Golden Rush

Golden Rush is a 1997 American animated spy action comedy film produced by MTV Films and distributed by Paramount Pictures and directed by Joesph von Calbury in his directorial debut. The film stars the voices of, , , Kath Soucie, Kevin Michael Richardson, , and. Set in America, somewhere in California, The International Location Worldwide Headquarters of Spies (I.L.W.H.S [pronuced eye-will-is]) is at risk of personal data being breached so they recruit brother-sister duo Rico (White) and Laine (Brooks), to stop the evil Dr. Peril (Richardson) and his daughter Myrna (Bush), with the help of their tomboyish yet sweet cousin Nadine (Norwood) and brainy and intelligent Vush (Soucie).

Golden Rush was originally planned as a spin-off to Austin Powers, but it was scrapped and sent to Paramount to make a witty and humorous spy film with sexual innuendoes and action and animation. Pre-production began in 1997, Calbury as director, Salter and Cohen as editor and producer, and with Molly McCain as character design.

Golden Rush was released on September 15, 1997 in the United States. It received mostly mixed to positive reviews from critics, praising its animation, jokes, script, and characters while the voice acting and character designs were mostly criticized. It grossed $462.7 million over its $200 million budget making it the highest-grossing film of 1997. The film was nominated for Best Animated Feature at the 70th Academy Awards and won. It spun into a franchise with a TV series, with a few sequel titled Golden Rush 2: Foxtrot released on June 15, 2000, three short films, a television special called A Very Golden Christmas airing on most syndicated CW stations, and two television series.

Plot
A cargo ship is sailing through South America until a mysterious submarine crashes into the cargo ship, causing it to drown. Years later, one of the victims on the ship vows revenge on the submarine, that victim became Dr. Peril.

Meanwhile in Los Angeles, California, teen siblings Laine and Rico are just living their normal lives as teens until their cousin Nadine gets her and the siblings at I.L.W.H.S, a talent agency that revealed as a spy agency who's personal data is at risk of being breached and sold off to an illegal malware company. So they're given a new task by one of the employees, Vush, a brainy and intelligent young woman with a passion for fashion.

As for Peril, on the other hand, he starts raising his daughter Myrna to become evil, cruel, cold-hearted towards others and only trust herself and him. She disguises herself as Tiffani Vanderglass, and decides to get closer to the siblings. After overhearing Myrna (Tiffani)'s plans, the gang pack up and head to Italy, to foil Dr. Peril's plan.

Laine, Rico, Nadine, and Vush meet up with Stewart, a man who's soul put into a pig, and his cranky owner Penelope to infiltrate Peril's new casino, while Rico falls in love with Veronica, a snobby agent of Dr. Peril. Laine tries to warn Rico about Veronica, however he doesn't listen causing a fight between the siblings causing them to separate and disbanding. Veronica's true colors show and captures Rico and takes him to back to Dr. Peril and Myrna.

Meanwhile, Penelope finds out that Rico has been captured and it's up to Laine and the gang to save her brother from the evil Dr. Peril, they manage to rescue Rico and a now-reformed Veronica. They confront Peril and Myrna together, instead of straight up killing both of them, they give them a change to redeem themselves and which they accept. Laine and Rico make up and apologize to each other.

Now, Peril and Myrna live a more happier life, along with Veronica becoming Rico's girlfriend. Stewart is no longer a pig, and he and a Penelope become an acting duo. Laine and Rico's destiny as spies is still not fulfilled.

