Unipuppy: Apocalypse

Unipuppy: Apocalypse is an animated epic science fiction action-adventure horror-thriller drama film directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, who co-wrote and co-produced the film with Dodge Greenley. It is loosely based off the 2021 short film Come and Learn with Pibby!, which was initially pitched to Adult Swim, before being rejected by Warner Bros. Discovery.
The film revolves around Unipuppy, who stars in an animated comedy talk show, and his best friend Axe (an axolotl), who finds themselves lost in other cartoon universes and have to save the multiverse itself, of which the population is slowly being infected by a glitch-like virus that infects anyone it touches into zombie-like creatures. 
Development of the film was green-lit in December 2024 after Dodge Greenley reworked Pibby into a feature film idea and pitched it to Warner Bros. executives. Shortly after being greenlit, production began, with Phil Lord and Christopher Miller joining the project as co-writers and co-directors. The film features characters and settings from over 20 different franchises, from Disney, Nickelodeon and Warner Bros. alike, and is considered one of the biggest crossover films ever made.
Unipuppy: Apocalypse premiered was theatrically released in the United States on December 10, 2027, by Warner Bros. Pictures and Uniworld Pictures. The film recieved extremely positive reviews from critics, with praise going toward the animation, voice acting, dark tone, characters, plot and John Debney's score. The film is frequently lauded as one of the greatest animated films ever made and, due to its use of many different animation styles, one of the most important films in the medium's history.
==Synopsis==
Unipuppy and Axe, stars of an animated talk show, find themselves misplaced in other television worlds, which are being corrupted by a dark force. The two must explore the multiverse to find survivors and help form an army to defeat the glitch.
==Voice cast==
===Unipuppy and the survivors===
*Jacob Hopkins as Unipuppy Wolfcorn, the mentally-ill host of an animated talk show.
*Tara Strong as 
**Axe Ogasawa, a bubbly and childlike but dimwitted axolotl who serves as Unipuppy's best friend and sidekick.
**Bubbles Utonium, the "Joy and the Laughter" of the Powerpuff Girls, and is one of the survivors of the "Glitch". She is implied to have a crush on Axe, such calling him "cute" several times throughout the film.
*Nikki Castillo as Pibby, the sweet and optimistic protagonist of Learning with Pibby, who is one of the survivors of the "Glitch".
*Kimiko Glenn as Kiff Chatterley, an anthropomorphic orange squirrel, who is one of the survivors of the "Glitch".
*Eric Bauza as Reggie, an anthropomorphic raccoon, who is one of the survivors of the "Glitch". He serves as the weapons expert of the team, creating missiles and potions to use against the glitch.
*Jessica McDonald as 
**Masami Yoshida, a cloud who is the spoiled and wealthy daughter of the Rainbow Factory's owner, is one of the survivors of the "Glitch", and has a crush on Unipuppy. Formerly tantrum-prone and vindictive, she quickly grew to become one of the friendlier survivors by the time the "Glitch" happened. When angry, she can develop into a storm cloud capable of causing massive damage.
**Carrie Krueger, a goth/emo ghost who lived in a malevolent mansion prior to the Gltich's invasion of Elmore. She can teleport and possess living bodies, using this power to make infected characters help out the survivors.
*Jose David Ramos as Peck, a nerdy purple penguin and a character from Ryan's World, a role that he regrets due to seeing it as corporate greed. As one of the survivors of the "Glitch", he helps out with Reggie and is the "brains" of the team.
*Roger Bumpass as Squidward Tentacles, a grumpy octopus who survives the "Glitch". He joins Unipuppy's team after they visit Bikini Bottom.
===Villains===
*Alex Hirsch as Bill Cypher, a two-dimensional interdimensional demon resembling the Illuminati, who after being corrupted, is one of the strongest victims of the "Glitch".
*Tom Kenny as SpongeBob Squarepants, an optimistic yellow sponge who is infected by the "Glitch".
*Jeff Bergman as Bugs Bunny, the mascot of Warner Bros. who is infected by the "Glitch".
*Teresa Gallagher as Penny Fitzgerald, a shapeshifting fairy who is infected by the "Glitch". After being infected, she can now shapeshift at will and uses it to hunt down Unipuppy and his team.
*H. Michael Croner as Barry Buns, a blue rabbit who is infected by the "Glitch".
*Bret Iwan as Mickey Mouse, the mascot of Disney who is infected by the "Glitch".
==Production==
On November 3, 2020, Cartoon Network filed a trademark with the name Learning with Pibby: Apocalypse. On October 30, 2021, a trailer announcing the potential series was uploaded by the Adult Swim YouTube Channel, which quickly grew a cult following. On October 3, 2023, creator Dodge Greenley announced that Pibby had not been moving forward as a series.
In August 2024, Greenley was approached by Warner Bros. Pictures, which asked him if he was willing to pitch any feature film ideas to them, to which he agreed. He decided to rework his idea for Pibby completely, creating a new protagonist, Unipuppy, while keeping much of the plot the same. On December 25, 2024, Warner Bros. announced that Phil Lord and Christopher Miller joined the project as directors and writers, with Greenley serving as a producer. Pre-production on the film began that month. There were already plans to create a four-part film series, with Greenley saying that "there could easily be more" but that it would depend on the first film's success.
In January 2025, it was announced that Warner Bros. had signed a eal to use characters from Disney and Nickelodeon for the film and any other projects relating to the Unipuppy franchise, agreeing to pay $100 million to each company per film; the deal also allowed for the films to be released on Disney+ and Paramount+, although Warner Bros. would hold all other distribution rights for the films. Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav called the Unipuppy franchise "one of the biggest crossover projects ever created" and Disney CEO Bob Iger called the franchise "Roger Rabbit turned up to eleven". Writing for the film continued throughout the first-half of 2025, ending in July of that year. Voice casting began in February 2025 and ended in July, with recording lasting from July to September of that year.
===Animation===
Unipuppy: Apocalypse and its sequels are noted for their intentional stylistic disunity, with characters designed and animated using various styles and techniques, oftentimes within the same scene (stylized traditional animation, CGI, Flash animation, live-action, etc.). Studio Soi, Titmouse, Rough Draft Studios Korea, and Mikros Image worked on animation for the film. Work on the animation began in September 2025, lasting almost two years. By the end of 2026, 60% of the animation was completed. 
===Post-production===
Production on Unipuppy: Apocalypse was completed on December 4, 2027, just six days before the U.S. release date.
===Music===
In July 2027, it was reported that John Debney would compose the film's score. Republic Records released the soundtrack and score on December 7, 2027.
==Release==
 was theatrically released in the United States on December 10, 2027. Warner Home Video released for digital download, and on DVD, Blu-ray and Ultra HD Blu-ray on March 17, 2028. 
==Reception==
===Critical response===
The review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported an approval rating of 98%, with an average score of 9/10, based on 208 reviews; the film previously held a score of 100% on the day of the film's release, dropping to 99% on December 11, 2024 and then 98% on December 13. The website's critical consensus reads, "Unipuppy: Apocalypse puts some of television's most recognizable cartoons with an epic story, animation taken to the next level, and a unique threat that's all mixed into a worthwhile story." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 89 out of 100 based on 51 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film a rare "A+" grade on an "A+ to F" scale, while those polled by PostTrak gave it a 99% overall positive score, with 91% saying they would definitely recommend the film.
Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun-Times gave Unipuppy: Apocalypse a perfect four out of four, describing it as "magnificent" and "one of the best animated films of the 21st century". The A.V. Club's Matthew Jackson deemed it a "masterpiece", adding that "it takes everything a normal film has up to eleven, not just for animation, but for the entirety of cinema". was named one of the top ten films of 2027 by the National Board of Review and the American Film Institute.
===Accolades===
 won Best Animated Feature Film at the 85th Golden Globe Awards, and won the same award at the 33rd Critics' Choice Awards and the 100th Academy Awards, among several other awards and nominations. It was the first non-Disney or Pixar film to win Best Animated Feature since The Boy and the Heron (2023), becoming the 9th non-Disney/Pixar film and the second Warner Bros. film to win the award. It was similarly successful at the 81st British Academy Film Awards, and the 55th Annie Awards.
==Sequels==
Ever since began development, Phil Lord, Christopher Miller and Dodge Greenley had planned for the film to be the first in a series consisting of at least four films. Unipuppy: Aftermath was released on May 1, 2030. The film features Unipuppy's team continuing to find new survivors to expand their army, while battling a new type of glitch. Unipuppy: Conflict was released on April 27, 2033, followed by Unipuppy: War on April 26, 2034. Both films are part of a single story; Conflict focuses on Unipuppy's army building a village that is "glitch-proof", and battling against an unknown villain after he takes advantage of the "Glitch". War has Unipuppy's army expanding rapidly to finally fight off the "Glitch", after Peck finally makes a cure for the "Glitch". Two untitled epilogue films are in production, scheduled for release in 2036 and 2037 respectively.
Category:2027 Films
Category:2020's films
Category:2020s American animated films
Category:2020s British animated films
Category:2020s British films
Category:2020s American films
Category:2020s films
Category:2027 animated films
Category:2020s English-language films
Category:2020s comedy films
Category:2D Animation
Category:2D and Anime animated films
Category:2D and CGI Animated movies
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Category:Warner Bros. Pictures Animation films
Category:Warner Bros. Pictures animated movies
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Category:Warner Bros. Pictures animated films
Category:Cartoon Network
Category:Cartoon Network Cinematic Universe
Category:Uniworld Pictures films