Pibby: Apocalypse (film series)

"The epic finale."

- Tagline

Pibby: Apocalypse (also known as the "Apocalypse" trilogy) is a trilogy of epic live-action/adult animated action-adventure science fiction films directed by Ethan Vasquez, based on the short film Come and Learn with Pibby! by Dodge Greenley. It is the last trilogy of the Fableverse.

Produced by Fable Studios and distributed by Touchstone Pictures with the co-production of Annapurna Pictures, the films feature a large ensemble cast including Nikki Castillo, Izabella Alvarez, Josh Hutcherson, Oliver Nelson, Leslie Jones, Paul Dano, Florence Pugh, Justin Roiland, J.K. Simmons, Bella Ramsey, Christian J. Simon, Ashley Johnson, Emma Watson, Timothée Chalamet, Olivia Olson, Hynden Walch, Taron Egerton, Alejandro Edda, Jacob Tremblay, Tom Hiddleston, and Jack Stanton.

Set in the fictional multiverse of Fableverse, the films follow preschool cartoon protagonist Pibby as she, her creator and Ronnie Anne along with her rebel group, the "Risen Ashes", embark on a mission to avert John Doe's apocalyptic plan to wipe out the entire multiverse with the Glitch virus pandemic.

The three films plays with changing aspect ratios and switches between color and black and white depending on the fictional parallel universe and/or different timeline the scene is currently taking place in, akin to how the film Everything Everywhere All at Once handles changing aspect ratios.

All the three films of the trilogy comments on various mature topics including psychological trauma, war, death, religious themes, mental illness, the human condition, and philosophical themes such as existentialism, nihilism, surrealism, and absurdism, as well as sensitive themes such as depression, psychology, and LGBT culture.

The trilogy garnered widespread critical acclaim with singled out praise towards its direction, script, cast acting, originality, imagination, creativity, editing, score, character designs, animation, emotional depth, and production values overall. The trilogy received numerous accolades, winning 29 Academy Awards out of 37 total nominations, including Best Animated Feature for Part One and Part Two, alongside Part Three winning in all twelve nominated categories, including Best Picture.

Part One
"One innocent preschool show. That's how it fell victim when a mysterious glitch-like virus is unleashed out of nowhere. Only Pibby, the star of the show, is able to escape the carnage; losing her best friend Bun Bun in the process. And that's just the beginning. One by one, the world's most beloved cartoon characters are turned into corrupted versions of themselves by the virus. Now only Pibby and a few misfit cartoon characters must fight to save the multiverse from this almost unstoppable entity. But for how long? Nothing they've ever faced has prepared them for an onslaught of this magnitude. Nothing they've ever seen can match the scale of the nightmare that has been unleased. As heroes and villains are infected, only one question remains: Will Saturday Morning ever be the same again?"

- Part One's synopsis

Part Two
"Pibby joins Douglas, Ronnie Anne and her rebel group, the Risen Ashes, in seeking revenge against the conspirators who destroyed their world, while trying to enlist the help of a vampire cult led by Marceline's recently-adopted son, Viktor Abadeer, to find a cure for the Glitch virus."

- Part Two's synopsis

Part Three
"The final confrontation between the forces of good and evil fighting for control of the future of the multiverse approaches. John Doe plans a major attack on Los Angeles, the home world of Pibby's creator, which causes Pibby and Ronnie Anne to head there with the intention of helping the resistance. An army is brought together by the two, in an attempt to stop the forces of John Doe and the Glitch virus pandemic through war."

