Earthbound (Fake Movie)

Note: This movie is obviously fake, but this is just Planty having fun

EarthBound (also known as Mother: The Giygas Invasion) is a Japanese/American/British animated adventure sci-fi comedy film. This is directed by Ben Bocquelet and Kemp Powers with David Callaham, Tsunekazu Ishihara, and Shigesato Itoi being the producers. This is a CGI movie that is a collaboration between Nintendo, Universal, and Aardman.

Plot
In 199X, Ness and his party of four travel the world to collect melodies from eight Sanctuaries in order to defeat the universal cosmic destroyer Giygas. This weird yet wonderful adventure will be one that will be an adventure that will never be forgotten again, especially towards its nostalgic tone that defies EarthBound.

Cast

 * Morgan Berry as Ness, the main character of this movie.
 * Erica Lindbeck as Paula Polestar, a girl who Ness has a crush on and contains many powerful PSI powers.
 * Bryce Papenbrook as Jeff Andonuts, a boy who has a great IQ level and the son of Dr. Andonuts.
 * Robbie Daymond as Poo, a crown prince of Dalaam who went from strict martial arts training.
 * Doug Stone as Dr. Andonuts, a famous inventor and the father of Jeff Andonuts.
 * Tom Kenny as Buzz Buzz. A rhinoceros beetle-like insect from ten years in the future.
 * Kaiji Tang as Mr. Saturn, a species of strange life-forms.
 * Dorothy Elias Fahn as Ness's mother. Ness must call his mom regularly or else he is homesick.
 * Dina Sherman as Tracy. Ness's little sister works at a part-time Escargo Express.
 * Lucien Dodge as Porky. The secondary antagonist of the film is a fat, rude, and arrogant boy.
 * Zach Aguliar as Orange Kid, a stuck-up coward.
 * Cassandra Lee Morris as Picky. Porky's little brother.
 * Kellen Goff as Giygas, the "Embodiment of Evil" and the "Universal Cosmic Destroyer".
 * Barbara Goodson as Lardna Minch. Porky's mom
 * Patrick Seitz as Aloysius Minch. Porky's dad.
 * Kevin M Connolly as Captain Strong. A police officer who is a commander of the Onett Police Force.
 * Mick Wingert, Grant George, Edward Bosco, Roger Craig Smith, and Orion Acaba as the Flying Men. A group of birds help Ness until knocked out unconscious. There are 5 of these guys.
 * AmaLee as Venus, a singer who sings with the Runaway Five.
 * Casey Mongillo as Apple Kid, a smart but unpopular boy from Twoson.
 * Fred Tatasciore as Mr. Everdred. A boss of Burglin Park.
 * Kyle Hebert as B.H. Pirkle. The corrupt mayor of Onett.
 * Frank Welker as Mr. Carpainter, the leader of the Happy Happyist cult.
 * Neil Ross as Brick Road, a self-proclaimed dungeon master
 * Clancy Brown as Geldegrade Monotoli, the owner of the Mani Mani Statue
 * Crispin Freeman as Master Blech, a large animated pile of puke.
 * Rick Zieff as Lier X. Agerate, a local treasure hunter.
 * Khoi Dao as Maxwell Labs, a senior student of the Snow Wood Boarding School.
 * Shannon McKain as Tony, Jeff's best friend
 * Max Mittleman as Frank Fly, the leader of the Sharks gang
 * Josh Petersdorf as Geldegarde Monotoli, the mayor of Fourside
 * Steve Blum, Vegas E. Trip, John Eric Bentley, Jeff Bergman, Ian Sinclair, and Keith Silverstein as the members of the Runaway Five.
 * You know I could mention more cast members, but that would be a lot.

