Unfrosted

Unfrostedis a 2024 Americancomedy filmdirected byJerry Seinfeldfrom a screenplay he co-wrote with his writing team ofSpike Feresten,Barry Marder, andAndy Robin. Loosely based on the true story of the creation ofPop-Tartstoaster pastries, the film stars an ensemble cast that includes Seinfeld,Melissa McCarthy,Jim Gaffigan,Max Greenfield,Hugh Grant, andAmy Schumer.
Seinfeld'sfeature directorial debut, he and Feresten also serve as producers of the film alongside Beau Bauman, through their production companyColumbus 81 Productions.Unfrostedwas released in the United States byNetflixon May 3, 2024, and received mixed reviews from critics. It was nominated for aPrimetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Television Movie.
A young runaway ordersPop-Tartsin a diner, and a man named Bob Cabana offers to tell him the true origin story of the American breakfast food.
In 1963, Bob is head of development at theKellogg'scorporation, headquartered inBattle Creek, Michigan. After Kellogg's once again dominates their rivalPostin the annual Bowl and Spoon Awards, Bob senses that Post is about to unveil something that could dominate the market. Soon after, he observes two children dumpster-diving at Post, and discovers the company is creating a shelf-stable, fruit-based pastry breakfast food that seems to have addictive effects on children.
The Kellogg's team learns that Post has further developed a product created for Kellogg's by Bob's former co-worker Donna "Stan" Stankowski. Bob convinces his boss Edsel Kellogg to hire Stan back fromNASA, and the team sets to work creating their own version of the pastry, joining forces with several prominent industry figures as "taste pilots".
Marjorie Post, the head of the Post company and Edsel Kellogg's former lover, calls a meeting of the "five cereal families": Kellogg's, Post,Quaker Oats,Ralston PurinaandGeneral Mills. To the surprise of Bob's team, Marjorie announces that their product will be on shelves within one week. Bob undercuts them by obtaining exclusive rights to 99% of the world's sugar by making a deal withPuerto Ricancriminal El Sucre.
Bob begins to worry about the taste pilots' lack of progress, but he and Stan combine several of their ideas to come up with a rectangular, fruit-filled food packaged in foil that can be toasted. Kellogg warns Bob that by creating a product that is served withoutmilk, they may be stepping on the toes of the dairy industry, in reality an incredibly powerful and ruthless cabal whose leader kidnaps and threatens Bob.
Meanwhile, Marjorie visits theUSSRin an attempt to secure rights toCubansugar fromNikita Khrushchev. The idea of acommunistbreakfast worries presidentJohn F. Kennedy, who summons the Kellogg's team to the White House to discuss the matter and ultimately agrees to instructhis brotherto put pressure on organized milk.
While testing the new pastry, taste pilot Steve Schwinn is blown up in an accident and is buried with "full cereal honors". Meanwhile,Thurl Ravenscroft, a long-sufferingShakespeareanactor whoperformsthemascotrole ofTony the Tigerfor Kellogg's, is convinced by the milk syndicate that the new breakfast pastry will make the cereal mascots obsolete. At Schwinn's funeral, Thurl convinces the other mascots to join him in a strike.
The team struggles with marketing the new pastry, eventually settling on the name "Trat-Pop" at the suggestion of the dumpster-divers. A mob of mascots, led by Thurl, violently breaches Kellogg's headquarters, hoping to stop the product from being certified by theFDA. They are too late, and the product is certified.Walter Cronkite, reading a news brief off a piece ofSilly Putty, misreads "Trat-Pop" in reverse as "Pop-Tart", forcing Kellogg's to change the name moments before they are shipped out.
The following morning, Pop-Tarts sell out of every store in the country within 60 seconds, defeating Post's poorly named "Country Squares". Thurl ends up facing a congressional committee for his role in the attack, the milkmen are implicated inKennedy's assassination, and Marjorie Post becomes an icon of feminism who retires toMar-a-Lago. Stan leaves Kellogg's again, becomes ahippie, and inventsgranola. Bob becomes nationally famous, and, during an interview onThe Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, is shot byAndy Warhol, who is furious that the name "Pop-Tart" sounds like "pop art". Bob survives thanks to the foil packet in his pocket.
In the present, the boy expresses doubt that a Pop-Tart packet could stop a bullet, and begins to question other elements of the story like the creation of a sentient ravioli creature by two of the taste pilots. Bob admits that the story was made up as the boy's parents arrive to take him home. As they turn to go, the ravioli creature emerges from Bob's pocket.
Isaac Bae portrays George, the runaway to whom Bob tells the story.Rachael Harrisappears as Bob's wife Anna, and Kue Lawrence and Catherine Last play their children Bobby and Annie.
