PREPARE TO GET SERVED.
When an aspiring inventor comes up with a machine that turns water into all kinds of foods, he accidentally makes it so powerful that it shoots up into the sky and creates a cheeseburger rain over his island; fun at first, the machine becomes dangerous. A wacky adaptation of a children’s book that turns into a full-blown adventure where the island and the world needs rescuing from pasta tornados and what not. Attractively animated in 3D, very funny, and it also works as a social commentary on our wasteful way of life. The film takes advantage of its concept to the fullest and has a lot of charm; Bill Hader makes the lead character both hilarious and adorably dorky.
2009-U.S. Animated. 90 min. Color. Widescreen. Produced by Pam Marsden. Written and directed by Phil Lord, Chris Miller. Book: Judi Barrett, Ron Barrett. Voices of Bill Hader (Flint Lockwood), Anna Faris (Samantha Sparks), James Caan (Tim Lockwood), Andy Samberg, Bruce Campbell, Mr. T… Benjamin Bratt, Neil Patrick Harris, Lauren Graham, Will Forte.
Trivia: Followed by Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2 (2013).
Last word: “Some of hardest stuff was the spaghetti tornado, just getting all the software for that and all the R & D that was put into that scene. The inside of the Jello mold where light had to refract and reflect and the surface had to warble. They’re using this new raytracer software called Arnold, which calculates light as it bounces off of surfaces. When the surface is changing and warbling and it had to recalculate every frame and almost blew up the computers because it was so difficult. The giant ‘Foodalanche’ that happens when the dam breaks…” (Miller on the film’s challenges, Coming Soon)
