Gabriel and the Wacky Pack 2

Gabriel and the Wacky Pack 2 is a 2014 American 3D computer-animated comedy crossover film produced by Blur Studio and Geo LTD. Pictures. It is the sequel to the 2011 film Gabriel and the Wacky Pack, which was loosely based on Geo G's comic book series The Wacky Pack. It was directed again by Tim Miller, David Stinnett and Geo G., making it their second contribution to the Blur Studio film series. It was written by Al Shier and Jeff Fowler, and produced by Cat Chapman. Gabriel and the Wacky Pack 2 was Blur Studio's first sequel film. This served as a crossover of the Gabriel and the Wacky Pack series and the Hatsune Miku series.

Zachary Gordon, Geo G., E.G. Daily, Nicky Jones, and Jake T. Austin reprised their roles as Gabriel, Roge, Leno, Cole and Loy, respectively. Tara Strong, who played Bella in the first film, voices Kagamine Len, while Hynden Walch, who played Nancy, voices Kagamine Rin. New cast members include Idina Menzel as Hatsune Miku, Elizabeth Banks as Megurine Luka, Yuri Lowenthal as Kaito, America Ferrera as Meiko, Rob Corddry as Mr. Leek, and Jonathan Morgan Heit as Jan Soto. This was Menzel's second animated feature after Frozen (2013). It is also the second time that Sarah Jessica Parker, Corddry, and Morgan Heit co-starred together after Escape from Planet Earth (2013).

The film premiered on October 15, 2014 at the 2014 Annecy International Animated Film Festival and was released by Universal Pictures in the United States and Canada on November 21, 2014. Like its predecessor, Gabriel and the Wacky Pack 2 was met with positive reviews, with critics praising its storyline and humor, and was a commercial and critical success, though it suffered competition with The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1, which also starred Elizabeth Banks. It was also a box office hit, having grossed over $86 million worldwide, making it the highest grossing animated film of 2014 as well as the eleventh highest-grossing film of the year overall. It was nominated in the 2015 Annie Award for "Best Animated Feature", but lost to Big Hero 6.

A third film, Gabriel and the Wacky Pack 3, is set for October 20, 2017. A fourth film was announced for 2019, but it was removed from its schedule due to the studio's restructuring. In addition, two spin-offs, titled Wacky Pack and Lars and The Vocaloids, were announced for 2016 and 2018 release dates.

Plot
A mysterious vehicle steals and eats all of the leeks from a village of leeks in Antietam Creek. Loy, Roge, Leno and Cole's brother, his new assistant Hatsune Miku and the Vocaloids try to recruit Gabriel, Roge, Leno and Cole, to find out who ate the leeks. Gabriel refuses to help, claiming he is the adapted owner of Roge, Leno, Cole and the Lars. After Roge and Cole tell Gabriel and the Lars that they started the midnight party at Gabriel's room way back, they are distracted when they see that Leno will try to high jump with Roge's umbrella from the top of Gabriel's house. As Gabriel goes with Roge and Cole to the top of his house to save Leno from his act of daredevilry, he tries a long jump, but ends up crashing into the ground. Then Christine's (Gabriel's mother) car arrives, which almost hits Leno.

