Paradoria


 * This article is about the film. For the franchise, see Paradoria Franchise. For the main setting of the film, see Paradoria Location.

Paradoria is a 2015 American 3D computer animated musical fantasy adventure comedy film produced by Universal Animation Studios and released by Universal Pictures. It was directed by Steve Samono and Gary Hall from a screenplay by Samono, John Hamburg, and Laurie Craig, and a story by Samono, Hall, Amy McNeill, Craig, and Michael Wildshill. The film features songs written by Alan Menken, Cinco Paul and Marc Shaiman, and an orchestral score also composed by Menken. It was Universal Animation Studios 1 animated musical comedy film in 12 years since Magina and stars the voices of newcomer Finn Wolfhard, AnnaSophia Robb, Jenny Slate, Patrick Stewart, Maya Rudolph, with Bryan Cranston, and Rob Riggle.

Set in the Eponymous Fictional World during the ancient times, Paradoria tells the story of a young boy named Jamo and a princess named Keena, who fall in love and aspire to seek the outside world against their guardians wishes. When they are separated from the kingdom during a raid by ferocious human eating monsters, the pair embrace their new lifestyle in their refuge but later become lost and begin fearing that the Paradorian kingdom will be destroyed by the monsters Jamo and Keena now must find a way back home and stop them from destroying Paradoria.

Samono and Wildshill conceived the film original concept in 2008, citing the video games Ico and Another World and Hayao Miyazaki anime productions as inspirations. Wildshill originally directed the film with Samono until May 2014, leaving the later as it sole director. The film, as well as it main setting, was named after a genus of tachinid flies in the family Tachinidae. Some of the Universal Animation Studios staff visited the Mediterranean Sea, Taghit, The Kananaskis Range, Ein Gedi, Colmar, France, and southern Montana for inspiration. Paradoria and it art style and tone were also influenced by animated films by Walt Disney Animation Studios, especially those in the Disney Renaissance era. Paradoria was the 1 Universal Animation Studios film to use the studio new animation technology to produce it animated visuals and lighting.

Paradoria premiered at the Regency Village Theater in Los Angeles on November 25, 2015, and was released in the United States on December 11. It received critical acclaim, with many critics praising it animation, concept, screenplay, characters, music, and vocal performances, particularly of Wolfhard and Robb. The film also went on to become a huge unexpected box office success, grossing over $1.1 billion worldwide on a budget of $103 million, becoming the 6 highest grossing film of 2015, the 19 highest-grossing film of all time, The 6 Highest Grossing Animated Film Of All Time, and Universal Animation Studios highest grossing film, all records held at the time of it release. It received 2 Academy Award nominations, including Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song for How Much I Love You. The film success has since helped spawn an Expanded Franchise including several short films, a TV series, a Christmas TV Special, and a Sequel released November 8, 2019.

Plot
In the peaceful kingdom of Paradoria, a young boy named Jamo is feeling lonely and becomes bored. While wandering around the Paradorian village, he meets King Clint and Queen Melly 7 year old daughter Princess Keena, who also becomes bored in her suffocating royal life. While venturing into the woods to spend time together, they are encountered by a herd of large orc like monsters, who attack the village, forcing the Paradorians to flee. The villagers struggle to find a safe haven, but luckily find an oasis across the desert, which they use to build a new empire.

Seven years later, Jamo, now dreaming of seeing the outside world, falls in love with Keena. After arriving at the castle, Jamo enters Keena bedroom and asks her if she wants to leave the kingdom, but Keena refuses, saying that the outside world is dangerous and they will get in trouble if their guardians find out. When Jamo cheers Keena up by handing a flower to her, the 2 are caught by Clint, who tells her daughter that she is not allowed to talk to boys without his permission. Disappointed, Jamo heads back home to his adoptive mother Verra inn, and tells her that he and Keena want to see the whole world. Verra then tells her son that someday he will learn to brave the world many dangers at an older age.

