Mr. Popper's Penguins (2011)

The life of a businessman begins to change after he inherits six penguins, and as he transforms his apartment into a winter wonderland, his professional side starts to unravel.

Director:

Mark Waters

Writers:

Sean Anders (screenplay), John Morris (screenplay),

Stars:

Jim Carrey, Carla Gugino, Angela Lansbury

1 win & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jim Carrey	...	Mr. Popper
Carla Gugino	...	Amanda
Angela Lansbury	...	Mrs. Van Gundy
Ophelia Lovibond	...	Pippi
Madeline Carroll	...	Janie
Clark Gregg	...	Nat Jones
Jeffrey Tambor	...	Mr. Gremmins
David Krumholtz	...	Kent
Philip Baker Hall	...	Franklin
Maxwell Perry Cotton	...	Billy
James Tupper	...	Rick
Dominic Chianese	...	Reader
William Charles Mitchell	...	Yates (as William C. Mitchell)
Kelli Barrett	...	Tommy's Mom
Dylan Clark Marshall	...	Young Tommy Popper #2

Storyline

Tom Popper grew up having very little interaction with his father who was off exploring the world. When he grows up he spends most of time on his work and ignores his children. One day his father sends him an unusual gift: a penguin. Popper can't help but wonder why his father would send him a penguin. He tries to get rid of it, but accidentally orders five more. When his children and ex-wife show up to celebrate his son's birthday, the kids are taken with the penguins. And Popper finally gets to connect with his kids while his work suffers.

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Plot Keywords:

penguin | reference to beyonce | reference to acer computers | father daughter relationship | bribery | 

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Genres:

Comedy

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for mild rude humor and some language

Details

Official Sites:

Official site Official site [fr]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

17 June 2011 (USA)

Also Known As:

Los pingüinos de papá

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$55,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$18,445,355 (USA) (17 June 2011)

Gross:

$68,218,041 (USA) (14 October 2011)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, Davis Entertainment, Dune Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

94 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Dolby Digital SDDS Datasat

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Vanilla Ice's 1990 hit "Ice Ice Baby" plays during the closing credits. Jim Carrey once spoofed the rapper and the song on an episode of In Living Color.

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Goofs

In the 1970s, Thomas Popper Jr. uses an amateur radio set to communicate with his father. It is operating around 21.2460 MHZ; however, during this time period, this was not an available voice frequency to American amateurs.

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Quotes

Mr. Popper: Hello! I have to send the penguins back.
Voice On Phone: Send-da-penguin?
Mr. Popper: Yes, send penguins.

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Crazy Credits

No penguins were harmed in the making of this film. Jim Carrey, on the other hand, was bitten mercilessly. But he had it coming.

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Connections

Referenced in Hollywood's Top Ten: You're an Animal (2011)

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Soundtracks

"SWEET N'LO"
Written by Erwin Lehn
Courtesy of Extreme Music

User Reviews

Mr. Popper's Penguins (2011)

I absolutely love the book. I'm also crazy about penguins. I collect all kinds of penguin memorabilia and will usually give a film about penguins a free pass. So a scathing review from me should really tell you how bad this film is. Let me start by comparing this to the book. Now I don't demand complete faithfulness, but changes made should at least make sense in adapting a book to the screen. This film is almost as if the writers decided to do the exact opposite of everything in the book. In the book Mr Popper is poor, happily married, wants a penguin, gets more penguins to stop it being lonely. In the film he is rich, divorced, wants nothing to do with the penguin, gets more penguins by accident. It leaves us with some tripe that has been done over and over again. Businessman puts business over family, has an inconvenience come into his life, learns the value of family, the end. Please look at The Santa Clause for how to do this. Characters seemed real despite the fantasy elements. Mr Popper's Penguins goes for the most contrived story points imaginable. It's pretty lazy writing, to the point where having Carrey name the penguins was probably an example of the best names these writers could come up with. The film also makes everybody so painfully nice, and then struggles to find a villain. Clark Gregg plays a zoo keeper that is entirely in the right. Yet the film hides him in shadowy cars and gives him ominous music. He should have been the hero of this movie. Krumholtz plays a neighbour whose life is made a living hell with all the noises. Even though it is against the rules to have penguins in the apartments, he is once again played as the villain when he tries to get rid of the penguins. This is a world where levelheadedness is a sign of evil. Further emphasised by dumb ass Gugino. She's the ex-wife that will gladly leave a date for a man that failed at a 15 year marriage, and then thinks that buying pet penguins is a good idea for her kids. It is also a very unfunny film. I can't even remember any jokes, or at least any punchlines. Lots of poo and fart jokes though. This is a film that I would never want a child to see. It gives the impression that parents will just get back together, that your own selfish happiness is above that of other living creatures, that breaking the rules is fine if it's done in a cute way and so on. Please parents, do your kids a huge favor and buy the book. Sit down and read it with them. It will be cheaper and will actually take less time than sitting through this movie.