| Newt | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Steven Spielberg |
| Produced by | Darla K. Anderson Steven Spielberg |
| Screenplay by | Andrew Stanton Pete Doctor Bob Peterson |
| Story by | Xavier Shaquille |
| Starring | Matthew Broderick Ashley Johnson Martin Short Johnny Depp Zoe Saldana Wanda Sykes Patrick Stewart Xavier Shaquille |
| Music by | John Debney |
| Cinematography | Julio Macat |
| Edited by | Gregory Perler |
| Production company | Walt Disney Pictures Pixar Animation Studios Amblin Entertainment |
| Distributed by | Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures |
| Release date | June |
| Running time | 92 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Newt is an American computer-animated adventure comedy film directed by Steven Spielberg. The film stars Matthew Broderick, Ashley Johnson, Martin Short, Johnny Depp, Zoe Saldana, Wanda Sykes, Patrick Stewart and Xavier Mosley. The film is produced by Pixar Animation Studios, as well as Amblin Entertainment with Spielberg co-producing, and released by Walt Disney Pictures. The film is set for a release in June.
Despite success in marketing, the film was given mixed reviews for its humor, characters, and most of its storyline.
Premise[]
A salamander named Newt sets out to help save the barn with the help of the barnyard animals.
Cast[]
- Matthew Broderick as Newt
An imaginative and optimistic salamander. - Ashley Johnson as Anura
A frog whose Brody's love interest. - Patrick Stewart as Johnathon Wilson II
a mortgage lender who plans to foreclose on Macintosh's countryside to develop a condominium development. - Martin Short as Rooster
An young rooster whose Newt's shy and paranoid best friend. - Zoe Saldana as Poulette
Anura's best friend whose a chicken. - Wanda Sykes as Heifer
A sarcastic female cow. - Johnny Depp as Macintosh
The farmer of the countryside. - Xavier Shaquille as Shaquille
Macintosh's son who bonds with the farm animals, especially Newt. His name originates from Shaquille's middle name. - John Ratzenberger as the narrator
Production[]
Newt was announced in April 2008, with Pixar planning to release it in 2011, which was later bumped to 2012, until being canceled by early 2010. Former Pixar employee John Lasseter noted that the film's proposed plot line was similar to Blue Sky Studios' Rio. In March 2014, in an interview, Pixar president Edwin Catmull stated that Newt was an idea that was not working in pre-production.
In June 2018, Xavier Shaquille had the idea to revive the project as a live-action film with the animals being computer-animated, while Newt would be animated through motion capture; with Andy Serkis as the title character. However, in late October 2019, he chose to make the film fully animated like Pixar's other films.
Its original proposed cast Shaquille chose were Antonio Banderas, Kel Mitchell, and Linda Cardellini as the live-action cast and Andy Serkis as Newt, Kenan Thompson as a character called Mule, John Cleese as Rooster, and Thomas Haden Church as Heifer's original male version called Cow. Unfortunately, in late October 2019, he had changed the cast members to the current ones.
Music[]
Danny Elfman was originally intended to compose the film's score, but the composing job was given to John Debney, then was given to Mark Mothersbaugh, but was switched back to Debney.
Marketing[]
About fifteen commercial spots are shown promoting the film. Mattel produces a line of sets focused on the film and its characters. General Mills promoted the film with six individual toys hidden in their cereal boxes.
Reception[]
The film is met with mixed reviews from critics. Rotten Tomatoes gives it a rating based on 169 reviews on the rating of 5.8/10. The site