Open Season

Open Season
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Jill Culton Roger Allers Anthony Stacchi
Produced by	Michelle Murdocca Amy Jupiter Steve Moore John B. Carls
Written by	Steve Bencich Ron J. Friedman
Starring	Martin Lawrence Ashton Kutcher Gary Sinise Debra Messing
Music by	Ramin Djawadi
Editing by	Ken Solomon Pam Ziegenhagen
Studio	Sony Pictures Animation
Distributed by	Columbia Pictures
Release date(s)	September 29, 2006 (2006-09-29)
Running time	86 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$85 million[1]
Box office	$197,309,027[1]

Open Season is a 2006 American computer-animated comedy film, written by Steve Bencich and Ron J. Friedman and directed by Jill Culton, Roger Allers, and Anthony Stacchi. The film was produced by Sony Pictures Animation and released by Columbia Pictures on September 29, 2006.

The story centers around woodland creatures that are traditionally hunted teaming up against hunters. The film features the voices of Martin Lawrence, Ashton Kutcher, Gary Sinise, Debra Messing, Jon Favreau, Matthew W. Taylor, Jane Krakowski, Billy Connolly, Georgia Engel, and Patrick Warburton.

It has also been released in the IMAX 3D format.^[2] It was Sony Pictures Animation's first theatrical film. A video game for the film was released on multiple platforms.

Plot

In the tranquil town of Timberline, 900-pound grizzly bear Boog enjoys a captive, but happy existence. He spends his day as the star attraction of the town's nature show and spends his nights living the life of luxury in the garage of park ranger Beth, who raised him since he was a cub.

One day, the hunting fanatic Shaw drives into town with the one-antlered mule deer Elliot strapped to the hood of his truck. Boog wakes him as the two scream in terror. With Boog reluctant to intervene, Elliot begs to Boog for help to escape. At the last minute and against his better judgment, Boog frees Elliot before Shaw can go after him. Boog never expects to see his "buddy" again.

Elliot follows Boog home and finds him sleeping in the garage and starts to throw rabbits at the window. Elliot tells Boog he wants to "free" him from his garage captivity. Elliot introduces Boog to a world of sweet temptations outside of the garage that he has never known. When the grizzly becomes intoxicated with sugar, events quickly spiral out of control as the two ransack the town's grocery store. Elliot escapes before Boog is caught by a friend of Beth, police officer Gordy.

At the nature show, Boog meets up with Elliot who is being chased by Shaw. Boog attacks the mule deer, causing the whole audience in the show to panic before Boog threatens to kill Elliot. Shaw prepares to shoot Boog but the bear is instead shot by Beth with a tranquilizer gun; she shoots Elliot as well. The two trouble-makers are released into the Timberline National Forest, only three days before the start of open season.

Since he lacks any outdoor skills, Boog takes Elliot as his hapless guide to get him back home to Timberline to reunite with Beth. But in the woods, they quickly learn that it is every animal for itself. The two run into their share of the forest animals including hot-tempered skunks, psychotic ducks and panic-stricken rabbits. They also run into other animals such as the Scottish-accented squirrel, McSquizzy and his rogue gang, Reilly and his beaver construction worker team, and a porcupine who is in search of a friend. With each adverse encounter, Boog learns a little about self-reliance and Elliot gains self-respect. Elliot finds his herd crush, Giselle, but is also found by the herd leader, Ian, the "jock" mule deer and leader who has forced Elliot out of the herd (it is never explained why). They walk away from Ian's taunting, realizing that they have obtained true friendship.

Day by day Elliot still attempts to lead Boog out of the forest, but it becomes evident that he has no clue where they are going. After winding up at Reilly's dam, Boog and Elliot are confronted by Shaw. Boog tries to run over the dam, but it is not a load bearing structure. It breaks under his weight and the rush of water washes everyone in the forest, including Shaw, to the clearing below the falls.

At first everyone blames Boog, but Boog accuses Elliot of lying to him about leading him home. Elliot confesses, saying he wanted Boog as a friend and thought if they just spent time together it would work out. All the animals are angry at him, and Boog leaves to unwittingly find Shaw's log cabin. Shaw discovers him and pursues him to the city road where Boog happens upon the glowing lights of Timberline. Instead of deserting his companions, Boog helps the other animals defend themselves using supplies taken from Bob and Bobbie's (two 'scientists' looking for Bigfoot) RV while their pet dachshund Mr. Weenie joins the wilds.

The following day, Boog leads a rampage against the hunters, sending them running after McSquizzy blows up their trucks. Shaw returns for a final battle. Elliot takes a bullet meant for Boog, enraging the bear who ties up Shaw with his own gun. Boog finds that Elliot survived the shot, only losing his second antler in the fight. Beth returns to take Boog back home where he will be safe, but instead he stays with his friends. They both realize that the bear is at home in the forest.

