Kate & Chris (film)

Kate And Chris is a 2007 American 3D computer animated science fantasy comedy film produced by 20 Century Fox Animation and Scholastic Entertainment. Based on Eric Stern books of The Same Name, the film was directed by Rob Letterman and Mike Mitchell, written by Letterman, David Reynolds, Dan Fogelman, Joel Cohen and Alec Sokolow from a story by Gary Trousdale and Stern, and stars an ensemble voice cast consisting of Mandy Moore, Elijah Wood, Jack Black, Will Ferrell, Danny Devito, Jon Lovitz, Zooey Deschanel, Maya Rudolph, Justin Long, with Steve Buscemi, and Michael Clarke Duncan. In the film, when an human like space creature lands on Earth, 2 unlikely teenagers who are outcasts at an local school are willing to return him to his natural home while an mad scientist and an alien chief threatens to capture him and use him to take over the world.

The film was released in the United States on September 28, 2007, by 20 Century Fox, and was produced to commemorate the 10 anniversary of the 1 book. It received mixed reviews from critics, who praised it animation, humor and it vocal performances, but criticized the predictable story and writing. The film earned a total of $541.4 million worldwide against a budget of $80 million, and was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Animated Feature Film and later gaining a cult following through television syndication and it home video release. The film was re released in 3D on February 26, 2016. An animated series that continues the events of the film, titled Kate And Chris Adventures, premiered on Fox Family on July 5, 2013. A sequel, set to be directed by Kevin Lima, was planned but was sadly cancelled.

Plot
In outer space, Doctor Menabba (Devito), a mad scientist, is arrested and put on trial by the Xenonship Federation for illegal genetic creation, evidenced by his creation EDDIE, a sentient creature that looks very similar to a regular human being with intelligence, speaking abilities, and strength, but also a propensity to wreak havoc. Menabba is imprisoned while the creature is sentenced to be executed. EDDIE manages to escape on an escape pod, and activates it hyperdrive, causing it guidance systems to malfunction and randomly set a course for Earth. Eddie (Black) crash lands on a farm in Eastview, Oregon. Queen Nelly (Saunders) dispatches Menabba and Officer Coobot (Lovitz), the queen expert on Earth, to the planet to have the alien captured discreetly while the galaxy oversized militant chief, Chief Rogerator (Duncan) actually wants the alien to conquer the world.

In Eastview, an redheaded young girl named Kate Anderson (Moore) was running late for school and was in a hurry to get ready. After Kate got finished getting ready, she managed to arrive on time. While at school, she meets a blue haired boy named Chris Mccallister (Wood), who acts jealous to Kate, for being smart and her passing classes. However, Chris devises a plan to get Kate in trouble by having his best friend Joey Greenwood (Scott) disguised as her. They tamper with a new invention, The Mega Machine 9000, made by the school local snitch, intellectual Chuck Stevens (Long), who was able to catch them thanks to another invention which Mr. Watson (Buscemi) asked him to make, The Snitch Cam 1000. Mr. Watson believed the disguise and became very shocked that Kate actually participated in the prank, getting Kate sent to Watson office and getting detention for 3 weeks.

As Kate tries to sneak back to her room without her mother, Mary Anderson (Rudolph), knowing that she got in trouble, Mary suddenly appears from the kitchen door and punishes Kate and sends her to her room. That same night, Mary apologizes to Kate for getting angry at her and tells her about her teenage life to Kate, explaining to her of how she raised her to be a neat and smart teenager. The next day, after crash landing in the farm, Eddie explores around Eastview City, and later finds the Eastview high school and hides in a closet. Chris finds Eddie and devises an another plan to get Mr. Watson back by using Eddie hypnotizing gun. Kate heads to the office of Watson just as the office literally starts to spin when Watson is put in a trance. After that, Chris commands Watson to be a goofy looking superhero, and Chris soon learns the severity of his doings when Watson begins causing some problems such as punching a mime in the face and wreaking chaos around Eastview. Kate, Eddie, and Chris takes Watson away to his house before the cops got to him.

