Undertale (film)

***Undertale*** is a British-American CG/live-action hybrid family motion picture based on the video game of the same name. Although the film follows similar plot threads, the story is heavily altered from the game to make it function as a linear, sequential film, as opposed to the non-linear, differing pathways of the game. It stars the voice talents of Mark Hamil, Robert Pattinson, Ellen Page, Charleyne Yi, Teresa Gallagher, and Phil Collins. The role of Frisk was portrayed in live-action, as a cisgendered girl, by Aubrey Anderson-Emmons.

The film was in production for as close as 9 years, dating as far back as the game's release in Fall 2015. During production, it was helmed by different directors until it was finally settled on Tomm Moore, with re-shoots directed by Dan Fogelman, based on a screenplay written by Undertale creator Toby Fox and others. It was majorly financed and distributed by StudioCanal, with North American distribution handled by Lionsgate.

## Plot

Frisk is a human girl no older than 12 and no younger than 7 years who lives with caretaker Toriel Dreemurr in a house below the surface where the monsters live. A war between the two races broke out, which resulted in the monsters being sealed underground. As a baby, Frisk was abandoned and fell underground, where she was found by Dreemurr whom decided to raise her.

One day, an anthropomorphic flower named Flowey tells her about the world beyond the ruins of her home underground, and dares her to get there to "see what the world is really like," defying her overprotective guardian. She finds the gate to the outside world, with Toriel blocking the way. Toriel disciplines Frisk with a bullet hell attack, then recoils in sorrow. Frisk tells her that she won't fight her, despite her attack. Toriel musters the strength to let Frisk go outside, and gives her a cell phone to keep in touch. The two share a hug and Frisk sets out on her adventure alone.

Arriving at Snowdin, Frisk befriends a skeleton named Sans, who introduces himself with a whoopee cushion handshake. Frisk eventually meets Papyrus, thrilled with joy at meeting a human for the first time. After a short confrontation, Papyrus invites Frisk to stay over his house for spaghetti. I hope she made lotsa 'fit. While Frisk is asleep, Papyrus phones Undyne, an amphibian soldier, to notify her of the human Frisk.

At Grillby's, a local Snowdin bar, Sans asks Frisk about encountering "a talking flower." Frisk nods, and Sans tells her to visit the Ravine Flowers at the Waterfall. The flowers repeat the words that were last said in their proximity. Frisk and Sans silently walk through the ravine, listening to the hopes and fears of monsters. Frisk thanks Sans for a wonderful night and kisses him on the cheek, before he leaves her to continue his work shift. Suddenly, Undyne strikes from behind Frisk and chases her. The chase ends at Hotland, where Undyne dehydrates. A Monster Kid, who idolizes Undyne, gives her a drink and scorns Frisk for not doing "the right thing."

Inside a laboratory, Frisk meets the royal scientist Alphys, who is made out of the shapes from Genesis's 1983 album cover. Her latest project, Mettaton, bursts through the wall and embarrasses her. He subjects Frisk to a lethal game show, ending in a confrontation between her and Mettaton's EX form. Mettaton's fans begin to call in, telling how much they love him, so he holds his fire and lets Frisk go. Frisk eventually finds herself in a hidden lab containing the secret to "Determination."

## Cast

Aubrey Anderson-Emmons as Frisk, a human girl who fell into Mount Ebbot at an early age and was raised by caregiver Toriel.

Robert Pattinson as Sans, a sentient skeleton who prides in being lazy, laid-back and conessiour of dad jokes.

Mark Hamil as Papyrus, an egotistical, yet absent-minded, guard of the Snowdin border. He is the brother of Sans and is a taller, slender skeleton.

Teresa Gallagher as Toriel, an anthropomorphic goat and the overprotective caregiver of Frisk.

Elliot Page as Undyne, an amphibian creature

Charleyne Yi as Alphys, the royal scientist and an anthropomorphic lizard.

Phil Collins as Flowey, a talking, malevolent flower.

Brendan Gleeson as Asgore, king of the monsters.

## Background

Toby Fox, based out of Boston, Massachusetts, released Undertale for the PC on September 15, 2015, after 3 years of development. The game quickly gained word-of-mouth by playthroughs and discussion on social media sites like YouTube and Tumblr, and by the end of the year became a cultural phenomenon and appeared in many Game of the Year lists.

