Little Lily (film)

Little Lily is a 2012 American 3D computer-animated comedy adventure film produced by 20th Century Fox Animation and based on the Fox Interactive/Electronic Arts video game series of the same name. The film was written and directed by Mike Bell and co-directed by Jared Brady (in their feature directorial debuts) from a screenplay by Don Rhymer, Ed Decter, John J. Strauss, Lorne Cameron, and David Hoselton, and features the ensemble voice cast of Sarah Silverman, Garry Shandling, Josh Hutcherson, Mandy Moore, Michelle Pfeiffer, John Goodman, Michael Cera, Craig Robinson, William H. Macy, Marisa Tomei, and Rob Corddry. Set in a Pliocene-like environment, Lily, a young girl who embarks on a long journey along with his fellow companion Chester to stop a evil group of monsters called the Musbirks from destroying their home as well as capturing her older brother Oliver.

The film premiered at the Regency Village Theater on May 29, 2012, and was released in the United States on June 15. It received mixed reviews from critics, with many praising the voice performances, visual style, and musical score, but criticized its screenplay and story. However, the film underperformed at the box office, grossing only $252 million against a $122 million budget, forcing a write-down of $70 million.

Plot
Lily, a aspiring 14-year-old girl, has always been an enigmatic village outcast due to her penchant for inadvertently causing chaos as well as being "too little". She resides with her loving parents Scarlett and Frank, her timid older brother Oliver, and her anxious subterranean troll-like mentor Chester. One night after school, Oliver and his best friends compete in a snail-curling championship, a local village tradition that draws attention from the entire community. Meanwhile, Lily tries to recover her reputation by setting up a spectacular fireworks display for the big game, but Chester sees her in the act and accuses her of sabotaging the event. Chaos ensues when an overzealous dog chases Chester, setting off a wild chain reaction that sends the fireworks to go haywire, endangering the villagers. Lily then gets into a heated argument with Oliver, but when a mysterious Musbirk follows the ruckus and wreaks havoc upon the unsuspecting village, it kidnaps Oliver, separating him from Lily.

Following this, the grief-stricken villagers place the blame on Lily for drawing the malicious Musbirks to the village and banishes her from the community. A lonely Lily decides to set off to rescue her brother Oliver from the Musbirks. She gets herself into several potentially deadly situations and is finally rescued by Chester, who thinks the quest is hopeless and reluctantly followed her to keep her safe. Upon arrival the Kingdom of Rimore, they meet Jasper, who leads them to the palace of the kingdom's ruler: Princess Naomi. Naomi plans to forge an alliance with the formidable Dino Kingdom in order to help repel the Musbirks. Despite her determination, Naomi convinces her skeptical father, King Roland, as the journey ahead is too perilous for her to undertake. Meanwhile, Oliver lands in the treacherous Vile Vistas, ruled by the evil Musbirk mistress Tilna. Tilna seeks to destroy the Kingdom of Rimore with the Dyno Diamond, an all-powerful substance that gives the user superpowers.

Meanwhile, back in Rimore, Princess Naomi meets Lily and Chester. Persuaded by Lily to stop the malevolent Musbirks, Naomi consents on one condition: Lily must first complete an rigorous training course in order to accompany her on her quest. At first, Lily fails multiple times at the course, and just as she nears completion, an unexpected obstacle snags her progress. Nevertheless, Naomi still agrees to let Lily and Chester (as well as Jasper) to accompany her on their journey. Back in Vile Vistas, Tilna then imprisons Oliver to threaten Lily, after revealing that her sister is the true embodiment of the Dyno Diamond's immense power.

more to be added soon.

Voice cast

 * Sarah Silverman as Lily, a young teenage girl who always tends to have a thirst for adventure.
 * Josh Hutcherson as Oliver, Lily's timid older brother, who is captured by the Musbirks.
 * Garry Shandling as Chester, an anxious subterranean troll-like creature who is Lily's mentor/caregiver.
 * Mandy Moore as Princess Naomi, the optimistic but naïve princess of the Kingdom of Rimore.
 * Michelle Pfeiffer as Tilna, the megalomaniacal orc-like leader of the Musbirks.
 * John Goodman as King Roland, the ruler of the Kingdom of Rimore and Naomi's overprotecting father.
 * Michael Cera as Jasper, a Rimore resident who develops a crush on Lily.
 * Craig Robinson as Quinn, a childish and boisterous dinosaur-like creature.
 * Rob Corddry as Pip, a wise-cracking monkey-like creature.
 * William H. Macy as Frank, Lily and Oliver's father.
 * Marisa Tomei as Scarlett, Lily and Oliver's mother.
 * Robin Williams as King Frederick, the ruler of the Dino Kingdom, and Quinn's father.
 * Patrick Warburton and Nathan Lane as Tyson and Tark, two cynical Musbirks.
 * Alan Tudyk as Hubert
 * Bob Joles as Rimore Lieutenant
 * Jeff Bergman, Dana Snyder, Corey Burton, and Carolyn Lawrence as Various Musbirks
 * Mike Bell as Mr. Squishy / Vinny / Todd
 * Greg Cipes and Ashley Peldon as Axel and Lara, Lily's friends.
 * Jessica DiCicco as Becky, the school bully who usually picks on Lily for "being too small".
 * Wanda Sykes and Bill Hader as Peggy and Jimbo
 * James Arnold Taylor as Wammy, a mouse-like creature.
 * Dee Bradley Baker as Spider
 * Tom Kenny as Victor
 * Mark Walton as Steve
 * Jared Brady as Musbirk Chef / Village Arena Announcer / Eugene

