The Gateway to Glowsburg

The Gateway to Glowsburg is a 2014 American computer-animated urban fantasy adventure comedy film produced by Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animation and distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing. It was directed by Samuel Merritt and Bibo Bergeron (in the former's feature directorial debut) from a screenplay by Michael J. Wilson, Alec Sokolow and Joel Cohen, and stars the voices of Bella Thorne, Sarah Vowell, Ben Schwartz, Steve Zahn, Katherine Heigl, Ian McShane, Teri Hatcher, and Stanley Tucci. The film centers around four unlikely teenagers who end up finding the mysterious path to the secret urban city of Glowsburg, a beautiful utopian place filled with many colorful and magical glowing things, before they soon find that there is a threatening plot occurring at the city that only they can stop.

While The Gateway to Glowsburg was solely produced by Sony Pictures Animation, many of the film's additional production (such as the story, art and character and production design) was provided by Glass Ball Productions' Santa Monica-based creative team, who previously worked on DreamWorks Animation's Dusk and Dawn (2003) and its sequel Dusk and Dawn 2: The Belt of Venus (2009), with Aron Warner serving as producer. Geo, who previously designed characters for Dusk and Dawn, also served as an uncredited producer under his Glass Ball Productions company as had been done with the previous two Dusk and Dawn films, as well as being credited contributing the story for The Gateway to Glowsburg alongside Merritt and Cody Cameron, who previously worked with Geo on Dusk and Dawn.

Development on The Gateway to Glowsburg began in 2009 at Glass Ball Santa Monica, during the production of Dusk and Dawn 2 for DreamWorks. With their deal with DreamWorks expired by the end of 2009, the Dusk and Dawn core team led by former DreamWorks producer Aron Warner alongside Geo G. began to pitch their next film to other studios and Sony Pictures Animation eventually came on board in December 2010, with the film officially announced the following year under the working title Prism City. Hans Zimmer composed the film's orchestral score.

The Gateway to Glowsburg premiered at the Melbourne International Film Festival on July 15, 2014, and was theatrically released in the United States on August 15. It received mostly positive reviews from critics, who praised its animation, humor, screenplay, musical score, visuals, and vocal performances but criticized its plot and character designs as being derivative. The film was also a box office success, grossing over $432 million worldwide against its $90 million budget. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature and a Golden Globe Award for Best Animated Feature Film, losing to Big Hero 6 and How to Train Your Dragon 2 respectively. The Gateway to Glowsburg is the first entry in what would become the multimedia franchise of the same name, which includes two more films—The Gateway to Glowsburg 2: A New Glow (2019) and The Gateway to Glowsburg 3: Glow Trip (2022).

Plot
To be added

Voice cast

 * Bella Thorne as Lindy Benson, an optimistic and kind teenage girl who is interested in visiting the secret city of Glowsburg.
 * Sarah Vowell as Veronica Sanchez, Lindy's best friend.
 * Ben Schwartz as Harold Penn, a teenage boy whom Lindy develops a crush on.
 * Steve Zahn as Lester Simmons, Harold's best friend.
 * Katherine Heigl as Mayor Slickersen, the widowed mayor of Glowsburg.
 * Ian McShane as Walter, Slickersen's assistant.
 * Teri Hatcher as Wendy Benson, Lindy's loving overprotective mother who cares so much about her only daughter.
 * Stanley Tucci as Robert Benson, Lindy's overworked father who barely has time to see his own daughter.
 * Samuel Merritt as Lemon, a lizard-like creature who befriends the teens and later becomes Lindy's pet.
 * Melissa Sturm as Ms. Larza, Lindy's teacher in her school.
 * William Townsend as Mr. Hotguy, a teacher that works at the Glowsburg Academy who is known for his good looks, hence his name.
 * Bibo Bergeron as Anthony, an emotionless elf-like creature from Glowsburg.
 * Isabel Lucas as Isabel
 * Vanessa Marshall as Miss Rocker
 * Alexander Polinsky as Jory
 * Alexis Bledel as Clara, one of Lindy's friends.
 * Patrick Harpin as Hon
 * Geo G. as Beasts, Bystander, Critter #1
 * Craig Kellman as Boris, Critter #2
 * Cody Cameron as Fing, Geraldo

