Early Man (2018)

Set at the dawn of time, when prehistoric creatures and woolly mammoths roamed the earth, Early Man tells the story of Dug, along with sidekick Hognob as they unite his tribe against a mighty enemy Lord Nooth and his Bronze Age City to save their home.

Director:

Nick Park

Writers:

Mark Burton (screenplay by), James Higginson (screenplay by)

Stars:

Eddie Redmayne, Tom Hiddleston, Maisie Williams

1 win & 10 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Eddie Redmayne	...	Dug (voice)
Tom Hiddleston	...	Lord Nooth (voice)
Maisie Williams	...	Goona (voice)
Timothy Spall	...	Chief Bobnar (voice)
Miriam Margolyes	...	Queen Oofeefa (voice)
Rob Brydon	...	Message Bird / Brian / Bryan / Gonad the Gaul (voice)
Kayvan Novak	...	Dino / Jurgend (voice)
Richard Ayoade	...	Treebor (voice)
Selina Griffiths	...	Magma / Additional Voices (voice)
Johnny Vegas	...	Asbo (voice)
Mark Williams	...	Barry (voice)
Gina Yashere	...	Gravelle (voice)
Richard Webber	...	Grubup (voice)
Simon Greenall	...	Eemak / Thongo / Additional Voices (voice)
Nick Park	...	Hognob (voice)

Storyline

An asteroid collides with the prehistoric Earth, causing the extinction of the planet's dinosaurs, but sparing a tribe of cavemen living near the impact site. Finding a roughly spherical chunk of the asteroid that is too hot to touch, the cavemen begin to kick it around and invent the game of football. Many years later during the Stone Age, a young caveman named Dug (Eddie Redmayne) lives in the village with the chief Bobnar (Timothy Spall) and many other cavemen such as Asbo, (Johnny Vegas), Gravelle (Gina Yashere), Treebor (Richard Ayoade), Magma (Selina Griffiths), Barry (Mark Williams), Grubup (Richard Webber), Thongo (Simon Greenall) and Eemak (Simon Greenall). One day, Dug suggests to Bobnar that they should try hunting woolly mammoths instead of rabbits, but Bobnar brushes him off..

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Plot Keywords:

claymation | caveman | stone age | bronze age | prehistory | 

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Taglines:

Real Men Don't Settle for Bronze

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Genres:

Animation | Adventure | Comedy | Family | Fantasy | Sport

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for rude humor and some action

Details

Official Sites:

Aardman [UK] Official Facebook

Country:

USA UK France

Language:

English

Release Date:

16 February 2018 (USA)

Also Known As:

El cavernícola

Box Office

Budget:

$50,000,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$8,267,544, 29 March 2018

Company Credits

Production Co:

Aardman Animations, Amazon Prime Video, BFI's Film Found

Technical Specs

Runtime:

89 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Atmos DTS (DTS: X)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

One of the commentators at the final match describes Dug's team as "Early Man united," a reference to the Manchester United football team in England. Goona's name is a play on "gooner," a slang term for fans of Arsenal - another English team and a long-standing rival of Manchester United.

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Goofs

As Dug falls down the stadium seating, Hognob looks at his wrist to tell time even though he isn't wearing a wrist watch. That may seem like a goof, especially considering that wrist watches weren't invented yet at the time the movie takes place, but that's the point of the joke. It's to imply that Hognob is realizing that Dug is taking an awfully long time to fall to the bottom of the stadium.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Dug: Nearly there, Hognob. Nearly there, just a bit further. Try a little bit harder. We can do it.

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Crazy Credits

At the end of the credits: "No dinosaurs or rabbits were harmed during the making of this feature."

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Connections

Referenced in AniMat's Crazy Cartoon Cast: Star Wars: The Last Jedi Remake?!? (2018)

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Soundtracks

Good Day
Written by Jamie N. Commons and Ben Epand (as Benjamin Epand)
Performed by New Hope Club
Published by Universal Music Publishing MGB Ltd and BMI: Kideyesx Music
Courtesy of Virgin EMI Records Ltd.
Under licence from Universal Music Operations Ltd.

User Reviews

Although it's far from Aardman's best, 'Early Man' is still a wonderfully entertaining family film that will appeal to all ages.

Although it isn't Aardman at the top of their game, 'Early Man' is still a fantastically entertaining film with excellent stop-motion animation and a satisfyingly energetic cast. Their newest film from Oscar winning director Nick Park tells the story of a prehistoric tribe that have to work together in order to save their home from the impending doom of the Bronze Age. Aardman once again uses expert sight gags and word play to generate multiple laughs from the audience and, although the jokes don't always land, they are all genuinely clever and you can't help but appreciate the thought that has gone into them all. The film is however let down slightly by its somewhat generic and predictable story, but the fast pace and constant humour doesn't make this into a huge problem.

Overall 'Early Man' is a very well crafted, extremely entertaining family film that will appeal to all ages, which includes an excellent voice cast who are clearly having just as much fun as we are. 7/10.