Zina and the Vivid Crew

Zina and the Vivid Crew (released internationally as Zina Supermoon and the Vivid Crew: The Movie and also known as Zina Supermoon: The Movie) is a 2004 American animated comic science fiction film based on the Gingo animated television series Zina Supermoon. The film was written and directed by series creator Geo G., and stars the voices of series regulars Sarah Silverman, Hank Azaria, Richard Kind, Christopher Lloyd and Patrick Warburton, with Drew Barrymore, Molly Shannon and Clint Howard portraying new characters. The events of the film take place during the fifth season of Zina Supermoon. In the film, the title character is forced to team up with Tab and Zipper from the Vivid Crew to stop the mysterious Rebel from stealing the Vooruian city's power energy and using it to wipe out the population.

Geo accepted an offer for a film adaptation of Zina Supermoon from Universal Pictures in 2001, after the series' fourth season was renewed and during the production of Geo's previous film The Gabriel Garza Movie (2002). He assembled a team from the show's writing staff, including Steve Oedekerk, Sarah Silverman, Erica Rivinoja, Tab Murphy, and Noni White, and they wrote several different stories before settling one in which Zina and the Vivid Crew work together, which typically does not happen in the series, before work on the animation began in 2002. Originally, the film was intended to serve as the series finale, but Gingo ordered more episodes of the series up until 2009 as it had become profitable akin to Gabriel Garza, so Geo resigned as showrunner, with series storyboard artist Chris Savino taking his place.

Tie-in promotions were made with several companies to promote the film's release, including Burger King and 7-Eleven. The film held its its pink-carpet premiere in New York City on December 1, 2004, and was released theatrically in the United States on December 17, 2004. It received generally positive reviews from critics and was a box office success, grossing $293 million worldwide against a $70 million budget and became the highest-ever grossing Gingo film. The film was also nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature in 2005, ultimately losing to The Incredibles.

Plot
In the planet Voorus, Zina Supermoon tries to stop Rebel and his Aurk army from attacking the Vooruian city in an attempt to steal its power energy. However, the Aurks get away with the energy when Zina becomes distracted by the crowd, resulting Rebel to knock her out and criticize her for her childishness and inability. Meanwhile, Tab and Zipper attempt to rescue a baby alien creature from a pack of hungry monsters during their new mission. They manage to escape, but their mission ends up failing when a flying bird-like creature snatches the baby away from Tab and Zipper, resulting in the duo to get fired from the Vivid Crew led by Commander Morvis.

Forced to seek a new temporary group, Zina meets Tab and Zipper while visiting her and recruits them to form a teamwork together for a brief amount of time in order for the two to help her stop Rebel and retrieve Voorus' power energy from him. They travel to another planet called Coogur where it is occupied by Rebel's forces who enslave the planet's inhabitants including an octopus-like alien named Susie and are using them to build a machine that allows Rebel to keep the Voorus power energy forever. While coordinating a plan to free the inhabitants, the trio end up being chased by a large creature called Bean who crashes onto the Aurks' supplies, making Susie and the other Coogurians free and escape from Rebel's army with the help of Zina, Tab and Zipper who eventually take them to Zina's spaceship and flee before Coogur collapses.

As the group returns home to Voorus, Susie thanks Zina for rescuing her and the other inhabitants and stays in Voorus while confessing that she can make things better there. Later, Zina, Tab and Zipper then decide to recruit Susie to help them retrieve the Voorus power energy from Rebel in his base. Once there, Susie confesses that she was once Rebel's servant but she was fired due to cowardice. They intrude the base by disguising themselves as an Aurk and use a key code to get into the base. Upon arriving a room where the power energy is located, the group is however pursued by Larry and Sal, resulting a battle with the two. As Zina and company eventually take the power energy, they escape Rebel's base and make it to Zina's ship, forcing the Aurks to give chase. The group successfully escapes safely but almost crash lands on Voorus.