Additional Voices

 * Ava Acres
 * Steve Alterman
 * Rajia Baroudi
 * June Christopher
 * Robert Clotworthy
 * David Cowgill
 * Jim Cummings
 * Wendy E. Cutler
 * Rachel Crane
 * Chad Einbinder
 * Pat Fraley
 * Eddie Frierson
 * Jessica Gee-George
 * Mike Gomez
 * Jackie Gonneau
 * Nicholas Guest
 * Tania Gunadi
 * Bridget Hoffman
 * Wendy Hoffmann
 * Rif Hutton
 * Mia Sinclair Jenness
 * Ashley Lambert
 * Mona Marshall
 * Scott Menville
 * Jim Meskimen
 * Paul Pape
 * Al Rodrigo
 * Jonny Solomon
 * Kelly Stables
 * Fred Tatasciore
 * Matthew W. Taylor
 * Hans Tester
 * Marcelo Tubert
 * Claudette Wells
 * Mick Wingert
 * Matthew Wolf
 * Lynnanne Zager

Development
Conceptual stages on The Gateway to Glowsburg began in early 2009 at the Glass Ball Productions Santa Monica division when its additional work on Dusk and Dawn 2: The Belt of Venus, the sequel to Dusk and Dawn, was still in production at DreamWorks Animation. The idea for the film was initiated by Glass Ball's CEO and founder Geo G., who had an established partnership with Aron Warner, the producer of the film, from a collaboration on the first two Dusk and Dawn films. At the time, Geo and the team at the Glass Ball Santa Monica studio were discussing for a new intellectual property, since the Dusk and Dawn franchise was owned by DreamWorks. They then envisioned and pitched an original idea of a fantasy-like glowing urban city to Warner after approaching them when he visited the studio, saying that "This is the best looking movie idea so far".

After the release of Dusk and Dawn 2, Warner began to leave DreamWorks and move into heading the Glass Ball Santa Monica department under Geo's supervision where he would oversee the development of the department's new project. With the DreamWorks/Glass Ball partnership deal expiring at the end of 2009, the Santa Monica studio began to pitch their new film to major animation studios, which resulted in a bidding war breaking out between Walt Disney Animation Studios, Pixar, 20th Century Fox Animation (which includes Blue Sky Studios and Fox Animation Century City) and Sony Pictures Animation; Sony won the film's rights by offering Glass Ball co-funding for the new film, over which Glass Ball Santa Monica would have creative freedom as it had done at DreamWorks for Dusk and Dawn.

In December 2010, Variety initially reported that Glass Ball's Santa Monica division would be collaborating with Sony Pictures Animation on the film after they parted ways with DreamWorks Animation, but little else about the film was known at the time. Warner and Geo were set to produce the film, while Cody Cameron, who co-directed the first Dusk and Dawn film with Eric Darnell and also developed some parts of this new project's story with Geo, was set to direct the project. However, Cameron left a year later for work on the 2013 film Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2, and was replaced with Dusk and Dawn 2 story artist Samuel Merritt, though Cameron was still involved in the film as head of story. At one point, Merritt got permission to find a new home for the film and turned to Universal Studios, whose animation division Universal Animation Studios is led by Michael Wildshill, a close friend that Merritt knew from working on Gingo shows. When Universal tried to close the rights for the film and start development, Sony changed their mind, and the film returned to Sony.

In April 2011, Sony officially announced the project under the title Prism City, with a scheduled release date of August 2, 2013. Merritt and Bibo Bergeron were also announced as the additional co-directors of the film, while Michael J. Wilson, who previously co-wrote the script for Dusk and Dawn 2, was set to write the screenplay. By December 2011, Geo announced that his position as co-producer under Glass Ball with Warner would be uncredited, similar to the Dusk and Dawn films. Mary Ellen Bauder would later take over the co-producing duties. In November 2012, it was reported that Alec Sokolow and Joel Cohen, the duo who wrote the script for the original Toy Story film, were hired to rewrite the script.

