Stickfigures

Stickfigures  is a 2001 American animated comedy-action movie produced by  Nickelodeon Movies a nd DualLiquid Animation Studios. The plot involves a stickfigure named Milo who finds a magic pencil and now has to stop a villain with magical abilities while meeting friends along the way. The movie was released in theaters by Paramount Pictures on April 6, 2001 to positive critical reviews and box office success. A television series, entitled Stickfigures Adventures, premiered on Nickelodeon on April 12, 2002 and ended on April 22, 2005. A sequel was released on April 15, 2005, with a third movie released on August 2, 2019.

Plot
Milo is a normal teenage stickfigure with an ordinary life. He gets to school and meet two bullies, named Chet and Brett, pull a huge prank on their teacher Mrs. Patricia. Milo gets blamed for the prank and is given a detention. When he gets there, he meets Sabrina, who is very skilled in archery (you can probably guess why she’s here). He then spots a very stylish pencil and picks it up. Milo then takes out a piece of paper and draws a sword and it comes to life. He erases the sword. Amazed, he draws a banjo and starts to play it. After the teacher tells him to be quiet, he draws a fake version (he draws a dummy) of him and Sabrina and a portal that transports the both of them outside the school.

Elsewhere, an evil villain named Lord Zarin catches wind of this and orders his minions, Zena and Zar, to steal the pencil so he can use its power to destroy and conquer the world. Back at Milo’s house, he puts the pencil down on his computer desk. A goddess, named Trina, comes out of the pencil and warns him that Lord Zarin is going to destroy the world and that they need to get moving quick. Milo goes to Sabrina’s house and tells her about what Trina said. Sabrina doesn’t believe him until he shows her the pencil. After she finds out he’s telling the truth, they both head off. They then meet Buster (a witch), and his friend Pyro (who has fire powers). The four become friends and Milo tells them about Lord Zarin. The two agree to help both him and Sabrina stop him.

In his lair, Lord Zarin watches as the four progress through his crystal ball. To stop them, he sends both Zena and Zar after them to capture them.

More coming soon!

Protagonists

 * Jess Harnell as Milo
 * Cathy Cavadini as Sabrina
 * Haley Joel Osment as Buster
 * Tom Kenny as Pyro
 * E.G. Daily as Trina
 * Tim Curry as Lord Zarin
 * Carolyn Lawrence as Zena and Milo's Mom
 * Nathan Lane as Zar

Production
Jackson Chadwick had originally pitched a movie about a boy finding a magical pencil to Universal Pictures, under the title The Magic Pencil, in 1994. The idea was turned down by them in 1996. However, it caught the attention of Paramount Pictures, who approached him about the movie a few months later. Production started in August 1997 and ended sometime in May 2000.

Release
The movie was originally going to release on December 8, 2000, but was pushed back to February 23, 2001. It was pushed up to April 13, 2001 and was then finally pushed up to April 6.

Marketing

 * The first trailer was released on August 22, 2000 and was shown with Bring It On and Remember the Titans.
 * The second trailer was released on October 6, 2000 and was shown with Digimon: The Movie, Charlie's Angels, Little Nicky, and Paramount's own Rugrats in Paris: The Movie.
 * The final trailer was released on February 16, 2001 and was shown Recess: School's Out, Monkeybone, and See Spot Run.
 * TV spots aired from March to April 2001.

Reception
Stickfigures received positive reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, 85% of critics gave it a positive review, with the consensus saying "Stickfigures offers a premise full of creativity, charm, and wit that anyone can enjoy." On Metacritic, it has score of 82, indicating "universal acclaim". Stephen Holden of The New York Times gave it a positive review, saying "This movie is just oozing with creativity." Roger Ebert gave the film 4 ½ stars, saying, "This movie is nothing, but nonstop fun".

Home media
The film was released onto VHS and DVD on October 16, 2001 by Paramount Home Entertainment. The DVD included widescreen and fullscreen versions, with galleries, a feature showing the making of the film, 2 short films (Buster and Pyro's Cool Home Video, and Behind Enemy Lines), and trailers for Nickelodeon videos and movies. The film was later released on UMD for the Sony PSP on May 3, 2005. There was also a 2-Disc Ultimate Edition DVD released on November 21, 2006 with 1 disc featuring the Widescreen and Fullscreen editions, a 2nd disc with a Stickfigures Adventures episode, the short films, and more. It was also released on a Blu-ray + DVD combo pack with Stickfigures 2 on April 5, 2011, to celebrate the film's 10th anniversary. On May 5, 2015, the movie was re-released as part of the Stickfigures 1 & 2 Collection.

Tie-in Game
A tie-in videogame, simply titled Stickfigures: The Game, was released in stores for PlayStation 2 and Microsoft Windows on April 3, 2001 and on March 25, 2002 for Nintendo GameCube and Xbox, eleven months after the film’s release and five months after the home video release. It was made to tie-in with the movie’s release. It was developed by Heavy Iron Studios and was published by ''THQ. ''The game followed the same plot of the movie. If you were able to 100% the game, an extra bonus level would be unlocked. The game received positive reviews from critics.