Beastz


 * This article is about the original 2008 film. For the franchise, see Beastz (franchise).

Beastz is a 2008 American computer-animated fantasy comedy film produced by Frenzy Animation and Nickelodeon Movies and distributed by Paramount Pictures. Directed by Will Finn from a screenplay by Peter Ackerman, David Hoselton, Lorne Cameron, Billy Frolick, and Joel Quinn, the film stars the voices of Will Arnett, Paul Rudd, Anthony Anderson, Zach Galifianakis, Jeffrey Tambor, Elizabeth Banks, and Patton Oswalt. The film follows a trio of beasts by the names of Bernard, Louie, and Flint who go and attempt to save their village from the Migrens, vicious creatures who attempt to hunt them down after a major incident between the species.

The film premiered at the Grauman's Chinese Theatre on May 7, 2008, and was released in the United States on May 16. Despite receiving mixed-to-positive reviews from critics, it was a box office success, grossing $272 million worldwide against a budget of $65 million, and was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Animated Feature Film. The success of Beastz launched a multimedia franchise and a sequel.

Plot
To be added

Voice cast
More to be added
 * Will Arnett as Bernard, a strong male beast who is often aloof but also suave and good-hearted.
 * Paul Rudd as Louie, a naïve and clumsy male short beast who can be annoying but also supportive to his friends.
 * Anthony Anderson as Flint, a lazy and cowardly male beast who has a craving for pomegranates.
 * Zach Galifianakis as Althrope, the ruler of the migrens and the main antagonist of the film.
 * Jeffrey Tambor as King Darren, a short and arrogant male beast who is the chief of the Beasts village.
 * Elizabeth Banks as Abigail, a young seductive female beast, who is Bernard's supportive sister.
 * Patton Oswalt as Guchii, a small and incompetent migren who is Althrope's minion.
 * Bill Hader as Nimo and Jimo, twin creatures who annoy Bernard.
 * Eugene Levy as Brian, a short beast who is Bernard's widowed father.
 * Richard Kind
 * Patrick Warburton
 * Marisa Tomei

ADR Loop Group

 * Kirk Baily
 * Ranjani Brow
 * Cam Clarke
 * David Cowgill
 * Eddie Frierson
 * Jackie Gonneau
 * Nicholas Guest
 * Bridget Hoffman
 * Wendy Hoffmann
 * Rif Hutton
 * Scott Menville
 * David Zyler

Development
In 2001, while co-writing Ice Age for Blue Sky Studios, writer Peter Ackerman initially developed and pitched a script for an animated film involving beasts to 20th Century Fox, but they turned it down. It was subsequently pitched to Steve O'Connell when he launched Frenzy Animation the following year.

On November 11, 2005, Frenzy announced the beginning of the production on its third CGI animated film titled Wild Beasts with Home on the Range director Will Finn hired to direct the film with screenwriter Joel Quinn penning the script with Ackerman while also receiving a scheduled summer 2008 release date.

Casting
To be added.

Animation
Starz Animation (originally known as IDT Entertainment) was announced to be animating the film on February 8, 2006. Finn described the film's animation as "a blend of animated films with cartoon-like styles like Madagascar or Ice Age". The animation was made using Autodesk's Maya animation software and rendered with Pixar's RenderMan.

Music
The film's original score was composed by Heitor Pereira. The soundtrack album was released on May 13, 2008, by Atlantic Records.

Release
Beastz was released by Paramount Pictures on May 16, 2008. The film was also screened out of competition on May 18, at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival. The film was rated PG by the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) for "brief mild language, crude humor and some thematic elements".

Marketing
Paramount released a teaser trailer on July 13, 2007, and it was attached into The Alpha Squad: Magic Mayhem in theaters. On October 10, 2007, another teaser poster was released, followed by the film's second teaser trailer the following day, and it was attached into M.I.S.S.I.O.N. and later Bee Movie in theaters. On March 11, 2008, the full trailer was released and was attached into Horton Hears a Who!. Tie-ins with American Express and Burger King were made to promote the film.

Video game
A video game based on the film was released on May 6, 2008, for PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable, Xbox 360, Wii, Nintendo DS, and Microsoft Windows, published by THQ.

Home media
Beastz was released on DVD and Blu-ray on October 28, 2008, by Paramount Home Media Distribution. The release included a 8-minute short film titled Louie's Night Out, which takes place after the events of the film.

Box office
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Critical response
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 66% based on 143 reviews, with an average rating of 6.01/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "With creative animation and witty tone, Beastz is a fun family film that reaches to the levels of charm, but somehow the story gets convoluted." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 57 out of 100, based on 23 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.

Main transcript
To see the main transcript of the film, click here.

Trailer transcript
To see the transcript for the trailers of the film, click here.

Sequel
A sequel titled Beastz 2 was released on August 16, 2013. It was directed by Open Season director Roger Allers, and written by Maya Forbes, Wallace Wolodarsky, John Hamburg, and Len Blum.

Television special
A Christmas television special, A Beastz Christmas, premiered on CBS on December 8, 2011. The story takes place between Beastz and Beastz 2. The television special was co-written and directed by Mark Osborne with Len Blum, Steve Bencich, and Ron J. Friedman also writing the script.

Television series
To be added.