My Life as a Teenage Robot (film)

My Life as a Teenage Robot would be a 2030 computer-animated science-fiction comedy adventure movie directed by Jennifer Yuh Nelson from an screenplay co-written with Jennifer Lee and a story by Nelson. The two would also produce the film alongside Mary Parent, with Rob Renzetti executive-producing the project. Produced by Nickelodeon Movies and Paramount Animation, the film would be based on the TV series of the same name by Renzetti, and would center on an Earth-defending robot named Jenny who wishes to be a teenager. The film would star the voices of Jin Xing, Rosario Dawson, Naomi Scott, Neel Sethi, and Awkwafina. Kris Bowers would compose the score for the film.

Development on an animated My Life as a Teenage Robot film would begin in early 2026, with Parent attached as producer and Renzetti set to executive-produce the film. Nelson would join as writer and director in mid-2026. Xing and Dawson would join the cast in late 2026 alongside Lee as writer and producer, with Scott, Sethi, and Awkwafina would join in early 2027. Animators would model the characters in a way that is both close to the original series and reflective of each character's voice actor's ethnicity. The writers would research on the lives of transgender people as inspiration for the film's plot.

My Life as a Teenage Robot would be released by Paramount Pictures on January 30, 2020, and would earn critcal and commercial acclaim. Critics would praise the film for its direction, themes, writing, faithfulness to the TV series, vocal performances (particularly Xing. Dawson and Awkwafina's), visual effects, action sequences, and animation. The film would earn 1.5 billion dollars at the worldwide box-office, becoming the hightst-grossing animated film of all time, and becoming the first non-Disney film to esarn that title.

Synopsis
XJ-9, also known as Jenny Wakeman, is the Earth's number-one robotic defense. She has everything, from superstrength, to telescopic vision, to an enormous array pf weapons... to a wish of being a normal, human, teenager. However, her creator and mother figure, Nora Wakeman, forbids her, claiming that she's "only a robot, and[she] can't be anything else". This makes her feel trapped and lonely, yearning to express herself among friends, things her mother's actitude and isolation of her won't allow her to experience. However this changes one day, when a little baseball accident lets her meet her neigboors: Helen and Tuck, who convince her to run away from home after learning of her plight. And so, Jenny got her first taste of life outside home. This little trip, alongside more human interaction and an alien invasion, makes her realize that she's actually more like a human that she ever thougth.

Voice cast

 * Jin Xing as X-9J/Jenny Wakeman, a gynoid who was created to be the Earth's greatest defense system, but longs to simply be a teenager. According to director Jennifer Yuh Nelson, Xing would be cast in the role due to being a transgender, which she would feel "makes her truly understand Jenny's plight". Xing would find the character "truly relatable from both a personal point of view, and a winder one".
 * Rosario Dawson as Nora Wakeman, a scientist and Jenny's creator, who serves as a mother figure and tries to disuade her from wishing to be a human. According to Nelson, Dawson would be cast instead of an Asian actress because the filmmakers wanted the cast to be "as diverse as possible", and since she's not Jenny's biological mother, they would feel free to cast an actress of a different ethnicity.
 * Naomi Scott as Helen, Jenny's first human friend. She would be a gender-bent version of Brad from the original series. According to Nelson, this would be done to have an even bigger female cast. According to Scott, her arc in the film would be "one of self-discovery. Of discovering the kind of girl she truly is".
 * Neel Sethi as Tucker, Helen's younger brother, who initally mistrusts Jenny and sees her as "an evil giant robot".
 * Awkwafina as Vexus, a robotic alien from another world who wants to conquer Earth, and tries to convince Jenny to join her. Awkwafina would describe her as "more of an insane con woman" than in the series, albeit "still very power-hungry and dangerous". Awkwafina would draw inspiration from Eartha Kitt's performance in the original series, but also "make her [her] own role". According to Nelson, Awkwafina would be cast in the role due to her background as a comedian, which she would feel would "allow her to keep the character close to her original roots, but also make her totally different". Awkwafina would add-lib several of her lines during recording.
 * Patrick Warbutton as Krackus, an old and senile robot mocked by his own race and Vexus' reclutant assistant and personal inventor. Nelson would describe him as "a walking joke. Somebo9dy who even her own boss wonders why she hired him in the first place".
 * Tessa Thompson as Snytus, Vexus' no-nonsense commander, who has a surprinsignly nice personality but can also be very threatening. Thompson would add-lib several of her lines during recording.