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Cast

 * Further information: List of The Wacky Pack characters

Several other characters from the first film (such as Blues, Nicholas, Kratos, and Pat) are only briefly mentioned.
 * Zachary Gordon as Gabriel Garcia, the adapted owner of a small wacky pack, Roge, Leno and Cole.
 * Geo G. as Roge, the first and the leader of the wacky pack.
 * E.G. Daily as Leno, the second of the wacky pack.
 * Nicky Jones as Cole, the third of the wacky pack.
 * Jake T. Austin as Loy, Roge, Leno and Cole's bigger brother.
 * Idina Menzel as Hatsune Miku, a humanoid persona voiced by a singing synthesizer application. Saki Fujita reprised her role as Miku in the Japanese version.
 * Hynden Walch and Tara Strong as Kagamine Rin and Len, humanoid personas voiced by a singing synthesizer application. Asami Shimoda reprised her role as Rin and Len in the Japanese version. Strong also voiced Bella in the first film, while Walch also voiced Nancy in the previous film.
 * Elizabeth Banks as Megurine Luka, a humanoid persona voiced by a singing synthesizer application. Yū Asakawa reprised her role as Luka in the Japanese version.
 * Yuri Lowenthal as Kaito, a humanoid persona voiced by a singing synthesizer application. Naoto Fūga reprised his role as Kaito in the Japanese version.
 * America Ferrera as Meiko, a humanoid persona voiced by a singing synthesizer application. Meiko Haigō reprised her role as Meiko in the Japanese version.
 * Rob Corddry as Mr. Leek, Gabriel, Roge, Leno and Cole's nemesis.
 * Sarah Jessica Parker as Christine Garcia, Gabriel's mother who tries to take care of her son.
 * Laurence Fishburne as Marvin Garcia, Gabriel's father and Christine's former husband who now takes care of his son.
 * Ariel Winter as Desiree Garcia, Gabriel's older sister.
 * Frank Welker as Roxy, a Cocker Spaniel and Gabriel's pet dog.
 * Emma Thompson as Celia, Marvin's girlfriend.
 * Freddie Benedict as Adan, Celia's son.
 * Julie Lemieux as Jannie, Celia's daughter.
 * Jonathan Morgan Heit as Jan Soto, a friend of Gabriel.
 * Tim Miller as Jim the Lar, Tom the Lar, Sam the Lar, Jeff the Lar, Max the Lar, Additional Lars, Dark Lars, Hachune Miku and Tako Luka
 * David Stinnett as Additional Lars and Dark Lars
 * Ryō Hirohashi as Japanese Leno

Japanese meme cameos and references
In addition to the spoken roles, Gabriel and the Wacky Pack 2 contains a number of other Japanese meme references, including characters and visual gags. The Japanese memes during the battle with Mr. Leek and the Dark Lars, in addition to those mentioned above, include: Haruhi Suzumiya, Ronald McDonald, Characters from Touhou Project, Characters from Sailor Moon, Angry German Kid, Konata Izumi from Lucky Star, Spider-Man (aka Japanese Spider-Man, Spy-Darma, Supaidā-Man, or Toei Spider-Man) from the 1970s tokusatsu television series in Japan, Bob Ross, and many others. Additionally, Naruto Uzumaki and Goku are referenced, but not seen.

Development
After the release of Gabriel and the Wacky Pack, director Tim Miller commented on possibility of the sequel: "The Wacky Pack film was successful for its nice animation, story and humor. Now, there's a lot of people talking about a sequel, but we really haven't any story plans for the sequel yet. Maybe next week we'll do it." On December 1, 2011, it was announced that Universal had green-lit the sequel, with a planned 2014 release date. On December 17, it was announced that Al Shier and Jeff Fowler are returning to write the screenplay for the sequel. "Yes, we are screenwriting a sequel to Gabriel and the Wacky Pack now and this time, we will have the characters staying at the main character (Gabriel)'s father's house forever," said co-writer Fowler.

On January 19, 2012, it was announced that Tim Miller, David Stinnett and Geo G. are returning to direct the sequel, along with Cat Chapman and David Fincher producing the film. In April 2012, producer Cat Chapman stated that the sequel may feature Japanese anime and manga characters: "We love The Wacky Pack and I also love anime, which we hoped to put some of the characters from popular animes like Pokémon and Dragon Ball Z. We would want to be happy when we see the main characters [Gabriel, Roge, Leno and Cole] meeting the anime characters."

