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Regal Cinemas offer free movies to Richmond families in its summer of 2009 family film festival
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Regal Entertainment Group and Regal Cinemas are once again offering its Free Family Film Festival throughout the summer months of 2009 to families throughout the Richmond and surrounding areas.
While Regal’s free movie offering is nationwide, Regal Cinemas in the Richmond area open their doors to families and children of all ages on weekday mornings to watch the featured movies of the week.
G-rated movies are offered for all ages, particularly children 10 and under, and PG-rated films are offered for children over the age of 10, and parental guidance is suggested. The Film Festival consists of nine weeks of movies for kids and parents. Regal has been providing this service to the community since 1991.
Selected G and PG rated movies start at 10 a.m. each Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday mornings (note that the SouthPark Mall location only offers free movies on Tuesdays and Wednesdays). All movies are available on a first-come, first-serve basis, and are limited to theater capacity. The Free Family Film Festival is safe, lots of fun, and a great way for the kids to spend a weekday morning in the summer.
The show time schedules and contact information for each Regal Cinema theater in the Richmond area are listed below.
Following the show time schedules are descriptions of the each of the featured films.
Southpark Mall Stadium 6
300 Southpark Circle
Colonial Heights, VA 23834. (Note: Showings are for Tuesday and Wednesday mornings ONLY).
07/07/2009-07/08/2009 Horton Hears A Who (G)
Madagascar 2: Escape To Africa (PG)
07/14/2009-07/15/2009 Space Chimps (G)
Alvin And The Chipmunks (PG)
07/21/2009-07/22/2009 Everyone's Hero (G)
Kung Fu Panda (PG)
07/28/2009-07/29/2009 Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium (G)
Star Wars: Clone Wars (PG)
08/04/2009-08/05/2009 Charlotte's Web (G)
Barnyard (PG)
08/11/2009-08/12/2009 Pirates Who Don't Do Anything: Veggie Tale Movie (G)
Monster House (PG)
Virginia Center Stadium 20
10091 Jeb Stuart Parkway
Glen Allen ,VA 23060
804-261-4994
07/07/2009-07/09/2009 Horton Hears A Who (G)
Madagascar 2: Escape To Africa (PG)
07/14/2009-07/16/2009 Space Chimps (G)
Alvin And The Chipmunks (PG)
07/21/2009-07/23/2009 Everyone's Hero (G)
Kung Fu Panda (PG)
07/28/2009-07/30/2009 Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium (G)
Star Wars: Clone Wars (PG)
08/04/2009-08/06/2009 Charlotte's Web (G)
Inkheart (PG)
08/11/2009-08/13/2009 Pirates Who Don't Do Anything: Veggie Tale Movie (G)
Monster House (PG)
Commonwealth Stadium 20 & IMAX
5001 Commonwealth Centre Parkway
Midlothian ,VA 23112
804-744-7421
07/07/2009-07/09/2009 Horton Hears A Who (G)
Madagascar 2: Escape To Africa (PG)
07/14/2009-07/16/2009 Space Chimps (G)
Alvin And The Chipmunks (PG)
07/21/2009-07/23/2009 Everyone's Hero (G)
Kung Fu Panda (PG)
07/28/2009-07/30/2009 Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium (G)
Star Wars: Clone Wars (PG)
08/04/2009-08/06/2009 Charlotte's Web (G)
Inkheart (PG)
08/11/2009-08/13/2009 Pirates Who Don't Do Anything: Veggie Tale Movie (G)
Monster House (PG)
Westchester Commons Stadium 16
361 Perimeter Drive
Midlothian ,VA 23114
804-794-6942
07/07/2009-07/09/2009 Horton Hears A Who (G)
Madagascar 2: Escape To Africa (PG)
07/14/2009-07/16/2009 Space Chimps (G)
Alvin And The Chipmunks (PG)
07/21/2009-07/23/2009 Everyone's Hero (G)
Kung Fu Panda (PG)
07/28/2009-07/30/2009 Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium (G)
Star Wars: Clone Wars (PG)
08/04/2009-08/06/2009 Charlotte's Web (G)
Inkheart (PG)
08/11/2009-08/13/2009 Pirates Who Don't Do Anything: Veggie Tale Movie (G)
Monster House (PG)
Short Pump Stadium 14
11650 West Broad Street
Richmond ,VA 23233
804-360-5621
07/07/2009-07/09/2009 Horton Hears A Who (G)
Madagascar 2: Escape To Africa (PG)
07/14/2009-07/16/2009 Space Chimps (G)
Alvin And The Chipmunks (PG)
07/21/2009-07/23/2009 Everyone's Hero (G)
Kung Fu Panda (PG)
07/28/2009-07/30/2009 Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium (G)
Star Wars: Clone Wars (PG)
08/04/2009-08/06/2009 Charlotte's Web (G)
Inkheart (PG)
08/11/2009-08/13/2009 Pirates Who Don't Do Anything: Veggie Tale Movie (G)
Monster House (PG)
Featured films in the G-rated category are:
1.) Horton Hears a Who!, (watch movie trailer) also known as Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who!, is a 2008 American Computer Generated Imagery (CGI)-animated feature film based on the Dr. Seuss book of the same name, the fourth feature film from Blue Sky Studios, and the third Dr. Seuss-based feature film, following How the Grinch Stole Christmas and The Cat in the Hat.
It is the first Dr. Seuss adaptation fully animated using CGI technology.
In the Jungle of Nool on the fifteenth of May, a caring, imaginative elephant named Horton, the jungle's nature teacher, takes a dip in the pool. A dust speck floats past him in the air, and he hears a tiny yelp coming from it. Believing that an entire family of microscopic creatures are living on that speck, he places it on top of a pink, fuzzy clover that he holds in his trunk.
In fact, he finds out the speck harbors the city of Who-ville and all its inhabitants, led by Mayor Ned McDodd. He has a loving wife, Sally, 96 daughters, and one son named Jojo, who, by Who custom, is next in line for the mayoral position. Jojo does not want to become mayor, which leads him to become sullen and refuse to talk, despite Ned's giving him extra attention.
The Mayor finds out from Dr. Luru that Whoville will be destroyed if Horton doesn't find a "safer more stable home." So Horton resolves to place the speck atop Mt. Nool, the safest place in the jungle. This outlook earns Horton nothing but ridicule from the inhabitants of Nool, especially from the strict official of the jungle, the Sour Kangaroo, who tries to get Horton to give up the speck, so as not to put supposedly ridiculous ideas into the heads of the children. Ever faithful to his motto, "A person's a person, no matter how small," Horton refuses. Also taking force toward Horton are the Wickersham brothers, a group of bullying monkeys who love making misery.
