Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs is a 2009 American computer-animated family comedy film, produced by Sony Pictures Animation, distributed by Columbia Pictures, and released on September 18, 2009. The film is loosely based on the children's book of the same name by Judi and Ron Barrett.

The film features the voices of Bill Hader, Anna Faris, Bruce Campbell, James Caan, Bobb'e J. Thompson, Andy Samberg, Mr. T, Benjamin Bratt, Neil Patrick Harris, Al Roker, Lauren Graham, and Will Forte. It was written and directed by Phil Lord and Chris Miller, who both are best known for the animated TV series Clone High, which starred Forte.

The film received very positive reviews, and was a modest box office success, earning $243 million worldwide. A sequel titled Cloudy 2: Revenge of the Leftovers is scheduled to be released on February 7, 2014.

Plot

At a young age, Flint Lockwood has always wanted to invent something interesting; however, his inventions malfunctioned, such as the Remote Control Television, Hair Un-Balder, The Flying Car, Rat-bird hybrids, and his Spray-On Shoes that have permanently trapped his feet in a solid sealant. He grew up misunderstood by his father, Tim (James Caan). His mother, Fran (Lauren Graham), always believed he could succeed, however she died almost 10 years before the story, leaving Flint with his father. Flint lives in Swallow Falls, a town located on an island under the “A” in Atlantic. Since the Baby Brent Sardine cannery closed down, the economy fell and left Swallow Falls with sardines as their one and only source of food. About a decade later, Flint (Bill Hader), along with the assistance of his pet monkey, Steve (Neil Patrick Harris), who speaks through a thought translator (the Monkey Thought Translator), invents a machine that uses microwave radiation to mutate water into food. The machine requires a lot of electricity to work, so Flint sneaks out of his father’s fishing tackle shop while he is watching Mayor Shelbourne (Bruce Campbell) and "Baby" Brent McHale (Andy Samberg) unveiling a new tourist attraction, Sardine Land. Flint is stopped by police officer Earl Devereaux (Mr. T), but gets away. Flint then goes to the power plant and hooks up the machine. The machine absorbs millions of megawatts of electricity and ends up rocketing through town and shooting up into the stratosphere, destroying Sardine Land. Flint, a failure, runs away and goes under one of the docks. While sulking at that dock over his failure, he meets Samantha "Sam" Sparks (Anna Faris), a weather intern for the Weather News Network in New York whose big break was foiled by Flint’s actions while reporting the events about Sardine Land. The two witness violet clouds floating over the town that rain cheeseburgers, much to everyone’s surprise and joy.

Realizing his achievement, Flint invents a communication device to send orders to the machine which is resting in the stratosphere. He starts working for Mayor Shelbourne, and Sam broadcasts Swallow Falls (now renamed Chewandswallow) attracting tourists. He also did an ice-cream snow day for the birthday of Earl's only son, Calvin "Cal" Devereaux (Bobb'e J. Thompson). Everyone is going well until Tim fails to show appreciation for his son, and worst of all, more and more people (including the Mayor) start greedily requesting food for Flint to rain. The more food that is ordered will require more clouds for the machine to collect and make the food. Flint notices that the food is beginning to rain in massive quantities, but the Mayor (now morbidly obese) sees it as a better outcome, and Flint is forced to agree. He orders spaghetti and meatballs (according to the Mayor, for he is thinking pasta) for the grand re-opening ceremony. The next day citizens and worldly tourists crowd Chewandswallow and cheer on Flint who cuts the ribbon. Suddenly, a large destructive tornado formed of spaghetti and meatballs threatens the town. Flint rushes to the lab to turn the machine off, but finds the Mayor ordering dinner. Flint attempts to send a 'kill code' to stop the machine. However, the Mayor tries to kill Flint by throwing a giant radish at him, but the radish destroys the communication device instead. Flint asks the Mayor what he exactly ordered, and the Mayor replied to Flint that he ordered a Vegas-style all-you-can-eat buffet.

