Lucasmoura (talk | contribs) (Adding categories) Tag: categoryselect |
Lucasmoura (talk | contribs) (Adding categories) Tag: categoryselect |
||
| Line 103: | Line 103: | ||
[[Category:American films]] |
[[Category:American films]] |
||
[[Category:The Pebble and the Penguin]] |
[[Category:The Pebble and the Penguin]] |
||
| + | [[Category:Theatrical films]] |
||
Revision as of 16:23, 4 October 2016
The Pebble and the Penguin is a 1995 American animated musical buddy comedy film, starring the voices of Martin Short and Jim Belushi, based on the true life mating rituals of the Adelie penguins in Antarctica, produced and directed by Don Bluth and Gary Goldman. The film was released to theaters on April 12, 1995 by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and internationally by Warner Bros. Family Entertainment.
Plot
Hubie, a shy, gullible, but kindhearted penguin, is in love with the female penguin Marina, but he lacks self-confidence leading him to be bullied by the much more impressive, but the vain and cruel Drake, who also wants Marina, but clearly for lust. One night, Hubie and Marina manage to confirm how they feel for each other, but Hubie cannot quite find a perfect pebble to propose to Marina with. He wishes on a star to make his dream come true and he receives an emerald from the sky. Ecstatic, Hubie rushes to find Marina but is thwarted by Drake, who demands Hubie to give him the pebble. When Hubie refuses, Drake throws him into the water. Hubie narrowly escapes from a leopard seal and climbs on to a piece of ice where he is swept away from Antarctica.
Hubie is picked up by humans and caged on their ship called "Misery", transports penguins to a zoo and meets a tough, grumpy, streetwise and somewhat arrogant but good-hearted rockhopper penguin named Rocko. After seeing in a vision Marina having a dilemma, Hubie decides to escape with Rocko and flees, before laying low on a beach. Rocko reluctantly tells Hubie about his desire to fly and live in tropical climate. He convinces him to help him return to Antarctica by making up a lie about a flying penguin named Waldo. They have a short fight after Rocko tries to fly off "an authentic, ancient aviarial airstrip" and another after Rocko saved Hubie from a killer whale. Back in Antarctica, Drake begins to threaten Marina for her hand in mating. If Marina refuses, she will be forced to leave, as it goes against tradition. Hubie and Rocko attempt to depart, but Rocko discovers Hubie lied to him and attempts to attack Hubie, but soon starts laughing, praising Hubie's determination to get back to Marina. Back in Antarctica, Marina becomes worried about Hubie. Hubie and Rocko run into the hungry and persistent leopard seal but are able to escape it. With that they become true friends (though it takes prodding from Hubie for Rocko to admit it). Their joy is short lived as killer whales attack them causing Hubie's pebble to get lost in the scuffle and Rocko to go missing, leaving Hubie to think he perished.
Disheartened, Hubie continues on alone to face Drake and defeats him in a fight. Rocko, who survives the whale attack, finds Hubie and Marina at Drake's tower. As Hubie makes a proposal to Marina and gains her acceptance, Drake returns to finish the three off. Hubie, Rocko, and Marina dodge the giant boulder which lethally crushes Drake in his collapsing tower. During the escape, Rocko's dream for flight comes true as he flies himself, Hubie, and Marina to safety. Rocko hands Hubie his pebble. He presents it to Marina, who loves it, but loves Hubie more. Rocko remains in Antarctica with Hubie and Marina, and sometime later, he teaches their children how to fly.
Cast and characters
- Martin Short as Hubie, a shy, good-hearted adelie penguin. He forms a bond with Marina after showing her who he really is and she sees the real him. After he is thrown over the cliff by Drake, he must find his way home and win Marina over before Drake does.
- Jim Belushi as Rocko, a streetwise Northern rockhopper penguin who befriends Hubie and helps him win Marina on the way back to Antarctica.
- Tim Curry as Drake, a hunky, dark-hearted penguin. He stops at nothing to win and tries to steal Marina from Hubie and continually bullies Hubie. He meets his end when, after trying to crush Hubie with a milestone, he accidentally causes the stadium to fall apart and collapse on top of him.
- Annie Golden as Marina, a penguin who Hubie and Drake fall in love with and cares about Hubie.
- Shani Wallis as the Narrator
Production
Conception
Animation and research
Production problems
Music
- Main article: The Pebble and the Penguin (soundtrack)
Release
Marketing
Driving Mr. Pink
The Pebble and the Penguin was accompanied in its theater run by a new Pink Panther short entitled Driving Mr. Pink. in the United States, which was adapted from an episode of the successful Pink Panther TV series (though The Pebble and the Penguin was accompanied in its theater run by a new Looney Tunes short entitled Carrotblanca internationally). It is a late one-off short in the Pink Panther short series - they were abundant and popular until 1980. SFGate described the short as "loud, obnoxious, [and] idiotic". The short introduced the character of Voodoo Man from the 1995 TV show. In the cartoon, "an animated woman runs out of a department store with only her underwear on". It also "features car chases, yelling, and Pink Panther getting knocked around", and "there is a veiled reference to an offensive gesture during the Pink Panther cartoon".
Reception
Box Office
The Pebble and the Penguin flopped at the box-office and only grossed $3,983,912. It was overshadowed by A Goofy Movie which was released five days earlier.
Critical reception
Awards
Home media
The Pebble and the Penguin was released on VHS and LaserDisc on August 15, 1995 by MGM/UA Home Video. Warner Home Video released the film on VHS internationally in countries such as the UK and Australia.
Throughout 1997, songs from the film were released alongside others from the MGM vaults in four MGM Sing-Along cassettes released by MGM. The loosely themed tapes had titles such as "Searching for Your Dreams", "Having Fun", and "Being Happy". The Pebble and the Penguin was first released on DVD in 1999.
In 2001, the film was released alongside the 1978 animated film The Water Babies as a Side-to-Side VHS.
A "Family Fun Edition" of the film was released only in the United States and Canada on March 27, 2007 by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment. Gary Goldman supervised the restoration for the "Family Fun Edition", which features color corrections, refielded scenes to hide missing effects and correct other errors from the theatrical release and the un-restored 1999 print of the DVD release. The Family Fun Edition was nominated for the Satellite Award for Best Youth DVD.
The 2007 DVD release of The Pebble and the Penguin was according to The Hindu News a part of a wave of penguin-related media consisting of March of the Penguins, Happy Feet, Farce of the Penguins, and Surf's Up. This trend was also picked up on by The Paramas Post and The Age. In 2010, the film was re-released along with Rock-a-Doodle as a double sided DVD, but it carries the un-restored 1999 print.
The film was released on Blu-ray for the first time on October 11, 2011.
References
External links
This article is a stub. You can help Warner Bros. Entertainment Wiki by expanding it.
This section of the article is a stub. You can help Warner Bros. Entertainment Wiki by expanding it.
