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Alien problem? Monster solution.
―Tagline

Monsters vs. Aliens is a 2009 American computer-animated science-fiction monster comedy film. Produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by Paramount Pictures. It was DreamWorks Animation's first feature film to be directly produced in a stereoscopic 3-D format instead of being converted into 3-D after completion, which added $15 million to the film's budget. The film was directed by Conrad Vernon and Rob Letterman and features the voices of Reese Witherspoon, Seth Rogen, Hugh Laurie, Will Arnett, Kiefer Sutherland, Rainn Wilson, Paul Rudd, and Stephen Colbert.

The film was released on March 27, 2009 in the United States in RealD 3D, IMAX 3D, and 4DX, grossing over $381 million worldwide on a $175 million budget. Although not successful enough to be followed by a sequel, the film started a franchise consisting of a short film, B.O.B.'s Big Break, two television specials, Mutant Pumpkins from Outer Space, and Night of the Living Carrots, and a television series with the same name. The film aired on Boomerang on October 3, 2022.

Plot[]

On the day of her big fat wedding to Derek, Susan is hit by a radioactive meteorite. During the wedding she mutates into a 49 foot giant, destroying the church in the process. The military arrives to investigate the meteorite, but attacks Susan, sedating her with a giant syringe full of tranquilizer and kidnaps her. She awakens in a facility, where she is labeled as a monster named Ginormica, and becomes friends with four other monsters named B.O.B, the Missing Link, Dr. Cockroach, and Insectosaurus. An alien named Gallaxhar (Rainn Wilson) detects the quantonium radiation emanating from Earth and deploys a gigantic robotic probe to find it and extract it from its source, Ginormica. After a botched attempt by the President of the United States (Stephen Colbert) to make first contact with the alien robotic, it begins destroying everything in sight, resisting all conventional military force used against it. General Monger convinces the President to use the monsters to fight the robotic instead. The monsters accept the mission with the promise of freedom if they succeed. Arriving in San Francisco, Ginormica is chased by the robotic across the city, and B.O.B. gets stuck to the robotic's foot (who later is commanded to eat the rails dividing the roads in order to help the people evacuate). Ginormica then lures the robot to the Golden Gate Bridge, where the Missing Link is knocked out, unable to fight. Insectosaurus then arrives and defeats the robot.

Now free, Ginormica returns to her hometown and introduces her family and friends to the monsters, who are quickly dejected after innocently causes a panicked stir in the neighborhood. Derek, meanwhile, breaks up with Ginormica, claiming that he can't be married to someone who could overshadow his career. Initially devastated, Ginormica realizes that becoming a monster has improved her life and fully embraces her new friends and lifestyle. But she is abducted by Gallaxhar, who apparently kills Insectosaurus when he tries to save her. On Gallaxhar's ship, a very angry Ginormica breaks loose and chases Gallaxhar down, only to enter a machine that extracts the quantonium from her body, shrinking her to her normal size. Gallaxhar proceeds to use the quantonium to power a machine that clones him into an army so he can invade Earth.

With assistance from General Monger, B.O.B., Dr. Cockroach, and the Missing Link infiltrate Gallaxhar's ship, rescue Ginormica, and hot-wire the ship's power core, activating the ship's self-destruct sequence. The monsters think the aliens are running scared, but they are running before the doors close. The Missing Link throws an alien off his hovering scooter, hops on, and goes fast, grabbing his friends, but the hovering scooter is weighted down because of all the monsters on the scooter. Ginormica's friends get off the scooter and tell her to keep going. Ginormica, however, is cut off from her friends, who are trapped in the power core and tell her to save herself. Instead, Ginormica confronts Gallaxhar, who tries to escape with the quantonium, and attempts to force him into releasing her friends. When Gallaxhar says he cannot reverse the sequence, Ginormica takes the quantonium back and absorbs it, restoring her to her gargantuan size and allowing her to save her friends. The monsters leap out of the exploding ship and are rescued by General Monger on the back of the revived Insectosaurus, who had sealed his body in a cocoon and transformed into a giant butterfly.

The monsters receive a hero's welcome upon their return. Derek attempts to get back with Ginormica for the sake of interviewing her, which could benefit his career; instead, Ginormica rejects him and forces him to endure the humiliation of being thrown into the air and caught, swallowed and spit out by B.O.B. on camera. At that moment, the monsters are alerted to a monster attack (a giant snail) near Paris and fly off to combat the new menace.

During a mid-credits scene, President Hathaway, pleased with General Monger's work promotes him to President's senior security staff. But Hathaway's attempt to celebrate with coffee ends with him pushing the wrong button causing their country's nuclear arsenals to launch. Realizing what he did, he then asks if anyone in the audience wants to cryofreeze him.

