title: Winter Palace

text: Nicholas I, conscious of the great art galleries in other European capitals, saw that Catherine the Great's Large Hermitage "(15)" was vastly expanded and transformed into a purpose-built public art gallery. In 1839, German architect Leo von Klenze drew up the plans and their execution was overseen by Vasily Stasov, assisted by Alexander Briullov and Nikolai Yefimov. With so many architects involved there were inevitably many conflicts over the design and its execution throughout the 1840s, with the Tsar having frequently to act as moderator. Eventually, after eleven years of building and architectural conflict, the first art museum in Russia, the Imperial Hermitage Museum, opened on 5 February 1852. The trebeated facades of the building were inspired by Schinkelesque architecture. It was erected in grey marble round three courtyards and the complex is noted for the asymmetrical planning of its wings and floors. By order of the Tsar, visitors to the museum were required to wear evening dress, even in the morning. The Tsar also decreed that grey top hats were "Jewish" and dress coats "revolutionary". Having negotiated the dress code, what the public saw was a huge array of art, but only a fraction of the Imperial collection, as the Winter Palace and other Imperial palaces remained closed to the viewing public.


title: Winter Palace

text: The Winter Palace was an official residence of the Russian sovereign from 1732 until 1917; however, it was their home for little more than 140 of those years. The last Tsar to truly reside in the palace was Alexander II, who ruled from 1855 to 1881, when he was assassinated. During his reign there were more additions to the contents; acquisitions included the ancient and archaeological collection of the unfortunate Marchese di Cavelli in 1861 and Leonardo da Vinci's "Madonna and Child" in 1865; Leonardo's second work of that same name, the so-called "Benois Madonna", was later acquired in 1914.


title: Winter Palace

text: Alexander II was a constant target for assassination attempts, one of which occurred inside the Winter Palace itself. This attempt on the Tsar's life was organized by a group known as Narodnaya Volya (Will of the People) and led by an "unsmiling fanatic", Andrei Zhelyabov, and his mistress Sophia Perovskaya, who later became his wife. Perovskaya, the daughter of a former Governor of Saint Petersburg, was well placed to learn information concerning happenings within the palace and through her connections learnt of repairs being carried out in the palace's basement. One of the group, a trained carpenter, was subsequently enrolled as one of the workmen. Every day he carried dynamite charges concealed amongst his tools, placing them beneath the private dining room. So great was the quantity of dynamite that the fact there was an intervening floor between the dining room and the basement was of no significance. Plans were made to detonate the bomb on the evening of , assassinating the Tsar and Imperial family as they dined. Fortunately for the Romanovs, a guest arriving from Berlin was delayed, and for the first time in years dinner was delayed. As the family left the drawing room for the dining room the bomb exploded. So great was the explosion that it could be heard all over Saint Petersburg. The dining room was completely demolished and 11 members of the Finnish Guard in the Guard Room below were killed and a further 30 wounded. The incident represents one of the first uses of a time bomb for political purposes. The "New York Times" (4 March 1880) reported "the dynamite used was inclosed in an iron box, and exploded by a system of clockwork used by the man Thomas in Bremen some years ago."


title: Winter Palace

text: In 1881, the revolutionaries were finally successful and Alexander II was assassinated as his carriage drove through the streets of Saint Petersburg. The Winter Palace was never truly inhabited again. The new Tsar Alexander III was informed by his security advisers that it was impossible to make the Winter Palace secure. The Imperial Family then moved to the seclusion of the Gatchina Palace, some from Saint Petersburg. By comparison with the Winter Palace, the 600-room, moated Gatchina Palace, set within forests, was a cosy family home. When in Saint Petersburg, the Imperial Family resided at the Anichkov Palace, while the Winter Palace was used for official functions. Large economies were made in food and wine. The Tsar was highly interested in the running costs of the Palace, insisting that table linen was not to be changed daily, and that candles and soap were not replaced until completely spent. Even the number of eggs used in an omelette was reduced. While the Tsar economised on household expenses, he added to the Imperial art collection of both the palace and the Hermitage. Officially, the Hermitage Museum had an annual buying allowance of 5,000 rubles, but when this proved insufficient the Tsar would himself purchase items for the museum.


title: Winter Palace

text: Empress Maria Feodorovna (Dagmar of Denmark), the wife of Alexander III, saw that a garden was laid out in the centre of the main courtyard in 1885, an area previously cobbled and lacking vegetation. Court architect Nikolai Gornostayev designed a garden surrounded by a granite plinth and a fountain, and planted trees in the courtyard, laying limestone pavements along the walls of the palace.


title: Winter Palace

text: In 1894, Alexander III was succeeded by his son Nicholas II. The last Tsar suspended court mourning for his father to marry his wife Alix of Hesse in a lavish ceremony at the Winter palace. However, after the ceremony the newlywed couple retired to the Anichkov Palace, along with the Dowager Empress. There they began their married life in six small rooms.


title: Winter Palace

text: In 1895, Nicholas and Alexandra established themselves at the Alexander Palace at Tsarskoe Selo. This was to be their favoured home for the remainder of the reign. However, from December 1895 they did reside for periods during the winter at the Winter Palace. Architect Alexander Krasovsky was commissioned to redecorate a suite of rooms in the north-west corner of the palace, including the Gothic library.


title: Winter Palace

text: In 1896, the wife of Nicholas II was credited for the creation of another garden (35) on the former parade ground, beneath the windows of the Imperial Family's private apartments. She had found it disconcerting that the public could stare into her windows. The garden was created by landscape architect Georg Kuphaldt, the director of the Riga city gardens and parks. This is only one of two gardens which remain today at the palace.


title: Winter Palace

text: During the reign of Nicholas II, court life was quieter than it had ever been, due to the Tsaritsa's retiring nature and mistrust of Saint Petersburg's high society. In the Empress' opinion: "Saint Petersburg is a rotten town, and not one atom Russian." Under her influence, gradually the great court receptions and balls at the Winter Palace, which humoured and cultivated the powerful nobility, came to an end. They were briefly replaced by theatricals held in the Hermitage which "no one enjoyed", then even the theatricals ceased.


title: Winter Palace

text: The final great Imperial gathering at the Winter Palace was a themed fancy dress ball celebrating the reign of Alexei I, which took place on 11 and 13 February 1903 (1903 Ball in the Winter Palace). Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich recalled the occasion as "the last spectacular ball in the history of the empire...[but] a new and hostile Russia glared through the large windows of the palace...while we danced, the workers were striking and the clouds in the Far East were hanging dangerously low." The entire Imperial family, the Tsar as Alexei I, the Empress as Maria Miloslavskaya, all dressed in rich 17th century attire, posed in the Hermitage's theatre, many wearing priceless original items brought specially from the Kremlin, for what was to be their final photograph together.


title: Winter Palace

text: In 1904, Russia was at war with Japan, and the newborn Tsarevich was secretly ill; the Tsar and the Empress permanently abandoned Saint Petersburg, the Winter Palace, and high society (considered by the Empress to be decadent and immoral) for the greater comfort, security and privacy of Tsarskoe Selo. Thus it was that the Winter Palace, designed and intended to impress, reflect and reinforce the Romanovs' power, lost its raison d'être over a decade before the fall of the dynasty it was intended to house and glorify.


title: Winter Palace

text: Following the Imperial Family's move to the Alexander Palace at Tsarskoe Selo, the Winter Palace became little more than an administrative office block and a place of rare official entertaining. Throughout the year, the family moved from one palace to another: in March, to Livadia; in May to Peterhof (not the great palace, but a 19th-century villa in its grounds); in June, they cruised upon the Imperial Yacht, Standart; August was spent in Poland, at Spala, September was spent back at Livadia, before a return to Tsarskoe Selo for the Winter.


title: Winter Palace

text: The Tsar betrayed his private views of Saint Petersburg in 1912, while addressing a farewell party of dignitaries and family bidding him farewell, as the family left for warmer climes: "I am only sorry for you who have to remain in this bog." However, to the Tsar's ordinary subjects, the Winter Palace was seen not only as the home of the Tsars, but a symbol of Imperial power. In this role, it was to be at the centre of some of the most momentous happenings in Russia's early 20th century history. Three of these events stand out in Russia's history: The Bloody Sunday massacre of 1905; the opening of the first State Duma in 1906, which opened in St George's Hall (13); and finally the taking of the palace by revolutionaries in 1917.


title: Winter Palace

text: The Bloody Sunday massacre was a result of the public ignorance of the Tsar's place of residence. It occurred on during a demonstration march by workers toward the Winter Palace. The closest shootings of demonstrators occurred near St. Isaac's Cathedral at the entrance to the Aleksandr Gardens leading to the Palace Square in front of the Winter Palace. The massacre was sparked when a Russian Orthodox priest and popular working class leader, Father Gapon, announced his intention to lead a peaceful protest of 100,000 unarmed striking workers to present a petition to the Tsar, to call for fundamental reforms and the founding of a constituent parliament. The protesters were unaware that the palace was little more than an uninhabited icon of Imperial power, and that the Tsar no longer resided there. The Tsar was not informed of the planned protest until the evening before, while no suggestion was made that the Tsar should meet a deputation or send representative to accept the petition. Instead, the Minister for the Interior drafted additional troops. As the strikers neared the palace bearing religious icons and singing the Imperial anthem, the Tsar's troops opened fire. While the number of casualties is disputed, moderate estimates average around 1,000 men, women and children killed or injured. The massacre, which came to be known as Bloody Sunday, was a serious blunder on the part of the Okhrana and was to have grave consequences for the Tsarist regime. It was also to be the catalyst for the 1905 Revolution.


title: Winter Palace

text: Subsequently, little changed politically in Russia during this period, and the Winter Palace remained in darkness. In 1913 the Romanov dynasty celebrated its tercentenary, but the crowds that flocked to see the processions were thin, the Empress appeared unhappy and the heir sick. The Tsar and Empress declined to hold a celebratory ball at the Winter Palace, instead holding two small receptions, both of which the Empress failed to attend. In 1914, Russia was forced to go to war as a result of the Triple Entente Alliance. The Tsar and Empress briefly returned to the Winter Palace to stand on their balcony to accept salutes and homage from the departing troops. Ironically, unlike the monarchs of Europe who stood on balconies adorned with velvet, the Tsar and Empress stood, with their family further back in the balconade room, in one corner of an unadorned balcony. As the departing troops saluted their monarch in front of the palace, plans were being drawn up to store the palace's contents and convert the state rooms into a hospital to receive returning troops.