The next day, Clint and Melly held a tournament for Keena where she can pick a boy she could marry in which she expects Jamo to arrive there. When 3 boys arrive at the tournament, Keena is not pleased with any of them. However, Jamo eventually arrives at the tournament much to Keena surprise, but Clint recognizes him before and is aware that Jamo is not 1 of the boys she could choose to marry. As Keena then tells her father that Jamo is the only boy she could fall for, Jamo slowly dances with Keena to prove that he is innocent to Keena, but becomes clumsy by knocking over things and unintentionally breaks into chaos at the castle, thus ruining the tournament. After the disaster, an enraged Clint tells Jamo that he is a disgrace to the kingdom, causing Jamo to run off in guilt while Keena follows him. While sitting behind a tree, Jamo returns to express his gratitude to Keena and they seek outside of the kingdom, breaking the sacred rule that the pair is not supposed to see the outside world. Without letting their guardians know, the 2 develop a close bond, bordering on attraction, and spend time together frequently.

King Kakas, the leader of the monsters, wants to retaliate against the escaped Paradorians. Kakas leads a raid on the Paradorian kingdom, during which Jamo and Keena manage to escape from the monsters. To Jamo surprise, Keena reveals her extraordinarily large hair bow as wings that makes her fly under a spell and glides with Jamo to refuge at the woods, where the 2 finally spend time together alone outside of the kingdom and celebrate for their freedom. After being shown the beauty of a sunset, Keena is inspired to spend more time with Jamo and do fun stuff whatever they want. However, Jamo and Keena later begin to miss their home and worry about the other Paradorians, and Jamo willingly encourages Keena to find a way to get back home to the kingdom so the 2 can reunite with the Paradorians. Eventually, Jamo and Keena begin their journey and encounter a group of small creatures called Neets. The pair at 1 believe that they can take them home, but they decide to mingle and spend time with them.

The next day, Jamo and Keena attempt to continue their journey to head back home, but they are found by Kakas and his herd, who want to serve the princess as their dinner 1. Jamo flees with Keena, but the 2 get separated and the monsters capture Keena. Jamo tries to save Keena, but Kakas knocks him into a river, where he is rescued by some neets and a mysterious Paradorian named Canna who transport the boy to the ruins of the old Paradorian village where Jamo was born. Canna reveals that she was an elder of this place and had followed neets here and encourages Jamo to be himself, even if he just a weak boy. Then Jamo is informed that not only the monsters took Keena, but also took some Paradorians including Clint, Melly, and Verra. Jamo vows and teams up with the neets to rescue the Paradorians. They arrive at the monsters lair, free the rest of the Paradorians, and Jamo orders the others to escape while he goes to confront Kakas in his throne room.

As Kakas and his monsters attempt to eat Keena, Jamo manages to save Keena but Kakas knocks her unconscious. Jamo, believing Keena to be dead, overcomes his fear and orders the neets to attack Kakas by biting him which causes him to lose consciousness where he is knocked over into collapsing parts from the lair, crushing him to his death. As of the rest of the monsters retreat over Kakas death, Jamo soon finds that Keena survived the battle Jamo, Keena, The Neets and the rest of the Paradorians manage to escape from the collapsing lair and travel back home.

Sometime later, Keena who now becomes Jamo mate professes her love for Jamo and the 2 share a kiss, sparking a true friendship. Their guardians finally allow Jamo and Keena to travel with each other to the outside world with Kakas and his herd gone.

