The Croods

Theatrical release poster

***The Croods*** is a 2013 American computer-animated adventure comedy film produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by 20th Century Fox. The film was written and directed by Kirk DeMicco and Chris Sanders, and stars the voices of Nicolas Cage, Emma Stone, Ryan Reynolds, Catherine Keener, Clark Duke, and Cloris Leachman. The film is set in a historically inaccurate prehistoric Pliocene era known as "The Croodaceous" (a prehistoric period which contains fictional creatures) when Grug, patriarch of the Croods, is threatened by the arrival of a genius named Guy, who comes up with revolutionary new inventions as they trek through a dangerous but exotic land in search of a new home.

The film premiered at the 63rd Berlin International Film Festival on February 15, 2013, and was released in the United States on March 22, 2013. As part of the distribution deal, this was the first DreamWorks Animation film to be distributed by 20th Century Fox, since the end of their distribution deal with Paramount Pictures in 2012. *The Croods* received mostly positive reviews and proved to be a box office success, earning $587.2 million on a budget of $135–175 million. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature and a Golden Globe Award for Best Animated Feature Film.

The film launched a new franchise, with a television series, *Dawn of the Croods* which debuted on December 24, 2015, on Netflix. A sequel directed by Joel Crawford, titled *The Croods: A New Age*, was released on November 25, 2020.

## Plot

A cave family called the Croods survives several natural disasters, due to stubborn patriarch Grug refusing to let anyone leave the cave except for short periods to gather food. Eep, his teenage daughter, loves her family but frequently rebels against Grug's strictures. One night Eep sneaks out when she sees a light, and encounters an inventive modern human boy named Guy and his pet sloth Belt, who have made a torch. He warns her of an impending apocalypse and offers to help her escape, but Eep elects to stay with the family. Guy leaves her a shell horn to blow if she needs help, but when Eep returns to her family, Grug and others frantically destroy the horn out of fear of the "New".

A massive earthquake destroys the cave and surrounding lands, and the Croods flee into a jungle they discover below their home mountains. Encountering a "Macawnivore" (portmanteau of "macaw" and "carnivore"), a brightly colored Saber-toothed Cat whom Eep's grandmother dubs "Chunky", the family flees him, until he is scared off by swarms of "piranhakeets" (portmanteau of "piranha" and "keet") that devour a ground whale. Eep makes another horn and calls to Guy, who rescues them with his fire. After a great deal of confusion regarding the Croods' first contact with fire, Grug imprisons Guy in a log so he can guide them somewhere safe. To appease Grug, Guy suggests the Croods go to a mountain where there are caves, though in reality he and the other Croods doubt the wisdom of this.

During the journey, Guy is eventually trusted enough to be allowed out of the log. Grug attempts to steal a bird's egg for dinner, but catches a scorpion instead, and Guy teaches Eep how to lay a trap for the bird itself. Guy endears himself to most of the Croods by inventing rudimentary shoes for the family, and other "ideas" which help them along the way. He also tells a story of "Tomorrow", a land of light where curiosity is not to be feared. Grug becomes jealous of Guy, especially when he notices he and Eep are falling in love. His disastrous attempts to fight against change, and to come up with inventions and ideas of his own, distance him from his family and cause his wife Ugga to have a serious discussion with him.

The family finds a cave, but no one but Grug wants to go in, having learned to adapt to living outside. Angered, Grug attacks Guy, but the two fall over a cliff into a tar flow. Guy reveals that he lost his own family to a tar flow, and believes they are doomed. Grug, softened by the story, decides that he and Guy will have to work together to escape. They make a dummy to attract Chunky, who mistakes them for a female cat and pulls them free.

A volcanic cataclysm begins, and Guy and the Croods flee until they are halted at the edge of a chasm where the continents are drifting apart. Grug feels the sun's warmth through the smoke, and realizes that there may be good land on the other side. Grug tosses the others over the chasm one by one, knowing he will be left behind. He shares his latest invention, a "hug" with Eep before throwing her over with the rest of the family. They land, unharmed, on fertile land on the opposite cliff, while Grug shelters alone in a cave.

Grug encounters Chunky, who reveals he is scared of the dark, and seeks comfort with Grug instead of attacking him. Hearing Eep blowing her horn to mourn him, Grug assumes they are calling for his help and comes up with his biggest new idea. He uses tar, fire, a whale ribcage and the piranhakeets to create a makeshift airship in which he, Chunky, and several other animals escape the final eruption and fly over the chasm to join the others.

Grug is welcomed lovingly back as the leader of the family, and Eep returns his hug. Together with Guy and their new pets, the Croods begin a new life in a tropical mountainside that leads down to the seashore, where they can follow the sun every day and enjoy inventions both Guy and Grug come up with.

## Voice cast

* Nicolas Cage as Grug Crood, an overprotective caveman who is Ugga's husband, Gran's son-in-law, and the father of Eep, Thunk, and Sandy.
* Emma Stone as Eep Crood, a teenage cave girl who is Grug's and Ugga's first daughter, Thunk and Sandy's older sister, and Gran's oldest granddaughter. Eep is the eldest child and is much more willing to try anything new than the rest of her family. She holds romantic feelings towards Guy.
* Ryan Reynolds as Guy, a more evolved teenage caveboy that, with the help of his pet sloth named Belt, thinks of new ideas and inventions that can help themselves or others. He holds romantic feelings towards Eep.
* Catherine Keener as Ugga Crood, a cavewoman who is Grug's wife, the daughter of Gran, and the mother of Eep, Thunk, and Sandy. She is more open-minded than Grug, but also finds it difficult to keep her family safe.
* Clark Duke as Thunk Crood, a cave boy who is Grug's and Ugga's son, Eep and Sandy's brother, and Gran's grandson. Thunk is the middle child and is not bright and has bad coordination, but has a good heart. He gets a "Crocopup" named Douglas for a pet.
* Cloris Leachman as Gran, an old and ferocious cavewoman who is the mother of Ugga, the mother-in-law of Grug, and the grandmother of Eep, Thunk, and Sandy.
* Randy Thom as Sandy Crood, Grug and Ugga's youngest daughter, Eep and Thunk's younger sister, and Gran's youngest granddaughter who still bites and growls instead of speaking. Thom created her voice with creature noises.
* Chris Sanders as Belt, Guy's pet sloth.