Foodfight! (2003 film)

"'Foodfight!' and 'Foodfight! The Movie' redirect here. For the 2012 film, see Foodfight!. For other uses, see Foodfight (disambiguation)." Foodfight! (sometimes titled Foodfight! The Movie in other countries outside the United States) is a 2003 American computer-animated adventure comedy film produced by Threshold Entertainment (through Threshold Animation Studios), directed by Lawrence Kasanoff and Cal Brunker and is based on a screenplay by Sean Catherine Derek, Lawrence Kasanoff, Brent Friedman, Rebecca Swanson and Bob Barlen. The film stars the voice of Charlie Sheen as the anthropomorphic investigating protagonist Dex Dogtective, along with Wayne Brady, Hilary Duff, Eva Longoria, Larry Miller, Christopher Lloyd, Robert Costanzo, Chris Kattan, Ed Asner, Jerry Stiller and more.

The film has became universally known for its excessive product placement. Produced on a $65 million budget, Foodfight! had been funded through multiple product manufacturers, as well as the Fireman's Fund Insurance Company through auctioning in late 2001 and early to mid 2002. Universal Pictures was originally going to produce Foodfight! and make it live-action, but Kasanoff turned down the idea immediately, and production soon fell into the hands of Warner Bros. Pictures after Universal Pictures shifted to working on Dr. Seuss' The Cat in the Hat with DreamWorks Pictures and Imagine Entertainment.

The film was a co-production with Viva Pictures, Threshold Entertainment, Threshold Animation Studios, Village Roadshow Pictures, Lightstorm Entertainment and Buddy Studios, the latter two being uncredited.

Foodfight! premiered at the TCL Chinese Theatre on December 14, 2003 and was theatrically released in the United States on December 26, 2003 by Warner Bros. Pictures. The film received generally positive reviews from critics, with critics praising its plot, voice cast (particularly Sheen, Brady, Duff, Longoria and Miller), visual effects, screenplay, runtime, humor, musical score by Walter Murphy and John Powell and its soundtrack (particularly Smash Mouth's song "Foodfight!" that debuted in the film), though some criticized its excessive use of product placement and animation. It was also a box office success, grossing $388.5 million against a production budget of $65 million.

Plot
When night falls at the supermarket "Marketropolis", located to the south of Emeryville, California, the store products' mascots, known as "Ikes", come to life and interact with each other. Heroic "Cinnamon Sleuth Cereal" mascot Dex Dogtective (Charlie Sheen) is about to propose to his girlfriend Sunshine Goodness (Hilary Duff), a raisin mascot, but she goes missing just before he is able to do so.

Six months later, a Brand X representative called "Mr. Clipboard" (Christopher Lloyd) arrives at Marketropolis and aggressively pushes Brand X's range of generic products to Leonard (Ed Asner), the store's manager. In the world of the Ikes, the arrival of Lady X (Eva Longoria), the seductive Brand X detergent Ike, causes a commotion at Dex's club, the Copabanana.

Brand X products begin to replace previous products, which is mirrored in the Ikes' world with the deaths of several Ikes. After Dex's friend Daredevil Dan (Wayne Brady), a chocolate squirrel, disappears, Dex begins to investigate. After rebuffing Lady X's attempts to bring him to Brand X's side, Dex is locked in a dryer with Dan to be melted, but the two manage to escape. Dan and Dex find out that Brand X contains an addictive and toxic secret ingredient.

Dex and Dan attempt to initiate a product recall with Leonard's computer. A Brand X Ike cuts power just as they send the message. Dex then rallies the citizens of Marketropolis to fight the armies of Brand X in a massive food fight. The citizens win the battle by using the supermarket's electricity.

Dex rescues Sunshine, who had been held hostage in the Brand X tower, and escapes with the help of Dan. Mr. Clipboard then enters the Ikes' world, but he is taken down by Dex, who discovers that he is a robot controlled by Lady X. Lady X reveals that she had previously been the hideous Ike of an unsuccessful brand of prunes, and had been stealing Sunshine's essence to create a new brand. Dex and Sunshine defeat her, reverting her to her original form. With Brand X defeated and a cure found that revives the killed Ikes, Dex and Sunshine finally get married.

Voice cast

 * Charlie Sheen as Dex Dogtective, an anthropomorphic dog investigator, owner of the Copabanana nightclub, and mascot for a Cereal product.
 * Wayne Brady as Daredevil Dan, Dex's best friend; a squirrel pilot of a small aircraft and mascot for a chocolate product and the film's comic relief.
 * Hilary Duff as Sunshine Goodness, an anthropomorphic cat mascot for a raisin brand; Dex's fianceé.
 * Eva Longoria as Lady X / Priscilla, former mascot of the prune product turned owner and leader of Brand X.
 * Larry Miller as Vlad Chocool, a chocolate cereal vampire bat with attraction for Dan.
 * Christopher Lloyd as Mr. Clipboard, the representative for Brand X products in the human world.
 * Robert Costanzo as Maximillus Moose
 * Chris Kattan as Polar Penguin
 * Ed Asner as Mr. Leonard
 * Jerry Stiller as General X
 * Christine Baranski as Hedda Shopper
 * Lawrence Kasanoff as Cheasel T. Weasel
 * Harvey Fierstein as Fat Cat Burglar
 * Cloris Leachman as Brand X Lunch Lady
 * Haylie Duff as Sweetcakes
 * Shelley Morrison as Lola Fruitola
 * Edie McClurg as Mrs. Butterworth
 * George Johnsen as Kaptain Krispy
 * Greg Ellis as Hairy Hold
 * James Arnold Taylor as Doctor Si Nustrix
 * Jeff Bennett as Lieutenant X
 * Stephen Stanton as Mr. Clean (deleted scene), Lord Flushington
 * Jeff Bergman as Charlie Tuna
 * Sean Catherine Derek as Toddler's Mom
 * Enn Reitel as Kung Tofu / François Fromage
 * Daniel Franzese as Twinkleton
 * Jason Ortenberg, Zachary Liebreich-Johnsen, Andrew Ortenberg and Jennifer Keith as the Ike Kids
 * Joshua Wexler, George Johnsen, Jason Harris, and Greg Eagles as the Hairless Hamster Henchmen

