The Jumping Ground Movie

The Jumping Ground Movie is a 2016 3D traditionally-animated/computer-animated surreal action-adventure-science fiction-comedy film based on the animated television series The Jumping Ground, directed by Josh Holt, and produced and co-written by series creators Lee Eisenhower and Conrad Vernon. It is the third theatrical film based on a Cartoon Network series, the first was The Powerpuff Girls Movie and the second was Regular Show: The Movie.

The film, an international co-production of the United States and New Zealand, features the voices of Sean Astin (PuffPuff Humbert), Tom Kenny (Lance Patrick), Michelle Knotz (Zowie Hosker), Nicky Jones (Rob Broflovski), and Tara Strong (Melvin Sneedly), reprising their roles from the series, among others and along with guest stars including Jamie Chung, Bill Hader, Keegan Michael-Key, Alison Brie, T.J. Miller, Jeremy Clarkson, Rob Lowe, Andy Serkis, and Peter Dinklage.

The Jumping Ground Movie was released in theatres in the United States by 20th Century Fox and internationally by Warner Bros. Pictures on April 22, 2016, in 2D, 3D and IMAX 3D. Upon release, the film received generally negative reviews and has grossed over $730.4 million worldwide.

Synopsis
During a once-in-a-lifetime school vacation in space, the USS Odyssey is destroyed by a powerful, unstoppable wave of unknown aliens. With PuffPuff, Rob, Zowie, Lance, and their allies stranded on an unknown planet with no Groundbridge and no other apparent means of rescue, they find themselves in conflict with a new ruthless enemy who has a well-earned hatred of the Ida Galaxy and what it stands for.

Plot
PuffPuff Humbert and Lance Patrick are fined $5.6 million dollars by the Langham Institute's commanding officer Peter Mandelson, for violating the Prime Directive by saving the planet Nibiru from a cataclysmic volcanic eruption and exposing Tau'ri weaponry to the primitive inhabitants. After a one-week recess, Michigan State Senator and prominent Groundbridge government regulator Michael Finch pays a visit to the Langham, and announces a "once-in-a-lifetime", summer-long voyage on the USS Odyssey, with one student being chosen to guide the mission. Puff, despite being fined, is handpicked by Finch to supervise the mission, in which nearly every student would be going on.

Puff, Lance, and any of their colleagues, including fellow group members Rob Broflovski, Zowie Hosker and Melvin Sneedly travel to the Jebidiah Pencaster Space Centre for the launching ceremony, with their families at the launch. Less than a few hours into the operation, the ship reaches the Skylab, where Space Monitor Paul Callaghan gives the team a task to deliver sacred goods to PC5-Y78. Six days into the voyage, Clyde Donovan detects a suspicious signal in front of the ship. A swarm of cybernetic aliens attacks the Odyssey, in which Puff orders the crew to abandon ship, leaving the remains of the Odyssey to crash an unauthorised planet on the 1989 Off-World Planets List.

The crew evacuates, but most of their escape pods are captured by the drone ships. Later, the crew escapes the pods, and soon find out that the Odyssey was destroyed in the process. As the team figures out what happened and where they are, Toad Sanderson borrows Rob's GPS to track their coordinates, but it can't determine where they are.

A swarm of drones then ambushes a majority of the group, leaving the others to explore onslaught. Puff Zowie, Lance, Rob, Melvin, Toad, Clyde, Tobias Wilson, Jimmy Swanson, Timmy Burch, Skipper and Dino-Rang are abducted and taken to the basecamp of Edward G. Rathcock, a corrupt military general who is strictly concerned about the activity of the Stamford Gate student body and has a secret alliance with the Goa'uld.

After making a series of threats to the kids, Rathcock summons his group of minions: The Hellfire Club, consisting of Doug Duerson, Stink-Oh, Clobba, Spot, Grimer and Tussle Sprout. Toad falls in love with Spot, whilst Puff continues to plea with Rathcock to help him and his friends to return home. As Rathcock, unconvinced by Puff's remarks, orders the capture of the kids, they are rescued by Kyrah, a scavenger with mystical powers who previously escaped Rathcock's encampment, who takes them to a nearby village, and explains to them what happened and why they are on the planet on the first place.