In July 2012, David Fincher had been left out to co-produce the film with Cat Chapman due to a conflict. On August 19, 2012, it was announced that the Vocaloids would be having roles as supporting characters in the film. By late October 2012, the first draft of the script was completed. Miller confirmed in March 2013 that they had started working on the film. On May 9, 2013, a still from the film was released. According to co-director Geo G., the film takes place from November 2011 to May 2012 after the events from the first film. On September 6, 2014, the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) gave the film a PG rating for "mild action and rude humor", like the first film.

Casting
In January 2012, Zachary Gordon was in the talks to reprise his role as Gabriel Garcia in the sequel, but has not decided yet. On March 7, 2012, Gary Oldman, Tim Curry, Liam Neeson were considered for the role of the new villain of the sequel. On May 15, 2012, it was announced that Zachary Gordon, Geo G., E.G. Daily, Nicky Jones, Jake T. Austin, Sarah Jessica Parker and Laurence Fishburne were reprising their roles in the sequel. On June 5, 2012, Emma Thompson revealed that she will be playing a brand new character in the film. In September 2012, Rob Corddry was cast to voice the villain, Mr. Leek, while Idina Menzel, a Broadway veteran, was in early negotiations to voice Hatsune Miku in the sequel. Miller tweeted in November 2012 that Menzel had been cast in the film.

On February 1, 2013, Elizabeth Banks, Yuri Lowenthal, and America Ferrera joined the cast of the film. Tara Strong, who voiced Bella in the previous film, voices Kagamine Len in this film. On February 13, Keke Palmer, Anne Hathaway, and Anna Kendrick were in talks for the roles of Kasane Teto, Yowane Haku, and Akita Neru. On March 14, 2013, Palmer, Hathaway, and Kendrick had concluded animating their small roles.

Zachary Gordon, the voice of Gabriel in the film, recalled, "Yeah, we have Hatsune Miku and her gang in the movie. So we will have a scene where Kasane Teto, Yowane Haku and Akita Neru (in a small role) are about to hate Miku because sometimes Miku is the enemy of Teto, Haku and Neru." In April 2013, Kasane Teto, Yowane Haku and Akita Neru were all cut from the film, with director Miller explaining it as "non-loving Hatsune Miku characters."

Marketing
On December 7, 2011, in regards to consumer products for the film, co-director David Stinnett stated, "This will be the second movie based on the Wacky Pack comics. We'll license the toys, but we own it." A viral marketing campaign for the film launched on September 14, 2013 included a lar website called Lars' World. The film's first teaser poster was released on September 25, 2013.

At the San Diego Comic-Con International held on October 1, 2013, Universal Pictures, Geo LTD. Pictures and Blur Studio released the first footage from the sequel, as part of their presentation at Hall H, with E.G. Daily, the voice of Leno in the film, hosting the panel. The film's first official teaser trailer was released on October 4, 2013, and was attached to Geo, also by Blur Studio. Another teaser trailer was attached to The Graffiti Brothers, another Geo LTD. film, on April 18, 2014. The film's first full trailer was released on July 18, 2014. Throughout the year, trailers and 20 second teaser posters of the movie were shown.

Several merchandise were made for Gabriel and the Wacky Pack 2, such as toys and figurines. Universal teamed up with marketing partners in the United States and Canada to promote the film through McDonald's Happy Meals with a set of 13 toys. Eight books were released for the film: The Junior Novel, The Movie Storybook, Lars, Hachune, and Tako, Going Japan, Miku and Friends, Meet Roge and the Gang, Coloring and Activity Book, and Where's Jim?. A hardcover book, called The Art of Gabriel and the Wacky Pack 1 & 2, published on October 26, 2014 by authors Sharon Gosling and Adam Newell, and a foreword by Tim Miller and shows the detail of the artwork that went into the making of the two films, with storyboards, research photographs and character sketches.

