CHAPTER 1
1. Last Holiday (1950): Humble salesman George Bird (Guinness) visits a physician for a routine checkup and is told he has a rare terminal illness and less than a year to live. Originally dismayed and unaccepting of the news, he eventually becomes resigned to accept the physician’s advice: To take all of his life’s savings and enjoy himself in the time he has left. Being a lifelong bachelor with no immediate family to leave his modest savings, Bird decides to spend his last days at an upscale residential hotel with many British elite.
Bird’s generosity and unassuming attitude generate a great deal of interest among residents at the hotel. With an odd clarity of focus as his end draws near, he soon becomes an enigma, with aristocrats speculating about his lineage and possible nobility. Bird soon falls in love (possibly for the first time in his life) and is offered a fruitful business opportunity, but these events only serve to make him reflect on what he had not achieved in life.
Finally, Bird speaks to a hotel guest who is the namesake of the disease he was diagnosed with. The physician assures him there must be a mistake and that Bird does not have the disease. After a trip back to the city, Bird confirms the mistake, and is ready to begin life anew with his sweetheart and his business opportunity. The twist is that he never makes it back to the hotel. He ends up in a car accident on the way and is killed. The hotel guests, having learned the truth, have already dismissed Bird and their good opinions of him when they are informed that he has died.
By Richard Moody
CHAPTER 2
1. Cinderella (1950): Cinderella is the much-loved only child of a widowed aristocrat. After deciding that his beloved daughter needs a mother's care, Cinderella's father marries a proud and haughty woman named Lady Tremaine. She too has been married before, and has two daughters by her first marriage, Anastasia and Drizella, who are just Cinderella's age. Plain and socially awkward, these Ugly Stepsisters are bitterly envious of the beautiful and charming Cinderella.
The family lives in happiness for several years, until the untimely death of Cinderella's father. After that, Lady Tremaine's true nature is revealed, and she and her spiteful daughters take over the estate, and begin to abuse and maltreat Cinderella, envious of her beauty. She is forced into housekeeping responsibilities and made to wait upon her jealous stepsisters like a maid. As Cinderella blossoms into a beautiful young woman who is kind despite her hardships, she befriends the animals living in the barn, including Bruno the Bloodhound, Major the horse, and many of the mice and birds who live in and around the chateau. Cinderella finds a mouse inside a trap, releases him, and names him Octavius, "Gus" for short. She is also friends with a mouse named Jacques ("Jaq" for short), the leader of a mouse-pack.
At the royal palace, the King is angry that his son does not intend to marry. The King is determined to see grandchildren, so he and the Duke organize a ball for Prince Charming in an effort to cause his son to fall in love and marry, with every eligible maiden in the kingdom ordered to attend.
When the invitation to the ball arrives, Cinderella asks her stepmother if she can attend. Her stepmother tells her she may go to the ball, if she finishes her work and can find a suitable gown. To consume her time, her stepmother sets Cinderella with a mountain of chores. Her mouse friends Gus and Jaq use Cinderella's stepsister's discarded sash and beads to fix an old gown that belonged to Cinderella's mother. When Cinderella wears her dress before the ball, Lady Tremaine points out her daughters' beads and sash, and the jealous sisters physically assault her, tearing the gown to shreds, leaving Cinderella to run to the back of the garden in tears while her stepfamily attends the royal ball without her.
Cinderella's Fairy Godmother appears to her in the garden, and transforms her appearance for the ball. She transforms the mice into horses, Bruno the dog into a footman, Major the horse into a coachman, a pumpkin into the carriage, and transforms her torn dress into a beautiful blue dres with glass slippers. Cinderella departs for the ball after the godmother warns her that the spell will expire at the stroke of midnight.
At the ball, the Prince rejects every girl, until he sees Cinderella, with whom he is immediately smitten. The two dance throughout the castle grounds until the clock starts to chime midnight. Cinderella flees to her coach and away from the castle, accidentally dropping one of her glass slippers. After the Duke tells the King of the disaster, they plan to find Cinderella with the slipper they found during her escape.
The next morning, a royal proclamation is issued, stating the Grand Duke will visit every house in the kingdom to find the girl who fits the glass slipper, so that she can be married to the Prince. When this news reaches Cinderella's household, her stepmother and stepsisters begin hurriedly preparing for the Grand Duke's arrival. Cinderella, overhearing, begins dreamily humming the song from the palace ball the previous night. Realizing Cinderella was the girl who danced with the Prince, her stepmother follows Cinderella up to her attic bedroom and locks her inside.
When the Grand Duke arrives, the mice steal the key to Cinderella's room from Lady Tremaine's pocket and laboriously drag the key up the stairs to her room, only barely managing to free her after a fight with the Stepmother's cat Lucifer, in which Bruno comes to their rescue and scares the evil cat out of the house. Meanwhile, Anastasia tries on the slipper, but her foot is too big. Drizella tries on the slipper, and finds her foot is also too large. As the Duke prepares to leave, Cinderella appears at the top of the stairs, asking to try on the slipper. Knowing that the slipper will fit and that Cinderella will marry the Prince, her stepmother insists she's just a servant girl. The Grand Duke sharply reminds her that every maiden is to try on the slipper. As the footman bring the slipper to Cinderella, her stepmother trips him, causing the slipper to drop and shatter on the floor. Cinderella then reveals she has the other glass slipper. Delighted at this indisputable proof of the maiden's identity, the Duke slides the slipper onto her foot, which fits perfectly. The two agree to keep the broken slipper a secret.
At the wedding, Cinderella and the Prince descend the church's staircase, surrounded by confetti tossed by the King and the Grand Duke. Cinderella loses a slipper and retrieves it with the aid of the King. As the film ends on a scene of the two newly-weds kissing, the narrator concludes "...and they lived happily ever after".
2. Alice in Wonderland (1951): On the bank of a tranquil river, Alice grows bored listening to her sister read aloud from a history book. Alice sees a White Rabbit wearing a waistcoat and carrying a large pocket watch. She follows him and tumbles down a rabbit hole. At the bottom, she follows the Rabbit into a large chamber but he escapes through a tiny door. The Doorknob suggests Alice drink from a bottle marked "Drink me." The contents shrink her to a tiny fraction of her original size. The door is locked, and the key appears on the table, which she can not reach. The Doorknob directs her to a cookie marked "Eat me." The cookie makes her grow so large that her head hits the ceiling. She begins to cry; her massive tears flood the room. The Doorknob points out that the "Drink me" bottle still has some fluid left inside, so she finishes the last drop. She becomes so small that she drops inside the bottle. Both she and the bottle drift through the doorknob's keyhole mouth and out to a sea made from Alice's tears.
On shore, a Dodo leads a group of animals in a futile caucus-race to get dry. Alice meets Tweedledum and Tweedledee, two fat brothers who recite "The Walrus and the Carpenter". Alice sneaks away to the White Rabbit's house. The Rabbit orders Alice to fetch his gloves. Inside the house, Alice eats a cookie. She becomes so large that she gets stuck inside the house. The Dodo tries to help by sending Bill the Lizard down the chimney and then setting the house on fire. Alice eats a carrot from the garden and shrinks down to three inches high.
Alice chases after the Rabbit again, this time into a garden of tall flowers who consider her a weed and throw her out. She engages a hookah-smoking caterpillar who turns into a butterfly, though not before giving her cryptic advice about the mushroom she is sitting on. Alice breaks off two pieces and nibbles them alternately until finally restoring herself to her normal size and stores the pieces in her dress pockets.
Alice receives mysterious directions from the Cheshire Cat, an eerily grinning feline that can disappear and reappear at will, which lead her to the garden of the March Hare, who is celebrating his "unbirthday" with the Mad Hatter and the Dormouse. Alice, growing tired of their rudeness and wackiness, decides to go home, abandoning her pursuit of the White Rabbit. She is lost and despondent among the strange creatures (See Below) of the Tulgey Wood until the Cheshire Cat reappears and shows her a short-cut out of the forest.
In the hedge maze garden, Alice meets some playing cards painting white roses red. The White Rabbit heralds the arrival of the bellicose Queen of Hearts, the diminutive King, and a card army. She invites Alice to a strange game of croquet using flamingos as mallets, hedgehogs as balls, and card soldiers as wickets. The Cheshire Cat plays a prank on the Queen, who blames Alice and orders her execution. The King suggests that Alice be put on trial instead. At the trial, Alice's nonsensical acquaintances are of no help to her. The Cheshire Cat appears and causes enough distraction to allow Alice to eat the remaining portions of mushroom, causing her to grow to gigantic proportions. At this size, Alice scolds the terrified Queen for her rash behavior, but then starts shrinking back to her normal size all too soon. At the Queen's command of "Off with her head!" all the crazy inhabitants of Wonderland give chase.
Coming back to the Doorknob, Alice is told by him that he is still locked, but that she is already on the other side. Looking through the keyhole, Alice sees herself asleep in the park. As the mob draws nearer, she calls, "Alice, wake up!" to her sleeping self until she gradually awakens from the dream to the sound of her sister's voice. The two of them return home for teatime while Alice muses on her adventures in Wonderland, realizing that perhaps logic and reason exist for a purpose.
3. Peter Pan (1953): In Edwardian London in the neighborhood of Bloomsbury, George and Mary Darling's preparations to attend a party are disrupted by the antics of the boys John and Michael, acting out a story about Peter Pan and the pirates, told to them by their older sister Wendy. The father angrily declares that Wendy has gotten too old to continue staying in the nursery with them, and it's time for her to grow up. That night they are visited in the nursery by a pixie named Tinker Bell and cocky Peter Pan, who teaches them to fly and takes them with him to the island of Never Land.
A ship of pirates is anchored off Never Land, commanded by Captain Hook with his sidekick Mr Smee. Hook boldly plots to take revenge upon Peter Pan for cutting off his hand, but he trembles when the crocodile that ate it arrives; it now stalks him hoping to taste more. The crew's restlessness is interrupted by the arrival of Peter and the Darlings. The children easily evade them, and despite a trick by jealous Tinker Bell to have Wendy killed, they meet up with the Lost Boys, six lads in animal-costume pajamas who look to Peter as their leader. John and Michael set off with the Lost Boys to find the island's Indians, who instead capture them, believing them responsible for taking the chief's daughter Tiger Lily.
Meanwhile, Peter takes Wendy to see the mermaids, where they see that Hook and Smee have captured Tiger Lily, to coerce her into revealing Peter's hideout. Peter and Wendy free her, and Peter is honored by the tribe. Hook then plots to take advantage of Tinker Bell's jealousy of Wendy, tricking her into revealing the location of Peter's lair. The pirates lie in wait and capture the Lost Boys and the Darlings as they exit, leaving behind a time bomb to kill Peter. Tinker Bell learns of the plot just in time to snatch the bomb from Peter as it explodes.
Peter rescues Tinker Bell from the rubble and together they confront the pirates, releasing the children before they can be forced to walk the plank. Peter engages Hook in single combat as the children fight off the crew, and finally succeeds in humiliating the captain. Hook and his crew flee, with the crocodile in hot pursuit. Peter gallantly commandeers the deserted ship, and with the aid of Tinker Bell's pixie dust, flies it to London with the children aboard.
Mr and Mrs Darling return home from the party to find Wendy not in her bed, but sleeping at the open window; John and Michael are asleep in their beds. Wendy wakes and excitedly tells about their adventures. The parents look out the window and see what appears to be a pirate ship in the clouds. Mr Darling, who has softened his position about Wendy staying in the nursery, recognizes it from his own childhood, as it breaks up into clouds itself.
4. Lady and the Tramp (1955): Christmas morning Jim Dear gives his wife Darling a cocker spaniel puppy that they name Lady. Though initially planning that Lady would sleep in a basket in the kitchen, she ends up sleeping on the bed with the couple. When she is six months old, she receives a collar and license. Lady goes to show off her badge of maturity to her canine friends Jock, a Scottish terrier and Trusty, a Bloodhound. Across town, a stray mutt, referred to as the Tramp, visits an Italian restaurant where he gets a large bone from the owner for his breakfast. He also spots his fellow strays Peg (a former Dog and Pony Showdog) Pekingese and Bull, a Bulldog, locked up in a dog catcher's wagon and sets them free, leading the dogcatcher away in a decoy chase.
Later, Lady is saddened after Jim Dear calls her "THAT Dog", and another occasion, when Darling swats her for pulling on the yarn she was using to knit. When she tells Jock and Trusty about these events, and how Jim Dear is always asking about Darling's "condition" they explain to her that Darling is expecting a baby. While her friends continue to explain what a baby is, the Tramp wanders into the yard, warning her that when the baby comes she'll lose her comfortable place in the home. Jock and Trusty take an immediate dislike to the stray and order him out of the yard.
The baby arrives and Lady goes to the nursery to finally get a look. Lady realizes the baby is harmless, and assigns herself as its protector. Soon after, Jim Dear and Darling decide to go on a trip together, leaving Aunt Sarah to look after the baby and the house. Aunt Sarah brings her two Siamese cats, Si and Am. While Aunt Sarah is busy with the baby, the two cats begin causing mischief. Lady barks at and chases them, and when Aunt Sarah comes down to investigate the noise, the two cats pretend to be hurt.
Aunt Sarah takes her to a pet shop and has her muzzled. Terrified, Lady escapes, attracting a pack of vicious street dogs. The Tramp sees she's in trouble and rescues her. He takes her to the zoo where they convince a beaver to remove the muzzle. Then the two dogs go around town and the Tramp tells her about his life, and all the "homes" and names he has.
At dinnertime, the Tramp takes Lady to his favorite Italian place, Tony's, where Tony and Joe prepare the couple a dinner of spaghetti and meatballs and serenade the couple. As they eat, the dogs inadvertently share a kiss when they attempt to eat the same piece of spaghetti. After dinner, they go for a walk through the park and eventually fall asleep. In the morning, the Tramp asks Lady to stay with him, but she feels she must watch over the baby so he agrees to take her home. On the way, he convinces her to chase some chickens with him, but while they are escaping, the dogcatcher catches Lady. At the pound, Lady is teased a bit by the rougher strays for being high bred, but Peg (who has been caught again), tells them to stop. The other dogs admire Lady's license, as it is her way out of the pound. Soon the dogs reveal the Tramp's many girlfriends and how he is unlikely to ever settle down. They also predict that if the Tramp ever does settle down, he'll grow careless and likely be caught and put to sleep. The talk upsets Lady, but she is soon taken home.
Aunt Sarah chains her to a doghouse in the back yard, much to her shame. Jock and Trusty visit to try to comfort her, and even propose marriage so she could move to one of their homes. Lady appreciates their gesture but gently turns them down. The Tramp comes to visit and tries to apologize, but Lady confronts him about all of his other girls, after which the Tramp sadly leaves. Moments later, Lady sees a rat sneaking into the house. She barks frantically, but Aunt Sarah yells at her to be quiet. The Tramp hears her and runs back to help. Following Lady's directions, he gets into the house, finds the rat in the nursery and kills it, overturning the baby's crib in the process. Lady breaks her chain to follow him into the house. Aunt Sarah runs in, and seeing the overturned crib, thinks the Tramp attacked the baby. She pushes him into a closet and Lady into the basement, then calls the pound to take the Tramp away.
As the dogcatcher is taking the Tramp away, Jim Dear and Darling arrive and Lady leads them to the dead rat; Jim Dear and Darling realize what has really happened. Jock and Trusty, having overheard everything, chase after the dogcatcher's wagon. Jock is convinced Trusty has long since lost his sense of smell, but the old bloodhound is able to find the wagon. They bark at the horses to make it stop, causing it to fall. Jim Dear arrives by car with Lady, and Lady is happily reunited with the Tramp before they discover that the wagon fell on Trusty.
Christmas arrives and the Tramp now has his own collar and license and has been adopted by Jim Dear and Darling. She and the Tramp have a litter of four puppies. Jock and Trusty come to see the family and the Tramp's new collar, with Trusty carefully walking on his injured leg.
By Duane Ross & Richard Moody
CHAPTER 3
1. Batman (1966): When Batman (West) and Robin (Ward) get a tip that Commodore Schmidlapp (the final role of actor Reginald Denny) is in danger aboard his yacht, they launch a rescue mission using the Batcopter. After a tangle with an exploding shark, Batman and Robin head back to Commissioner Gordon's office where, through deduction and wisdom, they figure out that the tip was a set-up by four of the most powerful villains ever (Joker, Penguin, Riddler and Catwoman), who have united to defeat The Dynamic Duo once and for all.
Armed with a dehydrator that can turn humans into dust, a World War II Unterseeboot made to resemble a penguin, and their three pirate henchmen (Bluebeard, Morgan and Quetch), the "fearsome foursome" intends to take over the world, and Batman and Robin must stop them. Catwoman romantically lures Bruce Wayne into a trap, little suspecting that Wayne is Batman's alter-ego, and Penguin even schemes his way into the Batcave, leaving the Duo unable to prevent the kidnapping of the dehydrated United World Security Council.
After giving chase in the Batboat, the Caped Crusader and Boy Wonder use a sonic charge weapon called "Bat-Charges" to disable Penguin's submarine and bring it to the surface, where a grand fistfight ensues. Although Commodore Schmidlapp sneezes on and scatters the powdered members of the dehydrated Council, mixing them together – which would normally spell their doom – Batman constructs an elaborate filter to return each of them to life.
Prior to this process, Robin asks Batman if it might not be in the world's best interests, with continued problems of overt racism, especially in the U.S. during the 1960s, for them to alter the dust samples so that humans can no longer harm one another. In response, Batman says that they cannot do so and can only hope for people, in general, to learn to live together peacefully on their own.