All the small incidents that Horton experiences on his trek across the jungle have a catastrophic effect on Who-ville. He almost falls off a rickety bridge over a gaping chasm with no visible bottom, which causes a dentist's needle to accidentally slip into the Mayor's arm while getting a root canal. When Horton left the clover outside overnight, it frosted over, which created winter in the summer down in Whoville. As the other Whos become suspicious, the Mayor finally reveals the truth, but at first, the Whos don't believe him any more than the animals believe Horton.
In the meantime, the Kangaroo has enlisted a nefarious buzzard named Vlad Vladikoff to get rid of the speck by force. Vlad manages to steal the clover with the speck on it and drop it from hundreds of feet into a valley full of nearly identical clovers, (the one holding with the speck has a striped stem). The impact nearly demolishes Who-ville like an earthquake. Horton painstakingly picks 2,999,999 clovers through the field and finally finds it "on the 3 millionth flower". The earthquake, combined with hearing Horton's voice through the drain pipe, is enough to convince the rest of the Whos that the mayor is not crazy, and they all tell Horton they believe in him.
Kangaroo finds out that Horton still has the speck, and, as her patience completely runs out, forms a mob by telling lies to get rid of the speck once and for all. The animals plan to rope and cage Horton, but Kangaroo turns this into a chance for attention, and offers Horton an ultimatum: give up the speck and "admit" he was wrong and that she was right, or pay the price. Despite a heartfelt speech from Horton that clearly touches the animals, Kangaroo still takes this refusal as an insult to her authority, orders them to proceed, and drop the speck into a pot of boiling beezlenut oil to "teach him not to make up stories of people on specks!"
The Mayor enlists all of his people to make noise by shouting, "We are here," as well as playing a variety of instruments, so the animals can hear them. Jojo runs off to Whoville's abandoned Star-Studying Tower and soon Ned takes off after him. Inside, he reveals his ingenious invention: the Symphonyphone, a giant machine that serves as an orchestra, and proceeds to add it to the mix of sounds. Still, the sound isn't loud enough. The animals don't hear anything and Kangaroo, who has had Horton caged, takes the clover, holds it over the oil, and lets go. In a last-ditch effort to be heard, Jojo grabs the horn used to project Horton's voice, runs up the highest tower and yells "YOPP!" A sound wave emerges and ripples up to the already pressured clouds and collides with them, causing the clouds to break and the sound to come through.
Hearing the Whos' cries, Rudy, the Kangaroo's son (who has been in his mother's pouch the whole movie despite being old enough to be out and too large for her pouch), grabs the clover before it hits the oil and returns it to Horton, refusing his mother's orders to return to her pouch. The animals finally realize the atrocity they almost committed. The Kangaroo is sad and sorry for her bad behavior, but Horton forgives her, and offers his friendship, which the Kangaroo accepts. At the end of the film, everyone helps Horton carry the speck up to the top of Mt. Nool. After a big number of the cast singing REO Speedwagon's "Can't Fight This Feeling", the camera zooms out, revealing that along with numerous other worlds in our universe, the jungle of Nool is just one speck among numerous others like our planet.
2.) Alvin and the Chipmunks (watch movie trailer) is a 2007 American live-action/CGI holiday-comedy and Musical film starring Jason Lee, David Cross, Cameron Richardson, Jane Lynch and the voices of Justin Long, Matthew Gray Gubler and Jesse McCartney. The film features Alvin and the Chipmunks and is based on the animated series of the same name. It was directed by Tim Hill who is an animator of SpongeBob SquarePants, and distributed by 20th Century Fox, Regency Enterprises and Bagdasarian Productions.
The film was panned by critics as one of the worst films of the year, but was a major financial success: on a budget of $55-$60 million, it made $217 million in North America box office, $359 million in box office worldwide, and was the seventh-best selling DVD of 2008, earning over $101 million.
The tree that the chipmunks Alvin (voiced by Justin Long), Simon (voiced by Matthew Gray Gubler) and Theodore (voiced by Jesse McCartney) live in is cut down and driven to Los Angeles to become a Christmas tree. Once in LA, the Chipmunks meet struggling songwriter David "Dave" Seville (Jason Lee) who had his latest song rejected by JETT Records executive Ian Hawke (David Cross), who was Dave's college roommate. Dave once had a relationship with his beautiful next door neighbor, Claire (Cameron Richardson). She broke up with him because she felt he was too busy and irresponsible and he didn't have any time for her.
Once the Chipmunks sing Dave's song to Ian, Ian instantly signs them to the label and they become extremely successful. Ian begins to love the boys like nephews so he lets them call him "Uncle Ian". After a few singles, the Chipmunks continue to be wildly popular. When Dave expresses concerned for their well-being and insists that the Chipmunks are "kids" who don't need so much craziness in their lives, the Chipmunks begin to feel that he's holding them back.
Eventually, Dave and the Chipmunks have an argument and, in anger, Dave tells them that if they like "Uncle Ian" so much, they should just go live with him. Although their life with Ian starts off great, after they set out for their coast-to-coast tour, Ian realizes his advantage over the boys and all of a sudden becomes a jerk and changes their image completely. Meanwhile, Dave misses the chipmunks and he wants them to come back home. He calls Ian to see if he can talk to them but Ian refuses.
Right before a big concert is supposed to begin, a doctor says that the Chipmunks can't sing because their voices have given out. Ian doesn't want to hand out refunds and orders the Chipmunks to lip sync. With the help of Claire, Dave sneaks into the concert, but is grabbed by the security guards. When the Chipmunks see Dave being taken away, they realize they've been tricked, decide that they've had enough of Ian, reveal that they were lip-syncing and run amok, ruining the concert. They are soon caught by Ian just when Dave is about to rescue them. He locks them up in a cage. Dave tries to convince Ian to let the boys go but Ian refuses. Ian then leaves in his limo with the boys and Dave chases them but the boys have mysteriously ended up in his Car. The boys thought they wanted to live with "Uncle Ian" to make more money for him. Dave immediately pulls over and admits that he loves them like his own family. Meanwhile, Ian looks in the cage and sees the boys have replaced themselves with ugly look-alike dolls.
Sometime later, the boys are now part of the family, and they invite Claire over for dinner. Alvin mistakenly shorts out the circuits trying to open champagne. Dave decides not to say it, but it causes a blackout. Dave decides to say it, and receives his trademark "ALLLLVINNN!!", and Alvin responds with "Okay!"
3). Everyone's Hero (watch movie trailer) is a 2006 computer animated feature film. It is directed by Colin Brady, Christopher Reeve (who was working on this film at the time of his death), and Daniel St. Pierre, with music by John Debney. The majority of this film was produced by IDT Entertainment in Toronto with portions outsourced to Reel FX Creative Studio. It was distributed by 20th Century Fox, and released to movie theatres on September 15, 2006. Everyone's Hero performed poorly at the box office, earning only $16 million during its theatrical run.
