The Heroes (film)

Theatrical release poster

Peter Ackerman

Bryce Dallas Howard

Jenny Slate

Channing Tatum

Alicia Fox

Rainn Wilson

Kristin Chenoweth

Mickey Rooney

Georgia Engel

Jackie Burroughs

***The Heroes*** is a 2007 American computer-animated adventure comedy-drama film produced by Blue Sky Studios as its fourth feature film and distributed by 20th Century Fox. It is directed by Chris Wedge and co-directed by Carlos Saldanha from a story by Michael J. Wilson and features Margot Robbie (in her film debut), Ken Jeong, Bryce Dallas Howard, Jenny Slate, Channing Tatum, Alicia Fox (in her film debut), Rainn Wilson, and Kristin Chenoweth, with Mickey Rooney, Georgia Engel, and Jackie Burroughs in supporting roles. In the film, an orphanage owner (Mickey Rooney) tells a story about two teens, named Kim and Jason, who lost their parents in a car accident, and also save a young magician's apprentice named Nicholas from an evil spirit's influence along with other new friends and the queen of the Forest of Feelings.

Wedge began development of the film in 2003 after production had began on *Robots* (2005) and wrote the original story with Wilson to pitch it to Fox, with Berg writing the screenplay. Following Berg's first draft, Peter Ackerman was brought in to reconstruct the third act and add additional material, while the latter was selected to co-direct. David Newman composed the film's score.

The film premiered on October 7, 2007, in Washington, D.C., and was released in North America on October 12, 2007. Another Fox/Blue Sky work, *No Time for Nuts*, played alongside the feature in theaters. It received universal acclaim from critics and was a box office success, grossing $435 million worldwide on its $60 million budget, it won a Golden Reel Award. *The Heroes* won the 2007 Annie Award for Voice Acting in an Animated Feature Production for Ken Jeong, for his voice performance as Jason, and was also nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, but lost to Disney/Pixar's *Ratatouille*and Universal's *Computeropolis 2*. The film's success helped spawn an expanded franchise, with two sequels — 2012's *The Heroes 2* and 2017's *The Heroes 3* — a television series, and a fourth installment scheduled for release in June 2020.

## Plot

The Cherrywoods are a middle-aged couple who run an orphanage. Mr. Cherrywood tells the orphans a story about two teens named Kim and Jason. In the story, Kim and Jason, two lonely orphaned children, lost their parents in a car accident. Glory and Bill introduce themselves and remind the teens of their ambitions, but neither of them are interested.

At an amusement park, Chrissy spots a magician's apprentice named Nicholas. While unloading a trunk of goods for his master, the "Great Fettucini", Nicholas finds an old book with a diary-style lock. When he unlocks it, an evil spirit appears as a woman's face, and starts corrupting him. With his help, it lays waste to the park, and begins a quest to remove all caring from the world.

Back at Glory's house, some of the other teens are working on their new invention: the Rainbow Rescue Beam, a portal that can send any one to Earth and back. They interfere with it and bring forth a group of unexpected visitors: Glory, Bill, Kim, and Jason. They introduce themselves to the teens, and give them a tour of their home. Chrissy returns on his now out of control Rainbow Roller just before a "Cloud Quake" caused by the spirit, which ruins their home. She informs the others of Nicholas' troubles on Earth. Using the Rainbow Rescue Beam, he sends Kim and Jason to the park, along with Glory and Bill. They end up in the Forest of Feelings when the portal malfunctions. From a nearby river, the rest of the bears begin searching for them aboard a cloud ship called the Cloud Clipper, leaving behind Maggie and the babies in their home.

Within the Forest, the teens are introduced to the queen of the Forest of Feelings. Later on, the others discover more of these creatures. During their stay, the spirit attacks them in several disguises: a spearfish, tree, and eagle. After they defeat it, they venture back to Earth to save Nicholas from its influence.

At the park, Nicholas obtains the ingredients for his spell against the children and the creatures. After he casts it, they and company engage in a long battle. They shoot beams of bright light on him, forming their "Stare"; the Cousins help with their "Call" – Maggie and Bill arriving in time to help after fixing the Rainbow Rescue Beam. As the creatures' power drains away, Nicholas and the spirit briefly regain control. After Kim and Jason assist him, he finally realizes his misdeeds. With Bill's help, he closes the spirit's face back into the book and saves himself, the park, and the world. He thanks the group and reunites with Fettucini, while Chrissy inducts the queen of the Forest of Feelings into a teenager, and Kim and Jason find new parents who take them to one of Nicholas' shows.