Voice cast

 * Finn Wolfhard as Jamo, a kind but anxious 13 year old boy with dark teal hair who wears a dark red cap. He falls in love with Keena and willingly longs to seek the outside world with the princess to escape boring life from the Kingdom.
 * Matthew Alexander Samono as 6 year old Jamo
 * AnnaSophia Robb as Princess Keena, the beautiful 14 year old princess of Paradoria and Jamo lifelong crush who wears a magic winged hair bow that makes her fly under an enchantment. She thinks she would choose Jamo as her true love.
 * Theresa Rose McNeill as 7 year old Keena
 * Jenny Slate as Verra, Jamo adoptive mother who runs an inn.
 * Patrick Stewart as King Clint, Keena overprotecting father and the king of Paradoria.
 * Maya Rudolph as Queen Melly, Keena mother and the queen of Paradoria.
 * Bryan Cranston as Bolus, a Paradorian who serves as Clint adviser.
 * Rob Riggle as King Kakas, an orc like beast who is the leader of a herd of monsters who plot to eat Paradorians.
 * Wendie Malick as Maggie, a caretaker for the Paradorian children. She is often Keena assistant.
 * Chris Parnell as Eugene, Clint loyal lieutenant.
 * Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong as Vinnie And Winnie, Kakas 2 henchmen.
 * Steve Samono as Neets, small creatures that resemble a mouse and a rabbit.
 * Samono also voices a monster chef who serves food for Kakas and his henchmen.
 * Dawnn Lewis as Canna, a Paradorian elder who has various neets who follow and communicate with her.
 * Gary Hall as Boppie, a Paradorian.
 * David K. Thompson as Bob, a Paradorian.
 * Laurie Craig, Craig Kellman and Daniel Ross as Kakas other henchmen.
 * Susanne Blakeslee as a surprised Paradorian.

The voices of the Paradorian children whom Maggie takes care of were provided by Andrew Hall, Lilly Rodgers, Nina Annabelle Ross, and Willow Samono, the children of the film filmmakers.

Additional voices

 * Ava Acres
 * Steve Alterman
 * Kirk Baily
 * Eva Bella
 * Dave Boat
 * Jack Blessing
 * William Calvert
 * Makenna Cowgill
 * Jessica DiCicco
 * Brian George
 * Grant George
 * Jackie Gonneau
 * Nicholas Guest
 * Bridget Hoffman
 * Rif Hutton
 * Marcella Lentz-Pope
 * Hope Levy
 * Cullen McCarthy
 * Amy McNeill
 * Juan Pope
 * Cole Sand
 * Fred Tatasciore
 * Byron Thames
 * Marcelo Tubert
 * Tom F. Warner
 * Michael Wildshill

Development
After directing Me And Mobo, Steve Samono started working on an adaptation of the point and click game Another Code 2 Memories known as Trace Memory in North America, but problems with acquiring the necessary film rights prevented him from continuing with that project. To avoid a recurrence of that issue, he pitched 5 original ideas. The genesis of one of those ideas the 1 that was ultimately green lighted occurred in 2008, when Samono began revisiting his childhood, when he as a child drew several pictures of a boy and a princess with a magic hair bow that makes her fly. He also revisited the video games Ico and Another World as well as anime work of Hayao Miyazaki having the pivotal inspirations for the project.

Given that Samono was a fan of Walt Disney Animation Studios films his creation was inspired by, he wrote a treatment and initially pitched Paradoria to then Disney Animation chief creative officer John Lasseter as a future production for Disney Animation. Although Samono thought the film themes and elements would fit into Disney standards, Lasseter turned it down due to creative difficulties. After returning to Disney competing studio Universal Animation Studios, Samono eventually pitched his treatment to Universal Animation CEO Michael Wildshill who was just finishing directing Woo La La as 1 of 3 ideas for possible productions for the studio several times. However, the studio refused to develop the project because they were preoccupied with Woo La La. It was until after Woo La La was completed that Universal, who was searching for a project that would fill the space between Woo La La and Nepola Odyssey, that Paradoria was finally greenlit. Impressed by the film concept, Wildshill shortly became interested in the project so he agreed to work on it with Samono. Following the cancellation of Universal 3D computer animated adaptation of The Snow Queen, the protagonists of Gerda and Kai were reworked into Paradoria protagonists since Samono liked the designs.

In March 2011, Universal announced the film, as appropriately joked as the Untitled Michael Wildshill Steve Samono Project, which had been commissioned into early stages of development, but little else about the film was known at the time. The plot, director and co director, producer and other small details were announced at the CinemaCon in April 2012. By December 2013, Universal announced that the film would be titled Paradoria, with Wildshill and Samono directing from the screenplay by the latter alongside John Hamburg and Laurie Craig. Universal also announced that it would be releasing the film in late 2015, and hinted that it might be the December 25, 2015 release window previously announced by the studio in February 2013 for a then untitled Universal animated film. In January 2014, Universal confirmed that it would be releasing the film on December 25, 2015. Executives at Universal and Illumination Entertainment were positive at the proposal of making Paradoria, but acknowledged it would be difficult to market. In April 2014, the release date was pushed up 2 weeks from December 25, to December 11, 2015.