The film was rated G by the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), being 20th Century Fox's first theatrically-released film to be rated G by the MPAA since 1997's Anastasia.
The protagonist is a young boy, baseball fan Yankee Irving (Jake T. Austin), whose father works as a janitor for New York City's Yankee Stadium. While the two are on the premises, a thief steals Babe Ruth's famous bat, Darlin' (Whoopi Goldberg), with the result that Yankee's father is blamed and fired. The true thief is Lefty Maginnis (William H. Macy), a pitcher for the Chicago Cubs. Lefty works for Cubs owner Napoleon Cross, who desires to see the Cubs defeat the Yankees during the 1932 World Series (note that with the obvious exception of Ruth, none of these characters are based on real people).
Stealing the bat back, Yankee decides to return it to Ruth—and thereby exonerate his father—by journeying across the country to Chicago, where the next World Series games will be played. Darlin' is able to speak, as does her counterpart Screwie (Rob Reiner), a baseball. Much of the plot is driven by Lefty's comic attempts to retrieve the bat from Yankee, with slapstick results (while Lefty is knocked out in various ways, including by having a baseball thrown at him, the bat's potential as a weapon is never even hinted at). Other scenes involve Yankee meeting others who will help him in his quest: several hobos; Marti (Raven-Symone), a little black girl; her baseball player father Lonnie Brewster (Forest Whitaker); and in Chicago, Babe Ruth himself.
The actual events of the 1932 series, though dramatic, were not followed in the cartoon (perhaps because of rights issues over depictions of the game). For example, the Yankees swept the Cubs in the series, but in the film, they had lost some games. A series of improbable coincidences allows Yankee himself to bat for the Yankees, resulting of course in a home run and a pennant for the team.
The movie takes a largely nostalgic tone in its presentation of 1930s American life, though the Great Depression is alluded to, as is the existence of separate Negro Leagues. (Marti's father is a member of the Cincinnati Tigers, though the team was actually founded two years later, in 1934.) The announced morals of the movie are to "keep swinging" (that is, never give up), and the importance of family.
4). Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium (watch movie trailer) is a 2007 film written and directed by Zach Helm. The film stars Dustin Hoffman, Natalie Portman, Jason Bateman and Zach Mills. The screenplay is the first that Zach Helm wrote when hired as a contract writer at 20th Century Fox, but it remained unfilmed until Helm was able to buy the script back after Stranger than Fiction was made.
Eccentric, 243-year-old Mr. Edward Magorium (Dustin Hoffman) owns and manages a magical toyshop. The shop has many quirks, including animated toys, a ledger that can bring to the purchase counter any toy on command, and a doorknob that, when rotated, changes the interior of a magic room. This room variously contains Mr. Magorium's apartment, a room full of constantly bouncing balls of various sizes, and other divisions of the toyshop. All of the toys are magical in one way or another; their magic and behaviour, however, appear to depend on those of the store, which is itself intelligent and changes its appearance and actions according to its emotions. Magorium's assistant is the young woman Molly Mahoney (Natalie Portman). She is an aspiring pianist, has plans to quit the store and start a career in music composition (the story begins with her practicing her song and going to work), and is, unexplainedly, always addressed by her surname. Eric, a lonely young boy who befriends squirrels, seems to be the store's only regular customer and is a kind of informal shop-assistant. Mahoney is Eric's only human friend, as shown by their first on-screen conversation, and is cherished in a paternal fashion by Mr. Magorium himself. Mr. Magorium's biographer and tenant is a strongman-like figure called Bellini, who lives in the shop's basement, runs errands for his employer, and sleeps with a doll. This doll, in addition to Bellini's task as Mr. Magorium's biographer, suggest the "soft" aspects of his personality that underlie his forbidding demeanor.
Unexpectedly, Mr. Magorium announces that although he is not ill, he intends to "leave" — that is, to die — and gives the shop to Mahoney in his will. Prior to this, he has given her an undecorated cube made of wood (the "Congreve block," Magorium calls it, perhaps an allusion to the Congreve clock) and the task of finding a use for it. This cube becomes instrumental in Mahoney's coming of age.
As a preparation for his "departure", Magorium hires accountant Henry Weston (Jason Bateman), giving him an interview wherein the latter demonstrates knowledge of Fibonacci numbers. Henry, nicknamed the "Mutant" as a play on his job's title of "accountant" (playfully misinterpreted as a portmanteau of "a counter" and "mutant"), wins Mr. Magorium's approval when he demonstrates this knowledge on command and states as a reply to a question "anything can happen". His task is to organize the shop's long-neglected paperwork, which contains numerous financial difficulties whose effects have evidently never harmed Mr. Magorium or his business in addition to records of transactions with historical figures such as Thomas Alva Edison. Weston is not popular with the children who continuously visit and play in the shop; later, when Eric tries to become friends with him, Henry declines to play checkers on grounds that he "never [stops] working". Mahoney already has a low opinion of Weston, because he is skeptical of the shop's magic.
In response to its founder's decision to die, the shop sulks and on the following day throws a tantrum wherein its walls turn grey, the toys and books sold in it begin behaving erratically, and the ledger produces a Ring-Tailed Lemur when Mahoney requests from it a lollipop. The erratic behavior of the toys and books frightens the customers out of the shop. Mr. Magorium then calls a meeting of himself, Mahoney, Henry, Eric, and some of the toys to explain the situation at hand. Worried by Mr. Magorium's plan to "leave", Mahoney rushes him to the hospital, where doctors decide that Mr. Magorium should be kept when he has explained his age and occupation. Here, Mahoney uses the doctors' skepticism of magic to convince them that Mr. Magorium is suffering from delusions as a result of imminent death. He remains in the hospital overnight, surrounded by a backdrop of stars organized by Eric, and is released on the next day on grounds that nothing is physically wrong with him.
Meanwhile, Eric befriends the Mutant and introduces him to an extensive collection of diverse hats kept by Eric himself. The two play with these hats until interrupted by Eric's discomforted mother, who had not expected Eric to befriend anyone of Henry's age.
Mahoney attempts to prevent Mr. Magorium's departure by showing him life's joys, but he does not decide against "leaving". After a heartfelt, affectionate conversation, Mahoney leaves in tears, whereinafter Mr. Magorium throws his will in the form of a paper airplane, peacefully dying as the airplane flies around the room, temporarily changing the surroundings to match the image of a starry midnight sky. Many children and adults crowd the cemetery to witness his funeral, which is held on the next day. Strangely, his first name, Edward, does not appear on the headstone of his grave. The store reacts to Mr. Magorium's death by darkening itself and refusing to show any magic.
