Puppet Pals 3

Puppet Pals 3 is a 2012 American 3D computer-animated comedy film produced by 20th Century Fox Animation for 20th Century Fox. It was directed by Ryan Marshall (in his directional debut) from a screenplay by Brad Garland and Joe Stillman and a story by Jim Chapman, Marshall, and Tom Ropelewski. It is the third installment in the Puppet Pals franchise, following 2010's ''Puppet Pals 2. ''Jesse McCartney, Anne Hathaway, Josh Peck, Seth Rogen, Patton Oswalt, Matthew Broderick, Jon Lovitz, Jonah Hill, John Cleese, Minnie Driver, and Sarah Vowell reprised their respective roles, joined by Evan Rachel Wood, Patrick Warburton, Jack McBrayer, Zooey Deschanel, Zac Efron, David Cross, Peter Dinklage, Wanda Sykes, and Eric Idle.

The film follows Blake Blue (Jonah Hill), who is plotting to overthrow Nathan Ritter (Jesse McCartney) and Princess Joanna (Anne Hathaway), who have inherited the throne of Golden City following King Floyd's death. However, Nathan attempts to convince Joanna's underachieving, 16-year-old cousin Edwin (Zac Efron) to become king instead. Meanwhile, Nathan discovers a terrifying secret about his childhood past, and discovers a new enemy (Peter Dinklage) who has a powerful weapon that he plans to conquer both Tinywood and Golden City with it and has something to do with Nathan's troubled past.

Puppet Pals 3 held its world premiere at the Regency Village Theater, Westwood in Los Angeles on December 1, 2012, and was released in the United States on December 14. It received mixed to negative reviews from critics, but was a box office success, earning $629.9 million worldwide on its $116 million budget. It was followed by Puppet Pals Forever on September 21, 2018.

Plot
Coming soon!

Voice cast

 * Jesse McCartney as Nathan Ritter, a pampered young man.
 * Anne Hathaway as Princess Joanna, a beautiful young woman who is the princess of Tinywood.
 * Josh Peck as Toby the Lizard, a magical and geeky lizard.
 * Zac Efron as Edwin, Joanna's underachieving 16-year-old cousin.
 * Jon Lovitz as Wayne, a magical, swashbuckling, and talking dog.
 * Peter Dinklage as Mel Mystic
 * David Cross as R.O.S.S.
 * Chris Wedge (uncredited) as Slippy the Dog
 * April Stewart (uncredited) as Sapphire the Dog
 * Seth Rogen as Jeremy Johnson
 * Patton Oswalt as Steve Smiley
 * Sarah Vowell as Natalia Miller
 * Zooey Deschanel as Carly the Lizard, a lizard who falls in love for Toby
 * Jonah Hill as Blake Blue
 * Matthew Broderick as Captain Matt
 * John Cleese as King Floyd
 * Minnie Driver as Queen Lila
 * Evan Rachel Wood as Princess Dawn
 * Wanda Sykes as Princess Jade
 * Katie Lowes as Princess Mila
 * Kari Wahlgren as Princess Audrey

Production
Coming soon!

Soundtrack
Main article: Puppet Pals 3/Soundtrack

The film's score was composed by John Powell, and its soundtrack was released on December 11, 2012 by Epic Records.

Release
Puppet Pals 3 premiered at the Regency Village Theater on December 1, 2012. The American release followed on December 14, 2012. It was originally scheduled to be released on July 27, 2012 but the release date was later assigned to Ice Age: Continental Drift. The film was also converted to the IMAX format in other countries.

The film is accompanied by a The Simpsons short film The Longest Daycare featuring Maggie Simpson, which accompanied Ice Age: Continental Drift back in July 2012.

Marketing
The first teaser trailer was released on March 1, 2012, and was later attached into The Lorax and Little Lily in theaters. An exclusive sneak peek (presented by Jesse McCartney and Anne Hathaway) was also released during the 2012 Kids' Choice Awards on March 31. The film's full trailer was released on June 17, 2012, and was attached into Brave five days later. Its final trailer was released on October 4, 2012 and was later attached to Frankenweenie, Wreck-It Ralph, and Rise of the Guardians.

Video game
A video game based on the film was released on December 11, 2012 for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii, Nintendo DS, and Nintendo 3DS.

Home media
Puppet Pals 3 was released on DVD and Blu-ray on April 12, 2013. A 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray version was released on September 4, 2018.

Television broadcasting
Puppet Pals 3 had its network television premiere on FX on Saturday, November 22, 2014 at 7:30pm. It then aired on Disney Channel on March 20, 2015. Disney XD aired this on December 11, 2015. TBS also aired it on Saturday, February 13, 2016. TNT aired this movie on March 6, 2016.

Critical reception
The review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a rating of 44% based on 195 reviews; the average rating is 4.5/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Puppet Pals 3 may boast the franchise's usual comedy, but an unfortunate tendency to throw in used jokes and cliches with contrived plot points makes it completely forgettable." On Metacritic, it received a score of 51 out of 100, based on 75 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".

Box office
The film grossed $206.6 million in the United States and Canada, along with $423.3 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $629.9 million. In total, 3D showings contributed approximately 48% of the film's worldwide gross. Worldwide, it is the third highest-grossing 2012 animated film and the tenth highest-grossing film of 2012.

In North America, the film earned $20.2 million on its opening day (Friday, December 14, 2012), ranking second behind The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. Over the weekend, the film earned $67.4 million, which was behind the original's $70.2 million debut. Later, the film went on to make $48.1 million during the five-day Christmas weekend and $34.4 million during the four-day New Year's weekend.