Alpha and Omega (2010)

Directors:

Anthony Bell
Ben Gluck

Writers:

Chris Denk (screenplay)
Ben Gluck (original story)
(more)

Release Date:

17 September 2010 (USA)

Genre:

Animation | Adventure | Comedy | Family | Romance

Tagline:

A Pawsome 3D Adventure

Plot:

Two young wolves at opposite ends of their pack's social order are thrown together into a foreign land and need each other to return home, but love complicates everything.

Plot Keywords:

Park | Wolf | National Park | Idaho | Geese

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Justin Long	...	Humphrey (voice)
Hayden Panettiere	...	Kate (voice)
Dennis Hopper	...	Tony (voice)
Danny Glover	...	Winston (voice)
Larry Miller	...	Marcel (voice)
Eric Price	...	Paddy / Mooch (voice)
Vicki Lewis	...	Eve (voice)
Christina Ricci	...	Lilly (voice)
Chris Carmack	...	Garth (voice)
Brian Donovan	...	Salty (voice)
Kevin Sussman	...	Shakey (voice)
Maya Kay	...	Bear Cub (voice) (as Maya Feltheimer)
Christine Lakin	...	Reba (voice)
Marilyn Tokuda	...	Claws / Janice (voice)
Eric Lopez	...	Can-do (voice)
Paul Nakauchi	...	Hutch (voice)
Bitsie Tulloch	...	Sweets (voice)
Mela Lee	...	Candy (voice)
Nika Futterman	...	Porcupine (voice)
Fred Tatasciore	...	Garn (voice)
Mindy Sterling	...	Debbie (voice)
Steve Vinovich	...	Park Ranger (voice)
Marcelo Tubert	...	Max (voice)
Toby Huss	...	Truck Stop Employee (voice)
Jason Ortenberg	...	Squirrel #1 (voice)
Andrew Ortenberg	...	Squirrel #2 (voice)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Ayn Olivia Vaughan	...	Outhouse Lady (uncredited)

Directed by
Anthony Bell
Ben Gluck

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Chris Denk		screenplay
Ben Gluck		original story
Steve Moore		original screenplay and story

Produced by
Noah Fogelson	....	executive producer
Ken Katsumoto	....	producer
Tracey Kimball	....	co-producer
A.K. Madhavan	....	executive producer
Terrence Masson	....	consulting producer
Steve Moore	....	producer
Michael Paseornek	....	executive producer
Priyank Raj	....	line producer
Seemha Ramanna	....	executive producer
Richard Rich	....	producer
Timothy Yoo	....	associate producer

Original Music by
Chris Bacon		(as Chris P. Bacon)

Film Editing by
Scott Anderson
Joe Campana

Casting by
Bernie Van De Yacht

Production Management
Daniel Engelhardt	....	production manager: Lionsgate
Meryl Friedenthal	....	production supervisor: Lionsgate
Rebecca Palatnik	....	production manager

Art Department
Mike Inman	....	matte painter
Manmath Matondkar	....	set modeler
Pallav Putatunda	....	set dresser
Dasgupta Rahul	....	surfacing supervisor
Brian Sebern	....	assistant art director
Mark Sonntag	....	storyboard artist
Todd Waterman	....	storyboard artist

Sound Department
Paula Fairfield	....	sound designer
Paula Fairfield	....	supervising sound editor
Catherine Harper	....	foley artist
Eric Lewis	....	dialogue recording engineer: Studiopolis, Inc.
Brian Magerkurth	....	sound mix technician
Darrin Mann	....	foley mixer
Carla Murray	....	sound designer
Carla Murray	....	sound effects editor
Bernie Van De Yacht	....	loop group coordinator
Gregory H. Watkins	....	sound re-recording mixer

Visual Effects by
Jin Choung	....	stereoscopic engineer
Harjit Singh Hans	....	lighting artist
Gaurav Hingne	....	shot lighting artist
Ashutosh Jayakar	....	stereoscopic supervisor
Shitikantha Mishra	....	set shading lead
Praveen Pai	....	visual effects lead
Michelle Winze	....	visual effects producer (as Michelle Jacobs)

Animation Department
Habeeb Ahmed	....	character modeler
Jin Choung	....	layout artist
Rathod Dilip	....	background supervisor
Ahmed Habeeb	....	character designer
Ahmed Habeeb	....	character modeler
Wasif Hossain	....	background artist
Mishra Jhalak	....	animation sequence lead
Gupta Pushpranjan	....	background artist
Mistry Rupal	....	layout supervisor
Thokade Satish	....	animation director
Chris Sherrod	....	lead layout artist
Ed Shurla	....	main character modeler
Robert Sledge	....	storyboard artist (2008)
Seepa Suneel	....	background sequence lead
Satish Thokade	....	animation director
Vineet Verma	....	animator
Vineet Verma	....	layout artist
Todd Waterman	....	storyboard artist
Harinarayan Rajeev	....	animator (uncredited)

