Gabriel and the Wacky Pack

Gabriel and the Wacky Pack (referred to as GatWP by fans) is a 2011 American computer-animated 3D comedy film loosely based on The Wacky Pack comic book series created by Geo G. and it served as a spin-off to the MYCUN franchise. It was produced by Blur Studio and Geo LTD. Pictures. It is Blur Studio's first film. It was directed by Tim Miller and David Stinnett, and co-directed by Geo. The film is set in Sinking Spring, Pennsylvania, the main setting of the series, and it stars the voices of Zachary Gordon, Geo G., E.G. Daily, Nicky Jones, Jake T. Austin, Jenny Slate, Sarah Jessica Parker, Nicolas Cage, Amanda Bynes, and Alan Tudyk.

After rumors of a spin-off/prequel to MYCUN: The Movie started to spread before its release, the spin-off was already in the works even before the production of Legend of MYCUN started. However, Universal Studios did not invite MYCUN Studios, an animation company who's responsible for the MYCUN series, to participate in the production of the spin-off (as it had done with the MYCUN films). Instead, the film was animated and produced at Blur Studio, who took the role of MYCUN Studios' parent company CGI Entertainment. In addition, 20th Century Fox, the owner of the MYCUN franchise, has nothing to do with the film at all. Universal released the film through the Geo LTD. Pictures banner since 2009 when Geo LTD. signed a deal with Blur to develop animated films for the said company.

The film made it's world premiere at the TCL Chinese Theatre on October 21, 2011, and Universal released the film in the United States on November 27, 2011 and received generally positive reviews by both fans and film critics, with critics praising its humor and character development. It was also a box office success, grossing over $439 million in the United States and $538 million worldwide.

After the commercial success of the film, it launched a franchise with a series of films, including a sequel in 2014, to be followed by a third film in 2017. A prequel/spin-off, titled Wacky Pack and Lars is planned for 2016, and it will focus on the Wacky Pack.

Plot
In an alternate universe, Gabriel Garza was born in 2000 instead of 1990 who is the adapted owner of Roge, Leno, Cole, Loy and the Lars. He also had a midnight "party" in his room with them, which have so much fun.

One day, Roge, Leno, Cole and three Lars (Ted, John and Cody) were off at top of a cell tower, which was located at Sinking Spring, Pennsylvania, to take a photo for a "cell tower surfing" portrait. Suddenly, the surfboard that Roge, Leno, Cole, John and Cody were on starts to move slowy to the ledge and begins to surf without the water like in air. Their brother and scientist Loy gives Gabriel and the lars the safest moment to spring up being bipedal. After the Wacky Pack interrupt a meeting with his wild antics, Loy has a talk with his brother Roge and his partner Gabriel, in which he tells them that he's a scientist and inventor, and never be happy if Gabriel and the Wacky Pack just goof off. Gabriel and Roge ignore their advices and have fun with Leno and Cole. That same day, Roge meets a new yet imaginary girl named Blues.

That night, Gabriel and his gang throw a massive party in his room; all the imaginary friends including the lars are there except Loy, who is making a invention in his lab. Roge is assigned his shift along with him, but he talks himself out of it, saying that he's needed for a certain role in the midnight party room. Loy talks with Roge and says that he was called by people a "coolest scientist in the world." Roge is given the privilege to party out, and the thankful brother runs to Gabriel's room.

