- This article is about the original 2004 film. For the franchise, see Computeropolis (franchise). For its main setting, see Computeropolis (location).
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Computeropolis is a 2004 American computer-animated comedy film produced by Universal Feature Animation and released by Universal Pictures. The film was directed by Audel LaRoque and co-directed by David Silverman from a screenplay by Thomas Lennon, and stars the voices of Jesse McCartney, David Spade, Kelsey Grammer, Dan Fogler, David Hyde Pierce, Jodi Benson, Jon Lovitz, Jennifer Tilly, and William Shatner. It features a number of visual references to Microsoft Windows products, primarily including that of Windows XP. The story follows a young computer game designer named Peri Dazz, who attempts to publish his own game named Frenzy to the internet and suddenly stumbles upon an online universe deep inside the realms of his computer. While finding a way to return home, Peri joins Nicky Kickzoo, the protagonist of Frenzy, on a risky mission to eliminate King Trojan, a virus capable of corrupting the entirety of the global system.
LaRoque envisioned the story in 1998, which was based on his dream of himself finding a computer that "sucked him into the computer world". He then began developing the film after production had finished on Paint World and wrote the original story with Michael Wildshill to pitch it to Universal, with Lennon writing the screenplay. Following Lennon's first draft, Gary Hall, John France, and David Silverman were brought in to reconstruct the third act and add additional material, while the latter was selected to co-direct. The film was intended to be produced primarily under Universal's Digital Images division, which previously animated the CGI sequences in Going Francisco, but was folded by the main feature animation studio following the commercial failure of the traditionally animated feature Magina.
Computeropolis premiered at the Fox Village Theater on June 20, 2004, and was theatrically released in the United States on July 2, 2004. It received universal acclaim from critics and was a box office success, grossing $587 million worldwide on its $65 million budget, making it the sixth highest-grossing film of 2004. The film won the 2004 Annie Award for Voice Acting in an Animated Feature Production for Spade, and was also nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, but lost to The Incredibles. Computeropolis saw a 3D re-release in theaters on May 16, 2014 to celebrate its 10th anniversary. The film's success helped spawn an expanded franchise, with four sequels — Computeropolis 2 (2007), Computeropolis 3 (2010), Computeropolis: The Deep Web (2018), and Computeropolis: Webcation (2021) — a holiday special, several short films, theme park attractions, and two television spin-offs.
Plot[]
Percy Anthony "Peri" Dazz is a 14-year-old computer designer living with his parents Heather and Earl Dazz. One weekend, Peri's parents leave town, leaving him with a list of house chores. For a while, Peri is bored of the work until he comes up with an idea for his own computer game called Frenzy. Once he finishes, Peri transfers the game file into an "exe." file and opens up GameGenius.com to upload it. However, when he opens up the internet, he discovers a popup ad on a website called "Computeropolis.com" with a download link. When he clicks on the link, the computer has a blinding white flash that begins to suck up random things in the room. Peri tries to escape, but fails and gets sucked in.
Peri discovers an online city deep inside the realms of his computer. However, he is caught by two internet officers named Paul and Frank, who take him to a lab where he is increased by a PC Chip, which allows Peri to use the desktop menu from his point of view. After he is finished getting tested at the lab by using a mouse cursor, Peri meets Nicky Kickzoo, an enterprising scavenger hunter who is the character Peri created for his Frenzy game. Nicky initially despises Peri, who wants to get back home, but ends up taking him along.
The duo arrives at the Desktop Component League (DCL), an organization department company headed by CEO Manager Marc to fund his research; their duties as upholders of the law range from capturing viruses to protecting the city of Computeropolis. There, Marc orders Peri and Nicky to capture King Trojan, a virus that was inadvertently given access to Peri's computer when he clicked the download link. During their mission, Peri and Nicky meet Travis, a fat, video game-obsessed kid who knows Peri from GameGenius.com and joins the heroes to stop Trojan. However, they are captured by Trojan and his oafish and mean-spirited minion Milo and transports them to Trojan's Lair.
At Trojan's Lair, they see how the viruses are created. Then, Peri, Nicky, and Travis manage to escape while Trojan's minions chase them. The heroes succeed, but Peri forgets to upload Frenzy to GameGenius.com, as he already has an "exe." file of the game on his computer. Nicky convinces him to visit the GameGenius site, confident that Peri's game will get popular once it is published. When they arrive at the site, a GameGenius administrator learns that the Frenzy game will not be published due to negligent issues. Peri accuses Nicky of attempting to lie without telling him about the issue. Then the rest of the DCL arrives, with Marc asking Peri and Nicky if they caught Trojan; Trojan is still there and announces his plan to initiate a full-scale assault on his hard drive.