A video game based on the film, titled Gabriel and the Wacky Pack 2, was released on November 19, 2014. Developed by Papaya Studio and published by Sega, the game was released for the PlayStation 3, Universal Odyssey, Starfish Marin, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Nintendo 3DS, Wii and Wii U. On December 16, 2014, Geo LTD. made a own PC port of Gabriel and the Wacky Pack 2 published by Sega and developed by Exient Entertainment. A mobile game, titled Gabriel and the Wacky Pack Run, was released on October 12, 2014 for iOS and Android. It is an endless running game based on the film and is similar to Temple Run and Despicable Me: Minion Rush.

Theatrical release
Universal Pictures announced on January 19, 2012 that Gabriel and the Wacky Pack 2 would have its official wide release in theaters on November 7, 2014. On January 25, the film's release date was pushed back two weeks to November 21, 2014 in order to avoid competition with Disney's Big Hero 6 and Paramount Pictures/Warner Bros. Pictures' Interstellar. The film premiered on October 15, 2014, as a special screening at the 2014 Annecy International Animated Film Festival. The film was digitally re-mastered into IMAX 3D format and released in select international IMAX theatres.

The film was released on November 7, 2014 (its original release date) in the United Kingdom, Iceland, Mexico, and Taiwan and on November 19, 2014 in Japan as Gabriel and the Wacky Pack 2: Shutsuen Gesuto Hatsunemiku Ya Yūjin (ガブリエルとワッキーパック2：出演ゲスト初音ミクや友人, Gaburieru to wakkīpakku 2: Shutsuen gesuto hatsunemiku ya yūjin, lit. "Gabriel and the Wacky Pack 2: Guest Starring Hatsune Miku and Friends"). The film was also released on November 20, 2014 in Australia and the Netherlands.

In Hungary, the largest cinema chain called Cinema City could not agree with the film's distributor, InterCom, and as a result it opened on November 26, 2014 on 52 screens, significantly fewer than similar big-budget productions. However, the film still managed to top the weekend box office chart of the country beating Dracula Untold, which had been leading the chart for three weeks (on 113 screens distributed by UIP Duna).

International releases
It was announced on November 30, 2014 that Universal Pictures would release the film in China on February 27, 2015 in IMAX 3D.

Home media
Gabriel and the Wacky Pack 2 was released digitally on February 23, 2015, and was released by Universal Studios Home Entertainment on Blu-ray 3D, Blu-ray, and DVD on March 17, 2015. The Blu-ray combo pack and digital release is accompanied by a new animated short film The Wacky Time has Past. A Target exclusive Blu-ray/DVD combo pack includes limited edition Lar and Hachune Miku toys. According to Nielsen VideoScan, it subsequently became the best-selling home video release for the week.

The film has been released on Blu-ray and DVD in the United Kingdom on March 30, 2015 and in Austraila on April 7, 2015.

Soundtrack
Gabriel and the Wacky Pack 2: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is the soundtrack album for the film, released on October 23, 2014 through Geo LTD. Records. The original music was composed by Heitor Pereira and Randy Newman.

Track listing
All music composed by Heitor Pereira, except where noted.

Box office
Gabriel and the Wacky Pack 2 has grossed $124,234,671 in North America and $781,682,761 in other territories for a worldwide total of $732,235,258. The film is the highest-grossing animated film of 2014, behind How to Train Your Dragon 2 and surpassing Rio 2 and The Lego Movie, and the eleventh highest-grossing film of the year in any genre. It also was the highest-grossing opening for a Blur Studio film at the time.

Gabriel and the Wacky Pack 2 was released on November 21, 2014 across North America in 3,967 theaters of which 3,133 locations were in 3D. It earned $5.2 million from midnight screenings (Thursday) from 2,750 theatres. The film remained number one at the box office for a second week earning $36 million (down 50%). In its midnight preview, it collected $4.2 million as compared to The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 's $2 million, and on its opening day collected $34.3 million at number one, overshadowing The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1, which was second with just $9.7 million. Its opening weekend is also the seventh-largest of November. In its second weekend the film maintained to No. 1 spot earning over $58.1 million and set a record for the fourth-highest 5-day Thanksgiving gross with $95.2 million behind The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 ($82.6 million), The Hunger Games: Catching Fire ($109.9 million) and Frozen ($93.6 million).