In May 2014, it was announced that Wildshill had stepped down as director, leaving Samono as the film sole director but Wildshill still remained as a co director. Wildshill explained that, between his position as CEO of Universal Animation Studios, he could not commit to directing the film. Associate producer David K. Thompson who also voices Bob in the film explained the departure all directors get really deep in their film. Sometimes you just need a different perspective to get the idea out. Sometimes directors are so deeply embedded in their ideas it actually takes someone else to finish it up.

During 2014 CinemaCon for Universal slate of upcoming animated films, protagonist Jamo last name was given as Toulouse named after The Capital of the French department of Haute Garonne and of the region of Occitanie, but that name was not retained in the final film.

Writing
Karey Kirkpatrick, who worked for a year on the film script, wrote the initial screenplay. The 1 draft focused on Jamo as an orphan who was adopted by Verra. However, the orphan based theme was deleted from the story as the directors thought it was too cliche and overused, but was later reused in It Sequel. By late 2011, Kirkpatrick left the project, due to a lack of confidence. John Hamburg and Laurie Craig were credited as co writers of the screenplay following their contributions during the rewrite. Despite his departure, Kirkpatrick received an Additional Story Material credit.

The film title Paradoria comes from a genus of tachinid flies in the family Tachinidae. However, co producer Daniel Ross suggested that the name is actually a portmanteau of the word paradise and the prominent historical Genoese family Doria. Ironically, the filmmakers found out that the word for the paradoria genus of tachinid flies was never in the public domain, so it was thankfully safe for the animators to name the film Paradoria without causing any confusion with flies, as the film has no connection to true flies within insects. For 1 of the film main characters, Samono named the deuteragonist Princess Keena after actress and model Monica Keena, as a delightful montage to her.

Like most Universal and Illumination Entertainment animated films, several major story problems were identified in 2014 only after the film had already transitioned from development into production, but computer generated films tend to have much shorter production schedules and much larger animation teams in this case, about 90 animators than traditionally animated films. Since Samono was already working 12 hour days and Saturdays directing such a large team of animators, Gary Hall came on board as co director to help fix the film story issues by August 2014.

Casting
The film voice cast consisting of AnnaSophia Robb, Jenny Slate, with Patrick Stewart and Rob Riggle were 1 announced in December 2013, while casting was underway for the lead character Jamo. More than 1,200 young actors auditioned for the role of Jamo, which ultimately went to Finn Wolfhard from Vancouver, Canada when he got his 1 acting job from Craigslist. When the character of Jamo was being written, Elijah Wood, Jake T. Austin, with Josh Hutcherson, and Jace Norman were considered for the role of Jamo. With the release of the film trailer in March 2015, Wolfhard was announced as the role of Jamo, while Maya Rudolph, Bryan Cranston, with Wendie Malick and Chris Parnell were added to the film cast. This is also the 2 Universal animated film in which Riggle and Slate have co starred together, the 1 being 2012 The Lorax (2012). Stewart had previously worked with Universal Animation on the studio 1 film Ama And The Mysterious Crystal in 1997.

Dakota Fanning, who had previously worked with Universal Animation on Me And Mobo and Computer Opolis 3, was initially hired by Universal to voice Keena, and she had recorded nearly all of the dialogue for the character, but left the project due to creative difficulties. In addition to Fanning, Chloe Grace Moretz, Emma Stone, Christina Hendricks, with Anna Kendrick, and Kristen Bell were also considered for Keena. The studio then re cast the voice role to AnnaSophia Robb, who was chosen by producer Amy McNeill while she was watching Bridge To Terabithia with her children and saw Robb during that film, to leave no traces of Fanning version of Keena. Commenting on the casting of Robb, Hall said that she brought very centered sweetness, tremendous heart and a great sense of humor.

