Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (film)

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs is a 2009 American animated science fiction comedy film produced by Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animation, and released by Sony Pictures Releasing. Loosely based on the 1978 children's book of the same name by Judi and Ron Barrett, the film was written for the screen and directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller. It stars the voices of Bill Hader, Anna Faris, James Caan, Andy Samberg, Bruce Campbell, Mr. T, Benjamin Bratt, and Neil Patrick Harris. The film centers around an aspiring inventor named Flint Lockwood who develops, following a series of failed experiments, a machine that can convert water into food. After the machine gains sentience and begins to develop food storms, Flint must stop it in order to save the world.
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs premiered at the Mann Village Theater in Los Angeles, California on September 12, 2009, and was released in the United States six days later on September 18 of that same year. It was a box office success, grossing $243 million worldwide against a budget of $100 million at the box office. The film received positive reviews from critics, who praised its colorful visuals, humor, characters, voice acting, story, and score, while the simple character designs were said to be unfitting. The film has since been expanded into a franchise, with a sequel, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2, released on September 27, 2013, as well as an animated television series based on the film that premiered on Cartoon Network on February 20, 2017, with none of the original cast returning.
Aspiring inventor Flint Lockwood lives with his widowed father Tim and his pet monkey Steve in Swallow Falls, an island in the Atlantic Ocean. The island's economy is entirely based on sardine sales, which have plummeted due to the rest of the world deciding the fish are "super gross", leaving Swallow Falls residents to eat all the sardines themselves.
Flint invents the "Flint Lockwood Diatonic Super Mutating Dynamic Food Replicator" (FLDSMDFR), a device which transforms water into food, in an effort to expand the town's diet. He knocks out his house's power when he attempts to plug in the new device, annoying Tim, who wishes Flint would give up inventing and take over the family tackle and bait business. Flint attempts to connect the FLDSMDFR to a local substation, but the device overloads, rocketing across town and into the sky. In the process, it destroys a new sardine-themed amusement park called Sardine Land meant to revitalize the island's economy, angering Mayor Shelbourne and the other townsfolk and disappointing Tim. Afterwards, a dejected Flint meets Samantha "Sam" Sparks, a New York City-based meteorologist whose big break was thwarted by the incident. As they talk together, cheeseburgers suddenly begin raining from the sky; Flint realizes the FLDSMDFR is functioning successfully in the stratosphere, using the condensation from clouds to create food-based weather systems.
The town rejoices in their new food choices, and Swallow Falls is renamed Chewandswallow and becomes a food tourism destination, making Flint a local celebrity. Flint and Sam begin to fall in love after they discover they were both bullied for their appearance and love of science. However, Flint notices the food has begun to "over-mutate", becoming both larger and less molecularly stable. He attempts to warn the now morbidly obese Shelbourne that the FLDSMDFR is malfunctioning, but Shelbourne is only interested in more food and more tourism. After a tornado made up of spaghetti and meatballs threatens the town, Flint attempts to turn the FLDSMDFR off. Shelbourne accidentally destroys Flint's control panel in an attempt to stop Flint, causing the FLDSMDFR to go rogue and create a massive "food storm" across the planet.
Flint places a kill code in a USB flash drive and builds a flying car to reach and destroy the FLDSMDFR. Accompanied by Sam, her cameraman Manny, Steve, and the town's former mascot "Baby" Brent McHale, they approach the FLDSMDFR and discover it has surrounded itself with a giant meatball for protection. As they reach the interior, they lose the flash drive with the kill code and are attacked by giant animated roast chickens. Brent is swallowed by one, but subdues it and wears it as armor to fight off the others. Flint and Sam attempt to climb down to the center of the meatball, but some peanut brittle triggers Sam's peanut allergies. Sam refuses to leave Flint, and they profess their love for one another. To save Sam, Flint cuts the rope and falls down to the FLDSMDFR, while Brent takes Sam back for medical attention.
Back in Swallow Falls, the townsfolk evacuate on rafts made of giant food, while Tim stays behind to upload a kill code to Flint's phone. Flint uses the code on the machine, which reveals it has developed a mind of its own. Realizing that Tim accidentally sent the wrong file, Flint uses a Spray-on Shoe formula to jam the device, causing it and the giant meatball to detonate as he falls back to Earth. The townsfolk cheer on Flint as a hero, and Tim at last shows appreciation for his son, while Sam and Flint share a kiss.
Voice actors in the film include:
On May 9, 2003, a year after establishment, Sony Pictures Animation announced its first animated slate, including Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, a film adaptation of the book of the same name. The Brizzi brothers were brought to direct the film, with Wayne Rice adapting the screenplay. In 2006, it was reported that the film had been helmed by new directors and writers, Phil Lord and Christopher Miller. The duo said later that year that it would be a homage to, and a parody of, disaster films such as Twister, Armageddon, The Core, and The Day After Tomorrow.