Meanwhile, Rathock is confronted by the Goa'uld ruler Shinnok, who questions the general on the kids' motifs, and introduces him to Draxoid. Draxoid orders Rathcock to be genetically enhanced, using Arkeyan fossil fuels. Shinnok then orders Draxoid and the Hellfire Club to annihilate the Stamford Gate student body with ease.

The kids later arrive at the village, and reluctantly accept it as their basecamp until they are rescued. Rob, however, is eager to check the village out more; he shoplifts from various stalls and shops, Much to Lance's disgust. Zowie asks whether the planet has any Groundbridges of any kind. Puff, having figured the whole situation out, says there are no Groundbridges, on the planet, codenamed PCY-009, as it has not been discovered by people visiting from Earth. They also learn that the enemy, Draxoid, is an Arkeyan, an evil race of aliens thought to have been destroyed several years ago.

Back on Earth, Stamford Gate receives an unclassified signal. Suddenly, Draxoid appears, and threateningly interrogates Mr. Mandelson and Dr. Janet Frasier on the student body's whereabouts. Draxoid then makes a direct threat to Mandelson and Frasier, that the galaxy will be met with severe consenquences if the student body does not return to Earth in 140 hours.

When Draxoid invades the village and threatens to start murdering the crew, an Arkeyan gives up a Kara Kesh, which is the final component of a bioweapon he intends to unleash on PCY-009. The group and the Hellfire Club reach the surface, with Doug saying he lured the the group into a trap. They proceed to the saucer section of a Anubis-class warship, the Dreadyacht, where Puff is tricked into giving away the location of Draxoid's base. The drones attack, but Stink-Oh activates the main engines and the club escapes with the group on board, but Sprout is inadvertently killed after he falls into one of the thrusters, with Doug blaming Stink-Oh for it.

The rest of the student body sets up another basecamp, whilst Lance and Puff explore the nearby forest. They are spotted and cornered up by Arkeyan forces, but they are saved by Kyrah and the rest of the student body. When Draxoid flees along with Clobba and Grimer, Puff, Lance and Kyrah chase them to a nearby Arkeyan hideout, but Clobba and Grimer's rampage causes a wall to collapse on them. They then reach a seemingly victorious Draxoid, who confronts and boasts to the trio.

Back at the invaded village, as Rathcock easily subdues the other students and defeats Zowie in an intense duel, Spike Wachowski throws a railgun towards Clyde, who finally kills Rathcock with it. Nevertheless, more Arkeyan droids appear and surround the students. Meanwhile, Draxoid manages to incapacitate Lance and Kyrah, but is bisected by Puff, and falls down a nearby reactor shaft. The three then return to the village, where the remaining Arkeyans disappear.

In the aftermath, the kids arrive home and are reunited with their families, Kyrah stays behind on PCY-009 to protect its inhabitants, Doug, Spot, and Stink-Oh are arrested, and Shinnok and his Goa'uld reigime resume their conquest. As the students celebrate Puff's birthday, They receive an incoming wormhole. Puff, Rob, Zowie, Lance, Melvin and their allies wait for the Groundbridge to open as their colleagues get preparations ready. After Mandelson wishes the students God-speed, Puff and his friends go through the Groundbridge on their next mission.

In a mid-credits scene, Weazel News reports that the aftermath of skirmish on PCY-009 had caused the Langham's shares by other investors to dramatically drop, meaning that Mandelson would have to negotiate new deals with several willing investors. Pop Fizz rebuffs the news anchor's questions on his thoughts, branding him a "dirty, hypocritical swine", before going on a rampage that causes the bulletin to end early.

