Planet 51 (2009)

An alien civilization is invaded by Astronaut Chuck Baker, who believes that the planet was uninhabited. Wanted by the military, Baker must get back to his ship before it goes into orbit without him.

Directors:

Jorge Blanco, Javier Abad (co-director)

Writers:

Joe Stillman (script by), Javier Abad (original idea by)

Stars:

Dwayne Johnson, Seann William Scott, Jessica Biel

4 wins & 4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Dwayne Johnson	...	Captain Charles T. Baker (voice)
Jessica Biel	...	Neera (voice)
Justin Long	...	Lem (voice)
Gary Oldman	...	General Grawl (voice)
Seann William Scott	...	Skiff (voice)
John Cleese	...	Professor Kipple (voice)
Freddie Benedict	...	Eckle (voice)
Alan Marriott	...	Glar (voice)
Mathew Horne	...	Soldier Vesklin (voice)
James Corden	...	Soldier Vernkot (voice)
Lewis Macleod	...	Additional Voices (voice)
Emma Tate	...	Additional Voices (voice)
Rupert Degas	...	Additional Voices (voice)
Pete Atkin	...	Additional Voices (voice)
Rebecca Front	...	Additional Voices (voice)

Storyline

Lem is just an average teenager working on getting the girl and furthering his career at the local planetarium - except that he's an alien. At least to U.S. astronaut Captain Charles T. Baker who lands on Lem's planet hoping for a quick flag plant and a hasty return to earth and his millions of screaming fans. But on this alien planet the media has tagged spacemen as brain-eating, zombie-creating monsters, causing Baker to run for his life and into Lem's house. Now it's up to the green native to get the clumsy astronaut back to his spaceship before military dictator General Grawl and mad scientist Professor Kipple manage to exterminate the Earthly visitor.

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Plot Keywords:

outer space | astronaut | planet | alien | alien planet | 

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Taglines:

Something strange is coming to their planet...Us!

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Genres:

Animation | Adventure | Comedy | Family | Sci-Fi

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for mild sci-fi action and some suggestive humor

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [Portugal] Sony Pictures [United States]

Country:

Spain UK USA

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

20 November 2009 (USA)

Also Known As:

Planeta 51

Filming Locations:

Kingman, Arizona, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Ilion Animation Studios, HandMade Films, Antena 3 Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

91 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The dog in the movie is called Ripley (shown by the name on the doghouse), with the appearance close to that of the Xenomorph from Alien (1979), and is obviously an homage to Ellen Ripley, the protagonist from the Alien franchise.

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Goofs

(at around 23 mins) As astronaut Chuck Baker gets tangled up in a planet mobile in the planetarium, his air hose becomes dislodged and his oxygen becomes depleted. Upon realizing the planet has breathable air, he removes his helmet, and the air hose is now reconnected to his suit. It is then again disconnected in the following shot.

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Quotes

[first lines]
girl: I've never gone parking before. I'm really not that kind of a girl.
boy: Well, I'm not the kind of a guy who would go with *that* kind of girl.
girl: Why that's so sweet - I think.
boy: There's nothing to be scared of.
[as alien craft rears up in front of them]

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Crazy Credits

There is an additional scene halfway through the end credits.

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Connections

Spoofs Platoon (1986)

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Soundtracks

Lollipop
(Vocal and Instrumental versions)
Written by Julius Dixson (aka Julius Dixon) and Beverly Ross
© 1958 by Edward B Marks Music Corporation
Used by Permission of Moncur Street Music Ltd On behalf of Anglo Pic Music Company Ltd
Lead Vocal Sophie Green
Backing Vocals Tamsin Hardy and Cat Scandrett
Arranged by Chris Cawte
Produced by Graham Walker

User Reviews

Good movie - NOT a rip-off

Please disregard RichardSRussell-1's review, I am not sure he watched the movie, at least not with very much attention. First, he states "humans as the bad guys" but the only human was the movie's good guy! The military general was the bad guy, and even a four year old could easily see that. Second, I'm not sure if he is familiar with movies playing on themes and paying homage to other movies, stories, and so forth. That's not ripping off, but that reviewer obviously can't even grasp that concept. Countless movies, perhaps most of them, will include scenes and lines deliberately intended to make reference other works – this is not plagiarism, it's paying homage! There has not been a single children's animated movie with this particular theme, not even close (at least no movie or major work). Yes, it is essentially a reverse E.T. and builds on many, many other movies that have come before. But the overall work is not a copy of anything else.

It's a play on the common movie theme, and popular attitude in the 1950's, that all aliens must be terrifying monsters and the civic paranoia and fear that follows the suggestion of an alien visitor. Given that, it *has* to copy themes and images and possibly even lines from other movies. That's the whole point.

Having seen almost every kid's animated movie out there, I found this movie to be very enjoyable and I loved seeing it. More importantly (at least if you're a parent) my kids loved this movie, and they don't like every kid's movie. It may not be the greatest movie of all time, but I would definitely recommend it and a great watch.