Plants vs. Zombies (2016 film)

Plants vs. Zombies is a 2016 American computer-animated action-comedy film, based on PopCap Game's 2009 tower defense video game of the same name, produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by 20th Century Fox. The film was directed by Mike Mitchell and co-directed by Walt Dohrn, from a screenplay by the writing team of Phil Lord and Christopher Miller. The film features an ensemble cast starring the voices of Dan Aykroyd, Neil Patrick Harris, Anna Faris, Ryan Reynolds, Steve Buscemi, Ed O'Neill, Will Ferrell, Will Arnett, Bill Nighy, Jane Lynch, Owen Wilson, Josh Gad, Freddie Highmore, Ewan McGregor, Alecia Moore (Pink), Will Forte, Harrison Ford, Samuel L. Jackson, Jim Carrey, Alec Baldwin, Jason Lee, Bill Hader, J.K. Simmons, Hugh Jackman, Clancy Brown, Simon Pegg, Kristen Bell, Wayne Knight, Alan Tudyk, Seth Rogen, Paul Rudd, Nick Offerman, Nicolas Cage, Jonah Hill, Josh Brolin and Liam Neeson, and it is narrated by Patrick Stewart. Also, George Fan, who is the main designer of the original Plants vs. Zombies game and the creator of its franchise, reprises his role as the zombies. The film follows a 40-year-old gardener named Crazy Dave who struggles to survive an attack from zombies and the evil Dr. Zomboss with the help of powerful mutant plants.

The film was theatrically released on July 15, 2016 by DreamWorks Animation. It was a commercial success, grossing over $1.1 billion worldwide, becoming the highest-grossing film of 2016, and received mixed-to-positive reviews from critics.

The movie was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature and a Golden Globe Award for Best Animated Feature Film, being the first film based on a videogame to be nominated for an Academy and Golden Globe Award, but lost both awards to Disney's Zootopia.

The success of Plants vs. Zombies launched a multimedia franchise, two sequels (Plants vs. Zombies 2: It's About Time & Plants vs. Zombies 3: Alaskan Getaway), three holiday specials (Plants vs. Zombies: Legend of the Were-Wolf Zombie, Plants vs. Zombies: Happy Birthdayz! & Plants vs. Zombies: Feastivus Special) and a Netflix original series (Plants vs. Zombies Heroes).

Plot/Synopsis
Crazy Dave is a 36-year-old lonely but friendly and careful gardener who lives in the streets of Suburbia. When he discovers that the zombies are coming from Dr. Zomboss' fortress located in the Graveyard near his house, he needs help of powerful mutant plants of different types to attack them. The plants attack the zombies day and night, in the frontyard, in the backyard where they throw a pool party and the roof, meeting new plants and new zombies they find.

In the roof of Crazy Dave's house, the plants are still attacking the zombies to protect Dave when he's watching television and doing his everyday activities. Later during the night, after Dr. Zomboss wrote a card and sent it to Crazy Dave's house, he and the Plant Herd went to the city of Suburbia to face him with his terribly giant creation: the Zombot, giant robot zombie that attacks the plants by throwing RV's at them, creating fire and ice balls to crush them, spawning different zombies by picking them with his hand, squashing them with his foot and spawning Bungee Zombies to steal plants, and the plants must attack and defeat it. At the climax of the film, the Zombot was completely destroyed and Dr. Zomboss was arrested by the law for causing a mass destruction in Suburbia the next day, and Crazy Dave along with the Plant Herd and his neighbors start to dance with Sunflower singing Zombies on Your Lawn.

In the mid-credits scene, the polices took Dr. Zomboss to Jail and then he was arrested for four years. He told himself he will get revenge with Crazy Dave once again with a new surprising catastrophe. In the post-credits scene, four years later, the plants once again attacked the zombies with Zomboss released from Jail. One of these zombies was taking a special lunch. Crazy Dave found a Taco with Hot Sauce from this lunch and ate it. He, wanting to eat the taco again, wants to time-travel and calls Penny, a supercar that can time-travel to find this taco.