A massive food storm threatens the world and Flint loses hope. However, his father encourages him to fix the mess and hands him his lab coat that he lost in the recent disaster. Flint gains confidence and places the kill code in a USB flash drive and invents the Flying Car 2, but is then met by the angry townspeople, who, told by the Mayor, want to get back at him for dooming their world. Fortunately, Earl comes to the rescue, stating that the townspeople themselves are to blame since they have been pushing Flint into making so many orders in the first place. Realizing this, the townspeople agree and spare Flint, allowing him, Sam, her cameraman, Manny (Benjamin Bratt), and Brent to set out to destroy the FLDSMDFR and save the world while they work together with the remaining tourists to escape Chewandswallow. Entering the stratosphere, they find that the machine is the sole core of a giant meatball - a meateroid - and that it is aware of the heroes so it sends sentient food to attack them (starting with a pizza). In the chaos, Flint loses the kill code when the flash drive flies out of the Flying Car 2. Flint calls his father who instructs him to enter his lab and send the kill code to his cell phone. Flint, Sam, and Brent enter the meateroid but Flint is forced to carry on to the machine solo since Brent must fight off sentient roast chicken and Sam faces an allergic reaction to peanut brittle (due to the fact that she's allergic to peanuts). Meanwhile in Chewandswallow, the citizens and tourists, with the help of Earl, escape on boats made of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches under Earl's orders, but not after the Mayor, not wanting to take responsibility about what's happening to the whole world, abandons the town by stealing - and beginning to eat - one of the boats. Mt. Leftovers collapses, causing an avalanche of food - a foodalanche - to destroy Chewandswallow. The foodalanche covers Flint's Lab with Tim still trying to send Flint the kill code. However he survives and he successfully clicks send. Flint encounters the machine and jams the phone into the USB port. However, Tim had sent him the wrong document, but Flint destroys the machine by using his Spray-On Shoes formula into the food extraction hole. Sam and Brent escape the meateroid before it explodes. They return to the aftermath of Chewandswallow. Flint returns safe and alive carried by his Ratbirds. Tim finally shows his appreciation for Flint and Flint and Sam celebrate as they kiss.

The end credits show that everyone is now using a new machine to change the world into a food paradise, while the Mayor (having eaten his peanut-butter-and-jelly-sandwich boat and lost at sea - literally) is deflated back to his normal size and arrested for his greedy actions.

Cast

• Bill Hader as Flint Lockwood, an inventor. Max Neuwirth voices the younger Flint. Hader also did the voice of the "FLDSMDFR" machine.
• Anna Faris as Samantha "Sam" Sparks, a weather intern from New York City and Flint's love interest.
• Neil Patrick Harris as Steve the Monkey, Flint's pet Vervet monkey who communicates using a Speak and Spell monkey thought translator.
• James Caan as Tim Lockwood, Flint's technophobic father.
• Bruce Campbell as Mayor Shelbourne, the gluttonous, egotistical mayor of Swallow Falls and the main antagonist.
• Andy Samberg as Brent McHale, an infamous celebrity mascot of Baby Brent's Sardines.
• Mr. T as Officer Earl Devereaux, the town's athletic cop who is very loving to his son.
• Bobb'e J. Thompson as Calvin Devereaux, Earl's son.
• Benjamin Bratt as Manny, Sam's Guatemalan cameraman and a former doctor, co-pilot, and comedian.
• Al Roker as Patrick Patrickson, the anchorman of the weather station.
• Lauren Graham as Frances Lockwood, Flint's mother who always believed in her son. She died ten years before Flint invented the FLDSMDFR.
• Will Forte as Joseph Towne, a redneck citizen of Chewandswallow.

Production

On May 9, 2003, a year after establishment, Sony Pictures Animation announced its first animated slate, including Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, a film adaptation of the book. The Brizzi brothers were brought to direct the film, with Wayne Rice adapting the screenplay.^[2] In 2006, it was reported that the film had been helmed by new directors and writers, Phil Lord and Chris Miller.^[3]

On September 18, 2008, Variety announced that Bill Hader and Anna Faris had signed on to voice the two lead characters, with James Caan, Bruce Campbell, Mr. T, Andy Samberg, Neil Patrick Harris, Bobb'e J. Thompson, Benjamin Bratt, Al Roker, Lauren Graham, and Will Forte also in the voice cast.^[4]

Co-writers and co-directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller said later that year that it would be a homage to, and a parody of, disaster films such as Twister, Armageddon, The Core, and The Day After Tomorrow.^[5]

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs is the second film (after Monster House) made using animation rendering software, Arnold,^[6] and the open source image toolkit OpenImageIO.^[7]

Marketing and release

Home media

The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray on January 5, 2010.^[8] A 3D Blu-ray was released on June 22, 2010. It was the first 3D Blu-ray sold individually in the US.^[9]

