Purple Squirrel: The Reckoning

Purple Squirrel: The Reckoning (also titled Purple Squirrel 4: The Reckoning and Purple Squirrel 4) is a 2010 American computer-animated adventure comedy film directed by Cal Brunker, produced by Nickelodeon Movies and Buddy Studios and distributed by Paramount Pictures. It is produced by Graham Moloy and Bob Barlen based on a screenplay by Lorne Cameron and a story by Brunker and Barlen. It is a direct sequel to Purple Squirrel Three (2005) and is the fourth installment in the Purple Squirrel franchise. The film reprises the voices of Will Arnett as Surly, as well as Kari Wahlgren, Anthony Hopkins, Olivia Colman, and introduced celebrity actors Tom Hanks, Will Smith, Johnny Depp, and Sandra Bullock. After the events of the third film, Surly (Arnett) and Hazelnut (Wahlgren) made their selves at home in a residence in the suburbs in Dallas, Texas, while a group of crows try and abduct the two of them every time they go outside for only a moment. The crows were led by a German shepherd named Anthony (Tom Hanks).

Purple Squirrel: The Reckoning premiered in Toronto on December 25, 2009 and was theatrically released on January 1, 2010 in the United States. It received mostly positive reviews from critics, praising its animation, visual effects, voice cast (particularly Arnett, Wahlgren and Hanks), musical score by Henry Jackman, humor and character development, though some criticized the plot. It was a box office success, grossing $1.8 million worldwide on a budget of $130 million. A sequel and fifth installment was released in 2020, titled Purple Squirrel: Five to Five, with a planned sixth film in development, with a working title of with a planned release year of 2025.

Plot
TBA

Voice cast

 * Will Arnett as Surly, a purple squirrel and the main protagonist.
 * Kari Wahlgren as Hazelnut, a female pink squirrel and Surly's girlfriend.
 * Anthony Hopkins as Henry, a golden brown squirrel and Surly's father.
 * Olivia Colman as Victoria, a light brown squirrel and Surly's mother.
 * Tom Holland as Victor, a 13-year-old boy and the owner of Surly, his family and Hazelnut.
 * Julie Andrews as Cindy, a 39-year-old woman of British descent and the mother of Victor.
 * Bill Paxton as David, a 40-year-old construction worker and the father of Victor.
 * Sam Rockwell as Robinson, a black and white wolf.
 * Scarlett Johansson as Hemisphere, a red striped spider.
 * Johansson also voices a few female American crows.
 * Danny McBride as Ginny, a goofy guinea pig.
 * Halsey as Rella, a blue rabbit with long ears.
 * Ryan Reynolds as Brandon, a brave deer.
 * Mila Kunis as Betty, a lovely deer and Brandon's girlfriend.
 * Wanda Sykes as Stella, a short-tempered, sassy striped skunk.
 * Ed Asner as Anton, a grey squirrel and Surly's grandfather.
 * Betty White as Carolyn, a beige squirrel and Surly's grandmother.
 * Tom Hanks as Anthony, an overprotective and vicious German shepherd and the main antagonist.
 * Will Smith as a male American crow, part of a large group of American crows, led by Anthony.
 * Johnny Depp as a few male American crows.
 * Sandra Bullock as a female American crow.
 * Keanu Reeves as the king American crow.
 * Julia Roberts as the queen American crow.
 * Roberts also voices a few female American crows.

Development
The development first began in 2008. Director Cal Brunker had pitched a fourth film to Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies, and was accepted in July. Screenwriter Lorne Cameron wrote the screenplay for the film, while Brunker and Bob Barlen wrote the story and planned out the script.

Producer Graham Moloy, at the time, was in talks with 20th Century Animation CEO Chris Meledandri. He, at the time, said he was "leaving as president of the company, and [was] planning to open a new animation facility, or become president of another studio". Cal Brunker was later in talks with Meledandri and offered a role as CEO of Nickelodeon Movies' animation facility. He gladly accepted the role, and became the CEO of the animation facility. The development on the storyboard and planning spanned from July 21, 2008 and wpped up on August 29, 2009.

