Cornerville

Cornerville is a 1993 American animated supernatural musical film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures. It was released as part of the Disney Renaissance. It was directed by Conner Jones and written by Jones, John Musker and Linda Woolverton. It stars the voices of Ben Savage, Macaulay Culkin, Eliza Duskhu, Jason Weaver, Sarah Lancaster, Matthew Lawrence, Dan Castellaneta. and Tim Curry. The score of the film's original songs was composed by composer Alan Menken with its lyrics co-written by Menken and lyricist Tim Rice, who both had previously done the music for Aladdin, another film released by Disney. The film centers around a boy named Mark and his friends, Luke, Veronica, and Ryan, who leave the boring city of Woodbraun and head to Cornerville, believing that it's the most exciting city on Earth. When they get there, they see that strange and mysterious things occur at night and they are greeted by two kids named Paige and Charlie, and their guardians Mr. Lolli and Mr. Powell, who take Mark and his friends in. While they're in Cornerville, Mark and his friends decide to find out the source of unusual things that occur and see if there's anything they can do about it.

The film was released into theatres on November 24, 1993, and it received positive reviews from critics who praised the film for its characters, animation music, story, and cast. On its $52 million budget, it grossed $368.5 million, making it the highest-grossed Disney film for 1993. It spawned a TV series of the same name that aired on CBS from 1994 to 1995, and a straight-to-video sequel, Cornerville II: Rock 'n Rescue, in 2001.

Plot
Mark Smith, a young boy who loves music, lives in the city of Woodbraun, which is often called a very boring city by its citizens. He tries to keep himself excited by playing music to people who pass by, but people are still bored by it due to the city's influence. He asks Luke Hopkins, his intelligent best friend, for advice for bringing excitement to people, but all he tells Mark is that excitement is what he makes of it. Mark, however, belittles the advice, saying that it is stupid.

One night, he finds an old advertisement for a city called Cornerville while searching the attic of his house. He sees it as the opportunity to be in a city that is more exciting than Woodbraun, and he tells Luke and their two other friends, Veronica Jackson, a beauty-obsessed girl, and Ryan Williams, a young athlete about the city. A little while later, they head out and leave Woodbraun, hoping to make it to Cornerville by morning.

While on the way to Cornerville, Mark and his friends start to hear strange voices, telling them that Cornerville is a dangerous place and that they should return to Woodbraun while they still can. Luke, Veronica, and Ryan start to think that should return home, but Mark refuses to head back and continues to travel the path to Cornerville, with his friends following him reluctantly.

Upon arriving in Cornerville, Mark and his friends notice that nobody is around. Suddenly, goblins appear out of nowhere and try to attack the kids. Mark and friends try to flee, but two kids, Paige Watson, a young artist, and Charlie Putz, a dimwitted film lover, come out and save them from the goblins. Afterwards, they take them to their home so they can have a place to stay.

Upon arriving at Paige and Charlie’s house, Mark and his friends are greeted by Mr. Lolli and Mr. Powell, the guardians of Charlie and Paige, and allow them to stay at their house. As Mark and his friends look around, Mr. Powell steps away and heads into a secret room to think of a plan to take over Cornerville.

The next day, Mark and his friends, along with Paige and Charlie, decide to take a look around the city. Unlike Charlie and Paige, Mark and his friends are surprised at how normal the city appears during the daytime, and they start to wonder why the city is normal during the day, but acts so mysterious at night.

Meanwhile, Mr. Powell is getting ready to put his evil plan into action. When night falls, he plans to use a device he made to put all of the supernatural beings under his control and use them as his minions for taking over Cornerville. Mr. Lolli overhears this and tries to warn the kids, but Powell tranquilizes and knocks him out, thinking that he and the kids will ruin his plan.

Later that night, the supernatural beings all start to appear and attack the citizens that are trying to get home. Mark and the others manage to escape from the beings and return to Charlie and Paige’s house. Upon arriving, they notice Mr. Lolli tied up on the floor and they free him. Lolli then tells the kids that Powell is behind the creatures’ strange behavior and that they must stop him. Just then, Mr. Powell shows up, reveals his true colors to everyone and tries to use the supernatural beings to kill them all. Mark and the others all manage to escape the house, and they hide in the forest to think of a plan to stop Powell. Mark suggests finding a way to free all the creatures from Powell’s control, and the others agree. They then head back to the city to stop Powell.

Upon arriving back in the city, Mark and the others split up to stop Powell and the creatures. Mark and Mr. Lolli manage to find Powell and they confront him, telling him to stop now before things get too out of hand. He refuses to listen, saying that Cornerville will be his soon. As Powell speaks, Mark manages to steal the device and destroy it, freeing the supernatural beings from Powell’s control.

Furious at Mark for foiling his plan, he tries to chase after him so he can kill him. Mark tries to escape and ends up finding himself on the Cornerville bridge with Powell on his trail. As Powell tries to get Mark, a few pieces the bridge starts to fall off and Powell ends up falling to his death.

Shortly after, Mark manages to return with the others and the supernatural beings are shown to be friendly and not frightening at all when they thank Mark and his friends for freeing them from Powell’s control. Paige, Charlie, and Lolli all wonder if Mark and his friends want to return Woodbraun after what happened, but they decide to stay in Cornerville and they all embark for new adventures in the city.

