El Americano: The Movie

El Americano: The Movie (simply known as Americano) is a 2016 3D Mexican-American computer animated film produced by Animex Producciones, Olmos Productions, and Phil Roman Entertainment, and directed by Ricardo Arnaiz and ex-Disney animator, Mike Kunkel.Olmos Productions and Animex Join Forces on “El Americano: The Movie”PRESENTAN “EL AMERICANO THE MOVIE” EN EL FESTIVAL INTERNACIONAL DE CINE DE MORELIA October 26, 2013El Universal - Espectáculos - Edward James Olmos apuesta por historias con mensaje The film features a large ensemble voice cast of Hispanic-American and Mexican actors, led by Rico Rodriguez (Modern Family, The Muppets), Academy Award-nominee Edward James Olmos (Stand and Deliver, Battlestar Galactica, Miami Vice), Cheech Marin (The Lion King, Cars), Kate del Castillo (American Visa), Paul Rodriguez (Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore), Gabriel Iglesias (Planes, The Nut Job), Erik Estrada (Maya and Miguel), and Lisa Kudrow (Friends).Presentan “El Americano: The Movie”, coproducción México-EUA - Yahoo TV. Yahoo! TV. September 26, 2013El Americano Features Impressive Latino Cast - Latin Gossip It is the first computer-animated co-production between Mexico and the United States.Olmos Productions and Animex Join Forces on “El Americano: The Movie”
Originally set for release on September 2013, the film was released in theaters in Mexico on January 29, 2016. The film was later released direct-to-video in the United States on June 13, 2017 by Lionsgate (through its Grindstone Entertainment label).Berlinale: Lionsgate’s Grindstone Takes North America on ‘El Americano’ (EXCLUSIVE) (Variety) Date: February 11, 2017. Author: John Hopewell.
==Synopsis==
The story follows Cuco (voiced by Rico Rodriguez), a young Mexican parrot, whose epic quest to enlist the aid of an American crime-fighting TV celebrity, to defend his family in Mexico from Martin Kingfisher and his henchmen, teaches the young parrot to be a hero himself.
==Cast==
*Rico RodriguezPresentan “El Americano: The Movie”, coproducción México-EUA - Yahoo TV. Yahoo! TV. September 26, 2013 as Cuco
*Edward James OlmosPresentan “El Americano: The Movie”, coproducción México-EUA - Yahoo TV. Yahoo! TV. September 26, 2013 as Gayo
*Argelia AtilanoPresentan “El Americano: The Movie”, coproducción México-EUA - Yahoo TV. Yahoo! TV. September 26, 2013 as Lori
*Cheech MarinPresentan “El Americano: The Movie”, coproducción México-EUA - Yahoo TV. Yahoo! TV. September 26, 2013 as Martin
*Kate del CastilloPresentan “El Americano: The Movie”, coproducción México-EUA - Yahoo TV. Yahoo! TV. September 26, 2013 as Rayito
*Paul RodriguezPresentan “El Americano: The Movie”, coproducción México-EUA - Yahoo TV. Yahoo! TV. September 26, 2013 as Divino
*Grecia VillarPresentan “El Americano: The Movie”, coproducción México-EUA - Yahoo TV. Yahoo! TV. September 26, 2013 as Paquito
*Ricardo El Mandril SanchezPresentan “El Americano: The Movie”, coproducción México-EUA - Yahoo TV. Yahoo! TV. September 26, 2013 as Vovo
*K. C. PorterPresentan “El Americano: The Movie”, coproducción México-EUA - Yahoo TV. Yahoo! TV. September 26, 2013 as Karl
*Erik EstradaPresentan “El Americano: The Movie”, coproducción México-EUA - Yahoo TV. Yahoo! TV. September 26, 2013 as Punch
*Adal RamonesPresentan “El Americano: The Movie”, coproducción México-EUA - Yahoo TV. Yahoo! TV. September 26, 2013 as Trueno
*Gabriel IglesiasPresentan “El Americano: The Movie”, coproducción México-EUA - Yahoo TV. Yahoo! TV. September 26, 2013 as Garcia
*Don ChetoPresentan “El Americano: The Movie”, coproducción México-EUA - Yahoo TV. Yahoo! TV. September 26, 2013 as Dovo
*Hector SuarezPresentan “El Americano: The Movie”, coproducción México-EUA - Yahoo TV. Yahoo! TV. September 26, 2013 as Eddie Navarro
*Lisa KudrowPresentan “El Americano: The Movie”, coproducción México-EUA - Yahoo TV. Yahoo! TV. September 26, 2013 as Lucille
*Pierre AngeloPresentan “El Americano: The Movie”, coproducción México-EUA - Yahoo TV. Yahoo! TV. September 26, 2013 as El Mexicano
Note: Ash the Vulture does not have a voice.
