Mythica

Mythica is an American 3D CG-animated fantasy comedy-drama adventure film directed by. It is being produced by Warner Animation Group, Vertigo Entertainment, Ilion Animation Studios (logo not shown, but credited) and Lord Miller Productions and is distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. It is set to be released on December 11th, 2020 on HBO Max.

Synopsis
Set in an alternate Earth where humans, animals, dinosaurs, mythical creatures, Face Paints, Face Paint animals and dragons live together, a teen girl heads to save her town when a corrupted mayor who plans to turn it into his own world.

Full Plot
Crystal Preston is an adventure loving teenage girl who lives in Mythica, a country in the United States where mythical creatures and other species live together with humans in peace and harmony. She wants to be an adventurer like her parents and her grandfather. She attempts to sneak out and go on an adventure, but gets stopped by her grandmother, who tells her that she needs to focus more on baking. Her grandfather Nicholas chats with Crystal about how being an adventurer is great for her.

When Nicholas quietly takes Crystal on her adventure after a talk during dinner, they stumble across a Face Paint named Halie Paintders and her pet Velociraptor named Emmet. As they get caught by Susan Preston, a mayor makes an announcement that he is planning to make Mythica a better place by building a golf course, which really he is destroying Mythica to turn it into that. Crystal, being suspicious of this, sneaks into his house and finds out his real plan.

At first, Susan gets mad at Crystal for sneaking to his house, then reveals that he was her father's long-time rival, wanting to do anything to sabotage him. To make sure she is safe, she sends Crystal to her room. Not wanting to lose Mythica, she tries to sneak out, but gets stop by Susan, who, instead of scoulding and grounding her, decides to prepare her for an adventure (after a talk with Nicholas) and tells that she'll be like her parents. She then heads on her journey with Halie Paintders and her pet Buck and Emmet joining. During their journey, they get chased by a pack of dinosaurs led by Snapper, and then they bump into a Wango named Mango, who agrees to help, but challenges them on a quiz. Crystal succeeds the quiz, much to Mango's impression.

Anthony, disgruntled that he found out that Crystal found his real plan, sends his Troodon minion, Nickels, to find and kill her. They meet a short-tempered tyrannasaurus rex named Michelle, who depises his name and the fact he is mistaken for a girl, but they get ambushed by Nickels and his non-speaking Troodon security pals. Outsmarting the security, the heroes continue their journey. Horrified that they failed, Anthony hires a cold-hearted Face Paint named Minka Darkness to chase them down.

Greeting the Imps at the casino, Crystal and her friends find more plans about Anthony. Crystal then attempts to tell the truth to the security, but they get chased by Minka. Minka tries to kill Crystal, only for her to be stopped by a cowboy Hiyai named Tucker, who offers them to round up the Guanlongs scattered around, he'll help them. With success, Tucker then joins and tells them that to stop Anthony, they must go to the cave to befriend Zaragon.

They arrive in Zaragon's cave as he is Shown sleeping. Halie suggests to try waking him up. They end up finding some water and pouring it on him. He wakes up, angry. He then turns shocked when he notices Crystal, and reveals that he is friendly with the Prestons and states that her family were great adventurers, indicating that he was close friends with her parents and agrees to help them. Zaragon takes them to Anthony's secret HQ, where his Troodon minions are seen building a blueprint for destroying Mythica and turning it into a golf course.

Crystal breaks in as Anthony notices her. Anthony gives a huge speech on how he is going to rule the world as he reveals his final trick up his sleeve. He reveals that he got a giant dragon under his control as he sends the dragon to kill her right there and now. The heroes manage to snap the dragon out of it, but Anthony cages the heroes. A devasitated Susan, who and her husband got caged as well, reveals that Anthony killed her parents and also revealed that she was once an adventurer and worked for Anthony. Angry with Susan that she worked for Anthony, Crystal also breaks into sobs.

Guilty after seeing Crystal upset, Nickels has a serious change of heart and releases the heroes, including Susan and Nicholas. After noticing they escaped, Anthony furiously yells that he is going to kill everyone out of Mythica. Unbeknowist to him, the Griffin protectors overhear them and they blast through his roof to grab him. After begs of releasing him without him dying, they throw him in the water, telling him he is banished from Mythica permanently for plans to destroy Mythica and his evil deeds. After his banishment, he ends up getting eaten alive by Snapper and his pack, who chased Crystal, Halie, Buck and Emmet earlier.

The leader of the Griffin protectors, Dawnbeak, declares Nicholas Preston as the new mayor of Mythica. Halie and Crystal starts dating each other, Tucker becomes a Guanlong Cowboy, Smeck gets a Employee of the Month at the casino he works at, and Michelle is finally referred to as M by his friends. Crystal and Halie decide to watch the moon together, but the friends end up joining them to watch the moon.