- Part Three's synopsis

Cast

 * Nikki Castillo as Pibby: A 11-year-old bisexual preschool cartoon girl who possesses the same psychic superpowers as Douglas. Pibby is intended to have alot of character development throughout the three films, like going from a cute preschool cartoon character in Part One, to a traumatized lost child in Part Two, to a fearless tomboyish badass in Part Three. She also becomes Ronnie Anne's girlfriend in Part Two.
 * Izabella Alvarez as Ronnie Anne Santiago: A bisexual, tomboyish 11-year-old punk girl who gets a bigger role in Part Two. She also hides feelings for Pibby before Part Two, although her personality completely opposes Pibby's more feminine personality before she becomes a tomboy and once the two begin dating.
 * Josh Hutcherson as Douglas Green: A fictionalized version of Pibby's creator, Dodge Greenley, who is tormented by the trauma over the death of his 5-year-old daughter, who was a fan of Douglas' own show, Learning With Pibby. After his daughter's death, Douglas possesses the same psychic abilities as Pibby which allow him to see future events within the "multiverse".
 * Oliver Nelson as David: A 13-year-old easily-scared boy who becomes Pibby's friend and a survivor of the Glitch pandemic. He also seeks to find a girl called Hilda, who is a member of a secret society named "El Sindicato".
 * Leslie Jones as Melira: A vain cat millionaire. However, she befriends children's show character Pibby and the easily-scared David to rid the worlds from the ever so threatening Glitch virus, showing a heroic side- whether on purpose or not.
 * Paul Dano as Edward Green: Douglas' nerdy older brother who creates a tracking chip for Douglas in order to control his psychic powers, and to keep in track on what universe Douglas is in at the moment.
 * Florence Pugh as Amalia Green: Douglas' wife who has a bigger role in Part Two where it's revealed that she is a spy working for a mission from the CIA, NASA and World Health Organization that serves to prevent further infection from the Glitch virus by killing infected people.
 * Justin Roiland as Rick Sanchez: A mad scientist survivor, business partner of Douglas and leader of "El Sindicato", a secret society composed of those who are surviving the Glitch pandemic. A nihilistic, aggressive, and distrustful man in his early 70s, Rick lives alone in a heavily fortified town, laden with his traps that include some captured Infected.
 * J.K. Simmons as Ford Pines: A paranormal investigator with polydactyly who is a survivor of the Glitch pandemic and Rick Sanchez's best friend.
 * Bella Ramsey as Hilda: A brave 13-year-old blue-haired adventurous girl who is a survivor of the Glitch pandemic, she becomes David's girlfriend eventually in Part Three.
 * Christian J. Simon as Darwin Watterson: A 10-year-old anthropomorphic goldfish who is a survivor of the Glitch pandemic, although losing his older brother Gumball, who was unfortunately infected.
 * Ashley Johnson as Pacifica Northwest: A 12-year-old rich girl who is a survivor of the Glitch pandemic that used to be Dipper's girlfriend before he and Mabel were both infected.
 * Emma Watson as Flame Princess: A Fire Elemental girl who was introduced as a major character in Part Two and afterwards. Even though she has a short temper and volatile personality; also usually has a calm demeanor, though with rather frequent tendencies to sudden and violent mood swings. She survived the Glitch pandemic from her universe, where her ex-boyfriend, Finn, was infected.
 * Timothée Chalamet as Viktor Abadeer: The recently-adopted son of Marceline Abadeer and Princess Bubblegum who is a major character in Part Two. A mentally ill, impoverished former human disregarded by society, whose history of abuse caused him to become a psychotic and nihilistic serial killer. After Marceline rescued him from Lord Celestial's unmerciful multiversal prison during the events of The Dark Future of Gumball, he became a vampire who now leads a cult of vampires whom all consume the blood of their own enemies via telekinesis/telepathy, sending it through the vampires' veins in order to increase their power capacity. He also has a crush on Flame Princess.
 * Olivia Olson as Marceline Abadeer: One of the two adoptive mothers of Viktor Abadeer. She gives the power of a vampire to him as a gift which she refers to as "eternal youth and endless power".
 * Hynden Walch as Bonnibel "Princess" Bubblegum: One of the two adoptive mothers of Viktor Abadeer. Formerly, she ruled the Candy Kingdom before it was brought to ruins by the Glitch pandemic.
 * Taron Egerton as Firey: A Fire Elemental boy who was introduced as a major character in Part Two and afterwards, and is also revealed to be Flame Princess' and Viktor Abadeer's future son in Part Three.
 * Taron Egerton also made a small live-action appearance as Thomas Killister: A minor character who only appears in Part One who is a test subject for a NASA test to prove the multiverse's existence while he was unaware of his infection from the glitchy virus that spread throughout the entire multiverse, thus making Thomas a "MacGuffin" to the entire trilogy. (meaning that the character was necessary to the plot and the motivation of the characters, but still continues to be insignificant, unimportant, or irrelevant in itself)
 * Alejandro Edda as Arturo Santiago: Ronnie Anne's father, who is introduced as a major character in Part Three. He is currently the Emperor of the Nebula Isles, a universe that is under lockdown to prevent the glitch plague from entering the universe.
 * Jacob Tremblay as Kid Cosmic: A 10-year-old superhero who is introduced as a major character in Part Three. He has the power of telekinesis through his powerful ring.
 * Tom Hiddleston as John Doe: A mysterious villain who is only mentioned before having a clear appearance in Part Three. He is the leader of a bioterrorist group that invented the Glitch virus to spread it among humans. He also controls those who are infected with it. He is the main antagonist of the trilogy.
 * Jack Stanton as Bun Bun: Pibby's former bunny best friend who was among the first to be infected with the Glitch virus. He is the "anti-villain" of the trilogy.

