Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi (2003 film)

Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi: The Movie is a 2003 American animated musical comedy-adventure film based on the pop/rock duo Puffy AmiYumi and it was directed by Scott O'Brien, and produced by Sam Register, Ramsey Ann Naito, Michael Ouweleen, John Pomeroy, and Charlie Bean. The film stars the voices of Janice Kawaye, Grey DeLisle and Keone Young, with Mel Gibson, Lacey Chabert, Jeffrey Tambor, Demi Moore, Susan Egan, Tress MacNeille, Anne Hathaway and John Rhys-Davies. The film served as the pilot to the Cartoon Network animated television series Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi. The film is produced by Cartoon Network Studios and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. Unlike the film, however, the supporting roles are recast with Grey DeLisle and Janice Kawaye replacing Susan Egan and Tress MacNeille as Jang-Keng and Tekirai.

In theaters, a Robot Jones short entitled Summer Bummer was shown prior to the film. The film was theatrically released on July 11, 2003. The film was met with very positive reviews from critics, and was a box office success, grossing $74.3 million worldwide against an $12 million budget.

Plot
Ami Onuki and Yumi Yoshimura are going from famous Japanese pop/rock duo to animated characters in their first movie ever to make its big screen debut, as Puffy AmiYumi move out from Japan to unintentionally discover the weirdness of America and make new friends in the U.S., but when the new girl, Julie, and her father, Will, are up to no good, it's up to Ami and Yumi to try to stop Julie and her father, Will, from taking over the world, and their new home with mind-controlling angry music.

Main Characters

 * Janice Kawaye as Ami Onuki, the main protagonist of the movie.
 * Grey DeLisle as Yumi Yoshimura, the deuteragonist of the movie.
 * Keone Young as Kaz Harada, the tritagonist of the movie.

Guest Stars

 * Mel Gibson as Mayor Hunkleberg.
 * Lacey Chabert as Tiffany, a new friend of Ami and Yumi.
 * Jeffrey Tambor as Peter, the father of Tiffany.
 * Demi Moore as Martha, the mother of Tiffany.
 * Susan Egan as Jang-Keng, Yumi's pet cat.
 * Tress MacNeille as Tekirai, Ami's pet cat.
 * Anne Hathaway as Julie, the main antagonist of the movie.
 * John Rhys-Davies as Will, the father of Julie.
 * Bonnie Hunt as Liz, the assistant mayor.
 * Tate Donovan as Joe, the ice cream man.
 * B.D. Wong as TSA officer.
 * Dan Green, Yuri Lowenthal, and Tom Kenny as the flight crew.
 * Wally Wingert and Scott Weinger as the airline pilots.
 * David Spade as first-class passenger.
 * Neve Campbell and Irene Bedard as the flight attendants.
 * Moira Kelly and Jim Ward as the news anchors.
 * Eric Stuart as Tom, the waiter.
 * Matthew Broderick as the news reporter.
 * Hank Azaria and Chris Parnell as John and Andy, the TV announcers.

Production
Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi: The Movie was put into development after Sam Register was coming up with an idea on how Puffy AmiYumi can be brought to life animation style. A pilot episode for the series was originally planned, but then it was being remade as a feature-length movie.

When developing the movie, vice president of Cartoon Network Sam Register did want the film to appeal exclusively to girls and boys as the merchandise made it out to be, with jewelry and necklaces being sold with the characters plastered over it, and a collection of toys of their favorite characters from the movie, and wanted to make a movie about what new life Puffy AmiYumi would have if they moved to America. Storyboard work on the movie took place between June 3, 1999 and March 18, 2002 and the animation work took place between July 2, 2002 and May 8, 2003.

When they started production on the film, Sam was encouraged by CN to make the movie for "8 year olds and under." So they upped the family-oriented fun and action and up played the musical. By the time they finished, the new heads of the Network were so impressed they made a poppy, colorful kids movie.

Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi: The Movie is rated PG for parental guidance.

The film's animation was provided by Renegade Animation and Top Draw Animation, with additional animation done at Titmouse and Boulder Media.

Soundtrack
Danny Elfman composed the score for the film.

Genre
Animation / Adventure / Comedy / Musical

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

Box office/Commercial reception
Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi: The Movie was released in theaters on July 11, 2003. With heavy competition with Finding Nemo, Hulk, Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over, but a lot of marketing and promotion, the film grossed $74.3 million worldwide against a budget of $12 million.

Critical reception
The film received very positive reviews from critics. Based on 105 reviews, the film has received a 74% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with its consensus reading, "Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi: The Movie has done so well on the big screen that kids will enjoy it again, and again". On Metacritic, the film achieved a rating of 66 out of 100, which indicates "generally favorable reviews".

Theatrical release
The film was theatrically released in theaters on July 11, 2003. In theaters, a Robot Jones short entitled Summer Bummer was shown prior to the film.

Home media
The film was release on VHS and DVD on November 18, 2003, by Warner Home Video. Despite being filmed in 1.85:1 aspect ratio, the DVD and VHS are in fullscreen only. It contains an 18-minute featurette, a Robot Jones short entitled Summer Bummer, The Making of Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi: 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. On April 30, 2013, a 3-disc "10th Anniversary Edition" was released on Blu-Ray, Blu-Ray 3D and DVD.

Television series

 * Main article: Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi

The television series was brought up after it got the green-light from Cartoon Network. The series was officially announced at Cartoon Network's upfront on February 26, 2004. It was originally planned to premiere in December 2004, but was later pushed back to November 19.

Sequel
The sequel titled Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi 2: The Movie, is to have Lindsey Pollard directing, with Michelle Lamoreaux and Robert Lamoreaux returning as writers, including Danny Elfman returning to compose the film's score. The film is set to release on September 8, 2006 and it will serve as the show's series finale.