Cast
Vocal effects were provided by (also) Frank Welker, Tom Kenny, Dee Bradley Baker and Alan Tudyk.
 * Hailee Steinfeld as Crystal Preston, a teenage girl who is very adventurous and wants to save Mythica and is the main protagonist.
 * Chris Pratt as Buck the Bonga, a comedic speaking Bonga who is Crystal's pet.
 * Alison Brie as Halie Paintders, a Face Paint who aids Crystal in saving Mythica, becoming her best friend (girlfriend later) and the deutagonist.
 * Frank Welker (vocal effects) as Emmet, a Velociraptor who is Halie's pet. Unlike Buck, he cant talk, but make noises.
 * Sam Neill as Tucker, a cowboy Hiyai who rounds up Guanlongs.
 * Matthew McConaughey as Anthony Chucke, a rich human who is the corrupted mayor of Mythica and the main antagonist.
 * Josh Gad as Nickels, a Troodon who works for Anthony Chucke and the tritary (later former) antagonist.
 * Robert Downey Jr. as Michelle, a Tyrannasaurus rex who, despite his female name, is actually a male. He depises his own name and being mistaken for a girl. He prefers to be called M.
 * Anna Kendrick as Minka Darkness, a Face Paint who chases down the heroes and the secondary antagonist.
 * Brie Larson as Mango, a wango who helps Crystal and her friends on saving Mythica.
 * Dave Boat as Smeck, a crazy imp who tends to wreck havoc, as well as the only imp that is intelligent, though still behave like a raccoon at times.
 * Nick Offerman as Zaragon, a dragon who is the leader of Mythica. He is a Western dragon.
 * Glenn Close as Susan Preston, a woman who is Crystal's grandmother. She is a baker who wants Crystal to become a baker. Later revealed to be an adventurer and once worked for Anthony.
 * Harrison Ford as Nicholas Preston, a former adventurer who is Crystal's grandfather and supports Crystal to be an adventurer. After Anthony's dramatic demise, he is declared a new mayor of Mythica.
 * Dustin Hoffman as King Tutanamos, the original founder of Mythica.
 * as Snapper, a Velociraptor who serves as the leader of the Dinosaur Pack.
 * Ryan Reynolds as Mick, a Gallimimus who is part of Snapper's pack.
 * Jason Momoa as Utah, a Utahraptor who is part of Snapper's pack.
 * Sacha Baron Cohen as Bloodcurler, a Dilphosaurus who is part of Snapper's pack.
 * Idris Elba as Dawnbeak, a Griffin who is one of the protectors of Mythica and the leader of the protectors.
 * Steve Zahn as Mountainfluff, a Griffin who is one of the protectors of Mythica.
 * Mark Hamill as Moonbreath, a Griffin who is one of the protectors of Mythica.
 * Jennifer Lawrence as Stormwing, a Griffin who is one of the protectors of Mythica and the only one that is female.
 * Steven Blum (vocal effects) as the Black Dragon, a giant dragon under the control of Anthony. He appears to be a Wyvern dragon.

Music
The score for the movie is being composed by. In addition to her role, Hailee Steinfeld confirmed she is writing a pop ballad song for the movie. In addition to Hailee Steinfeld, it was announced that Rihanna, Andy Grammar, Skyler Gray, Imagine Dragons and Ed Sheeran would make songs for the film as well.
 * Shattered by Hailee Steinfeld (main song/credits song)
 * Welcome to Mythica by Rihanna
 * /Best Day of My Life/ by Andy Grammar
 * /Beautiful/ by Skyler Grey
 * (reserved for Coolot) by Imagine Dragons
 * /Dinosaurs/ by Ed Sheeran

Animation
The animation was outsourced to Ilion Animation Studios in Madrid, Spain.

Potiental sequel
A month after the release of the film, the interviewers at Entertainment Weekly asked if there would be a sequel to Mythica, which Yuh Nelson replied "Not planning to do a sequel anytime soon, but that doesn't mean that a sequel is not going to happen".

Television series
See The Legends of Mythica.

Due to the film's monster success, Jennifer Yuh Nelson stated that a television series is possible. Then, an animated series is announced with TBD creating the series. The show will be set after the events of the film. It will be flash-animated unlike the film, and Titmouse, Inc. will provide the animation for the series.

