Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls (1995)

Ace Ventura, Pet Detective, returns from a spiritual quest to investigate the disappearance of a rare white bat, the sacred animal of a tribe in Africa.

Director:

Steve Oedekerk

Writers:

Jack Bernstein (characters), Steve Oedekerk

Stars:

Jim Carrey, Ian McNeice, Simon Callow

7 wins & 6 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jim Carrey	...	Ace Ventura
Ian McNeice	...	Fulton Greenwall
Simon Callow	...	Vincent Cadby
Maynard Eziashi	...	Ouda
Bob Gunton	...	Burton Quinn
Sophie Okonedo	...	The Wachati Princess
Tommy Davidson	...	The Tiny Warrior
Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje	...	Hitu (as Adewalé)
Danny Daniels	...	Wachootoo Witch Doctor (as Danny D. Daniels)
Sam Phillips	...	Wachootoo Chief (as Sam Motoana Phillips)
Damon Standifer	...	Wachati Chief
Andrew Steel	...	Mick Katie
Bruce Spence	...	Gahjii
Tom Grunke	...	Derrick McCane (as Thomas Grunke)
Arsenio 'Sonny' Trinidad	...	Ashram Monk

Storyline

Ace Ventura, emerging from self-imposed exile in a remote Himalayan hideaway, travels to Africa with explorer Fulton Greenwall to find a sacred bat which is told will avert a war between with Wachootoo and Wachati tribes. Of course, when Ace gets involved, all hell breaks loose...

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Plot Keywords:

male objectification | kidnapping | caught masturbating | fictional country | slapstick comedy | 

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Taglines:

The great plains of Africa, the cradle of civilization. A place where there exists a balance between nature and man. So ancient, so sacred, no man would dare to disturb it. No man but Ace Ventura.

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Genres:

Adventure | Comedy | Crime

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for crude humor

Did You Know?

Trivia

The language used by the Wachootoo chief and in Ouda's Wachootoo translation is isiXhosa, an Nguni language spoken in South Africa. IsiXhosa is the native language of Nelson Mandela and Miriam Makeba a.k.a. Mama Africa. The Xhosa people (amaXhosa) make up the second largest ethnic group in South Africa after their close relatives the Zulus (amaZulu). Nothing about the clothing, houses, or culture of the Wachootoo is based on the Xhosa, and "inkwensu wocha" ("White Devil") is not a Xhosa word or phrase. The word EKWENSU OCHA is from the Igbo people of southeast Nigeria which means WHITE DEVIL as correctly used in the movie, the BAT also means USU and was sporadically used in the course of the movie too. But the general language spoken there is not really Igbo language but has some level of correlation with the native Igbo language of the eastern part of Nigeria.

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Goofs

The security guard in the tribal village is a Mandrill which is not native to Namibia.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Helicopter Pilot: Negative. No sign. Wait a second, I think I got him.
Ace: You know you could poke somebody's eyes out with that thing.

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Alternate Versions

In 2016, the uncut version was released on Blu-Ray Disc in the UK, still retaining its 'PG' rating, however no record of a BBFC re-submission was documented. In 2019, the uncut version of the film was re-submitted to the BBFC by Arrow Films, where it was awarded a '12' certificate and subsequently released on DVD & Blu-Ray Disc. This marks the first time the film has officially been rated in its uncut form in the UK.

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Connections

Spoofs Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968)

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Soundtracks

Secret Agent Man
Performed by Blues Traveler
Produced by Steve Thompson and Michael Barbiero
Written by P.F. Sloan and Steve Barri
Blues Traveler appears courtesy of A&M Records

User Reviews

Not nearly as good as the first one.

I just got done watching 'Ace Ventura' 1 as well as 2 in a row and I must sadly state: I have been disappointed.

Do not get me wrong; I like this movie, but not nearly as much as the first one. Though, gotta give it that: The movie is still pretty funny, which, however, is expected of a comedy movie.

Even though this movie is a tad longer than the first part, I just could not find myself puzzle over the (admittedly rather Indiana-Jones-like) case this time, whereas I had much fun doing that over the case in the first one. Simply put: No suspense whatsoever in this one.

As stated above, though, I did have to laugh quite a few times at the jokes presented in 'Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls', which is not the only good thing (of course). This movie does still have an interesting story, which I believe to be quite surreal compared to the first movie, though that adds some more ridiculous vibe to this comedic title.

Summarizing, there is only one thing left to say: If you solely watch this movie for the comedic purpose, you shall have a great time!

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

10 November 1995 (USA)

Also Known As:

Ace Ventura Goes to Africa

Filming Locations:

777 Ranch - 1829 County Road 432, Hondo, Texas, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$30,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$37,804,076, 12 November 1995

Gross USA:

$108,385,533

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$212,385,533

Company Credits

Production Co:

Morgan Creek Entertainment, O Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby SDDS Dolby Digital DTS

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1