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Cast

 * Further information: List of The Wacky Pack characters


 * Zachary Gordon as Gabriel Garza, a creative, smart 10-year-old boy who is the owner of a small wacky pack, Roge, Leno and Cole.
 * Geo G. as Roge, the first and the leader of the wacky pack who wears a red cap.
 * E.G. Daily as Leno, the second of the wacky pack who is very intelligent and known for his rebellious attitude and was named after the famous talk host Jay Leno.
 * Nicky Jones as Cole, the third of the wacky pack who is afraid of everything.
 * Jake T. Austin as Loy, Roge, Leno and Cole's bigger brother.
 * Jenny Slate as Blues, a small imaginary girl who betrayed Roge for some reason.
 * Sarah Jessica Parker as Christine Garza, Gabriel's mother who takes care of her son.
 * Nicolas Cage as Marvin Garza, Gabriel's father and Christine's former husband.
 * Amanda Bynes as Desiree Garza, Gabriel's older sister.
 * Alan Tudyk as Nicholas Garza, Gabriel's older brother who moved away to Japan.
 * Frank Welker as Roxy, a Cocker Spaniel and Gabriel's pet dog. Welker also voiced Kratos, Gabriel's former pet dog and was moved to Michael.
 * Alex Borstein as Pat, Gabriel's neighbor.
 * Ariel Winter as Gaby, Gabriel's cousin.
 * Kyla Rae Kowalewski as Bella, Gaby's little sister.
 * Hynden Walch as Nancy, a student who was waylaying Gabriel.
 * Tim Miller as Jim, Tom, Dan, Jerry, Jack, Sam, Jeff and Max, eight of the lars.
 * David Stinnett as Gary, Ben, Peter and Ted, four of the lars.
 * Cat Chapman as John and Cody, two of the lars.
 * Fred Tatasciore as TV announcer.
 * Ryan Potter as a paranoid student who asks "who are you people?!?".
 * Michael Gough, Billy West, Corey Burton and Wally Wingert as Blues' all four minions Clef, Nob, Mikey and Joe.

Production
During the post-production of MYCUN: The Movie in August 2005, Geo G. was asked about a MYCUN prequel/spin-off. He replied: "We're not going to do that because we're really, really busy right now. But don't worry, we'll think about it someday." In October 2005, Geo then said, "No plans yet, I'm still thinking about." but added the important statement: "Don't worry, I'll figure it out someday." He did add that there are "still no plans yet." In January 2006, The New York Times says that the title was "well under way".

In February 2006, while working on MYCUN: Give It A Ride!, Universal Studios and Blur Studio started courting Geo G. on getting the adaptation rights for The Wacky Pack. The founders of Blur, David Stinnett, Tim Miller and Cat Chapman, created a model of Gabriel, Roge, Leno and Cole and some animation tests to showcase their design ideas to Geo G.

A spin-off/prequel to MYCUN: The Movie and an animated film based on The Wacky Pack comics was confirmed in July 2006. Universal did not invite 20th Century Fox, MYCUN Studios and CGI Entertainment to return as a participant in the prequel. Instead, it will be developed by Blur Studio. The film was originally planned for release in 2009, by Universal. On December 17, 2007, Universal announced that the film will become a separate film in the MYCUN universe.

Tim Miller, one of the founders of Blur, replied: "When I was a teenager, I used to have every issue of The Wacky Pack, and now we're working on a movie about the comic book series, and it will be completely CGI-animated, it will not be a live-action/CGI film with the humans in real life." Geo G. commented about bringing back the classic Gabriel back, "Gabriel is getting a new muscular look in the MYCUN sequel as an adult, but I'm pretty sure the younger test audiences miss the old Gabriel and didn't like the new Gabriel idea so why not bring back the young Gabriel to The Wacky Pack film we're working on?"

Geo, E.G. Daily, Nicky Jones, Jake T. Austin, and Nicolas Cage from the first two MYCUN films reprised their roles, and Zachary Gordon voiced Gabriel Garza. Max Records was originally going to voice Gabriel, but had other commitments outside production; he was later replaced by Gordon. New voice cast included Jenny Slate, Sarah Jessica Parker, Amanda Bynes, Alan Tudyk, Alex Borstein, and Kyla Rae Kowalewski.

In February 2008, Al Shier and Jeff Fowler were hired to write the script, to be directed by Miller, Stinnett, and co-directed by Geo. In March 2008, it was announced that the film would be titled Gabriel and the Wacky Pack. Miller, Stinnett and Chapman confirmed in May that they would voice the Lars. On August 17, 2008, it was announced that Terry Ward and Steve Samono would be the executive producers of the film. In August 2009, it was announced that the film is in pre-production. In October 2009, Universal confirmed that the film is scheduled to be released in 2011.

On March 16, 2010, Blur announced that composer Heitor Pereira would compose the film's music, along with Randy Newman. In June 2010, Universal confirmed that the film was currently in production. On July 11, 2010, Blur officially released the very first rendered screenshot of the film. Production eventually wrapped up in October 2011.

While the first two films from the MYCUN series occasionally takes place in the 2000's, Gabriel and the Wacky Pack takes place in the 2010's. Geo G. has said that the film takes place "not specifically before the first MYCUN movie, I just wanted bring young Gabriel back to the real world with the Wacky Pack. I think of it as taking place in a parallel universe."