Mahoney, believing herself to be unworthy of the store, offers it for sale. Eric, desiring to see the Emporium continue as it has, approaches Weston with a "business proposal" wherein Eric is willing to invest his savings and pocket-money in the shop. Though he refuses, Weston agrees to persuade Mahoney against selling the store when a woman looked at the property and rejected it. Her son saw a toy and played with it (Mahoney thinks it's not magic, she says it's a magnet). The toy's magic is revived because of that. Henry is caused to believe in the store's magic when Mahoney, by talking passionately of her faith in it, causes the wooden cube she was given to move as if alive. Influenced by further urging, the cube moves with increasing speed and confidence, eventually flying around the shop and halting in front of Henry, who faints from sheer astonishment.
When he wakes, the cube has vanished, and Mahoney appears unaware that it or any of the events caused by it exist. However, this may be just a ruse to get Henry to admit that the store really is magical, which he has not done up to this point, somehow being oblivious to the store's tantrums. Nothing later in the movie backs this up, but it seems unlikely that Mahoney could manage to forget a flying cube. Henry, who is now a firm believer in the store's magic, leads Mahoney to realize that she is able to revive the store's magic by magic of her own. She notices this when she plays the piano by twiddling her fingers from several feet away. The shop is delighted and colorfully revived as Mahoney finally takes her position as owner and unlocks her creative potential, unleashing a celebration of the shop's wonders. It is implied that Mahoney has completed her first musical composition.
5). Charlotte's Web (watch movie trailer) is an award-winning children's novel by acclaimed American author E. B. White, about a pig named Wilbur who is saved from being slaughtered by an intelligent spider named Charlotte. The book was first published in 1952, with illustrations by Garth Williams.
The novel tells the story of a pig named Wilbur and his friendship with a barn spider named Charlotte. When Wilbur is in danger of being slaughtered by the farmer, Charlotte writes messages praising Wilbur (such as "Some Pig") in her web in order to persuade the farmer to let him live.
Written in White's dry, low-key manner, Charlotte's Web is considered a classic of children's literature, enjoyable to adults as well as children. The description of the experience of swinging on a rope swing at the farm is an often cited example of rhythm in writing, as the pace of the sentences reflects the motion of the swing. Publishers Weekly listed the book as the best-selling children's paperback of all time as of 2000.
Charlotte's Web was made into an animated feature by Hanna-Barbera Productions and Paramount Pictures in 1973. Paramount released a direct-to-video sequel, Charlotte's Web 2: Wilbur's Great Adventure, in the US in 2003 (Universal released the film internationally). A live-action film version of E. B. White's original story was released on December 15, 2006. A video game based on this adaption was also released on December 12.
The book begins when John Arable's sow gives birth to a litter of piglets, and Mr. Arable discovers one of them is a runt and decides to kill it. However, his eight year old daughter Fern begs him to let it live. Therefore her father gives it to Fern as a pet, and she names the piglet Wilbur. Wilbur is hyperactive and always exploring new things. He lives with Fern for a few weeks and then is sold to her uncle, Homer Zuckerman. Although Fern visits him at the Zuckermans' farm as often as she can, Wilbur gets lonelier day after day. Eventually, a warm and soothing voice tells him that she is going to be his friend. The next day, he wakes up and meets his new friend: Charlotte, the grey spider.
Wilbur soon becomes a member of the community of animals who live in the cellar of Zuckerman's barn. When the old sheep in the barn cellar tells Wilbur that he is going to be killed and eaten at Christmas, he turns to Charlotte for help. Charlotte has the idea of writing words in her web extolling Wilbur's excellence ("some pig", "terrific", "radiant", and eventually "humble"), reasoning that if she can make Wilbur sufficiently famous, he will not be killed. Thanks to Charlotte's efforts, and with the assistance of the gluttonous rat Templeton, Wilbur not only lives, but goes to the county fair with Charlotte and wins a prize. Having reached the end of her natural lifespan, Charlotte dies at the fair. Wilbur repays Charlotte by bringing home with him the sac of eggs (her "magnum opus") she had laid at the fair before dying. When Charlotte's eggs hatch at Zuckerman's farm, most of them leave to make their own lives elsewhere, except for three: Joy, Aranea and Nellie, who remain there as friends to Wilbur.
6). The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything: A VeggieTales Movie (watch movie trailer)is a 2008 animated feature-length film directed by Mike Nawrocki and written by Phil Vischer. Produced through Big Idea Productions animation studio, it is the second film featuring characters from the VeggieTales video series. The VeggieTales Pirates movie was also the first theatrically-released computer-animated film distributed by Universal Studios.
The beginning opens up somewhere in the 1700s with two veggie pirate ships fighting. The prince, Alaxander is captured by Robert the Terrible, his uncle. The other pirates search the ship for the princess, Eloise. They cannot find her hiding spot and leave. But Eloise sends a helpseeker to find heroes to save Alaxander.
After the title scene, this film tranfers to the present where George (Pa Grape), Sedgewick (Mr. Lunt), and Elliot (Larry) are shown working at a dinner theater. It shows that Sedgewick is very lazy, Elliot is scared of everything, and Goerge doesn't have a backbone, or he does what everyone asks him to do. After the show while cleaning up, an old man tells them that an adventure awaits for them that the stage is set for the heros at hand. They think it means if they all audition, they'll be in the show.
After their audition (in which they destroy half the restaurant) they are thrown onto the streets, they then find the helpseeker and are sent back to the 1700s. They meet Eloise and her butler Willory (Archibald). They set off to Jolly Joes in which they learn Robert took the prince and wants to kill the prince and princess and anyone who stands in his way. They also learn that to find his fortress, they must find a cave past the rocks of Malabar to find clues to his fortress.
Once they get there they find the clues but Sedgewick finds cheese curls and decides to stay on the island instead of going to save the princess. George and Elliot learn that Robert's men took there bout and captured the princess. They head out to follow the clues (go east to the isle of walking rocks, and go through the clapping pass)
Sedgewick is turned on by the cheese curls and discovers he can do anything without giving up. George and Elliot get to the isle and the rocks start to surround them but Sedgewick shows up and the cheese curls start to chase him, the rocks find the curls amusing and start to interact with them.
The pass opens and one of the rocks helps them get through it. A giant mechanical serpent attacks them and George and Sedgewick are terrified, and Elliot learns he can confront anything he's afraid of.
They rescue the prince and princess only to be stopped by Robert. George learns he can stick up for himself and they escape, but Robert gets his ship and starts firing cannonballs at them, but the king shows up and Robert drowns.
The king gives them medals for their good work. They go back to the restaurant only to realize that Robert stowed away on their trip back. They have a final showdown with him and send him back to his own time. Everyone loves them and they get a chance to be in the show but they refuse saying that life has plenty of adventure of its own. But then another helpseeker lands right behind them, they seem bummed but then all smile.
Featured films in the PG-rated category include:
1). Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa (watch movie trailer)is a 2008 sequel to the 2005 film, Madagascar about the continuing adventures of Alex the Lion, Gloria the Hippo, Marty the Zebra, and Melman the Giraffe. It is directed by Eric Darnell and written by Etan Cohen. It stars the voices of Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, Jada Pinkett Smith, David Schwimmer, Sacha Baron Cohen, Cedric the Entertainer and Andy Richter. Also providing voices are Alec Baldwin, will.i.am, Bernie Mac, Sherri Shepherd. It was produced by DreamWorks Animation and was released on November 7, 2008.
The film, distributed to theaters by Paramount Pictures, starts as prequel, showing a small part of Alex's early life, including his capture by hunters. It soon moves to shortly after the point where the original left off, with the animals deciding to return to New York. They board an airplane on Madagascar, but crash-land in Africa, where each of the central characters meets others of the same species; Alex is reunited with his parents. Problems arise, and their resolution occupies much of the remainder of the film. The previous title was "Madagascar: The Crate Escape", which was featured on a trailer with Ben Stiller. This, along with Soul Men, was Bernie Mac's last film performance. There were many cultural references in this film, one being Sandy Koufax on the cover of a Life magazine.
As a cub, Alex the lion was called Alakay and was the son of Zuba, the alpha lion. Though Zuba tries to teach Alakay to be a hunter, the cub is more interested in dancing. When another lion named Makunga challenges Zuba to a fight for the position of alpha lion, Alakay is captured by poachers. Though Zuba tries to rescue his son, Alakay is forced into a crate. The crate falls into the ocean where it drifts to New York. There, Alakay is renamed Alex and sent to the Central Park Zoo where he grew up, meeting Gloria, Marty, and Melman.
In the present time, Alex, Gloria, Melman, Marty, King Julien, Maurice, and Skipper and his fellow penguins board a repaired airplane in the hopes of using it to fly back to New York. Mort tries to board the plane but King Julien doesn't want him on board and locks him outside. The plane takes off and starts with a relaxing journey, Alex spots Mort clinging to the wing of the plane and waves to him (causing Mort to wave back and fall off the wing into the sea). The plane soon ends up crash-landing in Africa when it runs out of fuel. In Africa the animals are amazed to find more of their kind. Alex is reunited with Zuba and his mother. Marty quickly fits into a herd of zebra who all look, sound, and talk exactly like him. Melman takes on the position of witch doctor amongst the animals. Gloria, interested in finding a mate, attracts the attention of a smooth-talking but shallow hippo named Moto Moto.
Meanwhile, the penguins set about repairing the plane. They carjack several jeeps from New Yorkers on vacation, leaving the tourists stranded and lost in the jungle. A tough old woman called "Nana" takes charge, reminding them that they are New Yorkers and always survive.
The next morning Mort washes up on the shore of Africa and sets off to find King Julien, only to be chased by a shark.
Unfortunately, life in Africa is not as wonderful as it first seems. Makunga, still determined to take the position of alpha lion, reminds Zuba that Alex must complete a traditional lion coming-of-age challenge. Alex, thinking that the challenge is a dance contest (it is actually a fight) competes against the strongest lion (who was recommended by Makunga) and loses quickly. To avoid being forced to banish Alex for failing, Zuba abdicates and Makunga immediately takes the position and banishes Alex and his family. Marty meanwhile begins to feel upset that all of the zebras are exactly the same as him, leaving him with nothing unique. Melman is happy as a witch doctor until he learns that he has the same spot that had apparently caused the previous witch doctor to die. Melman is also upset about Gloria dating Moto Moto, as Melman has secretly loved her for a long time. Gloria goes on a date with Moto Moto and quickly realizes that he only loves her for her body.
The next day, the animals are in a panic when they discover that the watering hole has dried up. Determined to make up for his earlier failure, Alex and Marty decides to risk being shot by hunters and leave the reserve to discover what happened. The pair discover that the stranded New Yorkers, under the instruction of Nana, have dammed the river and built a primitive civilization. Alex is captured and Marty runs for help. Meanwhile, Zuba hears what Alex did and goes to rescue him.
King Julien suggests that the animals sacrifice one of themselves into the volcano to appease the water gods and regain their water supply. Believing that he will die soon, Melman volunteers to be sacrificed. Gloria stops him just in time and Marty arrives to tell them of Alex's fate. The trio, the penguins, and several chimpanzees use the newly-fixed plane to come to the rescue. Alex meanwhile manages to rescue both himself and his father by dancing for the New Yorkers, who quickly recognize him from the zoo. The other animals rescue the lions with the plane and destroy the dam, freeing the water. Meanwhile, back at the volcano, King Julien complains to Maurice about the sacrifice plan not working. Mort turns up and is overjoyed to see King Julien, although Julien is less then thrilled to see him. The shark that was chasing Mort also arrives but falls into the volcano, completing the sacrifice and causing King Julien to think that he brought back the water. Alex manages to remove Makunga from power by tricking Nana into attacking him and she drags him back to the other marooned tourists. Skipper marries a bobble-head hula doll from the plane and leaves on a honeymoon, leaving the other animals to remain in Africa.
2). Space Chimps (watch movie trailer) is a 2008 computer-animated science fiction comedy film produced by Vanguard Animation, Starz Media and 20th Century Fox, and it was released on July 18, 2008. The film is produced by Barry Sonnenfeld, John H. Williams, and John W. Hyde and stars the voices of Andy Samberg, Jeff Daniels, Cheryl Hines, Kenan Thompson, Stanley Tucci, Kristin Chenoweth and Patrick Warburton. The teaser ad for this movie premiered on June 20, 2008 during a Fox broadcast of another 'Primate in Space' movie - 2001's remake of Planet of the Apes.
When a $3.7 billion NASA probe disappears into an intergalactic wormhole, the agency recruits Ham III (Andy Samberg), grandson of the the first chimpanzee in space, to help retrieve the wayward craft. However, Ham is a free-spirited circus performer more interested in zero-gravity hijinks than living up to his illustrious heritage (for example "I am Titan, I am strong" "No one wants to sing along"). The simian slacker becomes a reluctant hero and learns the true meaning of courage as he and his crewmates, the fearless Luna (Cheryl Hines), whom Ham has a crush on, and their uptight commander, Titan (Patrick Warburton), risk everything in an effort to save the peaceful inhabitants of a distant planet from the evil dictator Zartog (Jeff Daniels).
