Abominable

Abominable is a 2019 computer-animated adventure film produced by DreamWorks Animation and Pearl Studio. It was written and directed by Jill Culton and co-directed by Todd Wilderman, and stars the voices of Chloe Bennet, Albert Tsai, Tenzing Norgay Trainor, Eddie Izzard, Sarah Paulson, Tsai Chin and Michelle Wong.

The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 7, 2019 and was be released in the United States on September 27, 2019 by Universal Pictures while Pearl Studio distributed the film in China. The film received generally positive reviews from critics and has grossed $144 million worldwide. In Southeast Asia, Abominable has garnered controversy for a scene involving a map of the region with the Nine-Dash Line, a contested demarcation line used by China to lay claim over a portion of the South China Sea. Due to this, the film has been banned in several countries involved in territorial disputes with China over the South China Sea—namely, the Philippines, Vietnam, and Malaysia.

Plot
A young Yeti escapes from a compound in Shanghai owned by wealthy businessman Mr Burnish (Eddie Izzard), who intends to use him to prove the existence of yetis to the world. Meanwhile, teenager Yi (Chloe Bennet) lives with her mother Yi (Michelle Wong) and Nai Nai (Tsai Chin) in an apartment building. She lives a busy life and neglects to spend time with her family and her friends, football fan Peng (Albert Tsai) and the tech-savvy and popular Jin (Tenzing Norgay Trainor). Yi is also a violinist who misses her late father, who was also a violinist.

One evening, Yi encounters the Yeti near her cubby house on the roof of her Shanghai apartment building, which she names "Everest." While hiding him from Burnish Industries' helicopters, Yi gains his trust by feeding him Baozi and treating his wounds. Yi learns that Everest wants to reunite with his family on Mount Everest while Everest learns about Yi's desire to travel across China. When Burnish Industries' private security forces closes in on Everest' hiding place, Everest flees with Yi. After narrowly escaping a Burnish helicopter at the Oriental Pearl Tower, Yi and Everest flee on a ship carrying red cola cans, followed by Peng and a reluctant Jin.

Yi, Everest, and the boys reach a port in southern China and travel on a truck. After their crate falls off the truck, they end up in a forest. There, Everest awes the humans with his mystical powers of stimulating growth among blueberry plants. Meanwhile, Mr Burnish and the zoologist Dr. Zara (Sarah Paulson) continue the hunt for Everest. Following Everest and his human friends' trail, they catch up with them in the Sichuan region but Everest uses his power to cause a plant to grow to a gigantic size. While Yi, Everest, and Peng manage to escape on the wind-blown shoot, Jin is left behind and captured by Burnish Industries' Goon Leader (Richard Dietl).

Despite Dr. Zara's outward love for animals, Jin learns that she is planning to hunt down and kill the yeti for medical research. He also learns that the seemingly cold–hearted Mr Burnish has a soft spot for animals including Dr. Zara's pet jerboa. Meanwhile Yi, Everest and Peng reach the Gobi Desert where they befriend several tortoises, who gratefully accept their giant shoot. Later, they travel to a town on the banks of the Yellow River but Burnish Industries corners them. Peng helps them escape by unleashing a yak stampede. With the help of Jin, they escape across the Yellow River to a field of yellow flowers, which Everest causes to blossom to gargantuan sizes.

Continuing their journey, the humans and Everest eventually reach the Himalayas. While crossing a bridge, they are trapped on both sides by Burnish Industries' forces. However, Mr Burnish experiences a change of heart after seeing Everest protecting the children; causing him to experience a flashback to his first encounter with the yeti which was protecting its young. Seeking to exploit Everest for scientific research, Dr Zara injects Mr Burnish with a tranquilizer before tranquilizing Everest as well. When Yi tries to protect Everest, Dr Zara throws her over the bridge. Burnish Industries then departs the mountain with the captive Everest, Peng, and Jin in tow.

However, Yi manages to cling on to a rope. She then uses her violin, which Everest has magically repaired, to summon ice which reinvigorates Everest, who breaks free of his cage. Dr Zara makes a last-ditch attempt to kill Everest but the poacher is herself killed along with the Goon Leader in a self-triggered avalanche. To protect Everest and the yetis from humanity, Mr Burnish agrees to help Yi, Peng, and Jin keep his existence a secret. Yi, Peng, Jin, and Everest continue the journey to Mount Everest where they reunite Everest with his family.

