Kate & Chris (film)

Kate & Chris is a 2007 American computer-animated science-fiction comedy film produced by 20th Century Fox Animation and Scholastic Entertainment. Based on Eric Stern's books of the same name, the film was directed by Rob Letterman and Mike Mitchell, written by Letterman, David Reynolds, Dan Fogelman, Joel Cohen and Alec Sokolow from a story by Stern and Larry Leker, and stars an ensemble voice cast including Mandy Moore, Elijah Wood, Will Ferrell, Jack Black, Danny DeVito, Jon Lovitz, Zooey Deschanel, Maya Rudolph, Justin Long, Steve Buscemi, and Michael Clarke Duncan. In the film, when a human-like space creature lands on Earth, two unlikely teenagers who are outcasts at a local school are willing to return him to his natural home while a mad scientist and an alien chief threaten to capture him and use him to take over the world.

Kate & Chris premiered on September 8, 2007 at the Toronto International Film Festival, and was theatrically released in the United States on September 28, to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the first book. It received mixed reviews from critics, who praised its animation, action sequences, humor, its vocal performances and faithfulness to its source material, but criticized its predictable story and derivative writing. The film earned a total of $448 million worldwide against a budget of $80 million in its initial theatrical run, and was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Animated Feature Film, later gaining a cult following through television syndication and its home video release.

An animated series that continues the events of the film, titled Kate & Chris Adventures, premiered on Fox Family on July 5, 2013, with an long-awaited sequel, set to be theatrically released on September 20, 2024.

Plot
In outer space, Doctor Menabba (Danny DeVito), a mad scientist, is arrested and put on trial by the Xenonship Federation for illegal genetic creation, evidenced by his creation "E.D.D.I.E.", a sentient creature that looks very similar to a regular human being with intelligence, speaking abilities, and strength, but also a propensity to wreak havoc. Menabba is imprisoned while the creature is sentenced to be executed. "E.D.D.I.E" manages to escape on an escape pod and activate its hyperdrive, causing its guidance systems to malfunction and randomly set a course for Earth. Eddie (Jack Black) crash-lands on a farm in Eastview, Oregon. Queen Neylly (Jennifer Saunders) dispatches Menabba and Officer Coobot (Jon Lovitz), the queen's expert on Earth, to the planet to have the alien captured discreetly while the galaxy's oversized militant chief, Chief Rogerator (Michael Clarke Duncan) actually wants the alien to conquer the world.

In Eastview, a redheaded young girl named Kate Anderson (Mandy Moore) was running late for school and was in a hurry to get ready. After Kate got finished getting ready, she managed to arrive on time. While at school, she meets a blue-haired boy named Chris McCallister (Elijah Wood), who acts jealous of Kate, for being smart and her passing classes. However, Chris devises a plan to get Kate in trouble by having his best friend Joey Greenwood (Seann William Scott) disguised as her. They tamper with a new invention, the MegaMachine 9000, made by the school's local snitch, intellectual Chuck Stevens (Justin Long), who was able to catch them thanks to another invention which Mr. Watson (Steve Buscemi) asked him to make, the Snitch-Cam 1000. Mr. Watson believed in the disguise and was very shocked that Kate participated in the prank, getting Kate sent to Watson's office and getting detention for 3 weeks.

As Kate tries to sneak back to her room without her mother, Mary Anderson (Maya Rudolph), knowing that she got in trouble, Mary suddenly appears from the kitchen door and punishes Kate and sends her to her room. That same night, Mary apologizes to Kate for getting angry at her and tells her about her teenage life to Kate, explaining to her how she raised her to be a neat and smart teenager. The next day, after crash-landing on the farm, Eddie explores around Eastview City, and later finds the Eastview high school and hides in a closet. Chris finds Eddie and devises another plan to get Mr. Watson back by using Eddie's hypnotizing gun. Kate heads to the office of Watson just as the office literally starts to spin when Watson is put in a trance. After that, Chris commands Watson to be a goofy-looking superhero, and Chris soon learns the severity of his doings when Watson begins causing some problems such as punching a mime in the face and wreaking chaos around Eastview. Kate, Eddie, and Chris take Watson away to his house before the cops get to him.

