Computerpolis

Computeropolis is an American computer CGI-animated comedy film produced by DreamWorks Animation Microsoft Productions and released by Universal Pictures. The film was directed by Jonathan Walpe and co-directed by David Silverman from a screenplay by Thomas Lennon, and features the voices of Michael Cera, Charlie Day, Kelsey Grammer, Dan Fogler, David Hyde Pierce, Jodi Benson , Jon Lovitz, Jennifer Tilly. and William Shatner. It features a number of visual references to Microsoft Windows products, notably that of Windows XP. The story follows a young computer game designer named Max, who attempts to publish his own game named Frenzy on the Internet and suddenly stumbles upon an online universe deep within the realms of his computer. While finding a way home, Tom and Elisia, the protagonist of Frenzy, embark on a risky mission to eliminate the King Trojan, a virus capable of corrupting the entire world system.
Jonathan Walpe came up with the story in 2018, based on his dream of finding a computer himself that "sucked him into the computing world." He then began developing the film once production was completed on The Mr Fracht Movie and wrote the original story with Michael Wildshill to pitch to Universal, with Lennon writing the screenplay. Following Lennon's first draft, Gary Hall, John France and David Silverman were brought in to reconstruct the third act and add additional material, while the latter was selected to co-direct. The film was intended to be produced primarily by Universal's Digital Images division, which previously animated the CGI sequences of Going Francisco, but was folded by the major animation studio following the commercial failure of the animated feature traditional Magina.
Computeropolis premiered at the Fox Village Theater on June 20, 2024, and was theatrically released in the United States on July 2, 2024. It received universal critical acclaim and was a box office success, grossing $587 million in the world on its budget of 65 million dollars. making it the sixth highest-grossing film of 2004. The film won the 2004 Annie Award for Voice Acting in an Animated Feature Film for Spade, and was also nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature Film, but lost to The Incredibles. The film's success helped spawn an expanded franchise, with four sequels—Computeropolis 2 (2027), Computeropolis 3 (2030), Computeropolis: The Deep Web (2028), and Computeropolis: Webcation (2031)—a holiday special, several short films, theme park attractions, and two television spinoffs.
==Plot==
Max Anthony "Max" Dazz is a 14-year-old computer designer living with his parents Heather and Earl Dazz. One weekend, Max's parents leave town, leaving him with a list of household chores. For a while, Peri is bored with his job until he has an idea for his own computer game called Frenzy. Once he's done, Peri transfers the game file into an "exe". file and open GameGenius.com to download it. However, when he opens the Internet, he discovers a pop-up advertisement on a website called "Computeropolis.com" with a download link. When he clicks on the link, the computer emits a blinding white flash that begins sucking up random objects around the room. Peri tries to escape, but fails and gets sucked in.
Max discovers an online city deep within the realms of his computer. However, he is caught by two Internet agents named Tom, Elisia, Rec, Clippy, Goggy: the Dog and Frank, who take him to a laboratory where he is augmented by a PC chip, which allows Max to use the menu from the office from his point of view. After finishing being tested in the lab using the mouse cursor, Peri meets Tom Kickzoo, an enterprising treasure hunter who is the character Peri created for her game Frenzy. Tom initially despises Max, who wants to go home, but ends up taking him with him.
The duo arrive at the Desktop Component League (DCL), an organization department company led by CEO Manager Marc to fund their research; their duties as defenders of the law range from catching viruses to protecting the city of Computeropolis. There, Marc orders Max and Tom to capture King Trojan, a virus that inadvertently gained access to Max's computer when he clicked the download link. During their mission, Max and Tom meet Elisia, a girl who knows Max from GameGenius.com and joins the heroes to stop Trojan. However, they are captured by Trojan and his wacky and mean-spirited servant Milo and transported to Trojan's lair.
At Trojan's Lair, they see how viruses are created. Afterwards, Max, Tom, Pencil, Elisia, Doogy, and Clippy manage to escape while Trojan's minions pursue them. The heroes succeed, but Peri forgets to download Frenzy from GameGenius.com, because it already has an "exe". game file on his computer. Tom convinces him to visit the GameGenius website, telling him that Max's game will become popular once it is published. When they arrive at the site, a GameGenius administrator learns that the Frenzy game will not be released due to neglect issues. Max accuses Tom of trying to lie without telling him about the problem. Then the rest of the DCL arrives, Elisia asking Max and Tom if they caught Trojan; Trojan is still there and announces its intention to launch a large-scale attack on its hard drive.