Voice Cast
Additionally, Grant Palmer voices a background character named Bobby, whilst Jillian Bell plays his Bobby's mom, William Devane reprises his role from various episodes as Senator Henry Hayes, and Felix "PewDiePie" Kjellberg makes a cameo as himself, who joins the battle for a brief period of time.
 * Sean Astin as PuffPuff Humbert, the leader of SG-1 and the "Big Four" kids.
 * Tom Kenny as:
 * Lance Patrick, one of the "Big Four", PuffPuff's best friend, and Zowie's boyfriend.
 * Thomas Sneedly, Linda's wife and Melvin's father.
 * Michelle Knotz as:
 * Zowie Hosker, the only female member of the "Big Four" and Lance's girlfriend.
 * Jane Humbert
 * Nicky Jones as Rob Broflovski, the mischevious, obese, and psychopathic member of the "Big Four".
 * Tara Strong as:
 * Melvin Sneedly, a member of SG-1 who is Stamford Gate's resident nerd and a frequent source of assistance for Rob.
 * Kamek
 * Dee Bradley Baker as:
 * Toad Sanderson
 * Harold J. Paxton
 * Skipper
 * Timmy Burch
 * Egghead One
 * David Humbert
 * Lisa Ortiz as:
 * Clyde Donovan
 * Carol Patrick
 * Joey Camen as:
 * Tobias Wilson
 * Boomer
 * Troy Baker as Shinnok
 * Rob Lowe as Senator Michael Finch
 * Peter Dinklage as the voice of Draxoid
 * Jeremy Clarkson as General Edward G. Rathcock
 * Andy Serkis as Clobba
 * Serkis also performs motion capture for Draxoid.
 * Jamie Chung as Kyrah
 * Bill Hader as Doug Duerson
 * T.J. Miller as Stink-Oh
 * Alison Brie as Spot
 * Keegan Michael-Key as Grimer
 * Daniel Wyllie as Tussle Sprout
 * Thomas Bromhead as:
 * Dino-Rang
 * Drill Sergeant
 * Harland Williams as Archen
 * Robin Atkin Downes as Vision
 * Carter Cathcart as
 * Jimmy Swanson
 * Stephen Crabb
 * Hannibal Buress as Hoot Loop
 * Rupert Degas as:
 * Mr. Peter Mandelson
 * Mr. Mackey
 * Egghead Two
 * Lewis MacLeod as Mr. Nigel Brown
 * Nolan North as Jet-Vac
 * Nika Futterman-Frost as Tweek Tweak
 * Alicyn Packard as:
 * Dr. Janet Frasier
 * Rachel Broflovski
 * Linda Sneedly
 * Bobcat Goldthwait as Pop Fizz
 * Bumper Robinson as Bouncer

Production
In December 2013, It was reported that a film based upon the Cartoon Network series The Jumping Ground, was in the works, co-written and produced by Lee Eisenhower and Conrad Vernon, alongside Ryan Todd, Dan Lin, Chris McKay, and Mary Parent.

In September 2014, it was then announced that Warner Bros. Pictures had accquired North American distribution rights, and  that the film had already entered production under the title of The Jumping Ground Movie and Josh Holt came on board as the director.

Original Score and Soundtrack
The original score for the film was composed Michael Giacchino. In addition to his score, the film will re-use original sound-bytes from the show composed by Kevin MacLeod. It was released on July 11, 2016 through WaterTower Music.

Release
On May 12, 2016, IMAX Corporation and Warner Bros. announced that The Jumping Ground Movie would be digitally re-mastered into the IMAX 3D format and released into IMAX theatres domestically. The film was released in 2D, RealD 3D, IMAX 3D and large-format screens in the United States on July 15, 2016, by Warner Bros. Pictures.

The film was screened outside of competition at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival on May 17, 2016.

Marketing
In September 2015, To help with the film's promotion, Jumping Ground Studios, the studio responsible for the Jumping Ground franchise's creation, made a deal with The Lego Group to make a series of Lego sets or Lego Dimensions packs, scheduled for a spring 2016 release.

A balloon-themed after Rob debuted at the 2015 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade to promote the film.

