The Forests Between Mountains

The Forests Between Mountains is a 2000 animated adventure film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Animation. It was directed by Paul Sabella and written by Kelly Ward and features the voice cast of George Clooney, Christine Baranski, Mae Whitman, and Spencer Breslin. The film follows the family going on hiking for their trip but faces challenges including wildlife in the forest, pitfalls and the heights of the mountains before they can reach the end of their trails.

The film was released on September 29, 2000 in the United States and was MGM Animation's fifth and last theatrically released film. It received mixed reviews from critics, who praised the animation but criticized its confusing story and pacing.

Plot
Roman and Mary Tchaikovsky work on their jobs for their businesses. Facing financial troubles, both Roman and Mary got fired from their jobs. Three months later, Roman and Mary now take care of Jane and Shane such as taking them to school, etc. Suddenly, Roman opened the mailbox and won the ticket to go hiking with the family.

The family then goes hiking in the mountains with their picnic being set up. At night, while sleeping in their tents, Jane and Shane heard some creatures coming from the mountains. After waking up, Roman and Mary use their flashlights to take a look around and soon realize they are in the forests between mountains.

The family continues trailing while facing challenges with wildlife, pitfalls, and heights. While still hiking, Jane and Shane fell off the pitfall in their first challenge. Roman and Mary go back to help both of their kids out of the pitfall. The family then saw the bears and wolves coming out of the caves, leading them to chase and successfully escape from wildlife.

Jane and Shane now feel like they want to go home, but Roman and Mary stated to their kids that they were almost at the exit. However, Mary slips from the heights and almost falls off from her death but she manages to grab the edge, saving herself. Roman tries to climb down to get Mary back up to the trail, but the wolf pulls him up. Roman managed to get the picnic basket to throw for the wolves, which let him go. Roman then gets Mary back up to the trail. The family finally reached the exit as they saw the exit sign. The family went back home. Roman and Mary finally get their jobs back as a result of completing the hike while Jane and Shane play around.

Cast

 * George Clooney as Roman Tchaikovsky
 * Christine Baranski as Mary Tchaikovsky
 * Mae Whitman as Jane Tchaikovsky
 * Spencer Breslin as Shane Tchaikovsky

Production
After the theatrical release of All Dogs Go to Heaven 2, Paul Sabella began working on his 2nd theatrical Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer animated feature in October 1996 in addition to directing direct-to-video movies of it. He has stated that he is working on his original idea following the box office failure of its previous release. Kelly Ward continues working on its screenplay in addition to producing Darkness Awakening. Production began in 1998 with George Clooney, Christine Baranski, Mae Whitman, and Spencer Breslin joining the voice cast.

Box office
The Forests Between Mountains was expected to gross $20-25 million in its opening weekend. After making just $4.7 million from 2,035 theaters, expectations were lowered to $11 million. The film ended up making $11.4 million in its opening weekend and finished 2nd behind Remember the Titans. The film ended up grossing $41.5 million in North America and $30.7 million in other territories for its $72.2 million worldwide.

Based on the box office receipts, MGM announced that the film lost $50 million and has been one of the under-performing animated movies of 2000 alongside DreamWorks' The Road to El Dorado, Fox's Titan A.E., Disney's The Emperor's New Groove, and Universal's Mistress Masham's Repose. According to director Paul Sabella, its poor marketing and tough family film competition might be possible reasons for its box office flop. He and Jonathan Dern left MGM Animation to form SD Entertainment.

Critical response
Upon its release, The Forests Between Mountains received mixed reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 46%, based on 104 reviews. On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 50 out of 100, based on 23 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.

Home media
The Forests Between Mountains was released on VHS and DVD on March 6, 2001, by MGM Home Entertainment.