Editorial Department
Joshua Alan Baca	....	on-line editor
Tricia Chiarenza	....	color timer
Trevor Joyce	....	digital cinema producer
Allyse Manoff	....	digital intermediate producer
Everette Webber	....	digital intermediate editor
Dan Williams	....	post-production assistant

Music Department
Jay Faires	....	music executive
Joel Iwataki	....	music scoring mixer
Bryan Lawson	....	music editor
Haim Mazar	....	musician
Tracy McKnight	....	music supervisor
Robert Puff	....	music librarian
David Sabee	....	music contractor
Greg Vines	....	score assistant
Gad Emile Zeitune	....	composer: additional music

Other crew
G.K. Bowes	....	adr voice
C.C.srinivasan	....	digital compositor
Gregory J.M. Kasunich	....	production assistant
Brittney Lewis	....	production assistant
Matthew Lloyd	....	production coordinator
Jagadish Kumar Patnala	....	technical artist
Kennedy Phillips	....	additional support
Pallav Putatunda	....	production assistant
Steve Tcherchian	....	systems administrator
Shajy Thomas	....	head of technology
Ayn Olivia Vaughan	....	assistant accountant
Lavan Kumar Venkata	....	production assistant
Matt Wells	....	production assistant
Shauna Brianne Wong	....	business & legal affairs

Thanks
Dennis Hopper	....	in memory of

Production Companies

• Lions Gate Family Entertainment (as Lionsgate) (presents)
• Crest Animation Productions (as Crest Animation)
• Relativity Media (presents)

Distributors

• Lionsgate (2010) (worldwide) (all media)
• A-Film Distribution (2010) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Filmopolis (2010) (Greece) (theatrical)
• Forum Hungary (2010) (Hungary) (theatrical)
• Kinepolis Film Distribution (KFD) (2010) (Belgium) (theatrical)
• Lionsgate (2010) (UK) (theatrical)
• Lionsgate (2010) (USA) (theatrical)
• Metropolitan Filmexport (2010) (France) (theatrical)
• Shaw Organisation (2010) (Singapore) (theatrical)
• A-Film Home Entertainment (2011) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• A-Film Home Entertainment (2011) (Netherlands) (DVD) (Blu-ray)
• Ascot Elite Entertainment Group (2010) (Germany) (all media)
• Ascot Elite Entertainment Group (2010) (Switzerland) (all media)
• Audio Visual Entertainment (2011) (Greece) (DVD)
• Central Partnership (2010) (Russia) (all media)
• Eagle Films (2010) (non-USA) (all media) (Middle East)
• Film1 (2011) (Netherlands) (TV) (limited)
• Leeding Media (2011) (China) (all media)
• Lionsgate Home Entertainment (2011) (UK) (DVD)
• Lionsgate Home Entertainment (2011) (UK) (DVD) (Blu-ray)
• Lionsgate Home Entertainment (2011) (USA) (DVD)
• Lionsgate Home Entertainment (2011) (USA) (DVD) (Blu-ray)
• Mongkol Major (2011) (Thailand) (all media)
• Monolith (2010) (Poland) (all media)
• Pancinema (2011) (South Korea) (all media)
• Pris Audiovisuais (2010) (Portugal) (all media)

Other Companies

• Film Finances  completion guarantor
• Lionsgate Records  soundtrack
• Sound Satisfaction  foley recording facility
• Studio DNA  dubbing
• Studiopolis  sound post-production

Also Known As:

"Alpha and Omega in 3D" - USA (promotional title)

MPAA:

Rated PG for rude humor and some mild action

Runtime:

88 min

Country:

USA | India

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | DTS

Certification:

Malaysia:U | USA:PG (certificate #45887) | Ireland:G | Singapore:PG | Canada:G (Quebec) | UK:U | Switzerland:7 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:7 (canton of Vaud) | South Korea:All | Norway:7 | Portugal:M/6 | Australia:PG | Netherlands:AL

Company:

Lions Gate Family Entertainment

Trivia:

Dennis Hopper's last film.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Kate and Humphrey land in the boxcar, both doors are open, but when the train is nearing Jasper Park, only one door is open; the one facing the park.

