Hubi, the penguin

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Movie
German title Hubi, the penguin
Original title The Pebble and the Penguin
Hubi, the penguin.jpg
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1995
length 74 minutes
Age rating FSK o. A.
Rod
Director Don Bluth
Gary Goldman
script Rachel Koretsky
Steven Whitestone
production Don Bluth
Russell Boland
Gary Goldman
music Mark Watters
cut Fiona Trayler
Nikki Moss
occupation
synchronization

Hubi, der Penguin (Original title: The Pebble and the Penguin ) is an American cartoon from 1995. Directed by Don Bluth and Gary Goldman .

action

Hubi is a shy, clumsy, but kind-hearted penguin who is in love with the beautiful Marina. His competitor is the beautiful, but also vain and cruel Drake, who cuts him because of it. One night, Hubie and Marina talk about their feelings for each other. Hubie tries to find a pebble so he can ask for her hand. When a shooting star flies by, he wishes that his dreams would come true. For this he receives a beautiful gemstone. When he wants to bring this Marina, he is stopped by Drake, who wants to steal the stone from him. When Hubie refuses to give him the stone, Drake throws it into the water. Hubie just escapes a leopard seal and is able to save himself on a floe.

Hubie is rescued from a ship, but locked in a cage and is supposed to be transported to a zoo. In his prison he meets the tough, arrogant, but also kind-hearted penguin Brock. In his dreams, marina appears to him, who is in danger. together with Rocky, he escapes from the ship. On the beach, Brock tells him about his dream of being able to fly. Hubie invents a friend named Waldo who could fly to lure Brock back to Antarctica. After a long journey, interrupted by various disputes, the two return to Antarctica, where Drake tries to land at Marina and puts them under pressure. If Marina doesn't agree, she'll have to leave the community. Brock finds out Hubie's lie. However, when he realizes Hubie's will to return to Marina, he stays by his side.

On their way to Marina they are attacked by a hungry sea lion and a killer. Hubie loses his gem, but escapes while Brock disappears. Hubie fears the worst.

Hubie then confronts Drake and defeats him in a fight. Brock, who survived the attack, gives the gem to Marina. Drake comes back and tries to finish it off. He brings his tower to collapse. While Hubie and Marina are able to avoid the rubble with Brock's help, Drake is caught by them. When they try to escape the tower, Brock actually manages to fly and save them. he passes the gem on to Hubie. Marina accepts the gem and the two become a couple. A little later Brock tries to teach Marina and Hubie's children to fly.

synchronization

In the US version, the stars James Belushi, known from Saturday Night Live, were involved as Rocko and Martin Short as Hubie. They were supported by Tim Curry as Drake.

figure English voices German voices
Hubi Martin Short Stefan Krause
Marina Annie Golden Alexandra Wilcke
Rocko James Belushi Bernd Schramm
Drake Tim Curry Engelbert von Nordhausen
teller Shani Wallis Alexandra Lange
Timmy Kendall Cunningham Magdalena Turba
Petra Alissa King Alexandra Mink
Beany Michael Nunes Constantin von Jascheroff

production

After the great success of the Disney film Beauty and the Beast , which appealed to different age groups, Don Bluth and Gary Goldman also came up with the plan to make a cartoon that appealed to all ages from preschoolers to teenagers in love. Production began in November 1991 and was funded by Don Bluth Ireland Limited. The shooting began under the working title A Penguin Story (Eng .: "A Penguin Story"). The cinema release was initially targeted for the summer of 1994. Due to some difficulties in production and to avoid competition with The Lion King , Juniors Day Off , Speed and Forrest Gump , the cinema release was set for April 1995. During the production there were massive problems with the main distributor Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer , which demanded massive changes. This delayed the animation and a cheaper production studio in Hungary was commissioned with the color drawing. Don Bluth and Gary Goldman were so unhappy with the film that they left production and instead helped set up the Fox Animation Studio for 20th Century Fox . They also withdrew their names from the film, leaving credit for directing free.

The animation involved artists from Ireland, England and Hungary, including at least seven animators , including John Pomeroy . In order to draw the penguins in the film, actors were first put into penguin costumes and filmed. These were then oversubscribed. Only two scenes are computer animated , a singing scene on the ship and the opening credits. The film is loosely based on the mating behavior of the Adelie penguins , who also use stones to woo the females. These penguins lay their eggs in piles of stones, which are then hatched by the males. As with many penguin species, once a pair is found, they stay together for a lifetime. For their research, the animators visited the Glasgow Zoo and SeaWorld in San Diego, among others, and were inspired by documentaries.