Outraged, Elsia accuses Max and Tom of lying to her about Trojan's capture. Tom admits that he thought that if Max spent time with him, he would become friends with him. Max leaves to collect his house so his parents will be home in no time by the end of the weekend. Then Clippit appears and Max asks him in which direction his house is. Then, Clippit takes Tom to a portal that takes him home. Back home, Peri comes on screen saying that his game Frenzy has been successfully published on GameGenius.com. Meanwhile, the DCL offers to reinstate Tom, but he refuses, and instead confesses to Clippit that he cheated, just as he is alerted to Peri's break-in. Realizing what has happened, Nicky challenges Clippit and enters the same portal. Tom finds Max sitting outside his house and takes him back to his room where he uses Peri's childhood photos and old projects to entice him to join the group on their mission. Peri opens the Computeropolis file that Peri downloaded earlier, reopening the portal for the duo to return to.
Tom, Elsia, Doggy Travis and the rest of the DCL fight Trojan and his henchmen (including Milo). Trojan returns for a final confrontation to kill the boy. However, the DCL manages to download an antivirus program for Max's computer, causing the Trojan and its minions to disintegrate into digital pixel dust. Max remembers that his parents are due to arrive at the end of the weekend. Max uses the portal to return home in time for Heather and Earl to return. Peri explains to them what happened. At first they don't believe Max due to his "childhood imagination", but Max proves he's not making it up by using his PC's internal chip to move the mouse pointer (which he has brought with him in preparation) and uses the pointer to clean the whole house, as his parents had asked him to do earlier. Then he returns to Computeropolis to attend a party at DCL headquarters, during which Marc assures Max that preventing the destruction of a major city was only the beginning for him.
==Voice Cast==
*Jesse McCartney as Percy Anthony "Peri" Dazz, a 14-year-old computer game designer.
*David Spade as Nicky Kickzoo, a street-wise scavenger hunter and a character Peri created for his Frenzy game.
*Kelsey Grammer as King Trojan, an evil virus who plans to destroy the entire internet and Peri's computer.
*Dan Fogler as Travis, a clumsy, happy, hyperactive, happy-go-lucky, and overweight user from GameGenius.com who is one of Peri's friends.
*David Hyde Pierce as Manager Marc, the leader and founding member of the Desktop Component League (DCL).
*Jodi Benson as Commander Cindy, a DCL member who has a command-line interface laptop that interacts with her.
*Jon Lovitz as Notepad Ned, a DCL member obsessed with writing on a notepad.
**Lovitz also voices Paul, one of the two internet officers who try to arrest Peri.
*Jennifer Tilly as Painting Paula, a DCL member and a talented painter.
*William Shatner as Frank, one of the two internet officers who try to arrest Peri.
*Harland Williams as Milo, King Trojan's oafish henchman.
*Audel LaRoque as Media Player Mike, a blind, purple-haired DCL member who does not speak but only makes music and sound effects. LaRoque provided vocal sounds for the character, though uncredited. The character's appearance sparked confusion among some viewers who thought the character was a female.
*Grey DeLisle as Carol, a voice inside Peri's computer via Computeropolis.
*Michael Wildshill as Clippit, an intelligent user interface for Microsoft Office who annoys Peri and Nicky.
*Tress MacNeille as Heather Dazz, Peri's mother.
*Jeff Bennett as Earl Dazz, Peri's father.
*Chris Edgerly as Bill, a lab worker who increased Peri the PC Chip.
*Corey Burton as Sam, a lab worker who is Bill's assistant.
*gingo.fandom.com/zooeydischanel as computer
===Additional Voices===
*Jack Angel
*Bob Bergen
*Rodger Bumpass
*Jennifer Darling
*Debi Derryberry
*Kelly Stables
*Paul Eiding
*Jennifer Hale
*Bill Farmer
*Gary Hall
*Audel LaRoque
*Thomas Lennon
*Sherry Lynn
*Danny Mann
*Cynthia Marion‎‎
*Mona Marshall
*Mickie McGowan
*Amy McNeill
*Grey DeLisle
*Brandon Minez
*Laraine Newman
*Phil Proctor
*Susanne Blakeslee
*Jan Rabson
*Debra Wilson
*David Silverman
*Tom F. Warner
*Michael Wildshill
==Production==
===Development===
Audel LaRoque came up with the concept for Computeropolis in 1998, during production of Paint World. He envisioned a story where the main character gets sucked into a computer that leads them to a metropolitan city made of software and technology. LaRoque original inspiration was from dream he had of himself find Windows 95 computer that sucked him into the computer world. LaRoque also took inspiration from Tron, where protagonist Kevin Flynn gets transported inside the world of the mainframe computer, where he interacts with programs in his attempt to escape.
