Cloudy
With A Chance Of Meatballs
“Cooking
up a storm in the $120m box
office hit from Sony Pictures Animation
Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs,
youthful inventor Flint Lockwood
becomes the most popular guy on
Swallow Falls Island when he produces
epicurean manna from heaven...”
A SUPERB AND WELL CONSTRUCTED MOVIE with fantastic animation, Cloudy With
A Chance Of Meatballs serves up an hilarious and mouth-watering food storm
of epic portions that will have you laughing out loud as you learn lessons in
life from the inhabitants of Swallow Falls, a tiny island in the Atlantic Ocean.
Based on the beloved bestselling children's book of the same name, written by
Judi Barrett and illustrated by Ron Barrett, the CG animated film Cloudy
With A Chance Of Meatballs features all-star voice talents and is a beautiful,
colourful journey into the best of animation.
Flint Lockwood (Bill Hader: Night At The Museum: Battle Of The Smithsonian)
has always felt he is different and longs to be a great inventor. But his father
Tim Lockwood (James Caan: Get Smart; television's Las Vegas) cannot
identify with the boy's ambition and wants nothing more than for his son to
join him in his fishing tackle shop. He speaks in fishing terms — "Not
every sardine is meant to swim, son" and cannot work out what makes Flint tick.
But his mother Fran (Lauren Graham), who sadly dies while Flint is still a child,
understands his ambitions and encourages him by buying him a professional-grade
laboratory coat which he loves.
Progressing from spray-on shoes to inventing a remote-controlled television
and some hair un-balder, Flint also creates some fabulous little rat-birds.
And when he invents a Monkey Thought Translator he gains an assistant, best
friend and trusted colleague Steve (Neil Patrick Harris: television's How
I Met Your Mother)!
But Flint's dream is to help his hometown — famous for sardines until the
"Baby" Brent Sardine factory closed "right after everyone in the world realised
they are super-gross"! The islanders had no alternative but to eat the sardines
that were no longer wanted and life became "grey and flavourless". Fed up with
their boring sardine diet, the people of Swallow Falls needed a saviour to savour.
And Flint could just be that person.
But nothing in animation land ever goes that smoothie. In a walnut whip of activity,
Flint invents a Food Replicator — a machine that turns water into food,
raining down gastronomic delights on a town hungry for some flavour and colour.
Local policeman Earl (Mr T: Rocky 3; television's The A-Team),
dubs Flint a "Shenaniganizer" for shorting out the electricity grid, but the
inventor now finds himself something of a local hero and flavour of the month.
Out goes "Baby" Brent (Andy Samberg: television's SN) and the mayor (Bruce
Campbell) piles the pressure on as he demands increasingly bizarre food and
blows his entire budget on an advertising campaign to bring people to the island.
But as Flint tries to fulfil his country's needs, he starts to see less and
less of his sceptical and disappointed father.
And food is not the only thing in the air. Enter Romance, in the guise of Flint's
ideal partner: the lovely intern weather girl Sam Sparks (Anna Faris: House
Bunny; Scary Movie franchise) from the Weather News Network, who has been
sent to the island to cover the phenomena.
As the demands of the people send the Food Replicator into overload, the weather
becomes uncontrollable, with spaghetti tornados and giant meatballs raining
down on the island and causing gastronomical worldwide repercussions. Flint's
dreams are ripped apart as the new resort of Sardine World is destroyed.
It is time for Sam to throw in the towel — or, rather, the microphone —
as she joins Flint, Steve and a surprising ally on the dangerous quest to save
Swallow Falls. But has Flint ruined Sam's big break? Will the Gummi Bears take
over Swallow Falls? Or will Flint get the girl and save the world?!
This marvellous, well-observed film has many aspects. It is a lesson in being
happy with the person you are. It also shows how easily someone can lose confidence
if nobody has faith in them and how greed can be destructive. Cloudy With
A Chance Of Meatballs is a tasty, funny, deliciously-different comedy animation
giving you much food for thought!
The film even includes my worst nightmare. I cannot bear the smell or taste
of mustard and am unable to even look at it... so I was horrified when an avalanche
of mustard falls from the sky!
Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs is stuffed with savoury bonus features.
The single disc DVD includes the widescreen presentation of the feature, plus
director's commentary with actor Bill Hader. Also included is an hilarious selection
of deleted scenes with an introduction by the visual effects supervisor, a music
video and interactive sing-a-long for Raining Sunshine, performed by
Miranda Cosgrove (television's iCarly) and an exciting Food Fight game,
where players can help Flint battle against rogue food by navigating his spaceship
and avoiding hits from flying pizzas and Gummi Bears.
Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs was written for the screen and is Directed
by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller and also features the voices of: Benjamin
Bratt as The Doctor; Al Roker as WNN Anchor Man Patrick Patrickson; Bobb'e J
Thompson as Earl's son Cal and Will Forte as Joe. Music is by Mark Mothersbaugh;
Art Director is Michael Kurinsky; Senior Animation Supervisor is Peter Nash;
and Produced by Pam Marsden.
• From the Academy Award-nominated studio
behind Open Season comes Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs, the
$120m box office smash hit from Sony Pictures Animation, available on DVD or
as a Blu-ray/DVD Combi Pack from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment on 25 January
2010. RRP: Blu-ray/DVD Combi Pack £22.99 and DVD £19.99.
DVD Bonus Features include: Flint's Food Fight Game | Raining Sunshine,
Music Video by iCarly's Miranda Cosgrove | Interactive Raining Sunshine
Sing-A-Long | Behind the Scenes of Miranda Cosgrove's Raining Sunshine Music
Video | Directors' Commentary with Bill Hader | Key Ingredients: The Voices
Of Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs | Progression Reels With Introductions
By Visual FX Supervisor Rob Bredow | Extended Scenes | Early Development Scenes
| A Recipe For Success: The Making Of Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs.
Blu-ray Exclusive Bonus Features include the above plus: Interactive
Splat Button (A Unique Splat Mode Feature allowing viewers to throw food at
the screen as they watch the movie) | Flint's Food Fight Game, Enhanced For
Blu-ray.
"Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs is a tasty, funny, deliciously-different
comedy animation giving you much food for thought" — Maggie Woods, MotorBar
"A mouthwateringly magnificent comedy" **** — Daily Mirror