Gabriel and the Wacky Pack 2 earned $42.7 million during its opening weekend internationally from 3,864 screens in 26 markets where it opened at #1 in 14 of those. International opening weekend tallies of more than $5 million were witnessed in the UK ($11.84 million), Mexico ($16.96 million), Korea ($10.6 million), Russia ($9.99 million), Brazil with ($9.5 million) and Australia ($6.6 million). The film topped the box office outside North America for two non-consecutive weekends. Earning a total of $400 million, it is the highest-grossing 2014 film distributed by Universal Pictures.

Critical response
Gabriel and the Wacky Pack 2 has received generally positive reviews. On review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes, it holds a score of 96% based on 275 reviews with a rating average of 8.4 out of 10. The website's consensus reads: "Gabriel and the Wacky Pack 2 supplies a coolest animated sequel to its predecessor." On review aggregator Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average, the film has a "generally favorable" rating score of 84 out of 100 based on 56 reviews.

Guy Lodge of Variety said, "Gabriel and the Wacky Pack 2 is a good looking sequel to 2011′s better-than-expected “Gabriel and the Wacky Pack,” and it has lot of huge humor than the first one. It's more funnier than Despicable Me 2 and it's also fun for both kids and adults. The movie is awesome because it has some special things such as Hatsune Miku, her friends and more. It's way fun than its predecessor." Todd McCarthy of The Hollywood Reporter stated that the film "was great and give laughter to everyone. It's one of the greatest sequels ever, along with Toy Story 2 and Shrek 2." Drew McWeeny of HitFix said, "The script by Al Shier and Jeff Fowler is about what funny things happening in this movie. Gabriel 2 has too much laughter and was made by the same team who made The Simpsons Ride at Universal Studios. The known script was the Vocaloids and awesome stuff."

A.O. Scott of The New York Times praised the film for being able to balance out the sequences and animation with storytelling, writing that "Gabriel and the Wacky Pack 2 may be the best film to have its beautiful animation with sequences and storyline, it is not the worst concept ever made since Foodfight!, but this film will be fun for the whole family." Tom Russo of The Boston Globe gave the film a negative review, saying "The first one wasn't bad enough, but this one looks boring." Peter Travers of Rolling Stone gave the film three out of four stars, saying "Co-directors Tim Miller and David Stinnett, who do Lar voices expertly, never let up on the laughs. The first movie wasn't too much wacky for kids, but this one looks kind of okay."

In February 2015, The National Post's Chris Knight listed Gabriel and the Wacky Pack 2 on his "best films of 2014".

Sequels and spin-offs
On July 15, 2014, Geo LTD. announced a third film with a release date of November 24, 2017 and a fourth for November 29, 2019. On August 3, 2014, The Hollywood Reporter reported that Shier and Fowler would return to write the third film. In September 2014, Geo LTD. announced that Miller will only direct the third film. In November 2014, Zachary Gordon will not return to voice Gabriel in the third and fourth films as his voice has deepened since the releases of the first two films. On May 13, 2015, the fourth film was removed from the release schedule following corporate restructuring. In June 2015, the release date for Gabriel and the Wacky Pack 3 has been pushed back to October 20, 2017 due to Black Friday.

In December 2014, two specials were announced. A crossover with Geo, titled Geo and the Wacky Pack, is set to be aired on NBC in May 2016. A Christmas special is set to be aired on NBC in November 2016.

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.

On December 24, 2014, The Hollywood Reporter revealed that, due to the popularity of the Vocaloids from Gabriel and the Wacky Pack 2, the characters will get their own spin-off film. According to the report, Universal was targeting a August 10, 2018 release date for the spin-off. Idina Menzel is set to reprise her role of Hatsune Miku, while David Fincher, who was the co-producer of the first film, will direct the film which is being written by Tim Miller and produced by Geo G. and Al Shier.