Twentieth Toons: Tooned Out

***Twentieth Toons: Tooned Out*** is a 2005 American live-action/animated action-adventure comedy film directed by Todd Holland and Mike Minchin, written by Karey Kirkpatrick, Jeffrey Price, Peter S. Seaman, Jon Vitti, and Mike Reiss, and stars Hugh Jackman, Uma Thurman, Jim Carrey, Joan Cusack, Alicia Silverstone, Liam Neeson, Whoopi Goldberg, Betty White, Kirsten Dunst, Eric Idle, and Patrick Warburton, with the voices of Tom Kenny, Phil LaMarr, and Tara Strong.

*Twentieth Toons: Tooned Out* premiered in Hollywood on July 3, 2005, and was theatrically released in the United States on July 22 with mixed-to-positive reviews from critics, who praised the animation, some of the performances (notably Jackman, Thurman, and Carrey), metacommentary, and score but criticized the story and unimaginative humor compared to the classic cartoons. Financially, the film was a box office disappointment, grossing $106 million worldwide against a $70 million budget. This was also the last theatrically released feature film to prominently feature the *Twentieth Toons* characters until 2022’s *Twentieth Toons: Quest for the Toon Temple*.

## Cast

* Hugh Jackman
* Uma Thurman
* Jim Carrey
* Joan Cusack
* Alicia Silverstone
* Liam Neeson
* Kirsten Dunst
* Patrick Warburton
* Betty White
* Whoopi Goldberg
* Eric Idle
* Matthew Broderick (cameo via archive footage from *Toonlympics*)

## Cast

* Hugh Jackman
* Uma Thurman
* Jim Carrey
* Joan Cusack
* Alicia Silverstone
* Liam Neeson
* Kirsten Dunst
* Patrick Warburton
* Betty White
* Whoopi Goldberg
* Eric Idle
* Matthew Broderick (cameo via archive footage from *Toonlympics*)

### Voice cast

* Tom Kenny as Felix Fox / Melvin the Mouse
* Phil LaMarr as Benjamin Bird
* Jeff Bennett as Furious Freddie / Ren the Rooster / Additional voices
* Tara Strong as Laura Reed / Additional voices
* Bob Bergen as Tom Turtle
* Janet Waldo as Lucille
* Billy West as Larry Watson / Additional voices
* Frank Welker as Charlie Cassowary (vocal effects)
* Jim Cummings as Butch Bandicoot
* Joe Alaskey as Edward the Eagle / Sebastian Solar
* Bill Farmer as Marvin Mole
* John DiMaggio as Winston Weasel

William P. Wolf appears in the film but does not speak.

#### Cameos

* Catherine Cavadini as Alaina Gleen
* Tom Kenny as Max Hat
* Dan Castellaneta as Homer Simpson / Additional voices
* Nancy Cartwright as Bart Simpson
* John Leguizamo as Sid
* Chris Wedge as Scrat

## Production

### Animation

While the film was produced by 20th Century Fox Animation, the animation was mainly outsourced to Yowza! Animation in Canada. Additionally, the animation was also outsourced to Saerom Animation in Seoul, South Korea and Wang Film Productions in Taipei, Taiwan. Fox hired James Baxter, Mike Reeves, and Walt Disney Feature Animation's Mark Henn to direct the animation. Sid and Scrat's cameos were done by Blue Sky Studios, who animated the original *Ice Age* film.

## Soundtrack

*Main article: Twentieth Toons: Tooned Out/Soundtrack*
Released on July 19, 2005, by Varèse Sarabande, the music for the film was composed by John Debney.

## Release

*Twentieth Toons: Tooned Out* was released on July 22, 2005. On July 3, 2005, the film premiered at Mann's Grauman Chinese Theater in Hollywood, California, with the cast and filmmakers as attendees.

The film was originally scheduled for release on June 17, 2005, but on December 8, 2004, the film's release date was pushed back a month later to July 22, 2005 to give the visual effects team more time to finish the film.

### Home media

*Twentieth Toons: Tooned Out* was released on VHS, DVD, and UMD Video on December 13, 2005, by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment. It included a sneak peek of *Puppet Pals* (2006). It was later released on Blu-ray with bonus features on May 29, 2012. *Twentieth Toons: Tooned Out* was released for the first time on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray on April 26, 2022.

## Marketing

Accompanied with the theatrical release, Fox released a series of plush items, toys, activity sets, keepsakes and apparel.

Coinciding with the film's release, Burger King had a promotional tie-in with six toys with a paid Kids' Meal order, and ran a series of *Twentieth Toons*-themed television adverts to promote this. Customers could also purchase one of four different *Twentieth Toons*-themed watches for $1.99 with the purchase of a value meal. Doughnut chain Krispy Kreme also served a limited-edition "Tooned-Out Doughnut" in July 2005. Fox Family promoted the film with several promotional spots, alongside the sweepstakes for the film's merchandise and a trip to Hollywood, which appeared on FoxFamily.com but later expired on August 31, 2005. A new balloon themed after Felix Fox and Benjamin Bird debuted at the 2004 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Ice cream chain Baskin-Robbins also promoted the film for its new Felix Fox's Loaded Sundae, a combination of Oreo Cookies 'n Cream ice cream, hot fudge, crushed chocolate cookies, whipped cream, and sprinkles. Sony also produced a limited edition *Twentieth Toons* PlayStation Portable console. This was to support the film's DVD/VHS release.

### Trailers

* The teaser trailer was released on September 17, 2004, and was later attached to theatrical screenings of *The Alaina Gleen Movie*, *Shark Tale*, *The Incredibles*, *The Polar Express*, *The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie*, *Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events*, and *Fat Albert*.
* The theatrical trailer was released on January 14, 2005, and was attached to *Racing Stripes*, *Are We There Yet?*, *Pooh's Heffalump Movie*, *Because of Winn-Dixie*, *The Pacifier*, *Robots*, *Ice Princess*, and *Fever Pitch*.
* The second theatrical trailer was released on April 29, 2005 and was attached into *The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy*, *Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith*, *Madagascar*, *The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl*, *Herbie: Fully Loaded*, *Fantastic Four*, *Charlie and the Chocolate Factory*.

## Reception

### Box office

*Twentieth Toons: Tooned Out* had grossed $56.3 million in North America and $49.7 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $106.5 million, against a budget of $70 million.

In the United States and Canada, the film was released alongside *Bad News Bears*, *The Devil's Rejects*, *Hustle & Flow*, and *The Island*. It grossed a combined total of $21,311,374 in its opening weekend at 3,603 theaters, finishing third at the box office, behind *Wedding Crashers* and *Charlie and the Chocolate Factory*.

Fox was hoping to start a revitalized franchise of *Twentieth Toons* media and products with the success of *Tooned Out*. New animated theatrical shorts and a *Bird Busters* TV series were commissioned to tie in with *Tooned Out*. However, due to the film being unable to recoup its $70 million budget, the *Twentieth Toons* franchise remained primarily on television for nearly 17 years. Fox would not produce another theatrical *Twentieth Toons* film until *Twentieth Toons: Quest for the Toon Temple*, which was released in April 2022 and became a huge box office hit.

### Critical response

Critical response aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gave the film an approval rating of 54% based on 131 reviews. The site's critical consensus reads: "The plot is a frantic, hyperactive jumble and the gags are relatively uninspired compared to the classic *Twentieth Toons* cartoons." Metacritic gives it 51/100, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B-" on an A+ to F scale.

## Transcript

### Trailers

To read the trailer transcripts, go here.

## See also

* *Toonlympics*
* *Twentieth Toons: Quest for the Toon Temple*

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