Puppet Pals 2

Puppet Pals 2 is a 2010 American computer-animated comedy film produced by 20th Century Fox Animation and distributed by 20th Century Fox. It is the sequel to Puppet Pals (2006) and the second installment in the Puppet Pals franchise, and is also the first entry in the series to be released in 3D. The film was directed by Phil Anderson and Rich Moore, co-directed by Wilton Lawrence, and produced by Mark Wilson from a screenplay written by Dan Fogelman, Phillip Melton, Mike Reiss, and Peter Ackerman, based on a story by Tom Ropelewski, Jared Brady, Drew Cohen, and Brian Lynch. Jesse McCartney, Anne Hathaway, Josh Peck, Seth Rogen, Patton Oswalt, Isla Fisher, David Cross, and Matthew Broderick reprised their respective roles, joined by David Hyde Pierce, Jonah Hill, Donna Murphy, John Cleese, and Minnie Driver. The film takes place following the events of the first film, with Nathan and Toby meeting Joanna's parents for the first time as they try to fit in with the community of Golden City, while one of Joanna's longtime friends, zealous Bianca Blue, plots to destroy Nathan and Joanna's new marriage. Meanwhile on their new adventure, Nathan and Toby team up with a swashbuckling talking dog named Wayne to foil Bianca's plans.

Development of Puppet Pals 2 began in 2006, shortly after the success of the original Puppet Pals. Moore, who directed the first film with Steve Martino, agreed to return to direct the sequel. Moore and the story team developed the plot for the sequel over a weekend in January 2007, envisioning the idea of the team trying to fit in with the community of Golden City. Michael Giacchino and John Powell also returned to compose the original score for the sequel.

Puppet Pals 2 premiered at the Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood on March 29, 2010, and was theatrically released in the United States on April 16, by 20th Century Fox. The film received generally positive reviews from critics and grossed over $952 million worldwide on its $105 million budget, making it the second highest-grossing animated film of 2010, the fourth highest-grossing film of that year, and it was the highest-grossing film from Fox Animation until Alaina Gleen 2 surpassed it in 2013 and later Cool Spot: Spot Goes to Hollywood in 2021. It was also nominated for the Best Animated Film at the Academy Awards, Golden Globe Awards, BAFTA Awards and Annie Awards. A sequel to the film, Puppet Pals 3, was released in February 2013.

Plot
As newlyweds Nathan Ritter and Princess Joanna are on their honeymoon, Toby opens a day camp for children, where none of the kids take him seriously. After being teased and insulted by the rambunctious children, days pass and Nathan and Joanna finally return from their honeymoon to find they have been invited by Joanna's parents to a reunion to celebrate their marriage. Nathan refuses to go at first, but Joanna talks him into it, and along with Toby, they travel to the Golden City. The three meet Joanna's parents, King Floyd and Queen Lila, with Floyd particularly repulsed at Nathan Ritter, where Floyd was expecting Joanna to be married with Blake Blue.

At a family dinner, Nathan and Floyd get into a heated argument over how Nathan and Joanna will raise their family, and Joanna, disgusted at Nathan and Floyd's behavior, runs and locks herself away in her room that evening, where she meets her childhood friend, Bianca Blue, who is also surprised at Joanna's new husband.

More coming soon!

Voice cast

 * Jesse McCartney as Nathan Ritter, a pampered man.
 * Anne Hathaway as Princess Joanna, a beautiful young woman who is the princess of Tinywood.
 * Josh Peck as Toby the Lizard, a magical and geeky lizard.
 * Donna Murphy as Bianca Blue, an zealous and evil woman who wants to destroy Nathan and Joanna's marriage.
 * Jonah Hill as Blake Blue, Bianca's handsome yet spiteful son.
 * John Cleese as King Floyd, the king of Golden City and Joanna's father.
 * Minnie Driver as Queen Lila, the queen of Golden City and Joanna's mother.
 * David Hyde Pierce as Wayne, an swashbuckling anthropomorphic rabbit.
 * Matthew Broderick as Captain Matt Barker, the leader and founding member of the Puppet Pals.
 * Isla Fisher as Natalia Barker, a cheerful teenage girl and Matt's daughter.
 * Seth Rogen as Travis, an overweight and lazy guy who is an acquaintance of Princess Joanna.
 * Patton Oswalt as Steve Smiley, a magical talking yellow round creature who looks similar to a yellow smiling face.
 * David Cross as Mayor Adam, the empathetic mayor of Tinywood.
 * Chris Wedge (uncredited) as Slippy the Dog
 * Tom Kenny as The Magic Ball
 * Zachary Gordon, Ariel Winter, Madison Davenport, April Anderson, and Max Neuwirth as Camp Kids
 * Phil Anderson and Michael Patrick Bell as the Smileys

