Dusk and Dawn

Dusk and Dawn is a 2002 American computer-animated comedy fantasy film produced by DKP Effects. Written and directed by Phil Nibbelink, the film follows two individuals, a boy named Dusk (Gregory Smith) and a girl named Dawn (Zooey Deschanel), who encounter each other for the first time and soon discover their abilities to the world but must save Dawn from being faded out from a dangerous threat.

The film was released on September 27, 2002, in the United States by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and internationally by Universal Pictures. It received positive reviews from critics and grossed $221.5 million over a $38 million budget. It was nominated for Best Animated Feature at the 75th Academy Awards, and, through home video releases and television syndication, gathered a cult following.

Plot
In a world where parts of a day are depicted as beings, Twilight creates his darker stage Dusk in order to collect times and stages for Twilight so that he can grain his energy after sunset. Elsewhere, Sun creates Dawn, the first appearance of light in the sky before sunrise.

One day, a battle ensues at Sun's palace where a couple of Twilight's tribe breaks in to imprison their rivals Sun and her people except Dawn who is separated from everyone else and crashes onto Twilight's palace, where she meets Dusk, and the two begin to connect and spend time with each other, as well as showing off their special abilities. However, Dawn later becomes desperate and worried about her home, so she convinces Dusk to make a deal to help her return. The pair leave Dusk's home for Dawn's. Meanwhile, Sun instructs her loyal friend Light to find and rescue Dawn from Twilight's side upon learning of her predicament.

Dusk and Dawn stumble upon a tribe of humanoid creatures including the leader Keeper who reveal that they know the way to Dawn's home, leading them across a bridge to the palace. However, things go wrong as when the pair almost reach the end, the bridge snaps, causing them to fall into a river where they are thrown off a waterfall. Exhausted, Dusk decides to give up but Dawn realizes that she and Dusk are almost near her home. On the way, Light arrives and becomes thrilled when he eventually finds the pair, whom he helps them reach the palace.

The pair enter the entrance of Sun's palace where they find a book about the history of parts of a day, containing "the dusk till dawn" moral which acknowledges the relationship of the two. But learning of their appearances, Dawn realizes she is home and bids farewell to Dusk while Light takes her back. However, Twilight's army captures Dawn and Light, but Dawn interferes long enough for Light to escape and ends up being captured instead. Twilight's army takes Dawn to the main room where Sun and her tribe were imprisoned. There, she discovers Twilight, who reveals that he is planning to capture all the lights around the world, making it all dark and night forever.

Meanwhile, Light comes back to Dusk and tells him that Dawn has been captured. The two manage to rescue Dawn, Sun and their other people with the help of Keeper and his tribe and return to the palace where they defeat Twilight's army and free the imprisoned people including Dawn and Dusk before Twilight confronts them. When Dusk refuses Twilight's orders to transform Sun's people, citing Dawn's teachings, Twilight uses power to control Sun's people while making them transform into their night forms to attack Dusk. However, the sun rises which causes the possessed people to turn back to normal. Dawn confronts Twilight and his tribe that she and her people are harmless, making Twilight's army isolate him for tricking them. With Dusk encouraging him to have a change of heart, Twilight eventually apologizes to Sun's people for his misdeed; both sides make peace and become close allies rather than rivals. Dusk is praised for his heroism and lives happily ever after with Dawn, resuming their relationship.

Cast

 * Gregory Smith as Dusk
 * Zooey Deschanel as Dawn
 * Anthony Hopkins as Twilight, the creator of Dusk.
 * Christine Baranski as Sun, the creator of Dawn.
 * Dan Aykroyd as Light, a midget who is a close friend of Sun and Dawn.
 * Billy West as Keeper, Judge, and Tick-Tock Guy
 * John Cusack as Elder Jo
 * Jennifer Hale as Elder Ji
 * Keith David as Elder Ja
 * Craig Ferguson as Tio
 * Tom Kenny as Mark, Guard #1, Billy, Teacher Ted
 * Jim Cummings as Sparkle, Guard #2
 * Jennifer Darling as Miss Night
 * Rob Paulsen and Corey Burton as Photogs
 * Justin Shenkarow as Teen
 * Nika Futterman as Shelly
 * Donald Fullilove as Harry

Production
The film was initially set up at Amblimation, based on a pitch by former Disney animator Phil Nibbelink. By 1998, it was revealed that Canadian CGI studio Dan Krech Productions would produce the project.

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Music
The film's score was composed by Michael Kamen.

Release
Dusk and Dawn was originally set to be released worldwide by Universal Pictures in December 2001 which was then intended to be the studio's first fully computer-animated feature, but it was moved up a year later to avoid competition with Paramount/Nickelodeon's Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius. However, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer later took over the North American distribution for the film, resulting Universal to remain its international distribution.

The film was released in the United States on September 27, 2002. Universal later released the film in the United Kingdom on December 20, 2002.

Video game
A video game based on the film was released in North America on September 10, 2002 for PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube, and Game Boy Advance. It was published by MGM Interactive and EA Games and developed by EA Redwood Shores for the console versions and was ported by Griptonite Games for GBA. Upon release, the game received a mixed to positive reception.

Home media
Dusk and Dawn was released by MGM Home Entertainment on VHS and DVD on January 21, 2003.

Box office
Dusk and Dawn grossed $31.1 million in the United States and Canada and $91.4 million with a worldwide total of $221.5 million.

Reception
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 79% based on 143 reviews, with an average rating of 7.5/10. On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 75 out of 100, based on 21 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A-" on an A+ to F scale.