Fred the Ostrich in The Great Diamond Caper

Fred the Ostrich in The Great Diamond Caper is a 2011 direct-to-DVD mystery-musical comedy film directed by Russell Calabrese. It is the second of a series of animated musical films, starring Fred the Ostrich and the gang. This film was produced by Paramount Pictures and released on October 18, 2011. It was released shortly after the last episode of The Fred the Ostrich Show to be filmed. "Total Drama" competitor Heather makes a cameo in this film. All the songs were originally written for this movie by Joe Raposo.

Plot
Fred the Ostrich, David the Duck, and Donald play newspaper reporters for the Daily Chronicle. David and Fred, specifically, are playing identical twin reporters, which becomes the source of a running gag - supposedly, nobody can tell they are twins. While Donald is too busy taking pictures of a peafowl, the biggest fashion designer of London named Lady Holiday gets robbed of her necklace. The trio are eventually assigned to investigate the theft of the valuable jewels from Lady Holiday, which they have to beg for after their boss Mike Tarkenian dismisses them following the Daily Chronicle's headline about the twins joining the staff (while the other papers report on the jewel heist).

They travel to London, England to interview her, but with only $12 for the trip, they are forced to fly in the airplane's baggage hold and are thrown out of the plane as they arrive over Britain while it continues on to Italy. They stay at the dilapidated (but free) Happiness Hotel, run and populated by various characters from The Fred the Ostrich Show, including Gramps, Peter Olsen, Ralph the bear, Dr. Tusks & the Generation Society, George the Rhino, the Italian Chef, D'Abruzzo the Squirrel, Peggy Sue, and Longmont Lew and the Jug Benders. When Fred seeks out Lady Holiday in her office however, he instead finds the alluring Julie Simpson, and mistakes her for the fashion designer. Julie (who was interviewing for a job) masquerades as Lady Holiday, even going so far as to sneak into a ritzy townhouse (located at 17 Highbrow Street) to impress Kermit with her dwellings much to the surprise of the true British residents Neville and Dorcas.

At a night club restaurant, Lady Holiday's necklace is stolen by her jealous brother Nicky (voiced by Diedrich Bader) and his assistants Carla, Marla, and Darla, three of her put-upon fashion models; during the robbery, Julie's charade is revealed and she bolts, leaving Fred behind. Despite Nicky's instant attraction to Julie, they successfully frame her for the theft and plan to steal an even more valuable prize....the coveted Baseball Diamond which is on display at a local gallery, the Mallory Gallery. Unfortunately for them, Donald is under a nearby table and overhears them. Fred's crew, along with their friends from the Happiness Hotel, have no choice but to intercept and catch the thieves themselves in order to exonerate Julie.

They all get to the Mallory Gallery, and get to the Baseball Diamond at the same time as the thieves, use the Baseball Diamond in a game of keep away and later baseball, complete with Tommy Downhill commentating. Julie, meanwhile, has escaped from prison and, in a bout of serendipity, finds a motorcycle which she uses to crash into the Gallery's window, knocking Nicky, who is holding Fred hostage, out in the process. Carla, Marla and Darla confront Julie, only to be quickly dispatched by a flurry of furious karate chops. As the police arrive, Julie is cleared from all charges, Nicky and his fashion model-accomplices are arrested, and they get their deserved credit for foiling the heist. The gang then returns to America the same way they departed, being thrown out of the cargo hold and parachuting back to the U.S.A., over the end credits which concludes with Donald taking a photo of the audience with his overly powerful flashbulb causing the screen to go black as if he blinded his subjects again.

