Puppet Pals the Third

## Puppet Pals 3

*Puppet Pals 3* is a 2012 American 3D computer-animated adventure comedy film produced by Twentieth Century Fox Animation for 20th Century Fox. The film was directed by Drew Cohen and Ash Brannon from a screenplay by Jon Vitti and a story by Karey Kirkpatrick and Ash Brannon. It is the third installment in the *Puppet Pals* franchise, following 2009's *Puppet Pals 2.* Jesse McCartney, Amy Poehler, Seth Rogen, Josh Peck, Sarah Silverman, Elijah Wood, Justin Long, Zachary Gordon, David Spade, Jodi Benson, William Shatner, Julia Roberts, Katie Crown, and Sarah Vowell reprised their respective roles, being joined by Simon Pegg, Jenny Slate, Wanda Sykes, Kristen Schaal, Reese Witherspoon, Kristen Wiig, Danny McBride, and Patton Oswalt.

*Puppet Pals 3* held its world premiere at the Regency Village Theater, Westwood in Los Angeles on September 16, 2012, and was released in the United States on September 21, 2012. It received mixed to negative reviews from critics, and was a box office bomb, earning $135.9 million worldwide on its $135 million budget. It was the final film in the *Puppet Pals* franchise to be animated by Blue Sky Studios, before its partnership with Fox Animation Studios ended in January 2014. It was followed by *Puppet Pals: Collision Course* on December 4, 2015.

## Soundtrack

Main article: Puppet Pals the Third/Soundtrack

The film's score was composed by John Powell and Mark Mothersbaugh, and its soundtrack was released on September 11, 2012 by Varèse Sarabande.

## Release

*Puppet Pals the Third* premiered at the Regency Village Theater on September 16, 2012. The American release followed on September 21, 2012. It was originally scheduled to be released on December 9, 2011 but the release date was later assigned to Little Lily.

### Marketing

* The official first teaser was released on May 20, 2011 was was shown before *Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides*, *Kung Fu Panda 2*, *Geoshea World: The Movie*, *Cars 2*, *Gabriel Garza*, *Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2, Winnie the Pooh*, *Spy Kids: All the Time in the World*, *Metro Cone 3: The Mystery to New York*, *Dolphin Tale, Puss in Boots, Arthur Christmas, Happy Feet Two, The Muppets*, *Little Lily, Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked, and Marcus Troy: Exposed*.
* The first theatrical trailer was released on January 13, 2012 and was shown before *Beauty and the Beast 3D, The Lorax*, *The Pirates! Band of Misfits*, *Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted,* S.M.A.R.T: Family of Spies*,* Brave*,* Ice Age: Continental Drift and Plucky Chicken.'
* The second theatrical trailer was released on August 3, 2012 and was shown before *Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days, ParaNorman*, *The Odd Life of Timothy Green and Finding Nemo 3D.*
* TV spots began to air between August and September of 2012.

### Video game

A video game based on the film was released on September 18, 2012 for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii, Nintendo DS, and Nintendo 3DS.

### Home media

*Puppet Pals the Third* was released on DVD and Blu-ray on January 15, 2013.

As of December 2018, the film is available to watch on Netflix.

### Television broadcasting

*Puppet Pals the Third* had its network television premiere on FX on Saturday, July 26, 2014 at 7:30pm. It then aired on Disney Channel on November 21, 2014. Nickelodeon also aired this movie on December 24 of that year. Disney XD aired this on March 6, 2015. TBS also aired it on Saturday, July 25, 2015. TNT aired this movie on October 11, 2015.

## Reception

### Critical reception

The review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a rating of 38%. On Metacritic, it received a score of 44 out of 100, based on 75 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".