Animal Crackers (2017)

***Animal Crackers*** is a 2017 American-Chinese 3D computer-animated comedy-fantasy film directed by Scott Christian Sava and Tony Bancroft, and written by Sava and Dean Lorey, based on the animal-shaped cookie and loosely based on the graphic novel by Sava. The film stars the voices of John Krasinski, Emily Blunt, Danny DeVito, Ian McKellen, Sylvester Stallone, Raven-Symoné, and Patrick Warburton.

The film premiered at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival on June 12, 2017. It was released in China on July 21, 2018. Initially set to be released in the United States on multiple release dates through various distributors, who faced financial difficulties, it was officially released on Netflix on July 24, 2020 and received mixed reviews from critics.

## Storyline

### Plot

A family must use a magical box of Animal Crackers to save a run-down circus from being taken over by their evil uncle Horatio P. Huntington.

### Genres

* Animation
* Adventure
* Comedy
* Family
* Fantasy
* Musical

### Motion Picture Rating

* **Atp** (Argentina)
* **PG** (Australia)
* **Tous publics** (France)
* **G** (Ireland)
* **G** (Japan)
* **PG-13** (Philippines)
* **M/6** (Portugal)
* **All** (South Korea)
* **7** (Spain)
* **PG** (UK)
* **P** (Vietnam)

## Cast and Crew

### Directors

* Tony Bancroft
* Scott Christian Sava
* Jaime Maestro

### Writing Credits

* Scott Christian Sava (screenplay by) and
* Dean Lorey (screenplay by)
* Scott Christian Sava (based on the graphic novel by)

### Cast

* Emily Blunt - Zoe Huntington (voice)
* Danny DeVito - Chesterfield (voice)
* John Krasinski - Owen Huntington (voice)
* Ian McKellen - Horatio P. Huntington (voice)
* Raven-Symoné - Binkley (voice)
* Sylvester Stallone - The Bullet-Man (voice)
* Patrick Warburton - Brock (voice)
* Tara Strong - Talia (voice)
* James Arnold Taylor - Buffalo Bob (voice)
* Lydia Rose Taylor - Mackenzie Huntington (voice) (as Lydia Taylor)
* Wallace Shawn - Mr. Woodley (voice)
* Gilbert Gottfried - Mario Zucchini (voice)
* Harvey Fierstein - Esmeralda the Fortune Teller (voice)
* Kevin Grevioux - Samson the Strong Man (voice)
* Tony Bancroft - Stabby the Knife Thrower (voice)
* Donna Lynne Sava - Petunia the Fat Lady (voice)
* Anthony Sava - El Diablo the Fire Breather (voice)
* Brendan Sava - Young Owen (voice)
* Noelle Ellison Thomason - Young Zoe / Girls in Crowd (voice)
* Logan Sava - Kid in Crowd (voice)
* Kim Sava - Mom in Crowd (voice)
* Alyssa Trama - Gretchen the Bearded Lady (voice)
* Lisa Kelaita (voice)
* Richard Kelaita (voice)
* Cameron Kelaita (voice)
* Vincent Trama (voice)
* Kim Trama (voice)
* Peter J. Wong (voice)
* Jennie Yee (voice)
* Cam Clarke - Additional Voices (voice)
* Debi Derryberry - Additional Voices (voice)
* Jessica Gee-George (voice)
* Grant George (voice)
* Lara Cody - Additional Voices (voice)
* Brianne Brozey - Additional Voices (voice)

### Producers

* Ty Accornero (executive producer)
* Sam Chi (executive producer)
* Marcus Englefield (producer)
* Albert Espel (line producer)
* Michael Favelle (executive producer)
* Leiming Guan (producer)
* Taylor Huang (executive producer)
* Curtis A. Koller (co-producer)
* Peikang La (executive producer)
* George Lee (producer)
* Han Lei (co-producer)
* Leighton Lloyd (executive producer)
* Jaime Maestro (producer)
* Nathalie Martinez (producer)
* Harry Mok (executive producer)
* Chad Oliver (executive producer)
* Donna Lynne Sava (co-producer)
* Scott Christian Sava (producer)
* Danny Stepper (executive producer)
* Jamie Thomason (producer)
* Pan pan Wu (co-producer)
* Mu Yedong (executive producer)
* Sasha Yelaun (executive producer)

## Details

### Countries

* China
* Spain
* South Korea
* USA
* UK

### Release Dates

* June 12, 2017 (France) (Annecy International Animation Film Festival) (premiere)
* June 23, 2017 (Spain) (Cinema Jove International Film Festival)
* June 16, 2018 (China) (Shanghai International Film Festival)
* July 21, 2018 (China)
* July 24, 2020 (Argentina) (internet)
* July 24, 2020 (Australia) (internet)
* July 24, 2020 (Canada) (internet)
* July 24, 2020 (Germany) (internet)
* July 24, 2020 (Spain) (internet)
* July 24, 2020 (France) (internet)
* July 24, 2020 (UK) (internet)
* July 24, 2020 (USA) (internet)
* July 24, 2020 (Vietnam) (internet)
* July 30, 2020 (Hungary)
* August 2, 2020 (Sweden) (internet)
* August 5, 2020 (South Korea)
* September 3, 2020 (Portugal)
* November 21, 2020 (Japan)
* December 25, 2020 (Brazil)

### Trailer Release Dates

* Trailer 1 - July 18, 2017
* Trailer 2 - June 25, 2020

## Release

The film had its world premiere in competition at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival on June 12, 2017. The film was originally set to be released on April 28, 2017 by Relativity Media, however, a financial crisis within the company prevented them from releasing the film. It was then set to be released on September 1, 2017 by upstart film studio Serafini Releasing before they also shut down. A few months later, in November 2017, it was announced that Entertainment Studios Motion Pictures would distribute the film worldwide. In April, Sava posted on Facebook that the film was set for a release date of August 10, 2018. The deal with Entertainment Studios Motion Pictures was dropped in June 2018.

