Green Eggs and Ham (film)

"Would you like Green Eggs and Ham?"

- Tagline

Green Eggs and Ham (also titled Dr. Seuss' Green Eggs and Ham in other countries) is a 2008 American computer-animated comedy film directed by Mike Mitchell, produced by Universal Animation Studios, Dr. Seuss Enterprises and Buddy Entertainment and released by Universal Pictures and Warner Bros. Pictures. It is produced by Bob Barlen and Cal Brunker based on a screenplay by Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio.

The film stars the voices of Ewan McGregor, Jim Carrey, Olivia Colman, Steve Carell, Julia Roberts, and more. It is the second computer-animated Dr. Seuss film adaptation, after Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who!, released in March 2008 by 20th Century Fox.

The film was released on October 18, 2008 in the United States after its premiere in Scotland on October 12, 2008. It received positive reviews from critics, praising its source material, voice cast, animation, plot, humor, and musical score by Christophe Beck. It was a box office success, grossing $768 million worldwide on a budget of $100 million.

Plot
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Cast
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Development
In 2005, during the production of Ice Age 2: The Meltdown, director Mike Mitchell had pitched an idea of a Green Eggs and Ham film to be made. 20th Century Fox Animation and Blue Sky Studios CEO Chris Meledandri had reviewed the idea with Mitchell, and had to inform Dr. Seuss' widow, Audrey Giesel, of the film idea. Geisel had first thought it was to be a live-action film, so she turned down the idea quickly. However, Mitchell stated to Geisel and Meledandri that it was to be a fully computer-animated film. Geisel accepted the idea, and the production began at 20th Century Fox Animation, until it shifted to Universal Pictures in early 2006.

In February 2006, Chris Meledandri left as CEO of 20th Century Fox Animation and Blue Sky Studios, and had went to oversee Universal Pictures' newly rebranded animation studio, Universal Animation Studios. Meledandri became CEO and President of Universal Animation Studios on March 1, 2006. Mike Mitchell had began directing the storyboard in May 2006, which was being written by Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio. Around the same time period, South Australian production company Buddy Entertainment (now Buddy Studios) was involved in production. Founders Bob Barlen and Cal Brunker had began production on the film. Bob Gordon served as a co-producer.

Jimmy Hayward and Steve Martino served as co-directors of the film, while Universal Animation Studios CEO and President Chris Meledandri, as well as Audrey Geisel, served as executive producers. The storyboarding process spanned from May 18, 2006 until July 14, 2007. In April 2007, Universal Pictures announced that they would be handling North American distribution rights, while Warner Bros. Pictures handled international distribution rights.

Casting
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Animation
The animation was held at Universal Animation Studios, while its animation service providers were the French animation and visual effects production company Mac Guff (which later relaunched as Illumination Mac Guff, now Illumination Studios Paris), as well as the 3D animation software Maya, developed by Alias (now Autodesk). The animation style was similar to that of Blue Sky Studios, particularly Ice Age and Robots. The animation lasted from March 29, 2007 to June 10, 2008. Green Eggs and Ham had 88 sequences, each with 1,885 shots per sequence. The processing and rendering of each sequence took 28 hours. In total, all 88 sequences took a total of 2464 hours, or 102 days.

Music
In 2007, Canadian composer Christophe Beck signed to compose the score for Green Eggs and Ham.

Soundtrack
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Release
Green Eggs and Ham held its premiere in the Scotland territory on October 12, 2008. It was later released in the United States on October 18, 2008 by Universal Pictures, and was later released internationally on October 20, 2008 by Warner Bros. Pictures. The film was rated G by the Motion Picture Association of America.

Marketing
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Home media
Green Eggs and Ham was released on DVD and Blu-ray on February 1, 2009 by Universal Pictures Home Entertainment and Warner Home Video.

Box office
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Critical response
Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports an approval rating of 85% based on 239 professional reviews from critics, with an average rating of 7.45/10. Its critical consensus reads: "Beautifully animated, sweet, charming, and emotional, Green Eggs and Ham is a story that not only looks amazing, but looks like a tasty dinner treat." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 78 out of 100 based on 12 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore assigned the film a rare grade of "A+" on its A+ to F scale.

Trivia

 * It is the second Dr. Seuss film to be computer-animated after Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who! (2008).
 * It is the fourth overall Dr. Seuss film adaptation after How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000), Dr. Seuss' The Cat in the Hat (2003) and Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who! (2008).
 * It is the first Dr. Seuss film to be produced by Universal Animation Studios.