title: Winter Palace

text: In the initial stages of the war, Russia endured heavy losses at the Masurian Lakes and Tannenberg and it was to the Winter Palace that many of the wounded returned. Rechristened the Tsarevich Alexey Nikolayevich Hospital, from October 1915, the palace was a fully equipped hospital, its staterooms transformed into hospital wards. The Fieldmarshals' Hall became a dressing station, the Armorial Hall an operating theatre. The small throne room became a doctor's mess room, while more lowly staff were accommodated in the Nicholas Hall and the Anteroom. Nurses were housed in the more intimate apartments once reserved for members of the extended Romanov family. The 1812 Gallery became a store room, the vestibule of the Jordan staircase the hospital's canteen, and its landings offices.


title: Winter Palace

text: As the war went badly for Russia, its catastrophes were reflected in Saint Petersburg. The Tsar had decided to lead from the front, leaving the Empress to effectively rule Russia from Tsarskoe Selo. It was an unpopular move with both the Tsar's subjects and the Romanov family, as the Empress hired and fired indiscriminately often, it was supposed, on the advice of her favourite, Rasputin. Following Rasputin's murder by the Tsar's nephew-in-law in December 1916, the Empress' decisions and appointments became more erratic and the situation worsened and Saint Petersburg fell into the full grip of revolution.


title: Winter Palace

text: Forced to accept the hopelessness of both the war and the situation at home, on 15 March 1917, Nicholas II abdicated in favour of his brother, Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich. The Grand Duke promptly refused to accept the throne without the support of the army and his people. A provisional Government was appointed and many members of the former Imperial family were arrested, including the former Tsar, the Empress and their children. No member of the Romanov family have lived in the Winter Palace since the abdication in 1917 and very rarely did after 1905. Nicholas II, his wife and children were all held in captivity until they were murdered at Yekaterinburg in 1918. Other members of the former Imperial Family either met similar fates or escaped into exile.


title: Winter Palace

text: It was this turbulent period of Russian history, known as the February Revolution, which for a brief time saw the Winter Palace re-established as a seat of government and focal point of the former Russian Empire. In February 1917, the Russian Provisional Government, led by Alexander Kerensky, based itself in the north west corner of the palace with the Malachite Room "(4)" being the chief council chamber. Most of the state rooms were, however, still occupied by the military hospital.


title: Winter Palace

text: It was to be a short occupation of both palace and power. By 25 October 1917, the Provisional Government was failing and, realising the palace was a target for the more militant Bolsheviks, ordered its defence. All military personnel in the city pledged support to the Bolsheviks, who accused Kerensky's Government of wishing to "surrender Petrograd to the Germans so as to enable them to exterminate the revolutionary garrison."


title: Winter Palace

text: Thus the provisional government, assisted by a few remaining loyal servants, who had formerly served the Tsar, barricaded themselves in the palace. Many of the administrative staff fled, leaving the palace severely under-defended allegedly by some Cossacks, Cadets, and 137 female soldiers from the Women's Battalion. Food ordered by the occupants of the palace was commandeered by the Bolsheviks, and, in a state of siege, the Winter Palace entered the most turbulent period in its history. According to Soviet history, five thousand sailors newly arrived from Kronstadt were deployed to attack the palace, while the cruiser "Aurora" positioned itself on the Neva, all its guns trained towards the Palace. Across the water, the Bolsheviks captured the Peter and Paul Fortress and turned its artillery towards the besieged building. As the provisional Government, now impotent, hid in the private rooms of the former Imperial Family, nervously surveying the scenes outside, one by one the Government buildings in Palace Square surrendered to the Bolsheviks, leaving the palace seemingly only hours from destruction.


title: Winter Palace

text: At 7:00 pm, the Government held its last meeting in the Malachite Room, with the telephone and all contact with the outside world disconnected. A short debate determined that they would not leave the palace to attempt dialogue with the hostile crowds outside. With the palace completely surrounded and sealed, the "Aurora" began her bombardment of the great Neva façade as the Government refused an ultimatum to surrender. Further machine gun and light artillery fire were directed at the palace as the Bolsheviks gained entry via His Majesty's own Staircase "(36)". In the ensuing battle there were casualties on both sides until the Bolsheviks finally, by 2:00 am, had control of the palace. Leaving a trail of destruction, they searched room after room before arresting the Provisional Government in Small Dining Room of the private apartments"(28)", from where they were taken to imprisonment in the Fortress across the river. Kerensky managed to evade arrest and escape to Pskov, where he rallied some loyal troops for an attempt to retake the capital. His troops managed to capture Tsarskoe Selo, but were beaten the next day at Pulkovo.


title: Winter Palace

text: Following the Government's arrest, an alleged eyewitness account by an unnamed source records that the Bolsheviks began rampaging:


title: Winter Palace

text: The Winter Palace's wine cellars fuelled the weeks of looting and unrest in the city which followed. Arguably the largest and best stocked wine cellar in history, it contained the world's finest vintages, including the Tsar's favourite, and priceless, Château d'Yquem 1847. So keen were the mob to obtain the alcohol, that the Bolsheviks explored radical solutions to the problem, one of which involved piping the wine straight out into the Neva. This led to crowds clustering around the palace drains. Another proposal, deemed too risky, was exploding the cellars. Eventually, the problem was solved by the declaration of martial law. It has been said that Petrograd, "perhaps with the biggest hangover in history, finally woke up and got back to some order."


title: Winter Palace

text: The Winter Palace was now a redundant and damaged building symbolic of a despised regime, facing an uncertain future. "The Storming of the Winter Palace" was a historical reenactment organised by the Bolsheviks on the 3rd anniversary in 1920. With thousands of Red Guards led by Lenin, and witnessed by 100,000 spectators, the reenactment has become one of the "best known" events of the Russian Revolution.


title: Winter Palace

text: Ironically, the Red Guard actually broke into the palace through a back door that was left open, guarded by wounded and disabled reserves. This gave rise to the occasion being described as the birth of the Soviet state. Nikolai Podvoisky, one of the original troika, which led the original storming, was so impressed by the re-enactment that he commissioned Sergei Eisenstein to make his film "". Certain features, such as the banks of floodlights which appear in Eisenstein's film indicate that Eisenstein was more influenced by the re-enactment than the original event.


title: Winter Palace

text: On 30 October 1917, the palace was declared to be part of the Hermitage public museums. This first exhibition to be held in the Winter Palace concerned the history of the revolution, and the public were able to view the private rooms of the Imperial Family. This must have been an interesting experience for the viewing public, for while Soviet authorities denied looting and damage to the palace during the Storming, the Russian art connoisseur Alexander Alexandrovich Polovtsov, who visited these rooms immediately before and after the event, described the private apartments as the most badly damaged area of the palace. The contents of the state rooms had been sent to Moscow for safety when the hospital was established, and the Hermitage Museum itself had not been damaged during the revolution.


title: Winter Palace

text: Following the Revolution, there was a policy of removing all Imperial emblems from the palace, including those on the stonework, plaster-work and iron work. During the Soviet era, many of the palace's remaining treasures were dispersed around the museums and galleries of the Soviet Union. Some were sold for hard currency while others were given away to visiting dignitaries. As the original contents disappeared and other items from sequestered collections began to be displayed in the palace, the distinctions between the rooms' original and later use have become blurred. While some rooms have retained their original names, and some even the trappings of Imperial Russia, such as the furnishings of the Small and Large Throne Rooms, many other rooms are known by the names of their new contents, such as The Room of German Art.


title: Winter Palace

text: Following the 1941–1944 Siege of Leningrad, when the palace was damaged, a restoration policy was enacted, which has fully restored the palace. Furthermore, as the Russian Government does not categorically shun remnants of the Imperial Era as was the case during Soviet rule, the palace has since had the emblems of the Romanovs restored. The gilded and crowned double headed eagles again adorn the walls, balconies and gates.


title: Winter Palace

text: Today, as part of one of the world's best known museums, the palace attracts an annual 3.5 million visitors.


title: Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius

text: Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius is a 2001 American computer-animated science fiction comedy film produced by Nickelodeon Movies, O Entertainment and DNA Productions, and distributed by Paramount Pictures. The film was directed by John A. Davis and written by Davis and producer Steve Oedekerk. Its voice cast includes Debi Derryberry, Patrick Stewart, Martin Short, Rob Paulsen, and Jeffrey Garcia. The film follows the title character, a schoolboy with super-genius intelligence, who must save all of the parents of his hometown from a race of egg-like aliens known as the Yolkians.


title: Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius

text: The idea for "Jimmy Neutron" was first created by Davis in the 1980s, in which he wrote a script for a short film titled "Runaway Rocketboy" and starring a prototype character for Jimmy named Johnny Quasar. After coming across the abandoned script several years later, Davis decided that it would be a good idea to revisit it and retool it as a computer-animated short and potential TV series. A 40-second demo was animated using LightWave 3D and gained popularity at the 1995 SIGGRAPH convention where it was shown off, grabbing the attention of Oedekerk and leading DNA Productions to develop an extended TV pilot. After a successful pitch to Nickelodeon, a 13-minute-long TV episode was developed, and Nickelodeon, impressed with both the character and the 3D technology, raised the possibility of making both a TV series and a full-length feature film. Davis, in turn, suggested that the film be made first, so that the development team could create the assets at theatrical quality and reuse them in the TV series. Production officially began in early 2000 and was completed in roughly 24 months, with the studio considerably raising its staff count and expanding its studio space. Animation was done entirely using commercial software, including LightWave and project:messiah.


title: Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius

text: "Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius" was released on December 21, 2001. Backed by a strong pre-release campaign, the film was a box office success, grossing $103 million worldwide against a $30 million budget. It earned generally positive reviews for its characters, humor, vocal performances, and sense of charm, fun, and wit. It was nominated for the inaugural Academy Award for Best Animated Feature in 2001, ultimately losing to "Shrek". It was the only animated Nickelodeon film to be nominated in that category for nearly a decade until "Rango" (2011) was nominated and won.


title: Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius

text: Due to its success, the film was continued into an animated television series called "The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius", which premiered on July 20, 2002, and ended on November 25, 2006. Four years later, a spin-off series called "Planet Sheen" was produced, focusing on Jimmy's friend Sheen Estevez. This series premiered on October 2, 2010 (alongside "T.U.F.F. Puppy"), and ended on February 15, 2013.