Cast

 * Dan Aykroyd as Crazetopher David "Crazy Dave" Blazing III, the main protagonist of the film. A crazy 36-year-old gardener who wears a saucepan for a helmet, and faces Dr. Zomboss and his zombie army with the help of living plants. He used to speak only in weird grumbles and gibberish in the videogame series, but here speaks normally and has a distracted but kind behavior.
 * Andrew Bambridge voices an universitary Crazy Dave.
 * Orion Acaba (archival recordings) as Crazy Dave's "NNOOOOOOO!!!" screaming (uncredited)
 * Steve Buscemi as Dr. Edgar George Zomboss, a mad evil scientist zombie who has a really huge brain and is the leader of the Zombie Herd. He is the main antagonist of the film.
 * Michael Cavaleri voices an universitary Edgar Zomboss.
 * Patrick Stewart as the Narrator

Plants

 * Neil Patrick Harris as Peashooter, a green Bellsprout-like plant who shoots peas at zombies. He is the leader of the Plant Herd, Sunflower's love interest, Wall-nut's best friend and Repeater's younger brother.
 * Harris also voices Snow Pea and Threepeater
 * Anna Faris as Sunflower, an careful plant who can produce suns. She is Peashooter's love interest.
 * Laura Shigihara (archival recordings) as Sunflower's singing voice, which is heard in "Zombies on Your Lawn" during the first part of the end credits. (uncredited)
 * Faris also voices Twin Sunflower
 * Ryan Reynolds as Wall-Nut, an solid walnut who can block zombies when the other plants are attacking them. He is Peashooter's best friend and Tall-nut's younger brother.
 * Andy Richter as Potato Mine, a root plant who explodes when he is in contact with other zombies after being hidden under the earth for a few seconds.
 * Dee Bradley Baker and Tom Kenny as Cherry Bomb, a cherry who can explode zombies into a 3x3 area. They serve as an instant use plant.
 * Bill Nighy as Chomper, a purple piranha-like plant who has a huge appetite for zombies.
 * Frank Welker provides Chomper's barks, burps and growls. (uncredited)
 * Owen Wilson as Repeater, a serious Peashooter plant who can shoot the double of peas. He is Peashooter's older brother.
 * Josh Gad as Puff-shroom
 * Gad also voices Sea-shroom.
 * Freddie Highmore as Sun-shroom
 * Ewan McGregor as Fume-shroom
 * Alecia Moore (Pink) as Hypno-shroom
 * Will Forte as Scaredy-shroom, a tin mushroom who shoots spores at zombies and hides when a zombie is near him.
 * Harrison Ford as Ice-shroom, a blue mushroom who can freeze all zombies.
 * Samuel L. Jackson as Doom-shroom, a massive black mushroom who can explode all zombies leaving craters.
 * Frank Welker as Tangle Kelp, a monstrous kelp who tangles zombies and take them underwater.
 * Alec Baldwin as Squash, a grumpy chayote plant that can squash zombies when they are next or near to him.
 * Jim Carrey as Jalapeno, an jalapeno pepper who scorches an entire lane of zombies with a powerful burst of flames.
 * Dee Bradley Baker provides the vocal effects of Spikeweed and Spikerock. (uncredited)
 * J.K. Simmons as Torchwood, a grumpy stump who can light regular peas that pass through him.
 * Hugh Jackman as Tall-nut, a taller version of Wall-nut who can block the zombies and also Pole Vaulters and Dolphin Riders. He is Wall-nut's older brother.
 * Carlos Alazraqui as Plantern, a street lamp-like plant who lights up areas removing the fog.
 * Jane Lynch as Cactus, a cactus plant who can attack zombies by shooting spikes to them and make Balloon Zombies explode their balloons.
 * Kristen Bell as Blover, a clover who can blow up Balloon Zombies and flying zombies and imps.
 * Simon Pegg as Starfruit, a carambola who attacks by projecting stars in five different directions whenever a zombie is in his line of fire.
 * Paul Rudd as Magnet-shroom, a mushroom who steals metallic objects from zombies.
 * Jason Lee as Cabbage-pult, a cabbage who can throw cabbages at zombies.
 * Bill Hader as Kernel-pult. a corn cob who has a 75% chance to throw kernel corns at zombies and a 25% chance to throw butter at zombies to freeze them temporarily.
 * Alan Tudyk as Garlic, a garlic who diverts zombies into other lanes.
 * Amy Poehler as Umbrella Leaf, an umbrella-like plant who protects herself and up to eight plants surrounding her from Bungee Zombies and basketballs thrown by Catapult Zombie.
 * Nick Offerman as Melon-pult, a watermelon who can throw watermelons that can deal heavy damage at zombies.
 * Offerman also voices Winter Melon.
 * Josh Brolin as Gatling Pea, a veteran Peashooter plant who can throw four peas at once.
 * Liam Neeson as Cob Cannon, a veteran corn cob who launches big corn cobs at targeted areas that explodes into a 3x3 area.
 * Conrad Vernon as Imitater, a potato that imites and turn into another plants.