By January 2013, Warner was hired by Reel FX to become the president of animation, but Warner was still able to finish production on Prism City at Sony and Glass Ball. The following month, the film was retitled as The Gateway to Glowsburg. According to Merritt, he was not satisfied with the renaming, which was decided by Sony's marketing department.

Casting
Zooey Deschanel, the voice of Dawn in Dusk and Dawn who also previously voiced Lani Aliikai in another Sony Pictures Animation film Surf's Up, was originally considered for the role of Lindy Benson, but was later turned down as Warner and Geo were worried she might sound too much like Dawn. In February 2012, Chloë Grace Moretz signed on to voice Lindy, but in November 2013, she was replaced by Bella Thorne as Moretz was busy on If I Stay.

Author and actress Sarah Vowell, who voiced Violet Parr in Pixar's The Incredibles and Suz Grady in Universal Animation Studios' Swapped, voiced Lindy's best friend, Veronica Sanchez, making Vowell's third voice acting role following The Incredibles and Swapped. Ben Schwartz voiced Lindy's love interest, Harold Penn, Steve Zahn, who replaced Bill Hader, voiced Lester Simmons, and Katherine Heigl voiced the antagonist Mayor Slickersen. Other voices include Ian McShane, Teri Hatcher, and Stanley Tucci. This is also the second animated film in which McShane and Hatcher have co-starred together, the first being 2009's Coraline.

Animation and design
The film's animation, which began production in the summer of 2012, was provided by Sony Pictures Imageworks, who also provided animation for most of SPA's prior films. As with the Dusk and Dawn films, Geo G. served as the lead character designer for The Gateway to Glowsburg. Under Glass Ball Santa Monica, many of the major contributors to Glowsburg had worked before with Merritt, Bergeron, Warner, Geo and Cameron on Dusk and Dawn at DreamWorks Animation as well as most of Geo's prior work at Glass Ball Productions: this included: character designers Carlos Grangel, Pete Oswald, Sylvain Deboissy, Craig Kellman, Carey Yost, Andy Bialk and Chris Battle, visual development artists Marc Perry and Terry Ward, and story artists Keith Baxter, Rob Connor, Maggie Kang, Jennifer Kluska and Nora Johnson, as well as Randy Cartwright, who served as head of story on the first Dusk and Dawn.

Music
In April 2014, it was announced that Hans Zimmer, who had previously worked with Warner and Geo on the first two Dusk and Dawn films, would compose the score for the film. According to co-director Bibo Bergeron, the original intention was to reunite Zimmer and John Powell since the first Dusk and Dawn film in 2003 as well as The Road to El Dorado (2000), which was also directed by Bergeron, and the first two Kung Fu Panda films. However, while Zimmer accepted to compose the score for The Gateway to Glowsburg, Powell was unavailable. The soundtrack was released on August 15, 2014 by Sony Classical Records.

Marketing
A teaser trailer for the film was released via Sony Pictures Entertainment's YouTube channel on December 10, 2013, and debuted before Luna & Zak three days later. This was followed by a full trailer on April 9, 2014. The final trailer was released on June 12, 2014. The studio spent about $26.1 million promoting the film.

Sony partnered the film with licensing and promotional partners valued at $80 million for the marketing campaign. One of the partners included McDonald's, which released a promotion for a toy set offered in their Happy Meals for the film between July and August 2014. Additional marketing partners for the film included General Mills, Kraft Foods, Hallmark, Ad Council, American Express, and Kodak.

Theatrical
The Gateway to Glowsburg was initially set for release on August 2, 2013, but in August 2011, the film was pushed back to September 27, 2013 as Sony scheduled The Smurfs 2 for the original date instead. In October 2012, the film was pushed back again, to July 25, 2014, accommodating the release of Sony Pictures Animation's other film Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2. In December 2013, the film's release date was pushed back for a final time, to August 15, 2014, with Sony Pictures' Sex Tape taking the July release date.