However, in the final scene, Robin's wishes are ironically fulfilled when the Security Council is improperly re-hydrated. While all of the members are alive and well, continuing to squabble among themselves and totally oblivious of their surroundings, each of them now speaks a completely different language than their original native tongue. As the world looks on in disbelief at this development, Batman and Robin quietly climb out of the United World Headquarters to an uncertain future. Batman's final words express his sincere hope that this "mixing of minds" does more good than it does harm.
By James Ross & Richard Moody
CHAPTER 4
1. Huckleberry Hound (1958): Voiced by Daws Butler, Huckleberry was a blue dog that spoke with a Southern drawl, with a relaxed, sweet, and well-intentioned personality. The term "Huckleberry" can be a slang synonym for a rube or an amateur, and that seems to fit Huck's personality. Most of his shorts consisted of Huck trying to to perform jobs in different fields, ranging from policeman to (ironically enough) dogcatcher, with backfiring results, yet usually coming out on top, either through slow persistence or sheer luck. Huck did not seem to exist in a specific time period as he has also been a Roman gladiator, a Medieval knight, and a rocket scientist. He was never in the future though, only the present (as of the show's airing) or the past. One regular villain in the series was "Powerful Pierre", a tall and muscular unshaven character with a French accent. Another trademark of Huck was his tone deaf (as well as inaccurate) rendition of "Oh My Darling, Clementine," often used as a running gag. He also commonly used the phrase "and stuff like that there" in place of "etc.". This phrase showed up quite often in many Hanna-Barbera productions of this time for some reason, but Huckleberry said it more often than anyone else. One of his careers had his job position on the door listed as "TS & SLTT". When asked what it stood for, Huck said "Top secrets and stuff like that there".
Various Hanna-Barbera characters were known for frequently turning to the viewing audience to make little comments and asides (following the tradition of the Warner Bros. cartoon characters of the 1940s, and earlier by Groucho Marx). Huck took this to somewhat of an extreme, as a significant part of a typical cartoon was his running narrative to the audience about whatever he was trying to accomplish.
2. The Flintstones (1960): The show is set in the town of Bedrock in the Stone Age era. The show is an allegory to American society of the mid-to-late 20th century; in the Flintstones' fantasy version of the prehistoric past, dinosaurs, saber-toothed tigers, woolly mammoths, and other long extinct animals co-exist with barefoot cavemen, who use technology equivalent to that of the 20th century, largely through the use of various animals. The characters drive cars made out of stone or wood and animal skins and powered by foot.
One source of the show's humor was the ways animals were used for technology. For example, when the characters took photographs with an instant camera, the inside of the camera box would be shown to contain a bird carving the picture on a stone tablet with its bill. In a running gag, the animals powering such technology would, breaking the fourth wall, look directly into the camera at the audience, shrug, and remark, "It's a living," or some similar phrase. Another commonly seen gadget in the series was a baby woolly mammoth being used as a vacuum cleaner. Travel to "Hollyrock," a parody of Hollywood, California, usually involved an "airplane" flight—the "plane" in this case often shown as a giant pterodactyl. (Other familiar place names are similarly contorted: San Antonio becomes Sand-and-Stony-o; the country to the south of Bedrock's land is called Mexirock; and so forth.) Lifts are raised and lowered by ropes around brontosaurs' necks; "automatic" windows are powered by monkeys that dwell on the outside windowsill; birds configured as "car horns" are activated by pulling on their tails. An electric razor is depicted as a clam shell housing a honey-bee vibrating it as the edges are rubbed against the character's face.
Season 6 Episode 6 — "Samantha" features Mr. & Mrs. Stephens (Dick York & Elizabeth Montgomery) from Bewitched as both cartoon characters and voice actors.[1]
Being set in the Stone Age allowed for various gags and puns that involved rocks in one way or another, including the names of the various characters being "rock" puns. These included celebrities of the 1960s such as "Cary Granite" (Cary Grant), "Stony Curtis" (Tony Curtis), "Ed Sulleystone" (Ed Sullivan)", "Rock Hudstone" (Rock Hudson), and "Ann-Margrock" (Ann-Margret). Other celebrity/puns on The Flintstones were "Alvin Brickrock" (Alfred Hitchcock); "Perry Masonary" (Perry Mason); and a new neighbour lady "Sam" (Samantha of Bewitched).
In the show's closing credits, Fred tries to put the "cat" (actually a saber-tooth tiger) out for the night. The cat jumps back into the house through the window, opens the back door, and deposits Fred on the doorstep. Fred winds up getting locked out and yelling for his wife to come open the door: "Wilma! Come on, Wilma, open this door! Willllll-ma!" By the time the theme song "Meet the Flintstones" was used, Fred cut the yelling to: "Willllll-ma!" (This gag was mentioned in the lyrics of the "Flintstones" theme song used for the closing credits. "Someday/Maybe Fred will win the fight/Then that/Cat will stay out for the night.")
Although the cat, Baby Puss, was seen in the closing credits of every episode, it was rarely actually seen in any of the storylines. This running gag of having the lead character of the series ending up being helpless during the end credits in every episode due to the hijinks of a family pet would later be repeated by Hanna-Barbera in the series The Jetsons in which George Jetson ends up being caught on a treadmill that ends up spinning out of control. He also (as does Fred in this series) cries out for his wife, by asking her to stop the mechanism with the line, "Jane! Stop this crazy thing!"
3. The Jetsons (1962): George Jetson works 3 hours a day and 3 days a week for his short, tyrannical boss named Mr. Cosmo Spacely, owner of the company Spacely Space Sprockets. Typical episodes involve Mr. Spacely firing and rehiring or promoting and demoting George Jetson (one time with a robot named Uniblab). Mr. Spacely has a competitor, S.K. Cogswell, owner of the rival company Cogswell Cogs. All homes and businesses are raised high above the ground on adjustable columns, in a style reflective of the architecture of Seattle's Space Needle and the distinct Theme Building of the Los Angeles International Airport. George commutes to work in an aerocar that vaguely resembles a flying saucer with a transparent top. Daily life is characterized as being comically leisurely due to the incredible sophistication and number of labor saving devices, which occasionally break down with humorous results. George's work day consists of pressing a single computer button. Despite this, characters often complain of exhausting hard labor and difficulties of living with the remaining inconveniences.
Other Jetson family members include Jane Jetson, the wife and homemaker; teenage daughter Judy and genius preteen son Elroy. Housekeeping is seen to by a robot maid, Rosie; she only appears in two episodes of the original 1960s show, excluding her appearance in the closing credits, but makes many appearances on the 1980s show.
The family dog Astro can mumble and say his words beginning with R's, like later cartoon dogs Scooby-Doo and Muttley could speak (voice actor Don Messick played all three, all of which were created by H-B). Astro's catch phrases are "Ruh-roh!" and "Right, Reorge!" or "Rats Rall Right Reorge!" In the first episode of the '80s show, an alien named Orbity joined the family.
Names of locations, events, and devices are often puns or derivatives of contemporary analogs with explicit futuristic or space-age twists. The same technique was used in The Flintstones with archaic or stone-age twists.
4. Wacky Races (1968): The series ran on CBS from September 14, 1968 to September 5, 1970. Seventeen episodes were produced, with each episode featuring two different races, for a total of 34 races in all.
Attempting to foil the racers' efforts were the show's resident villains Dick Dastardly and his canine sidekick, Muttley. Dastardly would usually gain a large lead, then execute all sorts of elaborate schemes to trap, divert, blow up or stop the other racers, only to see them backfire spectacularly. The intended object lesson may have been that Dastardly might have easily won several races had he only kept his mind on the race and off dirty tricks. Dastardly's rocket car was arguably the fastest car in the series, as evinced by Dastardly's repeatedly zooming to a stunning lead from far behind. Like Wile E. Coyote, Dastardly never saw victory, although on one occasion he did legitimately win the race, but the Jugdes tampered with the replay to make it look as though he cheated by extending the front of his car, and was unjustly denied the victory in favour of Penolope Pitstop. Many of Dastardly's plots look similar to those used in Road Runner cartoons, perhaps because Mike Maltese was a scriptwriter on both series.
Wacky Races was inspired by the 1965 film The Great Race, and the main characters in the cartoon were based on those in the film. Penelope Pitstop (who would later have a spinoff series) took on the appearance of Maggie DuBois, played by Natalie Wood, including her pink outfit and her car's parasol. Dastardly has much in common with Jack Lemmon's portrayal of Professor Fate. Fate and his sidekick, Max Meen (Peter Falk), indulge in similar acts of sabotage and Max has Muttley's knack for making mistakes. Although Fate's car does not look much like the Mean Machine, it does bear the familiar spike on the front and is equipped with smoke screen, cannon, and other assorted gadgets.
One of the original plans for the series was that the races themselves would be part of a live-action quiz show with Merrill Heatter and Bob Quigley Productions, the team behind the television series Hollywood Squares. Heatter-Quigley's plan was that contestants would actually bet on which Wacky Racer would cross the finish line first. Although the game show concept was eventually scrubbed, the series still retained a Hanna-Barbera Heatter-Quigley dual production credit.
In 1988, a made-for-TV movie, Around The World With The Wacky Racers, was planned as part of Hanna-Barbera's Superstars 10 series of TV movies, but it never got past the concept stage.
5. Scooby Doo Where Are You (1969): Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! made its CBS network debut on Saturday, September 13, 1969 with its first episode, "What a Night for a Knight". The original voice cast featured Don Messick as Scooby-Doo, Casey Kasem as Shaggy, Frank Welker as Fred, Nicole Jaffe as Velma, and Stefanianna Christopherson as Daphne.[citation needed] Seventeen episodes of Scooby-Doo were produced in 1969. The series' eponymous theme song was written by David Mook and Ben Raleigh, and performed by Larry Marks.
The influences of I Love a Mystery and Dobie Gillis were especially apparent in these early episodes; Mark Evanier, who would write Scooby-Doo teleplays and comic book scripts in the 1970s and 1980s, identified each of the four teenagers with their corresponding Dobie Gillis character: "Fred was based on Dobie, Velma on Zelda, Daphne on Thalia and Shaggy on Maynard."[1] The similarities between Shaggy and Maynard are the most noticeable; both characters share the same beatnik-style goatee, similar hairstyles, and demeanours. The roles of each character are strongly defined in the series: Fred is the leader and the determined detective, Velma is the intelligent analyst, Daphne is danger-prone, and Shaggy and Scooby-Doo are cowardly types more motivated by hunger than any desire to solve mysteries. Later versions of the show would make slight changes to the characters' established roles, most notably in the character of Daphne, shown in 1990s and 2000s Scooby-Doo productions as knowing many forms of karate and being able to defend herself.
The plot of each episode followed a formula that would serve as a template for many of the later incarnations of the series. At the beginning of the episode, the Mystery, Inc. gang bump into some type of evil ghost or monster, which they learn has been terrorizing the local populace. The teens offer to help solve the mystery behind the creature, but while looking for clues and suspects, the gang (and in particular Shaggy and Scooby) run into the monster, who always gives chase. However, after analyzing the clues they have found, the gang determines that this monster is simply a mere mortal in disguise. They capture the monster, often with the use of a Rube Goldberg-type contraption built by Fred, and bring him to the police. Upon learning the villain's true identity, either the only person they had met or someone they hadn't seen before, the fiendish plot is fully explained, and the apprehended criminal would utter the famous catchphrase, or a variation thereof: "And I would have gotten away with it, if it wasn't for you meddling kids!"
Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! was a major ratings success for CBS, and they renewed it for a second season in 1970. The eight 1970 episodes of Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! differed slightly from the first-season episodes in their uses of more slapstick humor, Archie Show-like "chase songs" during climactic sequences, Heather North performing the voice of Daphne in place of Christopherson, and a re-recorded version of the theme song sung by Austin Roberts. This season also marked an attempt at providing a real mystery with multiple suspects and red herring clues. Both seasons contained a laugh track, which was the standard practice for U.S. cartoon series during the 1960s and 1970s.
6. Dastardly & Muttley In Their Flying Machines (1969): Each story features variations on the same plot elements: the Vulture Squadron tries to trap Yankee Doodle Pigeon using one or more planes equipped with Klunk's latest contraption(s), but one or more of the Squadron messes up the attempt and the plane(s) either crash, collide or explode. While they are falling out of the wreckage, Dastardly calls for help, which Muttley either offers or refuses depending on whether Dastardly agrees to give him a medal. Even when Muttley does agree to fly Dastardly out of trouble, Dastardly seldom has a soft landing. At some point the General calls Dastardly on the phone to demand results. Dastardly assures him that they will soon capture the pigeon, but the General disbelieves him and either bellows down the phone or reaches through it and pulls Dastardly's moustache or nose. Klunk then comes up with a new invention and "explains" it in his own unique way. Dastardly says "What'd he say? What'd he say?" and Zilly interprets, before attempting to run away. Once Muttley has "persuaded" (usually by biting/attacking him) Zilly to return, the Vulture Squadron take off in their new plane(s) to repeat the whole procedure over and over again. Eventually the Squadron are left to lick their wounds as Yankee Doodle Pigeon flies off over the horizon, blowing his bugle triumphantly.
Like its predecessor, Wacky Races, Dastardly and Muttley in their Flying Machines owes a great deal to the Road Runner cartoons, with Dastardly once again taking the Wile E. Coyote role. Both characters are fanatics, incapable of giving up even in the face of repeated and painful failure. Michael Maltese, who wrote many of the original Road Runner shorts, is also credited as a writer on Wacky Races, The Perils of Penelope Pitstop and Dastardly and Muttley.
Dick Dastardly's appearance in this show was based on the English actor Terry-Thomas, the moustache-twirling villain of Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines, the film which provided the inspiration for Dastardly and Muttley in their Flying Machines.
7. The Perils of Penelope Pitstop (1970): The title was a reference to a silent movie era melodrama cliffhanger movie serial, The Perils of Pauline. Although the show's predecessor, Wacky Races, appeared to be set in the then-contemporary 1960s, the characters and settings of The Perils of Penelope Pitstop were strongly reminiscent of the 1920s. Adding to the cliffhanger serial feel, episodes typically started with a recap such as "Last time we left Penelope, she was in the clutches of the Hooded Claw". There was never a two part or longer episode, so these recaps never referred to any real episodes, making every episode seem like the last in a non-existent series. This served as a way to jump directly into action or to the end of an adventure in another country with little explanation, allowing the short cartoon to contain simply the chase and rescue part of the story.
The series was a spin-off from Wacky Races and featured race car driver Penelope Pitstop (voiced by Janet Waldo). She wore a bright pink auto-racing outfit, with red tights and white go-go boots. Pitstop was constantly chased by a villain called the "Hooded Claw", aka Sylvester Sneekly (voiced by an uncredited Paul Lynde), who wanted to get rid of her in order to get her inheritance.
Also from the Wacky Races was the Ant Hill Mob, a group of crooks, who, with their brave car, Chugga-Boom, acted as heroes and were constantly rushing to Penelope's rescue. But their attempts to save her almost always ended in disaster for themselves, and Penelope was often left to her own devices. Their friendship with Penelope was non-existent on Wacky Races. On Wacky Races, Clyde (of the Ant Hill Mob) once gave Penelope directions he claimed would get her back to the race, but were actually directions to the La Brea Tar Pits. Why they teamed up as Penelope's friends and guardians is never explained.
The Hooded Claw, aided by his pair of identical henchmen, the Bully Brothers (both voiced by Mel Blanc), concocted needlessly Goldbergian plots to kill Penelope (such as a device to drop her from an aircraft, cut her parachute, and then have her drop into a box of wildcats). While the Mob often rescued Penelope, as often as not she needed to rescue the Mob from the unintended effects of their attempts to rescue her. While Penelope was curiously helpless whenever The Hooded Claw grabbed her, once he left her tied up for his fiendish plans to take effect, she was quite resourceful and ingenious, often coming up with spontaneous inventions to escape her peril.
Penelope was always in a different part of the globe for every peril. Mainly she was in America, but she did go to locations such as Egypt, England, the jungle, Baghdad and the North Pole. These settings were painted by background artist Walter Peregoy.
Just like in other spin-off series, like Dastardly and Muttley in their Flying Machines, the Wacky Races series is never mentioned, not by Penelope, nor by the Ant Hill Mob. Plus the Compact Pussycat from Wacky Races is never seen in the series. Instead of that vehicle, Penelope usually drives a green sports car, or any other vehicle that she finds, or even Chugga-Boom.
8. National Lampoons Animal House (1978): This hilarious special edition of the movie that made food fights an art form and John Belushi a star features exclusive bonus content developed and directed by legenary filmmaker John Landis and co-producer Matty Simmons.
The raunchy, screwball spoof about college life in the 1960’s sees Bluto (John Belushi), Otter (Tim Matheson), Pinto (Tom Hulce) and Flounder (Stephen Furst) lead the way with their outrageous behaviour in the ultimate campus comedy!
9. The Blues Brothers (1980): After the release of Jake Blues (John Belushi) from prison, he and brother Elwood (Dan Aykroyd) go to visit the orphanage where they were raised by nuns.
They learn that the church stopped its support and will sell the place unless the tax on the property is paid within 11 days.
The brother’s decide to raise the money by putting the blues band back together and staging a big gig. They may be on a ‘mission from God’ but they’re making enemies everywhere they go.
10. Continental Divide (1981): Ernie Souchak (John Belushi) is a celebrated Chicago Sun—Times columnist famous for his blistering political exposes. While his controversial reporting has earned him the respect of his editor, Howard McDermott (Alan Goorwitz) and the admiration of a legion of fans, it also earns him a trip to the hospital following a run in with some disgruntled thugs.
