Open Season (2006)

Directors:

Roger Allers
Jill Culton

Writers:

Steve Moore (story) and
John B. Carls (story) ...

Release Date:

29 September 2006 (USA)

Genre:

Animation | Adventure | Comedy | Family

Tagline:

One Fur All & All Fur One.

Plot:

Boog, a domesticated 900lb. Grizzly bear finds himself stranded in the woods 3 days before Open Season. Forced to rely on Elliot, a fast-talking mule deer, the two form an unlikely friendship and must quickly rally other forest animals if they are to form a rag-tag army against the hunters.

Plot Keywords:

Hunter | Forest | Bear | Deer | Grizzly

Awards:

1 win & 7 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Mon. Dec. 28

9:00 AM

TOON

Cast

Martin Lawrence	...	Boog (voice)
Ashton Kutcher	...	Elliot (voice)
Gary Sinise	...	Shaw (voice)
Debra Messing	...	Beth (voice)
Billy Connolly	...	McSquizzy (voice)
Georgia Engel	...	Bobbie (voice)
Jon Favreau	...	Reilly (voice)
Jane Krakowski	...	Giselle (voice)
Gordon Tootoosis	...	Gordy (voice)
Patrick Warburton	...	Ian (voice)
Cody Cameron	...	Mr. Weenie (voice)
Nika Futterman	...	Rosie (voice)
Danny Mann	...	Serge (voice)
Jack McGee	...	Hunter (voice)
Michelle Murdocca	...	Maria (voice)

MPAA:

Rated PG for some rude humor, mild action and brief language.

Runtime:

83 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

SDDS (8 channels) | DTS | Sonics-DDP (IMAX version) | Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:PG | Netherlands:AL | Ireland:PG | Switzerland:7 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:7 (canton of Geneva) | Singapore:PG | Finland:K-7 | UK:PG | Germany:o.Al. | Philippines:G (MTRCB) | Indonesia:SU | Malaysia:U | Australia:G | Hong Kong:I | Argentina:Atp | Portugal:M/6 | South Korea:All | Sweden:7 | New Zealand:G | South Africa:A

Filming Locations:

Sony Pictures Studios - 10202 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Company:

Sony Pictures Animation

Trivia:

Out of all the directors, Roger Allers was the only one who had experienced feature film directing before.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: At the beginning of the movie Beth loads a large blue cooler and a smaller red one into the back of her jeep. They are no where to be seen when Boog jumps into the back a few minutes later.

Quotes:

Elliot: I feel a little light-headed.
[His one remaining antler falls off]

Movie Connections:

References Full Metal Jacket (1987)

Soundtrack:

I Belong

Knock-off of every CGI animated movie previously released.

I'd have to agree with the critics on this one. When you release so many CGI movies with talking animals, there is a point at which mediocrity becomes common place. Open Season is no exception.

It seems to me that a lot of these movies released this past year revolve around this basic formula. 1) A plot involving talking animals. 2) Hire celebrities to do the voice acting (need at least one comedian). 3) Have a main character and an annoying obnoxious sidekick. 4) Have some simple plot in which the main characters are on a journey and have to reach from point A to point B.

When watching Open Season, I couldn't help but notice the parallels to Shrek. Boog (the bear) = Shrek, and Elliot (the deer) = Donkey. Need voice actors? Easy, let's hire two comedians (Mike Myers & Eddie Murphy vs Martin Lawrence & Ashton Kutcher). Plot? Well, let's just make them stranded somewhere and they have to reach from point A to point B. In this case, from the forest to Boog's old home. Of course, I could make the same case with Finding Nemo (comedians Albert Brooks & Ellen DeGeneres, main character and sidekick, travel from point A to point B plot).

Now don't get me wrong, I love Shrek and Finding Nemo. The problem is that when you have two great movies like these released previously, you can't help but notice how much Open Season recycles from previous movies. Open Season lacks any emotional charm or comedic originality. Another problem I had is that a lot of the jokes are based on clichés and stereotypes (Scottish squirrels? Male deers = high school jocks? Ducks = French resistance? Female skunks = black women?).

If there's any redeeming value in this film, it would be the fact that I watched it in IMAX 3D. It looks amazing. Wearing the 3D glasses, I could see each individual patch of fur on Boog's back and the characters literally came out from the screen.

Is this movie good for the kids? Yes. It had some laughs in it and it does bring about a moral message about the preservation of wildlife. It's a good way to kill and hour and a half. But don't expect to see anything new or original in this film.