Outraged, Marc accuses Peri and Nicky of lying to him about capturing Trojan. Nicky admits he thought that if Peri spent time with him, he would befriend him. Peri leaves to find his home so his parents will be home in no time by the end of the weekend. Then Clippit appears and Peri asks him which way is his house. Then Clippit takes Peri to a portal which leads him back home. Back home, Peri happens upon the screen saying that his game Frenzy is successfully published to GameGenius.com. Meanwhile, the DCL offers to reinstate Nicky, but he refuses, and instead, he confessed to Clippit that he cheated, just as he is alerted to Peri's break-in. Realizing what happened, Nicky defies Clippit and enters the same portal. Nicky finds Peri sitting outside of his house and brings him back to his room where he uses Peri's childhood photos and old projects to prompt him to rejoin the group on their mission. Peri opens up the Computeropolis file that Peri downloaded before, reopening the portal for the duo to jump back through.
Peri, Nicky, Travis, and the rest of the DCL fight Trojan and his minions (including Milo). Trojan returns for a final confrontation to kill the boy. However, the DCL manages to download an antivirus program for Peri's computer, causing Trojan and his virus minions to disintegrate into digital pixel dust. Peri remembers that his parents are to arrive at the end of the weekend. Peri uses the portal to head back home in time for Heather and Earl's return. Peri explains to them what happened. They at first do not believe Peri due to his "imagination during his childhood", but Peri proves that he is not making it up by using his inner PC chip to move the mouse pointer (which he brought with him in preparation) and uses the pointer to clean up the entire house, as his parents had assigned him earlier. Then he returns to Computeropolis to attend a party at the DCL headquarters, during which Marc assures Peri that averting major city destruction was only the beginning for him.
Voice Cast[]
- Main article: List of Computeropolis characters
- Jesse McCartney as Percy Anthony "Peri" Dazz, a 14-year-old computer game designer.
- David Spade as Nicky Kickzoo, a street-wise scavenger hunter and a character Peri created for his Frenzy game.
- Kelsey Grammer as King Trojan, an evil virus who plans to destroy the entire internet and Peri's computer.
- Dan Fogler as Travis, a clumsy, happy, hyperactive, happy-go-lucky, and overweight user from GameGenius.com who is one of Peri's friends.
- David Hyde Pierce as Manager Marc, the leader and founding member of the Desktop Component League (DCL).
- Jodi Benson as Commander Cindy, a DCL member who has a command-line interface laptop that interacts with her.
- Jon Lovitz as Notepad Ned, a DCL member obsessed with writing on a notepad.
- Lovitz also voices Paul, one of the two internet officers who try to arrest Peri.
- Jennifer Tilly as Painting Paula, a DCL member and a talented painter.
- William Shatner as Frank, one of the two internet officers who try to arrest Peri.
- Harland Williams as Milo, King Trojan's oafish henchman.
- Audel LaRoque as Media Player Mike, a blind, purple-haired DCL member who does not speak but only makes music and sound effects. LaRoque provided vocal sounds for the character, though uncredited. The character's appearance sparked confusion among some viewers who thought the character was a female.
- Grey DeLisle as Carol, a voice inside Peri's computer via Computeropolis.
- Michael Wildshill as Clippit, an intelligent user interface for Microsoft Office who annoys Peri and Nicky.
- Tress MacNeille as Heather Dazz, Peri's mother.
- Jeff Bennett as Earl Dazz, Peri's father.
- Chris Edgerly as Bill, a lab worker who increased Peri the PC Chip.
- Corey Burton as Sam, a lab worker who is Bill's assistant.
- gingo.fandom.com/zooeydischanel as computer
Additional Voices[]
- Jack Angel
- Bob Bergen
- Rodger Bumpass
- Jennifer Darling
- Debi Derryberry
- Kelly Stables
- Paul Eiding
- Jennifer Hale
- Bill Farmer
- Gary Hall
- Audel LaRoque
- Thomas Lennon
- Sherry Lynn
- Danny Mann
- Cynthia Marion
- Mona Marshall
- Mickie McGowan
- Amy McNeill
- Grey DeLisle
- Brandon Minez
- Laraine Newman
- Phil Proctor
- Susanne Blakeslee
- Jan Rabson
- Debra Wilson
- David Silverman
- Tom F. Warner
- Michael Wildshill
Production[]
Development[]
Audel LaRoque came up with the concept for Computeropolis in 1998, during production of Paint World. He envisioned a story where the main character gets sucked into a computer that leads them to a metropolitan city made of software and technology. LaRoque original inspiration was from dream he had of himself find Windows 95 computer that sucked him into the computer world. LaRoque also took inspiration from Tron, where protagonist Kevin Flynn gets transported inside the world of the mainframe computer, where he interacts with programs in his attempt to escape.