Zombies

 * George Fan as:
 * Basic Zombie
 * Flag Zombie
 * Conehead Zombie
 * Pole Vaulter Zombie, an athletic zombie who runs with his pole jumps through plants except Tall-nut.
 * Buckethead Zombie
 * Screen Door Zombie
 * Backup Dancer Zombie
 * Ducky Tube Zombie (and its variants)
 * Snorkel Zombie
 * Zombie Bobsled Team
 * Dolphin Rider Zombie, another athletic zombie who runs with his dolphin into the water and jump through the plants except Tall-nut, like the Pole Vaulter.
 * Zombie Dolphin (voice)
 * Balloon Zombie
 * Zombot (robotic voice). It is Dr. Zomboss' evil creation to destroy Crazy Dave's house and all the plants.
 * Ed O'Neill as Newspaper Zombie, an elderly zombie who gets angry everytime he loses his newspaper.
 * Will Arnett as All-Star Zombie, a strong footballer zombie who runs and crashes into the plants killing them.
 * Will Ferrell as Disco Zombie, a dancing zombie whose favorite music is Disco music and spawns four of his backup dancer. Everytime he loses one of his backup dancers, he spawns a new one.
 * Alan Tudyk as Zomboni
 * Tom Kenny as Jack-In-The-Box Zombie
 * Kenny also voices Bungee Zombie, a zombie who drops from the zombies' helicopter and steals plants.
 * Wayne Knight as Digger Zombie, a zombie who digs underground through Crazy Dave's lawn with his axe reaching to the first column of the lawn.
 * Knight also voices Catapult Zombie, a zombie who throws basketballs at plants.
 * Seth Rogen as Pogo Zombie, a zombie who jumps with his pogo stick over multiple plants except Tall-nut.
 * Clancy Brown as Zombie Yeti, a silent yet curious Yeti who leaves the lawn slowly after he reaches the sixth column.
 * John DiMaggio as Ladder Zombie, a zombie who carries a ladder as a shield and puts it into defensive plants.
 * Nicolas Cage as Gargantuar, a giant zombie who smashes plants with his telephone and throw his Imp when he suffers the half of his health. He is Imp's adoptive father.
 * Jonah Hill as Imp, a small but intelligent zombie who sneaks around plants and eats them. He is Gargantuar's adoptive son.

Release
The film was theatrically released in USA on July 15, 2016.

Marketing

 * The film's teaser trailer debuted on July 10, 2015, and was shown in front of screenings of Minions, Ant-Man, Pixels, Hotel Transylvania 2, Goosebumps and The Peanuts Movie.
 * A first trailer debuted on November 25, 2015, and was shown in front of screenings of The Good Dinosaur and Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
 * A second trailer debuted on January 29, 2016, and was shown in front of screenings of Kung Fu Panda 3 and Deadpool.
 * A third teaser trailer debuted on March 4, 2016, and was shown in front of screenings of Zootopia, Captain America: Civil War, The Angry Birds Movie and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows.
 * Seven individual TV spots for Crazy Dave, Peashooter, Sunflower, Dr. Zomboss, Wall-nut, Chomper, Cactus were released between May 20 and 27, 2016.
 * The final trailer debuted on June 17, 2016, and was shown in front of screenings of Finding Dory, The BFG and The Secret Life of Pets.

Home media
Plants vs. Zombies was released on Digital HD on October 4, 2016, and on Blu-Ray and DVD on October 18, 2016, from the first day of release to July 2017 it became the most sold DVD on the market. The Wal-Mart exclusive Blu-Ray + DVD Combo release has six individual plushies featuring Crazy Dave, Peashooter, Sunflower, Wall-nut, Browncoat Zombie and Dr. Zomboss. Since March 2017, the film is available on Netflix, and it became the most watched film from March to August.

Critical response
Critical response aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gave the film an approval rating of 88% "Certified Fresh" based on 230 reviews. The website's consensus reads "Plants vs. Zombies is a fun-filled action film which makes fun at the zombie apocalypse and truly stays faithful to its source material just like The Angry Birds Movie. Packed with beautiful computer animation, funny and charming characters and a great choice of voice actors. Older kids and grown-ups will enjoy it!". Metacritic gives the film scored a 88/100. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A+" on an A+ to F scale.

Sequel
A sequel titled Plants vs. Zombies 2: It's About Time was released to theaters on June 28, 2019 by DreamWorks Animation, and was distributed by Universal Pictures. It is based on Plants vs. Zombies 2, the sequel of the award-winning videogame.