Release
Universal decided to release the film under the Geo LTD. Pictures banner because Blur signed a multi-year arrangement with Geo LTD. to develop and produce computer-animated films, including a Zane the Cool Kid remake and a new Geo film in June 2009.

The teaser trailer for the film was attached to Tangled, released in theaters on November 24, 2010. A theatrical trailer was later released on May 25, 2011. It was then attached with Kung Fu Panda 2. The last theatrical trailer is attached to The Wonderful World of Zak on September 2, 2011.

The world premiere of Gabriel and the Wacky Pack took place on October 21, 2011, at TCL Chinese Theatre, and was released by Universal Pictures in the United States and Canada on November 27, 2011.

Marketing
Several merchandise were made for Gabriel and the Wacky Pack, such as toys and figurines. Universal teamed up with several major companies to promote the film, including McDonald's, who included 8 toys in their Happy Meals featuring the main characters, and Airheads, who made limited-edition flavors "Lar Flavor" and "The Wacky Pack's Strawberry Taste".

Home media
Gabriel and the Wacky Pack was released in the United States and Canada on DVD and Blu-ray on March 12, 2012, with a standalone single-disc DVD release being released on that same day. The United Kingdom release date was April 19, 2012, and the Australian release date was May 23, 2012. The release includes a new short film, titled How Gabriel Met Gabriela. It also includes Blur Studio's Academy Award-nominated short film Gopher Broke.

Gabriel and the Wacky Pack is available in 4 different packages: a 4-disc "Wacky Edition" combination package (3D Blu-ray, Blu-ray, DVD, and Digital Copy), a 3-disc "Wacky Edition" combination package (Blu-ray, DVD, and Digital Copy), a 2-disc "Wacky Edition" combination package (DVD and Digital Copy), and a single disc DVD. The "Digital Copy" included with the 3-disc combination package is a separate disc that allows users to download a copy of the film to a computer through iTunes or Windows Media Player software. The 3-disc combination package also comes with an hour of bonus features.

The film was re-issued on Blu-ray and DVD on October 5, 2014. It includes a movie ticket to Gabriel and the Wacky Pack 2.

Video game
A video game based on the film was published by Activision and released on November 22, 2011, for the Nintendo Wii, Nintendo DS, Universal Odyssey, Starfish Marin, PlayStation 3, and the Xbox 360.

Soundtrack
Gabriel and the Wacky Pack: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is the soundtrack album for the film, released on November 15, 2011 through Geo LTD. Records. It contains several new songs from the film written, produced, performed, and/or composed by Randy Newman, including the highly successful single "Life of Myself" which promoted the album.

Gabriel and the Wacky Pack: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
All music composed by Randy Newman, except as noted.

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Gabriel and the Wacky Pack promotional score
All music composed by Heitor Pereira and Randy Newman.

Critical reception
Gabriel and the Wacky Pack has received positive reviews from critics. Based on 87 reviews, the film holds a 94% "Fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with the consensus stating "Gabriel and the Wacky Pack is an fun masterpiece for the whole family". On Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the film has an average score of 62 out of 100, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

Box office
The film grossed $68,368,836 on it's opening weekend, being released in 4,200 theaters, leaving it #2 during the weekend behind The Muppets. The film grossed $445,627,853 in North America and $84,942,573 in other countries, with a total gross of $389,300,952 worldwide, making the film a box office success.

Sequels
Because of its critical and commercial success, Gabriel and the Wacky Pack had launched a franchise since 2012. The first sequel, titled Gabriel and the Wacky Pack 2, was released on November 21, 2014. On July 15, 2014, Geo LTD. announced a planned third film to follow Gabriel and the Wacky Pack 2, with a release set for November 26, 2017.

Spin-off
A spin-off reboot/prequel film featuring Roge, Leno, Cole and the lars as the main characters, titled Wacky Pack and Lars, is scheduled to be released on November 11, 2016. It was first announced on July 15, 2014 along with Gabriel and the Wacky Pack 3 and Gabriel and the Wacky Pack 4. Written by Keith Lango, it will be directed by David Stinnett and Jeff Fowler, and produced by Cat Chapman. The film will based on the first issue of The Wacky Pack.