Patrick Warburtonappears as announcer Tom Terranova andKen NarasakiplaysRalston Purina.EarthquakeplaysCookie RojaswhileSasheer Zamataportrays reporter Beth Donovan. Michael Joseph Pierce portraysGeneral MillsandRonny Chiengplays a technician named Chuck.
Jeff Lewis,Cedric Yarbrough, andAlex EdelmanplayBig Yella,Toucan Sam, andApple Head, respectively, whileAli Wentworthappears as an unidentified woman at Schwinn's funeral andDarrell HammondplaysEd McMahon.
Seinfeld's wifeJessica Seinfeldmakes a cameo appearance, andSpike Ferestenvoices the ravioli creature as a baby, while Seinfeld provides the voice of the teenaged creature.
It was announced in June 2021 thatNetflixhad won the rights to the project.Jerry Seinfeldwould direct, produce, co-write and star in the film, which is based on a joke he told about the creation of thePop-Tart.In June 2022,Melissa McCarthy,Jim Gaffigan,Amy Schumer,Hugh Grant, andJames Marsdenwere among the newest additions to the cast.Grant provided an audition tape for Seinfeld, being the first time he had done so in over 30 years.In August,Maria Bakalovawas announced for a cameo appearance.In February 2024, it was revealed thatBill BurrandDan Levyjoined the cast.
Seinfeld co-wrote the film's screenplay along with writers,Spike Feresten,Andy RobinandBarry Marder, all of whom he previously worked withBee Movie(2007). The production was granted a tax credit to film inCaliforniain February 2022.Principal photographytook place in mid 2022.
To promote the movie, Kelloggs' and Netflix collaborated on a campaign called "Not brought to you by Pop-Tarts", including a mock legal threat, a short starring Seinfeld, and limited-edition packaging.
Christophe Beckcomposed the score for the film.Meghan TrainorandJimmy Fallonprovided a song for the film called "Sweet Morning Heat".
The film premiered atGrauman's Egyptian Theaterin Hollywood on April 30, 2024.The film was released onNetflixon May 3, 2024.
According toThe Hollywood Reporter, the film received a "sharply divided reaction from critics".On thereview aggregatorwebsiteRotten Tomatoes, 40% of 127 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5.1/10. The website's consensus reads: "Much like a preservative-packed toaster pastry,Unfrostedis sweet and colorful, yet it's ultimately an empty experience that may leave the consumer feeling pangs of regret."Metacritic, which uses aweighted average, assigned the film a score of 42 out of 100, based on 30 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.
The Hollywood Reporternoted that reviews such as those from the "country's top critics at publications likeThe New York Times,Wall Street Journal,The Washington PostandSan Francisco Chroniclegave the film modestly positive reviews," whileChicago Sun-Times,The Globe and Mail,The Daily Beast, andColliderwere "downright scathing", with theSun-TimescallingUnfrosted"one of the decade's worst movies" that Seinfeld should have aborted halfway into production. Reviews such as those fromThe GuardianandTHRitself were also "modestly positive".
In her review for theNew York Times, Amy Nicholson finds, "The jokes spill forth so fast that there's no time for the shtick to get soggy."VarietyreviewerOwen Gleibermancalls it "an agreeably flaked-out piece of surrealist vaudeville" and concludes "Unfrosted, in its way, is a quintessential comedian's movie. It thumbs its nose at everything without necessarily believing in anything. Yet it has an agreeable crunch."
In herThe Hollywood Reporterreview, Sheri Linden deems the film "a straight-up comedy — no therapeutic underpinnings or civic lessons — that's funniest when it isn't trying too hard" and also praises behind-the-camera skill and talent, stating: "Buoyed byChristophe Beck's score, a midcentury world-of-tomorrow vibe infuses the proceedings. The exuberant playfulness of Clayton Hartley's production design and Susan Matheson's vibrant costumes is balanced by the formal restraint of William Pope's lensing."
The Globe and Mailfound the film bereft of laughs and its runtime unendurably long, andThe Daily Beastcalled it "as bad as you'd expect" but otherwise "superior" to Seinfeld's 2007 animated filmBee Movie.CollidercomparedUnfrostedpoorly withBarbieas well asTetris,Air, andFlamin' Hot—the former film the website cited for its deep social commentary and the other three for being "halfway decent biopics".TheSan Francisco Chroniclepraised Seinfeld's direction as well as the performances and 1960s production design, whileThe Guardiancalled the film "amiable and funny in a way that's much harder to achieve than it looks".The Washington Postappreciated how the film landed more gags than missed them.