Cast
List of Golden Rush characters


 * as Laine Thompson, the elder sibling of the duo, who is intelligent and street-savvy. She uses her quick wit and street-smarts as a weapon.
 * as a young Laine
 * as Rico Thompson, the younger sibling of the duo, who is bold and stylish. He uses disguises and his smart aleck personality as a weapon.
 * as Nadine Harperson, Laine and Rico's tomboyish cousin who often assists them.
 * Kath Soucie as Vush Arkhangelsky, a brainy and intelligent young woman from Russia who is very fashionable.
 * as Verna LaFromage, the owner and main-woman of I.L.W.H.S, who is no-nonsense.
 * Dan Castellaneta as Stewart MacFreuden, a world famous magician who was turned into a pig.
 * as Penelope Hale, a cranky and bitter owner of a coffee shop.
 * Kevin Michael Richardson as Giovanni Peril, the main antagonist who gets revenge on Verna LaFromage. He along with his daughter is given a chance to redeem themselves
 * as Myrna Peril, Dr. Peril's daughter and one of the antagonists, she disguises herself to get closer to the siblings. She along with her father are given a chance to redeem themselves.
 * Melissa Fahn as Veronica Landon, a spy recruited by Peril to attack the twins, and she eventually falls in love with Rico and redeems herself.
 * Rob Paulsen as Lemonade Guy, Jeff Peterson, Tex Wonder
 * Kelly Hu as Tiffany
 * Joan Cusack as Elaine, Amanda Vandom
 * Susanne Blakeslee as Diane
 * Frank Welker as Smooch-Man
 * Jennifer Darling as Dorothy
 * Maurice LaMarche as Donald the Cheese Guy

Additional Voices

 * Tress MacNeille
 * Charlie Adler
 * Rob Paulsen
 * Billy West
 * Seth Green
 * Melissa Fahn
 * Robin Williams
 * Lacey Chabert
 * Jada Pinkett Smith
 * Carlos Alazraqui
 * Jodi Benson
 * E.G. Daily
 * B. J. Ward
 * Don Fullilove

Development
Golden Rush was initially set as a spin off to Austin Powers, featuring two teenage spies training to become just like their idol, Austin. The movie was planned to be produced by New Line Cinema via Warner Bros. Pictures. The spin-off would've had the same elements as Austin Powers. The spin-off movie was scrapped in favor of working on the second Austin Powers movie. Instead, Myers sent the film to become an adult animated film for Paramount Pictures.

Casting
Phil LaMarr originally was set to voice Rico but later turned it down due to creative differences, Because of this LaMarr departed from the project and would be replaced by then at the time 20-year-old Jaleel White. Kimberly Brooks originally auditioned to voice Myrna, However the producers felt that she was too witty for the role. So she was given the role as Laine.

Animation and design
The movie's animation was traditional and drawn by TMS Entertainment, with some shots being drawn by Toei Animation. The movie was hand-drawn first, then later re-drawn into the computer using the software Autodesk Maya. The character designs were supplied by Molly McCain and her husband Fredrick Donahue. The art style is reminiscent of popular TV shows such as I Am Sammi and Miracle Idol Akiko.

Music
Main article: Golden Rush/Soundtrack

The film's score was composed by Hans Zimmer and. Zimmer would later compose scores for Dusk and Dawn and The Road to El Dorado, Mothersbaugh previously composed scores for Rugrats and would compose for the three films and All Grown Up! A soundtrack for the film was released by on November 13, 1997.

Release
Golden Rush was originally slated for a May release but was pushed back to September 15 in order to get the movie out before the holidays.

Marketing
The first teaser trailer was released on April 12, 1997. The film's second trailer was released on July 13, 1997.

During it's release, McDonald's had a promotional tie-in with 8 toys featuring Laine's laptop, Rico's diamond encrusted headphones, Vush's virtual fashion closet, Nadine's DJ booth, A styling Laine doll, A styling Rico doll, A styling Nadine doll, and an styling doll Vush with a convertible. Lip Smackers made a set of flavored lip glosses featuring Raspberry Rico, Cherry-Vanilla Vush, Groovy Green Apple, Lemonade Laine, Tropical Mango Myrna, Outta Sight Orange, Wonderful Watermelon Veronica, Heavenly Berry Nadine, Naughty N' Nice. a video game based on the same film was released in December 1997 for the PlayStation, Nintendo 64, Game Boy Color, PC and later for the Xbox, PlayStation 2, Nintendo GameCube, Game Boy Advance, N-Gage, and mobile phones. Gingo promoted the film with promotional commercial spots and sweepstakes for the film's merchandise, they appeared on Gingo.com until December 31, 1997. More merchandise would appear such as plush items, toys, activity sets, keepsakes, apparel, school supplies, and scratch-n-sniff stickers.