3). Kung Fu Panda (watch movie trailer) is a 2008 American animated comedy film. It was directed by John Stevenson and Mark Osborne and produced by Melissa Cobb and stars Jack Black as Po. The film was produced by DreamWorks Animation's studio in Glendale, California and distributed by Paramount Pictures. The film stars the voice of Jack Black as the panda, Po, along with the voices of Dustin Hoffman, Angelina Jolie, Ian McShane, Lucy Liu, Seth Rogen, David Cross, Randall Duk Kim, James Hong and Jackie Chan. Set in ancient China, the plot revolves around a bumbling panda who aspires to be a kung fu master. After a much-feared warrior is prophesied to escape from prison, Po is foretold to be the Dragon Warrior, much to his shock and surprise, as well as the chagrin of the resident kung fu warriors.
Although the concept of a 'kung fu panda' has been around since at least 1993, work on the film did not begin until 2004. The idea for the film was conceived by Michael Lachance, a DreamWorks Animation executive. The film was originally intended to be a parody, but director Stevenson decided instead to shoot an action comedy martial arts film in the spirit of Hong Kong action cinema that incorporates the hero's journey narrative archetype for the lead character. The computer animation in the film was more complex than anything DreamWorks had done before. As with most DreamWorks animated films, Hans Zimmer (collaborating with John Powell this time) scored Kung Fu Panda. He visited China to absorb the culture and get to know the China National Symphony Orchestra as part of his preparation.
Kung Fu Panda premiered in the United States on June 1, 2008, and has since received very favorable reviews from critics. The film currently garners an 89% "Certified Fresh" approval rating from review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes. Kung Fu Panda opened in 4,114 theaters, grossing $20.3 million on its opening day and $60.2 million on its opening weekend, resulting in the number one position at the box office. The film has achieved DreamWorks's biggest opening for a non-sequel film, highest grossing animated movie of the year, and the third-largest weekend overall for a DreamWorks animated film, behind Shrek the Third and Shrek 2.
In an anthropomorphic China, the Valley of Peace is protected by the Furious Five - Tigress, Monkey, Mantis, Viper, and Crane - a quintet of warriors trained in kung fu by the wise tortoise Master Oogway and his protégé, the red panda Master Shifu. One day, Oogway has a premonition that Shifu's former pupil and foster son, the brutal and ruthless snow leopard, Tai Lung, will escape from prison and return to the Valley. Shifu decides to hold a martial arts tournament so that Oogway may identify the legendary Dragon Warrior - the one master worthy to receive the Dragon Scroll, which is said to hold the secret to limitless power. Tai Lung had been denied the Scroll years earlier, causing him to decimate the Valley in retaliation and resulting in his imprisonment.
Po, a young Giant panda and kung fu fanatic who works in his goose father's noodle restaurant, is anxious to see the tournament, but is instead forced to take a noodle cart up the mountain to the Jade Temple. By the time he arrives, the gates are closed and the tournament has already started. Desperate to see the tournament, Po straps himself to a set of fireworks; he rockets into the sky and crashes into the middle of the arena just as Oogway is about to select the new Dragon Warrior. To the surprise of all, Oogway indicates that Po is the Dragon Warrior. Unwilling to believe that a clumsy, fat panda can be the Dragon Warrior, Shifu attempts to berate and humiliate Po into quitting, subjecting him to a grueling series of matches with the Five, all of whom despise Po as an upstart novice. Po is dejected after his first day of training, but after Oogway counsels him, he refuses to quit. Soon, he endears himself to the Five (except Tigress) with his impressive tenacity, culinary skill and good humor, though he is still unable to grasp the basics of kung fu.
Meanwhile, as Oogway had foreseen, Tai Lung escapes from his prison and heads for the Valley. Sensing his death is imminent, Oogway extracts a promise from Shifu that he will train Po and then disappears, ascending to heaven in a swirl of flower petals. Upon hearing that Tai Lung is coming, Po panics and tries to flee the Temple. Shifu refuses to let him go, insisting that he can change Po into the Dragon Warrior, but Po has lost all confidence and Shifu cannot explain how he will turn Po into the Dragon Warrior. Seeing this argument, Tigress leads the Furious Five to stop Tai Lung themselves. The next morning, Shifu discovers that Po displays impressive agility when he is motivated by food; using the promise of food as a reward, Shifu trains Po into a skilled warrior.
The Five confront Tai Lung over a long rope bridge, but he easily defeats them and sends them back to the Valley unconscious as a warning, to inspire fear. Feeling that Po is ready to fight, Shifu gives him the Dragon Scroll, which he opens to reveal nothing but a blank, reflective surface. Shifu, despairing, orders Po and the Five to evacuate the valley while he prepares to delay Tai Lung for as long as he can. During the evacuation, Po finds his father who, in an attempt to console him, reveals that the long-withheld secret ingredient of his famous "secret ingredient soup" is nothing - except the belief that the soup is special. Po realizes this idea is the point of the Dragon Scroll and returns to face Tai Lung.
At the Temple, Tai Lung confronts Shifu and demands the Scroll. When Shifu refuses, Tai Lung attacks Shifu and, in a furious battle, overpowers and nearly kills him before Po arrives. Tai Lung can hardly believe that the Dragon Warrior is a "big, fat panda", but as he battles Po to take the Scroll, using a hybrid variation of his natural unorthodox clumsiness and the training he had accomplished with Shifu, Po unexpectedly proves himself an equal. Tai Lung gains the upper hand and opens the Scroll, but cannot comprehend its symbolic value. Po explains that "there is no secret ingredient" other than the warrior's belief in himself, but Tai Lung fails to understand and attacks again. With the combination of his new understanding and his own natural resilience, Po counter-attacks with devastating effectiveness and finally defeats Tai Lung, destroying him with the secret "Wuxi Finger Hold".
The deeply impressed Furious Five accept Po as a kung fu master and their superior. Po returns to Shifu and finds that he is exhausted but alive, and finally at peace now that Tai Lung has been defeated and peace restored to the Valley. In a post-credits sequence, Po and Shifu are seen eating dumplings under Oogway's favorite peach tree, where a peach seed Shifu had planted earlier has begun to sprout into a seedling.
4). Star Wars: The Clone Wars (watch movie trailer) is a 2008 CGI animated science fiction film that follows the continuing adventures within the Star Wars futuristic universe that takes place in the '90s. It is set between Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones, and Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. The film premiered on August 10, 2008 at Grauman's Egyptian Theatre and was released in theaters on August 14, 2008 across Australia, and August 15 in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom by Warner Bros.
Star Wars: The Clone Wars is the seventh Star Wars feature to be released in theaters in North America (the eighth in Europe, as Caravan of Courage received a cinematic release there in 1984) and is the first animated theatrical film for the franchise, and the first to be distributed by Warner Bros. instead of 20th Century Fox. It is the first theatrical Star Wars film to be directed by someone other than George Lucas since Return of the Jedi's Richard Marquand. It is also the only theatrical Star Wars film not scored by John Williams; Kevin Kiner was hired to compose brand new music, which was combined with selected John Williams melodies from previous Star Wars movies.
