Animal Crossing (2008 film)

***Animal Crossing*** is a 2008 computer-animated musical comedy film directed by Katsuya Eguchi, Hisashi Nogami, Bob Gordon and Isao Moro, produced by Takashi Tezuka, Chris Wedge, Katsuya Eguchi, Bruce Anderson and Clark Spender and written by Makoto Wada, Kenshiro Ueda, Kunio Watanabe, Takayuki Ikkaku, Asira Hosaka, Toshihiro Kawabata and Aya Kyogoku based on a screenplay by Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger. It is based on the *Animal Crossing* franchise by Nintendo.

*Animal Crossing* was produced by Walt Disney Pictures, 20th Century Fox, 20th Century Fox Animation, Nintendo Films and Nintendo Animation, with Industrial Light & Magic and DNEG providing animation services, and was theatrically released on July 27, 2008 by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures in North America and Japan, and on July 29, 2008 by 20th Century Fox internationally. It received acclaim from critics, with praise towards its animation, voice cast, visual effects, plot, humor, musical score by John Debney, source material and emotional weight. It was a box office success, grossing $588.1 million on its budget of $80-140 million.

## Production

### Animation and visual effects

During the storyboarding process, Walt Disney Pictures hired Industrial Light & Magic and DNEG for animation and visual effects, after they had disapproved of Rhythm & Hues Studios to provide the CGI. The animation style remained the same to keep its faithfulness to the video games.

## Soundtrack

The score for *Animal Crossing* was composed by American film composer John Debney. Keeping its style with the original games, Debney worked close with composers Manaka Tominaga and Shiho Fujii, particularly for themes including "Able Sisters" from the unreleased *Animal Crossing: City Folk*. The score was recorded at the Newman Scoring Stage at 20th Century Fox. The scoring process began in 2006 and wrapped in 2008, lasting almost two years.

## Release

*Animal Crossing* had its premiere in England on July 21, 2008 and was released theatrically six days later on July 27, 2008 in North America by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, and was released internationally two days later on July 29, 2008 by 20th Century Fox. It was rated G for general audiences by the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA).

## Home media

*Animal Crossing* was released on DVD, Blu-ray and Universal Media Disc (UMD) on November 26, 2008 by Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment in North America and Japan, and internationally by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment.

## Reception

### Box office

*Animal Crossing* grossed $201.4 million domestically and $386.7 million overseas for a worldwide total of $588.1 million, becoming the eighth-highest-grossing film of 2008 behind *E* and the third-highest-grossing film of 2008 behind *Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa*.

### Critical response

Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports an approval rating of 93% based on 182 reviews from critics, with an average rating of 8.15/10. Its critics consensus reads: "Beautifully animated, joyful, and plenty of songs to sing along to, *Animal Crossing* is all fun and games for die-hard fans." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 88 out of 100 based on 28 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".