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| The Pebble and the Penguin | |
|---|---|
 Family Fun Edition DVD | |
| Directed by | Don Bluth |
| Produced by | Don Bluth |
| Starring | Martin Short Jim Belushi Tim Curry Annie Golden Shani Wallis S. Scott Bullock |
| Music by | Mark Watters Barry Manilow |
| Distributed by | MGM Warner Bros. Family Entertainment 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment |
| Release date | April 14, 1995 |
| Running time | 74 minutes |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $28,000,000 |
| Box office | $3,983,912 |
The Pebble and the Penguin is a Template:Fy animated musical film, based on the true life mating rituals of the Adelie Penguins in Antarctica, produced and directed by Don Bluth and Gary Goldman. It was originally released in movie theatres in the USA in 1995 by MGM and was released internationally by Warner Bros. Family Entertainment. The film features the voice talents of Martin Short, Jim Belushi, Tim Curry and Annie Golden.
Plot
Hubie (voiced by Martin Short), a goofy but kind-hearted penguin, is in love with the beautiful and kind Marina (voiced by Annie Golden), but is insecure about himself, leading him to be bullied by the much more impressive, but vain and cruel Drake (voiced by Tim Curry). Drake also wants Marina, but for purely vain reasons. After a run in with Drake, Hubie and Marina share a song under the moonlight and their feelings are confirmed for each other. Hubie, however, is luckless in finding a perfect pebble to propose to Marina with and wishes on a star to make his dream come true. An emerald falls from the sky next to Hubie. Ecstatic, Hubie rushes to find Marina when Drake tries to steal it and knocks him off the ice, and Hubie is swept away and nearly killed by a leopard seal.
Hubie is picked up and caged by a ship, which is transporting penguins to a zoo. The unfortunate penguins on the ship sing of the misery awaiting them. Hubie meets the streetwise Rocko (voiced by Jim Belushi), whose only wishes are to live in sunny climates and learn to fly. After seeing Drake warning Marina of the full moon where she must choose a mate in a dream/vision or be banished, Hubie decides to escape, realizing he only has ten days to get home before Drake forces Marina to be his mate. Together, Hubie and Rocko flee, and while laying low in a beach, Hubie convinces Rocko to help him return to Antarctica. They have a short fight (because Hubie had angered Rocko by tricking him) and later run into the persistent leopard seal (second time for Hubie). They escape the seal, as Rocko had commented Hubie as "amazing", and both sing to the beginning of their friendship (although Rocko was in denial).
Rocko teaches Hubie how to fight, and run in to their worst aquatic enemy; the orcas. When they tried reaching the home ice, Rocko tries to head-off the orcas while Hubie tries to approach the nearest iceberg, having to lose Rocko in the process. After the chase, he must face his worst enemy, who has captured his love. Hubie gets knocked out, but gains confidence, and he stands and fights Drake once again. Hubie has the upper hand on the second go-round, and with a skillful kick, he sends Drake plummeting to his supposed demise. In surprise, Rocko reappears unharmed to Hubie and Marina. Before Hubie can introduce his friend to Marina, Drake reappears. He throws a large boulder towards the two lovers and Rocko, but it is Drake who meets his demise, by being crushed to death by the entire tower. Rocko saves the couple in danger, and finally gains his ability to fly. Hubie proposes to Marina (who accepts), and Rocko flies. In the end, Rocko teaches Marina and Hubie's children to fly.
Cast and Characters
- Martin Short as Hubie, a shy adelie penguin with a heart of gold who falls in love with Marina. He is the protagonist of the film.
- Jim Belushi as Rocko, a streetwise rockhopper penguin who befriends Hubie and helps him win Marina on the way back to Antarctica.
- Tim Curry as Drake, hunky dark-hearted penguin who stops at nothing to win and tries to steal Marina from Hubie. He is the antagonist of the film.
- Annie Golden as Marina, a penguin who Hubie and Drake fall in love with and cares about Hubie.
- Shani Wallis as the Narrator
Songs
The songs were written by Barry Manilow, who previously wrote the songs for Thumbelina, along with Bruce Sussman. The film's score was composed by Mark Watters.
- "Now and Forever" (Hubie, Marina, Company)
- "Sometimes I Wonder" (Hubie)
- "The Good Ship Misery" (Company)
- "Don't Make Me Laugh" (Drake)
- "Sometimes I Wonder - Marina's Reprise" (Marina)
- "Looks Like I Got Me a Friend" (Hubie and Rocko)
- "Now and Forever - Reprise" (Company)
- "Now and Forever - End Credits" (Barry Manilow & Sheena Easton)
Soundtrack
Main article: The Pebble and the Penguin (soundtrack)Production
Creative differences
Don Bluth and Gary Goldman pulled out on producing and directing this movie due to creative differences with the distributor of the film. With a "final cut" clause in the distribution contract, last minute changes were made to film. Bluth and Goldman could not convince the distributor to leave the film as they had planned it. As a result, much of the film's special effects could not be completed due to the requested changes and unchanged deadline. Assuming that the changes would hurt the film's integrity, they had their names removed from the film. However, the company name "Don Bluth Entertainment" remained above the title. This is the reason they are not credited for directing and producing the project. All of the original animation and about 70% of the color was completed before the two left the project. The changes were accommodated in-house at the company's Dublin studio. Due to the changes, Bluth takes no credit for any part of the film.
Aspect Ratio
The full screen presentation of The Pebble and the Penguin is actually an open matte print. The sides of the widescreen version are cropped off, but there is more image at the top and bottom. In some of the shots of the full screen version, parts of the characters are not inked and painted; a clear sign of its original aspect ratio. Though the full screen is open matted, in some scenes of the widescreen version (including some of the opening sequence) there is wider space in the sides.
Reception
The Pebble and the Penguin has a score of 0% ("poor") at Rotten Tomatoes, with an average rating of 3/10. It grossed $3,983,912..
Home video
The film first was released in VHS and laserdisc, the DVD was released in 1999 and the current edition in 2007.
Family Fun Edition
A new "Family Fun Edition" was released in the United States and Canada on March 27, 2007 by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment. Many sites like Amazon.com and DVD Empire never gave a description of the special features of the Family Fun Edition, which are: two featurettes, 8 games, and a new-to-DVD widescreen version. Though the DVD was released widely in Canada on March 27, 2007, it was also released a week early in Target in some provinces of Canada. (The same goof happened with the 2-disc DVD release of The Secret of NIMH in June 2007.)
Gary Goldman supervised the restoration for the "Family Fun Edition". It gave him a chance to try and help correct some of the errors made while the movie was filmed, but he could not alter the story changes. The restoration team mainly adjusted the color to be more faithful to the original art and adjust some areas overall to make the mood changes in the film more apparent through color. The team refielded many scenes to make it less apparent that there were no effects created, such as missing water, paint errors, character areas that were not painted etc. Goldman wanted to remove Marina's reprise of "Sometimes I Wonder", but he was not able to get that edit approved. Because Goldman failed to have time to remove it, it remains in the final cut.
References
- "Pebble and the Penguin soundtrack". IMDB. Retrieved 2008-09-11.
External links
- The Pebble and the Penguin at IMDb
- Template:Amg movie
- The Pebble and the Penguin at Rotten Tomatoes
- The Pebble and the Penguin at Box Office Mojo
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