Voice Cast[]

Monsters[]

Aliens[]

Humans[]

Trivia[]

  • The second DreamWorks Animation film to be released in March, after The Road to El Dorado.
  • The last DreamWorks Animation film to have the "DreamWorks Animation Presents" credit, until Kung Fu Panda 3 was released.
  • The second DreamWorks Animation film to have a female protagonist, after Chicken Run.
    • It is also the first original DreamWorks Animation film to have a female protagonist.
  • This is the first DreamWorks Animation film to be produced and released in 3-D, followed by How to Train Your Dragon.
  • The third DreamWorks Animation film to be produced in a 2:35:1 aspect ratio, after Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron and Kung Fu Panda.
  • This is the 5th computer-animated film by DreamWorks Animation to be produced at their Glendale studio, along with Shark Tale, Over the Hedge, Bee Movie, and Kung Fu Panda.
  • This was the final and last film to use the 2004 DreamWorks Animation logo, which first appeared in Shrek 2.
  • The Gallaxhar's Robot Probe was a cameo in the cancelled film Me & My Shadow, in the scene.
  • This is the last DreamWorks Animation film to be released in the 2000s.
  • This is the seventh DreamWorks Animation film to be promoted by mentioning Shrek in the advertisements, following Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron, Shark Tale, Madagascar, Over the Hedge, Flushed Away, and Bee Movie.
    • It is also the first DreamWorks film to be promoted by mentioning Kung Fu Panda in the advertisements as well.

Gallery[]

Wiki
DreamWorks Wiki has a collection of images and media related to Monsters vs. Aliens.

Production[]

Ed Leonard, CTO of DreamWorks Animation, says it took approximately 45.6 million computing hours to make Monsters vs. Aliens, more than eight times as many as the original Shrek. Several hundred Hewlett-Packard xw8600 workstations were used, along with a large and powerful 'render farm' of HP ProLiant blade servers with over 9,000 server processor cores, to process the animation sequence. The movie demanded 120 terabytes of data to complete, with one explosion scene alone requiring 6 TB.

Since Monsters vs. Aliens, all feature films released by DreamWorks Animation will be produced in a stereoscopic 3-D format, using Intel's InTru3D technology. IMAX 3D, RealD and 2D versions were released.

Television Series[]

Jeffrey Katzenberg announced that Nickelodeon had ordered a pilot for a Monsters vs. Aliens cartoon series. This would be Nickelodeon's third DreamWorks deal, after The Penguins of Madagascar and Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness.

Reception[]

Monsters vs. Aliens received generally positive reviews, although it was a failure for some critics. Based on 202 reviews collected by Rotten Tomatoes, Monsters vs. Aliens has an overall approval rating from critics of 72%, with an average score of 6.4/10. Among Rotten Tomatoes' Cream of the Crop, which consists of popular and notable critics from the top newspapers, websites, television, and radio programs, the film holds an overall approval rating of 58% based on 36 reviews. By comparison, on Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 top reviews from mainstream critics, the film has received an average score of 56, based on 35 reviews. Roger Ebert gave the film a mixed review, saying "I suppose kids will like this movie," but said "I didn't find the movie rich with humor."

On its opening weekend, the film opened at #1, grossing $59.3 million in 4,104 theaters.[10] Of that total, the film grossed an estimated $5.2 million in IMAX theaters, becoming the 5th highest-grossing IMAX debut, behind Star Trek, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, The Dark Knight and Watchmen. The movie made $198,351,526 in the United States and Canada, making it the second-highest grossing animated movie behind Pixar's Up. Worldwide, it is the third-highest grossing animated film of 2009 with a total of $383,466,166 behind Up and Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs.

External Links[]

Navigation[]

v - e - d
Monsters vs. Aliens Logo
Media
Films: Monsters vs. AliensMonsters Vs. Aliens 2

TV Series: Monsters vs. Aliens
Shorts: B.O.B.'s Big BreakMutant Pumpkins from Outer SpaceNight of the Living Carrots

Characters
Main Characters: Susan MurphyB.O.B.Dr. CockroachMissing LinkInsectosaurusGeneral W.R. MongerGallaxhar

Support Characters: Zachary ThroneCarl MurphyComputerDerek DietlInvisible ManJelloKatieMutant PumpkinsPresident HathawayWendy MurphyInvisible ManZombie CarrotsCovertonSqweepSta'abi

See also
Locations: AntarcticaModesto, CaliforniaParisSan Francisco


v - e - d
DreamWorks logo
Cinema
Feature Films: Antz (1998) • The Prince of Egypt (1998) • The Road to El Dorado (2000) • Shrek (2001) • Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron (2002) • Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas (2003) • Shrek 2 (2004) • Shark Tale (2004) • Madagascar (2005) • Over the Hedge (2006) • Shrek the Third (2007) • Bee Movie (2007) • Kung Fu Panda (2008) • Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa (2008) • Monsters vs. Aliens (2009) • How to Train Your Dragon (2010) • Shrek Forever After (2010) • Megamind (2010) • Kung Fu Panda 2 (2011) • Puss in Boots (2011) • Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted (2012) • Rise of the Guardians (2012) • The Croods (2013) • Turbo (2013) • Mr. Peabody & Sherman (2014) • How to Train Your Dragon 2 (2014) • Penguins of Madagascar (2014) • Home (2015) • Kung Fu Panda 3 (2016) • Trolls (2016) • The Boss Baby (2017) • Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie (2017) • How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World (2019) • Abominable (2019) • Trolls World Tour (2020) • The Croods: A New Age (2020) • Spirit Untamed (2021) • The Boss Baby: Family Business (2021) • The Bad Guys (2022) • Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (2022) • Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken (2023) • Trolls Band Together (2023) • Kung Fu Panda 4 (2024)