Reception

Critical response

The film has received very positive reviews from critics. Rotten Tomatoes reported that 86% of critics gave positive reviews based on 130 reviews (112 "Fresh", 18 "Rotten") with an average score of 7.3/10.^[10] Another review aggretator, Metacritic, which normalizes a rating from mainstream critics, gave the film an approval rating of 66 based on 24 reviews.^[11]

Ernest Hardy of LA Weekly stated the film "is smart, insightful on a host of relationship dynamics, and filled with fast-paced action." Hardy also applauded the 3-D effects which "are wonderful, full of witty sight gags that play out both center-screen and on the periphery."^[12] Michael Phillips of the Chicago Tribune gave the film a mixed review stating that "Crazy doesn't always equal funny, and the gigantism of this 3-D offering's second half puts a damper on your enjoyment. But look: This film wasn't made for you, or me. It was made for dangerously, easily distracted 9-year-olds." ^[13] Kyle Smith of the New York Post gave the film two stars stating that the animated film "greatly expands on the kids' book on which it's based in a clever and engaging first half. But the second half leaves a foul aftertaste."^[14] Sandie Angulo Chen of Common Sense Media gave the film a negative review (2 out of 5 stars), saying that the "age-appropriate 3-D food adventure doesn't fully satisfy."^[15]

Box office

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs was a box office success. The film earned $8,137,358 on its opening Friday, and ranked #1 at the box office^[16] with a total of $30,304,648 for the first weekend. On its second weekend, it remained at #1 with a decrease of only 17 percent. It currently holds the record for third largest-opening weekend in the month of September. It has made a worldwide total of $243 million.^[1][17]

Accolades

Names in other countries

• In Germany, the film is called "Wolkig mit Aussicht auf Fleischbällchen" (meaning the same as the English title, in the spirit of a weather forecast).
• In Russia the title is "Облачно, возможны осадки в виде фрикаделек" (Cloudy, possible precipitation in the form of meatballs)
• In Japan, the film is called "くもりときどきミートボール" ("kumori tokidoki miitobooru" the Japanese weather report version of the English title) and was released in theatres on September 19, 2009.
• In South Korea, the film is called "하늘에서 음식이 내린다면" (meaning "If the food falls from the sky").
• In Spain, the movie is named "Lluvia de albóndigas" (meaning "Meatball Rain").
• In Latin America, the movie is named "Lluvia de hamburguesas" (meaning "Hamburger Rain"), except in Brazil, where it is called "Tá Chovendo Hambúrger" (meaning "It's Raining Hamburgers") .
• In Israel, the movie is named "גשם של פלאפל" (meaning "Rain of Falafel").
• In Italy, the movie is named "Piovono polpette" (meaning "It's raining meatballs")
• In France, the movie is named "Tempête de Boulettes Géantes" (meaning "Giant Meatball Storm")
• In Bulgaria the movie is named "Облачно, с кюфтета" (the meaning is the same, but in the Bulgarian version of the English title)
• In Greece the movie is named "Βρέχει Κεφτέδες" (meaning "It's raining meatballs")
• In Poland, the movie is named "Klopsiki i inne zjawiska pogodowe" (literally meaning "Little meatballs and other weather conditions")
• In The Netherlands the movie is named "Het regent gehaktballen" (It's raining Meatballs)

Soundtrack

Video game

A video game based on the film was released by Ubisoft on PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii, Nintendo DS, PlayStation Portable and Microsoft Windows in September 2009.

Art book

In August 2009, Insight Editions published a companion book to the film called The Art & Making of Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs.

Sequel

On April 12, 2010, website Io9 reported that there is a sequel in development.^[23] John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein, the writers of Horrible Bosses and The Incredible Burt Wonderstone are writing a draft of the script, which will be based on an original idea, and not on Pickles to Pittsburgh, Barrett's follow-up book. In December 2011, it was reported that the film is not yet green lit, and that Cody Cameron and Kris Pearn are set to direct it.^[24]

On February 29, 2012, it was announced that the sequel would be titled Cloudy 2: Revenge of the Leftovers.^[25]

The film was originally scheduled for release on December 20, 2013, but it was pushed to February 7, 2014.^[26]

References

External links

• Official website
• Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs at the Internet Movie Database
• Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs at AllRovi
• Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs at Box Office Mojo
• Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs at Rotten Tomatoes
• Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs at Metacritic