LaRoque began work on film with Michael Wildshill in 1999, shortly after Paint World finished production. In 2000, LaRoque had a draft treatment with Wildshill that bore some resemblance to the final film. LaRoque and Wildshill pitched the story to Universal Animation president John Cohen with some initial artwork in 2000. LaRoque and his story team left with some suggestions in hand, and returned to pitch a refined version of the story in 2000. Film was originally developed under title, but was changed in order to distance it from the video game of the same name. Other titles that had also been considered included Cybertropolis, Computerville, Webtopia, and Cyber City, among others.
Thomas Lennon, who had just finished work on Paint World, was attracted to write the script for Computeropolis, and began developing treatment in 1999. Story was very different from final film, in which character of Peri known at this stage as Gary was trap in computer, where he must stop Gill Bates parody of Microsoft founder Bill Gates from taking over the world and kidnap a computer princess named Viva who later became Painting Paula, love interest of Gary. Peri partner and game character, Nicky Kickzoo, had not yet been added. Through various drafts, Gary's occupation went back and forth from being teenager and from working for a video game company, until his final incarnation as teenage computer designer, eventually named Percy Peri Dazz. As Peri is actually feminine name, LaRoque originally wanted to change his name to Perry, but he decided to get it over with. In the UK release of the film, Peri was named as Perry to avoid any references to colloquial terms in the UK for peripatetic teacher. Peri is also named Perry in the Japanese dub as well.
In 2000, Los Angeles Times reported that LaRoque was working on the untitled project that would eventually become Computeropolis, although little else was known about the film at time. After the hand-drawn/CGI animated film Going Francisco became a commercial success, Universal revealed the film title to be Computeropolis, which would be animated with fully 3D computer animation. Going Francisco director Arlo Avocha Vernon joined in 2001 to co-direct the film with LaRoque. However, Vernon left at end of year for work on Gingo animated series Limo Dude, and was replaced with David Silverman, who had quit his job at Pixar after co directing Monsters, Inc. Both Laroque and Silverman decided to work on film in half, so the crew could at least know who to go to with specific detailed questions about film sequences; “we both ended up doing a lot of everything,” Laroque said. We both kind of control freaks, and we both wanted to do everything.
In a manner similar to Who Framed Roger Rabbit and Toy Story, Computeropolis featured a number of references to Microsoft Windows products, including cameos and visual gags. For example, Clippit, an infamous default Office Assistant for Microsoft Office, is featured in the film as a minor character that often bothers the main protagonists, referencing how Clippit was heavily mocked in popular culture following the backlash of the feature. Since studios could not afford to use Windows references in the film properly, Universal Pictures decided to partner with Microsoft to help make film elements as authentic as possible. Otto Berkes, the team leader of DirectX, was the technical consultant on film, giving advice on how Computeropolis should resemble Windows city.
The Universal animation team drew inspiration for Computeropolis' urban design from major cities, including New York City, Seattle, and London.
Casting[]
During the time, when Universal was look for young actor for voice role of Peri Dazz, Shia Labeouf was considered for character. He screen test for role and was interested, but when Audel Laroque was unable to make contact with him, he took it as no. In addition to Labeouf, Frankie Muniz and Zach Braff were also considered for role of Peri. Laroque took role to Jesse Mccartney, who was appearing in daytime drama All Your Children, and he accept. For role of Nicky Kickzoo, Nicolas Cage, Michael Keaton, Bobby Campo and James Franco were considered, but David Spade won role for his natural comedy. In 2003, it was announced Mccartney and Spade were cast, along with other cast members including Kelsey Grammer, Dan Fogler, David Hyde Pierce, Jodi Benson, Jon Lovitz, with Jennifer Tilly, and William Shatner. Benson and Shatner had previously co starred in Going Francisco.
Initially, Laroque wanted Sigourney Weaver for the voice of Carol. Weaver was approached about voicing characters. However, in 2002, before production on animation began, Weaver left film due to being busy on other projects. Instead, she was replaced by Kari Wahlgren.