The film held its opening premiere at the Melbourne International Film Festival on July 15, 2014 as a special presentation, and was theatrically released in the United States on August 15. It was released three months later in China on November 6, 2014.

Home media
The Gateway to Glowsburg was released on Digital HD on November 11, 2014, and on DVD and Blu-ray (2D and 3D) on November 25, 2014, by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. All releases include the short film Lemon Time, which was first released exclusively in Regal Entertainment Group Cinemas before the film on September 26, 2014. The DVD and Blu-ray combo pack also comes with a Lemon plush toy. The film topped the home video sales chart for two consecutive weeks. As of March 2016, 8.5 million home entertainment units were sold worldwide.

Box office
The Gateway to Glowsburg grossed $201.3 million in the US and Canada and $231.5 million in other countries for a worldwide total of $432.8 million, against a budget of $90 million. Deadline Hollywood calculated the net profit of the film to be $154.83 million, when factoring together all expenses and revenues for the film. Worldwide, it is the 20th highest grossing 2014 film, and the sixth highest grossing 2014 animated film (behind Big Hero 6, How to Train Your Dragon 2, Nepola's Odyssey II, Rio 2, and The Lego Movie). It became Sony Pictures Animation's highest-grossing film worldwide at the time until Hotel Transylvania 2 surpassed it in 2015. It was also Sony's second biggest hit of 2014 behind The Amazing Spider-Man 2.

In North America, The Gateway to Glowsburg was released alongside The Expendables 3 and The Giver, and was projected to gross $25–30 million from 4,256 theatres in its opening weekend. It made $4.2 million from Thursday night previews and $10.5 million on its first day. On its opening weekend, it went on to open at number one, grossing $43.7 million from 3,758 theaters, which at the time of its release was the highest domestic opening for a Sony Pictures Animation film, beating 2012's Hotel Transylvania ($42.5 million). Rory Bruer, president of worldwide distribution for Sony Pictures, said they were "satisfied with the film's huge opening" since it debuted at number one and was their biggest opening at the time of the release.

Outside North America, the film made $57.4 million from 53 countries in its opening weekend, for a global debut of $95.2 million. Mexico was the largest debut with $4.23 million, followed by Australia ($4.11 million) and Russia ($3.49 million).

Critical response
On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 82% based on 159 reviews; the average rating is 7.1/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Even if the plot rehashes some elements from earlier animated films, dazzling visuals, sweet humor and strong voice cast make The Gateway to Glowsburg a tidy addition to the line of animation." On Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating, the film has a score of 63 out of 100, based on 45 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.

Accolades
To be added

Video games
A video game based on the film titled The Gateway to Glowsburg, published by GameMill Entertainment, was released on August 12, 2014 for the Nintendo 3DS and Nintendo DS. It is a side-scrolling platforming game. Additionally, after the game's release a two pack was released containing both this game and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 on one cartridge.

A mobile game, titled The Gateway to Glowsburg: Glowing Fever, was released by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment on July 8, 2014 to the iOS and Android platforms. The game is no longer available on App Stores.

Sequel
A sequel, titled The Gateway to Glowsburg 2: A New Glow, was released on March 1, 2019. It was directed again by Merritt and Bergeron and written by Wilson, with Warner and Geo also returning as producers. Many of the voice cast from the previous film reprised their roles in the sequel, joined by Jennifer Lawrence, Sam Elliott, Bobby Cannavale, James Marsden, Anthony Anderson, John C. Reilly, and Becky G.

Television series
In November 2018, it was confirmed that a television series based on The Gateway to Glowsburg will be produced for Gingo. By October 2019, the series was announced as Adventures in Glowsburg, which premiered on Gingo worldwide on May 9, 2020, developed by Glass Ball Productions in partnership with Sony Pictures Animation.

Main transcript
To see the transcript of the film, click here.

Trailer transcripts
To see the transcripts for the trailers of the film, click here.