Ama and the Mysterious Crystal

***Ama and the Mysterious Crystal*** is a 1999 American animated fantasy adventure film produced by Paramount Feature Animation and distributed by Paramount Pictures. It is the 42nd feature film produced by the studio. The film was directed by Zaiden Fischer and Phil Nibbelink and co-written by Len Blum, Jonathan Roberts, and John August, and stars the voices of Christina Ricci, Jason Biggs, Jodi Benson, Martin Short, Patrick Stewart, and Jennifer Aniston. The film follows a young girl named Ama, who discovers a powerful magic crystal that came from the ancient city of Crystopia, where she learns that the ruthless sorcerer Lordous plans to place a spell that captures crystals from the city. Ama, along with her friend Edwin and her sister Shelly, embark on a journey to save the city and defeat Lordous.

Development of *Ama*, initially titled *The Sisters and the Crystal of Jewels*, began after Viacom's acquisition of Paramount Communications in 1994, when Fischer conceived its original plot which was intended to be a musical influenced by the fairy tales Charles Perrault's *Diamonds and Toads* and the Brothers Grimm's *The Crystal Ball*. The film later went into production by May 1996, alongside a new story and title under its current name, and became a dark fantasy instead of a lighthearted musical comedy due to the success of *Meredith's Journey*. The animation of the film, which was mostly done in Hollywood, California, combines traditional animation and computer-generated imagery. The film's score was composed by James Horner.

*Ama and the Mysterious Crystal* premiered in Los Angeles on December 8, 1999, and was released in the United States on December 17, 1999. It received generally positive reviews from critics, who praised its animation, story, performances, and score, and earned over $324 million worldwide on its $44 million budget, making it the fifth highest-grossing film of 1999, the highest-grossing animated film of the year, and the highest-grossing non-Disney animated film at the time. It received nominations for several awards, including for Best Original Song ("Find Your Dreams") and Best Original Musical or Comedy Score at the 70th Academy Awards. The success of *Ama* later spawned an expanded franchise, with three direct-to-video follow-ups, a television series, video games, merchandise, and other media. A live-action remake was originally announced for a 2020 release, but was shelved indefinitely.

## Plot

In the ancient city of Crystopia, a young sorcerer named Lordous steals a spellbook that he uses to make a large blue crystal in a cave do his bidding. The other sorcerers see this and try to stop him, only to be disintegrated by the crystal. Lordous manages to capture most of the crystals from the city, except one powerful crystal scattered away from Crystopia.

Years later, 15-year-old Ama lives in a small village near a coastline with her older sister Shelly, her pet goat Pongo, and her widowed mother. Wanting to travel on an adventure of her own, she meets a nervous boy named Edwin, whom she helps excavate a mysterious crystal that he discovered. Curious to learn more about the artifact, Ama takes the crystal home with her. That night, she finds a message from the Crystopian elder Chief Urrkle, telling her of the crystal's hidden power. Wanting to use the crystal to find the ancient city of Crystopia, Ama sets off along with Edwin, Shelly, and Pongo.

The group takes a boat ride and then travels on foot before setting up camp for the night. Lordous, now elderly, senses that there is someone on his island. While Ama and her friends are sleeping, Lordous attempts to scare them by lifting Pongo and treating him like a party balloon, shaping him into various animals; this, however, does not awake the group.

The next morning, the group continues their journey and arrive at an enchanted forest, where they meet Hubble, a bird-like creature magically created by the Crystopians, who offers to lead them to Crystopia. However, Lordous creates a spell on a monstrous lizard to attack the group, which leads to Ama protecting herself with the crystal. She uses its power to destroy the creature, causing it to burst into dust upon defeat.

Reaching Crystopia, the group is greeted by Urrkle, who tours them around the city while they manage to help him retrieve most of the crystals. Soon, Lordous casts a spell that spawns several small vulture-like creatures which attack the group, who manages to escape. While they explore more in Crystopia, Ama and the group eventually discover an abandoned campsite which leads them to the cave where Lordous put the spell on the crystal years before.

The group then encounters Lordous and realizes that he was behind the strange events that occurred before. Eventually, Lordous becomes hostile towards the group and casts some spells towards them, before storming off into a deeper part of the cave. He then throws a spell at the group that turns them into crystal statues, except for Ama and Hubble. Enraged, Ama confronts Lordous and attacks him. As Lordous is about to destroy Ama, she and Hubble use the power of the crystals, including her crystallized friends, causing Lordous to turn into a statue. Ama runs back to her friends and finds them uncrystallized since they are no longer under the influence of Lordous' spell.

With the city saved, Urrkle and the Crystopians thank those who helped Ama, who is crowned as the heroine of the city. Deciding to stay instead of returning home, Ama bids a heartfelt farewell to her mother, Edwin, Shelly, and Pongo, and begins a new life in Crystopia with Hubble. The film ends with Ama taking a crystal from the cave as a memento of sorts.