Additional Voices

 * Steve Alterman
 * Stephen Apostolina
 * Kirk Baily
 * Bob Bergen
 * Mitch Carter
 * June Christopher
 * David Cowgill
 * Holly Dorff
 * Moosie Drier
 * Rylee Fansler
 * Jackie Gonneau
 * Nicholas Guest
 * Bridget Hoffman
 * Stephen Hughes
 * Rif Hutton
 * Edie Mirman
 * Paul Pape
 * Devika Parikh
 * Kate Petrie
 * Lúa Ríos
 * Michelle Ruff
 * Kelly Stables
 * Craig Stevenson
 * Shane Sweet
 * Fred Tatasciore
 * Hudson Thames
 * Claudette Wells
 * Lynnanne Zager

Development
In August 2006, after the box office success of Puppet Pals, 20th Century Fox Animation president Chris Meledandri confirmed that a sequel was in the works, and by early December 2006, it was tentatively scheduled for a November 6, 2009 release date. Steve Martino, the director of the first film, did not return for the film due to his occupation at Blue Sky Studios, but remained as a consultant for the film. Martino was replaced by studio veteran Phil Anderson, who directed History Island and Toonlympics. Dan Fogelman (who later wrote Kate & Chris at Fox Animation), then wrote an initial treatment for the screenplay with Peter Ackerman. By October 2008, it was announced that Phillip Melton and Mike Reiss had been hired to do rewrites of Fogelman and Ackerman's original screenplay.

Casting
In January 2008, Fox confirmed that Jesse McCartney, Anne Hathaway, Josh Peck, Seth Rogen, Patton Oswalt, Isla Fisher, Matthew Broderick, and David Cross were returning to reprise their roles. Newcomers include David Hyde Pierce, Jonah Hill, Donna Murphy, John Cleese, and Minnie Driver.

Animation
Coming soon!

Music
John Powell and Michael Giacchino, who previously composed the first film, returned to compose the score of Puppet Pals 2, and its soundtrack was released on April 13, 2010 by Interscope Records.

Marketing and release
On June 29, 2009, the film's teaser trailer was released online, and was later attached to Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, which went into theaters two days later. On November 22, 2009, the film's first full trailer was released in front of The Witch's Quest, The Princess and the Frog, and Avatar. The second and final full trailer was released on February 10, 2010 and was attached into Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief. The film was backed by a large marketing campaign, with various merchandise becoming available throughout 2010. A video game based on the film was released on April 13, 2010 for the Wii, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Game Boy Advance, PlayStation Portable, PC and Nintendo DS.

Puppet Pals 2 premiered on March 29, 2010 at the Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, and was widely in the United States by 20th Century Fox on April 16, 2010, in RealD 3D and IMAX 3D. It was originally scheduled for general release in the United States on November 6, 2009, but was pushed back to February 12, 2010. The film's original November 2009 slot was later assigned to another Fox animated film, Fantastic Mr. Fox. However, due to film having production setbacks, it was shifted from its February release to April 16. The film's theatrical release was preceded by Benjamin's Musical, a four-minute 3-D Twentieth Toons short film featuring Benjamin Bird and Larry Watson in the first CG depiction of these specific Twentieth Toons characters.

Home media
Puppet Pals 2 was released on DVD and Blu-ray on September 28, 2010, by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment. Both releases include a short film titled Tinywood Idol. It was later released on Blu-ray 3D in April 2011.

Critical response
On review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 86%. The site's critical consensus reads, "Funny, colorful, and frenetic, Puppet Pals 2 boasts enough surprising smarts and visual sparkle to make a sequel that really works, even though not being very fresh as the original." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 71 out of 10, indicating "generally favorable reviews". The film earned an "A" from audiences polled by CinemaScore, on an A+ to F scale.

Box office
Puppet Pals 2 has grossed $362.9 million in North America and $589.5 million in other territories for its worldwide total of $952.5 million. It later became the highest-grossing animated film on July 30, 2010, surpassing the six-year-old record held by 2004's Shrek 2 ($919 million), until Disney and Pixar's computer-animated sequel Toy Story 3 surpassed it a month later, followed by Frozen in 2014.

North America
The film earned $38.6 million on its opening day (Friday, April 16, 2010) from 4,219 North American theaters, including $3 million at midnight shows from about 1,500 theaters, setting an opening day record for an animated film (surpassed by Toy Story 3 and later Minions). During its opening weekend, the film topped the box office with $116.9 million (with 50% of the opening gross coming from 3D and IMAX showings), setting an opening weekend record for a film released in April (later surpassed by Furious 7 in 2015) and for a Fox animated film (later surpassed by Cool Spot in 2018). Box Office Mojo estimates that the film sold over 50 million tickets in the U.S.

Outside North America
Coming soon!

Accolades
Coming soon!

Sequels
Puppet Pals 2 has two sequels; Puppet Pals 3 and Puppet Pals Forever.

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

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