Since its release, users online discovered connections between the game and the British rock band Genesis. Lyrics in songs like "Supper's Ready," "Cul-de-sac," "Afterglow," and others were seen as parallels to the story of Undertale. On imageboards such as 8chan, discussion of Genesis and Undertale became one and the same, as a user can't discuss one without someone else mentioning the other.[citation needed] Noticing the discourse, Peter Gabriel, founding member of Genesis, played through Undertale, only to come out being "deeply moved" by the experience and sought to produce a feature film adaptation.

Gabriel approached Toby Fox with the idea of adapting his game into a film. Fox initially hesitated to accept the offer, but kept it on his mind. Months later, Fox sent a script for the film to Gabriel, who loved it, and they agreed to work on the film with help from the surviving members of Genesis. A coalition between Fox, Gabriel and Genesis was formed, named Revelation LLC, its name taken off of the first Genesis album *From Genesis to Revelation* and sounded similar to Fox's former pseudonym "Radiation." Revelation would oversee finance and production of the Undertale film.

## Production

### Pre-Production

The final script was written by Toby Fox, Temmie Chang, and 3 other writers. Cast and crew were given a USB drive with the Undertale game, soundtrack, and the complete Genesis discography, along with the physical and digital screenplay, and a guide to the connections between Undertale and Genesis. Steven Spielberg was the first person to be considered for directing, shortly before he killed himself for making *The Fablemans*. Several other directors were considered, like Wes Anderson, J.J. Abrams, Lars von Trier, and even Peter Gabriel, but weren't found to be "right enough" to deal with the mood and themes of Undertale. Finally, it was settled on Tomm Moore, director of animated films *Song of the Sea* and *Wolfwalkers*.

### Production

Shooting began at Pinewood Studios UK, with Moore directing. At three quarters into the schedule, Moore was fired due to creative differences and was replaced by Dan Fogelman, creator of television's *This is Us*. After principal photography, Fogelman was called in to do re-shoots of several scenes.

### Post-Production

Toby Fox wrote the score for the film, using past leitmotifs from the game, some Genesis songs, and new material. The score was performed by the Czech National Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Nick Ingman, and was recorded at Angel Studios in London, England. A single, "Afterglow 201X", was also made to promote the film, and also appears in the end credits.

CG animation and special effects were done by Framestore London.

## Reception

### Critical response

Undertale received generally mixed reviews from critics. Its morally grey twist has been both praised and criticized. In a negative review, Choppa Copter of Salon said the ambiguity was "a disgusting infiltration by the alt-right. Undertale was first and foremost a pacifist message of tolerance and this fan fiction betrays it." Contrary, Ben Shapiro of The Yentl Sentiel welcomed the twist, as it "brought more depth to what was otherwise a simplistic examination of RPG tropes" and made it "more of a movie than watching someone play a game." The omnipresence of Phil Collins and the Genesis family was unanimously panned, as Peter Travers of Rolling Stone said: "one of the saddest attempts to get children's parents at the movies." Critic Armond White for Brietbart praised the film for its portrayal of "conflict between one's survival and the moral role they live up to" and called it a better LGBTQ film for teens than the "laughable" Love, Simon.

The film stands at a 56% on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes and at a score of 50 on Metacritic. The consensus on Rotten Tomatoes reads "Despite its confused morals, and questionable faithfulness to the source material, Undertale is decent enough to please certain fans."

### Fandom response

The Undertale fandom, which has been gaining followers since the release of the 2015 game, generally have polarized opinions of the film. Many fans complained the removal of scenes from the game, like the Alphys date, which in particular led to allegations of homophobia in the film. Fox disputed this in a tweet, saying "In 2015, equal representation was something to fight for. Today, equal treatment is something to protect."

## Alternate cuts

### #ReleasetheMooreCut

Following the days after it was announced that Fogelman was hired to take Moore's seat at directing, there has been interest in a "Moore cut" from fans. In an interview with Moore during the 10th anniversary stream of *Song of the Sea*, Moore said that it is unlikely to happen.

### AlternativeLies

A user named AlternativeLies uploaded "Undertale: The Genesis Cut" on Bitchute. It's cut like a music video set to music by Genesis. After not getting any notoriety, he uploaded "Undertale: The Chavunist Cut", which was a success, resulting in many articles slandering his work. One article from the Huffington Post reads "this is why men should be banned from making movies."