Steve Zahn was originally going to provide a voice in the film. According to Zahn, the producers were dissatisfied to learn that the voice of his characters on animated films such as Chicken Little (2005) and Escape From Planet Earth were not his natural speaking voice. The producers hired him anyway, and then strongly encouraged him to use his comedic voice for the role. When Zahn refused, he was dismissed.

Music And soundtrack
The official soundtrack for the film was released on December 11, 2015 by Back Lot Music. The songs were written by Alan Menken, Cinco Paul and Marc Shaiman, while the score was written by Menken.

Animation And design
Over the 5 years before the film release, Universal Animation Studios had substantially over hauled it production workflow and animation software. Paradoria was the 1 Universal Animation Studios film that used BOOST, a new rendering system that offered the studio new animation and lighting software through the entire production as part of the overhaul of the rendering system used since the 1 Computer Opolis film. Called by Universal Animation president David Stainton as the next generation of Universal Animation Studios, Pixar RenderMan was considered as a Plan B for the film rendering, if BOOST was not able to meet production deadlines. A software program called Zoom was used to create over 400 distinctive characters that populate the setting. Another 1 named Frizzle was responsible for the creation of the setting 320,000 trees.

Development on BOOST started in 2012 and was based upon research into multi bounce complex global illumination originally conducted at Illumination Mac Guff in France. In the planning stage of the film, CG supervisor Alexander Bates asked what if we made these lights just work. Before the new system, artists had to build reflections and shadows manually, which became increasingly complex as the models and the setups became more technologically advanced. To create the look of Paradoria, the film team traveled to several places such as The Mediterranean Sea, Taghit, Ein Gedi, The Kananaskis Range, Colmar, France and southern Montana for research and inspiration. They spent over a year in 2010 painting and sketching, and encountering various creatures as well as story locations.

In designing the characters and art style, Samono was inspired by Walt Disney Animation Studios films in the Renaissance era he had enjoyed watching years earlier. Admiring the simplicity of Disney art direction, Samono decided that the characters in Paradoria would be loosely styled in akin to Disney art style in their animated films. Universal had contracted Korean Disney animators Shiyoon Kim and Jin Kim, who were finishing working on Disney Big Hero 6, to begin working on the character design alongside fellow Universal character designers John France, Shannon Tindle and Shane Prigmore, while Craig Kellman served as the character designer for the Neets. Although the characters were initially designed by France, Jin Kim altered on some of the characters faces. Production wrapped on November 1, 2015.

Themes and style
Coming soon!

Release
Paradoria premiered on November 25, 2015 at the Regency Village Theater in Los Angeles in an out of competition screening. In the United States, it received a wide theatrical release by Universal Pictures starting on December 11, 2015 in 2D, 3D, and select IMAX 3D theatres. It was previously scheduled for December 25 of that year.

In some other countries such as Denmark and South Korea, the name of the protagonist, Jamo, was changed to Jack due to a trademark conflict. Media outlets speculated that the name change was to avoid confusion with the Danish manufacturer of loudspeakers of the Same Name, and Universal Pictures International president, Duncan Clark, acknowledged they were thinking about the issue at a meeting of Danish exhibitors in 2014.

Marketing
The teaser trailer for Paradoria was released by Universal Pictures on December 6, 2014 via YouTube and was shown in front of Nepal's Odyssey 2 a week later. The 1 official trailer was released on July 8, 2015, followed by a 2 trailer on September 23.

Universal partnered with more than 100 licensing and promotional partners in a deal valued at an unprecedented $250 million. 1 of the partners was Universal parent company NBC Universal for advertising. Spots for the film appeared on Bravo, E!, USA, Gingo, Syfy, Telemundo, and Mun2. A customized page was created on Fandango. Universal also partnered with McDonald to produce 8 toys in their Happy Meals starting on December 4, 2015. A video game based on the film, titled Paradoria Jamo And Keena Adventure, was released on December 8, 2015 for Nintendo 3DS, Wii U, Xbox 1, and PlayStation 4, and published by Activision.

Paradoria was also promoted heavily at several Universal Studios theme parks including Universal City Walk at Hollywood and Orlando, which both offered meet and greet sessions involving the film 2 main characters, Jamo and Keena. In November 2015, NBC Universal Brand Development began releasing a line of toys and other merchandise relating to the film in retailers.

