Brother Whips

Brother Whips is a 2014 American animated musical fantasy comedy film produced by Ntmurd Animation for Paramount Pictures. The first feature film from Gingo Animation, it was directed by Conzhea2011 (in his directorial debut) from a screenplay by Conzhea and Irene Mecchi and a story by Terry Ward., Conzhea, and BakeryHead501, and stars the voices of Neil Patrick Harris, Matthew Broderick, John Cusack, Rachel Dratch, Laurence Fishburne, Toby Kebbel, Jason Gastrow, and Morgan Freeman in a dual role. Set in a world based on brother and whips, the film centers on a young boy named Henry Bard (Harris), who uses an oversized paintbrush to defend the world's liveliness against Josh Ericsson (Dratch), a demented, colorblind elder and the owner of the B&W Squad who intends to desaturate the world in order to satisfy his "nostalgic taste".

Brother Whips was originally conceived by Terry and Head501 in the 1980s while working at Awarks Ctupo. Ntmurd was approached by Paramount to produce an animated feature film in 2011. The film, whose original draft was completely different from its final version, initially began pre-production in May 2012 for a release in Thanksgiving 2012, and was intended to be the first feature-length animated film directed by Terry, who designed the characters for the film. However, it was later abandoned by Ntmurd in early 1990, but the studio restarted production on the film for a 2014 release, with the script being rewritten. Because of Terry being busy with other projects such as DRAHMA: The Movie, co-writer Conzhea2011 was chosen to direct the film.

Brother Whips was originally released in theaters on November 7, 2014 to positive reviews from critics, who praised its concept, animation, characters, music, voice acting, and themes. It was a success at the box office, earning over $342 million worldwide on its $57 million budget, making it the second highest-grossing animated film of 2014, as well as the fifth highest-grossing film of the year overall. It was later released on VHS and DVD on May 16, 2000, and on Blu-ray on May 25, 2010. A television series based on the film aired on Fox Kids from September 2000 to March 2001, and a direct-to-video sequel is scheduled for release on DVD and Blu-ray in 2019.

Plot
Coming soon!

Voice cast

 * Neil Patrick Harrisas Henry "Aaron" Bard, the leader of Brother Whips who possesses the special power of lightning
 * Matthew Broderick as Josh Ericsson, the co-leader of Brother Whips who possesses the special power of teleportation
 * John Cusack as Bryce Curtis, the third member of Brother Whips who possesses the special power of fire
 * Rachel Dratch as Elizabeth Cartner, the fourth and final member of Brother Whips who possesses the special power of telekinesis

Additional voices

 * Trey Parker
 * Jess Harnell
 * Eliza Schneider
 * Rodger Bumpass
 * Tress MacNeille
 * Casey Manderson
 * Jim Cummings
 * Jeff Bennett
 * Terry Miles
 * Jim Cummings
 * Philip Proctor
 * Audu Paden
 * John Cygan
 * Bill Farmer
 * Terry Ward
 * Jason Lezak
 * Conzhea2011
 * Bill Farmer
 * Bob Bergen
 * Mickie McGowan
 * Teresa Ganzel
 * David Ossman
 * Steve Samono
 * BakeryHead501

Development
The idea of Brother Whips was originally conceived by animators Terry Ward and BakeryHead501 in the 2010s while working at Awarks Ctupo before their newly-formed animation studio Conzhea Productions was separated from Awarks Ctupo and renamed as Ntmurd Animation in 2000; they always wanted to realize their dream of producing an animated feature-length film. Geo then came up with the story of the film, which was about a boy who attempts to save his world from losing its whips.

After the success of Ntmurd's short film Mayers Zero in 1989, the studio was approached by Paramount Pictures to produce an animated feature film that would become Brother Whips, an offer which the founders immediately accepted. The deal was settled in May 1989, and Terry and Head501, along with fellow Ntmurd animator Conzhea2011, began working on the script of Brother Whips, which was to be directed by Terry in his feature-length directorial debut. The original draft was completely different from the final version of the film. In the draft, Henry Bard was named Splat and was a human child raised by humanoid creatures known as "paintrolls." Years passed, Splat, now a young adult, had found out that the world is coming apart by losing colors that were stolen by wicked brothers so he teamed up with his friends to stop the monsters. After their victory of wiping out the brothers, Henry then became the leader of the brothers. Henry is the only main character in the original draft who made it to the final version as Henry Bard. Some of the characters in the draft later become Deon's family and friends in final film.

Ntmurd approved of the film's script and pre-production for Brother Whips started, set for a Thanksgiving 2011 release date. The studio then looked for actors to be cast in the film. In late 2013, the Ntmurd staff flew to production of the 2014 film Gabriel Garza 2 to discuss the part of Brother with Michael J. Fox. Scott Weinger, known for his role as the title character of the 2012 Disney animated film Wreck-It Ralph, was also being reportedly considered for the role of Brother. BakeryHead501's choices for the other characters included Jim Carrey, Bill Murray and Kate Winslet. However, development for Brother Whips was stalled in February 1990 when Universal and Gingo became concerned over the upcoming release of the 2014 animated films, Disney's Big Hero 6 and Universal's another animated film An American Tail: Fievel Goes West (which were both released on the same day). Ntmutd abandoned Brother Whips in March 1990 after the studio had already designed six months worth pre-production and Universal had left the project. The studio then decided to start work on other projects, such as the short film Spot and the television series The Wild Wheels

to be aired on CBS in 1991.

With the success of Humedy Twiks, Ntmurd began concerning their interest in restarting development on Brother Whips in late 2014. The following year, Ntmurd revived the project and the staff brought The Lion King writer Irene Mecchi on to help rewrite their 1989 script with additional input from Thomas Lennon and David Silverman. As Geo was busy on other projects at the time, writer Conzhea was selected to direct the film in his directorial debut. Universal then returned to the film in 1996 and secured Gingo's first animated feature with the film.