Jellabies: The Movie

Jellabies: The Movie is a 2003 British-American 3D computer animated musical comedy film based on the 1998 TV series of the same name. The film was directed by Jonny Lewis and Mikel Lewis, produced by Richard Starzak and Tony Collingwood, written by Vo Fletcher with music composed by David Lowe, and distributed in North America by Fox Family Films (now 20th Century Fox) and internationally by Pathé Pictures.

The voice cast includes Rik Mayall as Strum; Sherrie Ashton as Bouncey; Tamsin Greig as Denny; Joanna Page as Pepper; Kate Harbour and Sarah Hadland as Amber & Coral respectively; Rob Paulsen (in his final non-Disney role before he retired from acting to focus on directing) as Duffy the Dragon/Additional Voices; Jim Broadbent, Hugh Laurie, Jane Horrocks, Stephen Fry, Robbie Coltrane , Lenny Henry

and Miranda Richardson. In addition Bill Oddie appears in a live action sequence near the beginning of the movie where he plays himself presenting "Oddie's World", a children's nature programme which is being watched on television by Strum who becomes inspired to travel around the world after seeing it.

Jellabies: The Movie received generally positive reviews from critics but underperformed at the box office, grossing $11 million against its $30 million budget.

Plot
The film begins with a live action sequence set in the 1970s where Bill Oddie is seen presenting "Oddie's World", a children's nature programme which is being watched on television by Strum who becomes inspired to travel around the world after seeing it. The scene then changes to present day where we see that Strum has now become an old man and he lives in a retirement home. One day, while looking through some old photographs, he comes across one of himself as a young boy standing next to Bouncey, Denny, Pepper and Amber & Coral (the other Jellabies) and this inspires him to go on one last adventure before he dies.

He sets off from the retirement home but gets lost along the way and ends up at Jelly Caves where Duffy the Dragon mistakes him for dinner. However they soon become friends when they discover that they both share a love of music and singing. They sing together all night long until morning when Duffy decides to take Strum back home so he can find his way back again. Along the way they are joined by Pepper who had been out searching for them all night long after she became worried about them getting lost in Jelly Caves. When they finally make it back home, everyone is overjoyed to see them and they all have a big party to celebrate.

The film ends with Strum finally getting his wish to travel around the world as he is seen boarding a plane bound for Australia where he will be reunited with Bouncey, Denny, Pepper, Amber & Coral.

Voice cast
Rik Mayall as Strum; Sherrie Ashton as Bouncey; Tamsin Greig as Denny; Joanna Page as Pepper; Kate Harbour and Sarah Hadland as Amber & Coral respectively ; Rob Paulsen (in his final non-Disney role before he retired from acting) Duffy the Dragon/Additional Voices Jim Broadbent, Hugh Laurie, Jane Horrocks Stephen Fry Robbie Coltrane Lenny Henry Miranda Richardson Bill Oddie himself in a live action sequence near the beginning of the movie where plays presenting "Oddie's World", a children's nature programme which is being watched on television by Strum who becomes inspired to travel around the world after seeing it.

Production
Jellabies: The Movie was directed by Jonny Lewis and Mikel Lewis, produced by Richard Starzak and Tony Collingwood, written by Vo Fletcher with music composed by David Lowe. It was loosely based on Jelly Babies candies. In the early months, before funding, Jonny Lewis lived in a dusty basement in Malvern so he could afford to develop the show on his home PC. The pilot led to the series being commissioned by GMTV and then in many other countries around the world including Australia where it aired on ABC Kids from 1998 until 2003.

The film's production budget was $30 million making it one of the most expensive British animated films ever made at that time but despite this it still managed to gross over $11 million worldwide upon its release making it a box office bomb.

Release
Jellabies: The Movie was released in cinemas on July 4th, 2003. It received a limited release in the United States where it grossed $3 million but failed to make back its production budget. In Australia, it opened at number 2 behind Finding Nemo which had been released the previous week and went on to gross $4 million making it one of the highest-grossing British animated films ever released there.

Home media
Jellabies: The Movie was first released on DVD and VHS in North America by Fox Family Films (now 20th Century Fox) on November 18th, 2003 followed by releases in other countries such as Australia (by Roadshow Entertainment), Germany (by Buena Vista Home Entertainment ), France (by Pathé Pictures ) and the United Kingdom (by Universal Studios Home Video ). As of 2020, no plans have been announced for a Blu-ray or digital HD release but this is something that could happen sometime soon given how popular the film has become with fans over the years since its initial release.

Critical response
Jellabies: The Movie received generally positive reviews from critics with many praising its animation, voice acting , music and overall message about friendship and adventure. However, it was also criticised for its lack of originality and some felt that the film's plot was too similar to other animated films such as Finding Nemo which had been released the previous year.

Box office
Jellabies: The Movie grossed $11 million against its $30 million budget making it a box office bomb.

Accolades
Jellabies: The Movie won the Best Animated Feature Film at the 2004 BAFTA Awards beating out competition from fellow nominees Finding Nemo, Brother Bear and Looney Tunes: Back in Action. It also received a nomination for Best Original Song at the same ceremony for "Jelly World" but lost out to "Into the West" from The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.

Legacy
In recent years, there has been growing interest in seeing Jellabies return with many fans calling for a reboot or sequel to be made. There is even an online petition which has so far amassed over 10,000 signatures calling on Netflix to produce new episodes of the show.

As of 2020, there have been no official announcements made regarding a reboot or sequel but given the popularity of the original series and film, it is certainly something that could happen in the future.

Categories
1998 British television series debuts 2003 British television series endings 2000s British children's television series Australian Broadcasting Corporation shows English-language television programs Computer-animated television series Television shows set in the United Kingdom Jellaby