Johnny Bravo: The Movie

Theatrical release poster

***Johnny Bravo: The Movie*** is a 2022 American animated road comedy film based on the Cartoon Network animated television series *Johnny Bravo*. It was co-written and directed by series creator Van Partible (in his directorial debut), co-written by Craig Bartlett, Gene Grillo, Laura Sreebny, Amy Keating Rogers, and Michael Ryan from a story by Partible, Justin Charlebois, and Ryan. The film was produced by Cartoon Network Studios and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. The film serves as a continuation of the series, and a standalone sequel to *Johnny Bravo Goes to Bollywood* (2011). The film's plot follows Johnny Bravo as he embarks on a road trip with his friends Lil Suzy and Carl to find Johnny’s long lost father. It is the third wide theatrical feature film based on a series airing on Cartoon Network since 2020's *Ben 10: The Movie* and 2021's *A Foster's Movie: Imagination Desolation*.

Originally planned to be a live-action feature-length film, the project never materialized. Eventually, in 2018, Cartoon Network revived and fast-tracked the project as a 2D animated film. Several cast members from the original series reprised their roles, including Jeff Bennett, Mae Whitman, Tom Kenny, and Brenda Vaccaro. They are joined by newcomers Hugh Jackman, Chris Pine, Emily Osment, and Bill Murray; much of the film's dialogue was recorded remotely. Composer Rob Simonsen composed the score.

*Johnny Bravo: The Movie* was heavily promoted in marketing campaigns by Warner Bros. and Cartoon Network and was heavily anticipated by fans of the series. The film had its red carpet premiere in New York City on November 20, 2022. It was theatrically released in the United States on November 25, 2022. It was also made available on HBO Max 45 days after its theatrical release. The film received mixed-to-positive reviews from critics, and was a modest box office success, grossing over $65 million worldwide against a budget of $28 million. It was praised for its voice acting, animation, and music, but criticized its modernization and screenplay. The film was dedicated to the memory of Larry Drake, the original voice of Pops, who died prior to its release.

## Plot

Johnny Bravo, along with his friends Lil Suzy and Carl, embark on a road trip to find Johnny’s long lost father. All while being chased by an angry mob that includes women Johnny hit on in the past.

## Voice Cast

* Jeff Bennett as Johnny Bravo, a dim witted Elvis Presley-accented hunk and the protagonist of the film.
* Mae Whitman as Lil Suzy, a sweet little red haired girl who is a friend of Johnny’s and the deuteragonist.
* Tom Kenny as Carl Chryniszzswics, Johnny’s on-and-off friendly rival and the tritagonist.
* Brenda Vaccaro as Bunny "Momma" Bravo, Johnny’s lively, caring, extroverted, equally dimwitted mother, who also wears sunglasses.
* Hugh Jackman as Frankie Bravo, Johnny’s estranged father and Bunny Bravo’s ex-husband and the hidden main antagonist of the film. He is the reason why Johnny is the vain and selfish jerk he is today. Much like his son, he is muscular and vain and speaks in an Elvis Presley-like accent.
* Chris Pine as Hill, a hobo who tags along with Johnny and his friends on the road trip.
* Emily Osment as Trina, a new friend of Lil Suzy.
* Bill Murray as Pops, the unscrupulous owner of the local diner who provides advice to Johnny. He was previously voiced by the late Larry Drake in his debut appearance *Bikini Space Planet!*.
* Donny Osmond as himself in a lighthearted version of one of his many cameos.
* George Takei as Master Hamma, a Japanese martial arts instructor who teaches Johnny karate. He was previously voiced by Brian Tochi in his debut appearance *Bikini Space Planet!*.
* Tress MacNeille as Betty Schwirtz, a women who leads an angry mob to hunt down Johnny.
* Billy West as Driver Doug, a taxi driver who yells out "Watch where you're going, dummy!" to Johnny, whom he ran in front of.

## Production

### Development

In October 2002, *Variety* reported that Warner Bros. had secured the film rights to make a live-action *Johnny Bravo* feature-length film "as a potential starring vehicle" for Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. However, no further developments regarding this project have been announced since then. Eventually, since years have passed, Cartoon Network revived the project in 2018 and fast-tracked it as a 2D animated film.

On June 21, 2018, it was announced that a new film titled *Johnny Bravo: The Movie* would be executive produced by Van Partible and Brian A. Miller, and be released in theaters. The film is produced by Cartoon Network Studios, marking their fourth non-television film after *The Powerpuff Girls Movie* (2002), *Ben 10: The Movie* (2020) and *The Amazing World of Gumball: The Movie* (2022). The film also marks Cartoon Network's third non-television film to use 2D animation after *Steven Universe: The Movie* (2019) and *Clarence's Big Break* (2021). On March 27, 2020, Cartoon Network Studios was temporarily closed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, but production on the film continued remotely. On May 19, 2021, it was revealed that Partible would direct the film, and that Sam Register would executive produce while Miller's position was still credited in the film. The film officially wrapped production on August 12, 2022.

Partible said the budget for the film was $28 million and estimated that an additional $10 million was spent on marketing.