Cast

 * Ben Savage as Mark Smith, a young boy with the dream of being a musician and living an exciting life. Glen Keane served as the supervising animator for Mark. Nick Carter provides Mark’s singing voice.
 * Macaulay Culkin as Luke Hopkins, an intelligent boy who is Mark's best friend. Russ Edmonds served as the supervising animator for Luke. Issac Hanson provides Luke’s singing voice
 * Eliza Dushku as Veronica Jackson, a girl who is obsessed with beauty and has a crush on Mark. Mark Henn served as the supervising animator for Veronica. Christina Aguilera provides Veronica’s singing voice.
 * Jason Weaver as Ryan Williams, a young athlete who likes all kinds of sports. Anthony de Rosa served as the supervising animator for Ryan.
 * Sarah Lancaster as Paige Watson, a young girl who’s very passionate about art. Nik Ranieri served as the supervising animator for Paige. Britney Spears provides Paige’s singing voice
 * Matthew Lawrence as Charlie Putz, Paige’s dimwitted friend who likes to review movies. James Baxter served as the supervising animator for Charlie. Justin Timberlake provides Charlie’s singing voice
 * Dan Castellaneta as Mr. Lolli, a caring man who’s also one of Charlie and Paige’s guardians who also takes in Mark and his friends. Ruben A. Aquino served as the supervising animator for Mr. Lolli.
 * Tim Curry as Mr. Powell, the main antagonist of the film and Charlie and Paige’s other guardian. He believes he can use the supernatural forces of Cornerville for his gain. Andreas Deja served as the supervising animator for Mr. Powell.

Additional Voices

 * Rob Paulsen
 * Cam Clarke
 * Jim Cummings
 * Frank Welker
 * E.G. Daily
 * B.J. Ward
 * Nancy Cartwright

Development
The idea for the film came to mind when film director, Conner Jones, got inspired by musical films such as Little Shop of Horrors and The Wiz, and supernatural films such as Ghostbusters. He pitched his idea to The Walt Disney Company and they accepted it.

More coming soon

Animation
Animation for the film was mainly done by Walt Disney Feature Animation.

More coming soon

Casting
Coming soon

Release
Cornerville was theatrically released by Walt Disney Pictures in the United States and Canada on November 24, 1993, the same day Universal Pictures/Amblimation's We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story hit theaters.

Marketing
The film made partnerships with Burger King, General Mills, Mattel, and The Disney Channel for promoting the movie.

Trailers

 * The teaser trailer for the film was released on November 25, 1992, and was included with films such as Aladdin, The Muppet Christmas Carol, and Kuffs.
 * The first theatrical trailer was released on July 16, 1993, and was included in films such as Hocus Pocus, Coneheads, and Another Stakeout.
 * The second theatrical trailer was released on September 24, 1993 and was included with films such as Cool Runnings and The Nightmare Before Christmas.
 * TV spots for the film were shown from September to November of 1993.

Home Media
The film was released on VHS and Laserdisc on April 5, 1994, and it was the final film to be released the "Walt Disney Classics" video series. The VHS of the film included the theatrical trailer of Walt Disney Pictures' then-upcoming animated film, The Lion King. More than 20 million copies of the film were sold and grossed over $370 million in sales revenue. On April 23, 2003, the film was released as a "Platinum Edition" on VHS and a two-disc THX Certified DVD set and it coincided with the film's 10th anniversary. The second disc of the Special Edition DVD set included bonus features such as deleted scenes and "Facts with Luke," a segment that originally appeared during commercial breaks for the Cornerville TV series back when it aired on CBS. The Platinum Edition VHS and two-disc DVD set grossed over $240 million in revenue. On April 9, 2013, Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment released a Diamond Edition Blu-ray/DVD combo pack that coincided with the film's 20th anniversary. It included the same special features from the 2003 Platinum Edition DVD set along with interviews from the film's cast, discussing how they got the roles for the film and how far the film has gone to be loved by millions of people. The Diamond Edition grossed $40 million in revenue. On November 20, 2018, The film was re-released on Blu-ray and DVD as part of the Walt Disney Signature Collection to coincide with the film's 25th anniversary.

Box office
Cornerville grossed a total of $368.5 million worldwide.

Critical Response.
The film held a rating of 89% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 75 reviewers, and CinemaScore gave the film an "A-" on its A+ to F- scale.

Video Game
A video game based on the film was released in 1993 by Virgin Interactive for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Sega Genesis, Game Boy, and Game Gear. It received mixed reviews from critics.

Television Series
A television series based on the film was produced by Walt Disney Television Animation. It aired on CBS from September 16, 1994, to May 12, 1995.

Sequel
A direct-to-video sequel to the film, entitled Cornerville II: Rock 'n Rescue, was released by Walt Disney Home Video on May 15, 2001.

Other Appearances
The characters from the film made cameo appearances in some episodes of Disney's House of Mouse, and Mr. Powell, the main villain in Cornerville had a cameo appearance in the direct-to-video film, Mickey's House of Villains.

The characters from Cornerville also appeared in the 2002 PlayStation 2 video game, Kingdom Hearts, and its 2005 sequel, Kingdom Hearts II. The characters also appeared as playable characters in the Disney Infinity video game series.

Main
To see the main transcript of the film, click here.

Trailer
To see the transcript for the trailers of the film, click here.