title: Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius

text: A simulator ride based on the film called "Jimmy Neutron's Nicktoon Blast" was set to take place after the events of the film and featured guest appearances by other Nicktoons characters. It opened at Universal Studios Florida on April 11, 2003, and closed on August 18, 2011.


title: Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius

text: Eleven-year-old boy genius Jimmy Neutron lives in Retroville with his parents, Judy and Hugh, and his robot dog, Goddard. Jimmy's friends are overweight Carl Wheezer and hyperactive Sheen Estevez, and his long-standing rival, intelligent classmate Cindy Vortex, teases him for his small stature. After Jimmy launches a communications satellite into space, hoping to contact alien life, he crashes his makeshift rocket into his house's roof, upsetting his mother. When Jimmy, Carl and Sheen learn of the opening of Retroland, an amusement park, popular kid Nick Dean convinces the boys to sneak out and attend. Judy refuses to let him attend the park that night. After his jetpack accidentally starts a fire in the house, she grounds him. Taking Nick's advice, Jimmy uses his shrink ray invention to sneak out and meets Carl and Sheen at Retroland for a night of fun.


title: Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius

text: Meanwhile, Jimmy's satellite is intercepted by the Yolkians, a race of egg-like aliens from the planet Yolkus. Their leader, King Goobot, views Jimmy's message and notices a picture featuring his parents, declaring his search complete. The Yolkians arrive on Earth and abduct all the adults in Retroville, except Jimmy's teacher Miss Fowl (due to being shrunken down to a small size by Jimmy's shrink ray). As their ships return to space, Jimmy, Carl and Sheen mistake their departure for a shooting star, prompting Jimmy to wish their parents were gone. The next morning, all the children notice the parents are missing and party recklessly. At first, having no parents was fun for the children. But then, the following day, they are miserable and realize they need their parents. Jimmy learns that his satellite has been found and deduces the parents have been abducted. He enlists the children to create rocket ships out of Retroland's rides and they blast off into space after their families.


title: Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius

text: After braving a meteor shower and camping on an asteroid, Jimmy and company eventually reach Yolkus and find the parents with mind control devices attached to their heads. When Jimmy tries to get the mind-control helmet off of Hugh, Goobot captures them and reveals that Jimmy had led the Yolkians directly to Earth to take their parents, whom they intend to sacrifice to their god Poultra. Jimmy is separated from Goddard by Goobot's bumbling assistant, Ooblar, and is locked in a dungeon with the other children, who blame Jimmy for their predicament. Taking pity on Jimmy, Cindy confesses she and the other children need him and encourages Jimmy to fix things by helping them escape. Using a cellphone owned by Cindy's friend, Libby Folfax, Jimmy contacts Goddard, who escapes from Ooblar and frees the children.


title: Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius

text: Jimmy and company reach the Yolkians' Colosseum where a giant egg is hatched, releasing Poultra, a gigantic three-eyed alien chicken. As Goobot arranges the parents to be eaten using a mind control remote, Jimmy rallies the children to storm the colosseum and battle the guards while Sheen retrieves an escape vessel, which knocks Poultra on the head upon his return. Jimmy steals the remote from Goobot and the children escape Yolkus with the parents. Goobot arranges a fleet to pursue them, which is all destroyed when the children fly their ship around the surface of the Sun, save for Goobot's vessel. When Goobot and Ooblar mock Jimmy's short size, Jimmy charges at Goobot's ship with Goddard in a flying bike form and uses his shrink ray to enlarge himself into the size of a planet. He then blows Goobot's vessel away into an asteroid, destroying it. Goobot survives and vows revenge. On the return trip to Earth, Jimmy reconciles with his parents, admitting that despite his intelligence, he still depends on them. The next day, Jimmy and Carl have eggs in an egg cup for breakfast, when Jimmy's parents drink one of his scientific experiments, which causes significant belching, thinking it is a real soda can. They all laugh while Goddard is seen outside flying to chase a bird.


title: Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius

text: In the mid-credits scene, the still-shrunken Miss Fowl is seen riding on an apple worm, named Mr. Wiggles, on her way to the cafeteria in the elementary school hall.


title: Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius

text: The idea for a series about a boy with super-genius powers was first conceived in the 1980s by John A. Davis, who scripted and storyboarded a short narrative titled "Runaway Rocketboy", centering around a character named Johnny Quasar (inspired by a facetious nickname that his summer co-workers had coined for him in his youth) who builds a rocket ship and runs away from his parents. Davis stated in an episode of the Nickelodeon Animation Podcast that he initially wrote the concept with the intention of creating it as a live-action film with special effects and matte shots, even going so far as to apply for a grant to fund the project, but found that getting such an investment was difficult since the film was not educational or informative. The idea laid dormant for several years until Davis came across the abandoned script while in the process of moving. Around the same time, Davis' Dallas-based studio, DNA Productions, had just begun experimenting with the use of computer animation after obtaining copies of LightWave 3D. In turn, Davis realized that the film would be fitting as a CGI film, since all of the science fiction set pieces could be entirely modeled in 3-D.


title: Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius

text: Davis, alongside studio co-founder Keith Alcorn, created a 40-second proof-of-concept demo film which depicted Johnny and his robot dog, Goddard, flying through an asteroid belt and greeting the viewers. Simultaneously, Davis and Alcorn worked to create a story bible outlining a potential television series. The demo short was shown off in 1995 at the SIGGRAPH CGI convention, where it was entered into a competition for LightWave films. The demo quickly garnered notability in the computer animation industry, receiving frequent press coverage in magazines and winning two "Wavey" awards- one for Best Character Animation and another for Best in Show. Among people who caught wind of the film was Steve Oedekerk, the founder of O Entertainment, who saw a still shot of Johnny and Goddard in a CGI magazine. Oedekerk, a strong backer of computer animation, was impressed by the characters' designs – he stated in an interview that the image particularly stood out to him because it "seemed fun" compared to the mostly-photorealistic work being done with computer animation at the time. He cold-called Davis requesting to see a tape of the full short. After watching the demo, as well as seeing the show bible which Davis and Alcorn had developed, Oedekerk expressed interest in helping to pitch their concept to different networks.


title: Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius

text: After teaming up with O Entertainment, the company began working on developing a full-length episode for a TV series, titled "The Adventures of Johnny Quasar", writing an expanded version of the original "Runaway Rocket" story and tweaking aspects of Johnny's design to make him look more like a child. In Fall 1995, the idea was pitched to Nickelodeon, who expressed immediate interest in the idea. Albie Hecht, the then-president of Nick, was particularly impressed- coining him to be "half Bart Simpson and half Albert Einstein," he strongly praised Johnny's blended personality as an adventurous and intelligent character and one grounded in the reality of childhood, which, according to him, made him "the perfect Nick kid." Following positive reception, Nickelodeon commissioned for a 13-minute pilot episode to be created. After several years of going through the review process, the episode began production in late 1997, and was completed in 1998. The name "Johnny Quasar" was changed at the request of Nickelodeon, who did not want the character to be confused with similarly named ones such as Jonny Quest and Captain Quazar, so Davis brainstormed other character names while walking his dog around the neighborhood block, eventually coming up with the final name, "Jimmy Neutron".


title: Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius

text: After the pilot was completed, Nickelodeon executives, who were impressed by the pilot and still enthusiastic about the show's potential, raised the prospect of creating a theatrical film to accompany the TV series, much to the surprise of Davis and his team at the studio. During the initial pitch to Nickelodeon, Oedekerk had highlighted the idea that using computer animation would allow the same models and assets to be reused between both a film and a TV show, an idea which Nick held strong faith in. Davis further suggested that the feature film be created first, since the characters being modeled could be created at a higher quality than they would have with a TV budget. Although Nick was worried that it would be more difficult to attract a movie-going audience without the TV show to build an install base for the series, these concerns were answered with a series of short TV interstitials which would begin airing in order to build up hype for the upcoming film.


title: Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius

text: With a budget of roughly $30 million, production of "Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius" was greenlit in Fall 1999, and work began on a script for the film. Production officially started in February 2000 under the direction of Davis. In order to speed up the pace of work for a feature film, the company's staff count was considerably increased from 30 to around 150 employees, and the studio's workspace was also reformed in order to fit such a team of filmmakers. The film was completed in 24 months- roughly half that in which most other CGI films were completed.


title: Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius

text: The screenplay for "Jimmy Neutron" was written by Davis and Oedekerk, as well as "Rugrats" staff writers David N. Weiss and J. David Stem. In creating the many ideas in "Jimmy Neutron", Davis and Oedekerk thought back to their childhoods, trying to think about "what a kid would create if he had the ability to create any kind of gadget." The film was largely inspired by Davis' own love of science fiction which he had since childhood, drawing influence from various sources including "Thunderbirds" and Ray Harryhausen's stop motion work. Oedekerk's 6-year-old daughter, Zoe, came up with the idea for "burp soda", which ultimately appeared in the movie as one of Jimmy's many inventions. According to Davis, the Ultralord-obsessed Sheen Estevez was inspired by Davis' own love of collecting. Sheen was initially intended to be Japanese, as he was named after the nickname of a Japanese employee who had worked for Davis, but the filmmakers had trouble finding a suitable voice actor of Japanese descent. Incidentally, they changed the character's nationality to Mexican after opening the role to a broader category and eventually settling on Mexican stand-up comic Jeff Garcia.


title: Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius

text: "Jimmy Neutron" was the first computer animated film to be created entirely using commercial animation programs rather than proprietary software, with most animation done using both Lightwave and project:messiah. Characters were first modeled in Lightwave, after which they were rigged and animated in Messiah. Texture painting was done via Adobe Photoshop, while compositing work was completed in Maya Fusion. In addition to serving as executive producer, Alcorn was the film's lead character designer, and created actively simplistic and cartoonish designs in order to avoid overcomplicating production. To animate crowd scenes, methods of simplification were used to make animation less time-consuming: characters that were farther from the camera had less articulation, and animators would duplicate the same characters, offset them to different areas, and change their body parts to differentiate them. One particular scene shows a crowd of 6000 Yolkians, each of which uses one of 30 distinct animation loops.


