39
24."Earl Takes Charge" 2:00
25."Sentient Chickens" 2:42
26."Worldwide Chaos" 0:57
27."Anaphylactic Love" 1:41
28."Attack of the Gummi Bears" 1:40
29."Here's the Cheese" 1:25
30."The Heart of the Meatball" 1:17
31."Spray-On Triumph" 1:55
32."Flint Returns" 3:31
33."Sunshine, Lollipops and Rainbows" (Marvin Hamlisch, Howard Liebling)Lesley Gore1:37
Total length:65:16

Release

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs premiered on September 12, 2009, at the Mann Village Theatre in Los Angeles, California.[6] The film had its wide release on September 18, 2009, along with a digitally re-mastered release to IMAX 3D theatres.[14]

Home media

The film was released on DVD, Blu-ray Disc, and PSP UMD on January 5, 2010 in the United States and Canada.[15][16] A 3D Blu-ray was released on June 22, 2010. It was the first 3D Blu-ray sold individually in the United States.[17]

Art book

In August 2009, Insight Editions published a companion book to the film called The Art and Making of Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs.[18][19]

Reception

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes the film has a "Certified Fresh" rating of 86% based on 142 reviews with an average rating of 7.3/10. The consensus statement reads, "Quirky humor, plucky characters and solid slapstick make this family comedy a frenetically tasty time at the movies."[20] On Metacritic it has a weighted average score of 66 out of 100, based on 24 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[21] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale.[22]

Ernest Hardy of LA Weekly stated the film "is smart, insightful on a host of relationship dynamics, and filled with fast-paced action". Hardy also applauded the 3-D effects which "are wonderful, full of witty sight gags that play out both center-screen and on the periphery".[23] Michael Phillips of the Chicago Tribune gave the film a mixed review stating that "Crazy doesn't always equal funny, and the gigantism of this 3-D offering's second half puts a damper on your enjoyment. But look: This film wasn't made for you, or me. It was made for dangerously, easily distracted 9-year-olds."[24] Kyle Smith of the New York Post gave the film two stars stating that the animated film "greatly expands on the kids' book on which it's based in a clever and engaging first half. But the second half leaves a foul aftertaste."[25]

Box office

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs earned a total of $243 million on a reported budget of $100 million. Of the gross, 51%, or $124,870,275, came from the domestic market, while the rest, $118,135,851, from other territories.[7] For the film's marketing, Sony spent $43.3 million in the United States, and $26 million in other countries.[26] The film earned $8,137,358 on its opening Friday, and ranked #1 at the box office with a total of $30.3 million for the first weekend.[27] On its second weekend, it remained at #1 with a decrease of only 17%.[28] It currently holds the record for third-largest opening weekend in the month of September.[7] Documents from the Sony Pictures hack revealed the film turned a profit of $6 million.[29]

Accolades
GroupCategoryRecipientResult
Annie Awards[30] Animated Effects Tom Kluyskens Nominated
Best Animated Feature Nominated
Directing in a Feature Production Phil Lord and Christopher Miller Nominated
Writing in a Feature Production Nominated
Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards[31] Best Animated Feature Nominated
Golden Globe Awards[32] Best Animated Feature Film Nominated
Satellite Awards[33] Best Animated or Mixed Media Feature Nominated
Visual Effects Society Awards[34] Outstanding Animation in an Animated Feature Motion Picture Pete Nash, Chris Juen, Alan Hawkins, Mike Ford Nominated
Outstanding Effects Animation in an Animated Feature Motion Picture Rob Bredow, Dan Kramer, Matt Hausman, Carl Hooper Nominated

Expanded franchise
Main article: Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (franchise)

Sequel
Main article: Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2

A sequel, titled Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2, was released on September 27, 2013. Directed by Cody Cameron and Kris Pearn, and it is based on an original idea, where Flint and his friends must again save the world from his food machine, which survived the explosion in the prequel. This time, the machine gains the ability to produce living food beasts.[35] Most of the main cast reprised their roles, but Earl the town cop was voiced by Terry Crews since Mr. T declined to return. New cast also includes Kristen Schaal as orangutan Barb, and Will Forte in his new role of Chester V.[36]

