Malachi 2: The Rise of Red Ghost

Malachi 2: The Rise of Red Ghost is a 2002 American animated animated comedy film based on the series, Malachi Universal, produced by Bear Bones Productions and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures for the US, and Universal Pictures for the rest of the world. It is the sequel to the 1992 film Malachi: The Movie and second installment of a projected trilogy. The film takes place two years after the first film, as it focuses on Malachi, Purple Guy, Takashi, Kally, Jenny and the rest of the gang going up against Red Ghost, whose plan is to take over the world. In order to stop Red Ghost, Malachi recruits his old friends, Lotta and Lioe.

Plot
10 years later, right after the events of Malachi: The Movie, Malachi and Purple Guy decides to go on the journey again when they saw Cabel kidnapped Bella on TV. They team up with Lotta and Lioe again. Malachi, Purple Guy, Lotta and Lioe later meets Nataly, a 9-year-old girl who wanted to join with them.

Cast

 * Mala Miles as Malachi / Purple Guy / Lucas
 * Frank Welker as Takashi / Cory
 * Grey DeLisle as Jenny / Eugenia
 * Debi Derryberry as Lotta
 * Sean Schemmel as Lioe
 * Anndi McAfee as Nataly
 * Jennifer Hale as Princess Eloise
 * Mr. Lawrence as Little Guy
 * Jack Angel as Dr. Beanson
 * Tom Kenny as Green Bob
 * Jess Harnell as Edgar
 * Cathy Cavadini as Red Ghost
 * Susan Blu as Tiana
 * Carolyn Lawrence as Ella
 * E.G. Daily as Kally
 * Joe Alaskey as Daniel
 * David Kaufman as Ryan
 * Billy West as Wyatt
 * Candi Milo as Michael
 * Cree Summer as Kila
 * Jasmine Guy as Zaria
 * Tara Strong as Lola / Giana
 * Kevin Michael Richardson as Gree Guy

Development
Following the release of Malachi: The Movie in 1992, Geo G., the writer of the film and the voice of Geo Guy, stated that a sequel is unlikely, despite the film's successful box office performance. He said "I think that we make a sequel of this movie."

On 1994, Mala Miles announced that the sequel to the 1992 film is in development and was slated for an unspecified 1998 release, titled as ''Malachi Tyrus: The Revenge of Tiana. ''The film would have focused on Malachi and his friends had heard that Tyrusville is in trouble, and it's because Tiana are taking over every cartoons universe. Malachi and his friends had to recruit other good characters from other cartoons universes and defeat Tiana and other evil cartoons characters before the invasion occurs. Mala initially stated "We will be releasing a Malachi Tyrus movie at the November of 1998, which will serve to start off or be one of our films that starts off our new animation effort." Originally slated as a direct-to-video film with a 1998 release, but Warner Bros. concluded this film did not count towards the '5 picture' contract when it was released in theaters.

Cast
The regular series main cast members returned.

Attached short film
A short animated film starring the characters of the Toon Friends franchise, Felix's Hangout, accompanied Malachi 2: The Rise of Red Ghost during its theatrical release.

Trailers

 * The teaser trailer for the film was released on February 18, 2001, and was attached to Spy Kids and Shrek.
 * Another teaser trailer was released in October 2001, and was later released with  Max Keeble's Big Move,  Monsters, Inc., Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, and Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius.
 * The first theatrical trailer was released in February 2002 and was shown with Big Fat Liar, The Rookie, and Ice Age.
 * The second theatrical trailer was released in May 2002 and was later shown before Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones, The Journey to Adventures, Lilo & Stitch, Hey Arnold!: The Movie, Like Mike, The Powerpuff Girls Movie, Stuart Little 2, The Gabriel Graza Movie and Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron.
 * There were a few television spots for the film; the first one was released in March 2002, the second one was released in May 2002, and the third one was released in June 2002.

Marketing
Upon its release, Burger King had a promotional tie-in with seven toys with a paid Kids' Meal order. The film was backed by a large marketing campaign, with toys, books, games, clothes, and many other items becoming available throughout 2002. A video game based on the film has been released for the PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube, Game Boy Advance, PC, and Macintosh, as well as on mobile phones.

Home media
Malachi Tyrus: The Movie 2 was released on DVD and VHS on November 2, 2002 by Warner Home Video in United States and Universal Home Entertainment internationally. This release also includes a short film called. The film was also released on Game Boy Advance Video in December 2004 and on UMD for the Sony PSP. It was released on Blu-ray in North America on October 10, 2013, and on Blu-ray 3D on March 10, 2014. The film was released on May 25, 2019 on Blu-ray by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment, coinciding with Malachi Universal 's 55th Anniversary. This release was later available individually on March 10, 2020, along with the rest of the Malachi Universal films, in a "septology" pack to promote Malachi: The Ultimate Time!. As of May 2019, the film, along with the rest of the Malachi Universal films are now available on Netflix, Crackle, Digital on iTunes, Movies Anywhere, Microsoft Store, Vudu and Amazon Prime.

Soundtrack
Main article: Malachi Tyrus: The Movie 2/Soundtrack

Cancelled Sequel
In addition to Malachi 2, Bear Bones had plans for a third film, tentatively titled Malachi 3: Evil Returns!. On July 3, 2005, Bear Bones stated that the third film was cancelled due to multiple problems with its story.