Suggesting he leaves the city for a while, McDermott sends Ernie to the Rockies to interview renowned ornithologist Nell Porter (Blair Brown) who studies the habits of the endangered American bold eagle. It’s a case of loathe at first sight when the chain smoking, big city Souchak meets the reclusive nature-lover Porter! But despute their differences, Souchak’s trip west soon turns into a fun filled romantic adventure as these two trek through the mountains at top of the world along the Continental Divide!
11. Neighbors (1981): John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd are at it again, but this time they’re on opposite sides of the fence-the backyard fence, that is. And the results are uproarious! Earl Keese (Belushi) is a slightly overweight, fairly average guy who is approaching middle age. He leads a reasonable comfortable life with his family in their suburban home…until the house next door is bought by a truly odd couple, Vic (Aykroyd) and Ramona (Cathy Moriaty), who quickly proceed to drive Earl crazy. Vic’s lunatic, behaviour has Earl running in circles while Ramona’s coarse seductiveness leaves him panting. In short Earl’s tranquil life is suddenly turned upside down. If it’s laughs you want, these are the neighbours to look in on.
12. Star Wars Episode V The Empire Strikes Back (1980): It is a dark time for the Rebellion. After a devastating attack on their ice base on the frozen planet of Hath, the Rebels are scattered by Imperial pursuit. Luke Skywalker seeks out the mysterious Jedi Master Yoda in the swamps of Dagobah, while Han Solo and Princess Leia outrun the Imperial fleet to the beautiful Cloud City of Bespin. In an attempt to convert Luke to the dark side, the evil Darth Vader lures young Skywalker into a trap. In the midst of a fierce lightsaber dual with the Sith Lord, Luke faces a terrible truth about the Skywalker legacy.
13. Buck Rogers In The 25th Century (1980): Buck Rogers in the 25th Century is an American science fiction adventure television series produced by Universal Studios. The series was developed by Glen A. Larson and ran for two seasons, from 1979 - 1981. The feature-length pilot episode for the series was released theatrically several months before the series aired.The film and series were based upon the Buck Rogers character created by Philip Francis Nowlan that had been featured in comic strips and novellas since the 1920s ... and on the CBS and Mutual radio networks, airing several times each week from 1932 to 1947.
The Buck Rogers In The 25th Century TV show was a sci-fi series about astronaut Buck Rogers. During a space flight a meteor shower damages his ship's life support system, leaving his frozen body wandering aimlessly through space. Five centuries later, he is found and revived and realizes that there is no way back to his home in the 20th century. The Earth is recovering from a nuclear war and is also being attacked by an evil empire. Buck Rogers joins Earth forces in their fight bringing a much needed 20th century ingenuity which has apparently diminished greatly since the 20th century. For the second season, a starship is sent by Earth to find lost Earth colonies with Buck Rogers along for the adventure!
14. Riders of The Lost Ark (1981): Hero Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) accompanied by his feisty, independent ex-flame Marian Ravenwood (Karen Allen), the two fisted archaeologist embarks on a thrilling quest to locate the mystical Ark of the Covenant. Indy must discover the Ark before the Nazis do, and he has to survive prison, traps, snakes and treachery to do so. Explore the darkest jungles of South America, the bustling market places of Cairo, and the top secret submarine base with Indiana Jones as your guide to adventure. And finally witness the power of the Lost Arch unleashed as Indy stays one step ahead of the Nazis.
15. The Fox & The Hound (1981): A young red fox kit is left orphaned when his mother is killed by a hunter and his Hound Dog. A kindly owl, named Big Mama, arranges him to be adopted by the compassionate Widow Tweed as a pet on her farm. Tweed names the fox Tod. Meanwhile, Tweed's neighbor, an ill-tempered hunter named Amos Slade, brings home a young hound puppy named Copper. Slade introduces Copper to his experienced hunting dog Chief, who is rather uneasy to interact with the younger pup at first but later treats Copper as his own son.
Tod and Copper meet and form a friendship they feel will last forever. Slade grows frustrated after Copper is constantly caught wandering off to play with Tod. After several meetings between Tod and Copper, Slade places Copper on a leash to stop him from wandering off.
Undeterred, Tod decides to play with Copper at his home. Tod's visit to Slade's farm becomes disastrous when he inadvertently awakens Chief, who promptly chases him throughout the farm. Slade enters the pursuit as well, trying to shoot Tod. The pursuit finally ends after Slade begins shooting at Widow Tweed's car, with Tod in tow. A furious Tweed takes Slade's gun out of his hand and shoots his car's radiator. After a fierce argument, the belligerent Slade makes it clear that he intends to kill Tod at his first opportunity.
For the rest of the summer Tod is limited to the house with Widow Tweed. The matter is shelved for the moment, with hunting season commencing, and Slade takes his dogs into the wilderness for the interim. Meanwhile, Big Mama explains to Tod that his friendship with Copper cannot continue, as they were bred to be enemies. Tod, in his innocence, states that he and Copper are "gonna be friends forever."
Months pass, and Copper becomes an excellent hunting dog. Upon Copper's return, Tod, who at the same time has become a handsome, full-grown, adult fox, meets him during the night, thinking their friendship unchanged. Copper explains that he is a hunting dog now, and that they can no longer be friends. Their meeting is cut short when Chief awakens and alerts Slade. A chase ensues, but Copper diverts Chief and Slade so that Tod can escape. Unfortunately, Chief manages to maintain the pursuit, which carries onto a railroad track trestle. When a fast-moving train suddenly approaches, Tod is able to duck under the vehicle, but Chief is struck and wounded. Enraged, Copper blames Tod for the accident and swears vengeance.
Realizing that Tod cannot safely stay on her farm now, Tweed leaves him at a nature preserve, which has signs prohibiting hunting. Although Tod has a difficult time adjusting, Big Mama helps by introducing him to a young, beautiful vixen named Vixey. Tod first tries to impress Vixey by catching a fish, only to fail, causing Vixey and the other animals of the game reserve to laugh at him. Angry and hurt, Tod tells Vixey that she's "a silly, empty-headed...female!" Angered, they refuse to speak to each other, but Big Mama intervenes with the song "Appreciate the Lady" and directs Tod in being himself, and Vixey to give him another chance. They get along very well once Tod admits his lack of survival skills. Vixey is now aware of his inability to survive in the wild and helps him adapt. This also seems to bring Vixey and Tod closer in a romantic light.
The vengeful Slade and Copper trespass into the preserve to kill Tod with leghold traps and guns. The result is a harrowing chase throughout the forest trying to catch Tod and Vixey that climaxes when Slade and Copper inadvertently provoke an attack from a disturbed bear. Slade gets off only a single shot before he trips and gets caught in one of his own leghold traps and his gun falls just out of his reach. Copper fights the bear but is nearly killed in a very vicious fight. Against his better judgment, Tod intervenes to save his friend. He fights the much larger bear and ends up luring him on to a fallen trunk that breaks and sends the two falling down a waterfall.
Tod survives and meets Copper at shore, who is stunned at Tod's heroism for his sake in spite of current events. However, Slade does not share any gratitude and suddenly appears, still vindictively eager to kill the fox. Copper makes the moral decision of interposing his body in front of Tod, and Slade, reluctant to kill his own hound for a petty vendetta against a fox who had just saved their lives, is forced to give up and return home. The fox and hound share one final smile before going their separate ways and at the same time, Squeeks the caterpillar is turned into a butterfly while Dinky and Boomer are watching through Squeeks' hole in order to eat it (throughout the film, Dinky and Boomer are always trying to eat Squeeks but are outsmarted by Squeeks every time).
In the final scene, as Copper rests in his dog house, he hears Tod's voice of when they were young saying that they would be friends forever. He smiles at this, and falls asleep. The view then backs out to a small hill, where Vixey joins Tod, looking at both houses.
16. Here Comes Garfield (1982): Garfield and Odie are outside harassing a neighbor's dog when the owner Hubert (Also from the strip) calls the pound. When the dog catcher arrives, Garfield flees but Odie is too stupid to run away and is taken. Garfield decides to go home but realizes how boring life is without Odie around and that night, he goes to rescue him. However, Garfield is caught and thrown into the cage. Garfield learns from a cellmate that Odie is going to be euthanized in the morning. During the night, a depressed Garfield remembers through flashbacks of the all good times he and Odie had playing together and how sad his life would be without him (in these series of flashbacks by Garfield, the song "So Long Old Friend" is played in the background). Morning comes and after Garfield says 'so long' and sheds a tear, Odie is taken down the hall to be euthanized. A girl then arrives at the pound for a pet and chooses Garfield. When the cage opens, Garfield leads the pets out of the cage in a stampede. They rescue Odie and break down the pound door, with the knocked-out dogcatcher on it. As the pets run home, Garfield and Odie knock down the front door as Jon was trying to fix it, which Garfield knocked down as he went home earlier in the cartoon. Jon then bets that they did things in the night while he worried about them, and they agree. Jon later gives Odie a steak and gives Garfield bacon and eggs. Garfield furiously throws them at Jon, who then looks up from his newspaper, his eyes covered with the eggs and his mouth covered with the bacon. Garfield says that he's only human, and Jon continues reading the newspaper without taking the food off..
17. Star Trek II The Wrath Of Khan (1982): It is the 23rd century. The federation starship U.S.S. Enterprise is on routine training manoeuvres, and Admiral James T. Kirk (Willaim Shatner) seems resigned to the fact that this inspection may well be the last space mission of his career. But Khan is back. Aided by his exile band of genetic supermen, Khan (Ricardo Montalban) – brilliant renegade of 20th century Earth-has raided space station Regula One, stolen a top secret device called Project Genesis, wrested control of another Federation starship, and now schemes to set a most dealdly trap for his old enemy Kirk… with a threat of universal Armageddon! Co-starring Kirstie Alley (Cheers) in her stunning motion picture debut.
18. He-Man & The Masters Of The Universe (1983): The show takes place on the fictional planet of Eternia, a land of magic, myth and fantasy. The show's lead character is Prince Adam, the young son of Eternia's rulers, King Randor and Queen Marlena. Prince Adam is a seemingly cowardly, blond muscleman dressed in a pink-and-white chemise cote d'azur with perwinkle stockings and purple boots. However, Prince Adam possesses the Power Sword, and when he holds it aloft and says the magic words "By the Power of Grayskull! I have the Power!" he is transformed into He-Man, the most powerful man in the universe. He-Man is a brave, blond muscleman in a baldric and loincloth. Together with his close allies, Battle Cat, Teela, Man-At-Arms and Orko, He-Man uses his powers to defend Eternia from the evil forces of Skeletor, a tyrannical warlord with a skull for a face. Skeletor's main goal is to conquer the mysterious fortress of Castle Grayskull, from which He-Man draws his powers. If he succeeds, Skeletor would be able to conquer not only Eternia, but the whole universe.
Despite the limited animation techniques that were used to produce the series, He-Man was notable for breaking the boundaries of censorship that had severely restricted the narrative scope of children's TV programming in the 1970s. For the first time in years, a cartoon series could feature a muscular superhero who was actually allowed to hit people, though he still could not use his sword often; more often than not He-Man opted to pick up his opponents and toss them away rather than hit them. The cartoon was controversial in that it was produced in connection with marketing a line of toys; advertising to children was itself controversial during this period. In Britain, advertising regulations forbade commercials for He-Man toys to accompany the program itself. In similar fashion to other shows at the time: notably G.I. Joe, an attempt to mitigate the negative publicity generated by this controversy was made by including a "life lesson" or "moral of the story" at the end of each episode. This moral was usually directly tied to the action or central theme of that episode.
The show was so successful that it spawned a spin-off series, She-Ra: Princess of Power following the adventures of He-Man's sister. Mattel's subsequent attempts to relaunch the He-Man toy line have also led to the short-lived sequel series The New Adventures of He-Man in the early 1990s, and an update of the series for a contemporary audience in 2002.
It is also noted for featuring early script-writing work from later Babylon 5 creator J. Michael Straczynski, Paul Dini of the 90s Batman-fame, and David Wise, head-writer of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
19. Garfield On The Town (1983): Jon becomes concerned about Garfield's behavior after he messes up the house. Somewhere in between being dragged out of the house and being driven to the vet, Garfield falls out of the car and is lost in the city. He tries to make the most of it until he runs into a group of unfriendly alley cats that call themselves The Claws. Garfield runs away and ends up in an abandoned restaurant... and then is reunited with his long lost mother. The building they are in used to be "Mama Leone's", Garfield's birthplace and also where he discovered a love for lasagna. Garfield's mother takes him to see the rest of the family including his tough grandpa and half brother Raoul. Garfield is appalled to learn that everyone in the family are mousers. The Claws have tracked Garfield down and have surrounded the building. The family decides to fight instead of giving up Garfield to The Claws. Garfield hides cowardly while the family fights and finally chases The Claws away. Garfield's grandfather demands that Garfield leave. Reassured by his mother that they all envy his easy life at Jon's home, Garfield says goodbye and leaves. Out in the soaking rain Garfield collapses until Jon and Odie find him and bring him home. Garfield thinks the whole day's experience may have been a dream but he knows that his mother is still looking out for him..
20. Star Trek III The Search For Spock (1984): Admiral Kirk’s defeat of Khan and the creation of the Genesis planet are empty victories. Spock is dead and McCoy is inexplicably being driven insane. Then a surprise visit Sarek, Spock’s father, provides a starling revelation: McCoy is harbouring Spock’s living essence. With one friend alive and one not, but both in pain, Kirk attempts to help his friends by stealing U.S.S. Enterprise and defying Starfleet’s Genesis planet quarantine. But the klingons have also learned of Genesis and the race to meet Kirk in a deadly rendezvous.
21. Indiana Jones & The Temple Of Doom (1984): Follow the legendary hero from one cliff-hanger to another after barely escaping a raging Shanghai nightclub brawl, Indy crash lands into the wilds of India where he uncovers a sinister scheme that has enslaved a remote village’s children in a fortress like mine. Indy must save the children and avoid becoming a slave himself to the evil Thuggee cult. Along for the raucous rescue attempt is Indy’s pint-size side kick, Short Round ( Ke Huy Quan) as well as a reluctant nightclub songbird, Willie Scott (Kate Capshaw). See Indy as he outwits blood thirsty villains and experiences the spectacular twists and turns of a thrilling mine car chase in the ultimate roller coaster adventure.
22. The Gummi Bears (1985): The series focuses on the escapades of the eponymous "Gummi Bears," anthropomorphic bears who are the last remnants of a once-great civilization of Gummis that fled the land centuries ago. Regarded by most of humankind as fairytales, the show's main cast of Gummi Bears (six in number at the outset of the series, increased to seven during the third season) live in the vast subterranean warren of Gummi Glen in the medieval kingdom of Dunwyn. The Gummis' modern adventures begin when they are discovered by a human boy named Cavin who happens to have a Gummi Medallion. After he accidentally enters the colony's underground home of Gummi Glen, they capture and interrogate the boy as to how he gained the medallion. During the questioning, Cavin is accidentally escapes, but refuses to cause any harm and attempts to befriend the reclusive bears. Impressed by this civilized behavior, they make him swear to keep their confidence and make him a privileged friend of the colony. Later, the medallion magically unlocks the colony's Great Book of Gummi, an essential reference guide to the forgotten knowledge of the Gummi Bears. Inspired by its writings, the colony resolves to rediscover their heritage and help Dunwyn defend against evil.
The main source of this evil is Duke Igthorn, a renegade noble and his army of ogres from the neighboring kingdom of Drekmoore who aim to conquer the Dunwyn. Unfortunately, in stopping Igthorn's attempt to bombard his enemies with a grand catapult, the duke learns of the existence of the Gummi Bears and will stop at nothing to discover and exploit their secrets to become invincible. Chief among his primary goals is gaining a reliable supply of the Gummi Bears' vital strategic substance, Gummiberry Juice, a magic potion that endows the Gummis with bouncing abilities, but gifts humans with momentary super-strength as well as other numerous uses.
In addition to combating Igthorn's ambition, the Gummis regularly encounter other evil humans and magical beings ranging from wizards to gods, all the while attempting to hide their existence from the world at large. One of the show's main recurring storylines outside of the schemes of Igthorn is the mystery of the ancient Gummis, who are now scattered all across the world, but who have left advanced technology and magic behind them.
23. The Racoons (1985): The series features the adventures in the Evergreen Forest (which is depicted to be in Western Canada) of Bert Raccoon and his friends Ralph and Melissa, particularly in their attempts to thwart the industrialist actions of pink aardvark Cyril Sneer and his trio of pig henchmen. Another interesting character was the capitalist Mr. Knox—a crocodile with a New Orleans accent. Cyril's son Cedric is Bert's best friend.
Usually, the series would feature the main characters learning major life lessons in teamwork, friendship, cooperation, and sometimes just helping out their fellow friends that live near the forest, human and animal alike, tangling with the tyrannical tycoon Cyril Sneer, who does not let anything as trivial as nature's defining highlights (trees, lakes, etc) prevent him attempting to attain a profit.
One unique element of the series is that Cyril gradually evolves from an unrepentantly destructive capitalist to a likable and environmentally responsible, if still highly aggressive, businessman and occasional ally of the Raccoons.
Debuting in 1980 with The Christmas Raccoons TV special, The Raccoons slowly began its journey to becoming a regular animated series, using assorted specials over the next few years as stepping stones (The Raccoons On Ice, The Raccoons and the Lost Star, Let's Dance), before finally becoming a regular series in 1985. Five series of episodes were produced, airing from 1985 to 1992.
In 1989, a new character by the name of Lisa Raccoon was introduced into the series. Lisa is Ralph's niece, and the statuesque older sister of Bentley Raccoon, and the daughter of George and Nicole Raccoon. She is the love interest/best friend of Bert Raccoon. Lisa made her debut in Spring Fever, she was voiced by Lisa Lougheed, the singer of the series' ending theme.