LaRoque began work on film with Michael Wildshill in 1999, shortly after Paint World finished production. In 2000, LaRoque had a draft treatment with Wildshill that bore some resemblance to the final film. LaRoque and Wildshill pitched the story to Universal Animation president John Cohen with some initial artwork in 2000. LaRoque and his story team left with some suggestions in hand, and returned to pitch a refined version of the story in 2000. Film was originally developed under title, but was changed in order to distance it from the video game of the same name. Other titles that had also been considered included Cybertropolis, Computerville, Webtopia, and Cyber City, among others.
Thomas Lennon, who had just finished work on Paint World, was attracted to write the script for Computeropolis, and began developing treatment in 1999. Story was very different from final film, in which character of Peri known at this stage as Gary was trap in computer, where he must stop Gill Bates parody of Microsoft founder Bill Gates from taking over the world and kidnap a computer princess named Viva who later became Painting Paula, love interest of Gary. Peri partner and game character, Nicky Kickzoo, had not yet been added. Through various drafts, Gary's occupation went back and forth from being teenager and from working for a video game company, until his final incarnation as teenage computer designer, eventually named Percy Peri Dazz. As Peri is actually feminine name, LaRoque originally wanted to change his name to Perry, but he decided to get it over with. In the UK release of the film, Peri was named as Perry to avoid any references to colloquial terms in the UK for peripatetic teacher. Peri is also named Perry in the Japanese dub as well.
In 2000, Los Angeles Times reported that LaRoque was working on the untitled project that would eventually become Computeropolis, although little else was known about the film at time. After the hand-drawn/CGI animated film Going Francisco became a commercial success, Universal revealed the film title to be Computeropolis, which would be animated with fully 3D computer animation. Going Francisco director Arlo Avocha Vernon joined in 2001 to co-direct the film with LaRoque. However, Vernon left at end of year for work on Gingo animated series Limo Dude, and was replaced with David Silverman, who had quit his job at Pixar after co directing Monsters, Inc. Both Laroque and Silverman decided to work on film in half, so the crew could at least know who to go to with specific detailed questions about film sequences; “we both ended up doing a lot of everything,” Laroque said. We both kind of control freaks, and we both wanted to do everything.
In a manner similar to Who Framed Roger Rabbit and Toy Story, Computeropolis featured a number of references to Microsoft Windows products, including cameos and visual gags. For example, Clippit, an infamous default Office Assistant for Microsoft Office, is featured in the film as a minor character that often bothers the main protagonists, referencing how Clippit was heavily mocked in popular culture following the backlash of the feature. Since studios could not afford to use Windows references in the film properly, Universal Pictures decided to partner with Microsoft to help make film elements as authentic as possible. Otto Berkes, the team leader of DirectX, was the technical consultant on film, giving advice on how Computeropolis should resemble Windows city.
The Universal animation team drew inspiration for Computeropolis' urban design from major cities, including New York City, Seattle, and London.
===Casting===
During the time, when Universal was look for young actor for voice role of Peri Dazz, Shia Labeouf was considered for character. He screen test for role and was interested, but when Audel Laroque was unable to make contact with him, he took it as no. In addition to Labeouf, Frankie Muniz and Zach Braff were also considered for role of Peri. Laroque took role to Jesse Mccartney, who was appearing in daytime drama All Your Children, and he accept. For role of Nicky Kickzoo, Nicolas Cage, Michael Keaton, Bobby Campo and James Franco were considered, but David Spade won role for his natural comedy. In 2003, it was announced Mccartney and Spade were cast, along with other cast members including Kelsey Grammer, Dan Fogler, David Hyde Pierce, Jodi Benson, Jon Lovitz, with Jennifer Tilly, and William Shatner. Benson and Shatner had previously co starred in Going Francisco.