Music
Janelle Monae would perform a cover of the song "It's All Right" for the film's end credits. According to director Jennifer Yuh Nelson, the song would be choosen because she would feel it "totally fits with the character of Jenny. They are a perfect match".

Reception
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film would have an approval rating of 99%, with an average rating of 9.9/10, based on 398 reviews. The website's critical consensus would read, "Emotional, timely, but at the same time having a timeless charm, My Life as a Teenage Robot is a well-oiled film with a wonderful look that is powered by an A-list cast and tremendous storytelling, with wonderful music and action serving as nice decorations for a beautiful movie". On Metacritic, the film would have a weighted rating of 91 out of 100, based on 59 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".

Sequel
Shortly after the film's success, Paramount Animation would announce a sequel, with most of the film's cast returning, Jennifer Yuh Nelson returning as director. In December 2030, the film's title would be unveiled as My Life as a Teenage Robot on Cluster Prime, and Jennifer Lee would be anmounced as returning as co-writer and co-producer. The film would be an adaptation of the TV one-hour My Life as a Teenage Robot special "Escape from Cluster Prime", and would center on Jenny as she becomes torned between returning to Earth or stay with people like her at Cluster Prime after being accidentally transported there. On January 1, 2031, Alaqua Cox would join the cast as the vouce of Vexus' daughter, Vega.

Trivia

 * This would be Paramount Animation's fifth film to be based on a TV series, after The Spongebob Movie: Sponge Out of Water, The Spongebob Movie: Sponge on the Run, PAW Patrol: The Movie, and Hanazuku: Full of Treasures.
 * The film would mark Jennifer Yuh Nelson's first animated film outside of DreamWorks Animation, and her second film outside DreamWorks overrall, after the live-action film The Darkest Minds, released by 20th Century Fox.
 * This would be Paramount Animation's first science-fiction film.
 * The film would mark Rob Renzetti's first time working on a film since the 1991 film Duddley's Classroom Adventure, in which he served as a storyboard artist.
 * Several call-backs to two roles played by Eartha Kitt, who voiced Vexus in the original series and passed away in 2008, would appear througth the film:
 * To Yzma from Disney's The Emperor's New Groove:
 * Vexus' relationship with Krackus would be reminiscent of Yzma's relationship with her assistant Kronk (who was also voiced by Patrick Warbutton).
 * Right before starting her first attack on Earth, Vexus would order Krackus to press the button that shall release her army, but he accidentally presses a button that ejects her off her ship and onto space, similar to a recurring gag througth The Emperor's New Groove franchise in which Yzma would suffer some sort of mishap after Kronk pulls the wrong lever to her secret lab. The way the scene would play would be similar to the first film.
 * During the film's climax, Nora would try to destroy a weakened Vexus by pulling the same button from the scene above, albeit on Earth and weakened enough to not to be able to fly, and causing her to nearly fall to her death before being saved by Jenny. The scene would play similarly to two scenes from The Emperor's New Groove: One where Yzma made Kronk fall off a floor trap, and another one where a kitty-turned Yzma almost falls to her death.
 * To Catwoman from the 1966 Batman TV series:
 * Vexus' design would be more cat-like, being somewhat reminiscent of Catwoman when she was played by Kitt.
 * When watching Earth for the first time in years, Vexus would say "Watch out Earth, 'cause i'm dress... to kill", referencing the title of the episode "The Catwoman's Dressed To Kill".
 * When Vexus appears in front of Jenny and Nora after nearly falling to her death, she would say "Did you thougth you could end me like that? Well, the joke's on you", which would be a reference to the title of the episode "The Joke's On Catwoman".
 * This would be Awkwafina's second role in a film for Paramount Animation, after voicing Otto in The Spongebob Movie: Sponge on the Run (2020).