==Production==
Production began on January 2011 when director and Animex founder, Ricardo Arnaiz, became interested in doing an American production while working on Nikté. He later visited the United States and met actor Edward James Olmos, when he found that Olmos was "a hit". After reading the script, Olmos agreed to join the film's production team and voice cast.PRESENTAN “EL AMERICANO THE MOVIE” EN EL FESTIVAL INTERNACIONAL DE CINE DE MORELIA October 26, 2013 “We’re delighted to be working with Edward James Olmos and his production company here in the US. It’s a story we have been working on for the last three years and we feel we have a really strong team in place to execute this film scheduled in 2013.”
"At the opening of the FICM to present the progress of this project is important because Animex [was] born in Puebla 13 years ago, and is the fourth film and will for many more. With El Americano, we ventured to U.S. and we want to impact [a] Hollywood film [...]"
— Ricardo ArnaizEl Americano: The Movie, la nueva cinta de Animex (in Spanish) Retrieved January 2, 2014. September 27, 2013. Claudia Cisneros
On September 26, 2013, the film was presented at Ibero Puebla, revealing new screenshots and clips.El Americano - The Movie presentation
During production, Edward James Olmos has recorded his voice before the animation process.Destaca película tijuanense en el Festival de Cine de Morelia As a result, many cast members were required to act out their roles before recording their voices.
The film was budgeted at $52 million pesos ($4 million USD). According to director Ricardo Arnaiz, it is the most expensive film from Animex Producciones and the first to exceed over $29 million pesos.
The visual effects and animation processes were done by Boxel Studio in Tijuana.Rompiendo los límites con MODO en El Americano: The Movie In an interview with Andres Reyes Botello, founder of Boxel Studios, Ricardo Arnaiz initially stated he originally intended to produce the film in traditional animation.Rompiendo los límites con MODO en El Americano: The Movie "Back then he was explaining to me his situation with his 2D animation studio and his curiosity about making El Americano into a full 3D CGI production," said Andres Reyes Botello. "From there, we instantly got on to a good relationship and started working on the development for the characters and environments, doing some animation, lighting, and rendering tests for this film."Rompiendo los límites con MODO en El Americano: The Movie
Development for the film finished on August 2013.
===Casting===
On April 17, 2013, actress Lisa Kudrow has joined the voice cast as Lucille in both English and Spanish versions.Lisa Kudrow hablará en español para la película El Americano She is the only all-American cast member. To prepare her role, director Ricardo Arnaiz helped Kudrow with her emphasis in her Spanish for her lines.Conferencia de Prensa Festival de Cine de Morelia | Press conference at Morelia Film Festival (skip to 36:24)
The film premiered at the Morelia International Film Festival on October 22, 2013. The film was originally scheduled for a tentative September 2013 release, but it was delayed to a Summer 2014 release. It was then moved to a March 2014 release,PRESENTAN “EL AMERICANO THE MOVIE” EN EL FESTIVAL INTERNACIONAL DE CINE DE MORELIA October 26, 2013 before moving back to a Summer 2014 release.
The film had its U.S. premiere at The Strong National Museum of Play theater in Rochester, New York on March 15, 2014. It was shown in both Spanish and English.
==Gallery==
File:El_Americano_The_Movie_Teaser_Poster_JPosters.jpg|English teaser poster
File:El_Americano_The_Movie_MX_poster.jpg|Spanish teaser poster
ElAmericano_originalLineup_MikeKunkel.jpg|Character concept by Mike Kunkel.
File:Mike_rico_ricardo.png|Mike Kunkel, Rico Rodriguez, and Ricardo Arnaiz (from left-to-right)
File:Ricardo_arnaiz_with_lisa_kudrow.png|Ricardo Arnaiz with actress Lisa Kudrow.
==Videos==
TEASER EL AMERICANO|El Americano teaser (in Spanish)
Rico Rodriguez en EL AMERICANO THE MOVIE|Rico Rodriguez Recording His Voice For El Americano The Movie
Cheech Marin Recording Voice for El Americano The Movie|Cheech Marin Recording Voice for El Americano The Movie
Mandril Recording Voice for El Americano The Movie|Mandril Recording Voice for El Americano The Movie
Kate Del Castillo Recording Voice for El Americano The Movie|Kate Del Castillo Recording Her Voice for El Americano The Movie
==References==
==External links==
*Official Website (in English)
*Official Website (in Spanish)
Category:Films using computer-generated imagery
Category:Mexican American films
Category:English-language films
Category:Mexican films
Category:Spanish-language films
Category:Computer-animated films
Category:Children's fantasy films
Category:2010s comedy films
Category:Films featuring anthropomorphic characters
Category:Films about birds
Category:Mexican animated films
Category:Rated PG