Meanie Harold

Meanie Harold is a 2022 American 3D computer-animated comedy film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. The film was directed by Rich Moore in his directorial debut, who also directed episodes of The Simpsons, The Critic, and Futurama, and the screenplay was written by Phil Johnston and Jennifer Lee from a story by Moore, Johnston, and Jim Reardon. John Lasseter served as the executive producer. The film features the voices of Rob Riggle, Sarah Silverman, Ewan McGregor, James Marsden, Anna Kendrick, Gal Gadot, John Stamos, Kimiko Glenn, and Lori Loughlin and tells the story of the eponymous cartoon villain who rebels against his "bad-guy" role and dreams of becoming a hero.

Plot
When Clarkston's Family Fun Center Cartoon, Video Game & Sports closes at night, the various tv show, movie, and video game characters leave their normal in-game roles and socialize in a power strip. Meanie Harold, the villain of the game Super Felix Pals, is ostracized by its other characters, while the titular hero Felix, Lucas, and Mandy is celebrated. After the game's inhabitants exclude Harold from their fortieth anniversary party, he sets out to earn a medal for himself to gain his neighbors' respect. Felix and Lucas across the Adventure game, Mermaid Adventure. Lucas met a New Crush Michelle and her Trusty Sidekick Izzy. Harold overhears that he can win a medal from a first-person shooter, Camp Hero's Duty. He disrupts the game during a fight with Cy-Bugs to obtain the medal. He and a Cy-Bug are ejected from the game via an escape pod, crash landing in the game Shoppie Rush, a shoppie-themed kart racing game.

Meanwhile, with Harold missing, his game is labeled as malfunctioning. Felix and Lucas worries that Harold has "gone Turbo"—a term coined by the inhabitants of the arcade when racing game character Turbo, jealous of being overshadowed, attempted to take over a newer racing game RoadBlasters, which resulted in both of their games being unplugged. Felix and Lucas, Michelle and Izzy, ventures to Camp Hero's Duty and allies with the game's heroine, Sergeant Gloriosa and Commander Timber, to retrieve Harold.

In Shoppie Rush, a young girl, Penelope von Mint, steals Harold's medal to buy her way into the nightly race that determines which characters are playable the next day. King Sweetie Pie, the ruler of Shoppie Rush, forbids her from racing because she has glitches that cause her to teleport erratically. After Ralph scares off the other racers when they destroy Penelope’s kart, Penelope promises him to get his medal back if he helps her win a race; Harold reluctantly agrees. They build a new kart and hide out at Diet Cola Mountain, an unfinished race track, where Harold teaches her to drive.

King Sweetie Pie hacks the game's code to obtain Harold's medal and offers it to Harold in exchange for preventing Penelope from racing. He claims that if Penelope wins and becomes playable, her glitches will lead to Shoppie Rush being unplugged. Harold reluctantly agrees and destroys Penelope's kart despite her pleas. Distraught, she tells Harold that he "really is a bad guy" and runs off. A heartbroken Harold leaves Shoppie Rush to travel back to his own game, which has been evacuated. Guilt-ridden, Harold throws his medal at the game screen, then notices Penelope's image on the side of the Shoppie Rush cabinet and realizes she was meant to be a playable character. Harold returns to Shoppie Rush and confronts King Sweetie Pie's assistant, Sour Sam. Sam reveals that King Sweetie Pie tried to delete her code and prevented her from winning the race as that would cause the game to reset and restore her as a playable character.

Meanwhile, Felix, Lucas, Mandy, Michelle, Izzy, Timber and Gloriosa search Shoppie Rush for Harold. Felix, Lucas, and Mandy falls in love with Gloriosa, Michelle, and Timber, but she leaves him as Felix inadvertently reminds her of her late fiancé who was killed by a Cy-Bug on their wedding day. Felix is later imprisoned in King Sweetie Pie's castle, but Harold frees him and Penelope, and Felix and Lucar fixes the kart. Gloriosa and Timber discovers a swarm of Cy-Bug eggs underground, which hatch and start devouring the game.