Product placement partners on the film include McDonald's, 7-Eleven, AT&amp;T, Walmart, and M&amp;M's, as well as Premier League football club Arsenal F.C., satellite television network Sky, and train operating company Virgin Trains, in the United Kingdom.

Home media
The Jumping Ground Movie was released for DVD and Blu-ray on January 10, 2017.

Box Office
The Hollywood Reporter placed the film among the biggest summer box office risks of 2016.

Internationally, The Jumping Ground Movie received a scattered release from the end of June to September in a total of 66 markets, and is set to face competitions from other animated films like Finding Dory, The Secret Life of Pets and Ice Age: Collision Course. It was released in New Zealand two weeks ahead of its U.S. release where it grossed $10.20 million in that market.

In the United States and Canada, the film, which opened along with Ghostbusters, was projected to gross around $120 million in its opening weekend, with some predictions going as high as $250 million. In the Canadian box office, it grossed a record 90.6 million on its debut on July 13, two days before its U.S. debut. On its opening night, it grossed 140.5 million. It grossed grossed 48.5 million on Saturday and 240.4 million on Sunday, coming first to Ghostbusters, The Secret Life of Pets and The Legend of Tarzan. It grossed $56.4 million on it's fourth weekend, finally bringing its three-weekend run in the box office to an end when it was overtaken by Suicide Squad, which grossed a record $135.1 million domestically.

Critical response
The Jumping Ground Movie received negative reviews from critics, but some reviewers bestowed praise for the action and visuals, as well as Peter Dinklage's performance as Draxoid. Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gave the film an approval rating of 30%, based on 104 reviews, with an average rating of 5.3/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "The Jumping Ground Movie boasts more of the big ideas and surreal mishaps than usual as if it was an extended episode of the Cartoon Network cult classic, but when equipped with a slew of flaws such as an unthoughtful, tissue-thin script and an unprecedented amount of unwanted clichés, it's no match for the dark forces that would threaten it's somewhat whimsical premise." On another review aggregator, Metacritic, the film has a normalized score of 43 out of 100, based on 60 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film an average "A-" grade on a scale of A+ to F.

Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian gave the film three stars out of five, saying "It's a nice surprise to see the beloved Cartoon Network characters on the big screen in the third theatrical film from one of American television's leading animation destinations, but sadly, the intense action sequences are not enough to prevent enthusiastic cinemagoers to eventually get bored half-way into the actual feature."

Todd McCarthy of The Hollywood Reporter wrote, "This film has been one of the most anticipated and most talked-about compartments of a long-running Cartoon Network series, as well as a massive letdown for many JG fans willing to see this film, which doesn't put enough emotional depth into the iconic characters, instead showcasing loud, lousy and prolonged combat sequences as if it was a game of Call of Duty."

Future
During an interview with MTV News in mid-November 2015, Sean Astin, the voice of PuffPuff, talked about possible films in the Jumping Ground universe: "It might be two films, three films, It could be four. It could be five. Who knows? The story will continue."

On March 21, 2016, it was reported that another Jumping Ground film is already in the works with Jared Bush writing the screenplay and Eisenhower and Vernon returning to produce. In October 2017, it was reported that a spin-off focusing on supporting character Toad Sanderson was also in the works.

It was reported in August 2018 that according to series writer Dan Ast, Fox would be unlikely to co-finance a potential sequel, most likely because of The Walt Disney Company’s acquisition of 21st Century Fox assets including FX, which airs the series. In October, with the franchise as a whole being a major point of scrutiny by the media in the Disney-Fox deal, it was reported that Disney had reviewed the nature of The Jumping Ground franchise and assessed its potential under the company’s umbrella.

On March 6, 2019, it was announced that a July 3, 2020 release date had been set for another theatrical Jumping Ground film. Following the closure of the Disney-Fox merger on March 20th, 2019, It was reported on March 29 that Disney were in the early stages of renegotiations with Warner Bros. to co-finance the sequel (through their newly-accquired Fox banner).