Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius (2001)

Aliens abduct all adults; genius Jimmy and his friends build an interstellar spacefleet and rescue them.

Director:

John A. Davis

Writers:

John A. Davis (story), Steve Oedekerk (story),

Stars:

Megan Cavanagh, Mark DeCarlo, Debi Derryberry

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 5 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Megan Cavanagh	...	Judy Neutron / VOX (voice)
Mark DeCarlo	...	Hugh Neutron / Pilot / Arena Guard (voice)
Debi Derryberry	...	James 'Jimmy' Isaac Neutron (voice)
Jeffrey Garcia	...	Sheen Estevez (voice)
Bob Goen	...	Newscaster (voice)
Mary Hart	...	Newscaster (voice)
Carolyn Lawrence	...	Cindy Vortex (voice)
Andrea Martin	...	Mrs. Fowl (voice)
Candi Milo	...	Nick Dean / Britanny / PJ (voice)
Rob Paulsen	...	Carl Wheezer / Carl's Mom and Dad / Kid in Classroom / Kid (voice)
Crystal Scales	...	Libby (voice)
Martin Short	...	Ooblar (voice)
Patrick Stewart	...	King Goobot (voice)
Jim Cummings	...	Ultra Lord / Mission Control / General (voice)
David L. Lander	...	Yokian Guard / Gus (voice)

Storyline

Jimmy Neutron is a boy genius and way ahead of his friends, but when it comes to being cool, he's a little behind. All until one day when his parents, and parents all over Earth are kidnapped by aliens, it's up to him to lead all the children of the world to rescue their parents.

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Plot Keywords:

genius | rescue | alien | boy genius | children | 

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Taglines:

I can fix that...

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Genres:

Animation | Action | Adventure | Comedy | Family | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

G

Details

Official Sites:

Paramount UIP [ie]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

21 December 2001 (USA)

Also Known As:

Jimmy Neutron 3D

Box Office

Budget:

$25,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£541,453 (UK) (22 March 2002)

Gross:

£2,462,924 (UK) (3 May 2002)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures, Nickelodeon Movies, DNA Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

82 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Oddly, this is the only Academy Award-nominated animated feature to feature traditional voice artists rather than more popular celebrities for main character roles.

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Goofs

In many shots, the car tires are square.

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Quotes

Sheen: We have to ask ourselves. What would Ultralord do?

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Crazy Credits

During the credits shows us what happend to Jimmy's teacher Ms. Fowl after he shrunk her in the beginning of the movie. She is seen riding a worm to the cafeteria.

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Connections

Spoofs Night of the Living Dead (1968)

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Soundtracks

"Parents Just Don't Understand"
Performed by Romeo Miller (as Lil' Romeo) Nick Cannon and 3 Little Women

User Reviews

Nickelodeon does something right

Final Score: 8.4 (out of 10)

‘Jimmy Neutron' is like what you might get if Bill Watterson signed the rights to ‘Calvin and Hobbes' over to Nickelodeon. Not that ‘Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius' has the wit, intelligence and dark edge of a Calvin and Hobbes comic, but it is blistering with a loony imagination and is much smarter and more genuine than anything else found on the network on in it's parent movies to date. JN feels like it was made independent of any meddling from the suits at Nickelodeon and - all except a disappointing final scene that pushes scatological humor into lame ‘Shrek' territory - is surprisingly free of the general stupidity these movies (and shows) are known for.

This movie effectively introduces us to Neutron, and his friends Carl and Sean (whose nasally voice by Jeffrey Garcia I found just intrinsically funny) and gives them an epic cinematic adventure to deal with. When Jimmy launches a toaster-satellite into orbit he attracts a race of gooey aliens in flying half-glass eggshells (a sight) who abduct the town's parents. Predictably the kids go nuts without supervision, and predictably they miss their parents and travel the stars to retrieve them in the process learning about family and authority. However, under the direction of John A. Davis and the pen of Davis and collaborator Steve Oedekirk ‘Jimmy Neutron' approaches it's material with a respect for the characters and their audience and in a few patches – as in when Neutron explains, in not so many words, why he dreads puberty – is smarter than it's target audience will probably credit it.

The animation is an eye-poppingly in it's simply designed beauty. In many ways I prefer this surreal, purely cartoony style to the painstaking attention to detail of the Pixar movies. It just goes to show the difference in styles in animation between animated films and movies that are still unabashedly cartoons and 'Neutron' proudly resides. The score jumps with a pop soundtrack as vibrant as the visuals - featuring the Go-Go's, Jimmy's own theme and Lil' Romeo redoing Will Smith's "Parent's Just Don't Understand" all of which sounds amazingly lame on paper but comes off quite good. Davis is able to maintain it's ridiculous fun and creativity throughout. Davis and Oedekirk ('Neutron' is by far this guy's best movie) have made one of those few distinctly children's movies that adults can be proud of too. A strong, worthwhile entry in the small arena of great non-Disney animated movies...and no, that doesn't include ‘Shrek'.