Why It Rocks

 * 1) Great animation that is full of character and personality. Unlike most Aardman projects which are very famous for claymation, this movie is CGI with the art style not only staying true to Earthbound, but also has CGI that attempts to be stylized much like The Peanuts Movie, Captain Underpants, or the CGI Doraemon films. Didn't we forget to mention that it also has video game-like effects used in some moments like when the characters do PSI? It's nearly as stylized as The Mitchels vs. The Machines. This is pushing Aardman to the limits.
 * 2) The storyline not only stays true to the original, but it also easily adapts the film by making sure that this film fits well with the quality of a feature-length film. As a result, the pacing is worth it and it takes some time to tell the story. In fact, you don't need to play the game first in order to enjoy the movie!
 * 3) The fight scenes are just awesome. They feel so video game-like given the fact that it's a video game movie. The best one would be the final battle. And every time the fight scene happens, you get to have the characters fight in an abstract background just like in the games.
 * 4) A cast of memorable and quirky characters. The characters are well translated in a movie.
 * 5) *Ness is given more character compared to the video game. He isn't out of character, but Ness has more personality and is much more likable. How else can you adapt a silent protagonist in the movie unless it's a movie in the lines of Shaun the Sheep Movie.
 * 6) *Paula still retains her kind and cutesy persona, but she also has this more "willing to destroy" character who serves as a positive female character that does not feel forced. Not to mention her PSI abilities.
 * 7) *Jeff is the smartest member of Ness' party. He also has a shy personality complete with a tragic backstory. He's also got the weapons that make up for his lack of PSI.
 * 8) *Poo is the main muscle (figuratively, not literally) of Ness' party. He's by far a fan-favorite character out of the four main characters much like other fan-favorite characters like Puss in Boots from Shrek and Buck from Ice Age due to his badass personality and how well written he is.
 * 9) *Giygas is an intimidating villain who is very terrifyingly cool in a nightmarish way. He serves as the embodiment of evil who causes animals and people to become violent and distressed. At first glance, he may seem to be depicted as a generic doomsday villain when there is some backstory behind him.
 * 10) *Porky Minch is another antagonist that is well written. He may appear to be just a harmless yet immature child until you realize his hidden potential when he becomes the main villain. He starts off as a big joke until you realize that he's not a joke anymore and instead becomes an emissary to the Universal Cosmic Destroyer.
 * 11) The tone of this movie does combine different tones that fit well with the movie. It has an intentionally goofy tone combined with a slice-of-life tone. The film also knows when to be serious as well. As a result, the film becomes so surreal.
 * 12) This is one of the few related Earthbound/Mother related media that depicts the world in CGI rather than sprites. This has happened before like in Super Smash Bros., but the movie shows a lot more all in CGI glory. That is good worldbuilding right there.
 * 13) Very creative worldbuilding that fits well with the game. The worlds are portrayed as this idiosyncratic feeling of Americana and Western culture without being offensive to audiences who are part of those cultures. Not to mention that the worlds do look pretty in CGI. As a result, this movie pays a lot of homage to the 20th-century era of Americana.
 * 14) Bizzare (and also beautiful) soundtrack that is quite catchy. The songs used in the movie happened to be re-arrangements of the songs found in the original game instead of just copying and pasting from the original game. The re-arrangements still have a lot of charm in them. Catherine Warwick's Pollyanna appears in the movie too! Since the game was created in the 90s, some 90s music gets to appear in the movie which feels so nostalgic and fits the movie well.
 * 15) At first glance, it may seem like a simple kids' flick, but the movie is so deep. It tackles many real-life issues that are quite relevant today without being so preachy about them like corruption, terrorism, and childhood trauma. You know when a movie isn't afraid to go deep much like certain films including Soul (2020), Ratatouille, Ice Age, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, and Zootopia.
 * 16) This movie has some of the most bizarre choices you can imagine somehow like fighting against a Mad Taxi, a Manly Fish, a piece of Abstract Art, piles of puke, mushrooms, some dice, a hipster, cultists, you name it. They all work well in an animated movie that is so surreal in an intentional way.
 * 17) Every time a Mr. Saturn talks, they have a very creative voice that is purely funny to listen to which serves as a nod to their font in the original game. Their signature font gets to appear in the movie somehow as a nice nod.
 * 18) *Same can be said about Ness who uses his telepathy every time his dog King appears resulting in a text box much like in the game.
 * 19) Good comedy including the famous "fuzzy pickles" line thanks to a photographer, Mr. Spoon getting on stage only to be dragged off by security, and literally every moment with Mr. Saturn. This is Earthbound we are talking about and that is great humor.
 * 20) Incredible dialogue that is worth listening to. Here are some great examples. Heck, they could be meme-worthy.
 * 21) *You're the enemy of all zombies! You monster!
 * 22) *Barf! vomit! barf, barf! chuck! chuck! Drown to death in puke! Don't you think that's an incredibly masculine taunt to throw at you
 * 23) *At times like this, kids like you should be playing Nintendo games.
 * 24) *I haven't taken a bath in quite a while, so I may be kind of stinky.
 * 25) *'Please choose something edible... I'm not a garbage can, you know
 * 26) *Literally anything Mr. Saturn says (really)
 * 27) *Looks like you're the world-class loser again!
 * 28) *You cannot grasp the true form of Giygas' attack!
 * 29) *You strange unmasked fellow. Don't go to Heaven!
 * 30) For a surreal movie, there are plenty of emotional moments like the Eight Melodies, the portrayal of Jeff and Dr. Andonuts, the scene where Paula praying during the final battle against Giygas, Ness gets homesick, and even when the four main characters going on their separate ways. Heck, there's even a scene during the credits where it makes a tribute to Satoru Iwata who was a major help of the original game.
 * 31) The Universal Logo used in the US release has a new twist. The logo appears to be in 16-bit and god it does look cool.
 * 32) A talented voice cast. The movie knows that it doesn't need to be too reliant on big-name stars and instead go with talent much like Jimmy Neutron Boy Genius or many Disney and Pixar films. The choices do work out well and you know it wants to go all out.
 * 33) The post-credits scene is pretty clever. It depicts Paula and Poo attempting to teach Ness PSI that he never used. This is obviously a nod to Super Smash Bros. since Ness can do PSI he never did in his own game.
 * 34) Shigesato Itoi and even the late Satoru Iwata made brief cameos in the movie as their animated counterparts.
 * 35) Many memorable and iconic scenes from the original game get to be on the big screen and are well translated to the film like the opening that shows a picture with the war against Giygas, Ness investigating the Meteor with Porky, the death of Buzz Buzz, the Magicant scene, you name it. Even non-gamers or non-Earthbound fans would love it.
 * 36) The very beginning before the film goes into the story is such a nice callback to the original game. You have this checkered background with the four main characters appearing as well as an unseen "player" messing around with them. Ness proceeds to say "Wait, this is a movie, not a game. You don't need to do that" before cutting to the real story.
 * 37) Before the credits, there are some outtakes that are pretty similar to that of Pixar's older movies.
 * 38) Thanks to the 20th century setting the movie takes place, the feeling of watching this movie feels quite nostalgic much like The Goonies, The Sandlot, Jumanji, and even Toy Story complete with its own surreal identity. That right there is a good direction.
 * 39) It's nice to see Earthbound getting a lot more attention than just re-releases.
 * 40) Plenty of awesome moments that would leave you amazed like Ness taking down a gang called the Sharks despite the former being only 13 of age, Poo swooping down from the sky against the fight with Master Barf, and Jeff's introduction.
 * 41) The scene where a few characters like Frank Fly and Everdred gets defeated only to get reformed. Basically, defeat means friendship.
 * 42) Certain Earthbound effects get to appear in the movie all in cinema glory including SMAAAASH! and the PSI moves. It feels video game-like and makes good use of the film's source material.
 * 43) Good use of the fourth wall breaks that don't cause any distraction to moviegoers.
 * 44) This serves as a love letter to 20th century Americana. The movie's love letter use is timeless and brings back some nice callbacks to the period like payphones and references to classic rock bands.
 * 45) Good move: The scene where Paula briefly kisses Ness before leaving at the end was cute.
 * 46) It removes the sequel baiting scene from the original game where Ness gets a note from Porky who challenges Ness to come and find him. When you think about it, it makes so much sense given that Mother 3 didn't depict Ness as the main character and instead shows Lucas being the lead role. Even Ness never got to appear in Mother 3.
 * 47) The main message of the movie is more than just growing up. The main movie takes a stand on maturing while never locking away your inner child. Even Giygas can serve as a metaphor or being the one who is the source of darkness to anybody.

