Doug's 1st Movie is a 1999 American animated film based on the Disney version of the Nickelodeon television series Doug. The film was produced by Jumbo Pictures and Buena Vista, and released by Walt Disney Pictures on March 26, 1999. In theaters, the Disney short "Opera Box" from the television series Mickey MouseWorks was featured before the movie, the short featured Donald and Daisy Duck.
Plot
Doug and Skeeter discover a monster that lives in Lucky Duck Lake. At first they are scared of him, but they later on find him to be nice. But, the monster is proof that Bill Bluff is polluting the lake. The Monster almost eats the book Moby Dick but Skeeter stops him and says, "Stop! You almost ate Herman Melville", and the monster responded, so they named him Herman Melville. But all this commotion with the monster makes Doug forget that he was supposed to meet Patti at Mr. Swirly's. When he remembers this, he runs to Swirly's as fast as he can using the quickest short-cuts that he knew. Once he gets there, he does not see Patti. He asks Mr. Swirly if he's seen her, and he says the she was here for a while and looked very upset, and then left with a guy who kept talking about his big plans for a dance. When Doug heard this, he knew that this guy was no one else but Guy Grahm, a snobby upper classman who wants Patti. Doug then rushes to Bebe Bluff Middle School where Guy and Patti are working on the dance. He apologizes to Patti there and she accepts his apology. But Guy cuts in and says that Doug is just a stupid little kid. Doug, very angry now, says that he has proof that Mr. Bluff is polluting the lake. Guy then calls Doug a liar. Doug then invites them both to the report that is being held in front of Mr. Dinks house about Herman and the pollution. Doug then leaves, but the picture of the monster falls out of his pocket without him knowing. Guy then picks up the picture and realizes that Doug was telling the truth. Guy then calls Mr. Bluff, who he is friends with. Then at the reporting, Doug sees that a news reporters camera is inflatable. He then realizes that the news company is a fake, that it is supporting Bill Bluff and trying to compensate the monster. Doug then has to tell everyone that there has been a mistake, Patti gets mad at him, thinks that he is a liar and walks away with Guy. That night, Mr. Bluff finds the boys with Herman and kidnaps the monster. The next morning, Doug knows that this is his last chance to save Herman. He goes to the school newspaper room, hoping to find Guy who can lead him to Mr. Bluff. Guy isn't in the room, but Doug sees a newspaper article that says that Mr. Bluff and his men blast a monster to smitherines at a school dance. Doug is at first sad and believes that Herman has died, but he than realizes that the school dance isn't until tonight and this is what is being planned to happen. At the school dance, he has to make the biggest choice of his life, going after Patti or saving Herman.
Cast
- Tom McHugh as Doug Funnie, Quailman, Lincoln
- Becca Lish as Judy Funnie, Mrs. Funnie, Connie
- Fred Newman as Skeeter Valentine, Mr. Dink, Porkchop
- Chris Phillips as Roger Klotz, Boomer, Larry, Mr. Chiminy
- Alice Playten as Beebe Bluff, Elmo
- Doug Preis as Mr. Funnie, Mr. Bluff, Willie, Chalky, Bluff Agent
- Constance Shulman as Patti Mayonnaise
- Frank Welker as Herman Melville
- Guy Hadley as Guy Graham
- Eddie Korbich as Al & Moo Sleech
- David O'Brien as Quailman Announcer
- Doris Belack as Mayor Tippi Dink
- Greg Lee as Principal White
- Bob Bottone as Bluff Assistant
- Bruce Bayley Johnson as Mr. Swirley
- Fran Brill as Mrs. Perigrew
- Melissa Greenspan as Briar Langolier
Production
Nickelodeon set out to do a Doug film in 1993, to be released by Sony Pictures Entertainment's TriStar Pictures, along with films based on Rugrats and The Ren & Stimpy Show, but the plans fell through and the movies were never produced. [1]
This film was originally planned as a direct-to-video release under the title The First Doug Movie Ever, but due to the success of The Rugrats Movie, it saw a theatrical release. Doug's 1st Movie was released on VHS on September 21, 1999 from Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment.
Originally, Roger's subplot would be for him to have a crush on Herman when he was disguised as a girl. This was scrapped from the film, but included in the novelization.[citation needed]
Reception
Doug's 1st Movie opened at #5 (behind Forces of Nature, Analyze This, EDtv and The Mod Squad) with $4,470,489, for an average of $1,971 from a very wide 2,268 theaters. While this may be deemed as low for an average Hollywood film, Doug's only cost $5 million to make due to its direct-to-video budget and a somewhat low-key promotional campaign. As such, the film still managed to gross $19,421,271 in ticket sales creating a large profit for Disney.
Critics were harsh to Doug's 1st Movie when it was released theatrically. Many noted that the film felt too much like an extended episode of the show (story and animation-wise) and many mention that the film should have stayed a direct-to-video release. Screenit.com awarded the film 4 out of 10. Rotten Tomatoes received harsh negative reviews and received a 26%. The reviewer mentioned it was mediocre and did not have "that magic or cinematic feel to warrant the big screen treatment" and it felt like the regular series.[1]
References
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