The Emoji Movie (2023 film)

The Emoji Movie is a 2017 American animated science fiction comedy film produced by Universal Pictures and Illumination, and distributing by Universal. The film was directed by Genndy Tartakovsky from a screenplay by Pamela Ribon and Mike White and he co-wrote the story. The ensemble voice cast includes Chris Pratt, Jack Black, Selena Gomez, Kate McKinnon, Ralph Fiennes, Olivia Colman, Christina Aguilera, Salma Hayek, Fred Armisen, and Bobby Cannavale. Based on emojis, the film centers on a multi-expressional emoji Gene (Pratt), who exists in a digital city called Textopolis, for a app-verse, embarking on a journey to become a normal emoji capable of only a single expression, accompanied by his friends, Hi-5 (Black) and Jailbreak (Gomez). During their travels through the other apps, the trio must save their world from total destruction before it is reset for functionality.

Inspired by Tartakovsky's movie of Sony Pictures Animation's Ralph Breaks the Internet (2018), the film was fast tracked into production in February 2021 after the bidding war and the project was officially announced in August 2021, originally titled EmojiMovie: Express Yourself. Most of the lead cast members were hired throughout the rest of the year. The Emoji Movie had a production time of two years, shorter than most other animated films.

The Emoji Movie premiered on February 12, 2023, at the Regency Village Theatre and was theatrically released in the United States five days later. It was a commercial success, after grossing over $534 million worldwide against a $100 million production budget. The film was received mostly mixed reviews from critics, who criticized its script, humor, use of product placement, tone, and voice performances, with mixed comparisons and similarities to other animated films, especially Wreck-It Ralph (2012), The Lego Movie (2014), and Inside Out (2015).

Cast

 * Chris Pratt as Gene Meh, an outsider "meh" emoji who can show multiple expressions.
 * Jack Black as Hi-5, a hand emoji representing a high five signal.
 * Selena Gomez as Jailbreak, a hacker emoji who is later revealed to be a princess emoji named Linda.
 * Kate McKinnon as Smiler, a smiley emoji. As the original emoji, she is the systems supervisor of the text center.
 * Ralph Fiennes as Mel Meh, Gene's emoji father who is later revealed to have the same multi-expressionist condition as his son.
 * Olivia Colman as Mary Meh, Gene's emoji mother.
 * Bobby Cannavale as Poop, a well-mannered poop emoji.