Puma Race

Puma Race is a 2012 computer-animated sports comedy-drama film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures. It is directed by Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise from the screenplay by Maya Forbes and Wallace Wolodarsky and stars the voice cast of Leonardo DiCaprio, Kurt Russell, Naomi Watts, Albert Brooks, and Emily Blunt. It follows a puma who wishes to work with a cheetah in a running race stadium before racing against each other. Suddenly, a leopard was threatening to run the stadium as a predatory stadium. Other running animals are willing to take on the challenge as well.

The film was released in the United States on May 18, 2012, by Paramount Pictures. The film received generally positive reviews from critics, and grossed $459 million worldwide against its $100 million budget.

Plot
In the jungle, puma Tommy (Leonardo DiCaprio) was dreaming of winning the race in the jungle stadium. Despite being anticipated in the running race, Tommy did not have his speeding powers yet. While losing to the cheetah, Tommy has the idea of working with the cheetah in the stadium. One day, he met a cheetah named Julius (Kurt Russell). He wanted to work with him on the stadium, but Julius refuses to work with him as he was too old to own any businesses in the jungle. Tommy begs Julius for his race, and finally, he accepts the offer.

While working on the stadium, a leopard named Gordon (Albert Brooks) was furious that Julius was gonna work with Tommy on the stadium, so he was gonna build a predatory stadium to attract more visitors than them. After finishing the stadium, caracal Judy (Naomi Watts) and cougar Anna (Emily Blunt) were trained to run in its training center before being offered to Julius' running stadium. Tommy was surely ready to race at the running stadium, challenging Judy and Anna for the first race. Tommy still loses to Judy in the first race, and then to Anna in the second race. Julius is not ready to give Tommy his speeding powers yet until he proves that he is the "fastest-running animal". Tommy then goes back to training so that he can run as quickly as he can. Julius then sees some visitors coming to his stadium as they are ready to run.

Meanwhile, Gordon has built the predatory stadium with all of the predator animals being its lead in the race. He demands many animals to come to his stadium to race for his business. Tommy, still training at Julius' stadium, has learned that another stadium is being built in the jungle, but with predators. Tommy gets ready for another race and he finally wins in the stadium. While Tommy gained his speeding powers from Julius, Julius' stadium began to lose some of its visitors to Gordon's. Julius hasn't given up yet, but Judy and Anna went to Gordon's predatory stadium instead. Disappointed, Julius then tells Tommy to head to another stadium.

After many arguments between Tommy and Julius, Tommy left Julius' stadium until he won Gordon's predatory stadium. He began to worry that Julius' stadium may soon be at risk following Gordon's increased population. Having no choice, Tommy went to Gordon's predatory stadium for his offer. He sees Judy, Anna and other visitors being held as "running losers". Gordon then challenges Tommy to win the race against his predators. In a hard race, Tommy loses to one of the predator animals with Gordon telling him that he is nothing but a running loser. Furious, Tommy begins to challenge more predatory animals and then he wins with his speeding powers. Gordon then demands his predators challenge Tommy more before his predatory stadium collapsed as a result, leading Tommy, Judy, Anna and other visitors to escape.

Gordon then gets exiled for all of his demands. Julius thanked Tommy for winning the predatory race and then his stadium began to attract more visitors again. Tommy is believed to be the "fastest-running animal" in the jungle stadium.

Cast

 * Leonardo DiCaprio as Tommy, a puma who wishes to be the "running animal" to win the race.
 * Kurt Russell as Julius, a cheetah who owns his running stadium.
 * Naomi Watts as Judy, a caracal who participates in running the races in stadiums.
 * Albert Brooks as Gordon, a leopard who runs his "predatory" stadium.
 * Emily Blunt as Anna, a cougar who also participates in running the races.

Production
In 2007, it was announced that Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise would collaborate to direct a computer-animated film titled Puma Race. Maya Forbes and Wallace Wolodarsky were hired to write the screenplay in December 2008.

It was announced in late 2010 that Paramount Pictures and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer would distribute and produce the film. Its animation would be handled by Reel FX Creative Studios. In April 2011, Leonardo DiCaprio was in talks to star in its lead role. By November, the rest of the voice cast was announced including Kurt Russell, Naomi Watts, Albert Brooks and Emily Blunt.

Release
The film was released by Paramount Pictures on May 18, 2012, and was accompanied by the Upside Mystery short Spy Secret featuring Stella Lee.

Home media
Puma Race was released on DVD and Blu-ray on September 18, 2012, by Paramount Home Media Distribution.

Box office
To be added

Critical response
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 76%. On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 62 out of 100, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale.