The Olympic Quest

The Olympic Quest (French: La Quête Olympique) is a 2023 computer-animated sports action-adventure and comedy film based on the Olympic mascots and the 2024 Summer Olympics, also being its official movie. It was produced by Warner Bros. Pictures Animation, Pathé, Legendary Pictures, and Birdo Studio and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures and IOC Pictures worldwide and Pathé Distribution in the European Union. It features an ensemble cast consisting of Jules de Jongh, Charlyne Yi, Jeremy Shada, Richard Ayoade, Tara Strong, Ariel Winter, Steve Blum, Sean Bean, Ryan Reynolds, Anthony Gonzalez, Chris Evans, and Patrick Warburton, as well as a sports cast consisted of Usain Bolt, Nadia Comăneci, Simone Biles, and much more. The film follows the Olympic Phryge as she and her friends must save the rings from Ares, who has challenged them in a number of sports to retrieve them back.
Development began after the International Olympic Committee launched IOC Pictures, a film distribution company, in late 2018. During its early stages, the project was produced by the Walt Disney Company under an unknown production company (possibly Walt Disney Animation Studios) until the licensing rights were sold to Warner Bros. Pictures in 2019, leading other companies, which are Legendary Pictures and Pathé, joining the film's development, the entire script to be recreated, adding new animation, and hiring a new director, and new producers, storywriters, and voice actors. The entire movie was complete shortly after the creation of Warner Bros. Discovery, where the license between IOC and Warner Bros. turned exclusive, allowing further installments of the franchise to be made until the 2032 Summer Olympics opening ceremony.
The film was released in November 8, 2023 in France, November 10, 2023 in the United States, and November 14, 2023 worldwide to mixed reviews from critics, although the audience reception was generally more positive. It was a commercial success at the box office, earning $530 million against a budget of $100 million. The film managed to spawn a franchise focused on the Olympic Mascots, planned to go on until the opening ceremony of the 2032 Summer Olympics.
== Synopsis ==
In Paris, all of the past olympic mascots mock Oly, the new mascot of the olympic games 2024, for being small and useless, but when an evil god steal the olympic rings and all of the things that make the olympics special, Oly and the other mascots have to resolve their differences and work together to save the olympics.
== Plot ==
The movie starts at the olympic comitee, where all the mascots from past olympic games gather to see the new mascot. It´s revealed the new mascot is Oly, a small phrigian cap, but all of the mascots, exept Cobi and Miratowa, make fun of her for being small. Oly does not like this, and screams at the comitee.
We pass to heaven, where Zeus is having a quarrel with another God named Ares. Ares wants to be the leader of mount olympus, but Zeus says that being a leader is very dangerous. Ares, mad with Zeus, kicks him out of the throne and puts on his crown. Some seconds later, Ares says that he declares the olympics cancelled
TBA
== Cast ==
* Jules de Jongh as Oly/ The Olympic Phryge - the main protagonist and the mascot of the 2024 Summer Olympics. She is friendly and confident and likes to help, but she can get angry sometimes, like when all of the past mascots make fun of her for her size at the beggining of the movie
* Charlyne Yi as Miraitowa - the mascot for the 2020 Summer Olympics. He is a brave and emotive robot that is very energetic and likes to help other people. He has the ability to teleport.
* Jeremy Shada as Vinicius - the mascot for the 2016 Summer Olympics. He is a happy hybrid that loves to help people and is somewhat clumsy. He is able to stretch his limbs from a very long distance.
* Richard Ayoade as Wenlock - the mascot for the 2012 Summer Olympics. He can be annoying at times during the movie, but he is shown to be a master of disguises and loves to joke around.
* Tara Strong as...
** Huanhuan - one of the mascots of the 2008 Summer Olympics. He is a Fuwa that represents the Olympic flame. He is the most extroverted and enthusiastic of all the Fuwa.
** Yingying - one of the mascots of the 2008 Summer Olympics. He is a Fuwa that represents the Tibetan antelope, and he is the most lively and independent of the Fuwa.
** Nini - one of the mascots of the 2008 Summer Olympics. She is a Fuwa that represents the swallow. She is the most just and kindest of all the Fuwa.
** Izzy - the mascot for the 1996 Summer Olympics. He is a Whatizit and is very energetic and dreamful. Izzy also has the ability to morph into different sports items.
*Ariel Winter as...
** Beibei - one of the mascots of the 2008 Summer Olympics. She is a Fuwa that represents the Chinese sturgeon and she is the friendliest of all the Fuwa.