Home media
Paradoria was released on Digital HD, Blu ray 3D, Blu ray and DVD on March 22, 2016, while a digital release was released on March 8, 2016. The releases include 3 short films following in Illumination Entertainment footsteps titled Camp Jamo, Noodles, and Getting Annoyed. Extras include audio commentary, behind the scenes featurettes, deleted scenes, music videos, short promotional clips, and a trailer for new movie The Secret Life Of Pets.

Upon release, the film sold over 2.8 million Blu ray and DVD units in it 1 week, making it the highest selling home entertainment animated film for Universal of 2016 as well as the 2 highest selling home entertainment film for Universal behind only Jurassic World. Across all digital and physical formats, Paradoria generated $74.2 million in it 1 week. At the end of 2016, it was named the 3 highest selling video of the year in the UK, selling 88 million copies since it release. It was the 4 highest selling DVD and the 3 highest selling Blu ray in the country.

Following an announcement on September 20, 2016, a sing along reissue of Paradoria was released via DVD and Digital HD on December 27, 2016.

Paradoria was released on 4K Ultra HD Blu ray on October 15, 2019.

Box office
Paradoria grossed $411.1 million in the United States and Canada and $714.9 million in other countries, for a worldwide total of $1.126 billion against a budget of $103 million. Worldwide, it is the 6 Highest Grossing Film Of 2015, the 2 highest grossing animated film of 2015 placing 2 among animated films behind only Minions, the highest grossing Universal Animation Studios film surpassing Computer Opolis 2 in 2007, the 2 highest grossing original film behind Avatar, the 3 Highest Grossing Animated Film, and the 4 highest grossing film released by Universal Pictures. It is also the 4 highest grossing 2015 film released by Universal behind Furious 7, Jurassic World and Minions, as well as the 2 highest grossing Universal animated film of 2015 worldwide behind Minions and the 2 overall highest grossing Universal animated film of all time domestically.

By breaking $1 billion worldwide, Paradoria became the 2 non Disney animated film after Minions, 4 animated film after Toy Story 3, Frozen and Minions, and the 24 film in cinematic history to do so. This made Universal Pictures the 1 studio ever to have 4 films earn more than $1 billion at the worldwide box office in a single year following Furious 7, Jurassic World and Minions. Deadline.com calculated the net profit of the film to be $489.53 million, when factoring together all expenses and revenues for the film, making it the 2 most profitable animated film of 2015, the 2 most profitable Universal Pictures film, as well as the most profitable Universal Animation Studios film of all time.

North America
In the United States and Canada, Paradoria opened across 3,541 theaters, of which 3,100 showed the film in 3D and 900 of them showing the film in IMAX 3D. It grossed $17.3 million during it Thursday night showings, which is the biggest of all time for Universal Animation Studios as well as the biggest for a Universal animated release. The film then earned $52.2 million on it opening day including Thursday previews, making it the biggest opening day for a Universal Animation film, the biggest for an original film and for an animated release by Universal.

In it opening weekend, it exceeded expectations and grossed $113.9 million, finishing 1 at the box office. This had marked the biggest for an original non Disney animated film breaking Twist City record, the biggest for a Universal Animation original film breaking Me And Mobo record, the studio 2 biggest of all time behind Computer Opolis 2, the biggest December animated opening, the 5 biggest opening weekend for Universal Pictures, and the 3 Biggest Animated Opening Of All Time, at the time, behind Computer Opolis 2 $133.5 million and Shrek The Third $121.6 million. It also set the record for the largest opening for any original film, live action or otherwise, not based on sourced material, eclipsing the $77 million debut of Avatar.

In it 2 weekend, the film fell by 100% to $54.7 million while dropping down to No. 2, due to facing stiff competition with newcomer Star Wars 7 The Force Awakens. It ended it theatrical run on May 5, 2016 playing for a total of 154 days in theaters with a total gross of $411,133,101. It became the highest grossing animated film of 2015, the 4 highest grossing Universal Animation Studios film, the 4 highest grossing Universal Pictures film of 2015, the 7 highest grossing film of 2015, the 11 Highest Grossing Universal Pictures Film, and the 16 highest grossing film of all time.