### Casting and recording

After the film's announcement, it was confirmed that Jeff Bennett, Brenda Vaccaro, Mae Whitman, and Tom Kenny would reprise their roles from the series, and that Bill Murray would take over the role of Pops, since Larry Drake died from a rare form of blood cancer. On April 23, 2021, it was announced that Hugh Jackman, Chris Pine, and Emily Osment joined the cast in roles created for the film.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many cast members had to record their lines from their homes. On July 11, 2021, Bennett revealed that he had finished recording his lines. After recording their lines, voice actors sent their dialogue to the film's editors.

### Animation

The film's animation was produced by an animation studio in Seoul, South Korea: Rough Draft Korea. The production team wanted the film to be mostly done through hand-drawn animation because they wanted the visuals to remain similar to the series. The larger budget, time, and animators available to the filmmakers allowed the animation to be more detailed than in the original series, such as adding more light, texture, and shadows into several shots. The film was for the most part tradigitally created with Toon Boom's Harmony software.

## Music

*Main article: Johnny Bravo: The Movie (soundtrack)*
The score for *Johnny Bravo: The Movie* was composed by Rob Simonsen, and conducted by William Ross and Anthony Parnther. On October 26, 2022, it was announced *Johnny Bravo: The Movie (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)* would be released on November 11, 2022, including the songs "Connection" by Alec Benjamin and Jabari Manwa, featuring Erin Kinsey, and "You’re My Sunshine" by Camila Cabello, featuring Ben Platt. The soundtrack also includes other songs by various artists, including Faouzia, A R I Z O N A, Quando Rondo, Lil Uzi Vert, Sabrina Claudio, Noa Kirel, Rico Nasty, and Kream, with the original score being released digitally on November 18, 2022. For the film's music, Simonsen and the crew also looked back to the music of the original series as inspiration.

## Release

### Theatrical and streaming

*Johnny Bravo: The Movie* had its red carpet premiere on November 20, 2022, in New York City. It was theatrically released in the United States on November 25, 2022, by Warner Bros. Pictures. The film was also available to stream on HBO Max in the United States 45 days after it released in theaters.

### Marketing

In late summer 2022, American pizza chain Chuck E. Cheese's announced that they would be the official partner of the film. Marketing materials for the film, in particular a series of posters in Los Angeles advertising the cast of the film with phrases such as "Hugh Jackman is Frankie Bravo", turned into a minor Internet meme (in a short song by Gabriel Gundacker).

### Home media

*Johnny Bravo: The Movie* was released on Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K UHD on February 28, 2023 by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment.

## Reception

### Critical reception

Rotten Tomatoes gives the film an approval rating of 61% based on the 124 reviews and an average rating of 5.70/10. The site's critical consensus reads: "*Johnny Bravo: The Movie* may seem like an unlikely attempt to return Cartoon Network's animated series to the big screen, but fans to the original show will adore its story as a long episode nonetheless." On Metacritic, it receives a score of 59 out of 100, based on 32 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gives the film an average grade of "B" on its A+ to F scale, while PostTrak reported 76% of filmgoers gave it a positive score, with 56% saying they would definitely recommend it.

### Box office

The film started its opening weekend at $3 million; making back its budget, then grossed $28.1 million during December, followed by $44 million the next in January. On its final month in theaters, it had grossed $65 million.

## Gallery

*Main article: Johnny Bravo: The Movie/Gallery*
## Trivia

* This is the first ever feature film of the series.
* This is the first animated *Johnny Bravo* movie to hit theaters.
	+ This is also the first ever *Johnny Bravo* movie in general to hit theaters. The previous *Johnny Bravo* film (*Johnny Bravo Goes to Bollywood*) was a made-for-TV release.
* This is Cartoon Network's twelfth original movie to be released theatrically, after *The Powerpuff Girls Movie*, which was released in 2002, *Regular Show: The Movie*, which was released in 2015, *Teen Titans Go! To the Movies*, which was released in 2018, *Clarence's Big Break* and *A Foster's Movie: Imagination Desolation*, which were both released in 2021, and *Billy & Mandy The Movie: The Quest of the Diamonds* and *The Amazing World of Gumball: The Movie*, which were both released in this year.
* Cartoon Network's seventh film to not be accompanied by a short film. This does not include *Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi 2* (2006) which was accompanied by *The Karate Guard* (2005).
* Tristan Pasterick's first contribution to Cartoon Network since Incredible Crew (2012).
* Emily Osment's first involvement with Cartoon Network since *The Haunting Hour: Don't Think About It*.
* This is the only piece of *Johnny Bravo* media where Mae Whitman voices Little Suzy.
	+ Little Suzy's voice is noticeably deeper and more mature than in the show. This is due to the fact that Mae Whitman's voice had already changed from puberty following the conclusion of the series, so she used a sound machine instead of her normal voice to try and sound higher-pitched.
* This is the seventh film to be based on a Cartoon Cartoon.
* Aimee Carrero's first contribution to Cartoon Network since Level Up (2012).
* Chris Pine's second Cartoon Network feature film after Ben 10: The Movie (2020).

## Transcripts

### Main Transcripts

*Main article: Johnny Bravo: The Movie/Transcript*
### Trailer Transcripts

*Main article: Johnny Bravo: The Movie/Trailer transcripts*
## Credits

*Main article: Johnny Bravo: The Movie/Credits*