Animation[]
Computeropolis was originally set up at Universal's Digital Images division, which had previously done animation for short film Aero as well as 3D CGI sequences for Going Francisco. In 2002, production on animation officially began. In 2003, during production of Computeropolis, Universal transferred the majority of its Digital Images team to main in house Feature Animation studio in Universal City, California follow box office failure of studio 2D hand drawn traditional animated feature Magina, which led Universal to select 50 percent of its new CGI animation team from its 2D animation staff and placed them through a rigorous training program, which included the introduction to Alias Maya that would serve as the main CGI animation software used on the project.
More coming soon!
Music[]
- Main article: Computeropolis/Soundtrack
American composer John Debney and Brazilian composer Heitor Pereira composed the score for ‘’Computeropolis’’, both of whom had previously collaborated on the score of Going Francisco. Soundtrack album was release on June 29, 2004, by Varese Sarabande.
Release[]
Theatrical[]
- Main article: Computeropolis/Release dates
Computeropolis was initially set for release on July 16, 2004, but the date was later changed to July 2, 2004. The film premiered at the Fox Village Theater on June 20, 2004, and was theatrically released on July 2, 2004 in the United States and Canada, in Australia on July 29, 2004, and in the UK on September 10, 2004. After the successful 3D release of Jurassic Park, Universal released Computeropolis in 3D on May 16, 2014 for the 10 year anniversary of the film. On March 1, 2019, Universal and IMAX announced that the film would be reissued and digitally remastered for IMAX theaters alongside its sequels, Computeropolis 2, Computeropolis 3, and The Deep Web using their DMR Technology in quadruple feature for one day only, as part of the Fan Event on May 1, 2019.
Marketing[]
The film’s teaser trailer was released on July 1, 2003 and was attached into Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas a day later. It depicts a scene where Peri and Nicky get sucked out of the computer and start an argument over which way they need to go. This scene was not present in the final film. Another teaser trailer was released on December 12, 2003 and was attached into Dusk and Dawn and Peter Pan. The first full trailer was release on March 3, 2004 and was shown with Pet Squadron two days later. Final trailer was released on April 29, 2004, and was released theatrically in front of History Island and Shrek 2. There were a few television spots for the film; the first was released in May 2004, the second was released in June 2004, and the third was released in July 2004.
Upon its release, Burger King had a promotional tie-in with 7 toys including Peri Dazz, Nicky Kickzoo, King Trojan, Milo, Travis, Notepad Ned, and Media Player Mike with their Kids Meals.
Video game[]
- Main article: Computeropolis (video game)
A video game based on the film was released on June 29, 2004 for the Play Station 2, Xbox, Game Cube, Game Boy Advance, PC, Macintosh, and Mobile Phones.
Home media[]
Computeropolis was first released on DVD and VHS on December 7, 2004. Both releases included a 5 minutes short film titled Print 3D Errors, which take place after the events of the film. The film was a best selling DVD title in its initial week of release, selling over 500,000 copies and making over $9 million. It was also released on Game Boy Advance Video in 2005 and on UMD for the Play Station Portable. Another single disc was released May 30, 2006 along with HD DVD release, and the next year, a new two-disc release with extra features on June 19, 2007. It was later released on Blu-ray in NA on July 22, 2008. Another Blu-ray release from Universal for the film was released on June 5, 2012, as part of Universal 100th Anniversary. It was later released on Blu-ray 3D on August 12, 2014. a 4K Ultra HD Blu ray version was release on May 8, 2018, to promote The Deep Web.
Reception[]
Box office[]
Computeropolis opened on July 2, 2004, in the United States and Canada. It earned $85.7 million during its opening week, placing it in first at the box office during that week and breaking several records, such as earning the highest-grossing opening week for an animated feature, and the highest opening for a non-Disney/Pixar film. The film also made the highest grossing domestic debut for Universal Animation, though was later overtaken by its sequel in 2007.
By the end of its theatrical run, Computeropolis grossed a total of $587.1 million worldwide, making it the highest grossing Universal animated film and the sixth highest-grossing film of 2004. It is also became the third highest-grossing animated film of 2004 behind Shrek 2 and The Incredibles.
Critical reaction[]
Computeropolis received widespread critical acclaim, becoming a cult hit among critics and audiences upon release. On aggregate site Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 90% based on 128 reviews, with an average rating of 7.7 10. The website’s consensus reads; “Having enough colorful animation, brilliant funny humor and action packed scenes to compete with the likes of Pixar, Computeropolis perfectly lived up to be a hit on its own. On Metacritic, it received a score of 100 out of 100, based on 73 critics, indicating generally favorable reviews. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film average grade of A on A to F scale.