Outside North America
Internationally, Paradoria received a scattered release as Universal Pictures International took advantage of school holidays in various markets. The film went into general release in 53 countries in the months of December and January, ahead, and along with, it North American release. It was released in a total of 68 countries. It earned an estimated $14.2 million in it opening weekend from 4 countries on 638 screens. It added $33.5 million in it 2 weekend from 10 countries. In it 3 weekend, it grossed $62.9 million from 26 countries, coming in 1 place at the international box office. It finally topped the international box office, earning $126.4 million from 56 countries in it 4 weekend. It added $91.5 million from 56 countries, an increase of 100% from it previous weekend. In Australia and India it landed at No. 2 where The Revenant (2016) took the top spot the weekend it was released in. It passed the $500 million mark in it 6 weekend.

At the time of it release, it had the biggest opening day of all time for an animated film in 16 countries, the biggest opening day of all time for a Universal Animation film, and Universal biggest opening day of all time in 5 countries. It broke opening records for a Universal film in Germany $36.1 million, Hong Kong $2.9 million, Poland $1.3 million and India, the 2 biggest for Universal in France $10.3 million and 6 other countries, the biggest opening of all time in Mexico $23.8 million and the biggest in Russia and the CIS $8.6 million. In the UK and Ireland, with significant competition from The 5 Wave (2016), the film had a $4.97 million $6.1 million opening weekend from 579 theaters, including $1.81 million $2.9 million worth of previews, debuting in 2 place behind The 5 Wave (2016) and falling just short of Universal Animation Studios best opening in the UK.

Other notable openings were witnessed in, Japan $8.5 million, Germany $7.5 million, South Korea $5 million, Spain $5.3 million, Australia $4.1 million, and Colombia $3 million. In China, it opened on Sunday, May 31 and earned $16.3 million on it opening day, marking the 2 biggest opening day for an animated film ever in China, only behind Kung Fu Panda 2 at time. It went on to earn $53.7 million through its 8 day opening Sunday to Sunday and $17.7 million for the weekend alone Friday to Sunday. It went into general releases for 30 days in China.

Paradoria became the highest grossing Universal animated or Illumination Entertainment film of all time in Mexico ahead of Despicable Me 2, the Philippines ahead of Computeropolis 2, India, and Ukraine and in Russia, it is the highest grossing Universal film and the 1 Universal Animation film to exceed 1 billion rubles. Outside North America, it is currently the highest grossing Universal Animation Studios film, the 12 highest grossing film, the 4 highest grossing Universal Pictures film and the 6 highest grossing film of 2015.

Critical reaction
On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a 100% Certified Fresh approval rating based on 285 reviews with a weighted average rating of 8.7 10. The site critical consensus states, with it beautiful animation, dazzling songs, and a script that captures the nostalgia of a young couple's expedition, Paradoria will perhaps find it family friendly audience off guard. It was 1 of the site highest rated animated films of 2015, the other being Inside Out. On Metacritic, the film has a normalized score of 100 out of 100, based on 59 critics, indicating universal acclaim. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film a rare average grade of A+ on an A+ to F scale.

Manohla Dargis of The New York Times considered the film very amazing and beautifully well done. Peter Travers of Rolling Stone gave the film 4 out of 4 stars, saying arguably their best effort ever since Computer Opolis, Paradoria takes Universal Animation Studios to a new Pixar like level of creative storytelling and innovation. It is a true experience for the studio. Todd McCarthy of The Hollywood Reporter praised the film concept, describing it interesting and engaging that directly lives up to the animation history, but felt that the film should take care of it plot a little more though it still the best that no animated film has ever done.

IGN gave the film a 10 out of 10 Amazing score, saying very original, entertaining, heartwarming, love spirited, sometimes scary and depressing funny, Paradoria is yet another blockbuster animated success for Universal in years. The Chicago Tribune Michael Phillips called it the studio best since Computer Opolis, a new touching, sweet, heartwarming entry to animation. Betsy Bozdech of Common Sense Media gave the movie 5 out of 5 stars, stating that Paradoria is filled with hearts, spirit, romance and humor that suits up with other animated movies from the likes of Despicable Me. However, Ty Burr of The Boston Globe criticized the film story, describing it as too formulaic.