title: Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius

text: According to Davis, the character models were intentionally given a "sculpted, graphic look," both to avoid making them look overly realistic and to circumvent the prospect of having to deal with simulating cloth or hair. The over-the-top character designs, in turn, influenced the film world's aesthetic (e.g. cars were modeled to be able to fit the characters' stylistically large heads). Off-the-shelf shaders were favored over ones which created more photorealistic lighting in order to maintain a cartoonish appearance throughout.


title: Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius

text: Nancy Cartwright, Pamela Adlon and E. G. Daily were all considered for the role of Jimmy Neutron before Debi Derryberry was cast for the film and subsequent series. The film was Derryberry's biggest acting role at the time, as previously she had mostly provided minor roles in films and TV shows.


title: Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius

text: The movie soundtrack was released by Zomba Music, Jive Records, and Nick Records on November 20, 2001, a month prior to the film's release. It includes covers of DJ Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince's "Parents Just Don't Understand", Thomas Dolby's "She Blinded Me With Science" , and Kim Wilde's "Kids In America".


title: Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius

text: Additionally, a promotional CD containing the score by John Debney was released for Academy Award consideration.


title: Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius

text: To promote the film, a series of shorts were created to air on Nickelodeon, with the first one premiering on February 5, 2001. The shorts were tied in with online games available on Nick's website. Clips from the shorts were previously compiled to form a trailer, which was attached to the theatrical release of "" (2000). The shorts would later be included on the film's DVD release.


title: Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius

text: In April 2001, "Nickelodeon Magazine" launched a monthly Jimmy Neutron comic strip online. An official trailer debuted two months later with the release of "". The character Jimmy Neutron made appearances at the 2001 Kids' Choice Awards and appeared in commercials for Trident gum ahead of the film's premiere. Other promotional partners included RadioShack and Mattel, both of which produced toys based on the film. In September 2001, to further raise awareness of the film, Nick launched a series of "pranks" in which Jimmy Neutron would appear in episodes of shows – such as "Rugrats" and "SpongeBob SquarePants" – and mischievously alter them using an electronic zapping device.


title: Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius

text: It was released on VHS and DVD by Paramount Home Entertainment on July 2, 2002. It was re-released on DVD twice, on June 22, 2011, and April 25, 2017. The film received a Blu-ray release on March 8, 2022.


title: Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius

text: "Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius" received generally positive reviews from critics and audiences. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of based on reviews, with an average rating of . The critics' consensus reads: "What "Jimmy Neutron" lacks in computer animation, it makes up for in charm and cleverness." According to Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 65 out of 100 based on 21 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A-" on an A+ to F scale.


title: Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius

text: Rita Kempley of "The Washington Post" praised the film, saying that "this little charmer both celebrates and kids the corny conventions of family sitcoms". Nell Minow of Common Sense Media enjoyed the "stylish 3-D computer animation, good characters", giving the film 3 out of 5 stars. Owen Gleiberman of "Entertainment Weekly" gave this film a grade of "B+", calling it "a lickety-split, madly packed, roller-coaster entertainment that might almost have been designed to make you scared of how much smarter your kids are than you". Paul Tatara of CNN called the film "the most delightfully original children's film of 2001". Roger Ebert of the "Chicago Sun-Times" gave the film three stars out of four, saying that "it doesn't have the little in-jokes that make "Shrek" and "Monsters, Inc." fun for grown-ups. But adults who appreciate the art of animation may enjoy the look of the picture".


title: Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius

text: The film was financially successful, grossing $13,833,228 on its opening weekend in third place behind "" and "Ocean's Eleven" and ended up with a total of $80,936,232 domestically, and the film did better overseas grossing $22,056,304 which made a total of $102,992,536 worldwide. It had a budget of roughly $30 million. It is one of only twenty feature films to be released in over 3,000 theaters and still improve on its box office performance in its second weekend, increasing 8.7% from $13,832,786 to $15,035,649.


title: Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius

text: "Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius" was nominated for the first Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, losing to "Shrek". It was the first release from Nickelodeon Movies to receive an Academy Award nomination.


title: Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius

text: A sequel television series, "The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius", ran from July 2002 to November 2006. Another series, "Planet Sheen", is a spin-off of the film and its 2002 series. It focuses on Sheen Estevez, and ran from October 2, 2010, to February 15, 2013.


title: Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius

text: A simulator ride called Jimmy Neutron's Nicktoon Blast opened at Universal Studios Florida on April 4, 2003, and operated until August 18, 2011. It was set after the events of the film and featured guest appearances by other Nicktoons characters.


title: Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius

text: In February 2002, a sequel was reported in development for a summer 2004 release. Producer Albie Hecht reported to The Los Angeles Times that the sequel "would be made on the same budget as the first, but with a new batch of inventions and adventures in Jimmy's town of Retroville." On June 20, 2002, "The Hollywood Reporter" reported that writer Kate Boutilier had signed a writing deal with Nickelodeon Movies and Paramount Pictures to write a sequel to the film, but the sequel never materialized. The film was cancelled because the writers could not agree on a story and Alcorn later stated in an interview that "once the TV series came out, there wasn't a lot of incentive to make a movie when fans could simply watch "Jimmy Neutron" for free at home."


title: Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius

text: In 2016, director John A. Davis stated that he has a story for a "Jimmy Neutron" reboot feature that he would like to make, but he is waiting for the "right situation" to make it.


title: Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius

text: When asked about a reboot in 2020, Rob Paulsen stated "Well, I've got to tell you, man. I go all over the world when we don't have the coronavirus, and people love Carl. They love Carl. I don't think it would be a bad thing at all to reboot Jimmy Neutron. I think that's one of those shows that a lot of people would love to see again. It was very good. Really smart. That wouldn't surprise me."


title: Petta (film)

text: Petta () is a 2019 Indian Tamil-language action drama film written and directed by Karthik Subbaraj. The film was produced by Kalanithi Maran under the banner Sun Pictures. The film stars Rajinikanth alongside an ensemble cast featuring Simran, M. Sasikumar, Trisha, Bobby Simha, Megha Akash, Malavika Mohanan, Mahendran, Guru Somasundaram, Sananth, Vijay Sethupathi and Nawazuddin Siddiqui in supporting roles. The music was composed by Anirudh Ravichander with editing done by Vivek Harshan and cinematography by Tirru. In the film Kaali, a hostel warden crosses paths with a group of criminals where things takes an interesting turn.


title: Petta (film)

text: The film was released on 10 January 2019. The film received positive reviews from critics, who appreciated the cast performances (particularly Rajnikanth, Vijay Sethupathi and Nawazuddin Siddiqui), cinematography, soundtrack & musical score and direction, but criticized the film's length.


title: Petta (film)

text: Kaali is a mysterious and deceivingly elderly man, who takes up the job of a boys' hostel warden at a college in Ooty. He notices that the hostel is dominated by a group of unruly final-year students, who are led by Michael, the spoiled son of a local leader named Gnanam. Kaali puts a stop to Michael's antics, which leads to enmity between the two. Kaali also forms a close bond with a NRI hostelite named Anwar, who is in a relationship with Anu, the daughter of Mangalam, a pranic healer.


title: Petta (film)

text: Kaali convinces Mangalam to accept her daughter's relationship with Anwar, and they end up falling in love. Michael, who lusts for Anu, is angered on hearing of her relationship with Anwar, and attempts to harass them, only to be stopped by Kaali. Michael and his friends are suspended, where Anwar records and shares the humiliation of Michael and his gang. The video is noticed in Uttar Pradesh by a local goon named Jithu, the son of a powerful politician called Singaaram aka Singaar Singh. Singaar, on seeing Anwar in the video as well as in a photo with his mother on Facebook, sends his men to Ooty to kill Anwar, for unknown reasons.


title: Petta (film)

text: At the same time, Michael, humiliated at his suspension, sends his men to beat up (but not kill) Kaali. Michael's plan backfires as he and his men are caught in the fight between Kaali and Singaar's men. Kaali subdues Singaar's men, earning Michael's and Gnanam's respect, following which Anwar meets Kaali's friend, who narrates about his past. Anwar is the son of Maalik, who was Kaali's best friend. It is also revealed that Kaali's real name is Petta Velan, who is a well-respected man in his village in Madurai.


title: Petta (film)

text: Past: Maalik learns that Devaram and Singaar were involved in illegal sand mafia, which leads to Devaram getting arrest by Maalik and Petta. Petta learns that Maalik was in love with Devaram and Singaar's sister Poongodi, who conceived with him out of wedlock. Though relucant, Petta finally agrees, where he and his wife Saraswathy "Saro" managed to convince Poongodi's father Rajapandi to get Poongodi married to Maalik, but Devaaram and Singaar vehemently opposed the alliance as well as the transfer of property to Poongodi. After Maalik and Poongodi's marriage, Devaram and Singaar kill Rajapandi.


title: Petta (film)

text: On hearing about Rajapandi's murder, Petta kills Devaaram during Rajapandi's funeral and chased Singaar out of the village. Enraged about Devaaram's death and his forced exile, Singaar orchestrates a bomb blast during Poongodi's seemantham, killing Maalik, Saro and Petta's son Chinna. After finding that Poongodi is still alive, Petta took her to safety. Poongodi later gave birth to a boy, who is revealed to be Anwar and both of them left for Australia as refugees to escape from Singaar.


title: Petta (film)

text: Present: On learning his past, Anwar, along with Petta and Michael's henchmen leave for Uttar Pradesh to finish off Singaar once and for all. Petta and Anwar confront Jithu, who is determined to kill them both after learning about them from his father. The duo manages to escape Jithu. Later, Petta meets Jithu privately and reveals to him that he is none other than his son Chinna, who did not die in the blast, but was adopted by Singaar after finding him still alive in the wreckage. When Jithu confronts Singaar regarding his parentage, the latter sends his men to kill him, who is rescued by Petta.


title: Petta (film)

text: Along with Anwar and Michael's henchmen, Petta and Jithu barge into Singaar's mansion where they kill him and his henchmen. Following Singaar's death, Petta reveals that Jithu is not his son and that he really is Singaar's son. Petta used him to lead to Singaar as part of a strategy to kill the latter. He further adds that Chinna had died in the bomb blast. After this shocking revelation, Petta helds Jithu at gunpoint and kills him.


