Explorer Academy

Theatrical release poster

***Explorer Academy*** is a 2025 American adventure comedy film directed by Michael Lembeck from a screenplay written by Dan Ewen, Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger. The film stars Jason David, Brooklynn Prince and Hank Greenspan, and is loosely based on Trudi Trueit’s 2018 children's book series of the same name. Produced by Sean Robins for Warner Bros. Pictures, Cartoon Network Studios, Walden Media and MRC, the film was released on in select theaters on October 17, 2025, followed by a video-on-demand release on November 25. The film received praise for the cast's performances, Lembeck's direction, nostalgic tone, and score, with criticism mostly being directed towards its screenplay and pacing.

## Plot

Cruz Coronado applies to attend an exclusive school for explorers, the Explorer Academy, where his mother worked before dying in a mysterious lab accident. Plunged into a world of critical missions and code breaking, the 12-year-old embarks on a global hunt for a secret formula that could reveal his hidden past.

## Cast

* Jason David as Cruz Coronado, a student at Explorer Academy.
	+ Elliot Ruel Watts as young Cruz
* Brooklynn Prince as Leilani Kealoha, Cruz Coronado's best friend.
* Hank Greenspan as Emmett Lu, the roommate of Cruz.
* Freyja Sif Arnarsdottir as Bryndis Jónsdóttir, Cruz’s classmate from Reykjavík, Iceland.
* Lucas Royalty as Dugan Marsh, an explorer on Team Cousteau.
* Ibanez Maeva as Sailor York, an explorer on Team Cousteau. She is from Christchurch, New Zealand, and her roommate is Bryndis Jónsdóttir, who is also her best friend.
* Otto Emil Koch as Seth Moller, an explorer on Team Earhart. He is from Luxembourg.
* Gavin Macon as Kwento Osasona, an explorer on Team Earhart. He is from Lagos, Nigeria.
* Kace Winfield as Kendall Pierson, an explorer on Team Earhart.
* Aditi Jaltare as Shristine, an explorer on Team Earhart.
* Elysse Adil as Femi Touitou, an explorer on Team Earhart.
* Phoenix Irvine as Jesse Noble, an explorer on Team Earhart.
* Jane Wheeler as Petra Coronado, Cruz's mother.
* Tim Rozon as Marco Coronado, Cruz's father.
* Rachelle Lefevre as Marisol Coronado, Cruz's aunt.
* Pascale Bussieres as Dr. Ainsley, a nurse.
* George Chiang as Dr. Elistair Fallowfeld, Petra Coronado's colleague who had supposedly been killed in the fire that killed Coronado, but turns out to still be alive.
* Jason Bateman as Thorne Prescott, an agent for Nebula Pharmaceuticals. He goes by the code name "Cobra."
* Chris Sandiford as A.J., a guy who works at Laundry.
* Robert De Niro as Hezekiah Brume, the head of Nebula Pharmaceuticals. He goes by the code name "Lion", and is found to be Professor A. Luben, which backwards, is Nebula.
* Antoinette Fekette as Dr. Kira Benedict, the explorers' art and journalism teacher.
* James Malloch as Dr. Alec Lu, Emmett's father. He works at the Archive.
* Hendrix Yancey as Blessica, an explorer on Team Galileo. She is from Brooklyn, New York.
* Nell Fisher as Weatherly Bright, an explorer on Team Galileo. She is from London, England.
* Alejandra Howard as Corazón "Cory", an explorer on Team Galileo.
* Veronica Burdikhina as Misha, an explorer on Team Galileo.
* Dalia Shihabeldeen as Pashelle, an explorer on Team Galileo.
* Samuel Gingras as Felipe Rivera, an explorer on Team Galileo. He is from Chile, and his roommate is Kwento Osasona.
* Simon Webster as Matteo Montefiore, an explorer on Team Magellan.
* Kayla Orueta as Yulia Navarro, an explorer on Team Magellan. Her roommate is Ekaterina Pajarin.
* Maya Bednarek as Ekaterina "Kat" Pajarin, an explorer on Team Magellan. Her roommate is Yulia Navarro.
* Zayn Maloney as Zane Patrick, an explorer on Team Magellan. He is from San Francisco.
* Adam Wahdan as Ali Soliman, an explorer on Team Magellan. He is from Cairo, Egypt, and his roommate is Dugan Marsh.
* Tamaki Shiratori as Tao Sun, an explorer on Team Magellan.
* Christian Begin as Dr. Eikenboom, the doctor on board Orion.
* Nour Belkhiria as Pendrina Antonov, the assistant of Dr. Eikenboom's physician.