The next day at school, Kate and Chris need to have Eddie pretend and dress up exactly like Mr. Watson in order to keep up appearances. Eddie's sudden new personality change even manages to attract the attention and affection of the high school's lunch lady, Jenny (Joan Cusack). is visited by an odd scientist named Dum-Dum (Will Ferrell), or as he calls himself Professor DD. Eddie (disguised as Watson) hires him to be a new teacher, but Kate and Chris are suspicious of him due to his short-tempered behavior. With Eddie as principal, the school is a more lively place, with a funfair being set up in the schoolyard. However, things get chaotic as Eddie starts feeding the students tons of candy, and Kate and Chris want in on it. This turns out to be a bad idea as they experience a strong sugar rush, leading Eddie to his own devices. He tries to drive a bus through a ring of fire over a ramp, but he rides the bus backwards into a ferris wheel, which comes loose and rolls towards the school, destroying half of it. Eddie then regrets what he did and runs away to the city's biker bar. Kate and Chris later find Eddie, as he compiles a "bucket list" of the things he'd like to do on Earth, but becomes sad when he realizes he might not be able to do them since aliens are hunting him down. Kate encourages Eddie to try to do as much as he can right where they are, and the three take a while to enjoy themselves with all the bar's activities. Unfortunately, a group of rough-looking punks comes looking for trouble and Eddie aggravates their leader, starting a bar fight. The leader of the punks attacks Eddie, but with his alien powers, he speeds up his awareness, saving Kate and Chris. The three flee the bar, outrunning angry patrons and spending the night at Kate's house. Later that night, Chris, Eddie, Cole (Kenan Thompson), and Joey teach a lesson to Chuck, for getting Chris in trouble as well as Kate, using alien costumes to scare him, eluding the police along the way. After Kate found out about Chris being chased by the police on the news, she gets angry at him and tells him he will never be happy if he spends his life partying and pranking without acting more maturely. Chris apologizes to her, and makes a promise to her. Dum-Dum finds Chuck and uses him as part of his evil plan by scanning his brain and learns that he has the part in the brain about seeing a human-like alien. This becomes crucial to his plan.

The next morning, Neylly relieves Menabba and Coobot of their assignment, where the two find Eddie at Kate's house. A fight ensues, which destroys the house. Dum-Dum then finds Kate and Chris and knows about the alien, but as Kate tries to stand up against Dum-Dum, he sends the two teens to a canyon river by using a teleportation gun. Dum-Dum and Rogerator finally capture Eddie and they both use him for their new conjoined plan. Kate and Chris both end up in the river, ensuing in a heated argument between the two. After the argument, Kate confesses that she loved Chris, and loved his pranks and his party shenanigans, and the two finally reconcile with each other. While the two nearly plummet to their deaths down a waterfall, Kate saves Chris as they embrace and kiss before traveling back to Eastwood. Dum-Dum tries to take over the town with a giant version of the MegaMachine 9000, fueled by the high school cafeteria's leftovers left out by Jenny– and uses Chuck's brain to turn the students into glum zombies, where a few minutes later a whole fleet of alien ships from the Xenonship descends on the city and start what appears to be an invasion. As the aliens rampage through Eastview, vaporizing everything in their path, Kate and Chris find Eddie at the Eastview park, where Eddie reveals his alien identity before Rogerator and Dum-Dum capture Kate and Eddie, where Chris must seek Cole, Menabba, Coobot, Joey, and Eva Clark (Zooey Deschanel) for help. Chris, Cole, Menabba, Coobot, Joey, and Eva all give chase to Rogerator's spaceship in Menabba's spaceship and rescue Kate and Eddie.