title: Petta (film)

text: In early February 2018, after completing his filming commitments for Pa. Ranjith's "Kaala" (2018), Rajinikanth held final discussions with a group of young directors, including Arun Prabu Purushothaman, Atlee, and Karthik Subbaraj for his next project. On 23 February 2018, production house Sun Pictures announced that they would produce a film starring Rajinikanth to be directed by Karthik Subbaraj. To accommodate the film's shoot throughout the course of 2018, the director postponed the pre-production work of another proposed film starring Dhanush for YNOT Studios. Subbaraj revealed that he was confident about approaching Rajinikanth to work on his film, after the actor was impressed with his earlier project, "Jigarthanda" (2014) and expressed a desire to collaborate. The pair had first discussed the script in early 2017, but Rajinikanth did not take a final call until finishing his existing filming commitments to "Kaala" and "2.0" (2018). Talking about the project, Subbaraj initially revealed that the film would be an "action drama" which was "fictional" but "realistic".


title: Petta (film)

text: Anirudh Ravichander was signed on to work as the film's music composer in early March 2018, in a move which saw him collaborate with his maternal uncle Rajinikanth, and Subbaraj, for the first time. Tirru and Vivek Harshan were selected to be the film's cinematographer and editor respectively, continuing their collaboration with Subbaraj following their work in "Mercury" (2018). Likewise, stunt choreographer Peter Hein also joined the team thereafter. In late May 2018, Subbaraj and Tirru went on a recce to scout locations in Nepal and North India to shoot the film. The film's title "Petta" was revealed on 7 September 2018.


title: Petta (film)

text: Vijay Sethupathi was signed on to play a character in April 2018, and accordingly reworked his dates to fit the film into his busy schedule. The actor signed the film after a month of media speculation that he would portray a villainous role, and revealed that he signed the film as he had blind trust in Subbaraj, and initially did not request to listen to the script. Subbaraj had also been keen to sign Fahadh Faasil for a role in the film, but the actor's filming commitments for "Varathan" (2018) meant that he could not allot dates. Hindi film actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui joined the cast in July 2018, while two other regular collaborators of Subbaraj, actors Bobby Simha and Sananth, were also signed to play pivotal roles in the film. Other members of the cast included supporting actors Guru Somasundaram, Ramdoss, Shabeer Kallarakkal, Deepak Paramesh, Adithya Shivpink, and Manikandan R. Achari.


title: Petta (film)

text: For leading female roles, the team held discussions throughout March 2018 with actresses Trisha, Deepika Padukone, and Anjali, but neither were signed immediately. In July 2018, the producers announced that Simran had joined the cast to play as pair of Rajinikanth. Trisha was eventually added to the cast in August 2018, while Malavika Mohanan was also signed to appear alongside Rajinikanth. Megha Akash was cast as Sananth's pair, and joined the shoot before the release of any of her initial Tamil films, "Boomerang", "Enai Noki Paayum Thota" and "Oru Pakka Kathai". In October, M. Sasikumar and Mahendran joined the cast.


title: Petta (film)

text: Principal photography began in June 2018. The first schedule of the shoot began on 7 June at Eastern Forest Rangers College at St. Mary's Hill, Kurseong in Darjeeling, with the initial portions lasting nine days. The team then shot in other location across Darjeeling and the hill towns for a further month, in locations including St. Paul's and Mount Hermon School. To finish the first schedule, the team returned to Kurseong for six days. An audition to cast 150 local actors was also held in Charbagh, Lucknow during the first schedule. During the making of the schedule, Rajinikanth met with politician Gautam Deb, who helped the makers have a hassle free shoot in exchange for the promotion of tourism in the area. Principal photography wrapped in October 2018, fifteen days ahead of schedule.


title: Petta (film)

text: The soundtrack album and background score is composed by Anirudh Ravichander, marking his first collaboration with Rajinikanth and Karthik Subbaraj. The lyrics were penned by Vivek, Ku. Karthik, Dhanush and Karthik Subbaraj. The audio launch took place on 9 December 2018, at Sai Leo Muthu Auditorium, Sri Sai Ram Engineering College, Chennai. The album consists of all eleven songs, which 5 of them are theme songs. The first single track, "Marana Mass" was released on 3 December 2018, followed by "Ullallaa" which released on 7 December 2018. The full album was made available for digital download on 9 December 2018, under the Sony Music record label, which had acquired the audio rights of the film. In February 2019, the album crossed 250 million streams on all platforms.


title: Petta (film)

text: "Petta" was released on 10 January 2019, coinciding with the occasion of Thai Pongal festival along with Ajith Kumar starrer "Viswasam".


title: Petta (film)

text: "Petta" is available for streaming in Sun NXT and Netflix and on Voot. The satellite rights of the film is sold to Sun TV.


title: Petta (film)

text: Petta was released on 600 screens in Tamil Nadu with tough competition from "Viswasam." The film grossed ₹1.12 crore at the Chennai box office. The film also grossed $133K at the US, overtaking "Viswasam" which grossed $18K. On its opening day, the film grossed ₹36.6 crore worldwide, with a share of ₹19 crore worldwide. The film collected ₹104 crore, in 3 days and grossed more than ₹138 crore in the opening weekend. The film collected worldwide on 4 days. The film collected ₹200 crore within 23 days. The film collected in Tamil Nadu, in Karnataka, in the rest of India and in overseas with a total of worldwide at the end of its theatrical run and became one of the second highest grossing Tamil film of the year.


title: Petta (film)

text: M. Suganth from "The Times of India", rated 3.5 out of 5, stating that "Petta is less of a Karthik Subbaraj film, but it gives Rajini fans their Thalaivar in a way that they have been dying to see him, celebrating the Rajinisms." "Filmibeat" rated the film 3.5 out of 5, stating "Petta is definitely a film that stays loyal to its genre and it keeps the audiences entertained despite some of the dragging moments in the second half. It is indeed a treat for all Rajinikanth fans as the superstar steals the show in a way that only he can." Srinivasa Ramanujam of The Hindu stated that "Despite quite a few underwritten characters, Petta triumphs by bringing back the Superstar of yore!" Indiaglitz rated the film 3.75 out of 5, stating that "Go for this kickass true blue Thalaivar movie in which Karthik Subbaraj Rajinifies you." Sify rated the film 3 out of 5. India Today rated the film 3.5 out of 5 stars, and summarised that "Petta is a classic Rajinikanth film that his fans should not miss". Anusha Iyengar from the Times Now rated 3.5 out of 5, with a verdict "Petta is a complete mass entertainer with twists and turns that will make you howl in the theatres like you would in a Thalaiva film. It is relevant to the current day and age; it's a film that all Rajinikanth fans will definitely enjoy!" "Behindwoods rated the film 3 out of 5, stating that "Style! Mass! Style! Petta is a celebration of Superstar Rajinikanth. Go enjoy it." The Indian Express rated 3.5 out of 5 stars, reviewing that "Karthik Subbaraj has a sense of style, which breaks through only occasionally in Petta. For that Rajini Sir will have to submit a little more to the script, and a last little twist in the long drawn-out climax holds out hope. "NDTV" rated the film 2.5 out of 5, and summarised that "Rajinikanth returns to the basics with aplomb. Just go and watch it for the Rajinikanth that you missed in his last few releases." Baradwaj Rangan, rated the film 2.5 out of 5 stars, stating "Jigarthanda and Iraivi were sprawling stories but there was a sense of a gradual buildup, the sense of the narrative noose being slowly tightened. But Petta looks rushed and even the Karthik Subbaraj flourishes come off like affectations" Gauthaman Baskaran, from "News18" rated 1 out of 5 stating that, "Petta turns out be yet another outing for Rajinikanth who relies on gimmicks rather than solid performance." "Ananda Vikatan" rated the film 41 out of 100.


title: Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare

text: Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare is a 2016 first-person shooter video game developed by Infinity Ward and published by Activision. It is the thirteenth installment in the "Call of Duty" series and was released worldwide for PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One on November 4, 2016.


title: Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare

text: Development of "Infinite Warfare" began during 2014. It is the first title by Infinity Ward under the new three-year development cycle for the "Call of Duty" series. The game's campaign is centered around a battle for the Solar System, which the Settlement Defense Front (SDF), a hostile force who are the main antagonists, are attempting to take over. The player takes control of Lieutenant Nick Reyes of the Special Combat Air Recon (SCAR). They have their own transforming fighter, named "Jackal", that they can customize as well as a central hub ship named "Retribution".


title: Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare

text: "Infinite Warfare"s announcement trailer was noted for its strong negative reaction; it was the second-most-disliked video on YouTube at the time. Commentators attributed this to "Call of Duty" fans expressing frustration at the direction the series had taken, specifically that the game and its predecessors had futuristic settings. Nevertheless, the game received generally positive reviews upon release; it received praise for its gameplay, characters, and Zombies mode, but criticism for its multiplayer mode, while its single-player campaign received mixed opinions. It was named as Best Shooter at E3 by "Game Informer" and was nominated for several awards. "Infinite Warfare" underperformed in sales compared to previous "Call of Duty" titles, though it was the top-selling game in the US in November 2016.


title: Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare

text: Similar to the previous games in the series, "Infinite Warfare" is a first-person shooter. As the game introduces a new setting, outer space, new gameplay mechanics, such as zero-gravity environments, are included. Players are equipped with a boost pack, and a grappling hook, which allow players to move in these zero-gravity environments easily. As the game is set in space, players can visit different planets, satellites and asteroids in the Solar System.


title: Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare

text: Assuming control of Captain Nick Reyes, a Tier 1 Special Operations pilot, players engage in aerial combat with enemies using his transforming fighter, the Jackal. Aerial combat is not on-rail, as players can freely control the Jackal with few limitations. According to Infinity Ward, both space combat, and the franchise's signature "boots-on-the-ground" gameplay are the game's key focuses. Transition between space combat and boots-on-the-ground combat is seamless with no loading screen.


title: Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare

text: Players gain access to Retribution, a central hub world. In Retribution, players can view their progression, and start main campaign missions, and secondary quests called "Ship Assaults" which gives them cosmetic and customization items, upgrades to the Jackal, as well as new story details. Reyes also has a wrist computer, which allows him to hack into enemies' gadgets and machines such as robots. It can also be used to call in reinforcements at some campaign scenarios. The game also features two new difficulty modes, Specialist and #YOLO, unlockable after initial completion of the campaign. In the former mode, health regeneration does not occur without Nano Shots, and weapons can be shot out from players' hands. Reyes' movement would be hindered if his legs are shot by enemies. In the latter mode, which also implements the same features from Specialist, when players die, they need to restart the game rather than restarting from checkpoints.