## Production

In 2022, Lionsgate initially planned to make a live-action film adaptation of the book. Written by Dan Ewen, Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger, the film was set to be directed by Melissa Rosenberg (who also made an earlier draft of the screenplay), and produced by Sean Robins for Frank Smith's Walden Media and Modi Wiczyk and Asif Satchu from MRC. Jason David joined in April 2023, to star as Cruz Coronado, a student at Explorer Academy. In October 2023, the project was picked up by Warner Bros. Pictures and Cartoon Network after Lionsgate was reportedly "uncomfortable with the budget." By February 2024, Rosenberg had left the project, and a month later, it was reported that Michael Lembeck was in talks with Warner Bros. to replace Rosenberg. According to Lembeck, the plot point of Marco Coronado owning Goofy Foot and living above the shop was inspired by *Bob's Burgers* (2011).

In April 2024, Brooklynn Prince was in talks to play Leilani Kealoha. In June 2024, Warner Bros. set the release date for October 17, 2025, and confirmed that David and Prince were cast as Cruz and Leilani. The same month, Warner Bros. announced the casting of Hank Greenspan as Emmett Lu. In July 2024, Freyja Sif Arnarsdottir was cast in the film as Cruz’s classmate from Reykjavík, Iceland. Jane Wheeler, Tim Rozon, and Rachelle Lefevre joined the cast a month later.

Principal photography began on August 19, 2024. The film was entirely shot in Montreal. Filming also took place in various locations like Washington, D.C., Hawaii, Iceland, Jordan, Nepal, Agra, India, Norway, and Buenos Aires. Filming lasted through November 2024.

Visual effects vendors included Digital Domain, Rise FX, Rodeo FX, and Industrial Light & Magic. Like with *When in Rome*, the Ncam camera tracking system was used on set to provide animation previews to the cast and crew and gather data for the effects companies.

### Music

On February 9, 2025, Roger Neill was confirmed to compose the score for *Explorer Academy*. On August 14, 2025, following the release of the second trailer, Cartoon Network announced that NSYNC would perform two original songs for the film, called "Around the World" and "Forever Unbroken".

## Release

### Theatrical limited release

*Explorer Academy* was released in select theaters on October 17, 2025 by Warner Bros. Pictures, followed by a video-on-demand release on November 25.

## Reception

### Critical response

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 63% of 306 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6.2/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "*Explorer Academy* crosses the streams between bestseller and exercise in nostalgia -- and this time around, the explorin' mostly feels good". Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 45 out of 100 based on 47 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".

## Trivia

* Simon Webster (*Lucas the Spider*) and Patrick Kwok-Choon (*Thomas & Friends: All Engines Go*) have both starred in other Cartoon Network projects.
* Like *Steven Universe: The Movie*, *Clarence's Big Break* and *The Amazing World of Gumball: The Movie*, this is the fourth Cartoon Network Studios film to show blood; Cruz gets his leg cut by a mysterious figure while nearly drowning underwater.
* In the book or cartoon, Cruz lives in Kauai, Hawaii. However, in the movie, Cruz lives in Honolulu, Hawaii.
* Very similar plot to Journey to the Center of the Earth (2008) which also starred Jane Wheeler.
* Much of this movie was filmed in Montréal, Quebec, which is where the portrayer of Petra Coronado, Jane Wheeler, currently resides.

## Transcripts

### Main Transcript

*Main article: Explorer Academy/Transcript*
### Trailer transcripts

*Main article: Explorer Academy/Trailer transcripts*