The Larva Princesses

The Larva Princesses is a 1999 animated drama film created by DiC Entertainment, Glass Ball Productions and Paramount Feature Animation. The film was directed by Lillian Rainbow and stars the voices of Andrea Libman, Dawn Greenhalgh, Steve Oedekerk, Janet-Laine Green, Karen Fukuhara and Anthony Zuniga Jr. portraying the cast. The film revolves around three caterpillar princesses and each one has her own personalities. Plans for the movie started as early as 1995 with DiC Entertainment looking for a partner to work with. Initially the film was distributed by Walt Disney Studios and their animation studio, DisneyToon studios in 1997 but was rejected by the company. So in 1998, the film was picked up by Paramount and their animation studio, Paramount Feature Animation.

The film was released on May 9, 1999 by Paramount Pictures and was a box-office success. Grossing at $250 Million compared to the $64 million budget. The film also had several promotions on several networks and locations too. Burger King, CBS and Toys-R-Us all promoted the film. With one CBS station in particular, WUSA 9 even announced that the film would also have a showing on the release date for the film.

On December 27, 2020, it was announced that Paramount Pictures would be selling the franchise to Bear Bones Classics. The transaction is still pending.

Plot
In a village inhabited by Insects, lived a majestic queen who just laid 3 eggs. When the larvae hated, they were all girls and were in different colors and personalities. Blue was the boss of the three because she was born first, Yellow was the arrogant one because she was jealous that Blue was born before her and Red was the nice (and somewhat sensitive) of the three. She's also the youngest.

When the queen died from old age, the three were left alone and Blue had took over the queen's slot. Blue was extremely gullible and was constantly manipulated by Yellow to insult herself and Red so Yellow could feel good about herself. By the time Blue became a teenager, she refused to listen to anymore of Yellow's pranks. By the time she was 16, Blue completely dominated the castle and threatened that she would punish Yellow if she kept attacking Red. However, she refused.

When Blue became a Pupa, Yellow was already 16 and Red just turned 13, Yellow decided to do all she can to insult and hurt her younger sister. Red became so upset that she ran straight to her room and cried all day. Yellow showed a lack of remorse to her and even went as far as calling the colors Red, Pink and Black (the colors Red were) ugly.

Eventually, Yellow at the age of 17 even decided to ransack Red's room and falsely accused Red of doing it. This made Red even more distressed. By the time Red was 15 (and Yellow was 18), she had enough and decided to clean up her room back to normal. Though during the process, while Yellow was plotting more devious ideas for Red, she turned into a Pupa. laughing maliciously during the process. Making Red the dominate one. But only for a Week until Blue emerged as a Butterfly.

When Blue saw how sad Red was, she told her that she'll handed Yellow because she underwent being attacked by Yellow too when she was a teenager. But she also told Red that Yellow would get her own taste of her medicine when she emerges from that evil cocoon of hers. After hearing that, Red's black abdomen begun to glow as she smiled for the first time in 2 years. Giving her hope that even the bullies get consequences as well.

By the time Red was 16, she was back to her joyful self and even explored the village despite everyone else was mocking her. For a year, she was the most joyful one in the village. By the time she turned 17, her abdomen was like a nightlight due to her emotions. A day later, Yellow emerged from her Pupa. She screeched in utter fear as she was now a Purple ball. She even went as far as screaming "Purple is my Least favorite color!" Red then appears telling her that the purple will only be temporary. As when 7 weeks end, she'll become orange! Shortly afterwards, Yellow apologizes to Red.

A few months later, Blue got married and produced three more princesses Orange, purple and green princesses. When the town noticed, they all crowded to the castle and wondered why Red was still a cute larva. She replied with that she won't be 18 for another 5 months. Yellow stared at the purple larva and shuddered as Purple was her least favorite color. The city even went as far as thanking Red for her joyful personality as it motivated Blue to have larvae of her own. Then the entire village sang a song about Red.

The movie ended with Yellow vandalizing the screen with the words Hate the color Purple, like I do.