title: Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare

text: "Infinite Warfare" introduces a major overhaul to the class system called the "Combat Rigs". Similar to the Specialist system in "Black Ops III", there are six rigs in total, being Warfighter, Merc, FTL, Stryker, Phantom and Synaptic. All of which have different payloads, weapons, abilities and playstyles. For example, the Synaptic rig is designed for players who prefer to run and gun, while the Phantom rig is suited for players who want to play stealthily. Players can also gain access to several persistent perks, known as "Traits", which give players advantages in certain combat situations. Additionally, the game retains the chain-based momentum movement system of "Black Ops III", allowing players to perform thrust jumps, sliding, and wallrunning.


title: Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare

text: The game features hundreds of both primary and secondary weapons. Players can gain access to several types of weapons, including traditional ballistic weapons and melee weapons, futuristic energy weapons, and different kinds of grenades, such as the Seeker Grenade and the Black Hole Grenade. Players can add attachments on them to enhance their efficiency. The game also introduces a new weapon crafting system. In a multiplayer match, players earn "Salvage" points, which can be consumed to purchase Prototype Weapons, variants of existing in-game weapons. For each gun, there are four types of prototypes, classified into four groups, namely Common, Rare, Legendary and Epic. All of which grant players gameplay advantages known as the "Gun Perks". Scorestreaks return in "Infinite Warfare" for players who have earned sufficient points in a match. Scoresteaks offer players perks such as the ability to deploy UAV and counter-UAV, and the ability to summon a R-C8 robot, an armored robot designed to defend the player and kill other opponents.


title: Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare

text: The game also features a cooperative multiplayer Zombies mode, which has its own gameplay mechanics and story, separate from the campaign. The mode is designed to be more accessible to new players, with new features such as sharing points and teambuy doors, as well as keeping the core gameplay of the mode intact, such as perks and power-ups. A new feature, Fate and Fortune Cards, is introduced similarly to the Gobblegums in ""; the cards offer temporary boosts in-game to the players, but unlike Gobblegums they are activated through point earning, and players can select any of the five cards they have equipped at any time, not one at a time like the Gobblegum machine. After initial use of five cards, players can refill their card deck for a price up to two times in a match. Unlike the campaign and multiplayer modes, Zombies is not themed in space combat, and retains the normal movement system.


title: Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare

text: "Infinite Warfare" is set in the distant future, after Earth has been stripped of its natural resources as a result of population growth and industrial expansion, prompting the nations of the world to unite and form the United Nations Space Alliance (UNSA), a political organization that handles matters of trade, travel, land claims and all efforts relating to human space colonization. The residents of Earth rely on colonies established elsewhere in the Solar System in order to mine planets and asteroids for resources. The value of these outposts, however, attracts militant radicals who seek to control them, which could place the countries of Earth in a difficult position. In response, the UNSA is defended by the Solar Associated Treaty Organization (SATO), a coordinated military structure that defends Earth and the UNSA's holdings. Prior to the events of the game, a new hostile faction emerges on Mars, calling themselves the Settlement Defense Front (SDF), a totalitarian government consisting of former UNSA colonies that broke away during a previous war of secession. Following years of a troubled stalemate with the Front, relations have deteriorated to a point where the entire Solar System is poised on the brink of war.


title: Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare

text: As the newly appointed captain of the UNSA Warship "Retribution", Commander Nick Reyes (Brian Bloom), a Tier 1 Special Operations pilot of the Special Combat Air Recon (SCAR), is tasked to lead a crew to defeat the Settlement Defense Front on Earth, as well as journey to outer space and across other planets in the system using space-based fighter craft, referred to as Jackals, to stop the Front from taking over the entire Solar System. Assisting Reyes in the fight against the SDF are his mentor Admiral Fredrick Raines (John Marshall Jones), Reyes' wingman and best friend Lieutenant Nora Salter (Jamie Gray Hyder), his robot sidekick E3N "Ethan" (Jeffrey Nordling), and the SATO Marines including Staff Sergeant Usef Omar (David Harewood), Corporal Sean Brooks (Jason Barry) and Private Todd Kashima (Eric Ladin). Other notable allies include "Retribution" Navigator Victor "Gator" Diallo (Omid Abtahi), "Tigris" warship captain Maureen Ferran (Claudia Christian), and "Retribution" Chief Engineer Audrey "Mac" MaCallum (Claudia Black). Facing Reyes and his allies in battle is the commander of the starship "Olympus Mons", and leader of the SDF, Rear Admiral Salen Kotch (Kit Harington), and his senior commander Akeel Min Riah (Jim Pirri). UFC fighter Conor McGregor makes a cameo appearance as SDF Captain Bradley Fillion, while Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton appears as "Retribution" Electro-technical Officer Carl Hamilton.


title: Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare

text: In 2187, a UNSA special forces team is sent to a secret UNSA weapons research facility on Europa where a prototype weapon is being developed, resulting in the SDF seizing the installation. The UNSA team recover the prototype and initiate the facility's self-destruct, but are captured by the SDF and subsequently executed by one of the SDF's main commanders, Admiral Kotch.


title: Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare

text: On Earth, Reyes expresses his opinion to Admiral Raines that the SDF attack is tantamount to a declaration of war and that the UNSA should be preparing a counterattack. However, Admiral Raines explains that the UNSA's leaders do not want to escalate the situation, especially during the Fleet Week celebrations where the entire UNSA fleet gathers at Geneva. Invited to enjoy the festivities, Reyes links up with his wingman Salter and is assigned the experimental E3N for evaluation. Suddenly, the UNSA's AATIS defense cannons, hijacked by the SDF, open fire on the assembled fleet; simultaneously, an SDF assault force invades Geneva. Reyes manages to fight his way to the AATIS control tower, where he shuts down the AATIS cannons and apprehend Riah, the SDF spy responsible for sabotaging them. Reyes then accompanies the surviving UNSA ships into orbit to oppose the attacking SDF fleet. The SDF's flagship, the "Olympus Mons", suddenly arrives and destroys more UNSA ships before it is forced to retreat. The battle is a disaster for the UNSA, as only two ships survive the battle: the carrier "Retribution", to which Reyes is assigned, and the destroyer "Tigris".


title: Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare

text: Upon landing on the "Retribution", Reyes learns that both the ship's captain and the executive officer were killed in battle, leaving him as the highest-ranking officer of the ship and its "de facto" captain. Admiral Raines promotes Reyes to commander and orders him to retake the cargo port on the Moon from the SDF. After successfully liberating the Moon, Reyes is tasked with delaying the SDF for as long as possible until the UNSA can rebuild its fleet. At this point, Reyes can embark on a number of optional missions to attack key SDF targets, as well as a strategic refueling tower on Titan, crippling the SDF's fuel supply. Later, he is sent to investigate a disturbance at an asteroid mining station near Mercury, only to find it was a diversion while the SDF destroys the "Tigris", leaving the "Retribution" as the sole remaining UNSA ship.


title: Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare

text: Learning that Riah is carrying a beacon meant to signal the main SDF fleet to invade Earth, Reyes devises a plan to use the beacon to lure the SDF fleet right into the still-operational AATIS guns. The plan goes awry when Riah escapes, destroys the AATIS guns, and kills himself to trigger the beacon. The SDF arrives and the "Olympus Mons" destroys UNSA headquarters, killing Admiral Raines.


title: Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare

text: With no other options, Reyes uses the opportunity to board and commandeer the "Olympus Mons". He manages to fight his way to the bridge and kill Admiral Kotch. He then takes the "Olympus Mons" and "Retribution" to Mars, where he intends to use the ship to destroy the SDF's orbital shipyard and cripple their fleet in return. While the attack is successful, the "Olympus" "Mons" is damaged to the point its weapons are inoperable, and with few other options, Reyes orders it to ram the shipyard. As a result, the "Retribution" also suffers damage and drifts into the "Olympus" "Mons"' flight path. Both warships crash onto the surface of Mars with the shipyard still intact.


title: Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare

text: Realizing that there is no way for them to get back to Earth alive, Reyes rallies the survivors of the "Retribution" crew and leads them on one final assault on the shipyard. Most of the surviving crew are killed, but Reyes, Salter, Ethan and a few others make it to the shipyard, where they commandeer a destroyer. However, its weapons are disabled and the mooring clamps are locked. Ethan sacrifices himself to destroy the moorings while Reyes unlocks the destroyer's weapons and orders Salter to destroy the shipyard, despite him still remaining on it. Salter reluctantly opens fire, ejecting Reyes into space. He is able to watch the SDF shipyard explode before shrapnel from its destruction punctures his suit, causing him to suffocate.


title: Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare

text: Some time later, the UNSA honors Reyes and the "Retribution" crew's sacrifice, stating that their destruction of the SDF shipyard was a decisive victory and that the SDF has been all but destroyed as a result. Salter, who is one of only four survivors from the "Retribution", salutes a war memorial in Geneva listing the names of all of the UNSA soldiers who died in the conflict, including Reyes.


title: Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare

text: "Infinite Warfare Zombies" stars Ike Barinholtz, Jay Pharoah, Seth Green and Sasheer Zamata as the main protagonists of the story: Aaron "A.J." Jordaniels, Andre Wright, Poindexter Zittermann and Sally Simpson. They initially appear as aspiring actors, who are trapped inside a series of horror films by director Willard Wyler (Paul Reubens), where they play out the role of the films' archetype characters. Throughout the season, the actors encounter various celebrity actors who are also trapped in each film, including: David Hasselhoff, Kevin Smith, Pam Grier, and Cassandra Peterson who reprises her role as Elvira, Mistress of the Dark. Jason Mewes has a minor voiceover role as himself, while Fred Tatasciore provides the voice of the demon Mephistopheles.


title: Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare

text: Some time before the events of the game, horror film director Willard Wyler lost his wife Alexandra to leukemia, causing a rift between him and his daughter Winona. At some point, Wyler made a deal with the demonic Mephistopheles, and unwillingly became a slave to him, forced to collect souls by sending them into alternate dimensions formed from his films, leading them to their deaths by the monsters of his creation. Over time, Wyler felt guilt for condemning countless victims, including Winona, to their doom, and secretly formed a plan to recruit actors who could enter his films and fight back, freeing Wyler from his prison and defeating Mephistopheles.