Additional voices are provided by Melissa Disney, Jennifer Keith, Bob Bergen, Susan Silo, Daniel Bernhardt, Jeff Bennett, Stephen Stanton, James Arnold Taylor, and John Bloom.

Development
TBA

Casting
TBA

Funding
TBA

Animation
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Music
TBA

Release
Foodfight! premiered at the TCL Chinese Theatre on December 14, 2003 and was theatrically released in the United States on December 26 by Warner Bros. Pictures and on December 31 internationally by Paramount Pictures. In the United States, the film was rated PG for Parental Guidance by the Motion Picture Association (MPA) for mild violence, mild rude humor, language, and non-stop heroic action.

Home media
Foodfight! was released on DVD and VHS on April 21, 2004 and later on Blu-ray on June 8, 2008.

Critical response
Foodfight! garnered generally positive reviews upon release. Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes reports an approval rating of 74% based on reviews from 172 critics, with an average rating of 6.84/10. Its critical consensus reads, "Charlie Sheen's voice acting stands out, with Wayne Brady and Hilary Duff. But, its animation and product placement makes Foodfight! feel like one big commercial when you view it differently." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 76 out of 100, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore assigned the film an average grade of "B+" on its A+ to F scale.

Stephen Hunter of the Washington Post gave the film two-and-a-half stars out of four, saying "Its cast of characters and plot shines the most particularly in Foodfight!, however, its excessive product placement and computer animation from Threshold Animation Studios weakens its audience appreciation." Film critic Roger Ebert of The Chicago Sun-Times gave the film three-and-a-half stars out of four. He praised Charlie Sheen's vocal performance for Dex Dogtective, and praised its plot and humor, as well as its soundtrack and musical score by Walter Murphy and John Powell. However, he calls the film's animation "decent" and says the product placement is "unnecessary".

Despite positive reception, other film critics gave negative reviews to Foodfight!. Todd McCarthy of Variety panned the film for being "overwhelmingly based on excessive amounts of product placement". However, he praised the musical score by Walter Murphy and John Powell. Leonard Maltin was also negative about Foodfight!, and gave the film a one-and-a-half stars out of four, saying Foodfight! was "a disappointment from Warner Bros. Pictures" and said the "product placement was beyond disgraceful". He praised the film's voice cast, saying that "Sheen, Brady and Duff's performances stand out, and that's really it."

Box office
Foodfight! opened with 3,092 theaters on December 26, 2003 and grossed $28.5 million on its opening weekend, reaching #3 on the North American box office. Initial projections were estimated between $30-40 million, and in its opening week, the film grossed $86.2 million at the North American box office, dominating box office projection estimates.

In the United States and Canada, the film grossed $73.8 million in its second opening week, after grossing $35.1 million in its second opening weekend, keeping a lead at #1 at the North American box office.

In other territories, the film grossed $47.2 million on its New Years opening week, and grossed $38.9 million on its weekend, and made $102.5 million in its first week, peaking at #2 at the international box office. In its second opening weekend, the film grossed $45.3 million, this time peaking at #1 at the international box office. The box office projections were originally $40-55 million, but was estimated to around $60-75 million due to its success.

The box office projections soon finished on September 29, 2004, and the film grossed $150.3 million in the United States and Canada and $238.2 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $388.5 million, making Foodfight! the 10th highest-grossing film of 2003 and became the 2nd highest-grossing animated film of 2003, behind Disney-Pixar's Finding Nemo, and wasn't high enough to make it into the top 50 highest-grossing animated films of all time. According to Box Office Mojo, Foodfight! is estimated to be at 63rd place.

Video game
"Main article: Foodfight!: The Game"Foodfight!: The Game is a 2004 action video game developed by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, Ubisoft, THQ, Rainbow Studios and Buddy Games and published by Ubisoft and THQ. It was released for the Sony PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Microsoft Xbox, Xbox 360, Nintendo GameCube, Nintendo DS, Game Boy Advance, Microsoft Windows and Apple iMac. The game features the voices from the film, though Threshold Entertainment did not produce the game development.

Foodfight!: The Game received "generally favorable" reviews according to review aggregation website Metacritic, which assigned the game a weighted average score of 79/100. The PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Xbox, Xbox 360, Windows and iMac ports of the game received mostly positive reviews, while the Nintendo GameCube port received "mixed or average" reviews according to Metacritic. However, the Game Boy Advance and Nintendo DS ports received "generally unfavorable" reviews, due to bugs and its difficulty.