The Croods Information

The Croods is a 2013 American 3D computer-animated adventure comedy film produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by 20th Century Fox. It features the voices of Nicolas Cage, Ryan Reynolds, Emma Stone, Catherine Keener, Clark Duke, and Cloris Leachman. The film is set in the prehistoric era, when a man's position as a "Leader of the Hunt" is threatened by the arrival of a prehistoric genius who comes up with revolutionary new inventions like fire as they trek through a dangerous but exotic land in search of a new home.

The Croods was written and directed by Kirk DeMicco and Chris Sanders, and produced by Kristine Belson and Jane Hartwell. It was released in theaters on March 22, 2013. As part of the distribution deal, this became the first film from DreamWorks Animation to be distributed by 20th Century Fox, since the end of their distribution deal with Paramount Pictures in 2012 with Rise of the Guardians.

Plot

The film starts with Eep (Emma Stone), a girl in a family of Neanderthal Cavemen (homo neanderthalensis) living in pre-historic times, talking about how her family is one of the few to survive nearby, mainly due to the strict rules of her overprotective father Grug (Nicolas Cage). When in their cave home, Grug tells a story to the rest of the family which includes his wife Ugga (Catherine Keener), his daughter Sandy (Randy Thom), his son Thunk (Clark Duke), and his mother-in-law (Cloris Leachman) with a character that mirrors Eep's curious nature. He uses this story to warn the family that exploration and 'new things' pose a threat to their survival. This irritates the bored and adventurous Eep, and when the family falls asleep after dark, she ignores her father's advice, and leaves the cave.

While venturing off, she meets Guy (Ryan Reynolds), an intelligent caveboy (homo sapien). She becomes fascinated with the fire he manages to create and is eager to learn more. He tells her about his theory that the world is reaching its 'end,' before giving her a noise-making horn to call him if she feels the need for help. He then abandons Eep, who is then caught by Grug (who had been frantically searching for her). Much later, he brings her back home, only to find that their cave home has collapsed from an earthquake. All the family then climb over the wreckage to discover an other-worldly land, much different from their usual surroundings of rocky terrain.

While becoming aware of their new surroundings, the family are attacked by some deadly red-furred birds. In an act of panic, Eep sounds a horn similar to that which Guy gave her. Guy hears this and rushes to her. Thinking quickly, he creates a torch of fire, which scares the birds away. The rest of the family are then captivated by the fire, having never seen it before. They steal Guy's torch and accidentally set the land around them up in flames. Eventually some giant corn is lit, which all rockets up to the sky, prompting a display of fireworks. After feeling impressed with Guy's intelligence and mind of 'ideas,' Grug bottles him in a hollow log to carry him in, then suggests that they take solitude in the cave of a nearby mountain mentioned by Guy. Guy is forcibly persuaded to lead the way, and soon begins to learn of the Croods' way of living, which he thinks of as unusual.

After an unsuccessful hunting attempt, Guy along with his 'pet' sloth, Belt (Chris Sanders), as well as Eep, build a puppet to fool and lure nearby animals. Having captured something afterwards, the family greedily devour everything they caught. Guy and Eep, however, are more sparing. The others realize their greediness and stop eating. Grug then tells another of his morale-lowering tales, this time mirroring the events of their day, mentioning a girl Grug and Ugga had before Eep was born who did venture away from her cave and died. Guy then tells a story of his own, about a paradise he nicknames "Tomorrow."

In the morning, the family reaches a path coated in spiked rocks. A freed Guy then presents one of his various inventions calle shoes. He makes some out of all the resources he can find, for each family member. This gains him some respect from the others, except for Grug, who starts to feel jealous of Guy's cleverness. After a slew of Guy's ideas help the Croods on their continuing journey, they all reach a tree to stop for another night. Everyone but Grug decide to change their path to "Tomorrow." The next day, a 'desperate' and left-out Grug shows the others some of his ideas, which all end up failing. Grug, unable to convince the family that settling in a cave is a better option, reaches to full anger, and proceeds to attack Guy. The two become stuck in tar and Guy reveals his family died drowning in it. Grug has a change of heart towards Guy, before he and Guy free themselves.

They all reach the land of "Tomorrow" just in time. Grug throws them over the pit so they can cross. Then he uses a decaying skeleton carried by birds, to transport himself there barely escaping the oncoming destruction. He and the whole Crood family settle down as Grug becomes less protective, letting the family be more adventurous and risk-taking, thus bringing happiness to them all.

Cast

• Nicolas Cage as Grug Crood, a caveman who is the well-meaning, overprotective but outdated patriarch of the Croods family.
• Ryan Reynolds as Guy, a nomadic caveboy who is not as strong as the Croods, but prefers using his brain and comes up with various ideas and inventions. He is accompanied by a sloth named Belt and is Eep's love interest.
• Emma Stone as Eep Crood, a cavegirl who is Grug and Ugga's eldest daughter and is filled with curiosity and a desire for adventure. She has a crush on Guy.
• Catherine Keener as Ugga Crood, a cavewoman who is Grug's wife. She is more open-minded than Grug, but finds it hard to keep her family safe.
• Clark Duke as Thunk Crood, a caveboy who is Grug and Ugga's son. Thunk is the 6-foot-9, 320 pound, 9-year-old middle child, who is not very bright and has bad coordination but has a good heart. He gets a crocopup named Douglas for a pet.
• Cloris Leachman as Gran, a very old (45 years) and ferocious cavewoman who is the mother-in-law of Grug and the mother of Ugga.
• Chris Sanders as Belt, Guy's pet sloth.
• Randy Thom as Sandy Crood, Grug and Ugga's ferocious baby daughter who still bites and growls instead of speaking. Thom created her voice with creature noises.