Back on the ground, Eddie finally acquires superpowers and, with Kate and Chris' help, defeats and shrinks Dum-Dum, though he escapes on a moth shortly thereafter. Rogerator seizes control of the Xenonship and tries to destroy the teenagers, only to have Eddie help make the ship collapse off a mountain, causing Rogerator, who is trapped inside the ship, to fall to his death. Later that day, Neylly arrives on Earth and prepares to take Eddie to the newly moved alien jail, but Kate and Chris insist that because he saved the world, he cannot be taken away. Impressed with Eddie's newfound civility and empathy, Neylly goes against the prior decision of the Xenonship Federation and decrees that Eddie will live in exile on Earth. He will be entrusted to the care of Kate and her mother. Also, feeling that Mr. Watson would be nicer if he had friends, Kate and Chris set him and lovesick Jenny up on a date, thus making Watson have a change of heart. However, the toxic waste from the giant MegaMachine 9000 transforms all the appliances and electronics into an army of evil robots that attack the restaurant at which Watson and Jenny are dining. Eddie suddenly appears, carrying Kate and Chris away to help him fight them, much to Jenny's surprise and admiration.

In a post-credits scene, Kate and Chris realize that the secretary, whom Chris put her on the phone before by faking a challenge of $10 million, has been on the phone for the entire film, so they shut off the call, making the secretary angry.

Cast

 * Mandy Moore as Kate Anderson, a smart, trustworthy, funny, and clever 18-year-old girl.
 * Elijah Wood as Chris McCallister, a sarcastic, wise-cracking, arrogant, and somewhat bossy 17-year-old boy.
 * Jack Black as Eddie, a comical, magical, shape-shifting, wise-cracking human-like space creature who tries to blend in.
 * Will Ferrell as Professor Dum-Dum, a mad scientist who wants to capture Eddie and use him for his projects.
 * Zooey Deschanel as Eva Clark, Kate's best friend.
 * Justin Long as Chuck Stevens, an intelligent and unkind 16-year-old boy.
 * Michael Clarke Duncan as Chief Rogerator
 * Danny DeVito as Dr. Menabba
 * Jon Lovitz as Officer Coobot
 * Maya Rudolph as Mary Anderson, Kate's loving overprotective mother who cares so much about her only daughter.
 * Seann William Scott as Joey Greenwood, Chris' best friend
 * Kenan Thompson as Cole Jefferson, one of Chris' friends
 * Jennifer Saunders as Queen Neylly
 * Steve Buscemi as Mr. Watson, the principal of Eastview High School.
 * Allison Janney as Ms. McRobbs, the secretary at Eastview High School
 * Jeffrey Tambor as Mr. Monty, one of the teachers at Eastview High School
 * Joan Cusack as Jenny the Lunch Lady, the lunch lady at Eastview High School who falls in love with Mr. Watson.
 * Mike Mitchell as a police officer and a mime
 * Dan Castellaneta as Nobel Prize Audience Member
 * Mona Marshall as Nobel Prize Moderator
 * Jeff Garcia as Timothy, a student who is seen frequently throughout the movie hiding in his own locker.
 * Dan Fogler as Mr. Warren, the science teacher at Eastview High School who got fired by Mr. Watson.

Additional Voices

 * Stephen Apostolina
 * Kirk Baily
 * Bob Bergen
 * David Cowgill
 * Eddie Frierson
 * Jessica Gee-George
 * Johnny Gidcomb
 * Jackie Gonneau
 * Nicholas Guest
 * Jennifer Hale
 * Lex Lang
 * Caitlin McKenna
 * Paul Pape
 * Philip Proctor
 * Al Rodrigo
 * Fred Tatasciore
 * Marcelo Tubert
 * Kari Wahlgren
 * Lynnanne Zager

Production
DreamWorks Pictures acquired the rights to produce and distribute a film based on Kate & Chris in 1999. In October 2000, an animated film was announced as a joint venture between DreamWorks and Scholastic Entertainment. It would be produced by John Cohen and written by Joel Cohen and Alec Sokolow, while Aron Warner would executive produce. According to Warner, the film was set to have its animation be made at Pacific Data Images (PDI). In March 2002, DreamWorks said the film was scheduled for summer 2005. In the beginning of 2003, the film's release date was taken over by another DreamWorks animated film, Madagascar. Rob Letterman and Mike Mitchell were hired in 2003 to direct it. Series creator Eric Stern wrote the film's story alongside Disney veteran Larry Leker.