Voice Cast

 * Jim Ward as Fred the Ostrich
 * Tara Strong as Julie Simpson
 * Dee Bradley Baker as David the Duck, Anthropomorth, and Sneeker
 * Jeff Bennett as The Amazing Donald, The Italian Chef, and George the Rhino
 * Greg Cipes as Peter Olsen
 * Kevin Michael Richardson as Ralph the Bear and Dr. Tusks
 * Carlos Alazraqui as Lloyd
 * James Arnold Taylor as Janet
 * Phil LaMarr as Scoot
 * Tom Kenny as Gramps
 * Drew Massey as Ramada
 * Victor Yerrid as Hilton
 * Daran Norris as Bozark
 * Keith Ferguson as Mips
 * Jess Harnell as Professor Bunscombe
 * Richard Horvitz as D'Abruzzo the Squirrel
 * Paul Rugg as Lou Hampshire
 * Fred Tatasciore as Jumbo

with


 * Diedrich Bader as Nicky Holiday
 * Theresa Gallagher as Lady Holiday
 * Olivia D'Abo as Marla
 * Rachael MacFarlane as Carla
 * Kimberly Brooks as Darla
 * Maurice LaMarche as News Editor
 * Andre Stojka as Cement Truck Driver
 * John Cleese as Neville
 * Julie Andrews as Dorcas
 * Rachel Wilson as Heather

Additional Voices


 * Jennifer Hale and Grey Delisle

with


 * Charlie Adler
 * Susanne Blakeslee
 * Steven Blum
 * John DiMaggio
 * Chris Edgerly
 * David Kaufman
 * Jason Marsden
 * Vanessa Marshall
 * Rob Paulsen
 * Kath Soucie
 * Lauren Tom
 * Patrick Warburton

Characters

 * Speaking Characters: Fred the Ostrich, Julie Simpson, David the Duck, Donald, Anthromorph, Dr. Tusks, Lloyd Zeppelin, Janet, Scoot, Ralph, Peter Olsen, D'Abruzzo the Squirrel, Jumbo, Gramps, Lou Hampshire, Mips, Italian Chef, George the Rhino, Bozark, News Anchorman, Professor Bunscombe, Sneeker, Hilton, Ramada, Tommy Downhill
 * Background Characters: Peggy Sue, Wacky Barry, Frieda, chickens, parrots, squirrel bellhops, cows, sheep, billy goat, Yancy the Yellow Dog, Penny the Pink Cat, Frank the Fox, Whatnots, a Reputation, Ernie Monster, Danny Monster, Undergrowth, Boogedy, Glare, Teal Green-Beaked Boogedy-Like Monster, Tan Anteater-Like Monster, Pink Grover-Like Whatnot Monster, Dark Blue-Gray Part Shark-Part Alligator Monster, Emerald Frog-Footed Lizard-Like Monster, Gold Aardvark-Like Monster, Royal Blue Boar-Like Monster, Periwinkle Part Zombie-Part Lizard Monster, Larry the Dairy Monster, Obese Red Whatnot Monster, Miss Clementine, Large Purple Bird, Tall Green Bird, Man-Sized Blue Bird, Medium-Sized White Bird, Short Yellow Bird, Small Red Bird, Gary the Green Elephant, Bob the Blue Giraffe, Reggie the Red Snake, Oliver the Orange Frog, Paul the Purple Rabbit, Blue-Gray Octopus, Longmont Lew, Bud, Gab, Delisle, Slim Jim, Jake, The Singing Food

Trivia

 * Donald's classification as a "whatchamacallit" is officially cemented in this film, as this is the label affixed to his shipping to his shipping crate en route to Great Britain.
 * The fourth wall is completely demolished by Fred the Ostrich and the gang during the course of the film. David comments on the opening credits as they appear on the screen; Fred talks directly to the audience about the roles that he and David and Donald will play; Fred later reminds one of the guest stars after a meandering monologue, that they need to get back to the story; later Fred and Julie break character and start arguing over her acting skills; and at one point a truck driver resembling the late Peter Ustinov questions the presence of Heather, to which she replies, "A very brief cameo appearance".
 * Animated cameos were made by Grey Delisle and David Kaufman (as club patrons), Dee Bradley Baker (working at the Daily Chronicle), Kath Soucie and her son (as mother and son in the park), and Greg Cipes and Jennifer Hale (in "Hey A Movie").
 * Jim Ward had various friends and relatives suggest titles for the movie. The winning title was suggested by Tara Strong.