Additional Voices

 * Steve Alterman
 * Rajia Baroudi
 * Susan Boyajian
 * Ranjani Brow
 * Edita Brychta
 * William Calvert
 * Elisa Gabrielli
 * Wendy Hoffmann
 * Karen Huie
 * Sean Kenin
 * Ashley Lambert
 * Marcella Lentz-Pope
 * Heidi Brook Myers
 * Jacqueline Piñol
 * Moira Quirk
 * Alix Wilton Regan
 * Darren Richardson
 * Cindy Robinson
 * Michelle Ruff
 * Stephanie Sheh
 * Matthew Wolf
 * Ruth Zalduondo

Development
In December 2007, it was announced that a computer-animated feature film based on the Little Lily video game series was in development by 20th Century Fox Animation, although IGN noted that this was "after months of speculation". Mike Bell was announced to write and direct (as his feature-length directorial debut), with Mark Wilson producing. Don Rhymer, the writer of Surf's Up, conceived the film's story which is loosely based on the story elements of the original 1997 video game, as well as the next two games in the series. In March 2009, Over the Hedge writers Lorne Cameron and David Hoselton had been hired to co-write the draft for the film. On August 17, 2010, it was confirmed that a form of the script was completed. When Tom Rothman saw an early screening for the movie in May 2011, he told Bell that he did not find the film's script too serious for younger audiences, and suggested that he make some changes and bring in comedy duo David Webber and Jason Stewart. Mark Wilson was kicked off the project and was replaced by Webber and Stewart as the film's new producers. During the rewriting process, The Wild writers Ed Decter and John J. Strauss (along with eight uncredited writers), were hired by Rothman to rewrite four quarters of Bell, Rhymer, Cameron, and Hoselton's original screenplay. Ten months later, almost 60% of the film had been scrapped and redone. The script's humor had been "improved", pop culture references had been added to the film's final script, licensed songs were added to the soundtrack, and the ending was changed.

In July 2017, Bell would express regret over the final version of the film: "If we had pushed Rothman and said "it has to be true to the original games", it could have been killed... With this, I wish I could see an alternate reality, what that would have been like."

Soundtrack
The film's score was composed by James Newton Howard, and its soundtrack was released on June 12, 2012 by Epic Records.

Release
Little Lily premiered at the Regency Village Theater in Los Angeles, California on May 29, 2012, and received a general release in theaters on June 15. The film was initially scheduled to be released on October 21, 2011, but was pushed forward to April 6, 2012, switching places with Crystal: Coming of Darkness. By October 2011, it was rescheduled two months later to June 15.

Marketing
A teaser trailer of the film was shown exclusively before select theatrical screenings of Rio on April 15, 2011. It was later released online two weeks later on April 28, 2011. The film's official trailer which included The Who song "Baba O'Riley", debuted on November 1, 2011, and was attached into theatrical screenings of Crystal: Coming of Darkness, followed by the final trailer on April 11, 2012, which was attached into The Three Stooges.

Tie-ins with McDonald's, Airheads, Fisher-Price, Ziploc, and Best Buy, were used to promote the film. A balloon themed after Little Lily debuted at the 2011 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Publishers Dalmatian Press and Ape Entertainment released books tied to the film.

Home media
Little Lily was released in the United States and Canada on Blu-ray and Blu-ray 3D on November 6, 2012, with a standalone single-disc DVD release being released on that same day.

Box office
Little Lily grossed $104.4 million in the United States and Canada and $147.9 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $252.3 million.

In the United States and Canada, Little Lily was released alongside Rock of Ages and That's My Boy, and was projected to gross $45–55 million from 3,934 theaters in its opening weekend, with some estimates going as high as $75 million. However, after making just $9.1 million on its first day (including $445,000 from midnight previews), estimates were lowered to $25–30 million. It went on to debut to $25.5 million over its three-day opening weekend, finishing second behind holdover Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted. In its second weekend, Little Lily declined 58.5% to $11.2 million, the second-worst sophomore drop for a Fox Animation film after History Island.

Deadline Hollywood reported that before the film's release, Fox was hoping that Little Lily would duplicate the opening box office successes of Alaina Gleen and Crystal. Reporters also speculated that it would have a difficult run due to stiff competition from Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted and Brave, though ultimately noted that it would be a disappointment as videogame-to-film adaptations weren't always considered successful, minus Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001) and the Resident Evil film franchise (2002-2007). The film's domestic opening was the lowest debut for a Fox Animation Century City film since the theatrical release of History Island back in 2004. Due to its high production budget and marketing costs, the studio was forced to take an $70 million write-down. As a result of this, the studio announced in October 2012 that was laying off at least 250 employees.

Critical response
On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 39% based on 158 reviews, with an average rating of 4.9/10, making it the lowest-rated film produced by Fox Animation Century City to date. The website's critical consensus reads, "Little Lily may be entertaining enough for younger audiences and some hardcore fans of the games, but it ends up losing its colorful creativity by relying on a tired storyline and a sluggish script." Metacritic, another review aggregator, assigned a score of 47 out of 100 based on 25 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
To see the main transcript of the film, click here.

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