Eventually, the distribution rights were bought by Netflix and the film was released on July 24, 2020 on the platform. It was the second-most streamed film on its opening weekend.

## Reception

### Box office

*Animal Crackers (2017)* grossed $10,971,840 worldwide on a $17 million budget.

### Critical response

The film has a 5.8 rating on IMDb and a 64% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

## Company Credits

### Production Companies

* Blue Dream Studios
* Blue Dream Studios Spain
* Beijing Wen Hua Dongrun Investment Co.
* China Film Group Corporation
* Landmark International
* Storyoscopic Films
* Mayday Movie Productions
* Odin's Eye Animation

### Distributors

* ATM Films (2017) (Trinidad and Tobago) (theatrical)
* All Media Company (2017) (Russia) (theatrical)
* China Film Group Corporation (2018) (China) (theatrical)
* Netflix (2020) (Argentina) (video)
* Netflix (2020) (Australia) (video)
* Netflix (2020) (Canada) (video)
* Netflix (2020) (Germany) (video)
* Netflix (2020) (Spain) (video)
* Netflix (2020) (France) (video)
* Netflix (2020) (UK) (video)
* Netflix (2020) (Sweden) (video)
* Netflix (2020) (USA) (video)
* Netflix (2020) (Vietnam) (video)
* A Plus Films (2017) (Bulgaria) (all media)
* Black Sheep Films (2017) (South Africa) (all media)
* Captive Entertainment (2017) (Philippines) (all media)
* ECS Film Distribution (2017) (Lebanon) (all media)
* Entermode (2020) (South Korea) (all media)
* Film House (2017) (Israel) (all media)
* Picture Works (2017) (India) (all media)
* The Moments Entertainment (2017) (Turkey) (all media)

## Trivia

* Kaley Cuoco was originally considered to play Zoe, but due to scheduling issues, she was replaced by Emily Blunt.
* Justin Timberlake, Jason Bateman, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Jimmy Fallon, Ryan Reynolds, Neil Patrick Harris, Bryan Cranston, and Jason Segel were all considered for the role of Owen.
* Danny DeVito and Emily Blunt also appeared in theatrical My Little Pony movies. DeVito was in *My Little Pony: The Movie* (1986) and Blunt was in *My Little Pony: The Movie* (2017).
* Jeff Bridges, Al Pacino, Kurt Russell, Kevin Spacey, John Lithgow, Patrick Stewart, Willem Dafoe, Kelsey Grammer, Mark Hamill, and Michael Douglas were all once considered for the role of Horatio. Coincidentally, three of these actors previously had their parts in Pixar films, Spacey in *A Bug's Life* (1998), Grammer in *Toy Story 2* (1999), and Dafoe in the *Finding Nemo* films.
* Maya Rudolph, Nicki Minaj, Rashida Jones, Keke Palmer, and Taraji P. Henson were considered for the role of Binkley.
* Dwayne Johnson was considered for the role of The Bullet-Man.
* This is Sir Ian McKellen's fifth voice acting performance in a theatrical film, after *The Magic Roundabout* (2005), *Flushed Away* (2006), *The Golden Compass* (2007), and *Beauty and the Beast* (2017).
* Shakira, Joan Cusack, Drew Barrymore, Tina Fey, Uma Thurman, Gwen Stefani, Gwyneth Paltrow, Kate Beckinsale, Mindy Kaling, Shania Twain, Carrie Underwood, and Miranda Lambert were considered for the role of Zoe.
* This is John Krasinski's fourth animated film, after *Shrek the Third* (2007), *Monsters vs. Aliens* (2009), and *Monsters University* (2013). It's also Krasinski's first animated film that does not have him playing a minor character that only appears in one scene.
* Tara Strong and Emily Blunt appeared in *My Little Pony: The Movie* (2017).
* Mel Brooks, Billy Crystal, Nathan Lane, Jim Carrey, Sir Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, Christopher Walken, and Martin Short were considered for the role of Chesterfield.
* This is Sylvester Stallone's fourth voice acting role in a theatrical film, after *Antz* (1998), *Zookeeper* (2011), and *Ratchet & Clank* (2016).
* Emily Blunt and John Krasinski appeared in *A Quiet Place* (2018).
* James Arnold Taylor and Sylvester Stallone previously appeared in *Ratchet & Clank* (2016).
* This is Wallace Shawn's first theatrically released animated film that's not from Disney since *Happily N'Ever After* (2007).
* This is Danny DeVito's second fully CGI animated film, after *The Lorax* (2012).

## Connections

### References

* *Gulliver's Travels* (1939)
* *Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope* (1977)
* *Back to the Future* (1985)
* *The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring* (2001)