In 2003, As Long As Forever: A Raccoons Movie was listed as being in development on the Canadian Television Fund's website [1] in the "Development Projects" section, however since then no information has been posted to the Canadian Television Fund's website about it.
The series returned to Canadian television on the new Teletoon Retro network, which launched October 1, 2007.
24. Star Trek IV The Voyager Home (1986): William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy and the rest of the U.S.S. Enterprise crew take to the skies in one of the most acclaimed and intriguing Star Trek adventures ever.
It’s the 23rd century and a mysterious alien power is threatening Earth by evaporating the oceans and destroying the atmosphere. In a frantic attempt to save mankind, Kirk and his crew must travel back to 1986 San Francisco where they find a world of punk, pizza and exact change buses that are as alien as anything they’ve ever encountered in the far reaches of the galaxy. A thrilling action packed mission for the Starship Enterprise!
25. Garfield In Paradise (1986): Jon takes a third class airline trip to "Paradise World," a cheapskate's version of Hawaii (with Garfield disguised as his son). They check into a sleazy motel and are disappointed to find out that there is no beach within sight of the motel. Its only redeeming value is an empty pool in the back. When they enter their run down room they find that Odie stowed away in Jon's suitcase. None of the trio has any fun until they decide to rent a car and go searching for a beach. For a cheap price they get a really nice 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air. They hit the beach and then decide to go when their car mysteriously swerves into a jungle on its own, stopping in the middle of a native village. Jon, Garfield, and Odie believe they are in trouble until the natives begin to bow down to the car. The trio meets the tribal chief who explains that the car used to belong to The Cruiser, a Fonzie- styled legend who drove into the native village and introduced the people to the 1950's pop culture. The Cruiser saved the village by sacrificing himself and driving into the volcano. The village is now devoted to a 1950s lifestyle and believes that Jon's rental car is the same one that once belonged to The Cruiser. In the village Jon and Garfield find romance with the tribal princess Owooda and her cat Mai-Tai (who bears a resemblance to Arlene). Meanwhile the village idiot Monkey (who is also a mechanic) is asked to fix the convertible and Odie helps him. Suddenly the nearby volcano begins to rumble and Owooda tells Jon that she and Mai-Tai must sacrifice themselves to the volcano to save the village. The volcano rejects them because it wants the car, and if it doesn't have the car in 30 seconds, it will still blow the island to pieces. Monkey and Odie rush to get the car fixed and suddenly they are zooming across the village and up the volcano. Before Monkey and Odie can jump out, the car falls into the volcano and the spirit of The Cruiser flies out and floats away in the car's ghost; the volcano is at peace. Monkey and Odie are assumed dead until they climb out of the volcano crater. The villagers carry Monkey and Odie back to the village in a hero's fashion.
26. Duck Tales (1987): The general premise of the show is about the adventures of Scrooge and his nephews. The nephews, who were originally living with their uncle Donald, are left in Scrooge's care when the former joins the Navy.
Though Scrooge is the richest duck in the world, he constantly tries to find ways to increase his wealth. A few episodes involve protecting his wealth from villains who want to rob Scrooge of all his money. The prominent recurring antagonists in the show include The Beagle Boys and Magica De Spell who are always finding ways to rob and swindle Scrooge and his nephews. Scrooge's nemesis in the show is Flintheart Glomgold, who always tries to devise plans to dethrone Scrooge Mcduck from his "Richest duck in the world" tag.
The show's second season saw the addition of characters Fenton Crackshell and Bubba Duck. Along with them came stories that generally shifted away from the globetrotting plots of the first season, and revolved primarily in the contemporary setting of Duckburg. Episodes would feature either Bubba or Fenton but rarely both.
Although Scrooge and his nephews were the show's main characters, some episodes focused on other characters like Launchpad or Gyro.
Some episodes are based on Carl Barks stories or simply have elements from such stories. (The Unbreakable Bin is based on Barks' The Unsafe Safe)
The series is notable for being the first Disney cartoon to be produced for syndication[1] , and paving the way for future Disney cartoons, such as Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers and TaleSpin. DuckTales also spawned two spinoffs – Darkwing Duck and Quack Pack.
A world broadcast premiere television movie (entitled "The Treasures of the Golden Suns") first aired on September 18, 1987. Afterwards, it was later turned into a five-part pilot episode. The hundredth episode (which was also the series finale) aired on March 11, 1990. A feature-length movie was released in theatres on August 3, 1990.
The show was the most successful of Disney's early attempts to create high-quality animation for a TV animated series (earlier shows included The Wuzzles and Disney's Adventures of the Gummi Bears in 1985).[2] Disney invested a far greater amount of money into the TV series than had previously been spent on animated shows of the time. This was considered a risky move, because animated TV series were generally considered low-budget, investments for most of the history of TV cartoons up through the 1980s. Most of the DuckTales episodes were animated in Asia by companies such as Cuckoo's Nest Studios, Wang Film Productions of Taiwan, and Tokyo Movie Shinsha of Japan.[3]
Many critics say that Disney's own animation studio had lost most of its luster during the period from Walt Disney's passing through the 1980s. However, the studio took a number of risks that paid off handsomely, and DuckTales was one of those risks that won big. The studio gambled on the idea that a larger investment into quality animation could be made back through syndication — a concept that worked well with live-action TV reruns, but which had only been used with inexpensive cartoon series that either recycled theatrical shorts from decades past or only featured limited, low-budget animation.
The 1987-1988 season of DuckTales consisted of 65 episodes (the standard length for a Disney TV show). The next season (1989-1990) included an additional 35 episodes, bringing the total to 100 episodes — making DuckTales one of the longest-running Disney shows in terms of number of episodes. (The longest-running Disney show is Dumbo's Circus). In the second season, Bubba the Caveduck and his pet triceratops, Tootsie, and Fenton Crackshell and his alter ego Gizmo Duck appeared.
The show was successful enough to spawn a feature film, DuckTales the Movie: Treasure of the Lost Lamp, and two spinoff series: Darkwing Duck and Quack Pack. The success of DuckTales also paved the way for a new wave of high-quality animated TV series, including Disney's own The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh in 1988.
The 1989 series Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers was paired with DuckTales in an hour-long syndicated show through the 1989-1990 television season. In the 1990-1991 season, Disney expanded the idea even further, to create The Disney Afternoon, a two-hour long syndicated block of half-hour cartoons. DuckTales was one of the early flagship cartoons in the series.
Huey, Dewey, and Louie all appeared in the drug prevention video Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue. Scrooge and Launchpad appeared in Disney's short-lived animated series Raw Toonage (originally aired on CBS in 1992 and 1993).
DuckTales was last seen on Toon Disney, a Disney-owned network that airs mostly animated cartoons. After the addition of Jetix in February 2004, the show left circulation along with a number of other shows, and as of 2006, it is currently being syndicated on the United Kingdom channel Disney Cinemagic. The Disney Channel reran the series in the late-1990s until their pre-teen lineup took over.
27. Star Trek The Next Generation (1987): After the box-office success of the Harve Bennett-produced Star Trek-based movies, Paramount decided to create a new Star Trek series in 1986. Roddenberry initially declined to be involved but came on board as creator after being unhappy with early conceptual work. The creation of Star Trek: The Next Generation was announced on October 10, 1986. The show was, unusually, broadcast in first-run syndication rather than running on a major network, with Paramount and the local stations splitting advertising time between them.[2]
Roddenberry hired a number of Star Trek veterans, including Bob Justman, D. C. Fontana, Eddie Milkis, and David Gerrold. Paramount executive Rick Berman was assigned to the show at Roddenberry's request.[citation needed]
The Next Generation was shot on 35mm film[3], and was one of the first television shows with sound recorded in Dolby Surround.[citation needed] The filming negatives were scanned in a straight-to-video device.[citation needed]
Season one
The first season was marked by a "revolving door" of writers, with Gerrold and Fontana quitting after disputes with Roddenberry.[4]
Season One has been criticized as aimless and formulaic. Mark Bourne of The DVD Journal wrote of season one: "A typical episode relied on trite plot points, clumsy allegories, dry and stilted dialogue, or characterization that was taking too long to feel relaxed and natural."[5] Other targets of criticism include poor special effects and plots being resolved by the deus ex machina of Wesley Crusher saving the ship.[6][7] However, Patrick Stewart's acting skills won praise and critics have noted that characters were given greater potential for development than those of the original series.[6][5]
While the events of most episodes of season one were self-contained, many developments important to the show as a whole occurred during the season. The recurring nemesis Q was introduced in the pilot, "Encounter at Farpoint", the alien Ferengi first appeared in "The Last Outpost", the capabilities of the holodeck were explored, and the history between Will Riker and Deanna Troi was investigated.
Later season one episodes set the stage for serial plots. The episode "Datalore" introduced Data's evil twin brother Lore, who made several more appearances in later episodes. "Coming of Age" dealt with Wesley Crusher's efforts to get into Starfleet Academy while also hinting at the threat to Starfleet later faced in "Conspiracy". "Heart of Glory" explored Worf's character, Klingon culture, and the uneasy truce between the Federation and the Klingon Empire, three themes that would play a major role in later episodes. Tasha Yar left the show in "Skin of Evil", and the season finale, "The Neutral Zone", established the presence of two of TNG's most enduring villains: the Romulans and, in a foreshadowing manner, the Borg.
The series premiere became the first television show to be nominated for a Hugo Award since 1972. Six first-season episodes were each nominated for an Emmy Award; "11001001" won for Outstanding Sound Editing for a Series, "The Big Goodbye" won for Outstanding Costume Design for a Series, and "Conspiracy" won for Outstanding Achievement in Makeup for a Series.[8]
Season two
The show underwent significant changes during its second season. Beverly Crusher was replaced as doctor during the season by Katherine Pulaski, played by Diana Muldaur who was twice a guest star of the original Star Trek. The show's recreational area, Ten-Forward, and its mysterious bartender/advisor, Guinan, played by Whoopi Goldberg, appeared for the first time in season two. Owing to the 1988 Writers Guild of America strike, the number of episodes produced was cut from 26 to 22 and the start of the season was delayed. Because of the strike, the opening episode, "The Child", was based on a script originally written for Star Trek: Phase II, a previous attempt to create a new weekly Star Trek series, while the season finale, "Shades of Gray" was a clip show. Both episodes were critically panned.[9]
Nevertheless, season two as a whole was widely regarded as significantly better than season one. Its focus on character development received special praise.[10] Co-Executive Producer Maurice Hurley has stated that his primary goal for the season was to plan and execute season-long story arcs and character arcs.[11] Hurley wrote the acclaimed episode "Q Who?", which featured the first on-screen appearance of TNG's most popular villain, the Borg. Season two focused on developing the character Data, and two highly-regarded episodes from the season, "Elementary, Dear Data" and "The Measure of a Man" featured him prominently.[9] Miles O'Brien also became a more prominent character during the second season, while Geordi La Forge found a position as chief engineer. Klingon issues continued to be explored in well-regarded episodes such as "A Matter of Honor" and "The Emissary", which introduced Worf's lover K'Ehleyr.[12] Five second-season episodes were nominated for six Emmys; "Q Who?" won for Outstanding Sound Editing for a Series and Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Drama Series.[8]
Season three and beyond
In the third season, Michael Piller became head writer, and Gene Roddenberry took less of an active role, with Piller and Berman becoming the executive producers. Doctor Crusher came back to replace Doctor Pulaski who was always noted as a guest star in the second season. Ronald D. Moore joined the show after submitting a spec script that became "The Bonding"; he became the franchise's "Klingon guru".[8] Six third-season episodes were nominated for eight Emmys; "Yesterday's Enterprise" won for Outstanding Sound Editing for a Series and "Sins of the Father" won for Best Art Direction for a Series.[8]
Brannon Braga and Jeri Taylor joined the show in its fourth season. Seven fourth-season episodes were nominated for eight Emmys; "The Best of Both Worlds, Part II" won for both Outstanding Sound Editing in a Series and Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Series.[8]
The fifth season's "Unification" opens with a dedication to Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry, who died October 24, 1991. Although Roddenberry's health had been deteriorating before his death, and his involvement with the series diminished, he continued to be credited as executive producer.[8] Simultaneously, responsibility for the show gradually shifted to Berman, who took over the franchise upon Roddenberry's death.[8] Seven fifth-season episodes were nominated for eight Emmys; "Cost of Living" won for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Costume Design for a Series and Outstanding Individual Achievement in Makeup for a Series and there was a tie between "A Matter of Time" and "Conundrum" for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Special Visual Effects. In addition, "The Inner Light" became the first television episode since the 1968 original series Star Trek episode "The City on the Edge of Forever" to win a Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation.[8]
Three sixth-season episodes were nominated for Emmys; "Time's Arrow, Part II" won for both Outstanding Individual Achievement in Costume Design for a Series and Outstanding Individual Achievement in Hairstyling for a Series and "A Fistful of Datas" won for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Sound Mixing for a Drama Series.[8]
The seventh season was The Next Generation's last. The finale, "All Good Things...", was a double-length episode (separated into two parts for reruns) aired the week of May 19, 1994, revisiting the events of the pilot and providing a bookend to the series. Toronto's SkyDome, which was renamed 'Rogers Centre' in 2005, played host to a massive CITY-TV-sponsored event for the series finale. Thousands of people packed the stadium to watch the final episode on the stadium's Jumbotron. Five seventh-season episodes were nominated for nine Emmys, and the series as a whole was the first syndicated television series nomination for Outstanding Drama Series. "All Good Things..." won for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Special Visual Effects and "Genesis" won for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Sound Mixing for a Drama Series. "All Good Things..." also won the second of the series' two Hugo Awards.[8]
28. A Pup Named Scooby Doo (1988): The new format followed the trend of the "babyfication" of older cartoon characters, reducing the original Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! cast to junior-high age. This new show also used the same basic formula as the original 1969 show: the gang (referred to in this show as the "Scooby-Doo Detective Agency") solved supernatural-based mysteries, where the villains (the ghosts and monsters) were always revealed as bad guys in masks and costumes. The biggest difference was the tone of the show: With A Pup Named Scooby-Doo, producer Tom Ruegger built upon the slightly irreverent humor he had established along with producer Mitch Schauer with Scooby's previous incarnation, The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo. This resulted in a wackier, more extremely comic version of Scooby-Doo that satirized the conventions of the show's previous incarnations. It was not uncommon for the characters to do wild Bob Clampett-esque takes when they ran into ghosts and monsters, Fred was constantly blaming a character appropriately called "Red Herring" for each and every crime on the show (true to his name, Red was always innocent, except for the one episode in which Fred didn't blame him) and shots of the characters (and even the ghosts and monsters) dancing were inserted into the obligatory rock-music-scored chase sequences. The ghosts and monsters themselves were also more comedic, such as a creature made out of molten cheese, and the ghost of a dogcatcher. The series also features Scooby and Shaggy as their favorite superhero duo. Shaggy would be the fearless Commander Cool (a combination of Batman and Superman) and Scooby would be his faithful canine sidekick Mellow Mutt (a combination of Krypto, Robin (comics) and Ace the Bat-Hound.)
29. Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988): It’s 1947 Hollywood and Eddie Valiant (Bob Hoskins), a down on his luck detective, is hired to find proof that Marvin Acme, gag factory mogul and owner of Toontown, is playing hanky panky with femme fatale Jessica Rabbit, wife of Maroon Cartoon Superstar, Roger Rabbit. When Acme is found murdered, all fingers point to Roger, and the sinister, power hungry judge Doom (Christopher Lloyd) is on a mission to bring Roger to justice. Roger begs the Toon-hating Valliant to find the real evildoer and the plot thickens as Eddie uncovers scandal after scandal and realizes the very existence of Toontown is at stake!
30. Ghostbusters 2 (1989): When college profs Peter Venkamn (Bill Murray), Ray Stantz (Dan Aykroyd), and Egon Spengler (Harold Ramis) lose their jobs, they decide to go into the freelance Ghostbusting business. Their first job is saving Donna Barrett ( Sigourney Weaver), and Louis Tully (Rick Moranis), who’ve inadvertently opened the gates of hell, right in their own apartment building! The paratroopers of the paranormal swing back into hilarious action in Ghostbusters II when an underground river of ghoulish goo threatens to rot the Big Apple to the core. Saving the world has never been this outrageously funny!
31. Oliver & Company (1989): This is a really thrilling animated classic with action,freindship,courage and heart.
It all begins when an orphaned kitten befreinds dodger,the cool dog from a new york pack of pickpocket dogs.
Oliver gets adopted by a young little rich girl called Jenny who is very lonley until she found oliver.
Before long a tough guy called sykes and his doberman dog try to keep Jenny and oliver apart by taking Jenny but not far on their trail are oliver,dodger and all his street smart canine pals.
it is now up to them to out wit the villans and rescue the girl from sykes in an electifying chase that will leave you breathless.
32. Charmed (1998): the story of Charmed begins with the three Halliwell sisters — Prudence, Piper and Phoebe — coming together six months after the death of their grandmother. Moving back into the family Manor in San Francisco, the youngest sister, Phoebe, discovers an old book — the Book of Shadows — in the attic. Reading an incantation from it, she unwittingly sets in motion events that fulfill an ancient prophecy. Strange and harrowing occurrences begin which eventually lead the sisters to realize that they are witches.
They discover that they not only possess supernatural powers, but also come from a long line of powerful witches. The first in the line, Melinda Warren, possessed three powers: the power to move things with her mind, to freeze time, and to see into the future. Melinda was burned at the stake in the Salem Witch Trials. However, before she died, Melinda prophesied that each coming generation of Warren (later Halliwell) witches would grow stronger and stronger, culminating in the arrival of three sisters -- the strongest good witches the world had ever seen; the three sisters would form The Power of Three, the most powerful magical force ever.
