Alaina Gleen (film series)

The Alaina Gleen film series consists of four feature-length films and four short films based on the Fox animated television series of the same name, created by Thalia Ward. The film series began in 2004 with the traditionally animated The Alaina Gleen Movie. The series is produced and owned by 20th Century Animation, a subsidiary of its parent company Walt Disney Studios through its 20th Century Studios division.

A new reboot film series commenced in 2010 with Alaina Gleen, which was followed by Alaina Gleen 2 in 2013 and Alaina Gleen: Imaginary Vacation in 2017. A fourth and final film in the reboot series, titled Alaina Gleen: World's Most Wanted, is in development for release in 2021.

The Alaina Gleen Movie (2004)
The Alaina Gleen Movie was initially set to be released as a TV movie, but was instead theatrically on September 17, 2004 by 20th Century Fox, and received mixed reviews from critics and fell short of Fox's financial expectations earning over $166 million on its $65 million budget. It also served as the series finale of the original Alaina Gleen series, as no further episodes were made to continue from where it left off; however, the franchise was rebooted in 2010 with a computer-animated film of the same name.

Alaina Gleen (2010)
Alaina Gleen was released on October 22, 2010. The film follows the origin story of how Alaina Gleen met her friends for the first time and reunites Max Hat in order to stop an evil professor named Hinkle Higgins and his plans for world domination and for capturing Max.

Alaina Gleen 2 (2013)
Alaina Gleen 2 was released on September 13, 2013. The film's plot involves Alaina Gleen and her friends, who travel to the lost Elephant Jungle to save the city of Applewood and Imaginary City while a superweapon and sentient jungle creatures reawakened by Evelyn Elephant try to threaten the jungle and the two cities, with Alaina and Max Hat being forced to team up with Professor Hinkle Higgins in order to save both Applewood and Imaginary City.

Alaina Gleen: Imaginary Vacation (2017)
Alaina Gleen: Imaginary Vacation was released on July 21, 2017. In the film, after leaving school for the summer, Alaina's mother, Sally Gleen, decides to take Alaina Gleen and her friends on an cross-country trip for the entire summer in order to reconnect with each other, with initially disastrous results, while Max Hat finds love with an anthropomorphic flower named Flo. In Leon County Texas, Alaina discovers that Flo is actually an abandoned imaginary friend of Leonard von Lutz, Max's old enemy from the 1960s who has a Texas shaped and sized pool at his wealthy Hilltop Lakes mansion which he never leaves (to the poor).

Alaina Gleen: World's Most Wanted (2021)
On the possibility of a potential sequel, in March 2018, Thalia Ward, the creator of the series, stated that a fourth installment is already being considered. Six months later, Fox confirmed that the fourth installment is already moving forward from Fox Animation. Kristen Bell and Bill Hader have expressed interest in reprising their roles in the fourth film. On March 26, 2019, it was reported that Thurop Van Orman (creator of The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack and the director for the then-upcoming The Angry Birds Movie 2) is in talks to co-direct the fourth installment with Ward. Later that day, Orman confirmed in his interview that he will indeed co-direct the fourth installment.

At the 2019 Annecy International Animated Film Festival in June, further more details including the plot were announced with series creator Thalia Ward revealed that that the film will be released on October 8, 2021, with Bell, Hader, Zac Efron, Taylor Swift, Jim Carrey, and Andy Samberg reprising their previous roles, as Alaina Gleen, Max Hat, Jason Baxter, Lucy Jones, Professor Hinkle Higgins, and Eddie Elephant respectively, with Rachel Bloom, Jake Johnson and Ben Schwartz joining them, while Matt Lieberman, Peter Ackerman, Eyal Podell and Jonathon E. Stewart would rewrite Ward's screenplay. Ward also expressed hope that it would be a better film than the previous installment. Fox announced in November 2019 that the film officially began production. By July 23, 2020, the release date was pushed back a month later on November 5, 2021 as a result of Fox's updated slate due to the 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic's impact on the film industry. By August 14, 2020, Awkwafina, Danny Trejo, Sterling K. Brown, and Kelly Marie Tran joined the cast.

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, production of the film shifted to people working at home.

In September 2020, Katherine Langford joined the cast, making her animation debut. Also in that same month, Chris Pratt later joined the cast. On January 22, 2021, Sam Rockwell was later cast as King Duke.

Alaina Gleen Holiday (2012)
Alaina Gleen Holiday is a 2012 half-hour Christmas special that premiered on the Fox network on Wednesday, November 21, 2012, which starred the characters from the CGI Alaina Gleen film series and franchise. The main cast from the CGI reboot films all reprised their roles, as their respective characters, most notably Kristen Bell, Bill Hader, Zac Efron, Taylor Swift, Jim Carrey, and Andy Samberg as Alaina Gleen, Max Hat, Jason Baxter, Lucy Jones, Professor Hinkle Higgins, and Eddie Elephant, respectively.

Alaina's School Daze (2014)
Alaina's School Daze is a short animated film featuring characters from the series. It premiered theatrically on October 17, 2014 with The Book of Life. The short involves Alaina Gleen trying to get to school on time with the help of Max Hat but the two encounter numerous obstacles along the way.

Alaina Gleen: Alien Pet (2016)
Alaina Gleen: Alien Pet (or simply Alien Pet) is a 2016 computer-animated short film from 20th Century Fox Animation. It was written and directed by Chris Melton and produced by Lori Forte. Featuring characters from the Alaina Gleen franchise, the short was released in theaters on July 22, 2016 in front of ''Ice Age: Collision Course. ''The short features Kristen Bell, Taylor Swift, and Bill Hader reprising their roles from the CGI reboot films.

The short is a sneak preview of the upcoming third film Alaina Gleen: Imaginary Vacation, which was then scheduled for the summer of 2017 at the time.

Alaina Gleen: EXTREME Party Elephant (2019)
Alaina Gleen: EXTREME Party Elephant is a 2019 computer-animated short film from 20th Century Fox Animation. It was written and directed by Dave Stewart and produced by John Cohen. Featuring characters from the Alaina Gleen franchise, the short was released in theaters on November 22, 2019 in front of Disney's Frozen II. The short features Kristen Bell, Andy Samberg, Maya Rudolph, and Bill Hader reprising their roles from the CGI reboot films with guests Kevin Hart and Nick Offerman joining the cast in the short. The short was re-released on February 21, 2020 and played before the film The Call of the Wild in selected theaters in USA. Reception has been positive, praising the humor and animation. The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film in 2020, losing to Hair Love. The short involves Eddie Elephant and Alaina Gleen trying to throw the ultimate party ever, but things awry when his partygoers takes things to the next level.

The short is a sneak preview of the upcoming fourth film Alaina Gleen: World's Most Wanted, which is releasing in November 2021.

Cast

 * For a full list, see List of Alaina Gleen characters.


 * Note: A gray cell indicates character did not appear in that medium.

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