Voice cast

• Martin Lawrence as Boog, a 900-pound, smooth-talking grizzly bear.
• Ashton Kutcher as Elliot, a hyperactive mule deer.
• Gary Sinise as Shaw, the nastiest hunter in Timberline and Beth's arch-rival.
• Debra Messing as Beth, a park ranger who raised Boog since he was a cub.
• Billy Connolly as McSquizzy, a grumpy, old Scottish-accented Eastern gray squirrel.
• Jon Favreau as Reilly, a North American beaver
• Patrick Warburton as Ian, a vain mule deer stag who leads the herd and threw out Elliot.
• Jane Krakowski as Giselle, a beautiful mule deer doe who is Elliot's love interest.
• Gordon Tootoosis as Gordy, Timberline's sheriff and Beth's friend.
• Georgia Engel as Bobbie, a fat lady who's Bob's wife and Mr. Weenie's owner.
• Cody Cameron as Mr. Weenie, a domesticated, German-accented dachshund who is Bob and Bobbie's pet.
• Danny Mann as Serge, a French-accented, psychotic mallard duck.
• Matthew W. Taylor as Deni, a mute mallard duck who is Serge's brother and sidekick. / Buddy, a blue North American porcupine who is in search of a friend.
• Nika Futterman as Rosie, a hot-tempered striped skunk.
• Michelle Murdocca as Maria, a striped skunk who is Rosie's identical sister.
• Fergal Reilly as O'Toole, a North American beaver and one of Reilly's men.

Production

The ideas for Open Season came from cartoonist Steve Moore, who is known for his comic strip In the Bleachers.^[3] Moore and producer John Carls submitted the story to Sony in June 2002, and the film immediately went into development.^[4] On February 29, 2004, Sony Pictures Animation announced the beginning of the production on its first CGI animated film Open Season.^[5]

The film location was inspired by the towns of Sun Valley, Idaho and McCall, Idaho, and the Sawtooth National Forest. References to the Lawn Lake, Colorado, Dam flood, Longs Peak, and other points of interest in the area are depicted in the film.^{[citation needed]}

The Sony animation team developed a digital tool called shapers that allowed the animators to re-shape the character models into stronger poses and silhouettes and subtle distortions such as squash, stretch, and smears, typical of traditional, hand-drawn animation.^[6]

Martin Lawrence and Ashton Kutcher never met during production.^[7]

Reception

Critical reception

Open Season received mixed reviews from critics. Critics of Rotten Tomatoes gave the film 48% (based on 100 reviews) with the consensus "Open Season is a cliched palette of tired jokes and CG animal shenanigans that have been seen multiple times this cinematic year."^[8]

Kevin Smith gave the film a good review during an appearance as a guest critic on At the Movies with Ebert and Roeper, saying, "If your kids like poop jokes as much as I do, Open Season will put a big smile on their faces." However, Richard Roeper gave the film a mixed review, saying, "It's just okay, the animation is uninspired."^[9]

Box office

Open Season opened #1 with $23 million on its opening weekend. It grossed $85.1 million in the United States and $112.2 million in foreign countries, making $197.3 million worldwide.^[1]

Accolades

The film was nominated for 6 Annie Awards, including Best Animated Feature (lost to Cars), Best Animated Effects, Best Character Design in a Feature Production, Best Production Design in a Feature Production, and Best Storyboarding in a Feature Production.^[10]

Home media

Open Season was released on DVD, Blu-ray, and UMD Video on January 30, 2007.^[11] It includes a new animated short called Boog and Elliot's Midnight Bun Run. The film was later released to 3D Blu-ray on November 16, 2010.^[12]

Video game

A video game based on the film was released for PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii, Nintendo DS, Nintendo Gamecube, Gameboy Advance, and Microsoft Windows.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack includes an original film score by Ramin Djawadi and several original songs by Paul Westerberg, formerly of The Replacements. Rolling Stone gave the film's soundtrack three stars out of five,^[13] as did Allmusic.^[14]

Track list:

All music composed by Paul Westerberg, except as noted.

Open Season - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (10'' LP) includes two songs that did not appear on the soundtrack CD: an alternative version of "I Belong" and a Paul Westerberg's version of "Wild as I Wanna Be."^[15]

Charts

Sequels

Open Season was followed by two direct-to-video sequels: Open Season 2 (2008) and Open Season 3 (2010).

References

External links

• Official website
• Open Season at the Internet Movie Database
• Open Season at the Big Cartoon DataBase
• Open Season at AllRovi
• Open Season at Rotten Tomatoes
• Open Season at Metacritic
• Open Season at Box Office Mojo