title: Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare

text: After decades of elusive retirement, Wyler prepares for his comeback into the movie business. He invites four aspiring actors: A.J., Andre, Poindexter and Sally, to his theater for an audition, but unbeknownst to them, he intends to trap the four inside one of his own movies, "Zombies in Spaceland". The four actors find themselves in an 80's theme park, dressed as the archetypes of the era. As the four try to survive the oncoming zombie horde, they find unexpected help from famous actor David Hasselhoff, who has also been trapped in this movie for an unknown amount of time as his "Knight Rider" character Michael Knight. With Hasselhoff's aid, the four actors manage to fend off the undead, much to Wyler's chagrin, and discover a piece of an artifact known as the Soul Key. As the actors attempt to escape, they instead find themselves in another one of Wyler's films, "Rave in the Redwoods", set in a '90s campsite in the Redwood National and State Parks, where they go up against hordes of undead raver teenagers and sasquatches. As the actors traverse across the campsite, they encounter director Kevin Smith, who has also been trapped here for an amount of time with his friend Jason Mewes. Kevin reveals that Jason died prior to the actors' arrival in the film at the hands of the chainsaw-wielding Slasher, who lurks the campsite. The actors help Kevin recover his memory, and convince him to help them escape the film. However, the group soon uncovers through the memories that Jason, along with various other victims associated with Wyler, was killed by Kevin who was unknowingly the Slasher all along. Kevin, as he fully recovers his memories, is forced to transform into the Slasher to kill the actors, but is defeated.


title: Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare

text: The actors retrieve the second piece of the Soul Key, and are immediately warped into Wyler's third film, "Shaolin Shuffle", set in the backdrop of a '70s New York City. The group, now dressed in 70s apparel, find help from actress Pam Grier, who operates a martial arts dojo in the film. Pam assists the actors in fighting Wyler's zombie horde, by giving them special martial arts skills and training. The group encounter Arthur McIntosh, a failed businessman who after consuming a mysterious chemical became the Rat King, capable of controlling sewer rats at his will. The actors and Pam battle McIntosh and manage to kill him, while also retrieving the third piece of the Soul Key.


title: Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare

text: The four actors are then teleported into Wyler's fourth film, "Attack of the Radioactive Thing", set in a 1950s beach area affected by a radioactive experiment. The actors encounter horror film hostess Elvira, who is also trapped inside this film, and proceed to assist her in her plan to foil Wyler's scheme. Together, they battle against a combined force of zombies as well as mutant crab-frog fusions and a giant radioactive beast dubbed Crogzilla. The crew assemble a nuclear bomb and detonate it inside the Crogzilla's belly, blowing it to bits. They then retrieve the fourth piece of the Soul Key inside the Crogzilla's eye.


title: Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare

text: The four actors are then teleported into the final film, "The Beast from Beyond", as they arrive at a futuristic military station on an ice planet, where they battle against the Cryptid aliens from the series, as well as a mixture of zombies from the previous four films. After fighting against a herd of Cryptids, the four retrieve the final piece of the Soul Key, and are seemingly teleported back to Wyler's theater, where he joyfully greets them. Without letting him explain himself, the four actors furiously send Wyler back into the Spaceland movie using his own method, but ultimately realize they have become slaves to the demon Mephistopheles in Wyler's place. Mephistopheles himself appears in front of the four actors, and threatens to consume their souls; the four then arm themselves for a final battle against the demon. After seemingly winning against him, the four are teleported back to the theater, but still find themselves unable to escape. In reality, it is revealed that they are already trapped inside the Soul Jar, which contains pocket universes representing the theater as well as each of Wyler's films. Meanwhile, Wyler enlists Hasselhoff's help in Spaceland once more in an attempt to escape the movie. He reunites with the four actors and reconciles with them as all five begin to plot their next move.


title: Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare

text: In 2014, Activision announced a three-year development cycle for the "Call of Duty" series, in which Infinity Ward, Sledgehammer Games and Treyarch would take turns in releasing a "Call of Duty" video game every year so as to extend each game's development time. "Infinite Warfare" is the third and the last game in the first cycle, and it is the first video game developed by Infinity Ward since 2013's "". Development for the game dates as far back as 2014. According to Infinity Ward, the development team added many new ideas to the game, and put emphasis on the game's storytelling. The team chose space as the game's setting as they believed that it can introduce new environments to players. To make the game more realistic, Infinity Ward had consulted several military experts. The team also wants to start an "Infinite Warfare" sub-series.


title: Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare

text: In February 2016, Activision announced that Infinity Ward would be the lead developer of 2016's "Call of Duty" game. "Infinite Warfare" was officially confirmed by Activision when they announced that the company would not have a booth at E3 2016, and that their products would be shown through their partner, Sony Interactive Entertainment. Activision teased the game with a video, titled "Know Your Enemy", and a new ending for ""'s "Nuk3town" map, which shows a giant airship on top of the map. The game was leaked via PlayStation Store on April 26, and the first trailer was revealed unofficially via Hulu prior to the game's official announcement.


title: Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare

text: In May 2016, Activision released the official announcement trailer for the game, a week after they trademarked the name of the game. The trailer of the game was officially revealed through a live-stream on Twitch. As part of the reveal, Activision ran a social media game using a Facebook chat bot, which tasks the player to decode a message. A remastered version of "", entitled "Modern Warfare Remastered", was released on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC alongside "Infinite Warfare", only available with the purchase of either the Legacy, Digital Deluxe or Legacy Pro edition of "Infinite Warfare". The first public piece of gameplay for the "Infinite Warfare" campaign was revealed as a trailer during the Sony press conference at E3 2016. A gameplay video of the "Black Sky" campaign mission was revealed at San Diego Comic-Con on July 21, 2016. Also revealed was the "Terminal" map pre-order bonus for customers who pre-ordered "Infinite Warfare".


title: Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare

text: In August 2016, Activision sent mysterious metal packages to YouTubers in the "Call of Duty" community. Each came with a combination lock and a countdown timer. A code was sent to all recipients to open the boxes once the timer reached 1 minute. Each box contained a variety of 80's-themed apparel, plus a cassette player and a VHS tape, which contained the reveal trailer for Zombies in Spaceland. An HD version of the trailer was released hours after, along with a reveal of the game's new mechanics, as well as the "Zombies in Spaceland" bonus preorder pack, which contains a weapon camouflage, an animated player card, as well as a "Fate and Fortune Card Pack" for use in the Zombies mode. The official reveal of "Infinite Warfare"s multiplayer mode took place during the convention, which was held in early September 2016.


title: Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare

text: A multiplayer beta for people who pre-ordered the PlayStation 4 version of the game began on October 14. An Xbox One beta began on October 21, and the PC version did not have a beta. The beta concluded on October 24.


title: Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare

text: Players who purchased the season pass, whether it be separately or with certain special editions of the game, were to receive all four DLC packs for "Infinite Warfare", released in four different waves during 2017, for a slightly discounted price (compared to that of all DLC packs purchased separately). Season pass holders were to also receive 1,000 Salvage credits, the game's in-game currency, and 10 rare quality supply drops at the game's launch. The first DLC pack, named "Sabotage", was available to PS4 players on January 31, 2017, and to Xbox One and PC players on March 2, 2017. The pack includes the new Zombies map Rave in the Redwoods, as well as four new multiplayer maps: Noir, Renaissance, Neon, and Dominion (remade from the MW2 map Afghan). The second map pack, "Continuum", was released on PS4 on April 18, 2017, and on Xbox One and PC on May 18, 2017; the map pack includes four MP maps: Turista, Scrap, Archive, Excess (a remake of the MW2 map Rust), and one Zombies map, Shaolin Shuffle. The third map pack, "Absolution", was released on PS4 on July 6, 2017, and on Xbox One and PC on August 8, 2017; the map pack features the Zombies map Attack of the Radioactive Thing and four MP maps: Permafrost, Fore, Bermuda and Ember (a remake of the MW3 map Resistance). The final map pack, "Retribution", will be released on PS4 on September 12, 2017, and features the final Zombies episode The Beast from Beyond, as well as four MP maps: Carnage, Altitude, Depot 22 and Heartland (a remake of the Ghosts map Warhawk).


title: Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare

text: In addition to map packs, "Infinite Warfare" also feature announcer voice packs, replacing the regular voice over in multiplayer with other voices. A voice pack called "UK Special Forces" was released for free to all players, featuring the voice of actor Craig Fairbrass (also known for his role as Gaz in "Modern Warfare", Ghost in "Modern Warfare 2", Wallcroft in "Modern Warfare 3", and Tee in "Infinite Warfare"). Other voice packs feature various celebrities, including rapper Method Man, YouTuber Ozzy Man Reviews, and comedian Ken Jeong.


title: Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare

text: Upon release of the initial trailer, the game was heavily criticized by the community for being too futuristic. The consensus held was that this had stemmed from frustration with the current direction of the franchise, as consecutive installments released in the past few years had been set in future settings and narratives. In response to the criticism, Activision CEO Eric Hirshberg stated that he knew "that there are people in our community who are nostalgic for the 'boots-on-the-ground-style gameplay' ... [but] ... we also have millions of people in our community who want to have new innovative experiences in the game each year and "Infinite Warfare" is going to deliver that." He also stated that "", whose trailer also received its fair share of dislikes, would go on to become the best-selling "Call of Duty" game at the time. , the trailer has received more than 3.95 million dislikes and is the 25th-most-disliked video on YouTube.


title: Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare

text: Despite its pre-release criticism, "Infinite Warfare" was named Best Shooter at E3 by "Game Informer". At the 2016 Game Critics Awards for the best of E3, the game was nominated for Best Action Game, but lost to rival game "Battlefield 1".


title: Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare

text: "Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare" received "generally favorable" reviews for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, while the PC version received "mixed or average" reviews, according to review aggregator Metacritic.


title: Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare

text: "IGN" gave the game a 7.7 out of 10 stating; "Despite its shift to interplanetary combat, "Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare" is a generally fun but inessential shooter." "Trusted Reviews" awarded "Infinite Warfare" 4 and a half out of 5 stars, reasoning; "A solid campaign and the excellent "Zombies" mode will see people stick around for a good while".