The Clone Wars is intended to act as an introduction to the television series of the same name, which debuted on October 3, 2008. It is set in roughly the same time period as the earlier 2003 series.
The film begins with a narrator explaining the state of the Clone Wars instead of an opening crawl like its predecessors. The Separatists control the majority of the hyperlanes, leaving Republic forces stranded in different parts of the Outer Rim. Jabba the Hutt's son Rotta is kidnapped as part of a plan to make the Hutts join the Separatists.
Meanwhile, a fierce battle is taking place on the crystalline planet of Christophsis between the Republic's small clone army (The reason this army is so small and outgunned is explained in the TV episode "The Hidden Enemy", which is a prequel) and the Retail Clan forces. With the help of Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker, the clones steadily advance on the Separatists' forces, gaining the Republic an early victory. It doesn't last long, though, as the droid army soon returns. With no communications or the ability to fly in reinforcements, the fate of the few remaining clone soldiers are in the hands of Obi-Wan and Anakin. A shuttle arrives, but without the needed reinforcements—instead, it is a young Padawan named Ahsoka Tano, who insists that she has been sent by Master Yoda to serve under Anakin. The battle soon commences yet again, with the Separatist forces advancing behind an expanding shield that artillery can't penetrate. Anakin and Ahsoka succeed in penetrating the enemy lines while Obi-Wan stalls for time by holding a fake surrender negotiation with the droid army commander.
Soon after the final victory for the Republic on Christophsis, Yoda arrives and brings the Jedi up to date on the situation concerning Jabba's son. The Republic needs Jabba on their side to ensure unfettered travel through Jabba's trade routes. Anakin and Ahsoka are tasked with retrieving the child, while Obi-Wan flies to Tatooine to assure Jabba that Rotta will be retrieved.
On the planet of Teth, Anakin, Ahsoka and their clones assault a monastery that sits atop a high stone pillar. They find Rotta, but discover that he is ill, requiring them to get him help immediately. But they have been caught in a trap by Count Dooku, who hopes to frame the Jedi for Rotta's disappearance (and possible death), thereby ending any chance of the Republic striking a deal with Jabba. He has sent his assassin, Asajj Ventress, to secure fake evidence of the Jedi's supposed double dealing, then to recapture the young Hutt and return it to Jabba, putting the crime lord in the Separatists' debt.
Anakin and Ahsoka manage to escape the trap along with R2-D2 and hijack a derelict transport which they use to travel to Tatooine. Obi-Wan, alerted by Anakin, arrives just in time to relieve the clone forces and engages Ventress in a lightsaber duel where he manages to defeat her, though Ventress flees in the face of capture. On board the derelict ship, Ahsoka manages to cure Rotta by the use of medical supplies on board.
In the meantime, Senator Padmé Amidala learns of Anakin's mission and fears for his safety. She decides to contact Jabba's uncle, Ziro, who lives in a shady part of Coruscant. The Hutt refuses to cooperate, apparently believing that it is the Jedi who are responsible for the situation. Padmé, however, soon discovers that Ziro has actually conspired with Dooku to engineer the downfall of his nephew in order to seize power over the Hutt clans. Padmé is discovered and detained, but a chance call by C-3PO enables her to summon help, and Ziro is arrested.
Upon their arrival on Tatooine, Anakin and Ahsoka are attacked and shot down. Faced with a long trek across desert sands and relentless opponents, Anakin devises a ruse: he confronts Dooku while carrying a decoy Rotta, leaving Ahsoka and R2-D2 to take the real Rotta to Jabba's palace. While Anakin fights Dooku, Ahsoka is ambushed by three Magnaguards. As Anakin and Dooku fight, Dooku activates a mini holo-image projector, showing Ahsoka fighting the Magnaguards. Dooku then explains that the Magnaguards are to kill Rotta, and bring Ahsoka to Jabba for punishment for Rotta's murder. Believeing that Ahsoka's life is in danger, Anakin abandons the fight to help her.
Anakin arrives at Jabba's palace, to find that Ahsoka did not yet arrive with Rotta. Frustrated, Anakin activates his lightsaber, holds it at Jabba's throat, and demands Jabba tell him what he has done with Ahsoka. Just as Anakin is about to be shot down by the guards, Ahsoka enters, with Rotta, having defeated the Magnaguards. After Rotta is handed over to Jabba, Jabba orders Anakin and Ahsoka to be executed. Just before they can be shot down, Padmé contacts Jabba with the news that Ziro has agreed to admit working together with Dooku in having Rotta kidnapped, and the Jedi framed for the crime. With the truth now revealed to him, Jabba agrees to allow the Republic to use his trade routes. With their mission now complete, Anakin and Ahsoka are triumphantly retrieved by Obi-Wan and Yoda.
5). Inkheart (original title: Tintenherz) (watch movie trailer) is a young adult-child fantasy novel by Cornelia Funke, and the first book of the Inkworld trilogy.
The book is about a 12-year-old girl named Meggie Folchart whose life changes dramatically when she realizes that her father, a bookbinder named Mortimer (Mo), has an unusual ability: when he reads aloud, he can bring characters from books into the real world. Meggie and Mo's adventure takes them throughout Europe, particularly Italy, and brings them into contact with many unusual characters. The sequel, Inkspell, was released on October 1, 2005, and the third book in the trilogy, Inkdeath was released September 28, 2007 in Germany.
Twelve-year-old Meggie Folchart, listening to the rain in bed one night, sees a stranger approaching her house. The man, who identifies himself as Dustfinger, is acquainted with Meggie's father, Mo (Mortimer Folchart), who Dustfinger calls "Silvertongue". Meggie overhears Dustfinger warning Mo about someone who is searching for him, and the three of them leave Meggie's most recent home (Meggie and Mo are constantly moving) and depart for a visit towards Italy. Meggie learns that she, Mo, and Dustfinger are fleeing from a mysterious man named Capricorn, and that they are going to her mother's aunt, Elinor. Meggie has not seen her mother since she was three years old, and although she and Mo love books, he never reads aloud to her.
While staying at Elinor's, some of Capricorn's men come and take Mo away to Capricorn's village while Dustfinger is performing a fire show for Meggie. Dustfinger has betrayed Mo in the hopes of saving himself. Elinor, Meggie, and Dustfinger (accompanied by his pet marten, Gwin) leave Elinor's house to follow Mo and his captor, an evil servant of Capricorn's named Basta. Meggie learns that her father has the power to read things in and out of books; one night, while reading the book Inkheart aloud to her mother, Mo accidentally reads his wife into the Inkworld and Capricorn, Basta, Dustfinger, and Gwin out. After chasing the villains away and saving Dustfinger's life, he tries for a few years to read his wife, Teresa, back into our world with no success. He and Meggie then lived a nomadic life, moving from place to place every few years, in order to keep away from Capricorn, who wants to use Mo's powers to his advantage.