** Jingjing - one of the mascots of the 2008 Summer Olympics. He is a Fuwa that represents the panda, and he is the happiest of all of the Fuwa. He is also very optimistic and honest.
*Anthony Gonzalez as Cobi - the mascot for the 1992 Summer Olympics. He is a brave, but silly sheepdog that is good friends with Izzy and Oly. He is also shown to be good at football.
* Sean Bean as Zeus - an important character in the movie. Being the bravest and strongest of all Greek gods, he is the leader of Mount Olympus until Ares took over his throne and bounded him onto a cliff after Hades absorbed his power. He was freed after Ares lost his powers from his adamantine.
* Steve Blum as Ares - the main antagonist of the movie. He is one of Zeus's sons and the god of war. He took over Mount Olympus and the Olympic Games and had all of Zeus's powers until his adamantine was knocked from his head. He stole the Olympics´ magic
* Ryan Reynolds as Hermes - the secondary antagonist later turned supporting character in the movie. He is very clumsy and the messenger of the gods. He helped Hades set up the events before choosing Zeus's side at the end of the movie.
* Chris Evans as Whetu - a minor antagonist in the movie. He is an egocentric and mean person and the best surfer in the surfing competition. Thinking he was unbeatable, Fry won against him.
* Patrick Warburton as Komma - a minor antagonist in the movie. He is a very selfish, but good dancer. He is also a quitter after Fry showed him his dance moves.
The following athetes made cameo appearances in the movie:
* Usain Bolt
*Nadia Comăneci
*Richarlison
*Simone Biles
More coming soon!
== Production ==
=== Development ===
On December 2018, the International Olympic Committee founded IOC Pictures, a movie distribution company, so that they could give a company the rights of making Olympic-related movies and publish it under the committee's distributor. The Walt Disney Company gained interest in making Olympic movies, so they accepted the deal. Wanting it to be appealed to younger audiences, they decided to make a movie about the Olympic mascots. However, due to disagreements between the staff working on this film, as well as disputes between Disney and IOC, Disney gave the rights of making the Olympic mascots movie to Warner Bros. Pictures in 2019, as well as giving them all the character models they made and the rights to make Olympic-related movies. Due to criticism of the plot, casting choice, and little character development, Warner Bros. changed a lot of stuff from the original script, as well as hiring new actors to voice some of the characters instead. 
After the merger between AT&T's WarnerMedia (owners of Warner Bros.) and Discovery, Inc. in 2022 forming Warner Bros. Discovery, the deal turned exclusive in 2022, shortly before the movie was announced. The exclusive deal gave WBD a 10-year time period where they were allowed to create and distribute Olympics-related movies until the opening ceremony of the 2032 Summer Olympics, where the rights would be sold to another company. Disney expressed interest in owning the franchise again after the deal ends.
Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures have announced an animated movie related to the upcoming 2024 Summer Olympics in December 20, 2022, and announced that they are collaborating with the French movie productor and distributor Pathé to make this film. Birdo Studio, a Brazilian animation company best known for creating Vinicius and Tom, as well as several Brazilian animated shows, also announced their collaboration on making this film, saying they were mostly responsible in making the animation. Both Warner Bros. Pictures and IOC Pictures will distribute this film worldwide, whereas Pathé will distribute it around the European Union. The teaser poster (shown above) was revealed on December 24. The cast was also revealed on the same day, where it received mixed reviews. The cast was praised for bringing back childhood voice actors but was criticized for the amount of celebrity voice actors.
The first trailer for the film was released on May 2023 under the official Warner Bros. and Paris 2024 Organizing Committee YouTube accounts. The second trailer was released on July 2023, and the final trailer was released on September 2023.
=== Writing ===
French author and animator Michel Ocelot is responsible for the writing and plot of the film. Pathé also wrote the film along with him.
=== Animation ===
The movie is being animated at Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank, California, as well as Pathé's headquarters in Paris, France, and Birdo Studio's offices in São Paulo, Brazil. The animation is a hybrid of 3D animation along with 2D visuals.
=== Aspect ratio ===
Since this movie was mostly focused in releasing on theatres and IMAX, which were full screen, director Alexandre Heboyan used a 4:3 aspect ratio for the movie. This decision sparked polarized reviews, with some stating it was a good choice for a movie released in theatres, while some criticized the black bars on the sides as being "too distractive". Heboyan stated that he used the aspect ratio because he wanted it to be unique from other animated films, which used much wider ratios.
