Alaina Gleen (film)

Alaina Gleen is a 2010 American 3D computer-animated action-adventure comedy film produced by Twentieth Century Fox Animation for 20th Century Fox. Based on the Fox Kids animated television series of the same name, it was the sixth feature film in the Fox Animated Features canon, as well as the first installment in the studio's reboot franchise of the original series. It was written and directed by series creator Thalia Ward and co-directed by David Soren and from a screenplay by Ron J. Friedman, Phillip Melton, Dan Fogelman, and Steve Bencich, and a story by Brad Cuddyer and Jared Brady, and stars an ensemble voice cast consisting of Kristen Bell, Bill Hader, Zac Efron, Taylor Swift, Alec Baldwin, Maya Rudolph, Wanda Sykes, Andy Samberg, Allison Janney, Katie Crown, Steve Buscemi, Matt Damon, and Nick Nolte. The film is an origin story of how Alaina & Max met before the events of the TV series.

Fox had plans for a computer-animated film entitled Alaina Gleen: Next Dimensions before the release of The Alaina Gleen Movie in 2004. However, Next Dimensions was canceled shortly after the latter's release, but the project was revived in early 2007, with Thalia Ward announcing that they wanted to create a film that would "transcend generations". The film was originally developed under the title Life of Alaina Gleen; in February 2008, it was confirmed that the film would be instead a reboot simply titled Alaina Gleen. In the hopes of attracting a larger audience with better-known actors, none of the cast from the original series reprised their roles in the film. The music for the film was composed by Michael Giacchino and John Powell.

Alaina Gleen premiered in Los Angeles on September 23, 2010 and was released in the United States on October 8, 2010, in 3D and IMAX 3D formats. It received generally positive reviews from critics, who considered it as an improvement over the 2004 film and praised its animation, script, humor, score, visual style, and vocal performances. The film earned a total of $591.9 million worldwide against a budget of $155 million, making it the ninth highest-grossing film of 2010, and won the 2011 Kids' Choice Award for Favorite Animated Movie (which it tied with Despicable Me). It was later followed by two sequels: 2013's Alaina Gleen 2, and 2017's Alaina Gleen: Summer Vacation.

Plot
While a new place to live, a anthropomorphic hat named Max (Bill Hader) enters the cave of Leo Lion (Nick Nolte), a anthropomorphic lion who has a wagon full of human food taken from a nearby rest stop. Max accidentally wakes Leo from his hibernation, and in a race to escape, causes the stash to roll out onto the nearby highway and get run over by a large truck. To avoid being eaten himself, Max promises Leo that he will completely replace the stash within the week. Max heads towards a fictional town named Applewood City in Colorado, separated from a abandoned town named Imaginary City which is made for imaginary friends and animals.

Coming soon!

Additional voices

 * Jack Blessing
 * Daran Norris
 * Bob Bergen
 * Rodger Bumpass
 * John Cygan
 * June Christopher
 * Dave Cowgill
 * Makenna Gabrielle Cowgill
 * Kerry Gutierrez
 * Jennifer Crystal Foley
 * Steve Alterman
 * Dominic Hoffman
 * Don Fullilove
 * Jackie Gonneau
 * Nicholas Guest
 * Bridget Hoffman
 * Al Rodrigo

Music
Alaina Gleen: Music from the Motion Picture is a soundtrack to the film of the same name, composed by Michael Giacchino and John Powell, and released on October 5, 2010 by Varèse Sarabande.

Release
Alaina Gleen was originally scheduled for release on June 4, 2010, but was pushed back to avoid competition with crowded family films released in summer 2010. On September 23, 2010, the film premiered at the Regency Village Theatre, Westwood in Los Angeles with the cast and filmmakers as attendees.

The film was digitally re-mastered into IMAX 3D, and released to 195 North American IMAX theatres, and approximately 75 IMAX theatres outside North America.

Marketing
A huge amount of merchandise was made for Alaina Gleen, such as toys and figurines. Fox teamed up with several major companies to promote the film, including McDonald's, who included 8 toys in their Happy Meals featuring the main characters, and Airheads, who made limited-edition flavors "Max Hat's Banana Flavor" and "Alaina's Blueberry Flavor"
 * The official teaser was released on January 29, 2010 and was shown before Puppet Pals 2, Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, Computeropolis 3, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, How to Train Your Dragon, Sea-Life, and Shrek Forever After.
 * The official trailer was released on June 18, 2010 and was shown before Toy Story 3, Despicable Me, Ramona and Beezus, Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore, Alpha and Omega, and Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole.

20th Century Fox announced that Alaina Gleen would be their first film to feature theatrical 7.1 surround sound. Plus, even the Blu-ray version would feature original 7.1 audio, unlike other films which were remixed into 7.1 for Blu-ray.

Home media
Alaina Gleen was released on DVD and Blu-ray on February 11, 2011. A 3D version of the Blu-ray was released in North America on May 18, 2011. A 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray version was released on August 1, 2017.

On March 22, 2011, a 3D DVD was released as a two-disc set, with the first disc being the TrioScopics 3D (green-magenta anaglyph) version and the second disc being the 2D version.

Alaina Gleen: The 4-D Experience
Alaina Gleen: The 4-D Experience is a 16-minute 4D film shown at various 4D theatres over the world. It retells the condensed story of the film, with the help of 3D projection and sensory effects, including moving seats, wind, mist, snow and scents.

Critical response
Based on 184 reviews, the film holds a 94% "Certified Fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with the consensus stating "Alaina Gleen rides the simplicity in this computer-animated rendition of the original 90's Saturday morning cartoon to grand effect, and the final result is an emotionally effective plot, lovable characters, clever writing and cast, visually stunning animation, and wholly witty adaptation that will satisfy both children and nostalgic adults." On Metacritic, it has a score of 76 out of 100, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

Box office
The film opened on October 8, 2010 against Life as We Know It, Secretariat, and My Soul to Take and was projected to gross $55-$65 million from 4,054 theaters in its opening weekend. It made $4.2 million from Thursday night previews and $19.2 million on its opening day, opening at number one at the box office and pulled in $67.6 million, making it the fourth-biggest opening grossing for an animated film in 2010 behind Toy Story 3, Computeropolis 3, and Shrek Forever After.

Over Halloween weekend, it held well with just a 22% drop to $20.5 million and repeated in 2nd place again behind ''Saw 3D. In its fifth weekend, the film fell a 32% in its fifth weekend to $17.8 million and finished in fourth place behind Megamind, Due Date, and For Colored Girls''. The film closed in theaters on February 10, 2011 (a day before it was released on DVD and Blu-ray), earning $255.3 million in North America, and $336.6 million in other countries, for a worldwide total of $591.9 million.