Meggie, Elinor, and Dustfinger are captured by Capricorn's men and are used as hostages to force Mo to read aloud. Mo only agrees once he is holding onto Meggie – if she is touching him, he cannot read her into the novel. Mo reads a passage from Treasure Island and fills the hall with gold but when he reads from One Thousand and One Arabian Nights all that emerges is a boy named Farid. Dustfinger helps to free Meggie, Mo, and Elinor, realizing the foolishness of his betrayal, and Mo convinces them to take Farid when they flee. The five fugitives take Elinors car that they came with that was in the parking lot in Capricorn's village and flee to the Italian Coast where they try to come up with a plan. Mo realizes that he needs to find a copy of the book and read Capricorn and Basta back into it, and decides to try and track down the author, Fenoglio. They find him living contentedly in another small town, and reveal their story to him by showing them Dustfinger, who is horrified to discover he is a character in a novel and that, according to the original plot, will die at the end of the book. Fenoglio is reluctant to help them, but he and Meggie are captured by Basta, who brings them back to Capricorn's village as bait to force Mo to finish his plan.
Mo, Dustfinger, Farid, and Elinor sneak back towards Capricorn's village and try to decide how to save Meggie and Fenoglio. Meggie meets a servant of Capricorn's, Resa, who was a mute woman read out of Inkheart by Darius, Capricorn's stuttering reader, who she believes might be her mother. After being threatened by Mortola, Capricorn's mother and maid, she excitedly tells Fenoglio and starts reading aloud from some books Darius had left behind.
Meggie discovers she has roughly the same gift as her father. Mo sends Gwin to find Meggie with a message written in Elvish tucked underneath his collar; Meggie replies and reveals to Mo that she has the gift as well. Dustfinger infiltrates the village and finds Resa, and she asks about Mo and Meggie through writing. Dustfinger, who has feelings for Resa, reluctantly tells her the truth. Basta discovers Meggie's power when he finds Tinkerbell in her and Fenoglio's cell, and Capricorn demands that she will finish his plan. Fenoglio asks for some pen and paper to keep his mind clear, but secretly works on an ending to give his story a more satisfying conclusion.
Meggie is forced to read a passage from Inkheart and bring the Shadow, Capricorn's personal assassin of fire, into the real world. With Elinor and Resa held as hostages by Basta and Mortola theatening to poison her, Meggie agrees. Fenoglio gives her a sheet of paper to tuck in her sleeve and add to the passage to save herself. Farid and Mo light a fire to draw away Capricorn's men, and Fenoglio causes a ruckus so that Meggie can slip out his sheet of paper. Meggie summons the Shadow (and accidentally sends Fenoglio into his own book), but cannot bring herself to destroy it and Capricorn. Mo takes the paper and reads it; the Shadow kills Capricorn, and then explodes and reforms into all the magical creatures whose lives he stole in the covers of Inkheart. Basta and Mortola escape, but Mo and Resa are reunited. Farid and Dustfinger steal the last copy of Inkheart and leave to try and find a way into the story, while Mo, Resa, Elinor, Darius, Meggie, and some of the fairy creatures go to live at Elinor's house. Meggie decides to try and write stories of her own.
6). Monster House (watch move trailer) is an Academy Award-nominated American 2006 computer animated fantasy film released on July 21, 2006. Executive produced by Robert Zemeckis and Steven Spielberg, this is the first time since Back to the Future Part III that both have been involved together. It is the very first time that Zemeckis and Spielberg both served as executive producers of a film together. The film's characters are animated primarily utilizing performance capture, making it the second film to use the technology so extensively, following producer Robert Zemeckis' The Polar Express. The film completed production in early 2006, and was released on July 21, 2006 by Columbia Pictures.
A preteen boy, D.J. Walters (Mitchel Musso), spends a lot of his free time spying on the house across the street and its owner, Mr. Nebbercracker (Steve Buscemi), a crotchety old man who terrorizes anyone who steps anywhere on his lawn or close to his house. DJ has seen and documented Nebbercracker taking toys from kids that have stepped in his grounds. His parents (Catherine O'Hara and Fred Willard), dismiss his comments as "kid talk" and leave town for the weekend, during which he is to be cared by Elizabeth or "Zee" (Maggie Gyllenhaal), DJ's apathetic babysitter.
When Charles "Chowder" (Sam Lerner), DJ's best friend, loses his basketball on Nebbercracker's lawn, DJ ventures there to recover it, but Nebbercracker appears and grabs DJ, who then starts screaming. This causes him to collapse from a stroke, seemingly dead. While Nebbercracker is carried away by the paramedics, a gold key is dropped, which DJ scoops up.
That night, DJ gets a call from Nebbercracker's house (which was just eerie moaning from the other end). He calls Chowder and they agree to meet at a construction lot. There, they decide to investigate the house. When Chowder tries to ding-dong-ditch the house, it comes to life and attempts to eat him. They run back to DJ's house and spend the night watching across the street. Unknown to them, Zee's recently ex-boyfriend, Bones (Jason Lee), has already been "swallowed" by the house.
The next morning, a girl named Jenny Bennet (Spencer Locke) is on the street selling Halloween chocolates. DJ and Chowder see her going to Nebbercracker's house, and they rush out to warn her, managing to catch her before she is eaten by the house. Jenny decides to call for the police, but when police officers Landers and Lester (Kevin James and Nick Cannon) arrive, they don't believe their story, as the house doesn't react to the kids' teasing while the cops are there.
The kids watch horrified as the house swallows Officers Landers and Lester.
The children then go to an arcade and ask advice from a video-game addict nicknamed Skull (Jon Heder). They learn that the house is a "domus mactibilis" (deadly home in Latin), which is created when a human soul merges with a man-made structure. They conclude that the house is Nebbercracker back from the dead and that the only way to "kill" the house is to destroy its heart. Though they have trouble figuring out what the heart is until DJ realizes that the chimney has been smoking (and apparently beating like a heart) ever since Mr. Nebbercracker died.
The kids make a dummy that they fill with cold medicine, intending to "drug" the house. As the house is about to swallow the dummy, the police officers return. Officer Landers decides to arrest the children for stealing the cold medicine and places them in the car. The house then swallows Lester, Landers and the police car, while the kids survive by jumping out the broken back window.
The film ends with the kids returning to the hole where the house was, and Chowder, DJ, and Jenny helping Nebbercracker return all the toys. During the credits, it is shown that everyone that was eaten by the house crawls out of the basement bewildered but unharmed.
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