Initially, Laroque wanted Sigourney Weaver for the voice of Carol. Weaver was approached about voicing characters. However, in 2002, before production on animation began, Weaver left film due to being busy on other projects. Instead, she was replaced by Kari Wahlgren.
===Animation===
Computeropolis was originally set up at Universal's Digital Images division, which had previously done animation for short film Aero as well as 3D CGI sequences for Going Francisco. In 2002, production on animation officially began. In 2003, during production of Computeropolis, Universal transferred the majority of its Digital Images team to main in house Feature Animation studio in Universal City, California follow box office failure of studio 2D hand drawn traditional animated feature Magina, which led Universal to select 50 percent of its new CGI animation team from its 2D animation staff and placed them through a rigorous training program, which included the introduction to Alias Maya that would serve as the main CGI animation software used on the project.
More coming soon!
===Music===
American composer John Debney and Brazilian composer Heitor Pereira composed the score for ‘’Computeropolis’’, both of whom had previously collaborated on the score of Going Francisco. Soundtrack album was release on June 29, 2004, by Varese Sarabande.
==Release==
===Theatrical===
Computeropolis was initially set for release on July 16, 2004, but the date was later changed to July 2, 2004. The film premiered at the Fox Village Theater on June 20, 2004, and was theatrically released on July 2, 2004 in the United States and Canada, in Australia on July 29, 2004, and in the UK on September 10, 2004. After the successful 3D release of Jurassic Park, Universal released Computeropolis in 3D on May 16, 2014 for the 10 year anniversary of the film. On March 1, 2019, Universal and IMAX announced that the film would be reissued and digitally remastered for IMAX theaters alongside its sequels, Computeropolis 2, Computeropolis 3, and The Deep Web using their DMR Technology in quadruple feature for one day only, as part of the Fan Event on May 1, 2019.
===Marketing===
The film’s teaser trailer was released on July 1, 2003 and was attached into Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas a day later. It depicts a scene where Peri and Nicky get sucked out of the computer and start an argument over which way they need to go. This scene was not present in the final film. Another teaser trailer was released on December 12, 2003 and was attached into Dusk and Dawn and Peter Pan. The first full trailer was release on March 3, 2004 and was shown with Pet Squadron two days later. Final trailer was released on April 29, 2004, and was released theatrically in front of History Island and Shrek 2. There were a few television spots for the film; the first was released in May 2004, the second was released in June 2004, and the third was released in July 2004.
Upon its release, Burger King had a promotional tie-in with 7 toys including Peri Dazz, Nicky Kickzoo, King Trojan, Milo, Travis, Notepad Ned, and Media Player Mike with their Kids Meals.
===Video Game===
A video game based on the film was released on June 29, 2004 for the Play Station 2, Xbox, Game Cube, Game Boy Advance, PC, Macintosh, and Mobile Phones.
===Home Media===
Computeropolis was first released on DVD and VHS on December 7, 2004. Both releases included a 5 minutes short film titled Print 3D Errors, which take place after the events of the film. The film was a best selling DVD title in its initial week of release, selling over 500,000 copies and making over $9 million. It was also released on Game Boy Advance Video in 2005 and on UMD for the Play Station Portable. Another single disc was released May 30, 2006 along with HD DVD release, and the next year, a new two-disc release with extra features on June 19, 2007. It was later released on Blu-ray in NA on July 22, 2008. Another Blu-ray release from Universal for the film was released on June 5, 2012, as part of Universal 100th Anniversary. It was later released on Blu-ray 3D on August 12, 2014. a 4K Ultra HD Blu ray version was release on May 8, 2018, to promote The Deep Web.
==Reception==
===Box Office===
Computeropolis opened on July 2, 2004, in the United States and Canada. It earned $85.7 million during its opening week, placing it in first at the box office during that week and breaking several records, such as earning the highest-grossing opening week for an animated feature, and the highest opening for a non-Disney/Pixar film. The film also made the highest grossing domestic debut for Universal Animation, though was later overtaken by its sequel in 2007.
By the end of its theatrical run, Computeropolis grossed a total of $587.1 million worldwide, making it the highest grossing Universal animated film and the sixth highest-grossing film of 2004. It is also became the third highest-grossing animated film of 2004 behind Shrek 2 and The Incredibles.