Casting
Will Arnett reprised his role as Surly the Squirrel in the film, along with Kari Wahlgren as Hazelnut, Surly's girlfriend. Anthony Hopkins and Olivia Colman reprise their voices as Henry and Victoria, Surly's mother and father, respectively. Elderly actors Ed Asner and Betty White came and voiced Anton and Carolyn, Surly's grandparents, respectively. Introduced was Tom Hanks as Anthony, an overprotective and vicious German shepherd and serves as the main antagonist, who is the leader of a group of multiple American crows, voiced by Scarlett Johansson, Will Smith, Johnny Depp, Sandra Bullock and Julia Roberts, with Roberts voicing the queen crow, and Keanu Reeves voicing the king crow. British actor Tom Holland voiced Victor, a 13-year-old boy who adopted Surly, his family and Hazelnut. British actress Julie Andrews and American actor Bill Paxton voiced Cindy and David, the parents of Victor, respectively.

Animation
The animation, like its predecessors, was animated entirely in Autodesk Maya. Purple Squirrel: The Reckoning had 81 sequences, each containing 2,686 shots. The processing took 46 days, while the rendering took 52 days. The animation production began on September 26, 2008 and wrapped on November 28, 2009.

Music
"Main article: Purple Squirrel: The Reckoning (soundtrack)Henry Jackman.jpeg" The film's music was composed by Henry Jackman, with original songs by Canadian rock band Finger Eleven. The film's score album was released on Varèse Sarabande on January 1, 2010, while its soundtrack album was released through Interscope Records on January 16, 2010.

Release
Purple Squirrel: The Reckoning premiered in Toronto on December 25, 2009. It later had its full theatrical release on January 1, 2010 in the United States in 2D and 3D, and available in DTS, Dolby Digital and Sony Dynamic Digital Sound sound systems.

Home media
Purple Squirrel: The Reckoning was released on DVD and Blu-ray on April 10, 2010, followed by a Blu-ray 3D release on August 29, 2010, each released by Buddy Home Entertainment and Paramount Home Entertainment. It included an interview with Will Arnett, Kari Wahlgren, Anthony Hopkins, Olivia Colman and Tom Holland, a commentary with director Cal Brunker, screenwriter Lorne Cameron, producer Bob Barlen and Will Arnett, a behind the scenes featurette, a music recording session with Finger Eleven and English composer Henry Jackman, and an exclusive short film, titled Surly's Texas Staycation, directed by Bob Barlen. Included was an exclusive demo of the Purple Squirrel: The Reckoning video game, which was released on March 12, 2010.

Box office
Purple Squirrel: The Reckoning was released in the United States on January 1, 2010 in approximately 3,019 theaters, with the film displayed on 5,392 screens. It grossed $658 million in the United States and Canada and $1.1 billion in other territories for a worldwide total of $1.8 billion, thus becoming the highest-grossing film of 2010, the highest-grossing animated film of 2010, the highest-grossing animated film of all time, and the seventh-highest-grossing film of all time.

Critical response
Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports an approval rating of 87% based on 218 critic reviews, with an average rating of 7.6/10. Its critical consensus reads: "Exciting, thrilling, hilariously innovative, and with great vocal performance by Will Arnett, Purple Squirrel: The Reckoning does not fail to impress many young kids and adults alike with its great and tolerable humor." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 85 out of 100 based on 29 critics, indicating "universal acclaim". Audiences polled by CinemaScore assigned the film a rare average grade of "A+" on their A+ to F scale.

Video game
"Main article: Purple Squirrel: The Reckoning (video game)"Purple Squirrel: The Reckoning was developed by Rainbow Studios, bitComposer Games, TrueAxis and THQ and published by THQ for the PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Xbox, Nintendo Wii, DS, 3DS, Microsoft Windows, iOS, Android and Game Boy Advance. The film's voice cast reprise their roles in the film. The game holds an approval rating of 92% on GameRankings and 90/100 on Metacritic.