Prue Halliwell, the oldest sister, develops the power of telekinesis and can move things with her mind. Her telekinesis is usually triggered by anger, and is first channeled through her eyes. But she can soon channel her telekinesis through her hands, like her ancestor Brianna and her Grams (she first does this in season one's episode, "Out of Sight"). She later gains the power of astral projection, where she can make a "copy" of herself appear wherever she desires by projecting her consciousness, while her physical body is left standing there unconscious. Her power of astral projection develops (in season two's episode, "Ms. Hellfire") from her power of telekinesis, when she feels an overwhelming need to be in two places at once. While in that status, she is unable to use her power of telekinesis. In the season three episode, "Primrose Empath", one of the last times she is shown using her astral projection power, she is able to project her "clone", while her physical body stays conscious.
Piper, at first the middle child, then the eldest, receives the power to freeze objects (Molecular Immobilization) and therefore stop time (Temporal Stasis or Time Freeze). At first, Piper's control of her powers is weak. Her range is not very far, and she cannot keep people or objects frozen for very long. As her powers grow, she is able to expand her range. She can freeze entire rooms, or direct her freezing powers only at certain objects or people without freezing everyone and everything. She can later also keep demons or people frozen while unfreezing only certain body parts, such as demon heads, which comes in handy when she questions them. (She first uses this power in season three's episode, "Sleuthing with the Enemy".) Piper can also keep people frozen for very long periods of time without her having to be in the room to "hold the freeze". It is later revealed that her power to freeze works at a molecular level, such that she is able to slow molecules down to the point where the object she is directing her powers at is frozen. This power later evolves so that instead of slowing molecules down to freeze them, she is able to speed molecules up, causing objects (and demons) to explode; this power is called Molecular Combustion. Her freezing power is triggered by fear, panic, and surprise, while her explosion power (before she gains full control of it) is triggered by anger.
Phoebe, first the youngest sister, then the middle sister receives the power of premonition, which allows her to see future events. Her power is triggered through touching people or objects (or, if the psychic residue of an area is strong enough, simply being in the room). While her premonitions are initially passive, she eventually gains control to the point that the power is considered an active one. Over time, her power of premonition evolves in several ways. She begins having visions of past events in season one's episode, "The Witch Is Back", making her the first of the sisters whose powers advance. Her powers of premonition later grow stronger, so that she is able to feel the emotions in her premonition; for example, she feels her mother drowning when she receives a vision of the past in season two's episode, "P3 H2O". This ability to feel the emotions within her premonitions may serve as a foretelling of her soon-to-come empathic powers. In season five's episode, "The Eyes Have It", after not having had any premonitions in months due to overwork and overstress, she seeks the help of Gypsies to unblock her powers. She gets a "super premonition", in which she astral projects into the future within her premonition; her ability to feel what happens grows so that when she is hurt in her vision, her present self is also physically harmed. Though this type of premonition occurs very rarely, she is also able to astral project into the future and converse with her future self. Phoebe also has the power to share premonitions with others who have the gift of foresight. Phoebe eventually obtains the active power to levitate, which is useful in combination with her martial arts skills. Her power of levitation is first seen in season three's premiere episode, "The Honeymoon's Over". Her empathic powers, which develop in season six, allow her to read others' emotions and affect the supernatural powers of other beings (whose powers are tied to their emotions). She can channel the powers and reflect the attacks of demons and other magical beings, such as the Valkyries seen in "Valhalley of the Dolls (Part 2)". She later loses her powers, for misuse of them and only manages to earn back her premonition power.
After the tragic and unexpected death of Prue, Piper and Phoebe learn that they have a younger half-sister named Paige, born to their mother Patty and Sam, her Whitelighter, a sort of guardian angel for witches. As this type of relationship was forbidden and unheard of at the time, Patty and Sam gave the baby to Sister Agnes, a nun, and the Matthews family later adopted her. Her birth parents requested only that her first name begin with 'P', to continue the tradition. From her Whitelighter father, Paige inherits the power to "orb". At first, Paige can only orb out momentarily and reappear in the same spot; this is triggered by fear and surprise. She quickly develops the power to orb wherever she wants. According to the prophecy of the three Charmed Ones with three distinct powers, the third sister has the power of telekinesis. Being half witch and half whitelighter affects the powers Paige inherits from Patty: instead of telekinesis like Prue's, Paige is able to move an object by calling for it; the object then orbs to her, or to any location she wishes. This power is called telekinetic orbing. Though this power requires the use of verbal commands, she can sometimes use it silently, such as when in a state of enhanced power. In Season 5, Paige reveals that she also has other Whitelighter powers, such as glamouring. Halfway through Season 8, Paige's Whitelighter side develops more fully when she becomes able to magically heal others and to locate charges by sensing them.
A central theme throughout the show's run is the sisters' struggle to balance their normal lives with their supernatural responsibilities. The burden of keeping their destinies a secret from the outside world repeatedly creates tensions in their friendships, workplaces, and romantic relationships. Only a few know their secret and help them on a regular basis. The most important is Leo Wyatt, a Whitelighter assigned by the Elders to guide and protect the sisters. Leo means a great deal to the sisters both professionally and personally: he heals their wounds, advises them collectively and individually, and mediates between them and the enigmatic Elders. He also becomes the love of Piper's life, her husband and the father of her children. Others who keep the Charmed Ones' secret over the years include police inspectors Andy Trudeau and Darryl Morris, tormented half-demon Cole Turner, the mysterious time-traveler Chris Perry, sisters Christy and Billie Jenkins, Paige's husband Henry Mitchell, and the many other creatures in the magical community.
33. Toy Story 2 (1999): In "Toy Story 2," the fun and adventure continues when Andy goes off to summer camp and the toys are left to their own devices. Things shift into high gear when an obsessive toy collector kidnaps Woody who unbeknownst to himself is a highly valued collectable. It's now up to Buzz Lightyear and the gang from Andy's room - Mr. Potato Head, Slinky Dog, Rex and Hamm - to spring into action and save their pal from winding up as a museum piece. There's plenty of excitement and fun as the toys get into one predicament after another in their daring race to get home before Andy does.
34. Looney Tunes Back In Action (2003): Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck and the rest of the Looney Tunes as back in action.
Daffy Duck, tired of playing second fiddle to Bugs, quits the Hollywood Studio and teams up with an ex stuntman Bobby Delmont (Brendan Frasier) in a mission to rescue Booby’s father Damian Drake ( Timothy Dalton) from the evil chairman of Acne Corporation (Steve Martin). It seems Damian knows the whereabouts of a mysterious and powerful blue diamond and the chairman will do anything to get his hands on it. Daffy and Booby attempt to outsmart the evil Acne stooges, whilst being chased by VP of Comedy (Jenna Elfman) and Bugs – who needs Daffy back in the studio. Our heroes embark on a hilarious adventure that takes the from Hollywood to Las Vegas, Paris and the jungles of Africa where they find the mythical blue diamond and return to Hollywood.
35. Jaws 3 (1983): Dennis Quaid, Bess Armstrong, Simon MacCorkindale and Academy Award winner Louis Gossett Jr. star in the most terrifying Jaws adventure ever. Everyone at Florida’s Sea World is thrilled with the new “Undersea Kingdom,” a maze of underwater plexiglass tunnels that permits visitors to get closer to marine life than ever before. The opening ceremonies include many important guests… and one uninvited baby shark who accidentally enters the park’s lagoon through a faulty sea gate and subsequently dies. The young shark’s 35-foot mother soon follows her offspring, creating the most horrifying tale of terror ever filmed in the water.
36. Dragonheart (1996): Long ago when majestic fire breathers soared through the skies, there lived a knight who would come face to face and heart to heart with the most remarkable creature that ever existed.
Bowen (Quaid) is a knight dedicated to the Old Code – a noble creed of honour. Whe his pupil Prince Einon, becomes an even crueller king than his father, Bowen’s idealism turns to bitterness. Believing Einon’s soul to have been poisoned by a dragon, Bowen vows to destroy them all. On his quest for revenge, he meets “Draco” (Connery), a dragon whose powers, strength and wit proves to be more than a match for the disillusioned knight. Soon what begins as a life or death struggle between the two evolves into a friendship that will change the face of their medieval world.
37. The Parent Trap (1998): What if you spent your whole life wishing for something you didn’t know you already had? Hallie Parker and Annie James are about to find out.
Hallie is a cool girl from California. Annie is a fair rose from London. When the two accidentally meet at a summer camp, they think they have nothing in common except… they’re identical twins (both played by Lindsay Lohan). Now they’re up to their freckles in schemes and dreams to switch places, get their parents (Dennis Quaid & Natasha Richardson) back together and have the family they’ve always wished for.
38. Cold Creek Manor (2002): Sharon Stone & Dennis Quaid lead an all star cast including Juliett Lewis, Christopher Plummer and Stephen Dorff in an edge of your seat thriller that pushes one family’s strength to the limit. In search of the simpler life, ex-New Yorkers Cooper (Quaid) & Leah (Stone) Tilson pack up their kids and move into a recently repossessed mansion. Though it’s a shambles, they dive into home improvement with zeal – only to discover their dream home could be more of a nightmare when one magnificent manor starts giving up startling secrets.
39. Flight of the Phoenix (2004): Dennis Quaid pilots an outstanding ensemble cast in this adrenaline-pumping action adventure that delivers white-knuckle tension, high soaring action and full throttle excitement.
A cargo plane on a routine flight suddenly hits a high turbulence storm, forcing a crash landing hundreds of miles off course in the barren Gobi desert. Among the survivors, one eccentric passenger leads the crew to build a new plane – against all odds, against all hope, and sometimes… against each other.
40. Gremlins (1984): From producer Steven Spielberg and director Joe Dante, a grim fairytale introducing a new creature unlike you have ever seen before – the funny, clever, cute and extremely dangerous Gremlin. WARNING: Don’t ever get them wet. Keep then out of bright light…it will kill them. But most important thing, the one you must never forget, no matter how much they beg, never feed them after midnight.
41. Return to Oz (1985): If you loved “The Wizard Of Oz” you’ll love accompanying Dorothy on this second thrilling adventure based on L, Frank Baum’s “Oz” books. Dorothy finds herself back in the land of her dreams…and makes delightful new friends (like Tik Tok, Jack Pumpkinhead and the Grump) and dangerous new enemies (the creepy Wheelers, the head-hunting Princess Mombi and the evil Nome King). With every twist in the yellow brick road, you’ll find awesome new surprises and special affects that will astound you.
42. Superman IV A Quest For Peace (1987): Superman does a lot in his newest adventure. Archvillain Lex Luthor, determined to make the world safe for nuclear arms merchants, creates a new being to challenge the Man of Steel: the radiation-charged Nuclear Man. The two super-powered foes clash in an explosive screen extranvaganza that sees Superman save the Statue of Liberty, repulse a volcanic eruption of Mount Etna, rebuild the demolished Great Wall of China and perform many more spetactular feats.
Lex Luthor steals a hair of Superman's head from a museum and uses it to create Nuclear Man, an android that gets energy from the Sun. His purpose of course is to use him as a weapon to kill Superman, so that Luthor will be free to realize his criminal plans.
43. Batman (1989): Gotham City: dark, dangerous, 'protected' only by a mostly corrupt police department. Despite the best efforts of D.A. Harvey Dent and police commissioner Jim Gordon, the city becomes increasingly unsafe...until a Dark Knight arises. We all know criminals are a superstitious, cowardly lot...so his disguise must be able to strike terror into their hearts. He becomes a bat. Enter Vicky Vale, a prize-winning photo journalist who wants to uncover the secret of the mysterious "bat-man". And enter Jack Napier, one-time enforcer for Boss Grissom, horribly disfigured after a firefight in a chemical factory...who, devoid of the last vestiges of sanity, seizes control of Gotham's underworld as the psychotic, unpredictable Clown Prince of Crime...the Joker. Gotham's only hope, it seems, lies in this dark, brooding vigilante. And just how does billionaire playboy Bruce Wayne fit into all of this?
After a young boy witnesses his parents' murder on the streets of Gotham City, he grows up to become the Batman - a mysterious figure in the eyes of Gotham's citizens - who takes crime-fighting into his own hands. He first emerges out of the shadows when the Joker appears - a horribly disfigured individual who is out for revenge on his former employer and generally likes to have a good time.
44. Ren & Stimpy (1991): in a 1993 interview, Bill Wray stated that he believes that Kricfalusi created the Ren and Stimpy characters around 15 years prior to the interview for Kricfalusi's and Kricfalusi's friends' personal amusement during the university years; Kricfalusi attended Sheridan College in Canada. Wray said that he had initially "forgotten about" the characters. When Nickelodeon requested new series, Kricfalusi assembled a presentation called "Our Gang," similar to a children's show with a live action host presenting various cartoons. Each cartoon parodied a genre, and Ren and Stimpy parodied the "cat and dog" genre. Vanessa Coffey, the producer of the show, said that she did not like the general idea but that she liked Ren and Stimpy.[7]
In 1989, Kricfalusi pitched and sold The Ren and Stimpy Show to Nickelodeon. Kricfalusi's own animation house, Spümcø, finished the pilot in October 1990 and the first episode of the show proper aired on August 11, 1991, premiering alongside Doug and Rugrats.[8] Spümcø continued to produce the show for the next two years while encountering issues with Nickelodeon standards and practices. Over the years a number of episodes were censored.[9]
According to West, at one point Nickelodeon considered him for the voice of Ren. Spümcø says that Nickelodeon did not consider him for the part, however. [10]
Wray stated that on some occasions Kricfalusi completed an episode in eight months, and on some occasions he completed an episode in "two or three" months. Wray described Kricfalusi's ideal production period per episode as four half-hour cartoons per year and added that the arrangement would not "jibe with our production schedule."[11]
In his blog, Kricfalusi described The Ren and Stimpy Show as the "safest project I ever worked on" while defining "safe" as "spend a third of what they spend now per picture, hire proven creative talent and let them entertain" in that instance. Kricfalusi said that The Ren and Stimpy Show cost around six million United States dollars to produce and generated "a billion bucks or more." in revenue.[12]
Nickelodeon fired Kricfalusi in 1992. Without Kricfalusi, Nickelodeon moved production from Spümcø to Games Animation.[13] Kricfalusi said that the main sticking points for the Nickelodeon executives seemed to be the level of violence in the show, and Kricfalusi points specifically to the episode "Man's Best Friend", which features Ren beating the character George Liquor with an oar, for his firing.[14] Nickelodeon banned the episode from airing; the episode did not air in North America until Adult Party Cartoon began in 2003.[14]
Wray described the main issues regarding Kricfalusi's friction with Nickelodeon as stemming from episodes not being produced in a "timely" manner. Wray stated that Kricfalusi attributed the delays to Nickelodeon not approving "things fast enough" and the Nickelodeon staff members "changing their minds." Wray describes Kricfalusi's statements as containing "some truth."[11] According to Wray, Nickelodeon would not have "minded" if the shows exceeded their budgets; therefore Wray did not see going over budget as the issue. Wray said that Kricfalusi believed that the product's quality holds more importance than meeting deadlines, and that he perceived Nickelodeon as "slowing him down."[15] According to Wray, Kricfalusi believed that "every step after the storyboards weakens the process" and that he "fought for the integrity of the storyboards" and lengthened production time because he wished to salvage the quality of the series.[16] Wray stated that the children forming the audience of Ren and Stimpy tolerated episodes when "things get gross" but that the audience did not want "a frightening, dramatic show." Wray cited a "father figure verbally abusing animals" in "Man's Best Friend." Wray disagreed with the sentiment formed after the firing that portrayed Kricfalusi as a protagonist and Nickelodeon as an antagonist, citing the fact that Kricfalusi sold the rights to Ren and Stimpy to Nickelodeon. Wray attributes the sentiment to people liking the show "wanting to look at everything in black and white." Wray believes that "everyone has not been perfect" regarding the Ren and Stimpy scenario.[17]
Bob Camp stated in a USA Today article that Kricfalusi was not "really suited for TV because of the rigors of scheduling. He'll be much happier doing a feature film or some kind of special." The article stated, "Camp says no one is at fault."[18] John Staton, writer of a 1992 article for The Daily Tarheel of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, said that Nickelodeon fired Kricfalusi for missing deadlines.[19]
West also said that Nickelodeon fired Kricfalusi for exceeding deadlines. According to West, when Kricfalusi asked West to leave Nickelodeon and join his team, West refused.[10]
Jeff "Swampy" Marsh, a storyboard writer for Rocko's Modern Life, believes that Kricfalusi "got what he asked for." Describing the Ren and Stimpy creator as a "gifted animator with a great deal of genius" and that "his business skills are sadly lacking," Marsh reasons that Kricfalusi ought to have catered to Nickelodeon's demands and treated the network with respect since he chose the network as a client. Marsh says that Kricfalusi ought to have used a theater release for a short animated film, a direct-to-video release system, or "some pay-cable medium." Marsh describes his opinion as placing him "in the minority" after debating the issue with other animators.[20]
Coury Turczyn, writer for PopCult Magazine, describes Nickelodeon as firing Kricfalusi due to "being too creative, too original and too sophisticated."[21]
Bob Camp wrote and directed the episodes for Games Animation when Nickelodeon took over the show.[3] Since Kricfalusi previously voiced Ren, West took the role.