## Voice cast

* Christina Ricci as Ama, an adventurous 15-year-old girl who attempts to save the city of Crystopia with the mysterious crystal. Alexander Bates served as the supervising animator for Ama.
* Jason Biggs as Edwin, a geeky and nervous boy who wants to help Ama on her journey to defeat Lordous. Randy Travelers served as the supervising animator for Edwin.
* Jodi Benson as Shelly, Ama's older sister. Victor Eisenberg served as the supervising animator for Shelly.
* Martin Short as Hubble, a bird-like creature magically created by the Crystopians who befriends Ama, Edwin, and Shelly. Bob Cokinn served as the supervising animator for Hubble.
* Patrick Stewart as Lordous, a sorcerer obsessed with crystals who places a spell that captures them from Crystopia. He never liked people on the island and always stayed in the shadows. William Jennings served as the supervising animator for Lordous.
* Jennifer Aniston as Ama and Shelly's Mother. Jack Reed served as the supervising animator for Ama and Shelly's Mother.
* Jim Cummings as Urrkle, the chief of Crystopia. Dalia Reed served as the supervising animator for Urrkle.
* Frank Welker as Pongo, Shelly's pet goat. John Madson served as the supervising animator for Pongo.
	+ Welker also voices the Monstrous Lizard.
* Edie McClurg as Edwin's Mother
* Neil Ross as Oak
* Zaiden Fischer as Cal
* Nadia Hanson as Debbie
* Roger L. Jackson as Xan
* Tress MacNeille as Native

### Additional voices

* Jack Angel
* Bob Bergen
* Rodger Bumpass
* Philip L. Clarke
* Kendall Cunningham
* Jennifer Darling
* Debi Derryberry
* Bill Farmer
* Jack Fletcher
* Sherry Lynn
* Mickie T. McGowan
* Denise Pickering
* Patrick Pinney
* Phil Proctor
* Jan Rabson
* Erik Von Detten
* Lillias White

## Release

### Theatrical

In 1996, *Ama and the Mysterious Crystal* was scheduled for a Christmas 1998 release, though by February 1997, it was later pushed back to a summer 1999 release to avoid competition with other family films during the Holiday season. In September 1998, it was pushed back again to its current release date of December 25, 1999 to give the production team more time to finish the film, with Paramount another film *South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut* taking the summer 1999 slot. However, it was pushed to a week later in favor of the release of Paramount's other films *Angela's Ashes* and *The Talented Mr. Ripley*, as well as to avoid competition with DreamWorks' *Galaxy Quest*. The film was actually accompanied with the *Jimmy Neutron* pilot episode, Runaway Rocketboy, making it the third and last Nicktoon pilot to be released alongside a theatrical movie.

### Marketing

The film was accompanied by a promotional campaign by Burger King, which released a set of six Kids' Meal toys as a tie-in for the film's release.

### Home media

*Ama and the Mysterious Crystal* was released on VHS and DVD on May 9, 2000. The DVD release included an audio commentary by the filmmakers, a 28-minute making-of documentary, a gallery of concept art, storyboards, test footage, deleted scenes, and DVD-ROM features. On June 8, 2004, a 2-disc "Special Edition" was released featuring the same special features from the original 2000 DVD as well as new ones including a sneak preview of the 2004 Paramount animated film *Twin, Duo, and Two* and a THX optimizer. The film was released for the first time on Blu-ray on May 25, 2010.

An Ultra HD Blu-ray was released for the film's 20th anniversary on December 17, 2019, containing a new 4K restoration and a DTS:X audio remix.

On March 4, 2021, *Ama* became available on Paramount+.

## Reception

### Critical reception

*Ama and the Mysterious Crystal* received mostly positive reviews from critics. On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a rating of 81% based on 64 reviews, with an average rating of 6.7/10. The website's consensus reads, "It may feel unpolished in some spots, but *Ama and the Mysterious Crystal* is, in the end, a vivid, adventurous, and charming experience." On Metacritic, the film has a score of 70 out of 100 points, based on 32 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

Roger Ebert gave the film 3 stars out of 4, calling it "beautifully animated and very entertaining for the whole family." Richard Corliss of *Time* reviewed the film positively, calling it an "absolute classic". However, Anita Gates of the *New York Times* gave a negative review of the film, saying, "Paramount's another Disney wannabe feels bland and flat-out predictable."

### Sequels

*Main articles: Ama II: Return to Crystopia, Ama III: The Lost Crystals and Ama: The Secret Palace*
In January 2000, Paramount announced it was planning a sequel to *Ama*. The sequel titled *Ama II: Return to Crystopia* was released on DVD and VHS on March 19, 2002, with Kath Soucie replacing Ricci as the voice of Ama. The film also served as the pilot for the television spin-off.

A third direct-to-video sequel titled *Ama III: The Lost Crystals* was released on DVD and VHS on April 20, 2004. A fourth film, titled *Ama: The Secret Palace*, was released on DVD on June 8, 2010.

### Television series

*Main article: Ama (TV series)*
A spin-off animated series, simply titled *Ama*, ran from 2000 to 2002 on Nickelodeon and later MTV Kids. Produced and developed by Paramount Television Animation, the series is set one year after the events of the 1999 film.

### Video games

A video game based on the film was developed by Traveller's Tales, Tiertex Design Studios and Tiger Electronics and released by Paramount Digital Entertainment and THQ for various systems including PlayStation, Dreamcast, Nintendo 64, Microsoft Windows, Game Boy Color and Game.com. The game's storyline was similar to the film's, with a few changes. The game received mixed to positive reviews.

Another game inspired by the film entitled *Ama and the Mysterious Crystal Activity Center* was developed by Sound Source Interactive and published by Digital Media International in partnership with Paramount in November 1999 for PC. It features 10 games and a bonus level that can be attained if a certain item is obtained in a game. Yet another PC game titled *Ama and the Mysterious Crystal: The Interactive Storybook* was released, also developed and published by Paramount Digital Entertainment.

### Other media

Ama and other Paramount Animation characters make guest appearances in the 2021 film *Virtual Journey: Game Changer*.

## Transcripts

### Main

To see the main transcript of the film, click here.

### Trailers

To see the transcript for the trailers of the film, click here.