Mercenaries

Mercenaries is a 2004 American computer-animated spy action-comedy produced by Aroba Animation as their first theatrical project. The directorial debut of co-founders Jeff Raferin and Lance Weltch, the film centers on Tim Dreeks, an 11-year-old child who was invited to the Elite Mercenaries Unit, who are best known for preventing extraterrestrial lifeforms from committing crimes. There, he comes up with a plan to stop the Cybernetic Organism of Ruthless Energy, a cyborg recently enhanced to be indestructible. It stars the voices of Debi Derryberry, David Kaufman, Alan Cumming, Martin Burke, and Richard Steven Horvitz.

The film originated as a short film Raferin and Weltch secretly worked on before being publicly revealed in 1997. Following positive critical reception, the two announced the development of adapting the short film into a movie. Development spanned for around 6 years.

Mercenaries was released in the United States by Paramount Pictures on August 17th, 2004 to critical and commercial success, grossing $547 million on its $65 million budget. It was praised for its cast, animation, and Mark Mothersbaugh's score. The movie received a sequel, Mercenaries 2, on May 11th, 2016.

Plot
The year was 1901, and the government made a last-ditch effort by exploding the most-populated planet in the Solar System. Following the explosion, the planet's inhabitants plan to start a war against the humans. During the war, a lone child named Jack Musterson in Beach Avenue watched in disbelief and thought about making a crime-fighting alliance with his fellow villagers. Jason then receives contact from the government, which gives him their weapons after being overrun by aliens. Months later, he forms the Mercenaries Unit, and go on to fight countless battles with aliens.

The movie cuts to the present day, where the Mercenaries Unit is renamed to the Elite Mercenaries Unit, and Jack's son, Daniel Musterson is hired for president. He announces the formation of the EMU-037, a team consisting of Adrian Watts, Joel Fiddlelin, and Liam Urthia. The three are called to do a mission on Fort Masilk, which is currently under an alien raid.

Cast

 * Debi Derryberry as Tim Dreeks, an enthusiastic child who has dreams of being a spy.
 * David Kaufman as Adrian Watts, a Hunter-class mercenary and the leader of EMU-037.
 * Alan Cumming as Joel Fiddlelin, a Spy-class mercenary and the creator of Marie, an AI created from the hardware units received from his many espionage sessions.
 * Martin Burke as Liam Urthia, a Blacksmith-class mercenary, best known for creating weapons for the Unit.
 * Jack Riley as Vincent Musterson, the current president of the Elite Mercenaries Unit.
 * Richard Steven Horvitz as the Cybernetic Organism of Ruthless Energy, a cyborg enhanced by alien overlords to be impossible to defeat.

Development
Mercenaries started as a short film in 1997. It was the secret project of Jeff Raferin and Lance Weltch, who recently learned about computer-generated imagery and wanted to utilize it in a project. After revealing it to employees of Aroba, it received enough positive reception to get public attention. A year later, Raferin and Weltch announced that the idea of a theatrical adaptation of the short was approved and development has just begun, followed by the formation of Aroba's computer-animation department, nicknamed the Mercenaries Unit.

Animation and design
The Mercenaries Unit was responsible for the creation of Mana, a rendering system that focused on fluid animation and lighting.

Casting
Harold Dixon was put in charge of casting. In January 2000, it was announced that Debi Derryberry, Alan Cumming, and Jack Riley was cast to voice as undisclosed roles, and in April, Richard Steven Horvitz, David Kaufman, and Martin Burke were added into the cast. Dixon hired Martin Burke after hearing his performance as Sonic in the English dub of ''Sonic the Hedgehog: The Movie. ''He stated that his performance had 'a sense of charm and charisma'.

Music
Mark Mothersbaugh was announced to produce the score for the movie in 2001. The soundtrack was released on August 18th, 2004.

Release
Aroba announced that development of Mercenaries was expected to be completed by 2002, and its release date of July 2003. It was however moved by a year to July 2004, to give workers more time to 'give the film some polish', and then to August to update on Mana.

Marketing
The teaser trailer was released in November 2003 and was put in front of screenings of The Matrix Revolutions, Elf and ''Looney Tunes: Back in Action. ''A second trailer was made and was released in May 2004, along with billboards and posters. Aroba partnered with more than 50 licensing and promotional partners to promote the film, including CBS, Six Flags, and Yum Brands (KFC, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, A&W, and Long John Sliver's). A video game based on the film was released on August 14th, 2004 for the PlayStation 2, Nintendo GameCube, and Xbox.

Home media
Mercenaries was released on VHS and DVD on March 22, 2005, by Paramount Home Entertainment. It was the last Aroba home media release by Paramount before Universal Studios Home Entertainment took over in later that year.

Box office
Mercenaries received $278,357,800 in North America and $268,740,029 in other territories for a worldwide total of $547,097,829. It was Aroba's highest-grossing movie until Keito in 2009, the fourth highest-grossing animated movie of 2004 and the seventh highest-grossing movie of 2004.

Critical reception
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film was given a 88% 'Certified Fresh' approval rating based on 220 reviewers. The critical consensus states: "Mercenaries has a cast whose performances executed brilliantly, impressive animation, and the same amount of wack and charm Aroba TV series include, while also making sure to add breathtaking action and dilemmas."

Other media
Coming soon.