In August 2004, it was reported that Universal Pictures and 20th Century Fox were interested in acquiring the rights after DreamWorks put the film into turnaround; however, Universal decided not to proceed with the bidding. In October 2004, Fox announced that they had acquired and fast-tracked the Kate & Chris film adaptation from DreamWorks. Most of the production team remained unchanged. In February 2005, it was announced that the movie had officially begun production and was scheduled for a summer 2007 release, produced by 20th Century Fox Animation under the supervision of John Cohen and Christopher Meledandri

In November 2005, it was announced Mandy Moore and Elijah Wood were cast as the two titular protagonists along with other cast members including Jack Black, Danny DeVito, Will Ferrell, Zooey Deschanel, Maya Rudolph, Justin Long, Seann William Scott, Kenan Thompson, Steve Buscemi, and Allison Janney.

Marketing
On June 30, 2006, an teaser trailer was unveiled, which was exclusively attached to theatrical screenings of Puppet Pals. The teaser trailer would later appear in theaters attached to Everyone's Hero and Night at the Museum. The film's full official trailer premiered in theaters in March 2007 with the release of Meet the Robinsons. The final trailer was released on July 24, 2007 and was attached into The Simpsons Movie three days later.

Hasbro released a line of action figures and plushies based on the film, Nintendo produced a limited edition Kate & Chris-themed Nintendo DS, to coincide with the film's DVD and Blu-ray release, and Windows Live Messenger presented their users with the opportunity to download a free animated and static content for use within their conversations. Burger King also promoted the film with a set of seven kids' meal toys featuring the characters from the film.

Release
Kate & Chris was originally scheduled to be released sometime in late 2004 by DreamWorks Animation, but in February 2005, shortly after taking over the rights, 20th Century Fox rescheduled it to June 15, 2007. In April 2006, the release date was delayed to September 28, 2007 to avoid competition with other films releasing in summer 2007, with Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer taking its June slot.

Kate & Chris had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 8, 2007, and was released widely on September 28. The film's theatrical release was accompanied by an Ice Age short film No Time for Nuts. Similar to Robots, it was digitally re-mastered into the IMAX format (IMAX DMR) and was released on the same day in IMAX theaters around the world and conventional 35mm and DLP screens. A test screening of the film was held at the Harkins Cine Capri Theater in Tempe, Arizona on September 16, 2007, at which a Fox representative was present to collect viewer feedback.

As with Puppet Pals, a montage of fully animated "outtakes" was made and was later included in the end credits of the film starting on November 2, 2007, two months after the film's initial theatrical release.

Home media
Kate & Chris was released on DVD and Blu-ray Disc on January 29, 2008 by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment, and it includes a sneak preview of the 2008 Fox animated film Crystal, a gallery of concept art, a 17-minute making-of documentary, a 5.1 isolated sound effects track, trailers and TV spots, and deleted scenes. The film's 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray and Blu-Ray 3D editions was later released on October 11, 2016.

Kate & Chris became available on Disney's streaming service Disney+ on April 10, 2020, following Disney's acquisition of 20th Century Fox on March 20, 2019.

Critical reception
On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 61% based on 149 reviews, with an average rating of 6.2/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Kate & Chris is cute and funny enough, but the colorful humor of the book gets lost with the zany Hollywood production values". On Metacritic, it received a score of 56 out of 100, based on 77 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A-" on an A+ to F scale.

Michael Rechtshaffen of The Hollywood Reporter gave the film a gave a positive review saying, "Fox Animation's slapstick animated adaptation of the philosophically satiric book series... is a lot of laughs and boasts a much tighter story than most recent animated features." Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film 3 out of 4 stars, saying "Kate & Chris is a truly touching and hilarious family adventure with a blast of humor and soundtrack, as well as a comical plot from the folks at Twentieth Century Fox Animation." Richard Corliss of Time Magazine gave the film a negative review and called it "insidious nonsense from Hollywood", and accused Hollywood of "trying to indoctrinate children".

