Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie

Nick Kroll

Thomas Middleditch

Jordan Peele

Kristen Schaal

*Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie* is a 2017 American computer-animated superhero comedy film based on Dav Pilkey's children's novel series of the same name, produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by 20th Century Fox. It was directed by David Soren from a screenplay by Nicholas Stoller, and stars the voices of Kevin Hart, Ed Helms, Nick Kroll, Thomas Middleditch, Jordan Peele and Kristen Schaal. The plot follows two imaginative elementary school pranksters named George Beard and Harold Hutchins (voiced by Kevin Hart and Thomas Middleditch) who hypnotize their mean-spirited principal, Mr. Krupp (voiced by Ed Helms), into thinking he is Captain Underpants, a superhero who fights crime while wearing only underwear and a cape.

Captain Underpants premiered on May 21, 2017, at the Regency Village Theater in Los Angeles, and was released in the United States on June 2, 2017, in 3D and 2D. The film received generally positive reviews and grossed $125 million worldwide against a budget of $38 million, making it the lowest-budgeted computer-animated feature of DreamWorks Animation's history. This was the last DreamWorks Animation film to be distributed by 20th Century Fox (rights to the entire DWA library, including this film, are now owned by Universal Pictures, following NBCUniversal's purchase of DWA in 2016). With the film's release in Saudi Arabia paired with The Emoji Movie on January 13, 2018, both became the first films to be given official public screenings in the country in 35 years after the removal of Saudi Arabia's cinema ban.

## Plot

In Piqua, Ohio, George Beard and Harold Hutchins are two fourth-grade friends and next-door neighbors who often bring joy to their school, Jerome Horwitz Elementary School, by excessively pranking the cruel teachers, especially the mean Principal Benjamin "Benny" Krupp, which puts them at odds with him. The duo also create comic books about a superhero named Captain Underpants, a character who has superpowers and wears underwear and a cape. They sell these to their schoolmates through a comic company called Treehouse Comix Inc, housed in their treehouse. George and Harold's pranks come to an apparent end after they tamper with a toilet invention, the Turbo Toilet 2000, made by the school's local snitch, intellectual Melvin Sneedly. This causes Mr. Krupp to decide to separate the boys and annihilate their friendship.

To prevent this, George hypnotizes Mr. Krupp with a 3D Hypno Ring he received out of a cereal box; the boys see that Mr. Krupp bears a resemblance to Captain Underpants without his toupee and command him to be Captain Underpants. The boys soon learn the severity of their acts when Captain Underpants begins causing some problems around Piqua and take him to their tree-house. There they discover that they can turn Captain Underpants back into Mr. Krupp by splashing water on him and can turn him back into Captain Underpants by snapping their fingers. Believing that Mr. Krupp will continue with trying to separate them, they decide to settle with Captain Underpants but insist that he be dressed up as Mr. Krupp under the pretense of a 'secret identity' to which Captain Underpants agrees. His sudden personality change even manages to attract the attention and affection of the school's shy lunch lady, Edith.

Just when George and Harold believe that their troubles have ended, Jerome Horwitz Elementary School is visited by an odd, German-accented scientist named Professor Pippy P. Poopypants, or as he calls himself Professor P. Captain Underpants (disguised as Mr. Krupp) hires him to be a new teacher, but George and Harold are suspicious of him due to his short-tempered and violent behavior. As it turns out, Poopypants is seeking to get rid of laughter altogether due to the fact that people have made fun of his name for years.

With Captain Underpants as principal, the school is a more lively place, with a funfair being set up in the yard. However, a rainstorm occurs and Captain Underpants turns back into Mr. Krupp, who finally finishes the paperwork to put George and Harold into separate classes. Meanwhile Professor P. recruits Melvin into his plan, as his brain is incapable of having fun. Soon, Professor Poopypants tries to take over the town with a giant version the Turbo Toilet 2000, fueled by the school cafeteria's rotten leftovers left out by Edith– and uses Melvin's brain to turn the children into glum, humorless zombies. Captain Underpants tries to stop the villain, but due to having no actual superpowers, is effortlessly defeated and thrown into the toilet. George and Harold are captured and nearly turned into zombies, but are able to escape when their laughter damages the Turbo Toilet 2000's computer. Upon consuming the mutated leftovers, Captain Underpants acquires superpowers and, with George and Harold's help, defeats and shrinks Poopypants, though he escapes on a bee shortly thereafter.

Knowing that they cannot control Captain Underpants, George and Harold destroy the Hypno Ring to permanently change him back into Mr. Krupp. Feeling that Mr. Krupp would be nicer if he had friends, the boys set him and lovesick Edith up on a date, thus making Mr. Krupp have a change of heart, returns the comics he took away from George and Harold, and even admits their comics are funny. However, the toxic waste from the Turbo Toilet 2000 transforms all the toilets into an army of Talking Toilets which attack the restaurant at which Mr. Krupp and Edith are dining. Upon snapping his fingers (accidentally), Mr. Krupp once again becomes Captain Underpants, carrying George and Harold away to help him fight them, much to Edith's surprise and admiration. In a mid-credits scene, George and Harold realize that the secretary, who put her on the phone before by faking for a contest of $2 billion, has been on the phone for the entire film, so they shut off the call, make the secretary angry, and make a new comic based on her reaction.

## Voice cast

* Kevin Hart as George Beard, a fourth-grade student. He is Harold's best friend and writes stories for the comics he and Harold make.
* Thomas Middleditch as Harold Hutchins, a fourth-grade student. He is George's best friend and illustrates the comics he and George make.
* Ed Helms as Principal Benjamin Krupp/Captain Underpants, the mean-spirited principal of Jerome Horwitz Elementary School, who is hypnotized into becoming the superhero created by George and Harold, to stop him from putting them in separate classes.
* Nick Kroll as Professor Pee-Pee Diarrheastein Poopypants Esq., a ruthless and cheerful scientist and Captain Underpants' arch-nemesis angered after being constantly made fun of and not taken seriously for his name, who decides to take over the world to get rid of all laughter.
* Jordan Peele as Melvin Sneedly, George and Harold's nerdy nemesis, a child prodigy inventor; he becomes Prof. Poopypants' unwitting sidekick.
* Kristen Schaal as Edith, the shy school lunch lady and the love interest of Mr. Krupp who was created exclusively for this film.[8]
* Dee Dee Rescher as Ms. Tara Ribble, the 4th-grade teacher (and George's new teacher when Mr. Krupp separates the boys).
* Brian Posehn as Mr. Rected, the guidance counselor (and Harold's new teacher when Mr. Krupp separates the boys).
* Mel Rodriguez as Mr. Morty Fyde, the science teacher who gets fired by Mr. Krupp and is replaced by Professor Poopypants.
* David Soren as Tommy, a boy who is seen frequently throughout the movie climbing into his own locker and shutting the locker door behind him.
* Susan Fitzker as Mrs. Dayken, George and Harold's kindergarten teacher and unintentionally made them laugh by mentioning Uranus.
* Lynnanne Zager as Mrs. Beard
* Tiffany Lauren Bennicke as Sad Girl
* James Ryan as Mime
* Leslie David Baker as Officer McPiggly
* Sugar Lyn Beard as Goodie Two-Shoes Girl
* Lesley Nicol as Nobel Moderator
* Chris Miller as Nobel Audience Member
* Coco Soren as Balloon Girl