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Animals United

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Wikipedia article




'Animals United' is a 2010 3D computer-animated adventure comedy film directed and produced by Reinhard Klooss and Holger Tappe. It was released on October 7, 2010, in Germany. The film stars Ralf Schmitz and Thomas Fritsch as a meerkat named Billy and a lion named Socrates in the African Okavango Delta, who go on an epic quest to discover why their river has unexpectedly dried up. It is based on the 1949 book of the same name by Erich Kstner. This is the second adaptation as , which was also the first German animated feature film to be in color that was released in 1969. The screenplay for the film was written by Oliver Huzly and Reinhard Kloos. An English dub version for 'Animals United' stars an ensemble cast, including James Corden, Stephen Fry and Andy Serkis.

Plot



The film is set in Africa's Okavango Delta, and the main characters are a meerkat named Billy and a lion named Socrates. The annual flood has failed to arrive in the Delta, The water has become scarce and the native animals including a herd of rhinos and buffaloes, including Chino and Biggie, fiercely fight over it. Billy and Socrates set out to find more water, and during their quest they enter a scary and dingy place called "The Valley of Death" and then are met by a rag-tag group of animals from across the world: a polar bear named Sushi, a kangaroo named Toby, a Tasmanian devil named Smiley, two Galpagos tortoises named Winifred and Winston, and a rooster named Charles, all of whom have had their lives ruined by humans in some way and have travelled to Africa. That night, Socrates tells Billy the tragic story of how he and his brother Mambo entered "The Valley of Death" and how Mambo was shot a strange poacher. The next morning, the animals discover the reason for the lack of water in the Delta: a dam has been constructed to supply energy for a luxury resort called the Eden Paradise Hotel which is for the Climate Conference owned by a man named Mr. Smith. The animals meet a chimpanzee named Toto who is the hotel's mascot, Toto helps the animals get their water back, however, a poacher named Hunter kidnaps Socrates, while the other animals escape. The animals hold a conference where Winifred and Winston explain the deadly future that could be possible for animals. After the conference, however, Winifred and Winston pass away. That day, Billy and the other animals travel through "The Valley of Death" towards the dam. Hunter spots the animals and tries to stop them with a bi-plane, but is stopped by Toto. The animals then began to send a message by letting a swarm of locusts teach the humans a lesson for stealing the water by eating everything in their conference room, including their documents and their clothes. Maya, Mr. Smith's daughter, frees Socrates from his cage, and sends Hunter down a chute. Down at the bottom of the dam, the buffaloes and rhinos charge into the dam. Billy hits a rock into a chute in the dam, which ignites a missile from Hunter's bi-plane, which destroys the dam, and frees the water. To celebrate the water coming back, they have a party. After the party, the animals travel to New York City, where the movie ends with the animals walking through the city with the blue whales calling in the background.

Characters



Meerkats

*'Billy' is an adventurous, clumsy, easily scared but good-hearted and caring green-eyed gray meerkat who wants to find water to drink - to collect which he carries a bottle made out of an orange gourd, complete with cork. He also likes to golf, drum and sing.

*'Bonnie' - Billy's wife and loyal but concerned member of the meerkat family. She has tan fur and light brown eyes compared to her husband's gray fur and green eyes.

*'Junior' - the son of Billy and Bonnie who aspires to do some of the things his father does, such as collecting water in a gourd.

*'Other meerkats' - often tease Junior about his father's promise, but are convinced at the end.

Other animals

*'Socrates' - A vegetarian African lion with a scar on his face and Billy's best friend. His dream is for all animals to be on harmony

*'Angie' - The elephant president with blond hair tied in a ponytail.

*'Giselle' - A reticulated giraffe with makeup on her face and blond bangs on her head. She is also Angie's best friend.

*'Winston' - An elderly male Galpagos tortoise who has been alive for more than 700 years. He's 12 years older than his wife, Winifred. He dies shortly before the climax of the film.

*'Winifred' - An elderly female Galpagos tortoise and Winston's wife who is also more than 700 years old. She and her husband die shortly before the film's climax.

*'Charles' - The rooster with a French accent who leads the other animals on some revolution against human oppression, originally served as food on a cruise ship.

*'Sushi' - A polar bear who has been forced from her home by global warming.

*'Toby' - A red kangaroo with droopy ears. Despite being a male Toby has a pouch. He likes to drink from cans.