Home media
Golden Rush was released by Paramount Home Video on VHS and DVD on January 12, 1998. The first home media release accompanied with three DVD exclusive short films, An exclusive music video by Brandy. The DVD also included a commentary by the director and Mike Myers, how-to-draw featurettes, bloopers featuring the voice cast, an interview featuring the cast and crew, a CD-ROM demo of the video game, and a trivia game. It was re-released again on April 13, 2003 with most of the special features from the standard release returning except the video game demo and replaced with two episodes of the animated series, a TV spot for the dolls, Trailers for upcoming Paramount or Nickelodeon releases, and V.I.P access to Gingo.com's Golden Rush page. It was later released again on June 8, 2008 for DVD & Blu-Ray. And later in 2011. For the movie's 20th anniversary, it was released on November 8, 2017 on DVD and Blu-Ray (re-mastered).

Box office
Golden Rush grossed $562.7 million in the United States and Canada, and $365.2 million with a worldwide total of $476.1 million. On the film's opening day, the film grossed $8.5 million on its opening day and ended up grossing $45.1 million in its opening weekend.

Critical reception
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 98% based on 143 reviews, with an average rating of 9.2/10. The critical consensus reads: "While far from being like other animated films, Golden Rush is able to give a fast-paced story with loveable characters, an over-arcing story, great animation and an amazing soundtrack all in just 96 minutes." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 75 out of 100, based on 21 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.

Franchise
Main article: Golden Rush (franchise)

Sequels and spin-offs
A sequel, titled Golden Rush 2: Foxtrot, was released on June 15, 2000, with a limited theatrical release and as a TV Movie. Calbury returned to direct the movie, with Tom Ruegger, Sherri Stoner, and Deanna Oliver as writers. Jaleel White, Kimberly Brooks, Brandy Norwood, Kath Soucie, Eartha Kitt, Bettina Bush, Kevin Michael Richardson, Dan Castellaneta, Maureen McCormick, and Melissa Fahn return to voice their roles, joined with Catherine Cavadini, Reese Witherspoon, James Arnold Taylor, Tara Strong, Seth Green, Cree Summer, and Kate Higgins. In this film, Laine and Rico are enjoying an ice cream until Verna reminds them of a new villain on the run named Foxtrot wanting the Golden Boomerang to finish her latest creation, and its up to Laine and Rico to stop Foxtrot.

Another sequel, titled Golden Rush in Supernova, was released on May 13, 2004, premiering on Gingo. The film has Calbury, McCain, Ruegger, and Stoner as writers. Many of the voice cast from the first two films returned for the third film (Except Kate Higgins), joined by Stephanie Sheh,, Lauren Tom, and Christine Baranski. In this film, Laine is now 20, and Rico is now 18, and are heading for college until a new villain named Supernova who has took all of the Diskettes to revive the powerful Sparx.

Another film, titled Golden Rush: Land of Dreams, was released on June 16, 2006 in Japan, and on August 31, 2006 in the United States, and centers around people's innocent dreams being stolen by a mystical goddess named Mari (voiced by Alanna Ubach), and it's up to Laine and Rico to save the innocent dreams from Mari. The films has 3 english dubs (1 for America airing on Gingo, 1 for the Philippines and Canada produced by Ocean Studios, and another one produced for Singapore)

Other media
Beside the films, the Golden Rush franchise also includes several video games, three short films titled, Play's The Thing, The Sleepover, and Club Danse, a television special titled A Very Golden Christmas. A television series based on the films also started airing on Gingo on August 12, 2003 and ended on September 12, 2008. A prequel tie-in to Land of Dreams was released from July 31, 2006 to August 25, 2006 titled, Golden Rush: Amazing Adventures and it aired weekly on Gingo.com. Another television series was made 11 years after the first series based on the comics by Archie Comics titled, The New Adventures of Golden Rush started airing on TBS since May 15, 2009, it focuses on the civilian lives of Laine and Rico rather then their spies lives.

Movie script
Main article: Golden Rush/Transcript

Trailer script
Main article: Golden Rush/Trailer transcripts