Camp Lazlo The Movie (2008)

Camp Lazlo The Movie is a 2008 American animated comedy film based on the Cartoon Network television series, Camp Lazlo. The film was directed by Joe Murray, Sue Mondt (art), Brian Sheesley (supervising) and Mark O'Hare, and stars the regular television cast of Carlos Alazraqui, Jeff Glen Bennett, Tom Kenny, Mr. Lawrence, Jodi Benson, Jill Talley, Steve Little and Tara Strong. The film takes place after the show's series finale. It is produced by Cartoon Network Studios and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures.

In theaters, a Johnny Bravo short titled A Quiet Day in the Park was shown prior to the film. The film was theatrically released on July 18, 2008 with mixed reviews from critics despite being well received by fans of the series. However, the film was a box office success, grossing $98.5 million worldwide against an $10 million budget.

Story/Plot
Set a year later after the events of "Lumpus' Last Stand", the real scoutmaster, a steer who resembles Heffer Wolfe from Rocko's Modern Life, has regrew his fur and restarted/reopened Camp Kidney after calling in a lot of people to clean up Lumpus' dirty work over the Summer. During the grand reopening, Lazlo waited for next year to come and it came because he was so happy to be with his friends again after last year. Meanwhile, Lumpus, former scoutmaster and deranged lunatic, has broken out of his sell at the mental asylum to get revenge on the real scoutmaster who got him arrested by the cops and on the campers who felt so blind that Scoutmaster Lumpus was an impostor. Back at Camp Kidney, everything's changed after Lumpus was arrested. Because now, Camp Kidney has a swimming pool, a waterslide, a huge lake, a big mansion and newer cabins for the campers, plus there are new campers. Until the next morning, the real scoutmaster got hurt from a speedboat accident and was taken to a hospital, so he called in a substitute scoutmaster to take over while he's in the hospital. Therefore, the substitute scoutmaster was none other than Lumpus in disguise. Lazlo felt suspicious about this substitute scoutmaster making summer camp a nightmare, so he and his friends decided to come up with a plan and set traps all around the camp to see who he really is. So, will they succeed or will their plan backfire and fail?

Main Characters

 * Carlos Alazraqui as Lazlo / Clam
 * Jeff Glen Bennett as Raj / Samson
 * Tom Kenny as Cow Scoutmaster / Slinkman / Lumpus
 * Mr. Lawrence as Edward / Dave and Ping Pong
 * Jodi Benson as Jane Doe / Patsy Smiles / Almondine
 * Jill Talley as Nina / Gretchen / Miss Mucus
 * Steve Little as Chip and Skip / The Lemming Quadruplets

Recurring Characters

 * Seth MacFarlane as Norman
 * Ben Diskin as Gordon
 * Rob Paulsen as Ted / Larrison / Ignatious
 * James Arnold Taylor as Sheldon
 * Jason Marsden as Wilbert
 * Scott Menville as Lemuel / Harold
 * Tara Strong as Amber / Toodie / Suzie / Honey
 * Bruce Willis as Mort
 * Jeffrey Garcia as Bill
 * Dan Castellaneta as Nurse Leslie
 * Ashton Kutcher as Chef Heimlich McMuesli
 * Patrick Warburton as Commander Hoo-Ha
 * Joe Alaskey as Mayor Pothole McPucker / Navy Turtle
 * David Hyde Pierce as Owl Cop
 * Brendan Fraser as Pierre the Lifeguard
 * Kevin Michael Richardson as No-Neck the Lifeguard

New Characters

 * Grey DeLisle as Abby, the new member of the Squirrel Scouts
 * Maurice LaMarche as Matt, the new member of the Bean Scouts

Production
The same production staff that produced the animated television series Camp Lazlo also produced Camp Lazlo The Movie.

The film's animation was provided by Rough Draft Korea, with additional animation done at Mercury Filmworks and Munich Animation Film.

Soundtrack
Andy Paley alongside John Debney composed the score for the film.

Promotional tie-ins
McDonald's released eight toys in their Happy Meals to promote the film.

Box office/Commercial reception
Camp Lazlo The Movie was released on July 18, 2008, originally planned to open earlier that spring. With heavy competition and little promotion, the film grossed $98.5 million worldwide against a budget of $10 million.

Critical reception
The film received mixed reviews from critics. Based on 96 reviews, the film has received a 56% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with its consensus reading, "Camp Lazlo The Movie is a pretty great movie. Although, it might've had some movie references throughout the entire film". On Metacritic, the film achieved a rating of 67 out of 100, which indicates "generally favorable reviews".

Theatrical release
The film was theatrically released in theaters on July 18, 2008. In theaters, a Johnny Bravo short titled A Quiet Day in the Park was shown prior to the film.

Home media
The film was release on DVD on November 1, 2008, in widescreen and full screen editions, by Warner Bros. Entertainment. It contains an 18-minute featurette, a Johnny Bravo short titled A Quiet Day in the Park, The Making Of Camp Lazlo The Movie, featuring interviews with most of the principal cast and crew; a 20-minute animatic segment featuring scenes from the film with dialogue by the original artists the film's trailer.

Trivia

 * This is the first ever feature film of the series.
 * This is the first animated Camp Lazlo movie to hit theaters.
 * This is also the first ever Camp Lazlo movie in general to hit theaters. The previous Camp Lazlo film (Camp Lazlo: Where's Lazlo?) was a television movie.
 * This is the second theatrical film with a wide release to be based on a Cartoon Network TV series, after "The Powerpuff Girls Movie" released 6 years prior.
 * This makes it the third and last time for Cartoon Network Studios to produce theatrically released films, as the studio resumed to producing television films up until the release of Regular Show: The Movie, which would be their next theatrically released film.
 * Although Regular Show: The Movie marked Cartoon Network Studios' first co-production with Warner Bros. Animation.
 * The original cast reprised their roles in the movie, with the exception on Carlos Alazraqui, Jeff Glen Bennett and Mr. Lawrence as the recurring characters from the series. Instead this film has respectively Seth MacFarlane, Ben Diskin, Rob Paulsen, James Arnold Taylor, Jason Marsden, Scott Menville, Bruce Willis, Jeffrey Garcia, Dan Castellaneta, Ashton Kutcher, Patrick Warburton, Joe Alaskey, David Hyde Pierce, Brendan Fraser and Kevin Michael Richardson taking on the roles.
 * This is the second Cartoon Network theatrical film to super seriously not bomb in theaters after  Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi: The Movie   released 5 years prior.

Credits

 * Main article: Camp Lazlo The Movie (2008)/Credits