Quotes:

Humphrey:Truth is... i liked you ever since i saw you at the Moonlight Howl. You're the most amazing girl I've ever met. But now, you're gonna get married with a guy you don't even know. After all we've been through for the past few days, you're getting married and you never told me that.
Kate:Humphrey, i like you too. You're like the sweetest guy Omega i've ever met. But i'm doing this to set things right.
Humphrey:I know that, but i still feel kinda... you know... empty.
Kate:[kisses him] I know how you feel and i'm sorry.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Breakfast: Episode dated 11 October 2010" (2010)

Soundtrack:

On The Loose Again

Neither Alpha nor Omega, Clocks in at about Sigma

Alpha and Omega (1:28, PG, 3-D) — other: talking animals, 3rd string, original

I feel a little sad giving this movie a 3 (which matches up to the adjective "bad" on my 9-point scale, just above "awful" and "execrable"), because it's not as if it's really offensive, irritating, ugly, loud, stupid, or any of the other things that normally nets a rank in my bottom 1/3 — the "avoid these" bunch. But it just isn't very good, so my advice has to be to skip it, despite its kindly intentions.

It's an animated pic about 2 young wolves, Humphrey (Justin Long), the omega (bottom of the pecking order), and Kate (Hayden Panettiere), the alpha (leader of the pack, or at least in training for the position*). It's part of the movie's simplistic conceit that there aren't any wolves in the beta-thru-psi range. Furthermore, the social gulf between alpha and omega is such that they may be friends but are never, never allowed to, uh, howl together.

Yes, that is the awkward bowdlerization that the film uses to let the adults know that these 2 hormone-filled teen-equivalent wild animals may in fact be inclined to have carnal knowledge of each other, while ostensibly protecting the sensibilities of the little kiddies in attendance. In furtherance of this latter objective, we get an embarrassing sequence in which the wolves actually do engage in a pathetic imitation of howling, supposedly to satisfy their innate longings for this shared intimacy.

As tension builds between the eastern and western hunting packs over who gets to raid the caribou herds of Canada's Jasper National Park, our heroes are shot with tranquilizer darts and trucked off to the Sawtooth National Wilderness of Idaho, where they are expected to repopulate the region. This too is discussed on screen with much hemming, hawing, winking, and nudging. (Really, screenwriters Chris Denk and Steve Moore, if you didn't want to talk about sex in front of the urchins, you should have made the movie about something else. And, directors Anthony Bell and Ben Gluck, depicting them sans genitalia is no more convincing than those udders on the bulls in Disney's Home on the Range.)

The problem is that Kate's, um, paw was promised in "marriage" (yes, that's what they call it) to Garth (Chris Carmack), the effective prince of the eastern pack, in a union which would supposedly unite the 2 clans in peace and harmony. But when Kate disappears, Garth's dad Tony (Dennis Hopper, in his final role) accuses his opposite number, Winston (Danny Glover), of trying to prevent the merger so he can keep the meaty resources of Jasper for his own followers. Why exactly this is contingent on the princess materializing at the appointed moment is never explained; if you think it's hard for adults to figure this out, imagine how bewildered the tots are going to be.

Anyway, Kate and Humphrey, upon being decanted in Idaho, immediately launch into Homeward Bound mode, abetted by the comic-relief birds, a balding Canada goose golfer with a French Canadian accent and his caddy, who I think is supposed to be a British duck. Right about here is where you get the impression that the characters were created by throwing darts at a thesaurus.

The wolves spend a lot of time standing upright, engaging in the kind of somersaults that would do credit to an Olympic gymnast, sledding down hills inside hemi-logs, sampling blueberries, wearing flowers, and occasionally advocating vegetarianism. Aside from that, totally realistic.

I saw the movie in 3-D, and it was used effectively rather than garishly. The depictions of the forest in the background were really quite good. The animation itself, however, seemed cut- rate, over and above having it done in Mumbai. For example, everyone concedes that fur is an animator's biggest challenge, and this movie had lots of it. Crest Animation decided to fake it by showing the fur in clumps which never moved internally and only moved minimally with respect to each other. Expressive features like eyes, mouths, and snouts were done mediocrely. (I concede that I've been spoiled rotten by DreamWorks and Pixar, and that Crest is still kilometres better than Hanna-Barbera.)

My best advice? If you want to see a really, really GOOD movie about wolves, go out and rent Never Cry Wolf, but stay away from Alpha and Omega.

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*Since we're suspending disbelief here, we graciously concede, for the sake of political correctness, the possibility of an alpha FEmale.