After a year working on the script, Lord and Miller were fired for story issues and replaced with new writers, who after a year were also fired. Lord and Miller were then re-hired in 2006. The two completely redid the script, this time with the creative input of their crew. The new draft had the protagonist as a failed inventor who wanted to prove himself to his town. The two were almost fired again after Amy Pascal, then-head of Sony Pictures, criticized the film for lack of story. Although the film succeeded on the comedic front in the animatic stage, Pascal cited the lack of an anchoring relationship in the film as a failure in the story telling. Unable to create new characters and environments to suit the new story demands, the two elevated the character of the tackle shop extra to be the protagonist's father, thereby creating the relationship Pascal had requested. The pair's experience on Cloudy taught them two valuable lessons: the power of creative collaboration and the importance of emotion in a story.
On September 18, 2008, Variety announced that Bill Hader and Anna Faris had signed on to voice the two lead characters, with James Caan, Bruce Campbell, Mr. T, and Andy Samberg also in the voice cast.
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs is the second film after Monster House that was made using the animation-rendering software Arnold. Justin K. Thompson served as production designer.
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs is the soundtrack to the film of the same name, released under Sony Pictures Entertainment on September 15, 2009. The music of the film and this album are both credited to be composed and produced by American composer Mark Mothersbaugh of Devo and Rugrats fame. "Raining Sunshine", performed by Miranda Cosgrove, was released as a promotional single on August 24, 2009.
The Japanese version has "Rainbow Forecast" by Shoko Nakagawa play during the end credits.
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs made its world premiere on September 12, 2009, as the main opening headliner of the Mann Village Theatre showcase event in Los Angeles, California. The film had its wide release on September 18, 2009, along with a digitally re-mastered release to IMAX 3D theatres.
The film was released on DVD, Blu-ray Disc, and PSP UMD on January 5, 2010 in the United States and Canada. A 3D Blu-ray was released on June 22, 2010. It was the first 3D Blu-ray sold individually in the United States. The film was filmed in 2.35:1 widescreen. Most copies present the film in two discs and present the film in either its original 2.35:1 widescreen format or in a 1.78:1 widescreen format.
In April 2021, Sony signed a deal with Disney giving them access to their legacy content, including Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs and its sequel to stream on Disney+ and Hulu and appear on Disney's linear television networks. Disney's access to Sony's titles would come following their availability on Netflix.
In August 2009, Insight Editions published a companion book to the film called The Art and Making of Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs.
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs received positive reviews from film critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a rating of 85% based on 141 reviews, with an average rating of 7.2/10. The consensus statement reads, "Quirky humor, plucky characters and solid slapstick make this family comedy a frenetically tasty time at the movies." On Metacritic it has a weighted average score of 66 out of 100, based on 24 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale.
Ernest Hardy of LA Weekly stated the film "is smart, insightful on a host of relationship dynamics, and filled with fast-paced action". Hardy also applauded the 3-D effects which "are wonderful, full of witty sight gags that play out both center-screen and on the periphery". Michael Phillips of the Chicago Tribune gave the film a mixed review stating that "Crazy doesn't always equal funny, and the gigantism of this 3-D offering's second half puts a damper on your enjoyment. But look: This film wasn't made for you, or me. It was made for dangerously, easily distracted 9-year-olds." Sandie Angulo Chen of Common Sense Media gave the film three stars out of five, noting that the "age-appropriate food adventure goes down easily."
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs grossed $124.9 million in the United States and Canada, and $118.1 million in other territories, for a worldwide of $243 million. The film earned $8,137,358 on its opening Friday, and ranked #1 at the box office with a total of $30.3 million for the first weekend. On its second weekend, it remained at #1 with a decrease of only 17%.
A sequel, titled Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2, was released on September 27, 2013. Directed by Cody Cameron and Kris Pearn, and it is based on an original idea, where Flint and his friends must again save the world from his food machine, which survived the explosion in the prequel. This time, the machine gains the ability to produce living food beasts. Most of the main cast reprised their roles, but Earl, the town cop, is now voiced by Terry Crews since Mr. T declined to reprise the role. New cast also includes Kristen Schaal as orangutan Barb, and Will Forte in his new role of Chester V.
On October 9, 2014, DHX Media announced that it will develop and produce a television series based on the film franchise, titled Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs: The Series. The series will be traditionally animated and will consist of twenty-six 22-minute episodes. It will take place before the first film, showing Flint Lockwood as a high school student who dreams of becoming a serious scientist. In his adventures, he will be joined by Sam Sparks, a new girl in town and the school's "wannabe" reporter, along with Flint's dad Tim, Steve the Monkey, Manny as the head of the school's audiovisual club, Earl as a school gym teacher, Brent as a baby wear model, and mayor Shelbourne. DHX Media will handle the global television and non-US home entertainment distribution, along with worldwide merchandising rights, while Sony will distribute home entertainment in the US. Commissioned by Teletoon in Canada, the series will air on Cartoon Network in the United States, and on the Boomerang channel in other territories. None of the original cast returned for the show and were replaced by Canadian voice actors.