Main article: Plants vs. Zombies 2: It's About Time (2019 film)

Soundtrack
The soundtrack for the film was released on July 12, 2016 and was composed by Hans Zimmer. It also features three songs from Michael Jackson and Laura Shigihara's "Zombies on Your Lawn".

Original Soundtrack

 * 1) Crazy Dave (Main titles)
 * 2) Story of Crazy Dave and Dr. Zomboss
 * 3) Starting a New Life in the New House/Tragic Moment
 * 4) Grasswalk
 * 5) Loonboon
 * 6) A Huge Wave of Zombies is Approaching
 * 7) Ultimate Battle
 * 8) Moongrains
 * 9) Watery Graves
 * 10) Rigor Mormist
 * 11) Graze the Roof
 * 12) Dr. Zomboss is Approaching to the City
 * 13) Final Battle
 * 14) Suburbia is Now in Peace, Harmony and it's all Free of Zombies... for Now
 * 15) A New Adventure Begins

Music

 * 1) Thriller - Michael Jackson
 * 2) Bad - Michael Jackson
 * 3) Smooth Criminal - Michael Jackson
 * 4) Zombies On Your Lawn - Laura Shigihara

DreamWorks Animation logo variant
The logo plays as usual, although there are no clouds after the boy throws them out with the hook, in a similar way to Megamind's DWA logo variant. After the logo is formed, it grows green leaves on the whole logo except the moon and the boy, and the camera pans down to start the film. A shortened version of "Crazy Dave", the main theme song of Plants vs. Zombies, composed by Hans Zimmer plays during the logo.

Trivia (production)

 * It is the twelfth DreamWorks Animation film to be filmed in 2.35:1 aspect ratio after Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron, Kung Fu Panda, Monsters vs. Aliens, How to Train your Dragon, Shrek Forever After, Megamind, Kung Fu Panda 2, Puss in Boots, The Croods, Turbo, How to Train your Dragon 2 and Kung Fu Panda 3.
 * This film was originally going to be a live action film with CGI elements and made by Disney and Jerry Bruckheimer Films, scheduled for a Spring 2014 release, but it was cancelled due to the negative reception of Cars 2.
 * The production for the cancelled live action film has been going on since 2010, but it was cancelled on the next year, days after Cars 2 was released in theaters and was received with negative reception. The production for the final version has been going on since spring 2013 and ended closer to the beginning of 2016.
 * The writing of the script for the final film has been going on since 2014 and ended closer to the middle of 2015.
 * On March 2013, it was announced that Plants vs. Zombies was originally scheduled for general release on March 20, 2015, but it was rescheduled to July 31 of the same year due to DreamWorks' satisfaction with the successful release of The Croods (2013). Later on May 2014, the film was rescheduled to March 4, 2016 due to the negative reception of Rio 2 (2014). In January 2015, the film was rescheduled again to June 22, 2016 to avoid competition with Disney's Zootopia (2016). Finally in June of the same year, one month before the release of the Teaser Trailer, the film was rescheduled to July 15, 2016 to avoid competition with Ice Age: Collision Course (2016).
 * Back in 2010, Larry the Cable Guy was going to portray Crazy Dave in the cancelled live action version. Bill Murray, Danny McBride, Jack Black, Jeff Garlin, John Goodman and Peter Stormare were all considered for the role of Crazy Dave. According to director Mike Mitchell and producer Chris Miller, Jack Black was originally cast for the role of Crazy Dave.
 * Harvey Flaxcaster, Crazy Dave's best friend since childhood, was originally going to appear in the live action film and was played by Brad Pitt. But after the live action film's production was cancelled, the character was scrapped from the film until Plants vs. Zombies 3 is released in 2024 or 2025.
 * Nate Timely and Patrice Blazing, Crazy Dave's nephews were originally going to appear in the live action film and were portrayed by Jake T. Austin and Bella Thorne respectively, but after the production of that film was cancelled, they became scrapped characters until Plants vs. Zombies 3 is released in 2024 or 2025.
 * Frankie, a talking white Toy Poodle dog, was originally going to appear in the live action film and was voiced by Ricky Gervais. But after the live action film's production was cancelled, the character was scrapped from the film.
 * As shown in a early opening montage for the film, there was going to be a black crow named The Crow Narrator, he served as the original narrator for the film and was voiced by Jeremy Irons. Later, this character was scrapped and a off-screen narrator voiced by Sir Patrick Stewart was offered instead.
 * Tobey Maguire was originally cast as the voice of Wall-nut.
 * Back in 2010, Laura Shigihara was originally going to compose the score music for the movie and she auditioned for the role of Sunflower, but she left development team after the acquisition of PopCap Games by Electronic Arts and Hans Zimmer composed the score music for the movie.
 * Back in 2014, during casting of the film, Hotel Transylvania co-star Kevin James was rumored to voice Fume-shroom, but DreamWorks dislikes him for actual inappropriate and finally Ewan McGregor took over. Crispin Glover, John C. Reilly, Martin Lawrence and Will Smith were also considered for the role of Fume-shroom.
 * Back in 2011, Michael Clarke Duncan was originally cast as the voice of Cob Cannon, but he passed away on 2012 and finally Liam Neeson took over the role.
 * Back in 2011, the late James Gandolfini was originally cast as the voice of Squash, but he passed away on 2013. Brad Garrett, Dustin Hoffman, James Caan, John Carroll Lynch, Peter Dinklage and Ray Winstone were also considered for the role of Squash. According to director Mike Mitchell and producer Chris Miller, Dustin Hoffman was originally cast for the role of Squash.
 * Alec Baldwin, Bill Murray, Bruce Willis, Bryan Cranston, Dan Aykroyd, John Goodman, Josh Brolin, Kiefer Sutherland, Patrick Warburton, Randy Quaid and the late Robin Williams were all considered for the role of Gargantuar.
 * Andy Samberg, Bill Hader, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Clark Duke, Jim Parsons, Jon Heder, Michael Cera and Zach Braff were all considered for the role of Imp.
 * Back in 2010, the late Robin Williams was going to portray Dr. Zomboss in the cancelled live action film, but he passed away on 2014. Albert Brooks, Andy Serkis, Billy Crystal, Gary Oldman, Hugh Laurie, Jim Carrey, Steve Carell and Tom Hanks were also considered for the role of Dr. Zomboss before Steve Buscemi was chosen to voice the character. According to director Mike Mitchell and producer Chris Miller, Jim Carrey, who voiced Jalapeno in the final film, was originally cast for the role of Dr. Zomboss.
 * Back in 2010, the late Robin Williams was going to portray Dr. Zomboss in the cancelled live action film, but he passed away on 2014. Albert Brooks, Andy Serkis, Billy Crystal, Gary Oldman, Hugh Laurie, Jim Carrey, Steve Carell and Tom Hanks were also considered for the role of Dr. Zomboss before Steve Buscemi was chosen to voice the character. According to director Mike Mitchell and producer Chris Miller, Jim Carrey, who voiced Jalapeno in the final film, was originally cast for the role of Dr. Zomboss.