Peter Travers of Rolling Stone gave the film 4 out of 4 stars, saying In it 1 fully 3D computer generated feature, Universal Pictures offers audiences Computeropolis, a movie that the whole family could enjoy, and is truly a delightful addition to the company's other classics with humor.” Richard Corliss of Time Magazine praised David Spade’s performance as Nicky Kickzoo, stating that “it gets even funnier for his comic relief career that brings his well-known self for his life.” Todd McCarthy of '’Variety liked the concept, also stating “as directed by Audel LaRoque, Computeropolis has a very engaging concept for a movie taking place inside your computer.”
Some critics have compared Computeropolis to sci-fi live action films such as Tron and Matrix. Jami Bernard of New York Daily News described film as Toy Story meet Tron. Kyle Smith of New York Post gave film 4 out of 4 stars, saying that "Computeropolis seems to duplicate the usual animation look of Gabriel Garza, but was made using computer-animation software and has amazing action, charm, and hilarious humor with a host of quirky characters such as Peri Dazz and Nicky Kickzoo.” Charles Herold of New York Times summed up his review stating that “Computeropolis is not only great movie, but it is an enthusiastic masterpiece with perfect moments that live up to its plot as well as other Universal animated hits since Ama And Mysterious Crystal and Paint World.”
Some critics, however, criticized some unexpected product placements of Microsoft products such as Windows 95 98 and XP. Liam Lacey of Globe And Mail described Computeropolis as “a 98 minute feature length commercial for Microsoft,” while Stephen Hunter of Washington Post wrote that “it was a little more than an exercise in advertising PC downloading to children.” Bill Muller of Arizona Republic stated, “while not as bad as say, Mac And You, Universal’s Computeropolis has overused Microsoft products, but tries hard enough to appeal to fans who may be puzzled by movie visual disconnection.” Mark Caro of Chicago Tribune considered the Peri quote as “a clever reference to the 90s Microsoft slogan.”
Accolades[]
| Awards | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Awards | Category | Recipients | Results |
| Academy Awards | Best Animated Feature | Audel Laroque And David Silverman | Nominated |
| Annie Awards | Best Animated Feature | Brandon Minez, Michael Wildshill | Nominated |
| Character Design in an Animated Feature Production | Shane Prigmore, Carter Goodrich | Nominated | |
| Directing in an Animated Feature Production | Audel Laroque And David Silverman | Nominated | |
| Music in an Animated Feature Production | John Debney, Heitor Pereira | Nominated | |
| Production Design in an Animated Feature Production | Yarrow Cheney | Nominated | |
| Storyboarding in an Animated Feature Production | Kurt R Anderson, Ash Brannon, John France, Frans Vischer | Nominated | |
| Voice Acting in an Animated Feature Production | David Spade | Won | |
| Writing in an Animated Feature Production | Thomas Lennon | Nominated | |
| BAFTA Children Awards | Best Feature Film | Won | |
| Casting Society Of America | Best Animated Voice Over Feature Casting | Jennifer Tilly | Nominated |
| Cinema Audio Society Awards | Outstanding Achievement In Sound Mixing For An Animated Motion Picture | Teresa Eckton, Gary Rydstrom, Tom Johnson, Michael Silvers, Gary Summers, Frank Rinella, Will Files, Tony Eckert | Nominated |
| Golden Globe Awards | Best Animated Feature Film | Nominated | |
| Critics Choice Awards | Best Animated Film | Audel Laroque, David Silverman | Nominated |
| Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards | Favorite Voice From An Animated Movie | Jesse Mccartney | Nominated |
| Saturn Awards | Saturn Award For Best Animated Film | Won | |
| Visual Effects Society | Outstanding Performance by Animated Character in an Animated Motion Picture | Kelsey Grammer | Nominated |
Sequels[]
- Main article: Computeropolis (franchise)
Computeropolis was followed by two sequels Computeropolis 2 and Computeropolis 3. While the first sequel received similar acclaim from critics, the third film, however, received mixed reviews, but were still box office hits. The fourth installment, titled Deep Web, was released on June 1, 2018.
A fifth film, titled Webcation, was released in the US on June 16, 2023, and was released in the UK on June 23, 2023.
Spin-Offs[]
Manga[]
- Main article: Computeropolis (manga)
Television series[]
- Main article: Computeropolis: Adventures of Peri and Nicky
Holiday special[]
- Main article: Computeropolis Xmas
Transcripts[]
Main[]
To see the main transcript of the film, click here.
Trailers[]
To see the transcript for the trailers of the film, click here.
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