Zina places the power energy in the Vooruian city, with the Vooruians thanking her for saving Voorus. However, Zina realizes that Rebel and the Aurks might raid Voorus again and steal the power energy even without defeating them, thus resulting the Vooruians to evacuate the city. Though understanding, Tab and Zipper make Zina be on her own while the two leave to attempt to get their job at the Vivid Crew back. Later that night, Zina finds Susie's hideout where she discovers a paper representing a plan to steal the Voorus power energy. She is then caught red-handed by Susie, who reveals that she is actually Rebel's rival who abuses him over stealing the power energy all the time and plans to overpower the power energy by eliminating everyone in the galaxy including the human girl. Susie captures Zina, and then occupies the Vooruian city to steal the power energy while taking Tab, Zipper and the Vooruians hostage.

Rebel and his army later arrive at the Vooruian city, causing him to recognize Susie as her rival. While Susie also takes Rebel hostage, Morvis and the Vivid Crew free Zina and help her save the captive residents and prevent Susie's conquest of Voorus. A battle ensues between Susie and Zina, Tab, Zipper, Morvis and the Vivid Crew who were surprisingly persuaded to fight by Rebel, who also joins the fight under a truce. Upon Susie's defeat, Zina warns her to never threaten her friends and everyone else in the whole galaxy before throwing her out of Voorus with the help of Tab, Zipper and the Vivid Crew. With the power energy back on its place again, the Vooruians congratulate Zina, Tab and Zipper for their heroic efforts and they all celebrate their victory, even joined by Rebel and his Aurks who all thank Zina for her courage before leaving to their base.

In a mid-credits scene, Voop finds Bean and annoys him with gibberish. Bean threatens to eat him, but as Voop keeps saying in gibberish, Bean also begins to speak gibberish and get annoying just like Voop.

Voice cast

 * Sarah Silverman as Zina Supermoon
 * Hank Azaria as Tab
 * Richard Kind as Zipper
 * Christopher Lloyd as Rebel
 * Drew Barrymore as Susie
 * Molly Shannon as Mom
 * Patrick Warburton as Larry
 * Richard Steven Horvitz as Sal
 * Tom Kenny as Bug
 * Megan Cavanaugh as Elly
 * Steve Oedekerk as Voop
 * Frank Welker as Zlurggy
 * Carlos Alazraqui as Mexican Food Dude
 * Gregg Berger as Morvis
 * Clint Howard as Tunner
 * Jim Cummings as Narrator, Announcer, Ape, Thug Gangster
 * Rob Paulsen as Robot
 * Geo G. as Bean
 * Jim Anderson as Joey

Additional Voices

 * David Arnott
 * Bob Bergen
 * Jason Broad
 * Corey Burton
 * Rodger Bumpass
 * Catherine Cavadini
 * Lanai Chapman
 * Jennifer Darling
 * Vicki Davis
 * John DeMita
 * Judi Durand
 * Bill Farmer
 * Jeff Fischer
 * Willow Geer
 * Jess Harnell
 * Jason Harris
 * Barbara Iley
 * Carlyle King
 * Daamen J. Krall
 * Danny Mann
 * Jason Marsden
 * Jeremy Maxwell
 * Tracy Metro
 * Laraine Newman
 * Levi Nunez
 * Jason Pace
 * Paige Pollack
 * David J. Randolph
 * Noreen Reardon
 * Vernon Scott
 * Jim Ward
 * Andreana Weiner
 * Debi Mae West
 * Ruth Zalduondo

Development
When Zina Supermoon was renewed for a fourth season in December 2001, series creator Geo G. (who was directing The Gabriel Garza Movie at the time) was approached by Gingo and Universal Studios with idea for a feature film based on the series, which was considered for either television, direct-to-video or a theatrical release. According to Geo, he wanted to make the film theatrically due to the success of competing Nickelodeon animated films such as the Rugrats films. This decision was also buoyed by the financial success of Hatty in the Big City: The Movie in 1999.