Wray said that the producers of the Games episodes did not attempt to "reflect John's vision. We can't - because we are not John." Wray answered "pretty much" to an interview question asking if the third season will "sort of wrap up John's ideas for the show." Wray added that the producers asked themselves "What can we do to make funny REN & STIMPY cartoons?" instead of "What would John have done?" In 1993 Wray said that the Games Animation episodes would "have the flavor of REN & STIMPY" since Camp had served as a writer for the show. Wray added that Nickelodeon wanted a "lighter, gut funny type of show" instead of "truly frightening" episodes.[15]
The Games episodes introduced several characters, including Victor and his father and Mr. Cow.[22]
Kricfalusi described the Games Animation team as having "spent way more money" to produce the series and having "killed" The Ren and Stimpy Show.[12]
Nickelodeon canceled the show in 1996, ending its run with a Christmas episode ("A Scooter for Yaksmas"), with nine episodes never airing on the network.
Ted Drozdowski of The Boston Phoenix stated in a 1997 article that "the bloom faded on Ren & Stimpy.
In 2003, Kricfalusi re-launched the series as Ren & Stimpy "Adult Party Cartoon". The new version was aired during a late night programming block on Spike TV and was rated TV-MA. The series, as the title implied, explored more adult themes, including a more explicitly homosexual relationship between the main characters[24] and an episode filled with female nudity.[25]
The show began with the "banned" Nickelodeon episode "Man's Best Friend" before debuting new episodes. Kricfalusi produced three of the ordered nine episodes on time.[26] After three episodes, the entire animation block was removed from Spike TV's programming schedule.
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45. Animaniacs (1993): Ensemble cast of off-the-wall Warner Brothers characters, appearing in a wide variety of roles. Wakko, Yakko, and Dot Warner, are WB Studio creations who were just too "zany" to be of any use to the studio. Pinky and the Brain are two mice bent on world domination. Rita and Runt are a cat and dog team, who get into perilous situations every episode, put always seem to find time to sing a song. Bobby, Pesto, and Squit are the Goodfeathers, part of a New York mob of pigeons, who worship Martin Scorsese. Slappy the Squirrel is a late middle-age squirrel; she starred in a series of popular cartoons in the Golden Age. Buttons is a watch-dog, charged with watching the mischievous toddler, Mindy. Chicken Boo is a giant chicken trying to integrate into human society. Flavio and Marita are two urbane hippopotami.
46. Aladdin and the Return of Jafar (1995): This is the sequel to the 1992’s Aladdin. Jafar escapes from the lamp that has held him prisoner with even stronger magical powers. The movie centres on Jafar the villain from Aladdin, trying to gain his revenge against Aladdin, Princess Jasmine and the Sultan, and become the ruler of Agrabah.
47. Star Trek Voyager (1996): In the pilot episode, "Caretaker," Voyager is on a mission to locate a missing ship piloted by Maquis fighters. Janeway brings Tom Paris, a former Starfleet officer, out of prison to help find the ship. Maneuvering through the dangerous Badlands, an ancient alien known as the Caretaker transports Voyager to the Delta Quadrant, on the other side of the galaxy, where the Maquis ship was also sent. In the process, several members of Voyager's crew are killed, including the first officer, helmsman, chief engineer, and all medical personnel.
Voyager and the Maquis ship are attacked by Kazon raiders intent on capturing the Caretaker's Array, which was used to transport the ships. The Maquis ship collides with a Kazon ship, destroying both, after the Maquis crew transports to Voyager. Believing the Kazon will use the Array to harm the Ocampa, Janeway decides to destroy it rather than use it to return home.
The Starfleet and Maquis crews integrate and work together as they begin the 75,000-light-year journey home, predicted to take 75 years. Chakotay, leader of the Maquis group, becomes first officer. B'Elanna Torres, a half-human/half-Klingon Maquis becomes chief engineer. Tuvok is revealed to be a Starfleet spy on the Maquis ship and resumes his duties as chief security officer. Paris becomes the helmsman, and the Emergency Medical Hologram, designed for only short-term use, becomes the chief medical officer. In the Delta Quadrant, the crew gains the Talaxian Neelix as a local guide and chef, along with his Ocampan girlfriend, Kes. Both Paris and Kes become qualified assistants to the Doctor, expanding the ship's medical capabillity. The crew expands to include Seven of Nine, a Borg drone liberated from the collective, in the show's fourth season.
The Delta Quadrant is mostly unexplored by the Federation. On the way home, the crew contends with hostile species that include organ-harvesting Vidiians, belligerent Kazon, nomadic Hirogen hunters, the Borg and Species 8472 from fluidic space. They also encounter hazardous natural phenomena.
48. King of the Hill (1997): Hank Hill is an old fashioned, hardworking, beer drinking man who is trying to live in a modern Texas world. His wife is opinionated, his son is a disappointment, his friends are losers, and his Father is oppressive. But through it all, Hank keeps a level head, a strong sense of morality, and by doing so keeps himself "King of the Hill.
Hank Hill lives with his wife Peggy, their son Bobby, and their niece Luann in Texas. This show follows their adventures through Little League, camping, and other family adventures.
49. Futurama (1999): Philip J. Fry is a 25 year old delivery boy living in New York City who is cryogenically frozen on New Year's 1999 for 1000 years, where he wakes up in New York City on December 31, 2999. There, he meets Turanga Leela, a tough but loving, beautiful one-eyed alien; and Bender, an alcohol-powered bending robot who is addicted to liquor, cigars, stealing, amongst other things. Eventually, they all meet up with Fry's Great, Great, Great, etc... Nephew, Hubert J. Farnsworth. Farnsworth is a very old man who is a genius but is very senile and forgetful. Fry, Leela, and Bender wind up working for Farnsworth's Planet Express Delivery Service. They then meet their co-workers; Amy Wong, who is a Martian intern who comes from a rich family, but is still a human who is very hip. Also, there is Hermes Conrad, who manages the delivery service and is pretty strict. Hermes seems Jamaican in voice and look. And finally, there's Dr. John Zoidberg, a lobster-like alien who is the crew's doctor. Unfortunately, he knows nothing about humans. Fry, Leela, Bender, and sometimes Amy and Dr. Zoidberg travel around the universe risking life and limb delivering packages and performing charitable tasks for tax deductions.
50. What’s New Scooby Doo (2002): What's New, Scooby-Doo? With Don Messick's retirement in 1996 (he died the following year), Frank Welker, the voice of Fred, took over as Scooby's voice. Casey Kasem returned as Shaggy, Grey DeLisle took over Daphne's role (having previously voiced the character in Scooby-Doo and the Cyber Chase), while former Facts of Life actress Mindy Cohn took over Velma's. (Grey DeLisle also stood in for Velma's voice in a handful of episodes.)
The new show follows the same format as Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!, updated somewhat for the 21st century, but with new-age music genres and all-new, original sound effects to replace the classic Hanna-Barbera sound effects. Even a distinctive thunderclap sound that was used frequently on older Scooby-Doo TV series was very rarely used on the show. The classic formula was also constantly parodied throughout the entire series, including overusing the line "And I would've gotten away with it too, if it weren't for you meddling kids." The show was produced by Warner Bros. Animation, the studio famous for bringing Looney Tunes to life, which had by this time absorbed Hanna-Barbera Cartoons. (It should be noted, however, that the copyright notice at the end of each episode credits "Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc." as the author. Also, Joseph Barbera was one of the Executive Producers.)
The band Simple Plan is heavily connected to What's New, Scooby-Doo? They perform the theme song, and appeared as themselves in the episode "Simple Plan and the Invisible Madman". Two of their songs appeared in chase scenes: "I'd Do Anything" in the episode "It's Mean, It's Green, It's the Mystery Machine", and "You Don't Mean Anything" in "Simple Plan and the Invisible Madman". Also, they were working with Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed.
The Episode titled "A Terrifying Round with a Menacing, Metallic Clown" established this show in continuity with A Pup Named Scooby-Doo when at a Putt Putt golf tournament Scooby and Shaggy entered they come to a hole that has a giant clown head for which the ball can go in. In the flashback there is a clown ruining Velma's birthday party and she gets scared. And back in reality she's shaking having remembered what had happened years earlier. An actual clip from the show is used as the flashback sequance.
What's New, Scooby-Doo? aired for three seasons on The WB Television Network's "Kids' WB" programming block as a half-hour program, before being put on an indefinite hiatus in 2005. Reruns are shown on the Cartoon Network. Forty-three episodes have been produced so far (fourteen in 2002-2003, fourteen in 2003-2004, and fourteen in 2004-2005, and one in 2005-2006).
51. Aloha Scooby Doo (2005): Shaggy, Scooby-Doo, and the Mystery Inc. gang hit the bodacious beaches of Hawaii for the Big Kahuna of Hanahuna Surfing Contest--only to discover there's a terribly real monster about to show all the true meaning of wipeout! The locals are convinced that island spirits are furious over a new resort being built on sacred ground and when an army of tiny demons attacks the surfers, the ancient properties appear to be true. Could this be the first mystery that Daphne finally can't figure out before trouble--in the form of a huge volcano--erupts?
52. Garfield: His 9 Lives (1988): "In the Beginning" (written by Jim Davis, illustrated by Paws, Inc. staff): The cat is created. The manner of the cat's creation, with a higher being (presumably God) dictating instructions to his staff (angels) and the language used by the staff while 'designing' the cat, is strongly similar to the manner in which products are designed in modern corporations. The angels wonder why God sees fit to give cat nine lives opposed to the usual one, prompting the Creator to reply that he likes cats, revealing that He has feline features. It is strongly suggested that Garfield himself is the first cat.
"Cave Cat" (written by Jim Davis; illustrated by Davis, Mike Fentz, and Larry Fentz): In the Stone Age, the first cat emerges from the sea and is domesticated. The segment partially parodies evolution, showing various lifeforms emerging out of the ocean. Cave Cat also meets his end when the vaguely reptilian giant dog (who resembles Odie and is termed Big Bob by the cavemen) attempts to play fetch with Cave Cat, throwing a tree at him and unintentionally crushing him. (This, as Garfield points out, explains why most cats fear dogs, and why Garfield himself tends to dislike and mistreat Odie specifically.)
"The Vikings" (written by Jim Davis and Mike Fentz; illustrated by Fentz): A group of Vikings, including Garfield the Orange, frozen for a thousand years, thaw out and awaken from their cryogenic slumber in the modern era, and attempt to 'pillage' St. Paul, Minnesota. They are forced to adapt to the modern era after a notable lack of success with traditional Viking activities, succeeding in securing employment and a home, but losing their proud spirits in the process. Garfield's Viking incarnation snaps them out of their ennui after he rediscovers the Petrified Weasel of Booga; it restores. The segment ends a thousand years in the future, with the strong implication that the same group of Vikings are about to thaw out once again. (This story explains why the otherwise lazy Garfield enjoys occasionally engaging in rampaging and destructive behavior he would seem too lazy to engage in, such as his constant attacks on the mailman.)
"Babes and Bullets" (written by Ron Tuthill, illustrated by Kevin Campbell): Hard-boiled detective Sam Spayed investigates the suspicious death of a priest in a segment reminiscent of classic hard-boiled detective fiction, with occasional illustrations done in a manner much more realistic than the usual Garfied style. It was later adapted into the television special Garfield: Babes and Bullets. Shortly before the story begins, Garfield appears, saying that the most significant thing he learned from this life was that he swore off work.
"The Exterminators" (written by Jim Davis; illustrated by Davis, Mike Fentz, and Larry Fentz): A trio of Three Stooges-like cats chase a mouse, and mayhem ensues. Garfield comments that he officially retired from the 'rat race' following this life, leading to his strong dislike of mice as a food source.
"Lab Animal" (written by Jim Davis; illustrated by Gary Barker and Larry Fentz): at a secret government facility, lab specimen 19-GB receives an unusual injection, followed by his escape from the military base. After swimming across a river, the serum has some unusual effects, causing 19-GB to become a dog. Garfield claims that because of his experiences as a lab animal, he becomes nauseous at the sight of medical equipment. (This most likely explains his fear of the veterinarian.)
"The Garden" (written and illustrated by Dave Kühn): Cloey and her yellow kitten play in a magical, Wonderland-like, garden. However, like the Garden of Eden there is a test of character of a chest the pair must not open. The pair approach the chest and after much suspense, the pair resists the temptation and stays in the garden forever. The segment is written with flowery prose similar to overly romantic poetry, and the illustrations have a strong surrealistic quality.
"Primal Self" (written by Jim Davis; illustrated by Jim Clements, Gary Barker, and Larry Fentz): An orange housecat meets an ancient, primal, dangerous, possibly evil force, causing him to revert to an entirely feral state. It is unclear whether the housecat is corrupted by the primal force, or if its spirit is cast back into prehistory and stranded there, while the primal essence steals its body in the present day. The story ends with him preparing to attack his unsuspecting owner, an elderly woman; it is strongly suggested that he kills his owner afterwards. Garfield is shown to be terrified of the events in this life; he is depicted cowering under a blanket in his commentary on it, remarking that this life taught him that there are elements in a cat that are not to be toyed with.
"Garfield" (written by Jim Davis; illustrated by Gary Barker and Valette Hildebrand; color by Doc Davis): Present-day Garfield meets lasagna, Jon, and Odie. This segment retcons the character's beginnings. Garfield notes that his current life is currently falling short of his expectations.
"Space Cat" (written and illustrated by Jim Clements): While exploring outer space, our feline friend has a run-in with The Incredibly Huge Galactic War Fleet (IHGWF for short). The Warfleet doesn't like him, and shows it by blasting him to stardust. It turns out he is in a simulator, probably a computer game, and appears to be living in a world inhabited by both humans and anthropomorphic animals. The segment has a very strong resemblance to The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series, in both tone and thematic elements. Garfield is shown as a cyborg during his commentary on it, remarking that while he'd like to live forever, he's well aware of his mortal state and refers to the segment as a 'sneak peek of his next life.'
53. Garfield’s Babes & Bullets (1989): On a rainy day, Garfield goes to a closet and opens it out of boredom, only to hear saxophone music burst out of it. He shuts it quickly, then opens it again; the music starts up again, and Garfield finds a trenchcoat and fedora.
He then enters a fantasy world in which he is Sam Spayed, a private investigator in a film noir atmosphere. He investigates the alleged murder of a university professor who fell asleep at the wheel of his car and drove over a cliff. The late man's wife, however, believes it to be murder. It is revealed that the late professor was a frequent coffee drinker, to the point that he required heavy sleeping pills to fall asleep. Some of these same sleeping pills were dissolved in his coffee on the fateful night by a colleague, and these led to him falling asleep while driving. The special ends with Garfield turning out the lights.
54. Garfield’s Feline Fantasies (1990): Garfield's fantasy life is beginning to take over his life, in a Walter Mitty-esque fashion. He slips into a fantasy world at any moment, sometimes without warning. In one of these fantasies, which composes the bulk of the special, he is Lance Sterling, a mix of James Bond and Indiana Jones. With his associate Slobberjob (Odie, who has entered the fantasy with Garfield), he travels to exotic locations like Istanbul, Paris, and the Amazon rainforest to find the legendary "Banana of Bombay," and lay claim to it before his enemy "Fat Guy" gets to it first.
55. A Garfield Christmas Special (1987): On Christmas Eve, Garfield, Jon, and Odie travel to the countryside to celebrate Christmas with Jon's farm family. Making their animated debuts are the sweet and always cooking Mom, hard working farmer Dad, mischievous younger brother Doc Boy, and the tough as nails Grandma. As we get to know the wacky members of Jon's family, Odie is busy working on something secretive. Grandma and Garfield eventually grow a special bond. That night Garfield finds out about Odie's suspicious activity and follows him into the barn. While there he stumbles upon some old letters. The next morning is Christmas and just when it seems like all the presents have been opened, Garfield gives Grandma the letters he found in the barn. These letters were love notes written to Grandma by her late husband from when they first met and courted. Garfield finds out that Odie had been busy making Garfield the ultimate Christmas gift: a homemade back scratcher.
56. Scooby Doo & The Reluctant Werewolf (1988): Every year, all of the classic Hollywood monsters such as Frankenstein's monster, The Mummy, and Dr. Jekyl/Mr. Hyde, gather at Count Dracula's castle in Transylvania for the "Monster Road Rally", an ultimate road race, awarding the winner with the "Monster of the Year" award as well as many other prizes only monsters would enjoy (and one prize--a trip to Hawaii--that none of the monsters want). This year however, Dracula receives a postcard from the Wolfman stating that he has retired to Florida and will not be participating. Lacking one of the most well known monsters, Dracula fears they will have to cancel the race. Luckily, Dracula's minion Wolfgang notifies him there is an another option, namely, to create a new werewolf. After searching an old book for information on whom is next in line to become the next werewolf, it is revealed that it is none other than Shaggy Rogers (or Shah-Gee, as Dracula pronounces it).
Dracula sends his horrible henchmen (the mushmouthed, incomprehensible Crunch and the English accented, well articulated Brunch, together known as "The Hunch Bunch", since both of them are hunchbacked) to America to transform Shaggy into a werewolf and bring him back to his castle. After a few thwarted attempts, the Hunch Bunch manage to transform Shaggy by exposing him to moonlight while he is at a drive in movie with Scooby, Scrappy, and Googie in his customized race car. The Hunch Bunch then picks up the car using their batcopter and flies the group back to Transylvania. Here, Shaggy is informed that he was chosen to be the next werewolf and that he must participate in the monster race. Shaggy, wanting to return to his normal life, is unpleased with his current situation. Ultimately, however, Shaggy chooses to make a deal with Dracula, and states that he'll only race under the condition that if he wins, Dracula must return him back to his human state, and allow him and his friends to leave. Dracula agrees but secretly begins planning ways to keep Shaggy from winning.
After being kept up most of the night, driving the severely detuned "wolf-wagon" in the race, being sent on misleading detours, rescuing Scrappy and Googie from traps, and dodging dangerous monsters and magic spells, Shaggy manages to win. Dracula refuses to turn Shaggy back to his human form, claiming he had his fangs crossed when they made the agreement. Infuriated, the heroes steal Dracula's book on transformation and make their getaway. Dracula chases them in his bat-like car and airplane, where the four narrowly escape Dracula's powerful "Drac-Vac" and his "Munchie-Missiles." In the end, Googie uses the book to change Shaggy back to normal and the group lives happily ever after.