Penelope participates in the race but is attacked by King Sweetie Pie. She starts glitching nervously, and the force of the glitch reveals King Sweetie Pie's identity as Turbo, who took over Shoppie Rush and displaced Penelope as the main character. Penelope flees as Turbo is eaten by a Cy-Bug. Harold, Felix, Lucas, Mandy, Michelle, Izzy, Timber, and Gloriosa help evacuate the game as it is taken over by Cy-Bugs, but Penelope, as a glitch, cannot leave. Harold recalls from Camp Hero's Duty that Cy-Bugs are drawn by a beacon of light, and he causes Diet Cola Mountain to erupt, replicating the beacon. As the Cy-Bugs are consumed by the eruption, Harold faces a fusion of Turbo with a Cy-Bug, but he is rescued by Penelope with her glitching abilities while Turbo is destroyed by the volcanic beacon.

Penelope crosses the finish line, rebooting Shoppie Rush and restoring her status and memory as Princess Penelope, the game's main character, while still retaining her glitching ability. Harold, Felix, Lucas, and Mandy return home and their game is spared. Felix and Calhoun, Lucas and Michelle, and Mandy and Timber are triple marry, Izzy Give a 3 Rings on Unicorn horn, Penelope gains popularity as a playable character, and a content Harold gains respect from his fellow characters.

Cast

 * Rob Riggle as Meanie Harold, a gigantic but soft-hearted man who is the villain of the fictional cartoon Super Felix Pals
 * Sarah Silverman as Penelope Von Mint, a racer/glitch in Sugar Rush.
 * Ewan McGregor as Super Felix, a Adventure boy who is the hero of Super Felix Pals
 * James Marsden as Super Lucas, a Adventure kid who is the sidekick of Super Felix Pals
 * Anna Kendrick as Pretty Mandy, a Prettiest girl who rescue by Felix and Lucas of Super Felix Pals
 * Gal Gadot as Scout Master Gloriosa Daisy, the lead character of Hero's Camp Duty. Gloriosa is based on Samus Aran from Metroid.
 * John Stamos as Timber Spruce, the sidekick character of Hero's Camp Duty.
 * Kimiko Glenn as Izzy Moonbow, Michelle's Sidekick character of Mermaid's Adventure.
 * Lori Loughlin as Michelle Mermaid, the main protagonist character of Mermaid's Adventure
 * Robert DeNiro as King Sweetie Pie, the ruler of Sugar Rush who is revealed to be Turbo, an infamous character from another kart racing video game known for having crashed another game out of jealousy. King Candy's vocal stylings are based on comedian Ed Wynn, and his physical mannerisms are modeled from Wynn's Mad Hatter character in Alice in Wonderland.
 * Jayden Bartels as Jessicake, a racer/lead in Sugar Rush.
 * Josh Duhamel as Robert Diesel, a nerd from Hero's Camp Duty that Harold meets in Tapper
 * Jim Carrey as Mr. Stan Clarkston, owner of Clarkston's Family Fun Center Cartoon, Video Game & Sports.
 * Tom Cruise as Filthy Rich, a holographic general in Hero's Duty.
 * Adam Carolla as Wynnchel, a Long John who is a member of the Sugar Rush police department.
 * Horatio Sanz as Duncan, a doughnut who is a member of the Sugar Rush police department.
 * Rich Moore as Sour Sam, King Sweetie Pie's sour ball henchman.