Box office
Kate & Chris opened alongside The Game Plan and The Kingdom, and earned $13,492,019 on its opening day (September 28, 2007) in North America, making it the highest animated opening day in September during that time. It grossed a combined total of $46,169,456 in its opening weekend at 3,880 theaters, finishing #1. In its second weekend (October 5-7, 2007), the film dropped to $30,312,541, still finishing in first. The film closed on January 31, 2008 after 125 days of release, grossing $171,412,696 in the United States and Canada, along with $277,049,636 overseas for a worldwide total of $448,462,332.

3D re-release
Fox re-released Kate & Chris in 3D on March 11, 2016, with a conversion cost estimated to be below $10 million. For the opening weekend of its 3D re-release in North America, Kate & Chris grossed $7.7 million, debuting at the No. 5 spot. The film earned $27.9 million in North America and $44.8 million internationally, for a combined total of $72.8 million, and a cumulative worldwide total of $521.2 million. Kate & Chris was later re-released in 3D on April 29, 2016 in the U.K., grossing £7.8 million.

Legacy
To be added

Soundtrack
The film's score was composed by John Powell. The soundtrack was released on September 25, 2007 by Varèse Sarabande.

Video game
A video game based on the film has been released for the Wii, PlayStation 2, Xbox 360, PlayStation Portable, Microsoft Windows, and Nintendo DS and was developed by Heavy Iron Studios and published by THQ on September 18, 2007.

Television series
Kate & Chris Adventures is an American animated television series created by Fox Television Animation in 2013, based on the 2007 film, which in turn was based on the book series of the same name by Eric Stern. The series aired on Fox Family from July 5, 2013 to November 4, 2016, and continues the story of the 2007 film.

Sequel
After the release of Kate & Chris, Fox began to consider producing a sequel. In July 2008, a sequel was reported to be in development for a March 2012 release. In March 2009, it was reported that Maya Forbes and Wallace Wolodarsky was hired to write the script for the sequel while Kevin Lima was hired to direct the film. The film's initial theatrical release was later delayed to summer 2013. However, in August 2011, the film was later cancelled in favor of the production of Puppet Pals 3. In September 2017, the 10th anniversary of the release of the film, co-director Mike Mitchell revealed in an interview that he was set to write and direct during the late development of the sequel but it did not happen when Mitchell left Fox Animation in July 2009. Mitchell also revealed in the interview that the sequel's plot would have been "Kate & Chris' life being turned upside down when Kate and her friends get kidnapped by a evil galactic empire and the teens must try to stop them from conquering Earth by using a portal to transport the teens into different magical dimensions with the help of a brave, tough, space superhero". In August 2018, near Disney's acquisition of 21st Century Fox, Disney CEO Bob Iger was in talks with Fox Animation co-president Robert Baird about a possible way of bringing Kate & Chris and Little Lily back on the big screen.

In September 2019, Elijah Wood expressed interest in reprising his role as Chris if an animated sequel ever gets announced.

On December 28, 2021, while Mike Mitchell discussed about Twentieth Toons: Quest for the Toon Temple in an interview, he revealed that he has kept details of the sequel secret for many years (such as a reworked plot), and stated "Things are still in the works, but I cannot tell what it is for now, as the guys at 20th Century told me to keep the most of sequel's details a secret. The film will still see the light of day, and we're not too far from it now."

On September 9, 2022, 20th Century Animation officially announced Kate & Chris 2 at D23 Expo, with Mandy Moore and Elijah Wood returning as their respective roles. The film is being directed by Mike Mitchell with co-direction by Pamela Porter, produced by John Cohen, and written by Dan Fogelman, Matthew Fogel, Eyal Podell, Jonathon E. Stewart, and Pamela Ribon, and will release on September 20, 2024.

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

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