Returning home to Shanghai with the help of Mr Burnish, Yi spends more time with her mother, grandmother, Peng, and Jin.

Cast

 * Chloe Bennet as Yi
 * Albert Tsai as Peng
 * Tenzing Norgay Trainor as Jin
 * Eddie Izzard as Burnish
 * Sarah Paulson as Dr. Zara
 * Tsai Chin as Nai Nai
 * Michelle Wong as Yi's mother
 * Rich Dietl as Goon Leader
 * James Hong as Yak Leader
 * Christine Lin as Teenage Girl #1, Boy's Mother, Female Customer
 * Kym Miller as Teenage Girl #2
 * Jason Ko as Teenage Boy
 * Trevor Devall as Van Driver
 * Karen Huie as Dog Lady, Doc Worker
 * Vic Chao as Jin Impersonator
 * Fernando Chien as Merchant
 * Rupert Gregson-Williams as Everest Humming

Production
Abominable was in development at DreamWorks Animation since 2010. For some time, Jill Culton was writing and directing the film, originally titled Everest, which was about a little girl and a Yeti, but by 2016, she had left the project. She was then replaced by Tim Johnson and Todd Wilderman.

In December 2016, DreamWorks announced that the film would be released on September 27, 2019, and that it would be co-produced by Oriental DreamWorks (now Pearl Studio). On February 2, 2018, it was announced that Culton had returned as the director, replacing Johnson. On March 20, 2018, it was announced that Chloe Bennet has been cast in the lead role as Yi. On May 18, 2018, DreamWorks and Pearl Studio have announced that the film has been retitled from Everest to Abominable. In June 2018, Albert Tsai, Tenzing Norgay Trainor, and Tsai Chin rounded out the voice cast.

Release
Abominable had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 7, 2019. The film is scheduled to be released on September 27, 2019 in the United States and October 11 in the United Kingdom by Universal Pictures, who are also distributing worldwide alongside various regional partners except for China, where the movie would be distributed by co-producer Pearl Studio, who under their former name of Oriental DreamWorks had distributed all of the company's films in the country since the partnership began.

The film was taken out of cinemas in Vietnam over a scene showing the Nine-Dash Line that is used by the People's Republic of China to lay claim to parts of the South China Sea.

Marketing
The first official trailer was shown before Dumbo in theatres on March 29, 2019 but was never released online. The second official trailer and the first to be online was released on May 23, 2019.

Box office
As of October 27, 2019, Abominable has grossed $56.8 million in the United States and Canada, and $87.8 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $144.6 million, against a production budget of $75 million.

In the United States and Canada, the film was projected to gross $17–20 million from 4,200 theaters in its opening weekend. The film made $5.7 million on its first day, including $650,000 from Thursday night previews. It went on to debut to $20.9 million, finishing first at the box office and marking the best opening for an original animated film of 2019. The film made $12 million in its second weekend, finishing second behind newcomer Joker.

Critical response
Rotten Tomatoes reported that 83% of critics have given the film a positive review based on 139 reviews, with an average rating of 6.68/10. The website's critics consensus reads: "Working with admittedly familiar ingredients, Abominable offers audiences a beautifully animated and overall engaging adventure that the whole family can enjoy." On Metacritic, the film has an weighted average score of 61 out of 100 based on 28 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale, while those at PostTrak gave it an average 4 out of 5 stars.

Controversies
The film was banned in Vietnam on October 14, 2019, ten days after its release, due to the appearance of the Nine-Dash Line in a scene. The Philippines and Malaysia also reacted negatively to this scene. Filipino lawyer Jay Batongbacal requested that the film be banned, while the Philippines' Secretary of Foreign Affairs Teodoro Locsin Jr. thought it was better to cut the "offending" scene. On October 17, Malaysia ordered the scene be cut from the film through its film censorship board. However, after Universal refused to make the censor cut, the film was banned entirely in Malaysia. On October 18, the Philippines' Movie and Television Review and Classification Board followed suit, also banning the film.