That night, the gang all sit down to watch another horror movie, but nobody sees Dracula, Brunch and Crunch creep up to the window, leaving the film with an open ending.
57. Scooby Doo & The Ghoul School (1988): Scooby, Shaggy and Scrappy Doo are on their way to a Miss Grimwood's Finishing School for Girls, where they have been hired as gym teachers. Once there, however, they find that it is actually a school for girl ghouls. The pupils include Cybella, the daughter of Dracula; Elsa Frankenteen, the daughter of Frankensteen (a pun on Frankenstein's monster); Winnie, the daughter of a werewolf; Phantasma (usually called Phanny for short), the daughter of a phantom; and Tanis (which is a parody of an Egyptian city), The Mummy's daughter. Other residents of the school are Miss Grimwood, the headmistress, and her pet dragon Matches (who dislikes Scooby at first, but later becomes friends, and a strong liking for Scrappy).
Gym class soon starts, with the intent to train the girls for their upcoming volleyball match against the boys of the neighboring Calloway Military Academy (who have always beaten them). As an additional plot twist, Revolta, the self-styled Witch of the Web, plans to kidnap the girls and make them her slaves. Despite being well-liked by all their students, Shaggy and Scooby runaway when monsters such as the Creature from the Black Lagoon and Godzilla enroll their daughters at the school the following year.
58. Scooby Doo On Zombie Island (1998): The movie opens with a somewhat horrific chase scene involving Mystery, inc. being pursued by a green troll-like monster. After a fortunate accident by Shaggy, he is caught and discovered to be a counterfitter. This is revealed to be a retelling by Daphne on her television program; after years of unmasking phony ghosts, the Mystery Inc. gang have gone their separate ways. Daphne and Fred go off to start a successful investigative TV series (Coast to Coast with Daphne Blake), Velma opens a mystery bookstore, and Scooby and Shaggy bounce from job to job, including work as customs officers at an airport, from which they are rather quickly fired after eating all the confiscated foodstuffs. However, when Fred decides that the next episode of Daphne's show should be about tracking down real ghosts, he reassembles the gang and brings them all to Louisiana.
After encountering many "men in masks" ("just like the old days"), such as a nerdy-looking guy in a lobster-man suit in a canned shellfish factory, An old man in a man-vampire bat suit at a graveyard, a ghost which that turns out to be a hologram, and a zombie policeman, that turns out to be a middle-aged woman, the gang arrives in New Orleans, and are invited by a cook named Lena to visit Moonscar Island, the home of her employer. The island, Lena claims, is supposed to be haunted by the ghost of a pirate named Morgan Moonscar. Although the gang is skeptical, they decide to go along with Lena and visit the island.
The gang arrives on the island and meets Lena's employer, Simone Lenoir, a beautiful Cajun woman with a love for Dennis Moore, who explains about the hauntings. En route to the island, the gang also meet Jacques, who runs the ferry from the island to the mainland, Beau, Simone's gardener and Snakebite Scruggs, a grungy fisherman.
The first two-thirds of the film play out like a regular Scooby-Doo cartoon, with the gang checking out clues and working to prove that the "ghost" is just a person in a mask. During the third act, however, it turns out that the island is home to real zombies. The zombies, however, turn out to be the good guys: Simone, Lena, and Jacques are revealed to actually be werecats who drain the life force out of people to preserve their immortality and the zombies were their many victims and were just trying to warn them about the 3 villains. The gang, along with Beau, (who is revealed to be an undercover police officer) defeat the cat-creatures (when it seemed they were cornered, the time for the werecats to drain the life force had expired, ending their lives and skeletalizing their bodies) and free the zombies' souls to rest in peace.
59. Scooby Doo & The Witch’s Ghost (1999): the Mystery, Inc. gang is invited by horror writer Ben Ravencroft (voiced by Tim Curry) to his home town of Oakhaven. When they get to Oakhaven, they find out that the town is haunted by the ghost of a witch. Ben Ravencroft believes that the ghost is that of his ancestor Sarah Ravencroft, who was persecuted by the town members hundreds of years ago as a witch. Ben tells the gang that Sarah was actually a Wiccan and wants their help in clearing her name by finding her old journal.
The gang meets a goth girl rock band named the "Hex Girls" during their investigation, comprised of Luna (voiced by Kimberly Brooks), Dusk (voiced by Jane Wiedlin), and Thorn (voiced by Jennifer Hale). These characters would later reapear in the 2003 Scooby-Doo direct to video film Scooby-Doo and the Legend of the Vampire and "The Vampire Strikes Back" episode of What's New, Scooby-Doo?.
The first two-thirds of the film play out like a regular Scooby-Doo cartoon, with the gang checking out clues & proving that the "ghost" was just a person in a mask. They deduct that the "ghost" is just a publicity stunt set up by the mayor and some of the townspeople as a way to expedite the tourist trade. During the last part of the movie however, it turns out that Ben was lying and his ancestor really was a witch and the journal was actually her spellbook. The ghost of Sara Ravencroft is brought from the netherworld by Ben, and it turns out that only Thorn, because of her own Wiccan heritage (about 1/16 blood on her mother's side), can stop the ghost from acting out her revenge. She recites the spell and Sara's ghost is sucked back in the book but before she goes, she takes a hesitant Ben with her. A burning branch falls on the book, destroying it. The townspeople thank the gang and the Hex Girls continue with their concert. They are backed up by the gang who play various instruments: Velma on keyboards, Daphne on tambourine, Fred and Shaggy on guitar, and Scooby banging on bongo drums.
Like a number of direct-to-video Scooby-Doo animated films released in the late-1990s and early-2000s, Scooby-Doo and the Witch's Ghost features real ghosts instead of simple bad guys in masks. The videos sold well and received generally positive reviews in the press.
60. Scooby Doo & The Alien Invaders (2000): The story starts off when the Mystery Machine driving through a desert town. A sand storm kicks in, and Shaggy makes an accidental turn into government property. The sight of a UFO causes Shaggy to lose control of the vehicle, and find themselves on the outskirts of a small town. While Scooby and Shaggy stay with the van, the rest of the gang walks into a local diner to ask for directions. Shaggy and Scooby then encounter a fictional animal called a jackalope.
Shaggy and Scooby run in the diner in panic while the Scooby-Doo, Where are You theme song is played, claming to have seen aliens. The diner waitress, Dottie, says that they never see the aliens but see strange lights and hear strange sounds at night. The chef, Sergio(pronounced "Serge") says that a month ago, local cattle vanished overnight without a trace and a lot of people moved away. A man named Lester claims to have been abducted once before, and believes the two. He also says that he has pictures, so the gang goes to his house to see them. They turn out to be nothing more than paintings by Lester, who offers to let the gang stay for the night. Daphne and Velma sleep in a bunk bed and Fred sleeps on Lester's couch.
Scooby and Shaggy sleep on the roof, and are abducted. After some struggle on the ship, the two find themselves in the middle of nowhere the next morning. They are awakened by a hippie-chick photographer, Crystal, and her golden retriever, Amber. Scooby and Shaggy fall head over heels in love. Velma, Fred, and Daphne meet the crew of SALF: the Search for Alien Life Forms,Steve, Lora and Max and Velma becomes suspicious when she sees dried mud on their boots, since they are in the desert. Later, she decides to take the gang to a canyon where she presumes a river might run. The canyon proves to be dry, but they find mining equipment, and in the caves, gold. The SALF crew capture them and hold them hostage as they explain that they stumbled upon this cave when searching for ground to place another SALF dish. Since it was on government land, they decided not to report it, and plan to keep it that way. They are also revealed to be the aliens who abducted Scoob and Shag; the UFO was nothing more than a dressed-up helicopter. At the end of the film, Crystal and Amber prove to be aliens from 20 light years away, and are dressed like they are because their interpretations of the way humans are dressed were derived from 1960s television broadcasts. The UFO that ran Shaggy off the road was actually Crystal's. The SALF crew and the fake MPs are arrested by 35th President John F Kennedy, the Mayor and the Police. Shaggy and Scooby are heartbroken but quickly forget about Crystal and Amber when Velma gives them a box of Scooby Snacks.
61. Scooby Doo & The Monster In Mexico (2003): Fred's pen-pal Jorge Otero, who lives in Veracruz, Mexico, invites Fred and the rest of the gang to visit him and his family there. Fred and the rest of the gang talk about it until they decide to go. However, after Jorge sent the invitation to Fred, an unrealistic-looking monster started to terrorize the population of Veracruz. Both Jorge and his son see the monster, and the locals start calling it El Chupacabra.
Later, when Mystery, Inc. arrives in Veracruz, they meet Jorge who recognizes them all from Fred's letters. Jorge runs a huge and fancy hotel, and he shows them around and where they will be staying. He then shows them his family which include his wife Sofia, his mother Doña Dolores, his brother Luis, and Luis's fiancée, Charlene. Luis tells the gang he met Charlene when he visited America, at a theme park run by Mr. Smiley. The gang and the family enjoy a meal, and Dolores talks about her late husband. Then, a man named Señor Fuente arrives and asks to speak with Jorge and Luis. Dolores tells the gang that Fuente has been trying to get her to sell the hotel to him ever since her husband died. Meanwhile, Jorge and Luis tell Fuente once again that they do not want to sell the hotel. Fuente leaves, and the family go inside because of a fierce storm. When inside, Jorge is forced to tell the gang about the monster. He says that he does not have many other guests besides the gang because El Chupacabra has been scaring them away. Luis and Charlene tell the gang to lock their doors when they go to sleep.
During the night, Shaggy and Scooby-Doo are scared when they think they hear a noise. They then hear a loud growl and run screaming out of their cottage. They wake up Fred, Velma, and Daphne. After seeing footprints outside of Shaggy and Scooby's window, Fred declares that there is a mystery they have to solve.
The next day, the gang, Jorge, and Luis set out to search for the monster. Charlene gives Luis a charm for good luck. Daphne interviews the townspeople, but none of them are able to find El Chupacabra. When they get back to the van, they find someone has written on it, threatening them to either go away or not see tomorrow. The gang realizes this is serious and decide to search at night. Fred, Velma, and Daphne go one way, Alejo and Luis go another way, and Shaggy and Scooby stay at the van.
At night, Shaggy and Scooby sleep in the van, while someone takes away their brake fluid. Fred, Velma, and Daphne search the woods, and find El Curandero, a medicine man. El Curandero tells them they need to look at history and that they are in grave danger.
Meanwhile, Jorge and Luis are searching when Jorge sees El Chupacabra. Jorge is chased and nearly falls off a cliff, but he manages to hold on. He calls for Luis, but there is no answer. The monster disappears, and Luis shows up, saying he was hit on the head by the monster. Luis helps his brother up from the cliff.
Shaggy and Scooby start driving, but when they realize they cannot stop, they get scared. They meet up with Fred, Velma, Daphne, Jorge, and Luis who where being chased by El Chupacabra. Eventually, the van runs out of gas and stops right in front of a gas station. The van gets fixed, and Jorge gets some ice for Luis's head wound, but Luis does not have a bump on his head. Luis says he is fine.
The gang drives along and finds a sign to a history museum, and thinking that is what the medicine man said, go to it. When they get there they meet a suspicious and hyper museum guide who leads them into an auditorium. There they see a performance about Mexican customs. The guide then makes Daphne volunteer, and she kidnaps her, vanishing with a puff of smoke. The rest of the gang find a secret passageway and follow it, until they come to Aztec pyramids. They find Daphne at the top of one and rescue her, but the tourists chase after them, thinking they have stolen something. After a long chase scene, they finally return home. However, it is revealed the good luck charm Luis has is really a tracking device.
The next day is the Day of the Dead, and all go to the cemetery, where they find from Dolores that Charlene has been captured by El Chupacabra. The family gives offerings to the grave of Señor Otero and hope Charlene can be found. Suddenly, the ghost of Señor Otero comes out of his grave and tells them to sell the hotel and the land or they will by in danger. The family cannot believe that Señor Otero would want them to sell, but Scooby realizes something is suspicious. He follows a scent until he finds a man in a skeleton suit controlling the ghost. The gang catches him, and he is revealed to be Mr. Smiley. Then, El Chupacabra appears and scared everyone.
After chasing the gang, the monster is caught up in some wiring. The gang pulls off the mask, and it is revealed the museum guard they saw earlier is the monster. She tells them she loves Mr. Smiley and that they were going to get all the land. Luis asks what happened to Charlene, and the guard tells him he will never see her again and he should forget about her. Velma then guesses something is up and realizes the face the guard has is a mask, and pulls it off to reveal that Charlene was the guard and El Chupacabra. Fred says that the message written on the van was not in proper Spanish, so it had to be someone who did not speak Spanish. Señor Fuente says that he did want the land, but he respects that the family does not want to sell. Charlene and Mr. Smiley are taken to jail, and everyone enjoys the Day of the Dead.
62. Scooby Doo & The Lock Ness Monster (2003): Mystery Inc. visit Scotland to see Daphne's cousin, Shannon, but their holiday turns into a major mystery when the mythlogical Loch Ness Monster appears and wreaks havoc at Blake Castle. Not only will this affect the lives of the locals but it will destroy the traditional Games that are held at Blake Castle every year. It's up to the gang to solve the mystery and answer that has baffled mankind for years: "Is the Loch Ness Monster real?" Although the monster that is seen throughout the movie ends up to be fake, it is strongly suggested at the end that the Loch Ness Monster does exist.
63. National Lampoons Christmas Vacation (1989): Chicago resident Clark Wilhelm Griswold Jr (Chevy Chase) has REALLY got the Christmas spirit this year. Clark is taking his wife Ellen (Beverly D'Angelo), son Rusty (Johnny Galecki), and daughter Audrey (Juliette Lewis) on the search for a perfect Christmas tree.
After aggravating nearby motorists, getting stuck under a big rig, and walking in the woods for a long time, Clark and his family finally find a tree. He digs the huge tree out of the ground because he forgot the saw.
At home, Clark breaks several windows and gets covered in tree sap setting it up, as it barely fits in the yard, let alone the living room. The Griswold's snobby next door neighbors, Todd Chester (Nicholas Guest) and his wife Margo (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), have constant disdain toward Clark, and they make fun of the tree.
Clark has invited Ellen's parents Arthur Smith (E. G. Marshall) and Frances Smith (Doris Roberts), his own parents Clark Wilhelm Griswold Sr (John Randolph) and Nora Griswold (Diane Ladd), and his Aunt Bethany (Mae Questel) and Uncle Lewis (William Hickey) to spend the holidays at the Griswold house in Chicago.
While shopping for gifts at a downtown Chicago department store, Clark meets an attractive saleswoman named Mary (Nicolette Scorsese). He makes a series of Freudian slips to her on their encounter.
Clark has been working on a project at his firm which he expects will bring in a good Christmas bonus. Clark plans to use the bonus to put in a swimming pool, on which he has already laid down a $7,500 check that his bank account can't cover yet. He's hoping his Christmas bonus from work will cover it.
As Christmas approaches, the many members of Clark's extended family begin arriving to stay with him. Clark and Ellen's parents are the first to arrive. This drives Clark to go set up the lighting on the house with his son Rusty.
During the struggle to put the lights on, Clark falls off the ladder and hangs to a gutter, which causes a gutter-shaped bar of ice to break through the Chesters' window and break their stereo. Clark covers nearly every inch of the home's exterior and yard with lights -- 250 strands of lights with 100 bulbs on each strand for a total of 25,000 light bulbs.
Clark becomes very frustrated after many failed attempts to get the lights working. Unknown to him, the electricity wasn't on to begin with. Ellen realizes this and heads to the garage and flips a light switch, lighting the house (and causing the power company turn on their auxiliary nuclear generator), and blinding Todd and Margo, causing them to accidentally damage their own carpet.
After the lights are up and running, Ellen's cousin Catherine (Miriam Flynn), her sloppy husband Eddie (Randy Quaid), and two of their kids, Rocky (Cody Burger) and Ruby Sue (Ellen Hamilton Latzen), show up to stay with the Griswolds for a month, with their dilapidated, rusty RV parked in the driveway.
Stifling his disappointment at their surprise arrival proves difficult for Clark. However, Clark and Ellen are concerned about Eddie's children, as they won't have many, if any gifts, for Christmas, due to Eddie's seven year unemployment. Later, Clark fantasizes about Mary skinny-dipping in the pool he hopes to get.
On Christmas Eve, Uncle Lewis and Aunt Bethany arrive for dinner. Numerous disasters occur that evening: The turkey is cooked for far too long and dries out, Bethany's cat is electrocuted when it chews on a strand of Christmas lights, and Lewis accidentally burns the Christmas tree down, forcing Clark to quickly search for a replacement.
Clark takes one from his yard and sets it up (while doing this, the tree breaks through the Chesters' window), and inside the house, a manic squirrel leaps out of the tree and "terrorizes" the family before jumping onto Margo followed by Eddie's dog as she comes over with the intention to slug Clark for the damages he caused them.
A delivery from the company arrives at the house that evening, with Clark expecting it to be the long-awaited bonus. Unfortunately, Clark's boss, a scrooge named Frank Shirley (Brian Doyle Murray), has sent Clark an enrollment in the "Jelly of the Month" club.
Now Clark has reached his boiling point, going through several outbursts out of severe frustration. The family attempts to leave due to the events of the evening, but Clark says they're not leaving.