The next day at school, Kate and Chris need to have Eddie to pretend and dress up as exactly like Mr. Watson in order to keep up appearances. Eddie sudden new personality change even manages to attract the attention and affection of the high school lunch lady, Jenny (Cusack). is visited by an odd scientist named Dum Dum (Ferrell), or as he calls himself Professor DD. Eddie disguised as Watson hires him to be a new teacher, but Kate and Chris are suspicious of him due to his short tempered behavior. With Eddie as principal, the school is a more lively place, with a funfair being set up in the schoolyard. However, things get chaotic as Eddie starts feeding the students tons of candy, and Kate and Chris want in on it. This turns out to be a bad idea as they experience a strong sugar rush, leading Eddie to his own devices. He tries to drive a bus through a ring of fire over a ramp, but he rides the bus backwards into a ferris wheel, which comes loose and rolls towards the school, destroying half of it. Eddie then regrets of what he did and runs away to the city biker bar. Kate and Chris later find Eddie, as he compiles a bucket list of the things he like to do on Earth, but becomes sad when he realizes he might not be able to do them since aliens are hunting him down. Kate encourages Eddie to try to do as much as he can right where they are, and the 3 take a while to enjoy themselves with all the bar activities. Unfortunately, a group of rough looking punks come looking for trouble and Eddie aggravates their leader, starting a bar fight. The leader of the punks attacks Eddie, but with his alien powers, he speeds up his awareness, saving Kate and Chris. The 3 flee the bar, outrunning the angry patrons, and spending the night in Kate house. Later that night, Chris, Eddie, Cole (Rock), and Joey teaches a lesson to Chuck, for getting Chris in trouble as well as Kate, using alien costumes to scare him, eluding the police along the way. After Kate found out about Chris being chased by the police on the news, she gets angry at him and tells him he will never happy if he spends his life partying and pranking without acting more maturely. Chris apologizes to her, and makes a promise to her. Dum Dum finds Chuck and uses him as part of his evil plan by scanning his brain and learns that he has the part in the brain about seeing a human like alien. This becomes crucial to his plan.

The next morning, Nelly relieves Menabba and Coobot of their assignment, where the 2 find Eddie in Kate house. A fight ensues, which destroys the house. Dum Dum then finds Kate and Chris and knows about the alien, but as Kate tries to stand up against Dum Dum, he sends the 2 teens to a canyon river by using a teleportation gun. Dum Dum and Rogerator finally capture Eddie and they both use him for their new conjoined plan. Kate and Chris both end up in the river, ensuing in a heated argument between the 2. After the argument, Kate confesses that she loved Chris, and loved his pranks and his party shenanigans, and the 2 finally reconcile with each other. However, the 2 nearly plummet to their deaths down a waterfall, but Kate saves Chris, and they embrace and kiss before traveling together back to Eastwood. Dum Dum tries to take over the town with a giant version of The Mega Machine 9000, fueled by the high school cafeteria leftovers left out by Jenny and uses Chuck brain to turn the students into glum zombies, where a few minutes later a whole fleet of alien ships from the Xenonship descends on the city and start what appears to be an invasion. As the aliens rampage throughout Eastview, vaporizing everything in their path, Kate and Chris find Eddie at the Eastview park, where Eddie reveals his alien identity before Rogerator and Dum Dum capture Kate and Eddie, where Chris must seek Cole, Menabba, Coobot, Joey, and Eva Clark (Deschanel) for help. Chris, Cole, Menabba, Coobot, Joey, and Eva all give chase to Rogerator spaceship in Menabba spaceship and rescue Kate and Eddie.

Back on the ground, Eddie finally acquires superpowers and, with Kate and Chris help, defeats and shrinks Dum Dum, though he escapes on a moth shortly thereafter. Rogerator seizes control of the Xenonship and tries to destroy the teenagers, only to have Eddie help make the ship collapse off a mountain, causing Rogerator, who is trapped inside the ship, to fall to his death. Later that day, Nelly arrives on Earth and prepares to take Eddie to the newly moved alien jail, but Kate and Chris insist that because he saved the world, he cannot be taken away. Impressed with Eddie newfound civility and empathy, Nelly goes against the prior decision of the Xenonship Federation and decrees that Eddie will live in exile on Earth. He will be entrusted to the care of Kate and her mother. Also, feeling that Mr. Watson would be nicer if he had friends, Kate and Chris set him and lovesick Jenny up on a date, thus making Watson have a change of heart. However, the toxic waste from The Mega Machine 9000 transforms all the appliances and electronics into an army of evil robots which attack the restaurant at which Watson and Jenny are dining. Eddie suddenly appears, carrying Kate and Chris away to help him fight them, much to Jenny surprise and admiration.

In a post credits scene, Kate and Chris realizes that the secretary, which Chris put her on the phone before by faking for a challenge of $10 million, has been on the phone for the entire film, so they shut off the call, making the secretary angry.