During the first week of writing in early 2002, a writing team consisting of Geo, Steve Oedekerk, Sarah Silverman, Erica Rivinoja, Tab Murphy, and Noni White from the show came up with several different ideas for the film before eventually coming up a story in which the titular protagonist teams up with Tab and Zipper from the Vivid Crew, and settled on that, as the three characters never met up on-screen together in the series. Geo said that "[they] wanted to make sure [they] had something new to say [about the characters]" while working on the film, but that didn't "violate any of the characters' set-ups and rules of their world". The team pitched the idea to Gingo CEO Michael Wildshill, who was "shockingly amazed" by the project, which led to it being greenlit shortly. The producers were initially worried that creating a film would have a negative effect on the series, as they did not have enough crew to focus their attention on both projects. As the series progressed, additional writers and animators were hired so that both the show and the film could be produced at the same time.

The film was developed under the working title of Zina Supermoon: The Movie. By October 2003, the title of the film was changed to Zina and the Vivid Crew. According to Geo, the reason behind the title change was because they "didn't want to just sort of title it like it was just a TV show-based movie," instead they wanted "something to make it stand on its own, give it its own personality and really try to treat it as a chapter in Zina's life."

When the film was completed, Geo wanted to end the series "so it wouldn't jump the shark". However, Gingo desired more episodes. As a result, Geo resigned as the series' showrunner, appointing writer, director, and storyboard artist Chris Savino to succeed him.

Animation
The film's animation was produced by three animation studios: Gingo Animation in North Hollywood, Rough Draft Studios in South Korea and Yowza! Animation in Toronto, who all began production with Glass Ball Productions in 2002 which was actually before The Gabriel Garza Movie was even completed. As with the television series, the storyboarding, characters, background layout, and animatic parts of production, were done in America. The overseas studios completed the inbetweening, digital ink and paint, and rendered the animation to tape before being shipped back to the United States.

Casting
The series' regular voice actors: Silverman, Hank Azaria, Richard Kind, Christopher Lloyd, Patrick Warburton, Richard Steven Horvitz, Tom Kenny, Megan Cavanaugh, Oedekerk, Frank Welker and Jim Cummings, as well as semi-regular performers Carlos Alazraqui, Gregg Berger, Rob Paulsen and Geo, reprised their roles. In addition to the series' cast, it was reported on June 14, 2004 that Drew Barrymore and Molly Shannon would play new characters Susie and Mom, respectively. Clint Howard was later added to the cast as Tunner in October 2004. The cast did the first of three table readings in October 2002, and began recording every week from November 2003 until the end of production.

Debi Derryberry was originally set to reprise her role as the titular protagonist from Gabriel Garza, but she was ultimately left out due to time issues. However, Gabriel does still make a non-speaking cameo in the film.

Soundtrack
An original soundtrack, titled Zina and the Vivid Crew: Music from the Motion Picture, was released on November 23, 2004 by Atlantic Records, Gingo, and Universal Music Group. Christina Aguilera's "Let's Go", written for the film, was released as a single.


 * 1) Let's Go - Christina Aguilera
 * 2) Zina Supermoon Theme - Sarah Silverman
 * 3) Baby It's You - JoJo featuring Bow Wow
 * 4) Eye of the Tiger - Survivor
 * 5) It's Miss Supermoon - Shaggy
 * 6) The One and Only - Justin Timberlake
 * 7) The Power of Love - Sarah Silverman
 * 8) Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go - Wham!
 * 9) The Final Countdown - Europe
 * 10) Space Oddity - David Bowie
 * 11) Saving the Galaxy (Zina Supermoon Remix) - Puffy AmiYumi

Score
The film's score was composed by John Debney while regular Zina Supermoon composer Guy Moon did the additional music for the score. According to Steve Oedekerk, he chose Debney to compose the film's score, as they were good friends and regular collaborators. The score was released on March 22, 2005, from Varèse Sarabande.


