The Adventures of Spot Movie

**The Adventures of Spot Movie** is a 2003 British–Cowellan traditional-animated adventure family film based on the Eric Hill's children's book "Spot the Dog". It was directed by David Ogilvy and Verna Matthews and written by Rosie Matthews & Victor Hugo. Based on the British 1980 children's books by Eric Hill of the same name. The film has introduced to Tom's girlfriend Kathy, The film features the voices of Ben Collins, Hilda Santiago, Jack Stauber, Bryn Doraemas, Nima Mororanto, Shabra Ghabaz, and Benjamin C. Baker, along with guest stars Derrick Harlock, Bob Garcia, Goro Matsushita, Miles Anthony, and Liam Newson. The events of the film take place after *Spot's Musical Adventures* from October and November 2000.

The Adventures of Spot Movie premiered in United Kingdom on May 13, 2003, and was released in the Cowell on July 30, 2003 by Metro Astro Pictures. It received positive reviews from critics, grossing over $72 million worldwide over its $85 million budget. It launched an expanded franchise, with four sequels released in 2006, 2009, 2012, 2016 and a fifth sequel release in 2021 and a sixth sequel for 2023. Plus, a seventh sequel is scheduled for 2026.

## Plot

In Animaltopia, The evil sorcerer Paul is planning to destroy Animaltopia for himself by mastering a type of dark magic known as The Time Bomb. Before he can strike, Despite calls, Mayor of Animaltopia spares Paul's life and banishes him. A hateful Paul swears to Mayor of Animaltopia that he will one day get his power back and take everything Mayor owns and loves. Meanwhile, the animals (Spot, his parents Sally and Sam, his sister Susie, Tom, Steve, Helen and Clare) is living his dream, protecting the his room However, Helen tells them that he has yet to achieve Tom's inventions were stupid. Despite Tom's zealous enthusiasm, his inventions, including, Waffles Cistern, Pterodactyl mushroom, hypnotic elephant seals, a bigfoot macaw, a vulture flood, and crusher stage, all end in failure.

Back in Animaltopia, the Animaltopia news report of how Paul plans to destroy Animaltopia, which has been given to the Animaltopia Police, and how He has been Evil. Meanwhile, The animals are interrupted when Tom arrives with a call for help, sending Spot and his friends (including Clare) on a new adventure by building a boat leaving Tom behind, When Spot and his friends finally goes on the really big boat to Animaltopia, Susie finds that Tom has hitched a ride on the boat as well. They have a fight, only to find Spot has left without him. They manage to make their way to the Animaltopia by stowing away, but Susie's tantrums make a Huge Wave and Storm. Tom, still thinking he is a real toy car, despite Suzie's attempts to convince him otherwise, where they found out they are in Animaltopia.

On Animaltopia, Helen decides to contact Steve. Tom realizes that the only back seat on the truck available is in Helen. There, he finds Spot's little sister Susie and asks to use the back seat. However, Susie says it is too heavy. Steve then talks to Helen. He thereafter consents to help Helen. Once the back seat is now larger, Steve contacts the steak toy. Paul impersonates Magellanic penguin, using shape-shifting to disguise himself, but fails because he does not have Penguin's Beak. Paul then commands chimpanzee named "Peter" to go to Earth and capture all of the animals to destroy them. Meanwhile Steve, sensing Tom is in trouble, asks Helen for help to what's wrong with him. Meanwhile, Steve is still not fitting in and causes another disaster. Tom tries to encourage him by saying he's one-of-a-kind monkey, comparing him to squirrel. Naturally, that just makes him feel worse. Suddenly, a crash is heard from below. Running downstairs, the pair encounters Paul, breaking into their home. In the ensuing chaos, Steve thrusts his blazes out at Paul, only to be blasted into a net. Paul finds and takes a blue pod before abducting Steve for interrogation. Tom and Helen manage to take Spot's skateboard to chase Paul into space and engage him in battle, before being defeated and falling back towards Animaltopia.

Tom and Helen ask Spot for help and find that he, his mom, Sally and his dad, Sam, Vincent and Kathy are part of the resistance movement, led by the Jason. Dee is able to open the portal to the Another dimension, but upon learning about Steve's capture, Helen, Kathy, Spot, Phil and Tom decide to rescue Steve. In the another dimension, Steve falls out of the train and becomes lost. Steve found out these good Stuff out here, then He realizes that blue hippopotamus look like Helen, that she saves him when suddenly, A Blue Hippopotamus gets bitten by dog with rabies, cause Steve to freak out and runs away from him, Later Paul grab Steve then show it to of his Misfits Animals, They has a problem with one of their sons, Robert, who is a underachieving  and refuses to act the part of a killer. His lord leader, Joe Martin, orders Robert's more savage older brother Bill to tutor Robert in the family business.