Production

The film was originally being made by Aardman Animations as a part of a five-film deal with DreamWorks Animation. Announced in 2005 under the working title Crood Awakening, and as a stop motion film, John Cleese and Kirk DeMicco wrote the first few drafts of the script. With the departure of Aardman in beginning of 2007, the rights for the film reverted to DreamWorks.

In March 2007, Chris Sanders, the director of Lilo & Stitch, joined DreamWorks to direct the film, with intentions to significantly rewrite the script. In September 2008, it was reported that Sanders took over How to Train Your Dragon putting The Croods on hold, and thus postponing its original schedule for a year to a then planned March 2012. The film's final title, The Croods, was revealed in May 2009, along with new co-director, Kirk DeMicco. In March 2011, the film got another delay, being pushed back a year to March 1, 2013, and finally settled at March 22.

Release

The Croods had its world premiere in the out of competition section at the 63rd Berlin International Film Festival on February 15, 2013. It premiered in the United States on March 22, 2013.

Reception

Critical response

The Croods has received mixed to positive reviews from critics. Based on 104 reviews, the film currently holds a rating of 64% on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, with an average rating of 6.4/10. The site's critical consensus reads: "While it may not be as (ahem) evolved as the best modern animated fare, The Croods will prove solidly entertaining for families seeking a fast-paced, funny cartoon adventure." Another review aggregator, Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 top reviews from mainstream critics, calculated a score of 56 based on 26 reviews.

Claudia Puig of USA Today called the film "A visually dazzling animated adventure with a well-chosen voice cast is hampered by lackluster humor and a meandering story." Tom Russo of The Boston Globe gave the film two and a half stars and wrote in his review, "Had the movie figured out a way to stay the less-cliched course, it might have helped the DreamWorks oeuvre take steps toward Pixar's emotional resonance." Keith Staskiewicz of Entertainment Weekly gave the film a C+, and wrote in his review, "A handful of adrenalizing sequences of animated anarchy can't save this story from feeling overly primitive." David Rooney of The Hollywood Reporter called the film "Further back on the evolutionary chain than the Flintstones, and also lagging in the comedy stakes, this sweet Stone Age clan nonetheless will captivate the youngsters." Leslie Felperin of Variety found that "The main problem with the film is that the script simply isn't very funny, and its various subplots never quite mesh satisfyingly together." Tirdad Derakhshani of The Philadelphia Inquirer gave the film a 3.5 of 4 star rating saying, "The movie is well-edited and lean, a fast-paced, action-filled bit of froth that manages to be diverting and surprisingly fun." Betsy Sharkey of The Los Angeles Times found that "Too many of the "solutions" the guys concoct are so impossibly complex or just downright ridiculous "? puppetry comes to mind "? that like the continents, it's a little too easy to drift away." Neil Genzlinger of The New York Times found that "The movie is at its most interesting and amusing when riffing on how cavemen might have reacted to new experiences and ideas, like fire and shoes. Whether the kiddies will appreciate that is unclear, but they'll certainly like the voice work done by Emma Stone as Eep." Nell Minow of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film three stars saying, "Despite a few too many mother-in-law jokes, The Croods nicely makes it clear that even before they had fire, families understood how important it was to cherish and protect each other." Tom Keogh of The Seattle Times gave the film three stars saying, "There isn't much compelling sophistication to The Croods, not a lot to engage adults beyond a couple of Wile E. Coyote moments for hapless Grug." Michael O'Sullivan of The Washington Post gave the film two and a half stars saying, The Croods is just good, goofy fun, for a generation too young to have met Bamm-Bamm. But for those of more precocious intellects, it offers a little something extra to chew on besides rock-smacking slapstick and a brontosaurus burger." Richard Corliss of Time said that "The family-dramedy genre that the film inhabits demands a bit more narrative ingenuity than is on display." Peter Howell of the Toronto Star gave the film two stars saying, "The filmmakers may have misjudged their audience. They aim low enough so that tots won't be terrified, but adults, teens and older children may well be bored by the blandness."

Box office

In North America, The Croods made $11.6 million on its opening day, and is expected to open at #1 with a projected weekend gross of $45 million or higher. The caveman comedy opened at No. 1 with an estimated $44.7 million. The Croods also brought in an additional $63.3 million internationally--including $16 million from previews last weekend--to bring its total worldwide gross to $108 million.

Soundtrack

Alan Silvestri composed the original music for the film, which was released digitally on March 15, 2013, by Relativity Music Group, and on CD on March 26, 2013, by Sony Classical. The soundtrack also includes an original song performed by Owl City and Yuna.

Video games

A video game based on the film, titled The Croods: Prehistoric Party!, was released on March 19, 2013. Developed by Torus Games, and published by D3 Publisher, it was adapted for Wii U, Wii, Nintendo 3DS and Nintendo DS. The game enables players to take the members of the Croods family on an adventure through 30 party-style mini-games.

A mobile game, titled The Croods, and published by Rovio, the creator of Angry Birds, was released on March 14, 2013 to iOS and Android.