Its cast is going to be Anna Faris as Heather Goldberg, a brand new friend of Ami and Yumi and Tiffany's cousin, Donald Sutherland as Mr. Goldberg, Heather's father, Brandy Norwood as Ms. Goldberg, Heather's mother, Matt Jones as Chuckles, one of the gangs, Cheri Oteri and Amy Ryan as Beck and Ella, sisters and members of the gang, Kaitlin Olson (replacing Anne Hathaway) as Julie, a former band member of Puffy AmiYumi and new member of the gangs, Allison Janney as Chelsea Blair, Eldwin Blair's wife, Hugh Jackman as a British citizen, Dan Aykroyd as a Canadian citizen, Nathan Fillion and Ryan Reynolds as Bulk and Jock, brothers and members of the gang, Hal Holbrook as The Music Lord, Patrick Warburton as an American citizen, Sean Hayes (replacing Will Ryan) as Wall, AmiYumi's bodyguard and Mayor, Vicki Lewis and Loni Anderson as the Police Officers, Kathy Burke as the backstage manager, Bobby Moynihan as Ned, Heather's brother and Peter Stormare as Eldwin Blair, who leads a group of gangs and wants to capture Yumi, with Lacey Chabert reprising her role as Tiffany from the first film.

In the film, the Japanese pop/rock duo go around the world to preform new songs on stage as a way to become the world's greatest pop/rock stars of all time. Meanwhile, its subplot focuses on a gang of bad guys who want to capture Yumi and use her musical talents to unleash the Music Lord and take over the entire world just like Julie did.

Trivia

 * This is the first ever feature film to serve as a pilot to the series.
 * This is the first animated Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi movie to hit theaters.
 * This is the second theatrical film with a wide release in the 2000s from Cartoon Network, after "The Powerpuff Girls Movie" released a year before.
 * Because The Powerpuff Girls Movie bombed so hard in theaters, and was the worst grossing film in 2002, Cartoon Network quickly needed to make a theatrical feature that's colorful and poppy and way better than Craig McCracken's "The Powerpuff Girls Movie". The first Cartoon Network theatrical film to super seriously not bomb in theaters happens to be Sam Register's "Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi: The Movie".
 * This is the very first and only theatrical Cartoon Network film to rely solely on Flash animation instead of traditional hand-drawn animation, or Computer animation.
 * This is Yuri Lowenthal's first and so far only animated film to be released theatrically until the release of The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything: A VeggieTales Movie (2008), which would be his next animated film.
 * This is Janice Kawaye's first animated film to be released theatrically since "Pound Puppies and the Legend of Big Paw" released 15 years prior.
 * The film was release on VHS and DVD on November 18, 2003, by Warner Home Video.
 * This is the first and so far only animated film of Dan Green and Eric Stuart's outside the Pokémon franchise and the Yu-Gi-Oh! manga series.
 * In theaters, a Robot Jones short entitled Summer Bummer was shown prior to the film.
 * This is Chris Parnell's first and so far only animated film until the release of Kung-Fu Magoo (2010), which would be his next animated film.
 * This is the 2nd collaboration between Grey DeLisle and Tom Kenny. Their first was "The Powerpuff Girls Movie" released a year before.
 * This is Keone Young's first and so far only animated film to be released theatrically.
 * This movie has received a 74% approval rating from Rotten Tomatoes.
 * This is Mel Gibson's third animated film, after "Pocahontas" released 8 years prior and "Chicken Run" released 3 years prior.
 * This is the second Cartoon Network movie to have a theatrical release.
 * This is Lacey Chabert 's fifth animated film, after  Babes in Toyland  and  Anastasia  both released 6 years prior,  The Wild Thornberrys Movie  released a year before and  Rugrats Go Wild   released this year.
 * The film was a box office success because it was colorful and poppy for kids.
 * This is Bonnie Hunt's first and so far only non-Disney animated film to be released theatrically.
 * This is the second movie to serve as the pilot to an animated television series, after "Osmosis Jones" released 2 years prior.
 * This is Jeffrey Tambor's first animated film to be released theatrically.
 * The film made $74.3 million dollars at the box office on a $12 million dollar budget.
 * This is Demi Moore's second animated film, after "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" released 7 years prior.
 * This is the 2nd collaboration between Tate Donovan and Susan Egan. Their first was "Hercules" released 6 years prior.
 * This is Tress MacNeille's fifth animated film, after  Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland" released 14 years prior, "The Rugrats Movie" released 5 years prior,  Rugrats in Paris: The Movie  released 3 years prior and  Rugrats Go Wild ''  released this year.
 * This is Anne Hathaway's second animated film, after   The Cat Returns''" released a year before.
 * This is John Rhys-Davies' fourth animated film, after  Cats Don't Dance" released 6 years prior,  Sinbad: Beyond the Veil of Mists  released 3 years prior and  The Jungle Book 2 ''  released this year.
 * This is B.D. Wong's second animated film, after "Mulan" released 5 years prior.
 * This is Hank Azaria 's second animated film, after  Anastasia   released 7 years prior.
 * This is Wally Wingert 's second animated film, after  Peter Pan: Return to Never Land  released a year before.
 * This is Scott Weinger 's second animated film, after  Aladdin  released 11 years prior.
 * This is David Spade's third animated film, after "The Rugrats Movie" released 5 years prior and  The Emperor's New Groove   released 3 years prior.
 * This is Neve Campbell's first animated film to be released theatrically.
 * This is the 2nd collaboration between Matthew Broderick and Moira Kelly. Their first was  The Lion King  released 9 years prior.
 * This is Irene Bedard 's second animated film, after  Pocahontas  released 9 years prior, which also starred Mel Gibson.

Credits

 * Main article: Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi: The Movie/Credits