Meanwhile, Helen, Kathy, Spot, Tom and Steve arrive on an another Dimension populated by a giant Kittens family, who help them make it to Helen's fortress. Arriving at a hidden bay outside of the fortress, They are attacked by a giant Chameleon. However, Helen realizes the Chameleon is actually a mechanical device and is able to shut the machine down from inside and save the three. Once inside, Steve, Kathy, and Helen rescue Lawrence and Cosmo but are confronted by Spot. Finding his self-respect, Helen uses a chandelier to knock the Wolf down and the group escapes through the fortress's cistern with Tom in hot pursuit. Back in the bay, Helen's ship opens fire on the group's small boat, but when Spot arrives, they sinks Helen's ship and rescues the group and built another one.

As the storm approaches, Paul and the Misfits Animals with Steve's arrival and attack and carry Helen away. Tom, Johnson, Kathy and Vincent becomes entangled in vines, where he has a vision of Clare leading him home. Tom, Spot, Kathy and Vincent instead resolves to rescue Steve and Helen, making the vision of Spot's sister Susie proud before it fades away. Before Tom can explain, Vincent and Jason capture Tom themselves. Spot demands that they help her rescue Helen and Steve, but Vincent insists they only came for Tom. When Spot breaks down, Tom reminds Spot about his flashback (from Season 1-2) (including Spot's Musical Adventures) he learned from Spot (mentioned), and convinces Vincent to help rescue Helen and Steve. Spot, Tom, Kathy, and Vincent give chase in Vincent's spaceship and rescue Helen and Steve from Paul's Ship.

Tom, Kathy, Helen and Steve and Spot gave a short-circuit to Paul's ship, causing it to crash near a waterfall on Animaltopia. They give Kathy a new friend Jim and they sent off back to Spot's old home. They then persuade the Jason to let them rehabilitate the others and their friends, along with Johnson and his friends. The Mayor of Animaltopia and Jason places Paul and his Misfits Animal under arrest, Meanwhile, at Spot's old Room, Tom whispers to Steve that he has plans for gonna Rebuild his Investor. 8 years later, When Spot is aged 13, his friends are shipped to Animaltopia, The film ends with various footage and pictures of Spot and his old friends and new friends live together.

## Voice cast

* Ben Collins as **Spot**: A yellow puppy with a brown spot on each side of his body and a brown tip on his tail who stumbles upon Animaltopia in his travels.
* Emma Insley as **Sally**: Spot's mother. She is also yellow and has a brown spot on her back that goes around the back of her body, as well as 2 brown spots on each side of her body and a brown tip on her tail.
* Jack Stauber as **Sam**: Spot's father. He is also yellow, but without any spots on his body.
* Bryn Doraemas as **Susie**: Spot's little sister, she is yellow but has a brown spot on her back.
* Shabra Ghabaz as **Helen**: a blue hippo who is Spot's best friend, and a friend with Tom's love interest, Kathy.
* Benjamin C. Baker as **Steve**: a brown monkey with a tan face, he is playful and full of surprises.
* Urban LeHier as **Tom**: a green crocodile who is Spot's 3rd best friend. They manage to rescue Steve from Paul's and his Misfits Animal, He also falls in love with Kathy.
* Rosie Matthews as **Clare**: A green turtle. She has his own ways of doing the daily tasks, but her world is turned upside-down when they sail to Animaltopia. Though Clare genuinely cares for her friends, she tends to condescend to them.
* Nima Mororanto as **Kathy**: A beautiful and charismatic red crocodile with a passion for music and dance, she also love interest with Tom.
* Derrick Harlock as **Paul**: a greedy, redheaded, wicked sorcerer. Upon destroying Animaltopia, but it fails, he kidnaps Steve and later Helen, to retrieve it for her, as Steve and Helen is the only one small enough to fit in it. In the end, he is thwarted and presumably under arrested by the police along with his sidekicks, Misfits Animals.
* Toshihiro Watanabe as **Jason**: a care-free, egotistical opossum who lives at Animaltopia.
* Bob Garcia as **Vincent**: A Black Dog, who carries the burden of supporting himself.
* Miles Anthony as **Rob**: A dog who is the mayor of Animaltopia.
* Liam Newson as **Phil**: a pig who is selfless, devoted, brave, and strong-willed.

## Production

David Ogilvy first began working on the story for what became *The Adventures of Spot Movie* about 7 years prior to its release, then directed the film's development from 1991 to 1998. In Christmas 1991, Metro Astro Pictures announced the film as *Spot and Friends Goes to Animaltown*, as a animated-drawned family feature scheduled for a 2000 release, which Ogilvy described as a "Mr. Deeds Goes to Town-like" film that revolved around an entirely different concept. In June 1998, *Spot and Friends Goes to Animaltown* was pushed back to a October 2nd, 2002 release in order to give Ogilvy "more time to work on the story".