 * 1) Prologue
 * 2) Rebel Attacks Voorus / Zina Supermoon to the Rescue / Rebel Wins
 * 3) Tab and Zipper's Mission / You're Fired!
 * 4) Inside Rebel's Base
 * 5) Sending Help
 * 6) Zina's Meeting with Tab and Zipper / Team Up
 * 7) A New Plan / To the Spaceship
 * 8) Coogur / Susie
 * 9) The Chase / The Breakout / Saving Susie
 * 10) Back Home / Getting the Power Energy Back
 * 11) Sneaking Into Rebel's Base / Getting the Key
 * 12) The Power Energy / The Fight / Escape!
 * 13) Zina vs. Aurks
 * 14) Return to Voorus / Evacuate / Split Up
 * 15) Susie's True Face Revealed
 * 16) The Siege / The Vivid Crew Frees Zina
 * 17) The Final Battle
 * 18) We Did It! / Epilogue

Release
The teaser trailer for the film was released on March 26, 2004, and was attached to Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed. The second trailer was released on July 2, 2004, and was attached to Computeropolis. The film premiered in New York City on December 1, 2004 with a pink carpet instead of the traditional red, and was released widely in theaters two weeks later on December 17.

The film was originally scheduled to be released on November 24, 2004, but in September 2003, the date was changed to December 22, 2004 to avoid competition with other family films released in November, before pushing back to its current release date of December 17, 2004 with Meet the Fockers taking its place. It was released as Zina Supermoon and the Vivid Crew: The Movie in the United Kingdom and such in March 2005, succeeding the Computeropolis short Print 3D Errors. The film later made its network premiere on Gingo on October 19, 2006.

Marketing
Prior to and during its theatrical run, the film was promoted across the United States. Burger King produced a line of Zina Supermoon toy figures that were given away with children's meals, and ran a series of Zina Supermoon-themed television adverts to promote this. Customers could also purchase one of six different Zina-themed watches for $1.99 with the purchase of a value meal. Convenience store chain 7-Eleven served a limited-edition Supermoon Slurpee in December 2004.

Hasbro also released a line of action figures based on the film, while Kellogg's included film-branded spoons in their cereal boxes and Sony produced a limited edition Zina and the Vivid Crew PlayStation 2.

Home media
The film was released on VHS and DVD on March 15, 2005 by Universal Studios Home Entertainment. The VHS release is known for being the last Gingo film to be released on the platform. The DVD release features an audio commentary, animatics, deleted scenes and more. The film was also released on Game Boy Advance Video in October 2005 and on UMD for the PlayStation Portable. It was released for the first time on Blu-ray on July 22, 2008, then again on June 5, 2012, as a part of Universal's Universal 100th Anniversary releases.

Zina and the Vivid Crew was included on NBCUniversal's streaming service Peacock on July 15, 2020.

Box office
Before the film's release, there were concerns that the film would have underwhelming results and be a box office failure due to the possible competition with another family film, Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events. However, the film ended up grossing $47,194,301 during its opening weekend, being the highest opening-weekend gross for Gingo at the time as well as the second film by Gingo to open at No. 1 at box office behind 1999's Hatty in the Big City: The Movie ($39.3 million). It closed on April 14, 2005, earning $146,423,021 million in North America and $147,106,021 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $293,529,042. The film was the seventh highest-grossing 2004 animated film, as well as being the highest-grossing Gingo film of all time and the second-highest-grossing non-CGI animated feature from Universal Pictures behind Ama and the Mysterious Crystal.

Critical reception
On the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a rating of 80% based on 204 reviews. The site's consensus reads, "The story may feel too standard, but Zina and the Vivid Crew is a delightful production to give fans faithfulness to the show and to pay homage to classic sci-fi movies combined with humor." Another review aggregator, Metacritic, gave a score of 62 based on 47 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A-" on an A+ to F scale.

Accolades
Zina and the Vivid Crew was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, but lost to Disney/Pixar's The Incredibles.

Video game
A video game based on the film was released on November 30, 2004 for PlayStation 2, Microsoft Windows, Game Boy Advance, GameCube, Xbox and Nintendo DS. Published by Vivendi Universal Games, High Voltage Software developed the console versions of the game, while Climax Group developed the handled versions, and Gorilla developed the PC version. Most of the cast from the film reprised their roles in the game.

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

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