As Mr. Cherrywood finishes his story, it is revealed that he is actually Nicholas and that his wife is actually Kim (though neither mentions what became of Jason).

## Voice cast

* Margot Robbie as Kim
* Ken Jeong as Jason
* Bryce Dallas Howard as Glory
* Jenny Slate as Chrissy
* Channing Tatum as Bill
* Alicia Fox as Maggie
* Rainn Wilson as Nicolas
* Kristin Chenoweth as Queen of the forest of feelings
* Mickey Rooney as Mr. Cherrywood
* Georgia Engel as Flo
* Jackie Burroughs as Face Book

## Production

### Development

Chris Wedge came up with the concept for *The Heroes*in 2000 during the production of *Ice Age.* He envisioned a story where the two main characters lost their trust in humanity and meet new friends when meanwhile an evil wizard wishes to cover the Earth in concrete. Wedge also took inspiration from the 1985 film *The Care Bears Movie*, where The Care Bears watch over a young brother and sister who have lost their trust in humanity. Meanwhile an evil wizard wishes to cover the Earth in concrete.

Wedge began work on the film with Michael J. Wilson in 2003, shortly after *Robots* began production. By early 2004, Wedge had drafted a treatment with Wilson that bore some resemblance to the final film. Wedge and Wilson pitched the story to Blue Sky Studios through its feature animation division with some initial artwork in January that year. He and his story team left with some suggestions in hand and returned to pitch a refined version of the story in March. The film was originally developed under the title of *Heroes*, but was changed in order to distance it from the TV show with the same name. In addition to *Heroes*, other titles that had also been considered included *Kim and Jason*, *Heroics*, *Teens*and *Teen Heroics*, among others.

In May 2004, the *Los Angeles Times* reported that Wedge was working on a then-untitled project that would eventually become *The Heroes*, albeit nothing else about the film was known at the time. In June 2004, Fox revealed the film's title to be *The Heroes*, then planned for a March 2007 release. In June 2006, production of the film officially began and was made over an eight-month period that lasted until February 2007.

### Casting

During the time, when Fox was looking for a younger actor for the voice role of Kim, Ariel Winter was considered for the character. She screen tested for the role and was interested, but when Chris Wedge was unable to make contact with him, he took it as a "no". In addition to Winter, Miranda Cosgrove, who subsequently accepted the role of Carly Shay in iCarly, was also considered for the role of Kim. Wedge took the role to Margot Robbie, and she accepted.

For the role of Jason, Nicolas Cage, Michael Keaton, Bobby Campo and James Franco were considered, but Ken Jeong won the role for his natural comedy. In January 2006, it was announced Robbie and Jeong were cast, along with other cast members including Bryce Dallas Howard, Jenny Slate, Channing Tatum, Alicia Fox, Rainn Wilson, and Kristin Chenoweth.

Voice recording began in July 2006. Voice recording ended on November 2006.

### Animation

*The Heroes*was animated in-house at Blue Sky Studios' headquarters in Greenwich, Connecticut.

### Music

*Main article: The Heroes (film)/Soundtrack*
The film's original score was composed by David Newman. The soundtrack album was released on September 25, 2007, by Varèse Sarabande.

## Release

In December 2006, before the film's completion, Carole MacGillvray offered *The Heroes* for consideration to major studios in the US. Since they did not see the financial potential in a picture aimed strictly at children, they declined the offer. MacGillvray told *Adweek* magazine in November 2007, "I made several trips, and I was really disappointed. They kept telling me things like 'Animated movies won't sell' and 'Maybe we'd consider it if you were Disney,' but most just said, 'You're very nice, good-bye.' " When few takers were left, she took it to 20th Century Fox. A newcomer in the independent market, it agreed to release the film. Comparing the title characters' appeal to Hollywood stars like Barbra Streisand and Robert Redford, founder Chris Wedge remarked: "Having my [two] children, I know these bears are stars, too."

*The Heroes*premiered at the White House in Washington D.C. on October 7, 2007, and opened in theaters on October 12, 2007, in North America. The film is rated PG by the Motion Picture Association of America for "mild action, rude humor and some thematic elements". The film's theatrical release was accompanied by an *Ice Age* short, *No Time For Nuts*.

On March 1, 2019, Fox and IMAX announced that the film would be reissued and digitally re-mastered for IMAX theaters (alongside its sequels, *The Heroes 2*and *The Heroes 3)*using their DMR Technology in a triple feature for a one-day only, "Fan Event", on May 1.