The relationship between the lead protagonists Jamo and Princess Keena has received mostly positive reception. Rosa Prince of the UK daily newspaper The Daily Telegraph described the love between Jamo and Keena as touching. Ignatiy Vishnevetsky of The A.V. Club praised their relationship, stating that Jamo and Keena make a new welcome to the animation industry with their original looks and love. Claudia Puig of USA Today praised the romantic scenes of Jamo and Keena, describing them as very adorable and charming, and also praised the emotion and direction for the lead characters. Kristopher Tapley of Hit Fix called Jamo and Keena relationship as the greatest couple for an animated movie in years.

The website Film reported that Paradoria temporarily had a Rating Of 100% on Rotten Tomatoes in December 11, 2015, shortly after the film release the score was based on 42 reviews at the time, all of which were positive.

Accolades
Paradoria was nominated for various awards and won a number of them, including several for Best Animated Feature. At the 73 Golden Globe Awards, it was nominated for Best Animated Feature Film. It led the 43 Annie Awards with all 11 nominations, including Outstanding Achievement in Directing in an Animated Feature Production for Samono and Hall, Outstanding Achievement in Voice Acting in an Animated Feature Production for Wolfhard and Best Animated Feature.

Cultural impact
Coming soon!

Expanded franchise
A sequel titled Paradoria 2 was confirmed by Universal Studios on January 14, 2016 and was released on November 8, 2019. Steve Samono returned to direct with a script written by himself, Laurie Craig and Jonathan Aibel And Glenn Berger. All of the main cast also reprised their roles in the sequel, and are joined by Tom Holland replacing Wolfhard as Jamo, Zoe Saldana, Paul Giamatti, Madelaine Petsch, with Gina Rodriguez, and Tom Cruise as Vicktor. The sequel takes place 4 years after the 1 film, featuring Jamo and Keena as young adults as they travel to a mysterious realm known as the Enchanted Realm to get a potion to heal Keena father King Clint before their proposed marriage. While, Jamo discovers a shocking secret about his past, and unexpectedly meets his long lost birth mother, Londa.

A half hour Christmas special titled Paradoria Holiday premiered on NBC on November 15, 2016. Directed by Chris Abazzi and written by Gary Hall and Erica Rivinoja, all of the main cast from the film reprised their roles in the special. A traditionally animated television series based on the film titled Tales In Paradoriadebuted on September 9, 2017 on Universal Kids. While Wolfhard, Robb, Slate, Rudolph, Malick, and Parnell reprise their roles in the series, Stewart and Cranston were replaced by Tom Kane and Fred Tatasciore, respectively. A 7 minutes short film titled Keena Magical Journey was released theatrically with Universal Animation Studios Lix on December 8, 2017. Written and directed by Chris Abazzi, the short follows Keena and some of the neets as they go on an adventure to find the mysterious treasure of love.

Lawsuit
On October 17, 2015, 2 months before the release of Paradoria, Jose Garcia, a Mexican artist and writer, filed a lawsuit against Universal for allegedly stealing the idea for Paradoria from him. Garcia had been working on a creative project Seasons, a compilation comic of 4 seasons including 1 very similar to Paradoria. The author and his lawyer demanded from Universal a share of the profits from merchandising articles sold in Mexico. Garcia also alleged that the characters of Jamo and Keena were based on drawings of Seasons. The lawsuit also stated that a story artist from Universal Animation visited Garcia in 2014, and discussed Garcia work with him. A Universal spokesperson responded, by saying that the characters in Paradoria were developed independently by the Universal Pictures creative team, and do not infringe on anyone's copyrights. Garcia and the lawyer lost the lawsuit on September 16, 2016 and intended to file an appeal on April 18, 2017.

Main
To see the main transcript of the film, click here.

Trailers
To see the transcript for the trailers of the film, click here.