Co-produced Films: Chicken Run (2000) • Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005) • Flushed Away (2006)
Upcoming Films: The Wild Robot (2024) • Dog Man (2025)
Feature Films in Development: Mice & MysticsShrek 5
Direct-to-Video Films: Joseph: King of Dreams (2000)
Digital films: Trollhunters: Rise of the Titans (2021) • Orion and the Dark (2024) • Megamind vs. The Doom Syndicate (2024)
Canceled Films: TuskerThe WandererTortoise vs. HareTruckersMe & My ShadowMonkeys of MumbaiRumblewickB.O.O.: Bureau of Otherworldly OperationsGiants: Forces of NatureLarrikinsZodiacSpooky Jack

Television
TV Specials: Shrek the Halls (2007) • Monsters vs. Aliens: Mutant Pumpkins from Outer Space (2009) • Merry Madagascar (2009) • Scared Shrekless (2010) • Kung Fu Panda Holiday (2010) • Gift of the Night Fury (2011) • Madly Madagascar (2013) • Trolls Holiday (2017) • How to Train Your Dragon: Homecoming (2019) • Trolls: Holiday in Harmony (2021)

Shorts: Shrek in the Swamp Karaoke Dance Party! (2001) • Shrek 4-D (2003) • Sinbad and the Cyclops Island (2003) • Far Far Away Idol (2004) • Club Oscar (2005) • The Madagascar Penguins in a Christmas Caper (2005) • First Flight (2006) • Hammy's Boomerang Adventure (2006) • Secrets of the Furious Five (2008) • B.O.B.'s Big Break (2009) • Legend of the Boneknapper Dragon (2010) • Donkey's Caroling Christmas-tacular (2010) • Megamind: The Button of Doom (2011) • Thriller Night (2011) • The Pig Who Cried Werewolf (2011) • Night of the Living Carrots (2011) Book of Dragons (2011) • Gift of the Night Fury (2011) • Secrets of the Masters (2011) • Puss in Boots: The Three Diablos (2012) • Almost Home (2014) • Rocky and Bullwinkle (2014) • Dawn of the Dragon Racers (2014) • Kung Fu Panda: Secrets of the Scroll (2016) • Bird Karma (2018) • Bilby (2018) • Marooned (2019) • To: Gerard (2020)
TV Series: Toonsylvania (1998) • Invasion America (1998) • Alienators: Evolution Continues (2001–2002) • Father of the Pride (2004–2005) • The Penguins of Madagascar (2008–15) • Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness (2011–2016) • DreamWorks Dragons (2012-2018) • Monsters vs. Aliens (2013-2014) • Turbo FAST (2013–2016) • VeggieTales in the House (2014-2016) • All Hail King Julien (2014-2017) • The Adventures of Puss in Boots (2015-2018) • Dinotrux (2015-2018) • The Mr. Peabody & Sherman Show (2015-2017) • Dawn of the Croods (2015-2017) • Noddy, Toyland Detective (2016-present) • Voltron: Legendary Defender (2016-2018) • Home: Adventures with Tip and Oh (2016-2018) • Trollhunters (2016-2018) • VeggieTales in the City (2017) • Spirit Riding Free (2017-2020) • Trolls: The Beat Goes On! (2018-2019) • The Boss Baby: Back in Business (2018-2020) • The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle (TV series) (2018-2019) • Harvey Street Kids (2018-2020) • The Epic Tales of Captain Underpants (2018-2020) • She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018-2020) • Kung Fu Panda: The Paws of Destiny (2018-2019) • 3Below (2018-2019) • Where's Waldo? (2019-2020) • Archibald's Next Big Thing (2019-present) • Dragons: Rescue Riders (2019-2022) • Fast & Furious: Spy Racers (2019-2021) • Cleopatra in Space (2020-present) • Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts (2020) • Rhyme Time Town (2020-2021) • Madagascar: A Little Wild (2020-2022) • Wizards (2020) • Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous (2020-2022) • The Mighty Ones (2020-2022) • Doug Unplugs (2020-2022) • Trolls: TrollsTopia (2020-2022) • Gabby’s Dollhouse (2021-present) • Go, Dog. Go! (2021-2022) • The Croods: Family Tree (2021-2023) • Dragons: The Nine Realms (2021-2023) • The Boss Baby: Back in the Crib (2022-2023) • Kung Fu Panda: The Dragon Knight (2022-2023) • Abominable and the Invisible City (2022-2023) • Megamind Rules! (2024-present) • Jurassic World: Chaos Theory (2024-present)
Upcoming TV Series: Felix the Cat (TBA) • Bearbrick (TBA)

This page uses Creative Commons Licensed content from Wikipedia (view authors).
  1. 1.0 1.1 Monsters Vs. Aliens. Box Office Mojo. Retrieved on March 24, 2012.
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