Voice Cast

 * Andrea Libman as Red
 * Dawn Greenhalgh as Yellow
 * Karen Fukuhara as Blue
 * Steve Oedekerk as the narrator

Additional voices

 * Joseph Motiki
 * Rodger Bumpass
 * Lilli Schreiber
 * Elizabeth Hanna
 * Geo G.
 * Wayne Robson
 * Bob West
 * Kyle Labine
 * Marsha Moreau
 * Tifanie Christun
 * Jeff Nimoy

Development
The movie was first being developed as early as 1995. With most of the production being made independently by DIC. In 1995, the studio approached ABC to distribute the movie. After some time, ABC announced that the movie would come out in 1997. During the film's release date, ABC was bought by Disney. Eventually, Disney rejected the film. Causing CBS to acquire the rights to the film. causing the film to be distributed by Paramount. The film was originally called A Tale of Red: The Yellow Bully. But was changed for an unknown reason. The film's preview was showcased on April 19, 1998 on CBS and UPN.

Animation
Originally, the film was animated in-house by DiC Entertainment. In 1997, the film's animation switched to Paramount Feature Animation. Many members of the animation team previously worked on the Madeline Cartoon Which could explain the two's similarities.

Casting
The film uses various voice actors from the Madeline cartoon series. Including Red, one of the main characters being voiced by Andrea Libman, the voice for Madeline in season 2. A few voice actors also voiced characters from Gabriel Garza and Babar. Bob West, the voice actor for Barney and Friends makes a voice cameo as one of the villagers.

Music
A soundtrack for the movie was released alongside of another DiC movie: Madeline: Lost in Paris. Despite it being called The Larva Princesses soundtrack, it contains music from it, Madeline Lost in Paris and Inspector Gadget. It was released on August 3, 1999.
 * 1) The 3 Princesses - Andrea Libman, Dawn Greenhalgh and Karen Fukuhara
 * 2) Something is not Right - The Madeline Team
 * 3) Asia no Junshin - Puffy AmiYumi
 * 4) Pranks are the Best! - Dawn Greenhalgh
 * 5) Go-Go Gadget Go! Classical rendition - Inspector Gadget
 * 6) The Bully's Winning.... - Andrea Libman
 * 7) The Pupa of Darkness - The Madeline Team
 * 8) The Hope of Light - The Madeline Team
 * 9) The Joyful Stroll - The Madeline Team
 * 10) I HATE THE COLOR PURPLE! - The Anti-Purple Crew

Release
The film was released into theaters by Paramount Pictures on May 9, 1999. The film was released on to VHS by Viz Video in 2001 in Europe (Paramount Home Video everywhere else), DVD in 2005 and Blu-Ray in 2016. In Europe, it was released on September 15, 1999 and onto VHS in 2001, DVD in 2005, HD-DVD in 2009 and Blu-Ray in 2017. In The Philippines, it was released on Video CD in 2010 alongside Madeline: Lost in Paris and Tamagotchi the Movie.

Marketing
The film has it's trailers played on CBS (and later, UPN) as well as VHSes and DVDs by Paramount and DiC. The film also had a Happy Meal toy line by McDonalds. A sweepstakes was also used to promote the film. The winners would receive a free VHS release of the film alongside of Inspector Gadget and Madeline: Lost in Paris.

Video Game
In 2000, The Larva Princesses got a game on the Game Boy Color by Sanrio Smiles and Imagineer entertainment. The English version of the game was devolved by NewKidCo. Both with licenses from DIC Entertainment and Paramount.

TV Show
In 2001, DIC Entertainment made a TV adaptation of the movie. It aired on Fox Kids and Fox Family. Reruns aired on Qubo and Nicktoons. The show ran for 39 episodes and ended in 2003.

Squeal
In 2006, the movie got a CGI squeal. It was produced by DIC Entertainmentand Nickelodeon Movies. A third movie was released in 2019 by DHX Media and Paramount Animation. A fourth movie was announced to be released on Paramount+ on February 7, 2021 by Bear Bones Classic, WildBrain and Paramount Animation.

Box Office
In the US, the film grossed $100 million dollars, $92 million in Canada, $98 million in Japan and $81 million in other terrorizes.

Critical Reception
The film received mixed to positive reception. Critics praised the film for it's animation and voice acting but criticized the film for it's unmemorable songs.