== Premiere ==
The film was premiered on November 2, 2023 at the Grand Rex in Paris, France, the same theater where the emblem of the 2024 Summer Olympics was revealed. Instead of being red, the carpet used was gold colored, and the walls were decorated with gold, as well as Olympic-related art, like medals, stadiums, and pictograms. During the premiere, the voice actors or both the French and English versions walked down the carpet, as well as the directors, producers, and other staff members. The voice actors also took pictures with people dressed up as mascots. The mascot costumes used in the premiere were recycled from the previous Olympic Games, except for Izzy and Cobi's costumes.
== Music ==
The Olympic Quest Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is a soundtrack album that is going to have all songs for the movie. The soundtrack will be released in November 18, 2023, the same date where the movie will be released worldwide. It was recorded by Warner Music Group and is composed by Yoann Lemoine (Woodkid) and Hans Zimmer.
Main article: The Olympic Quest/Soundtrack
== Release dates ==
=== In theatres ===
* November 8, 2023 (France)
* November 10, 2023 (United States)
* November 14, 2023 (Worldwide)
* July 20, 2024 (Worldwide, re-release for the 2024 Summer Olympics)
=== Home media ===
* January 3, 2024 (Blu-Ray, DVD, Digital HD) (Europe)
* January 9, 2024 (Blu-Ray, DVD, Digital HD) (Worldwide)
* July 26, 2024 (HBO Max, Amazon Prime Video, Olympic Channel (limited time only)) (Worldwide)
== Marketing ==
Being the official movie for the 2024 Summer Olympics, this movie will play an important role in marketing for the Games. Merchandise related to this movie will be sold at the official Paris 2024 store, as well as the Tomshop in the Olympic Museum in Lausanne, Switzerland.
=== Toys ===
Many toys related to the movie were produced by several different companies, including plushies, collectibles, action figures, and much more. LEGO has also released building toy sets related to this movie, and McDonald's Happy Meals were included with toys from this movie.
Toys will also be sold at the official Paris 2024 store when the Olympic Games open.
=== Advertisements ===
Coca-Cola has made several advertisements featuring the mascots.
=== Sportswear ===
Le Coq Sportif and Decathlon have made children's sportswear related to the movie and mascots.
=== Airline safety video ===
Between the airing of this movie and the closing ceremony of the Olympic Games, Air France's safety video included the mascots, and it includes a lot of humor so younger passangers could be entertained.
== Reception ==
=== Box office ===
As of December 2023, The Olympic Quest grossed $200 million in the United States and Canada, and $330 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $530 million. It is the third highest grossing animated film of 2023, surpassing Elemental but behind Spider-Man: Across the Spiderverse.
=== Critical response ===
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film received a 61% critic rating score (Fresh) with its consensus saying "Although the film didn't peform a good enough spectacle for a gold medal, The Olympic Quest offers a colorful action-packed adventure enough to receive a silver medal." It has a rating of 48% in Metacritic, saying it had "mixed or average reviews". Audiences in CinemaScore gave this movie an A- rating on an A+ to F scale, while 81% of those polled by PostTrak gave it a positive score, with 75% saying that they would recommend it.
Alex Thompson from Empire gave it a positive review, stating "The Olympic Quest transforms mascots into endearing characters on an epic quest. The film strikes a balance between spectacle and heart, making it a delightful addition to the animation genre." Michael Anderson from Variety also gave it a positive review, stating "The Olympic Quest manages to turn mascots into heroes with a creative twist. The film's strong visual appeal and energetic spirit make up for its occasional narrative shortcomings. A delightful ode to the Olympics." Jessica Martinez, writing for IGN, also stated that while the film has minor hiccups "the film's action-packed sequences and heartfelt moments make it a standout animated adventure."
Some critic reviews were slightly less positive. Emily Watson from Entertainment Weekly stated "The Olympic Quest takes a bold leap into uncharted territory with its mascot-centric narrative. While it falters in establishing emotional depth, the film succeeds in delivering an entertaining and visually engaging spectacle." Olivia Bennett from The Guardian stated that the film taps into the nostalgia of Olympic mascots into a charming tale and "triumphs in its dedication to revitalizing these overlooked characters", despite criticizing its narrative predictability and plot twists. Daniel Chang from Screen Rant wrote that "The Olympic Quest rises to the occasion, delivering an entertaining blend of sports and fantasy. The imaginative take on Olympic mascots injects freshness into a familiar setting. A fun, if slightly uneven, ride."