*'Ken' - A hippie koala who's been rescued by a man after another set the outback on fire.

*'Smiley' - The Tasmanian devil whom Toby the kangaroo befriends. In addition to his lack of intelligence, clumsiness and inability to speak, Smiley is notorious for his terrible flatulence, but he is also caring, friendly and loyal.

*'Toto' - The chimpanzee who served as an animal test subject at the hotel.

*'Biggie' - A red-haired south-central black rhinoceros who fights Chino in a butting over drinks

*'Chino' - A cape buffalo who fights Biggie.

*'Bob' - The aardvark who trumpets like an elephant.

*'The Leopard' - A black leopard living in the canyon and becomes a vegetarian after fearing Charles for his courageous act.

*'Bongo' - A maroon leaf monkey that works as a hairdresser for other animals and also poses as an oracle.

Humans

*'Mr. Smith' - the tour guide of the hotel who initially cares nothing for animals and is interested only in making money. At the end, when the animals have got their water back, his hotel goes bankrupt.

*'Maya Smith' - Smith's daughter who is kind and loves animals.

*'Hunter' - a selfish, cruel and unscrupulous animal-killer. He has earlier killed Socrates' brother Mambo, but is defeated by the animals near the end of the movie.

Voice cast



German

*Ralf Schmitz as Erdmnnchen Billy

*Thomas Fritsch as Lwe Sokrates

*Bastian Pastewka as Elefantenkuh Angie

*Bianca Krahl as Giraffe Gisela

*Margot Rothweiler as Schildkrte Winifred

*Peter Grger as Schildkrte Winston

*Constantin von Jascheroff as Erdmnnchen

*Nicola Devico Mamone as Bffel Chino

*Christoph Maria Herbst as Hahn Charles

*Oliver Kalkofe as Hoteldirektor Smith

*Frank Schaff as Erdmnnchen

*Tilo Schmitz as Nashorn Biggie

*Santiago Ziesmer as Affiger Friseur Bongo

English dub

* James Corden as Billy the Meerkat

* Stephen Fry as Socrates the Lion

* Dawn French as Angie the Elephant

* Joanna Lumley as Giselle the Giraffe

* Jim Broadbent as Winston the Tortoise

* Vanessa Redgrave as Winifred the Tortoise

* Billie Piper as Bonnie the Meerkat

* Tom Wayland as Bob the Aardvark

* Andy Serkis as Charles the Cockerel

* Jason Donovan as Toby the Kangaroo

* Omid Djalili as Bongo the Monkey

* Mischa Goodman as Junior the Meerkat

* Bella Hudson as Sushi the Polar Bear

* Oliver Green as Ken the Koala

* Jason Griffith as Toto the Chimpanzee

* Sean Schemmel as Biggie the Rhinoceros

* Marc Thompson as Chino the Buffalo

* Oliver Wyman as Smiley the Tasmanian Devil

* Ruben Lloyd, Jimmy Zoppi and Gary McHenley as Vultures

* Michael Glover as Mr. Smith

* Kim Holland as Maya Smith

* Veronica Taylor as The Mole

* Marc Diraison as Peter Cook the TV News Reporter

Production



The film was produced by German company Constantin Film. The film was animated in German, and dubbed by both British and New York voice actors into the English-language.

Release



'Animals United' was released in theaters on October 7, 2010, in Germany.

Home media

This film was released on Blu-ray and DVD in the US in 2012 by Arc Entertainment. A Blu-ray 3D release in North America has not been announced yet.

Reception



Reviews for the film were generally unfavourable, with the aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes reporting that 25% of critics have given the film a positive review, with an average rating 3.8 out of 10. A review in The Hollywood Reporter described the film as a "bombastic CGI-effort that aims at the big leagues, but preaches too much while entertaining too little to unite internationally."

Soundtrack



The soundtrack album for the film was composed by David Newman. It features songs performed by various artists, including Naturally 7, Charles Trnet and Xavier Naidoo. It was released on 7 December 2010 in Germany through Knigskinder Music in CD and digital download formats, and is also available on iTunes.[https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/animals-united-original-soundtrack/id403989639 Animals United (Original Soundtrack) on iTunes] 'iTunes' Retrieved September 9, 2014

Track listing

All musical score tracks for the film written and composed by David Newman, except where noted.

'Note:' Roger Thomas of Naturally 7 provides Billy's singing voice for tracks 3 and 4.

References




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