Bubble Guppies (2020 film)

Bubble Guppies is a 2020 American 3D computer-animated musical comedy fantasy adventure film based off of the Nick Jr. series of the same name, produced by Blue Sky Studios. The film was directed by Steve Martino and features the voices of Tom Hanks, Shakira, Will Smith, Dwayne Johnson, Selena Gomez, Adele, Sia, as well as Frank Welker and Fred Tatasciore reprising their roles as Bubble Puppy and Mr. Grouper.

The film follows the undersea world of Aquopolis, when everyone is sent on a mission to restore the Stone of Triton when it is shattered by an evil group of sharks.

The film was released on August 14, 2020, to generally positive reviews, with praising for the voice acting, animation and faithfulness to the original source as well as the satirical writing.

Plot
In a magical undersea city, Aquopolis, there lives a young boy named Gil (Hanks) and a young girl named Molly (Shakira) who leads a band of magical mermaids and mermen. They all go to school, taught by a fish named Mr. Grouper (Tatasciore). One day, the class is on a field trip to the Royal Aquatic Dome (RAD) to learn about Triton, the king of the sea. The session is interrupted by Triton himself for a royal announcement about a new force threatening Aquopolis and damaging the Stone of Triton, the object that brings Aquopolian society together. He tells everyone to take desperate measures to protect the Stone. School is closed due to a "protection unit" where everyone over the age of 16 has to join Triton at The Royal Aquatic Palace to protect the Stone. Meanwhile, the Bubble Guppies are trying to relax and forget about the danger, when an explosion happens, blowing up the Palace. This turns out to be due to the severity of the force that threatened the Stone of Triton, causing it to explode and shatter into tiny pieces. The Guppies head to Hamister Alley, the highest peak in Aquopolis a few hours later, due to a con artist tricking them into going there because he told everyone on the news one of the shattered pieces was there, but they could only look at it if they gave him five Aquobucks. This all turned out to be a scam, since there was no piece. They are lured into the shed at the alley by the con artist, a big Great White Shark. They are able to escape because of Bubble Puppy (Welker)'s defensive skills. On the news that night, it is revealed that Aquopolis has fallen into catastrophic mayhem, and that if only the Stone was found would the city be fine. Meanwhile, at the remaining parts of Triton's palace, Triton ducks into his emergency tunnel and finds his guide for what to do when the Stone is broken. Step 1: Use the Aquapolian Object Transmitter. You will find out where the pieces are. Step 2. Go and find the pieces. Step 3. Match each piece with each other. Step 4. Voila! Using the transmitter, Triton finds out that three pieces are in a cave in Starfish Slopes. In a vote the next day to decide who would handle this dangerous job, The Bubble Guppies arrive despite knowing they are underage. However, they are the ones who get the most votes due to their sign of courage. The Bubble Guppies head to Starfish Slopes, but is encountered by the con artist for a second time. This time, he was a bit more aggressive, destroying trees in their path. Gil is slammed to the floor, but Molly uses a large wagon in the middle of the snow to ram into the con artist, allowing it to smash into the cave, making way for the three pieces of the Stone. When they collect the pieces, they decide to camp on Merry Mountain and tell scary stories. They all have a great time and go to bed. They then wake up, realising all of their supplies are gone. It turns out a gang of sharks stole them, lead by the con artist, a shark named Wayne. There is an avalanche, and they have to escape. A lot of the Guppies get stuck in the snow, so Zooli (Sia) Digs up the snow to save them, but this causes them to all get stuck. A fire rages in the city, destroying the school. Nonny (Johnson) skips across the snow to save the day, but Wayne and his friends, not knowing where the rest of the Guppies are, follow him. Nonny is able to lure him to the are where the Guppies are to break them out, but he ends up hitting a tree which smashes onto Nonny. Zooli breaks everyone out, and frustratedly blame it all on Nonny for trying to harm them. The Guppies storm off without any hope. Wayne opens his jaw to eat Nonny when he holds up a branch to defend himself. Nonny slides down the mountain and into the city, leading into a battle. Triton uses his water power to blast Wayne into the snow, but Wayne strikes back with a bite on the back. Defeated, Triton dies. Molly and Gil are furious and start using lampposts to try and defeat Wayne, but they can't do so. When all hope seemed lost, Nonny uses a mannequin form a store to ram it into his stomach, causing him to topple over and faint. The police take Wayne and his army to jail. Nonny explains to everyone that he was trying to help them get out of the snow in the avalanche, and they apologise. When Gil asks Molly how they are going to get the other pieces without Triton, when Mr. Grouper comes and shows everyone he got the rest of the pieces from Wayne who was keeping them in his vault. They restore the pieces, and Molly is made Queen of Aquopolis, as a new castle is being built along with everything else that was destroyed. With the Stone of Triton restored, they lived happily ever after.