Themes
All three films in the Pibby: Apocalypse trilogy incorporate elements from various film genres and media, including science fiction, fantasy, martial arts films, apocalyptic films, horror, drama, action-adventure, war, the mix of live action and animated sequences and the constant changes of the cinematographic style that depends on the fictional universe and/or different timeline in which the scene is present.

All the three films of the trilogy comments on various mature topics including psychological trauma, war, death, religious themes, mental illness, the human condition, and philosophical themes such as existentialism, nihilism, surrealism, and absurdism, as well as sensitive themes such as depression, psychology, and LGBT culture.

Part One

 * Best Picture - Pibby: Apocalypse - Part One (Nominated)
 * Best Director - Ethan Vasquez (Nominated)
 * Best Actor - Josh Hutcherson as Douglas Green (Won)
 * Best Actress - Nikki Castillo as Pibby (Won)
 * Best Supporting Actor - Paul Dano as Edward Green (Won)
 * Best Supporting Actress - Florence Pugh as Amalia Green (Nominated)
 * Best Adapted Screenplay - Ethan Vasquez, Adam Parker, Erik Zander, Dodge Greenley (Nominated)
 * Best Original Score - Hans Zimmer, Scott Buckley (Won)
 * Best Cinematography - Ethan Vasquez, Dodge Greenley (Won)
 * Best Film Editing - Ethan Vasquez (Won)
 * Best Animated Feature - Pibby: Apocalypse - Part One (Won)
 * Best Visual Effects - Ethan Vasquez, Dodge Greenley, Adam Parker (Won)

Part Two

 * Best Picture - Pibby: Apocalypse - Part Two (Nominated)
 * Best Director - Ethan Vasquez (Nominated)
 * Best Actor - Josh Hutcherson as Douglas Green (Won)
 * Best Actress - Nikki Castillo as Pibby (Won)
 * Best Supporting Actor - Paul Dano as Edward Green (Won)
 * Best Supporting Actress - Florence Pugh as Amalia Green (Nominated)
 * Best Supporting Actress - Izabella Alvarez as Ronnie Anne Santiago (Won)
 * Best Adapted Screenplay - Ethan Vasquez, Adam Parker, Erik Zander, Dodge Greenley (Nominated)
 * Best Original Score - Hans Zimmer, Scott Buckley, Ludwig Göransson (Won)
 * Best Cinematography - Ethan Vasquez, Dodge Greenley (Won)
 * Best Film Editing - Ethan Vasquez (Won)
 * Best Animated Feature - Pibby: Apocalypse - Part Two (Won)
 * Best Visual Effects - Ethan Vasquez, Dodge Greenley, Adam Parker (Won)

Part Three

 * Best Picture - Pibby: Apocalypse - Part Three (Won)
 * Best Director - Ethan Vasquez (Won)
 * Best Actor - Josh Hutcherson as Douglas Green (Won)
 * Best Actress - Nikki Castillo as Pibby (Won)
 * Best Supporting Actor - Paul Dano as Edward Green (Won)
 * Best Supporting Actress - Izabella Alvarez as Ronnie Anne Santiago (Won)
 * Best Adapted Screenplay - Ethan Vasquez, Adam Parker, Erik Zander, Dodge Greenley (Won)
 * Best Original Score - Hans Zimmer, Scott Buckley, Son Lux, Ludwig Göransson (Won)
 * Best Cinematography - Ethan Vasquez, Dodge Greenley (Won)
 * Best Film Editing - Ethan Vasquez (Won)
 * Best Animated Feature - Pibby: Apocalypse - Part Three (Won)
 * Best Visual Effects - Ethan Vasquez, Dodge Greenley, Adam Parker (Won)