Some critics were more negative and critical for the movie. Christopher Harris from The New York Times stated that "while The Olympic Quest brings a novel perspective to Olympic mascots, the narrative struggles to transcend its marketing origins. The film's potential is stifled by an uneven plot and missed opportunities for character development." Jordan Reed from IndieWire praised the idea for a movie focused on the Olympic mascots, although criticized its execution, stating that the film "struggles with pacing issues and a plot that occasionally feels like a promotional vehicle rather than a cinematic adventure." Angela Davis from The Hollywood Reporter also criticized the film and stated it "feels torn between its ambition and potential marketing motives. Olympic spirit shines, but narrative hurdles hinder the overall impact."
== Franchise ==
Main article: Olympic Mascots (franchise)
Due to Warner Bros. having an exclusive deal with the International Olympic Committee to make Olympics-related movies between 2022 and 2032, they announced a franchise related to the Olympic mascots. Warner Bros. expects this franchise to make $2 billion during it's 10 year deal and also announced plans for a sequel that'll be related to the 2028 Summer Olympics being held in Los Angeles. TV shows were also announced, and they were going to be aired mainly in HBO Max and Cartoon Network.
=== Video games ===
==== Mario and Sonic at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games ====
Due to Sega and Nintendo's exclusive deals in making Olympics-related video games, they also collaborated with Warner Bros. to add the Olympic mascots in the new Mario and Sonic video game. Some of the voice actors return to voice the characters in this game, like Jules de Jongh, but some didn't have any or other sounds were added as their voice.
=== TV shows ===
==== The Phryges! ====
Warner Bros. and the Paris 2024 Organizing Committee announced an animated TV show that focuses both on Fry and her sister, the Paralympic Phryge, as they explore Paris and meet many different friends and foes who challenge them to play sports. The show is expected to be released on July 26, 2024 on HBO Max and the Olympic Channel, the same date where the 2024 Olympics will happen and The Olympic Quest releasing on home media.
==== Vinicius and Tom: Fun by Nature Season 2 ====
Warner Bros. and Birdo Studio have announced that a second season to Vinicius and Tom: Fun by Nature, a series that includes the Olympic mascot Vinicius along with Paralympic mascot Tom which was originally released in 2015, will be released on HBO Max and Cartoon Network somewhere in 2024. Unlike the previous season, the episodes will be 10 minutes long, the characters will be fully voice acted, and it will be released worldwide and not only in Brazil.
==== The Olympic Adventures of the Fuwa ====
Warner Bros. announced plans for a reboot of the Chinese animated TV series, The Olympic Adventures of the Fuwa, that will be released in HBO Max and Cartoonito somewhere in 2026. Unlike the previous show, where it takes place before the 2008 Olympics, this show takes place after the events of The Olympic Quest. Similar to the TV show, it follows the Fuwa as they go on sports adventures around the city of Beijing and the rest of China.
==== The Cobi Troupe reboot ====
Warner Bros. also announced plans on making a reboot on the lost media franchise, The Cobi Troupe, which focused on the mascot of the 1992 Summer Olympics, Cobi, on Cartoon Network. The release date is unknown.
=== Sequels ===
==== The Olympic Quest: Summon the Heroes ====
Warner Bros. announced that plans on making a film for the 2028 Summer Olympics, along with the Olympic mascots, is in the works. The film's name, The Olympic Quest: Summon the Heroes, was announced on January 2024. It is expected to be released in either 2027 or 2028. It will serve as the direct sequel to The Olympic Quest.
==== The Olympic Winter Quest: Return of the Frozen Queen ====
The second film of the franchise is a spin-off film that's more focused on the Winter Olympic mascots on their mission to save the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo from the Frozen Queen. It is expected to be released in February 2, 2025.
=== Anime ===
==== Untitled Miraitowa and Someity anime ====
An anime series that focuses on Miraitowa and Someity, the mascots of the 2020 Summer Olympics and Paralympics, is set to be released on HBO Max and Crunchyroll somewhere in 2025.
=== Short films ===
==== Untitled Izzy short film ====
Another television film focused on Izzy, the mascot of the 1996 Summer Olympics, is also set to be released on home media and HBO Max. The release date is unknown.
== Gallery ==
Main article: The Olympic Quest/Gallery
== Trivia ==
Main article: The Olympic Quest/Trivia
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