Cast
Tom Hanks as Gil Guppy

Shakira as Molly Guppy

Will Smith as Goby Guppy

Dwayne Johnson as Nonny Guppy

Kesha as Deema Guppy

Sia as Oona Guppy

Selena Gomez as Zooli Guppy

Frank Welker as Bubble Puppy

Fred Tatasciore as Mr. Grouper

Matt Berry as Triton

Jason Bateman as Wayne and his henchmen

Jonny Belt as Male Citizens

Christine Ricci as Female Citizens

Production
On December 4, 2017, it was announced that a film based on the Nick Jr. show Bubble Guppies would be made and directed by Steve Martino. The problem was - three other studios wanted the rights to the film. Paramount, Warner Bros and Blue Sky. On June 7, 2018, it was revealed that Blue Sky had won the rights to the film.

Casting
On July 19, 2018, it was revealed that Hanks and Gomez would be voicing Gil and Zooli respectively. On December 27, 2018, it was revealed that Shakira, Johnson and Kesha would be voicing Molly, Nonny and Deema respectively. On March 7, 2019, it was revealed that Berry, Bateman, Belt and Ricci would be voicing Triton, Wayne and his henchmen, Male Citizens and Female Citizens respectively, along with Welker and Tatasciore returning as Bubble Puppy and Mr. Grouper respectively. On May 17, 2019, it was revealed that Sia would be voicing Oona. On May 24, 2019, it was revealed that Smith wold be voicing Goby.

Music
On May 3, 2018, it was revealed that the film's score would be composed by Michael Giacchino. Sia, Shakira, Selena Gomez and Will Smith all made songs for the film, "Bubbles" "L is for Life" "Dawn" and "Claim to Fame" respectively.

Release
In February 2018, it was announced the film would be released on May 1, 2020. In January 2019, the film was pushed back to June 26, 2020. In September 2019, the film was pushed back to July 17, 2020. In April 2020, the film was pushed back four weeks to August 14, 2020 due to COVID.

The theatrical release is accompanied by a Spongebob short, "Spongebob Goes To The Carnival", a short written by Paul Tibbitt.

Marketing
On December 25, 2019, a teaser trailer was released and was shown with G and PG- rated movies at the time.

On March 6, 2020, an official trailer was released and was shown with G and PG- rated movies at the time.

On May 29, 2020 a final trailer was released and shown online and at showings of Mulan and The Spongebob Movie: Sponge On The Run.

Video Game
On July 3, 2020, a tie-in-mobile game called Bubble Pop was released to iOS and Android devices with optional in-game purchases.

Home Media
Bubble Guppies was released on DVD, Blu-Ray and Blu-Ray 3D on November 29, 2020 by 20th Century Pictures Home Entertainment. The film was released on Disney+ on April 23, 2021.

Box office
The film was a box-office success, gaining over $240 million worldwide.

Critical response
On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 86% based on 297 reviews, with an average rating of 7.42/10. The site's critical consensus reads: "The silly characters and witty writing is fun and the movie luckily took a more authentic animation route instead of bombarding us with distracting CGI." Metacritic, another review aggregator, which assigns a normalised rating to reviews, gave the film a score of 74 out of 100 based of 45 reviews, indicating "generally favourable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average score of "A" on an A+ to F scale.