Bad Qualities

 * 1) Giygas is definitely not for the easily frightened. And who could not forget the soundtrack associated with Giygas and Giygas' death
 * 2) Sometimes the film does have moments of epileptic seizure due to the effects.
 * 3) The movie may have taken 'stange too literally. To prove this to you, there is a scene where Jeff feels strange to the point of killing the rest of the four main protagonists albeit the characters survived and Jeff snapped out of it. In other words, some may find it weird despite the film's tone is intentional.
 * 4) There is a slightly awkward scene where Ness sees a garbage can and eats food straight out of it. Though this happened in the game.
 * 5) Though minimal, there is brief product placement of the SNES. Despite this, it does make some sense because the game was released in the system and Nintendo is involved with the project.
 * 6) Even though this is intentional, the four kids managed to go to different continents without a single adult which may give the wrong message of letting your kids go into unknown places. Adding more fuel to the fire, the kids also face a lot of dangers. Even though this is fictional, there are still dangers.

Reception
Upon release, the film got extremely positive reviews with its praise for its tone and faithfulness towards the source material. This movie gave Earthbound a bigger name and a lot more attention. The film got an 89% on Rotten Tomatoes and many considered it to be one of the best video game movies ever made alongside Sonic the Hedgehog, Pokemon: Detective Pikachu, and The Angry Birds Movie 2. It was nominated for an Oscar and it won the Oscar.

Trivia

 * Cassandra Lee Morris was considered to voice Paula
 * Porky was the hardest character to come up for a voice actor as Max Mittleman was briefly considered to voice him. He was replaed by Yuri Lowenthal.
 * The movie was going to be directed by Wes Anderson with the animation being done by the same studio behind Fantastic Mr. Fox and Isle of Dogs.
 * This is one of the few movies where Aardman used CGI with Flushed Away and Arthur Christmas being others that use CGI. Even their commercials use different art styles as well as they can be found here.
 * Jeff's backstory was taken from the Mother 2 official novelization where he had a brother named Jack who died in an accident. Jeff also appears to be relatable due to a strained relationship with his father.
 * The game's puns and humor are different from both the English and Japanese versions.
 * The Japanese version of the movie had a truck that had a similar design to a Coca-Cola truck.
 * Originally, there was going to be a Megalovania joke in the film as a reference to Toby Fox's Earthbound hack. It was scrapped.
 * Due to the box office success of the film, there have been plans for film adaptations of Earthbound Beginnings and Mother 3. The latter will release first with the former going on a different release date. The cast has yet to be announced.