===Critical Reaction===
Computeropolis received widespread critical acclaim, becoming a cult hit among critics and audiences upon release. On aggregate site Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 90% based on 128 reviews, with an average rating of 7.7 10. The website’s consensus reads; “Having enough colorful animation, brilliant funny humor and action packed scenes to compete with the likes of Pixar, Computeropolis perfectly lived up to be a hit on its own. On Metacritic, it received a score of 100 out of 100, based on 73 critics, indicating generally favorable reviews. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film average grade of A on A to F scale.
Peter Travers of Rolling Stone gave the film 4 out of 4 stars, saying In it 1 fully 3D computer generated feature, Universal Pictures offers audiences Computeropolis, a movie that the whole family could enjoy, and is truly a delightful addition to the company's other classics with humor.” Richard Corliss of Time Magazine praised David Spade’s performance as Nicky Kickzoo, stating that “it gets even funnier for his comic relief career that brings his well-known self for his life.” Todd McCarthy of '’Variety liked the concept, also stating “as directed by Audel LaRoque, Computeropolis has a very engaging concept for a movie taking place inside your computer.”
Some critics have compared Computeropolis to sci-fi live action films such as Tron and Matrix. Jami Bernard of New York Daily News described film as Toy Story meet Tron. Kyle Smith of New York Post gave film 4 out of 4 stars, saying that "Computeropolis seems to duplicate the usual animation look of Gabriel Garza, but was made using computer-animation software and has amazing action, charm, and hilarious humor with a host of quirky characters such as Peri Dazz and Nicky Kickzoo.” Charles Herold of New York Times summed up his review stating that “Computeropolis is not only great movie, but it is an enthusiastic masterpiece with perfect moments that live up to its plot as well as other Universal animated hits since Ama And Mysterious Crystal and Paint World.”
Some critics, however, criticized some unexpected product placements of Microsoft products such as Windows 95 98 and XP. Liam Lacey of Globe And Mail described Computeropolis as “a 98 minute feature length commercial for Microsoft,” while Stephen Hunter of Washington Post wrote that “it was a little more than an exercise in advertising PC downloading to children.” Bill Muller of Arizona Republic stated, “while not as bad as say, Mac And You, Universal’s Computeropolis has overused Microsoft products, but tries hard enough to appeal to fans who may be puzzled by movie visual disconnection.” Mark Caro of Chicago Tribune considered the Peri quote as “a clever reference to the 90s Microsoft slogan.”
===Accolades===
Awards 	Awards 	Awards 	Awards
Awards 	Category 	Recipients	Results
Academy Awards 	Best Animated Feature 	 	
Annie Awards 	Best Animated Feature 	 	
Annie Awards 	Character Design in an Animated Feature Production 	 	
Annie Awards 	Directing in an Animated Feature Production 	 	
Annie Awards 	Music in an Animated Feature Production 	 	
Annie Awards 	Production Design in an Animated Feature Production 	 	
Annie Awards 	Storyboarding in an Animated Feature Production 	 	
Annie Awards 	Voice Acting in an Animated Feature Production 	 	
Annie Awards 	Writing in an Animated Feature Production 	 	
BAFTA Children Awards 	Best Feature Film 	 	
Casting Society Of America 	Best Animated Voice Over Feature Casting 	 	
Cinema Audio Society Awards 	Outstanding Achievement In Sound Mixing For An Animated Motion Picture 	 	
Golden Globe Awards 	Best Animated Feature Film 	 	
Critics Choice Awards 	Best Animated Film 	 	
Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards	Favorite Voice From An Animated Movie 	 	
Saturn Awards 	Saturn Award For Best Animated Film 	 	
Visual Effects Society 	Outstanding Performance by Animated Character in an Animated Motion Picture	 	
==Sequels==
Computeropolis was followed by two sequels Computeropolis 2 and Computeropolis 3. While the first sequel received similar acclaim from critics, the third film, however, received mixed reviews, but were still box office hits. The fourth installment, titled Deep Web, was released on June 1, 2018.
A fifth film, titled Webcation, was released in the US on June 16, 2023, and was released in the UK on June 23, 2023.
==Spin-Offs==
===Manga===
===Television series===
===Holiday special===
==Transcripts==
===Main===
To see the main transcript of the film, click here.
===Trailers===
To see the transcript for the trailers of the film, click here.
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