Species seen in the film

 * Human
 * Face Paint
 * Bonga
 * Wango
 * Dragon
 * Famboo
 * Dog
 * Cat
 * Hiyai
 * Tyrannasaurus Rex
 * Golems
 * Sirens
 * Griffins
 * Faun
 * Bonga
 * Werewolf
 * Apatosaurus
 * Velociraptor
 * Troodon
 * Pterodactyl
 * Flyst
 * Minotaur
 * Cockatrice

Critical response
 received extremely positive reviews from critics and audience, being the best-reviewed WAG film. On Rotten Tomatoes, the score is "93%", the critic consensus reads "Mythica matches its beautiful animation with its creative writing, excellent casting and heartwarming moments that audiences will love." On Metacritic, it has a score of 92 of 100, indicating "universal acclaim".

Controversy
Despite the extremely positive reviews, it did end up being the topic of a controversy, having the main character as a lesbian. One anti-LGBT Christian group requested WAG to re-edit the whole film to have Crystal dating a male and another one even threatened to move a lawsuit against WAG for allegedly destroying family values. However, WAG refused to re-edit the film, stating that "its about time we make a LGBT character to support LGBT." Despite this, Alabama still screened the film in their theaters.

Alison Brie and Hailee Steinfeld, who are defending WAG's decision to make their characters lesbians, said "even if both of us are straight, we respect and admire the courage it took to the film's director and writers to bring this project to life". Tadaki Fujiyama, a former worker at Warner Bros. who is currently working at Marvel, defended WAG's decision, saying TBD.

Theatrical release promotions

 * McDonalds put out 10 candy dispensers as part of their Happy Meals. In addition, McDonalds announced that there will be a promotion for the film called Mythica Christmas where you can win prizes if you see TBD. The Chocolate Mint McFlurry Desert and Egg Nog Shake, both previously from the Toy Story 2 promotion, and the Reese's McFlurry will be brought back alongside with the new McFlurry desert, Candycane Caramel McFlurry.
 * Pez put out three candy dispensers, those being Crystal, Buck and Halie. Every three of them came with Cherry, Lemon and Watermelon.
 * (reserved for Coolot)
 * Funko put up /Mystery Minis/ for the film. In addition, they also put up four Pop! figures.
 * Mattel distributed toys for Mythica. Toys included dolls, figures, plushes, blind bags, and playsets.

LEGO Theme
See LEGO Mythica.

Easter Eggs

 * A werewolf citizen resembles Howler from the Howler franchise.
 * Crystal did compare Smeck to Implo from The Mystic Woods.
 * A Face Paint looks like Charlotte Parsons from Good Ol' Magic.
 * Halie tells Crystal that Emmet is not a "blue, hairy, crazy velociraptor weirdo", referring to Gurkha from the Collin the Speedy Boy series.
 * A non-LEGO appearance of Unikitty appears.
 * A scene with green-eyed Flysts, if you look very closely, you can see Tux from Good Ol' Magic.
 * In a village scene, you can see Migo from Smallfoot.
 * Crystal's adventure backpack has a Bugs Bunny patch.
 * One of the ads that says "Coca-Cola" has Flappy McFlighster from Collin the Speedy Boy drinking the coke and smiling.
 * Coco is shown in a cameo.
 * Crystal once compared Emmet to Lex the Lynx from Howler.
 * [CTSB easter egg reserved for Coolot]
 * If you look very closely in the city, you can see a giant statue of The Iron Giant.

Video Game tie-in
See Mythica.

The video game tie-in was released on the same day the film releases. It is released for the Xbox One, PlayStation 4, PC, Mac and Sega Orion, being developed by Avalanche Software and published by WB Games. A version for the Switch was to be released as well, but was cancelled afterwards.

Tropes
/Tropes

Rating
In the United States, the film is rated PG for "action and peril, some rude humor, and thematic elements".

Variants

 * Warner Bros and WAG: The Warner Bros. logo is drawn in the cave with mythical creatures when the torch passes. Then, after the logo, the camera pans to the Warner Animation Group logo.

Release
The film was released on December 11, 2020 to stream on HBO Max.

Home media
The film was released on March 9, 2021 on Digital and on DVD, Blu-Ray and Blu-Ray 3D on April 6, 2021. It includes three shorts, titled /Halie's Bonga Problem/, /Griffin Mayhem/ and The Dinosaur Chase, bloopers, behind-the-scenes, history of Mythica, commentary and deleted scenes. An extended cut is confirmed, titled TBD.

Merchandise
See /Merchandise and Food Promotions/.

Quotes
(then, Crystal, Buck and Halie chuckles, trying their best not to laugh)
 * Crystal: It's a girl tyrannasaurus! She is so cute!
 * Michelle: Girl?! I am a male for crying out loud!
 * Michelle: You think this is funny?!