Trivia

 * It is the twelfth DreamWorks Animation film to be filmed in 2.35:1 aspect ratio after Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron, Kung Fu Panda, Monsters vs. Aliens, How to Train your Dragon, Shrek Forever After, Megamind, Kung Fu Panda 2, Puss in Boots, The Croods, Turbo, How to Train your Dragon 2 and Kung Fu Panda 3.
 * Lily Pad, Pumpkin and Flower Pot are the only plants that do not speak a single word during the film.
 * Marigold, Gloom-shroom, Cattail, Gold Magnet and Imitater are the only plants from the original game to not appear in the film.
 * Grave Buster, Spikeweed and Spikerock are the only plants that can only speak and express making noises during the film, and those sounds were voiced by Frank Welker and Dee Bradley Baker. The noises of these plants weren't dubbed in different language dubs, instead keeping the original audio from them. However, they were uncredited in the scrolling credits.
 * Hypno-shroom and Blover are supposed to be male in the games and the franchise, but here are female.
 * Squash is the third DreamWorks Animation character to be voiced by Alec Baldwin, the first two being Makunga in Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa and North (Santa Claus) in Rise of the Guardians.
 * Torchwood is the third 2016 animated character to be voiced by J.K. Simmons, the first two being Kai in Kung Fu Panda 3 and Mayor Lionheart in Zootopia.
 * This is the third animated film to co-star Seth Rogen and Will Arnett together after Horton Hears a Who! and Monsters vs. Aliens.
 * This is the fourth DreamWorks Animation film to star Seth Rogen, the first three being Shrek the Third, the Kung Fu Panda franchise (2008-present) and Monsters vs. Aliens.
 * Josh Gad and Bill Hader previously co-starred in The Angry Birds Movie, which came out one month before than this film.
 * Seth Rogen and Paul Rudd previously appeared in Monsters vs. Aliens in 2009, and they later re-appeared in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem in 2023.
 * Tom Kenny and Clancy Brown previously co-starred in the SpongeBob SquarePants franchise (1999-present).