The Emoji Movie (2023 film)

The Emoji Movie is a 2023 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 Robert Smigel and the story by The Hageman Brothers and Smigel. The ensemble voice cast includes Adam Sandler, Ben Schwartz, Jayma Mays, 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 (Sandler), who exists in a digital city called Textopolis, from the app-verse, embarking on a journey to become a normal emoji capable of only a single expression, accompanied by his friends, Hi-5 (Schwartz) and Jailbreak (Mays). 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: Breaks the Internet. 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 January 8, 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).

Plot
Gene is an emoji that lives in Textopolis, a digital city inside the app-verse. He is the son of two meh emojis named Mel and Mary and is able to make multiple expressions despite his parents' upbringing. His parents are hesitant about him going to work, but Gene insists so that he can feel useful. Upon receiving a text from his love interest Addie McCallister, Alex decides to send her an emoji. When Gene is selected, he panics, makes a panicked expression, and wrecks the text center. Gene is called in by Smiler, a smiley emoji and leader of the text center, who concludes that Gene is a "malfunction" and therefore must be deleted. Gene is chased by bots but is rescued by Hi-5, a once-popular emoji who has since lost his fame due to lack of use. He tells Gene that he can be fixed if they find a hacker, and Hi-5 accompanies him so that he can reclaim his fame.

Smiler sends more bots to look for Gene when she finds out that he has left Textopolis, as his actions have caused Alex to think that his phone needs to be fixed. Gene and Hi-5 come to a piracy app where they meet a hacker emoji named Jailbreak, who wants to reach Dropbox so that she can live in the cloud. The trio is attacked by Smiler's bots, but manage to escape into the game Candy Crush. Jailbreak reveals that Gene can be fixed in the cloud, and the group goes off into the Just Dance app. While there, Jailbreak is revealed to be a princess emoji who fled home after tiring of being stereotyped. They are once again attacked by bots, and their actions cause Alex to delete the Just Dance app. Gene and Jailbreak escape, but Hi-5 is taken along with the app and ends up in the trash.

Mel and Mary go searching for Gene and have a very lethargic argument. They make up in the Instagram app when Mel reveals that he, too, is a malfunction, explaining Gene's behavior. While traveling through Spotify, Jailbreak admits that she likes Gene just the way he is and that he should not be ashamed of his malfunction. The two start to fall in love and Gene silently debates his choice to change himself. They make it to the trash and rescue Hi-5, but are soon attacked by a bot upgraded with illegal malware. They evade it by entangling its arms and enter Dropbox, where they encounter a firewall. After many tries, the gang gets past it with a password being Addie's name and make it to the cloud, where Jailbreak prepares to reprogram Gene. Gene admits his feelings for Jailbreak, but she wishes to stick to her plan of venturing into the cloud, unintentionally causing Gene to revert to his apathetic programming out of heartbreak. Suddenly, the upgraded bot sneaks into the cloud and captures Gene, prompting Hi-5 and Jailbreak to go after him with a Twitter bird summoned by Jailbreak in her princess form.

As Smiler prepares to delete Gene, Mel and Mary arrive. Mel reveals to everyone that he is also a malfunction, prompting Smiler to threaten to delete him as well. Jailbreak and Hi-5 arrive and disable the bot, which falls on top of Smiler. However, a factory reset performed by technical support would restore his phone's functionality and include also the whole app-verse, which would entail total destruction of Gene's world should such operation complete. Out of desperation, Gene prepares to have himself texted to Addie, making numerous faces to express himself. Realizing that Addie received a text from him, Alex cancels the factory reset just as it nearly finishes, saving the emoji and finally getting to speak with Addie, who likes the emoji Alex sent. Gene accepts himself for who he is and is celebrated by all of the emojis.

In a mid-credits scene, Smiler has been relegated to the "loser lounge" with the other unused and forgotten emojis for her crimes, wearing numerous braces due to her teeth being chipped by the bot, and playing and losing a game of Go Fish.

Cast

 * Adam Sandler as Gene Meh, an outsider "meh" emoji who can show multiple expressions.
 * Ben Schwartz as Hi-5, a hand emoji representing a high five signal.
 * Jayma Mays 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.
 * Christina Aguilera as Akiko Glitter, a "super cool" dancer that lives inside the Just Dance app
 * Salma Hayek as Flamenca, a flamenco dancer emoji
 * Fred Armisen as Steven, a devil emoji
 * Jenny Slate as Spam, a spam message
 * Benjamin Bratt as an Internet troll
 * Jake T. Austin as Alex, a human teenager who owns the phone where Gene and his emoji friends live
 * Tati Gabrielle as Addie McCallister, Alex's love interest
 * Rob Riggle (uncredited) as an ice cream emoji
 * Conrad Vernon as a Trojan Horse
 * Genndy Tartakovsky as Laughter, Broom, and Pizza
 * Liam Aiken as Ronnie Ramtech, one of the two programmers that select which Emoji to display on a phone

Development
Director Genndy Tartakovsky wanting to make a new take on the concept, he began asking himself, "What is the new toy out there that hasn't been explored?" At the same time, Leondis received a text message with an emoji, which helped him realize that this was the world he wanted to explore. In fleshing out the story, Leondis considered having the emojis visit the real world. However, his producer felt that the world inside a phone was much more interesting, which inspired Leondis to create the story of where and how the emojis lived. As Leondis is gay, he connected to Gene's plight of "being different in a world that expects you to be one thing", and in eventually realizing that the feeling held true for most people, Leondis has said the film "was very personal".

In July 2019, it was announced that Universal Pictures' Illumination Entertainment had production rights to make the film of Emoji. The film was fast tracked into production by the studio after the bidding war. Unlike most other animated films, the film had a production time of two years, as there were concerns that the movie would become outdated due to the evolution of phone technology.

Casting
On World Emoji Day on July 17, 2021, Adam Sandler was announced as the lead. Tartakovsky created the part with Sandler in mind, although the actor was initially hesitant to play the role, only accepting after Tartakovsky briefed him on the story. Tartakovsky chose Sandler because "when you think of irrepressible, you think of Sandler But he also has this surprising ability to break your heart". In addition, Miller also contributed some re-writes. In October 2021, it was announced that Anya Taylor-Joy and Ben Schwartz would join the cast as well. Taylor-Joy was later replaced by Jayma Mays. Sandler and Mays was worked previously in PAW Patrol: The Movie (2021). Keegan-Michael Key stated that he was initially offered the role of "Poop", which he said led to his decision to retire from acting. The part would ultimately go to Bobby Cannavale.

Music
The film's score was composed by Mark Mothersbaugh, who previously composed the score with Taratakovsky in Wreck-It Ralph. Singer Ricky Reed recorded an original song, "Good Vibrations", for the film. While also voicing a character in the film, Christina Aguilera's song "Feel This Moment" was also used during the film and the end credits.