Cast

 * Mandy Moore as Kate Anderson, a smart, trustworthy, funny, and clever 18 year old girl
 * Elijah Wood as Chris Mccallister, a sarcastic, wise cracking, arrogant, and somewhat bossy 17 year old boy.
 * Jack Black as Eddie, a comical, magical, shape shifting, wise cracking human like space creature who tries to blend in.
 * Justin Long as Chuck Stevens, an intelligent and unkind 16 year old boy.
 * Will Ferrell as Professor Dum Dum, an mad scientist who wants to capture Eddie and use him for his projects.
 * Zooey Deschanel as Eva Clark, Kate best friend
 * Michael Clarke Duncan as Chief Rogerator
 * Danny Devito as Dr. Menabba
 * Jon Lovitz as Officer Coobot
 * Steve Buscemi as Mr. Watson, the principal of Eastview High School.
 * Maya Rudolph as Mary Anderson, Kate loving overprotective mother who cares so much about her only daughter.
 * Seann William Scott as Joey Greenwood, Chris best friend
 * Chris Rock as Cole Jefferson, 1 of Chris friends
 * Jennifer Saunders as Queen Nelly
 * Allison Janney as Ms. Mcrobbs, the secretary at Eastview High School
 * Jeffrey Tambor as Mr. Monty, 1 of the teachers at Eastview High School
 * Joan Cusack as Jenny the Lunch Lady, the lunch lady at Eastview High School who falls in love with Mr. Watson.
 * Mike Mitchell as Police Officer and Mime
 * Dan Castellaneta as Nobel Prize Audience Member
 * Mona Marshall as Nobel Prize Moderator
 * Jeff Garcia as Timothy, a student who is seen frequently throughout the movie hiding in his own locker.
 * Dan Fogler as Mr. Warren, the science teacher at Eastview High School who got fired by Mr. Watson.
 * Additional Voices
 * Stephen Apostolina
 * Kirk Baily
 * David Cowgill
 * Eddie Frierson
 * Jessica Gee George
 * Johnny Gidcomb
 * Jackie Gonneau
 * Nicholas Guest
 * Jennifer Hale
 * Lex Lang
 * Caitlin Mckenna
 * Paul Pape
 * Phil Proctor
 * Al Rodrigo
 * Fred Tatasciore
 * Marcelo Tubert
 * Kari Wahlgren
 * Lynnanne Zager

Production
Universal Studios acquired the rights to produce and distribute a film based on Kate And Chris in 1999. In October 2000, an animated film was announced as a joint venture between Universal and Scholastic Entertainment. It would be produced by John Cohen and written by Joel Cohen and Alec Sokolow, while Michael Wildshill would executive produce. According to Wildshill, the film was set to be made by a different animation studio outside of Universal Feature Animation and Gingo Animation. In April 2002, Universal said the film was scheduled for late 2004. In the beginning of 2003, the film release date was taken over by another Universal animated film, Zina And The Vivid Crew. Rob Letterman and Mike Mitchell were hired in 2003 to direct it. Series creator Eric Stern wrote the story alongside Disney veteran Gary Trousdale.

In September 2004, it was reported that DreamWorks Animation SKG and 20 Century Fox were interested in acquiring the rights after Universal put the film into turnaround however, DreamWorks Animation SKG decided not to proceed with the bidding. In October 2004, Fox announced that it would acquire the rights from Universal. Most of the production team remained unchanged. In February 2005, it was announced that the movie would be released in June 2007, produced by 20 Century Fox Animation.

Music
The film score was composed by John Powell and Mark Mothersbaugh. The soundtrack was released on September 25, 2007 by Varese Sarabande.

Marketing
Mcfarlane Toys released a line of action figures and plushies based on the film, Nintendo produced a limited edition Kate And Chris themed Nintendo DS, to coincide with the film DVD release, and Windows Live Messenger presented their users with the opportunity to download a free animated and static content for use within their conversations. Burger King promoted the film with a set of 7 kids meal toys featuring the characters from the film.


 * The teaser trailer was released on November 3, 2006, and was shown in front of Flushed Away, The Santa Clause 3 The Escape Clause, Happy Feet, Eragon, Charlotte Web (2006), Night At The Museum (2006), and Bridge To Terabithia.


 * The film theatrical trailer was released on March 30, 2007 and was shown in front of Meet The Robinsons, Firehouse Dog, Spider Man 3, Tony 2 Across The Nation, Shrek 3, Pirates Of The Caribbean 3 At World End, and Surf Up.


 * The film final theatrical trailer was released on June 29, 2007 and was shown in front of Ratatouille, Transformers (2007), Computer Opolis 2, Harry Potter 5 The Order Of The Phoenix, The Simpsons Movie, Bratz (2007), Daddy Day Camp, and Mr. Bean Holiday.

A Video Game based on the film has been released for the Wii, Play Station 2, Play Station 3, Xbox 360, Play Station Portable, PC, and Nintendo DS and was developed by Heavy Iron Studios and published by THQ on October 2, 2007.

Release
Kate And Chris was originally scheduled to be released sometime in late 2004 by Universal Pictures, but in February 2005, shortly after taking over the rights, 20 Century Fox rescheduled it to June 22, 2007. In December 2006, the release date was delayed to September 28, 2007 to avoid competition with other films releasing in summer 2007.