Television series
Main article: Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (TV series)

On October 9, 2014, DHX Media announced that it will develop and produce a television series based on the film franchise, titled Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs: The Series.[37] The series will be traditionally animated and will consist of twenty-six 22-minute episodes.[37] It will take place before the first film, showing Flint Lockwood as a high school student who dreams of becoming a serious scientist.[37] In his adventures, he will be joined by Sam Sparks, a new girl in town and the school's "wannabe" reporter, along with Flint's dad Tim, Steve the Monkey, Manny as the head of the school's audiovisual club, Earl as a school gym teacher, Brent as a baby wear model, and mayor Shelbourne.[37] DHX Media will handle the global television and non-US home entertainment distribution, along with worldwide merchandising rights, while Sony will distribute home entertainment in the US.[37] Commissioned by Teletoon in Canada, the series will air on Cartoon Network in the United States,[38] and on the Boomerang channel in other territories.[39] None of the original cast returned for the show and are replaced by Canadian voice actors.

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gollark: To reduce fingerprinting, it would not be possible to even *enumerate* cameras and whatever (they have unique IDs) without the user explicitly granting permissions for the appropriate devices.
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gollark: Chrome actually has this.

See also
Real life food spill disasters

References
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  2. "Info". Mutato Muzika. Retrieved September 23, 2009.
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  4. "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs". The Numbers. Retrieved February 13, 2019.
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  8. Ball, Ryan (May 9, 2003). "Sony Taps Six to Direct Animates Slate". Animation Magazine. Retrieved September 28, 2012.
  9. Nguyen, Hanh (August 16, 2006). "Sony Forecasts 'Chance of Meatballs'". Zap2it. Retrieved July 31, 2011.
  10. Phil Lord (October 11, 2012). Rewriting Collective Insights: Phil Lord at TEDxCoconutGrove. TEDx Talks. Retrieved September 20, 2018 – via YouTube.
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  17. Calonge, Juan (June 10, 2010). "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 3D Blu-ray Announced". Blu-ray.com. Retrieved March 23, 2012.
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  26. Litt, Stefan (November 26, 2013). "Smurfs 3". WikiLeaks. Archived from the original on August 20, 2015. Retrieved August 20, 2015.
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  28. Gray, Brandon (September 28, 2009). "Weekend Report: Blue Skies for 'Cloudy,' Hazy Starts for 'Surrogates,' 'Fame'". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved September 28, 2012.
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  31. "15TH ANNUAL CRITICS CHOICE MOVIE AWARDS (2010) – BEST PICTURE: THE HURT LOCKER". CriticsChoice.com. November 21, 2011. Archived from the original on September 30, 2012. Retrieved February 7, 2012.
  32. "THE 67TH ANNUAL GOLDEN GLOBE AWARDS NOMINATIONS". GoldenGlobes.org. December 15, 2009. Archived from the original on 2012-07-31. Retrieved February 7, 2012.
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  35. Sony Pictures Animation (August 21, 2012). "Delicious Voice Cast Storms In To 'Cloudy 2: Revenge Of The Leftovers'". PR Newswire. Retrieved August 25, 2012.
  36. Breznican, Anthony (August 21, 2012). "CAUTION: Food may eat YOU in 'Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs' sequel -- EXCLUSIVE". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved August 22, 2012.
  37. "DHX MEDIA AND SONY PICTURES ANIMATION TAKING CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS TO TELEVISION" (Press release). DHX Media. October 9, 2014. Archived from the original on 2014-10-10. Retrieved October 10, 2014.
  38. Sony Pictures Animation (June 20, 2016). "Sony Pictures Animation Announces 2017 & 2018 Slate" (Press release). PR Newswire. Retrieved September 25, 2016.
  39. DHX Media (October 5, 2015). "DHX Media and Sony Pictures Animation's Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs TV Series Goes Global" (Press release). PR Newswire. Retrieved October 9, 2015.
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