Ama and the Mysterious Crystal

Ama and the Mysterious Crystal is a 1997 American animated fantasy adventure film produced by Universal Feature Animation. The first film from the studio, it was directed by Michael Wildshill and written by Wildshill, Len Blum, Jonathan Roberts, and John August, and stars the voices of Christina Ricci, Jason Biggs, Jodi Benson, Hank Azaria, Patrick Stewart, and Jennifer Aniston. The film follows a young girl named Ama, who discovers a powerful magic crystal that came from the ancient city of Crystopia, where she learns that the ruthless sorcerer Lordous plans to place a spell that captures crystals from the city. Ama, along with her friends Edwin and Shelly, embark on a journey to follow the crystal that prompts them to save the city and defeat Lordous.

Development of Ama and the Mysterious Crystal began in 1993, when Wildshill conceived its original plot. It was Universal Pictures' first animated film to be produced at its in-house feature animation studio, which was formed by artists who had worked for the recently disbanded Multimedia Animation led by Wildshill. The film was released on December 19, 1997 to generally positive reviews from critics, who praised its animation, story, voice acting, and musical score, and earned over $324 million worldwide on its $44 million budget; in recent years, the film has amassed a cult following. It was followed by the direct-to-video sequel Ama II: Return to Crystopia in 2000.

Plot
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Voice cast

 * Christina Ricci as Ama, an adventurous 15-year-old girl who attempts to save the city of Crystopia with the mysterious crystal. Alexander Bates served as the supervising animator for Ama.
 * Jason Biggs as Edwin, a geeky and nervous boy who is Ama's best friend. Randy Travelers served as the supervising animator for Edwin.
 * Jodi Benson as Shelly, a good friend of Ama who wants to help her on her journey to defeat Lordous. Victor Eisenberg served as the supervising animator for Shelly.
 * Hank Azaria as Hubble, a talking bird who befriends Ama, Edwin, and Shelly. Bob Cokinn served as the supervising animator for Hubble.
 * Patrick Stewart as Lordous, a sorcerer obsessed with crystals who places a spell that captures them from Crystopia. William Jennings served as the supervising animator for Lordous.
 * Jennifer Aniston as Ama's Mother. Jack Reed served as the supervising animator for Ama's Mother.
 * Jim Cummings as Urrkle, the chief of Crystopia. Phil Nibbelink served as the supervising animator for Urrkle.
 * Edie McClurg as Edwin's Mother
 * Neil Ross as Oak
 * S. Scott Bullock as Pongo
 * Michael Wildshill as Cal
 * Roger L. Jackson as Xan
 * Frank Welker as the Monstrous Lizard

Additional voices

 * Jack Angel
 * Bob Bergen
 * Rodger Bumpass
 * Victoria Clark
 * Philip L. Clarke
 * Kendall Cunningham
 * Jennifer Darling
 * Debi Derryberry
 * Bill Farmer
 * Jack Fletcher
 * Sherry Lynn
 * Tress MacNeille
 * Mickie T. McGowan
 * Denise Pickering
 * Patrick Pinney
 * Phil Proctor
 * Jan Rabson
 * Al Roker
 * Erik Von Detten
 * Lillias White

Development
The idea and concept for Ama and the Mysterious Crystal came from director Michael Wildshill, who submitted the story to Universal in 1993, and the film immediately went into development under the working title Legend of the Magic Crystal.

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Animation
The film was mainly animated at the main Universal Feature Animation facility located in Universal City, California.

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Casting
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Marketing
Marketing for the film included $40 million spent by Universal for advertising, as well as partnerships with Mattel, Pizza Hut, Oreo, Motel 6, Kellogg's, Gingo, and NBC.

Trailers
The film's teaser trailer was released in late 1996.

Release
Ama and the Mysterious Crystal was originally slated for release on December 20, 1996, but in December 1995, the film was moved to June 13, 1997 in order to avoid competition with Beavis and Butt-Head Do America and Scream. By February 1997, it was later pushed back six months later to December 19, 1997.

Box office
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Critical reception
Ama and the Mysterious Crystal received generally positive reviews from critics. On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, it holds a score of 81% based on 64 reviews with an average rating of 6.7/10. The website's consensus reads, "It may feel unpolished in some spots, but Ama and the Mysterious Crystal is, in the end, a vivid, adventurous, and charming experience." On Metacritic, the film has a score of 64 out of 100 points, based on 32 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

Accolades
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Home media
Ama and the Mysterious Crystal was released by Universal Studios Home Video on VHS and LaserDisc on May 26, 1998, with no bonus material. In the first week of this release, VHS rentals totaled $4.8 million, debuting Ama as the week's No. 1 video. Over 19.5 million VHS copies were sold the first year. The film was released for the first time on DVD on December 12, 2000 as a 2-Disc Collector's Edition, in both Widescreen and full screen versions. It included an audio commentary track recorded by the filmmakers, behind-the-scenes footage, and supplements that detailed the film's development. On April 17, 2001, the film was re-released on both VHS and DVD, but this time as the first release to be part of the Universal Animated Features Collection. This release sold two million copies. Ama was first made available on Blu-ray on February 12, 2013.

On September 1, 2017, Ama became available on Netflix.

A 20th anniversary edition of the film was released on DVD, Blu-ray, Blu-ray 3D, and Ultra HD Blu-ray on December 19, 2017.

Sequel
In January 1998, Universal announced it was planning a sequel to Ama. The sequel, titled Ama II: Return to Crystopia, was released on DVD and VHS in 2000, with Carolyn Lawrence replacing Ricci as the voice of Ama.

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

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