Animals vs. Monsters: Most Wanted

2023 computer-animated filmTemplate:SHORTDESC:2023 computer-animated film

***Animals vs. Monsters: Most Wanted*** is a 2023 American computer-animated science fiction adventure action comedy film produced by Sony Pictures Animation and Movie Land Animation Studios and directed by Thierry Sapyn and Pascal Pinon, who is collaborated with MLAS on *Tom the Hand 4*, with the screenplay from Rodney Rothman and Peter Baynham, and story by Dan Hageman and Phil Lord. Adam Sandler, Ryan Potter, Chloe Bennet, John Goodman, Maya Rudolph, Jesse Eisenberg, Leslie Mann, Tenzing Norgay Trainor and Tracy Morgan reprised their roles from the first film. It is a sequel to 2021's *Animals vs. Monsters*.

*Animals vs. Monsters: Most Wanted* premiered at Regency Village Theater on April 14, 2023, and was released on May 5 by Sony Pictures Releasing. Like its predecessors, it was a critical and commercial success, grossing over $543 million on its $80-90 million budget.

## Cast

### Humans

* Ryan Potter as Max
* Chloe Bennet as Jaffe
* Tenzing Norgay Trainor as Tyler
* Tom Holland as William
* Eva Noblezada as Sarah, Max and Tyler's assistant, who doesn't believe in animals until the final battle scene.
* Charlet Chung as Lina, Max's love interest, who serves as the state governor; a former master thief turned good who eventually helps Max, Tyler and the animals to do the same.
* Mia Sinclair Jenness as Kida, Sarah's sister who befriends Lina and helps Max, Tyler and the animals.
* Finn Wolfhard as Dylan
* Hunter Dillon as Joey
* Hailee Steinfeld as Sasha, a smokin' hot women who is the leader of the Predator Six.
* Kausar Mohammed as Captain Condo, Kim's assistant and the member of the Predator Six.
* Danny Trejo as Rousemeer, the member of the Predator Six who is a bike rider.
* Michelle Rodriguez as Baja, the member of the Predator Six with her punk clothes.
* David Harbour as Kwapp, the member of the Predator Six with a giant mechanical lobster claw.
* Luke Youngblood as Tup, the member of the Predator Six who is a great spy.

### Animals

* John Cena as Toller the Lion
* Lizzie Waterworth as Jippa the Giraffe
* Patton Oswalt as Mark the Lizard
* Harrison Ford as Hank the Polar Bear
* Conrad Vernon as Yoddy the Dog
* Emma Thompson as Bella the Gray Cat
* Seth Rogen as Hyan the Bulldog
* Josh Gad as Flacko the Parrot
* David Cross as Larry the Red Squirel
* Jackie Chan as Chan Chan, a red dragon.
* Billy Crystal as Gerry the Macaw
* Ryan Gosling as Rodney the Monkey
* James Corden as Dante the Stork
* Constance Wu as Wong the Cat
* Albert Tsai as Todd the Mouse
* Jim Parsons as Tip, a dog who wears glasses.
* Zac Efron as Peter the Gorilla
* Cathy Ang as Chia the Penguin
* Brian Hull as Joseph the Guinea Pig
* Jamie Chung as Gina the Tiger

## Production

### Development

Movie Land Animation Studios announced to develop and make a sequel in December 2020.

*More coming soon!*

### Animation

Like WAG's *Spy Land*, inspiration for the design of the film came from Sony Pictures Animation's *Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse* (2018), to make the film look more like storybook illustrations, from an idea suggested by production designer Scott Watanabe. While the animation for the film was provided by Movie Land Digital Production Services (MLDPS), after previously working on the first film, Fortiche handled the cel-shaded animation style, with character likenesses using proprietary softwares like RenderMan, which allows the animators to move the lines around the character rigs. Character designs and computer graphics took inspiration from a mix of styles from directors such as Fortiche's *Arcane: League of Legends*, SPA's *The Mitchells vs. the Machines*, and WAG's *Smallfoot* (2018).

In collaboration with La Femme Rouge Animation in Toronto, it is the first MLAS film to not be made by the Bellas VFX Studios after Universal Pictures (after previously working with MLAS on *Fast & Furious Spy Racers*) sued it, force Movie Land to cease operations and folded it into Fortiche and MLDPS San Francisco.

### Music

On January 6, 2022, Henry Jackman was signed to compose the score for the film, while Skywalker Sound returned to record and mix the audio post-production services, having previously composed the soundtrack for the first film. The soundtrack album streamed on May 3, 2023 by Interscope Records.

## Release

*Animals vs. Monsters: Most Wanted* premiered at the Regency Village Theater on April 14, 2023, and was released on May 5, 2023. It was originally scheduled for July 2023 release. The film's date was moved up to May 5 to avoid competition with *Carmen Sandiego 3*.

### Marketing

The final trailer for the film was released on March 23, 2023, and was attached to screenings of *Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves* and *The Super Mario Bros. Movie* in the United States.

### Home media

In April 2021, Sony signed deals with Netflix and Disney for the rights to their 2022 to 2026 film slate, following the films' theatrical and home media windows. Netflix signed for exclusive "pay 1 window" streaming rights, which is typically an 18-month window and included the sequels to *Animals vs. Monsters*; this deal built on an existing output deal that Netflix had signed with Sony Pictures Animation in 2014. Disney signed for "pay 2 window" rights for the films, which would be streamed on Disney+ and Hulu as well as broadcast on Disney's linear television networks.

*Animals vs. Monsters: Most Wanted* was released for purchase on digital download by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment on June 13, 2023 and will later become available to stream on Netflix in late October 2023. It is also scheduled to be released on Ultra HD Blu-ray, Blu-ray and DVD on August 1, 2023.

## Reception

### Box-office

In the United States and Canada, *Animals vs. Monsters: Most Wanted* was released alongside *Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3* and *Love Again*, and was projected to gross $30–40 million from 4,930 theaters in its opening weekend. The film made over $41 million from Thursday night previews.

### Critical responses

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 90% of 100 reviews are positive, with an average rating of 8.45/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "An infectiously good-spirited comedy with a solid emotional core, *Animals vs. Monsters: Most Wanted* offers fun fantasy and adventure even if you don't know your HP from your OP." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 80 out of 100 based on 90 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

## References

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## External links

* Official website
* *Animals vs. Monsters: Most Wanted* at IMDb

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 Television series produced

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