Soundtrack

The songs for the film were written by soul singer Barry Manilow , who also worked with Don Bluth on Thäumeline (1994). The score was by Mark Watters and was recorded by The Irish Film Orchestra and the Irish Chamber Choir. The vocals were sung by the voice actors for each role. A soundtrack album was released on April 11, 1995. Originally the Barbish singer Geoffrey Holder had also recorded a piece for the film, but this was not used.

# title Singer
1 Now and Forever Hubie ( Martin Short ), Marina ( Annie Golden ) and others
2 Sometimes I Wonder Hubie and Marina
3 The Good Ship Misery various
4th Don't Make Me Laugh Drake ( Tim Curry )
5 Sometimes I Wonder (reprise) Marina
6th Looks Like I Got Me a Friend Hubie and Brock ( James Belushi )
7th Now and Forever (reprise) various
8th Now and Forever (End Credits) Barry Manilow and Sheena Easton

publication

The film was released on April 11, 1995 by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in North America. In Australia he was driven out by Hoyts, while Warner Bros. was responsible for the rest of the world . The Pink Panther short film Driving Mr. Pink , which is based on an episode of the same name in the cartoon series The Pink Panther from the 1980s, was used as a supporting film. The film was released directly on video in Germany on February 15, 1996; a DVD version was released on November 2, 2012 by 20th Century Fox.

success

Hubi, the penguin grossed just under $ 4 million in the United States, making it quite a flop . He lost many visitors to the cartoon Goofy, published a week earlier .

reception

Not only did the film disappoint at the box office, the film critics didn't leave the film too good. Only a tomatometer of 11% was registered on Rotten Tomatoes . Both the old-fashioned story and the wooden animation, which in 1995 no longer corresponded to the zeitgeist, were widely criticized. Roger Ebert only awarded two out of four stars and criticized the racist color scheme in particular . All "good" actors are shown in light, white colors, while Drake, the bad character and, strangely enough, a penguin, as well as all other "bad" characters are shown in dark colors.

“A penguin covers considerable distances and masters all kinds of dangers in order to be able to present his lover with a pebble as an engagement symbol. Old-fashioned in form and content, this unambitious cartoon bores young and old. "

- Lexicon of international film

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Jerry Beck: The Animated Movie Guide . Chicago Review Press, 2005, ISBN 978-1-56976-222-6 , pp. 192 .
  2. ↑ a b George Anderson: Animator sees cartoon features improving . In: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette . April 4, 1992, p. 10 ( online ).
  3. ↑ Nichola Dobson: The A to Z of Animation and Cartoons . Scarecrow Press, 2010, ISBN 978-1-4616-6402-4 , pp. 28 .
  4. ↑ James Clarke: Animated Films - Virgin Film . Random House, 2012, ISBN 978-1-4481-3281-2 .
  5. ^ Peter Stack: Penguin Love Melts the Ice in 'Pebble' / Animated film has famous voices. SFGate, April 12, 1995, accessed October 13, 2013 .
  6. ↑ Jane Sumner: 'Penguin' a flightless bird . In: The Free Lance Star . April 14, 1995, p. 21 .
  7. ↑ Original soundtrack: The Pebble & The Penguin on Allmusic (English). Retrieved August 26, 2015.
  8. ↑ Serafín Mendez Mendez, Gail Cueto, Neysa Rodríguez Deynes: Notable Caribbeans and Caribbean Americans: A Biographical Dictionary . Greenwood Publishing Group, 2003, ISBN 978-0-313-31443-8 , pp. 218 .
  9. ↑ Hal Hinson: 'The Pebble and the Penguin' (G) . In: The Washington Post . April 13, 1995 ( online ).
  10. ↑ Driving Mr. Pink in the Internet Movie Database (English)
  11. ↑ Hubi, the penguin in the online film database
  12. ^ The Pebble and the Penguin. Box Office Mojo , accessed August 27, 2015 .
  13. ↑ Hubi, the penguin at Rotten Tomatoes (English)
  14. ^ Roger Ebert : The Pebble And The Penguin. In: rogerebert.com. Retrieved August 27, 2015 .
  15. ↑ Hubi, the penguin. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed August 27, 2015 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used