title: Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare

text: The single-player campaign received mixed reviews. "Trusted Reviews" praised it as the latest example of the improving quality of "Call of Duty" campaigns in recent years, complimenting the "immersive experience" thanks to an almost complete lack of loading screens, although they felt the narrative was "a bit thin". "GamesRadar+" praised the dark and realistic tone, and thought the game was a departure from the typical sense of heroism in the series. "Game Informer" thought that "Infinite Warfare" still included some of the series' usual elements but carried greater emotional weight than its predecessors. The story and characters received particular praise; "Polygon" and "GameRevolution" write the characters were the "strongest" and "most memorable" in the series, with "Polygon" feeling the writing for a "Call of Duty" campaign had never been bettered. "IGN" appreciated the dialogue and cast performances. "GameSpot" also praised the characters and compared the game's structure to a film, in contrast to past installments that felt like an episodic series.


title: Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare

text: "EGM", however, panned the narrative as one of the worst they'd experienced in some time; they criticized the characterization of Kotch and Kit Harrington's "lifeless acting", as well as the supporting characters' arcs that they felt were "rushed to an uncomfortable degree"; both "EGM" and "IGN" highlighted an example when Omar expresses his dislike of Ethan, but has bonded with him without explanation by the next mission. "IGN" wrote the campaign was "slow and plodding" and only marginally better than "Call of Duty: Ghosts", which they saw as a low point of the franchise. "Destructoid" called the campaign "average", thinking only fans of "Mass Effect" and sci-fi would be swayed by it.


title: Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare

text: "Game Informer" was pleased from a perception that the "frenetic" movement of gameplay in recent "Call of Duty" installments had been toned down for "Infinite Warfare" and harkened back to the series' older style. While "EGM" enjoyed the variety of gameplay in space, they felt that at times it was unclear as to where the player was meant to go or what their objectives were. "Destructoid" felt that some of the gadgets used in the game were more entertaining in multiplayer. The game's multiplayer was criticized by "Trusted Reviews", writing they were saddened that it was not on par with previous entries.


title: Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare

text: "Infinite Warfare" sold 1.8 million copies in its first week in US. However, overall sales were down 50% compared to 2015's "". Activision was reported to be expecting sales to be down due to the fact that "Infinite Warfare" was going to be a "new sub-series" and that the "Black Ops" name carried brand weight with it. Despite slow initial sales, "Infinite Warfare" was the top-selling game in the US in November 2016. Activision reported in February 2017 that the game missed their sales expectations with one of the reasons cited being that the game "didn't resonate with fans".


title: Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare

text: The PlayStation 4 version sold 105,764 copies within its first week on sale in Japan, making it the bestselling game of the week in the country.


title: Amy Klobuchar

text: Amy Jean Klobuchar ( ; born May 25, 1960) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the senior United States senator from Minnesota, a seat she has held since 2007. A member of the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL), Minnesota's affiliate of the Democratic Party, she previously served as the Hennepin County attorney.


title: Amy Klobuchar

text: Born in Plymouth, Minnesota, Klobuchar is a graduate of Yale University and the University of Chicago Law School. She was a partner at two Minneapolis law firms before being elected county attorney for Hennepin County in 1998, making her responsible for all criminal prosecution in Minnesota's most populous county. Klobuchar was first elected to the Senate in 2006, becoming Minnesota's first elected female United States senator, and was reelected in 2012 and 2018. In 2009 and 2010, she was described as a "rising star" in the Democratic Party.


title: Amy Klobuchar

text: She announced her candidacy for the Democratic nomination for president of the United States in the 2020 election on February 10, 2019; on March 2, 2020, she suspended her campaign and endorsed Joe Biden. In 2021, she became the chair of the Senate Rules Committee.


title: Amy Klobuchar

text: Born in Plymouth, Minnesota, Klobuchar is the daughter of Rose (née Heuberger) and Jim Klobuchar. Her mother taught second grade until she retired at age 70. Her father Jim, a retired sportswriter and columnist for the "Star Tribune", was of Slovene descent.


title: Amy Klobuchar

text: Klobuchar's parents divorced when she was 15. The divorce took a toll on the family; her relationship with her father was not fully restored until he quit drinking in the 1990s.


title: Amy Klobuchar

text: She attended public schools in Plymouth and was valedictorian at Wayzata High School, where she was also class treasurer and secretary. She received her Bachelor of Arts "magna cum laude" in political science in 1982 from Yale University. While at Yale, Klobuchar spent time as an intern for then-Vice President and former senator Walter Mondale. Her senior thesis, "Uncovering the Dome", a 250-page history of the ten years of politics surrounding the building of the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in Minneapolis, was published by Waveland Press in 1986. After Yale, Klobuchar enrolled at the University of Chicago Law School, where she served as an associate editor of the "University of Chicago Law Review" and earned her Juris Doctor "magna cum laude" in 1985.


title: Amy Klobuchar

text: After law school, Klobuchar worked as a corporate lawyer. Before seeking public office, besides working as a prosecutor, Klobuchar was a partner at the Minnesota law firms Dorsey & Whitney and Gray Plant Mooty, where she specialized in "regulatory work in telecommunications law". Her first foray into politics came after she gave birth and was forced to leave the hospital 24 hours later, a situation exacerbated by the fact that Klobuchar's daughter, Abigail, was born with a disorder that prevented her from swallowing. The experience led Klobuchar to appear before the Minnesota State Legislature, advocating for a bill that would guarantee new mothers a 48-hour hospital stay. Minnesota passed the bill and President Clinton later made the policy federal law.


title: Amy Klobuchar

text: Klobuchar was first a candidate for public office in 1994 when she ran for Hennepin County attorney. But she had pledged to drop out if the incumbent, Michael Freeman, got back in the race after failing to win the endorsement of the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor (DFL) Party for governor. Klobuchar quit the race in June 1994 and supported Freeman for reelection. Before running for office, Klobuchar was active in supporting DFL candidates, including Freeman in 1990. The county attorney election is nonpartisan, but Freeman, like Klobuchar, is a Democrat.


title: Amy Klobuchar

text: Klobuchar was elected Hennepin County attorney in 1998 (Freeman declined to run for another term) and was reelected in 2002 with no opposition. "Minnesota Lawyer" named her "Attorney of the Year". Klobuchar was President of the Minnesota County Attorneys Association from November 2002 to November 2003. After the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis Police custody, Klobuchar was criticized for her lack of prosecution of police misconduct during her tenure, including a case involving the officer, Derek Chauvin, who was later found guilty of murdering Floyd. The case was not heard until after she left office.


title: Amy Klobuchar

text: In early 2005, after U.S. senator Mark Dayton announced that he would not seek reelection, Klobuchar became an early favorite for the DFL nomination for the 2006 election. EMILY's List endorsed her on September 29, 2005, and Klobuchar won the DFL endorsement on June 9, 2006. She gained the support of the majority of DFL state legislators in Minnesota during the primaries. A poll of DFL state delegates showed Klobuchar beating her then closest opponent, Patty Wetterling, 66% to 15%. In January Wetterling dropped out of the race and endorsed Klobuchar. Former Senate candidate and prominent lawyer Mike Ciresi, who was widely seen as a serious potential DFL candidate, indicated in early February that he would not enter the race; that was viewed as an important boost for Klobuchar.


title: Amy Klobuchar

text: In the general election Klobuchar faced Republican candidate Mark Kennedy, Independence Party candidate Robert Fitzgerald, Constitution candidate Ben Powers, and Green Party candidate Michael Cavlan. Klobuchar led in the polls throughout the campaign, and won with 58% of the vote to Kennedy's 38% and Fitzgerald's 3%, carrying all but eight of Minnesota's 87 counties. She is the first woman to be elected U.S. senator from Minnesota. (Muriel Humphrey, the state's first female senator and former second lady of the United States, was appointed to fill her husband's unexpired term and not elected.)


title: Amy Klobuchar

text: Klobuchar won a second term in the U.S. Senate, defeating Republican State Representative Kurt Bills by a margin of 35 percentage points (65.23% to 30.53%), carrying all but two counties.


title: Amy Klobuchar

text: Klobuchar ran for a third term and was reelected by a 24-point margin. The Republican nominee was state representative Jim Newberger. The race was not seen as close, with Klobuchar outraising Newberger $9.9 million to $210,066 as of October 17. Klobuchar maintained a double-digit lead in the polls all autumn.


title: Amy Klobuchar

text: A September 2009 poll found 58% of Minnesotans approved of the job Klobuchar was doing and 36% disapproved. On March 12, 2010, Rasmussen Reports indicated 67% of Minnesotans approved of the job she was doing. The "Winona Daily News" described her as a "rare politician who works across the aisle". Walter Mondale said, "She has done better in that miserable Senate than most people there."


title: Amy Klobuchar

text: At the end of the 114th Congress in late 2016, Klobuchar had passed more legislation than any other senator. In February 2017 she called for an independent, bipartisan commission to investigate ties between Russia and President Donald Trump and his administration. Concern about Trump's ties to Russia increased after reports that his campaign officials had repeated contact with senior Russian intelligence officials before the 2016 United States elections. Klobuchar had already signaled her interest in U.S.–Russia relations in December 2016 when she joined Republican senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham on a trip to the Baltic states and Ukraine. She maintained high approval ratings throughout 2017, with an April 2017 "Star Tribune" poll placing her approval rating at 72%. In October 2017 Morning Consult listed Klobuchar among the 10 senators with the highest approval ratings, and a November 2017 KSTP-TV poll put her approval rating at 56%. An April 2019 Morning Consult poll found Klobuchar to be the third-most popular sitting senator, with a 58% approval rating and 26% disapproval rating, behind only Vermont senators Bernie Sanders and Patrick Leahy.


title: Amy Klobuchar

text: According to the Center for Effective Lawmaking, Klobuchar scored "above expectations" with respect to how successful she was at moving significant legislation in the 115th Congress (2017–18).


title: Amy Klobuchar

text: During the Brett Kavanaugh Supreme Court nomination hearings in 2018, Kavanaugh gave heated responses to Klobuchar's questions about whether he had ever experienced memory loss after consuming alcohol, for which he later apologized.


title: Amy Klobuchar

text: In February 2019, "BuzzFeed News" reported that interviews with former staffers and reviews of emails indicated that Klobuchar frequently abused and humiliated her employees, requiring significant staff time to manage her ire. The article reported that other employees found her to be "fair and effective" and a good boss. "Politico" reported that Klobuchar had the highest annual staff turnover rate of any senator—36%—between 2011 and 2016. A "Huffington Post" article alleged she had a reputation for mistreating her staff, with some staff alleging she was prone to bursts of cruelty. In response to the negative reports, 61 former staffers wrote an open letter praising Klobuchar, stating that she was a caring "mentor and friend" to them.