### Marketing

Upon its release, Burger King had a promotional tie-in with eight toys including Kim, Jason, Glory, Bill, Chrissy, Maggie, Nicolas, and Queen of the Forest of Feelings with a paid Kids' Meal order. Ice cream chain Baskin-Robbins also promoted the film for its new Kim & Jason's Loaded Hero ice cream that consists of Hershey's chocolate, hot fudge, crushed chocolate cookies, whipped cream and chocolate syrup.

#### Trailers

* A teaser poster for the film was released on September 27, 2006. The film's official teaser trailer first debuted on October 3, 2006 on the home media release of *Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties*, and was later shown in theaters with other films such as *Flushed Away*, *The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause*, *Happy Feet*, *Night at the Museum*, *Bridge to Terbithia*, *TMNT*,*Meet the Robinsons*, *Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colin Movie for Theaters*, and *Spider-Man 3*.
* The official theatrical trailer was released on May 18, 2007, and was shown with *Shrek the Third*, *Surf's Up*, *Ratatouille*, *Computeropolis 2*, *Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoniex*, *The Simpsons Movie*, *Underdog*, *Daddy Day Camp*, *Mr. Bean's Holiday*, and *Kate & Chris*. The following month, TV spots were also aired.
* There were a few television spots for the film; the first one was released in August 2007, the second one was released in September 2007, and the third one was released in October 2007.

#### Video game

*Main article: The Heroes (2007 video game)*

A video game based on the film was released on June 29, 2004 on Xbox 360, Windows, Wii, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable, Nintendo DS, and Game Boy Advance, as well as on mobile phones. This is the last Blue Sky Studios video game to be released on the GBA.

### Home media

*The Heroes*was first released on DVD, Blu-ray and HD DVD on January 15, 2008. All releases included a new animated short film titled *Chrissy Time*, which takes place after the events of the film. The film was the best-selling DVD in its initial week of release, selling over 500,000 copies and making over $16.9 million. It was later released on Blu-ray 3D on May 3, 2011. A 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray version was released on November 15, 2016, and includes a teaser trailer for *The Heroes 3*.

## Reception

### Box office

*The Heroes*opened on October 12, 2007, in North America. It got to earn $85,729,840 during its opening weekend, placing first in its box office during that weekend. By the end of its theatrical run on February 14, 2008, *The Heroes*grossed a total of $435.1 million worldwide. It is the fifth highest-grossing 2007 animated film (behind *Computeropolis 2*, *Kate & Chris*, *Ratatouille* and *The Simpsons Movie*).

### Critical reception

*The Heroes*received widespread critical acclaim, becoming a cult hit among critics upon release. On the aggregate site Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 89% based on 169 reviews, with an average rating of 7.7/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Having enough colorful animation, brilliant humor and action-packed scenes to compete with the likes of Pixar, *The Heroes*perfectly lives up to be a hit on its own." On Metacritic, it received a score of 91 out of 100, based on 73 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".

Peter Travers of *Rolling Stone* gave the film three out of four stars, saying "20th Centurty Fox's, *The Heroes*the whole family could enjoy the delightful addition to the company's other classics with non-stop humor." Richard Corliss of *Time Magazine* praised Ken Jeong's performance as Jason, stating that "it gets even funnier for his comic relief career that brings the well-known self for his life." Todd McCarthy of *Variety* liked the concept, also stating "As directed by Chris Wedge, *The Heroes* has a very engaging concept for a movie that makes up, and teams up, and saves the world."

Jami Bernard of the *New York Daily News* described the film as "*Toy Story* meets *The Care Bears Movie*". Kyle Smith of the *New York Post* gave the film three out of four stars, saying that "*The Heroes*seems to duplicate the usual animation look of Ice Age, but has truly amazing action sequences, charm, wit, and humor with a host of quirky characters such as Kim and Jason." Charles Herold of *The New York Times* summed up his review stating that "*The Heroes*is not only a great kids movie, but it is an enthusiastic movie with perfect moments that live up to its plot as well as other Fox animated hits like *Anastasia* and *Ice Age*."

## Sequels

*Main article: The Heroes (franchise)*
*The Heroes*was followed by two sequels: *The Heroes 2* (2012) and *The Heroes 3* (2017). While the first sequel received similar acclaim from critics, the third film, however, got some mixed reviews but was still a box office hit.

A fourth film, titled *The Heroes: World Tour*, is set for release on June 12, 2020.

## Spin-offs

### Television series

*Main article: The Heroes: Unlock the Magic*
### Holiday special

*Main article: The Heroes: The Nutcracker*