Cameos & References

 * Disney - Mickey Mouse, Bolt, Mulan, Baymax, Chicken Little '05, Woody, Jessie, Buzz Lightyear, Lightning McQueen, Mater, Mr. Incredible Perry the Platypus, Mal, Evie, Gabriella Montez, Iron Man, Spider-Man, R2-D2, Yoda, Bart Simpson, Bender, Dr. Zoidberg, Scrat, Rodney Copperbottom
 * Nickelodeon - SpongeBob SquarePants, Lincoln Loud, Danny Phantom, Aang, Tommy Pickles, Reptar, Ronnie Anne Santiago, Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael, Michelangelo
 * Cartoon Network - Blossom, Ed, Starfire (Teen Titans), Scooby-Doo, Bloo, Finn
 * Nintendo - Mario, Peach, Daisy, Rosalina, Toadette, Link, Zelda, Kirby, Palutena, Pit, Inkling, Ribbon Girl, Min Min
 * Sega - Sonic, Tails, Amy, Knuckles, Dr. Eggman
 * PlayStation - Crash Bandicoot, Coco Bandicoot, Polar, Kratos, Ratchet, Clank, Spyro, Sackboy, Nathan Drake
 * Xbox - Master Chief, Banjo, Kazooie
 * Hasbro - Princess Twilight Sparkle, Optimus Prime, Snake Eye
 * Mattel - Barbie, Max Steel, Draculaura, Frankie Stein
 * Universal - Minions, Shrek, Mort, Alex, Po, Max, Gidget, Duke, Toothless, Poppy, Branch
 * Warner Bros. - Bugs Bunny, Emmett, Wyldstyle, Taz, Daffy Duck, Lola Bunny, Wonder Woman, Harley Quinn, Superman, Batman, Zatanna, Green Lantern, Flash
 * Paramount - James Kirk, Rango
 * Sony - Mavis, Flint Lockwood, Sam Sparks

Soundtrack

 * Celebration - Kool & The Gang
 * Life is a Highway - Rascal Flatts
 * Kid in a Candy Store - JoJo Siwa
 * Sugar Rush Theme Song - Nogizaka 46
 * When Can I See Me Around - Harry Styles
 * Meanie Meanie Harold - Jonas Brothers

Marketing
A teaser trailer for Meanie Harold was released on June 8, 2022, debuting with DC League of Super-Pets, Lightyear, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, Top Gun: Maverick, and Jurassic World: Dominion. This also coincided with the 2022 Electronic Entertainment Expo, for which Disney constructed a mock aged arcade cabinet for the fictional Super Felix Pals game on display on the show floor. Disney also released a browser-based Flash-based version of the Super Felix Pals game as well as iOS, Android, Google Phone, Amazon Fire, and Windows Phone versions, with online Unity-based versions of Mermaid Adventure, Shoppie Rush, and Camp Hero's Duty. A second trailer for the film was released on September 12, 2022, coinciding with Cars 3D and Untitled Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse sequel, along with its final updated movie poster.

To promote the home media release of Meanie Harold, director Rich Moore produced a short film titled Garlan Hulse: Where Potential Lives. Set within the movie's universe, the mockumentary film was designed as a parody of The King of Kong.

Release
The film was originally scheduled for a release on March 24, 2023, but it was later changed moved forward to November 4, 2022, due to it being ahead of schedule.

Trivia

 * Clarkston's Family Fun Center Cartoons Arcade Video Games and Sports are Open in 1982.
 * Meanie Harold, Super Felix, Super Lucas, Pretty Mandy from Super Felix Pals debuted in 1982.
 * Turbo from Turbo Time! debuted in 1982. Also in 1987, Turbo hates Roadblasters a 2nd Racing Arcade Turbo Glitches into Roadblasters and This causes both Turbo Time and RoadBlasters to get simultaneously unplugged and be removed from Clarkston's Family Fun Center Cartoons Arcade Video Games and Sports forever.
 * Michelle Mermaid and Izzy Moonbow from Mermaid's Adventure debuted in 1995.
 * Penelope Mint from Shoppie Rush Speedway debuted in 1997.
 * General Gloriosa Daisy and Commander Timber Spruce from Hero's Camp Duty debuted in 2019.