By July 2000, the film was retitled *The Adventures of Spot: Animal Island* and it was announced that the film would be instead a computer animated feature film. In 2001, the film's title was changed once again, this time as *The Adventures of Spot Movie*. Production began in mid-1991 and finished in early-1998, and the release date was pushed back to Winter 2003.

## Soundtrack

In January-February 2001, it had been confirmed that Carter Matron would be composing the score for the film.

## Release

*The Adventures of Spot Movie* was originally scheduled to be released on June 8, 2001, but was later pushed back to July 12, 2002, with *Dreamworld* taking its place and also David Ogilvy to have more time, but it pushed again to July 30, 2003 with *Bruce Almighty, Finding Nemo* and *2 Fast 2 Furious* taking its place. The film premiered at the United Kingdom on May 13, 2003. The release of the film in the Cowell was postponed to June 18, 2003, one month and twelve days ahead of its original July 30, 2003.

### Marketing

Coinciding with the film's release, McDonalds released fourteen toys in their Happy Meals. A video game adaptation was released on the PlayStation 2, Windows, Macintosh, Xbox, Nintendo GameCube and on the Game Boy Advance.

### Trailers

* The first official teaser was released on June 20, 2002, and was shown before *Night of the Living Flea*, *Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets*, *Kangaroo Jack*, *Super Hedgehog*, and *Spider-Man*.
* The second official teaser was released on October 3, 2002, and was shown before *Men in Black II*, *Minority Report*, *The Hunchback of Notre Dame II*, *National Lampoon's Van Wilder*, *Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones*, and *Ice Age*.
* The first theatrical trailer was released on November 26, 2002, and was shown before *Hellraiser: Hellseeker*, *Confessions of a Dangerous Mind*, *Anger Management*, *Catch Me If You Can*, *Teacher's Pet,* and *Eight Crazy Nights*.
* The second theatrical trailer was released on February 20, 2003, and was shown before *Kangaroo Jack*, *101 Dalmatians II: Patch's London Adventure*, *Final Destination 2*, *Like Mike*, *The Jungle Book 2,* and *Charlotte's Web 2: Wilbur's Great Adventure*.
* The third theatrical trailer was released on April 30, 2003, and was shown before *Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines*, *Hulk*, *You Wish!*, *The Matrix Reloaded*, *Night of the Living Fleas,* and *Inspector Gadget 2*.
* TV spots began to air between February to July of 2003.

### Release date

* May 13, 2003 (United Kingdom/Ireland)
* July 30, 2003 (Cowell)
* August 6, 2003 (Australia/New Zealand)
* August 29, 2003 (United States/Canada)
* September 23, 2003 (Germany)
* October 12, 2003 (France)
* October 29, 2003 (Mexico)
* November 5, 2003 (China)
* November 23, 2003 (Japan)
* December 25, 2003 (Russia)
* January 28, 2004 (Worldwide)

### Home media

*The Adventures of Spot Movie* was released on VHS and DVD on November 5, 2003, becoming the top-selling home video release of 2003.

The film was released on Blu-ray on July 17, 2007 and contained new features not included on the DVD. A 3D Blu-ray version was released on July 17, 2012 and the 4K Ultra Blu-Ray version was released on June 19, 2018.

## Reception

### Critical reception

*The Adventures of Spot Movie* has a 78% rating on Rotten Tomatoes with an average rating of 7.8/10 based on 139 reviews. The site's critical consensus reads, "*The Adventures of Spot Movie* is flashing espionage satire complete with really thrills, very twists, and brisk pacing." Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average score out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, gives the film a score of 64, indicating "generally favorable reviews." Audiences polled by Cinema Score gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.

### Box office

*The Adventures of Spot Movie* earned $84,362,732 in the Cowell and $327,226,527 from international markets for a worldwide total of $361,663,953. Despite grossing $326.7 million over its $73 million budget, the film was deemed a box office failure due to high marketing costs of $121–186 million and falling short of the break even point of $400 million. Co-director Ian Munro attributed the film's performance to audience reactions and releasing it on the same day as *The Manchurian Candidate* which was less hyped up.

*The Adventures of Spot Movie* opened on July 30, 2003 against *Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle* and *The Room*. The film was projected to gross $42–54 million from 3,454 theaters in its opening weekend. It made $65.5 million from Thursday night previews and $85.5 million on its opening day. Victor Hugo Pictures Animation CEO Bram Moolenaar called these results best Reboot of the British 1980 Kids books ever written by Eric Hill. The film ended up grossing $67.6 million in its opening weekend debuting at No. 2 behind *The Manchurian Candidate*. In its second weekend, the film declined by a huge margin of 75%, grossing $96.8 million and dropped to No. 6. The third weekend suffered a more severe drop declining by 88% and grossed $104.2 while remaining in sixth.