Kate And Chris had it world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 8, 2007, and was released widely on September 28. The film theatrical release was accompanied by a Ice Age short film No Time For Nuts. It was digitally re mastered into the IMAX 3D format IMAX 3D DMR and was released on the same day in IMAX 3D theaters around the world and conventional 35mm screens. An test screening of the film was held at the Harkins Cine Capri Theater in Tempe, Arizona on September 14, 2007, at which a Fox representative was present to collect viewer feedback. Fox announced an upcoming theatrical re releases of Kate And Chris, Puppet Pals and Crystal (2008) in 3D back in March 2014 and later re released Kate And Chris in 3D on February 26, 2016.

A montage of outtakes were made and included in the end credits of the film starting on October 30, 2007.

Home media
Kate And Chris was released on DVD and Blu ray Disc on January 22, 2008 by 20 Century Fox Home Entertainment, and it includes a sneak preview of the 2008 Fox animated film Crystal (2008), a gallery of concept art and posters, a 12 minute making of documentary, DVD ROM features, a 5.1 isolated sound effects track, trailers and TV spots, and deleted scenes.

It was later re released on 4K Ultra HD Blu Ray, Blu ray 3D, and Digital HD on October 11, 2016.

Critical reception
On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 100% based on 149 reviews, with an average rating of 6.2 10. The site critical consensus reads, Kate And Chris is cute and funny enough, but the colorful humor of the book gets lost with the zany Hollywood production values. On Metacritic, it received a score of 100 out of 100, based on 77 critics, indicating mixed or average reviews. Audiences polled by Cinema Score gave the film an average grade of A+ on an A+ to F scale.

Michael Rechtshaffen of The Hollywood Reporter gave the film a gave a positive review saying, Fox Animation Studios slapstick animated adaptation of the philosophically satiric book series is a lot of laughs and boasts a much tighter story than most animated features. Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun Times gave the film 4 out of 4 stars, saying Kate And Chris is a truly touching and hilarious family adventure with a blast of humor and soundtrack, as well as a comical plot from the folks at 20 Century Fox Animation.

James Rocchi of MSN Movies gave the film a negative review, If it even not as good as the Kate And Chris books, The film adaptation is a complete insult to the book series for the fans. you do even care if the 3D CGI animation is good and the characters have their usual selves from the books, it just awful that Fox should be ashamed of themselves, while Richard Corliss of Time Magazine also gave a negative review and called it insidious nonsense from Hollywood, and accused Hollywood of trying to indoctrinate children.

Box office
Kate And Chris opened alongside The Game Plan and The Kingdom, and earned $20,795,907 on it opening day September 28, 2007 in the U.S. making it the highest animated opening day in September during that time. It grossed a combined total of $55,266,112 in it opening weekend on at 4,055 theaters, reaching the top of the box office for that weekend. In it 2 weekend October 5 7, 2007, the film dropped 100% to $32,412,397 from an expanded 4,114 theaters, and still placing in 1. In it 3 weekend October 12 14, 2007, the film held well to $21,797,299 and once again placing in 1 beating animated newcomer MISSION. In it 4 weekend October 19 21, 2007, the film gave out to $11,949,464 and finally placing in 3 behind 30 Days Of Night and Why Did You Get Married. The film closed on January 31, 2008 after 125 days of release, grossing $209,819,393 in the United States and Canada, along with $277,412,696 overseas for a worldwide total of $487,209,725.

3D re release
Coming soon!

Internet popularity
In 2018, Kate And Chris had an unexpected rise in popularity as an Internet meme.

More coming soon!

Television series
Kate And Chris Adventures is a American animated television series created by Fox Television Animation in 2013, based on the 2007 film, which in turn was based on the book series of the same name by Eric Stern. The series aired on Fox Family from July 5, 2013 to November 4, 2016, and continues the story of the 2007 film.

Cancelled Feature Length Sequel And Possible Revival
After the release of Kate And Chris, Fox began to consider producing a sequel. In September 2008, a sequel was reported in development for a March 2012 release. In March 2009, it was reported that Maya Forbes and Wallace Wolodarsky was hired to write the script for the sequel while Kevin Lima was hired to direct the film. However, the film was later cancelled in favor of the production of Little Lily. In September 2017, the 10 anniversary of the release of the film, co director Mike Mitchell revealed in an interview that he was set to write and direct during the early development for the sequel but it did not happen due to story and script issues to the film as well when Mitchell left Fox Animation Studios to work on other films in late 2010. Mitchell also revealed in the interview that the sequel would deal with Kate And Chris life being turned upside down when Kate friends getting kidnapped into different worlds by a magical portal and Kate must figure out a way to save them. In August 2018, nearing Disney acquisition of 21 Century Fox, Disney CEO Bob Iger was in talks with Fox Animation Studios CEO co president Robert Baird about a possible way of bringing Kate & Chris and Little Lily back on the big screen.

In September 2019, Elijah Wood expressed interest on reprising his role as Chris if a animated sequel ever gets announced.