This situation gives Eddie the idea for the perfect Christmas gift for Clark after Clark offers to help Eddie treat Rocky and Ruby Sue to a good Christmas -- Eddie goes to Frank's house and brings Frank to the Griswold house, and then Eddie and the Griswolds help Frank see the error of his ways about the Christmas bonuses.
Frank changes his mind, deciding that he will give out Christmas bonuses this year, adding 20% to what the bonuses were last year -- more than enough to cover the check Clark wrote to pay for the pool. The police, called by Frank's wife Helen (Natalia Nogulich), raid the home, but Frank explains that it's all a misunderstanding while Helen disagrees with Frank's original intent to cut the Christmas bonuses.
Outside, Uncle Lewis' cigar ignites the gas from the sewage Eddie had earlier dumped down the street drain while emptying the holding tank on his RV, blasting a Santa ornament into the sky. Everyone watches the strange but touching sight, as Clark realizes his dream of the perfect family Christmas, saying simply: "I did it."
64. Quick Change (1990): The movie opens with Grimm (Murray), dressed as a clown, robbing a bank in Midtown Manhattan by ingeniously setting up a hostage situation and slipping away with an enormous sum of money and his accomplices; girlfriend Phyllis (Davis) and best friend Loomis (Quaid). However, whilst the heist itself is comparatively straightforward and easy, the getaway turns into a nightmare; the relatively simple act of getting to the airport to catch a flight out of the city is complicated by the fact that fate, luck and all of New York City appears to be against their escape. Roadworks obscure the roads to the airport, resulting in the three robbers being bossed in an unfamiliar part of the city. Then, a con-artist/thief robs the trio of everything they have (except, ironically, the bank money, which they have taped under their clothes). When changing their clothes, they are almost gunned down by the stressed incoming tenant of Grimm's apartment (Phil Hartman), as members of the fire department responding to a call try to push their hydrant-blocking car out of the way only to make it roll away into a ditch; when the trio eventually manages to flag down a cab, the driver (Shalhoub) is revealed to be relentlessly non-fluent in English. An anal-retentive bus driver (Bosco), a run-in with some mobsters and Phyllis' increasing desperation to tell Grimm the news that she is pregnant with his child add further complications. And all the while Rotzinger, the world-weary but relentless chief of the New York City Police Department (Robards), is doggedly but fruitlessly attempting tries to nab the trio. A final confrontation onboard a jumbo jet at the airport allows the robbers to escape, but the chief gets the consolation prize of having a major crime-boss (Smith) dropped in his lap.
65. Martians Go Home (1990): Song writer Mark Devereaux accidentally calls millions of green Martians to invade Earth. No they aren't dangerous, just wise-cracking, intrusive, pain in neck, annoyances. No one can escape their distracting influence. It's up to Mark to figure out how they got here, and most importantly, how to get rid of them before they drive everyone crazy!
66. Freaked (1993): The film starts with a breaking news report announcing that the flying gimp has been destroyed and citizens are safe to return to their homes.
The news break ends to reveal "The Skye Daley Show", already in progress. Skye (Brooke Shields) is interviewing beloved former child star Ricky Coogin (Alex Winter), who is seated on the opposite side of the stage in darkness; his silhouette appears to show that he's grotesquely and hideously disfigured. Rather bluntly, Skye asks how Ricky so quickly went from one of America's sweethearts to a name that makes children scream in terror. Ricky sighs and agrees to tell his story...
It all began when he accepted a job from the slimy mega-corporation E.E.S. (the 'Everything Except Shoes Corporation') to promote "Zygrot 24", a controversial and lethal toxic fertilizer, in South America. Although hesitant at first, the greedy, self-centered Coogin caves in after their sleazy chairman (William Sadler) offers him $5,000,000 and he hops on the first plane to South America with his rowdy, misogynistic buddy Ernie (Michael Stoyanov). During their flight, the duo have a run-in with Ricky's number one fan Stuey Gluck (Alex Zuckerman): a buck-toothed, pre-pubescent troll who worries that Ricky may be a bad person for promoting the dangerous chemical. Showing no compassion at all, Ricky quickly brushes Stuey off, causing a series of events that ends up with Stuey falling out of the airplane and plummeting to the ground below.
Once Ricky and Ernie arrive in the country of Santa Flan, they cross paths with a group of protesters, specifically the hard-willed and attractive young environmentalist Julie (Megan Ward). The two con Julie into thinking they're also environmentalists and she agrees to join them on a trip to an anti-Zygrot 24 protest. However, she soon finds out their true identities and the three are stuck with each other for the rest of the drive. They decide to take a detour to see Freek Land, a freak show, and they wind up in the clutches of demented proprietor Elijah C. Skuggs (Randy Quaid) and his henchman, the long-tongued Toad (Jaime Cardriche). Skuggs introduces them to his "Tasty Freekz Machine", a contraption powered by Zygrot 24 that morphs regular people into "Hideous Mutant Freekz" to become part of his show. Rubbing radioactive goo onto their bodies, Julie and Ernie are merged into a pair of conjoined twins and Ricky is transformed into a hideous half-man, half-monster. The three (or two) are taken to their living quarters.
Now incorporated in Elijah's freak show, Ricky meets the other freaks: Ortiz the Dog Boy (Keanu Reeves), the self-proclaimed "Leader of the Freaks"; Worm (Derek McGrath), the half-man, half-worm; Nosey (Jeff Kahn), whose entire head is one big nose; Cowboy (John Hawkes), the half-man, half-cow; the Bearded Lady (Mr. T); Sockhead (Bobcat Goldthwait), who has a sock puppet for a head; The Eternal Flame (Lee Arenberg), who has constant flaming flatulence; Rosie the Pinhead; The Hideous Frogman (Tim Burns), a Frenchman in a scuba suit; and the skeleton of Paul Lynde. At first, Ricky wants nothing to do with any of the other freaks, but soon warms up to them after hearing their stories of how they came to be here. Meanwhile, he discovers that he's developed a telepathic bond with Stuey and summons him to get help. Stuey manages to sell Ricky's story to the Weekly World News, but ends up being captured by a group of shady businessmen that presumably work for Elijah.
The night of the big show comes, and each of the freaks perform a routine for a sold-out house, including Julie and Ernie's comedy and dance routine and Sockhead's heartfelt rendition of "The Wienerschnitzel Polka". Ricky, encouraged by Worm, decides to turn his deformity into the acting chance of a lifetime: he performs the opening soliloquy from Richard III which moves the audience to tears and earns him a standing ovation. An E.E.S. executive arrives and, disgusted by Ricky's new appearance, tells him he's fired, causing the entire audience to start laughing at him. Overcome by rage, Ricky rips off the executive's head and the crowd runs away in terror, much to Elijah's amusement.
The next day, Ricky attempts to escape but is caught by a pair of talking, machine-gun toting Rastafarian eyeballs who take him to Elijah's lair. Elijah informs Ricky that at the next show, he plans to mutate him into a full beast that'll slaughter all of the other freaks, a surefire moneymaking event. On his way back, Ricky runs into the other freaks in the middle of their own escape attempt. He tries to warn them about the eyeballs, but none of them take him seriously. He gets into a blade fight with Ortiz, who ends up running off to chase a squirrel, catching the attention of the trigger-happy eyeballs who chase him out of the park. The freaks decide to elect Ricky as their new leader and Julie admires him for his selfless act.
After Ricky tells the other freaks of Elijah's dubious plans, the group devise a scheme to get back at him by altering the supply of Zygrot 24 to transform Ricky into a peaceful superfreak instead of a murderous one. Ricky, Ernie, Julie and Worm tunnel into Elijah's lab and successfully concoct an altered batch of the chemical. Meanwhile, back at the quarters, Sockhead gets nervous and tries to make a break for it, only to be fatally gunned down by the eyeballs. Upon escaping from the lab, Ricky loses the Zygrot, but instead finds a tasty batch of macaroons, which sparks a celebration amongst the hungry freaks.
Ricky eventually finds out that Elijah's Zygrot suppliers are none other than E.E.S., who arrive at Freek Land with a shipment of Zygrot and an imprisoned Stuey Gluck. As they discuss their plans to mutate the world's population into an efficient workforce, Stuey follows a telepathic tip from Rick and manages to escape, grabbing the tainted batch of Zygrot along the way. Later that night, at the show, before he manages to deliver the Zygrot to Ricky, Stuey accidentally gets the chemical poured on him, transforming him into a seven-foot mutant. Elijah sends the eyeballs after him, but they're quickly dispatched after the Stuey Monster throws dirt at them. Toad tries to take him out with his tongue, but accidentally swallows a firecracker thrown by Ernie and thus explodes, splashing goo all over the audience.
Elijah goes ahead and infects Ricky with his own Zygrot, turning him into an equally grotesque seven-foot monster. As the Ricky Monster and Stuey Monster battle to the death onstage, Elijah catches the E.E.S. executives double-crossing him and stealing his "Tasty Freaks Machine". Elijah soaks them all with the Zygrot, mutating them all into a giant, fleshy shoe. Right before the Ricky Monster is about to destroy the Stuey Monster, however, a wave of compassion comes over him, and he drops his weapon and gives Stuey a hug. Enraged, Elijah unsuccessfully tries to fight the Ricky Monster, who bashes him in the head, paralyzing him. Pleading for his life, Elijah says that only he can get the freaks back to normal: he baked a time-release antidote into a batch of macaroons. The Ricky Monster knocks him into an open vat of Zygrot 24 just as the FBI arrive to save the day. Elijah dramatically rises from the vat, transformed into a hideous beast that looks exactly like Skye Daley. The FBI agents gun him down.
Back on "The Skye Daley Show", the entire audience has fallen asleep and it's revealed that Ricky Coogin's grotesque silhouette was nothing more than the shape of a cactus in the background. One by one, the freaks are brought out onto the stage, each one transformed back to normal, with the exception of Worm, who bitterly states that he's never liked macaroons. They are then joined by the still-mutated Ortiz and the Stuey Monster before it's revealed that Skye Daley is actually Elijah C. Skuggs. Skuggs lunges after Ricky with a machete, only to be gunned down by the now normal Julie. As she embraces Ricky, Skye rises again, this time to be gunned down by Ernie. After Ricky and Ernie discuss what they've learned from their whole experience, they wave goodbye to the studio audience. Before the credits roll, though, the machete-wielding Skye lunges at them one more time...
67. The Adventures Of Pluto Nash (2001): In the decade of 2080, on a lunar colony called Little America, a retired smuggler named Pluto Nash (Eddie Murphy) buys a nightclub in order to fulfill a longtime wish and prevent the murder of Anthony Frankowski (Jay Mohr), the club's previous owner, by his creditors. Seven years later, "Club Pluto" has become a successful business that is frequented by many socialites. The staff consists of Pluto, a Hispanic assistant, and an anthropomorphic android robot named Bruno (Randy Quaid). Meanwhile, Anthony has become a stage performer under the name of Tony Francis. Tony has achieved interplanetary fame despite his apparent lack of talent. His music, performance style, and costume resemble those of Frank Sinatra.
Pluto is approached one night by a young woman called Dina Lake (Rosario Dawson), who has become stranded on the Moon and desires to earn money to pay for transport to Earth. She seeks help from Pluto because her father, "Nicky Sticks", was a friend of Pluto's. She offers her skills as a singer. Instead, Pluto gives her a job as server at his club and allows her to remain after closure. During the same night, Pluto is approached three times by messengers of a mysterious entrepreneur called Rex Crater. Mr. Crater wishes to buy Club Pluto and convert it into a gambling casino. When Pluto refuses, Rex Crater's minions destroy the club. Pluto, Dina, and Bruno escape. They begin to investigate Rex Crater about whom very little is known. Rowland (Peter Boyle), a friend to Pluto's mother and retired police detective, informs Pluto that Rex Crater is never seen outside of a penthouse in the city of Moon Beach. Rex had been involved with a geneticist named Runa Pendankin, who specialized in cloning before her death.
Pluto and Dina visit Doctor Pendankin's apprentice, Mona Zimmer, who operates a cosmetic surgery station. They pose as a married couple attempting to revive their infatuation for one another by having their figures altered. After having seen several examples of commonly preferred body shapes and contours, Zimmer asks for a police permit to perform the operation. Nash attempts to pay her off and she exepts it. Then they tell her they are police offices that have come for information regarding Doctor Pendankin's death (and show her Pluto's fake badge). If she gives them the information, they won't "arrest" her. Having been intimidated by Pluto's bluffs, Zimmer reveals that Doctor Pendankin had worked for or with a Terrestrial criminal having what apeared to be the initials "WZW" inscribed on his briefcase prior to her death.
Pluto and Dina return to the hotel. They meet Pluto's mother, Flura Nash (Pam Grier). All are attacked by Rex Crater's assassins, who have tracked them to the hotel. They all narrowly escape and Pluto takes Dina and Bruno to an abandoned smuggler's refuge.
At the hideout, Pluto mounts an Internet-based search for any Terrestrial criminal with the initials "WZW". When this yields nothing, Dina suggests that the initials are in fact "MZM", having been seen upside-down by Mona Zimmer. Pluto searches for "MZM" and discovers a criminal called Michael Zoroaster Marucci. Pluto suspects that Michael Marucci and Rex Crater are one and the same. Abruptly, he is contacted by his mother, who tells him that Rowland has been killed. Moments later, the hideout is attacked by Rex Crater's agents. A chase ensues and the heroes escape; their car is damaged and explodes, causing them to be presumed dead.
They are eventually rescued and taken to Moon Beach by Felix Laranga (Luis Guzmán), a smuggler who idolizes Pluto Nash. They infiltrate Rex Crater's casino/hotel, where they contact Tony (the former owner of Club Pluto) after his concert. Tony attempts to help them, but they are captured by Rex Crater's agents and taken to him.
Pluto accuses Rex Crater of being Michael Marucci. Rex Crater reveals himself to be a clone of Pluto, created by Doctor Pendankin from Pluto's removed appendix. He was to act as a public face of Michael Marucci's illegal activities but who then killed Marucci. Rex coolly murders his agents who had failed to destroy Pluto, shocking most of the onlookers, then goes on to explain his elaborate plans to create the "most exclusive" gambling casino ever made upon Club Pluto's ruins. Pluto contemptuously destroys Rex's model of the casino and assaults him.
Rex and Pluto fight for possession of Rex's gun while the others watch, uncertain of which is Pluto and which Rex. Pluto shoots Bruno when he gains possession of the gun. Rex's assistant Belcher assumes that Pluto would not damage his own robot and shoots Rex. Pluto orders the robot guards to leave, and reveals his identity to Dina by speaking of her employment to him. Belcher realizes Pluto is not Rex, Pluto knocks him out with a fast punch. Bruno reveals that he was wearing a bulletproof shirt on Pluto's advice. Rex (who, having all of Pluto's memories, was also wearing a bulletproof shirt) attempts to garotte Pluto with a wire paperweight, but is thrown through a window and dies.
The movie ends with the protagonists celebrating in the rebuilt Club Pluto. Bruno is made manager of the Club, and Dina its lead singer. Felix is granted lifelong credit and Tony invited to the celebration. Pluto, his desires fulfilled, rests at ease.
68. National Lampoons Christmas Vacation 2: Cousin Eddie’s Island Adventure (2003): The famous National Lampoon's Vacation series returns, but this time, Cousin Eddie takes over. The story begins with Cousin Eddie at his latest workplace, a nuclear facility where he 'works' alongside a monkey. When Eddie finds out he is being fired in lieu of the monkey, he calls the monkey a name and it bites him. To convince him not to sue, the owner of the plant gives Eddie a free Christmas vacation to an island in the south Pacific. Audrey Griswold and Eddie's Uncle Nick join the family on the vacation, only to regret it, as the family gets shipwrecked with nobody to help him but Muka Laka Miki, an attractive islander. When the Tuttle family winds up trapped on a tropical island, however, Eddie manages to provide for everyone and prove himself a real man. The family pulls together and celebrates Christmas on the island. Shortly after they are rescued.
69. Back By Midnight (2002): Dangerfield plays Jake Puloski, a prison warden whose plans for renovating his rundown prison are ruined when his superior, Eli Rockwood (Randy Quaid) rejects his budget. This comes at the same time that Rockwood is in the midst of selling his company to the very wealthy Gloria Beaumont (Kirstey Alley). Rockwood also informs Puloski that his contract as prison warden will not be renewed, which means that Puloski will be forced to retire in two months. Without the funds for a proper remodeling, Puloski decides to approach the problem by allowing a group of prisoners to leave the prison to burgle a sporting goods store owned by Rockwood (on the condition that they are "back by midnight").
70. K-9 (1989): Belushi plays "maverick" police detective Michael Dooley, who has been tagged for execution by a major international drug dealer (Lyman, played by Kevin Tighe). To help, a so-called "friend" (Brannigan, played by Ed O'Neill) gives Dooley a police dog, "Jerry Lee," trained to sniff drugs. The two attempt to put Lyman in prison, but Dooley soon learns that Jerry Lee is a mischievous smart-alec who works only when he wants to. Many of the movie's gags revolve around Jerry Lee's playfully destructive episodes.
The German Shepherd Dog "Jerry Lee" was played by Koton, a real-life police dog from the Kansas City, Missouri police department. In 1991, Koton was shot and killed while trying to apprehend a suspect in the murder of a police officer. Ten days before his death, Koton found ten kilos of cocaine worth more than $US 1.2 million.
K-9 was directed by Rod Daniel and written by Steven Siegel and Scott Myers. It was produced by Lawrence Gordon and Charles Gordon, and released by Universal City Studios. It has two sequels, K-911 (1999) and K-9: P.I. (2002).
71. K-911 (1999): In this sequel to the action comedy K-9, police detective Dooly (James Belushi) has been teamed up with Jerry Lee (Mac), a German Shepherd police dog, for nearly ten years, but Jerry Lee isn't as young as he once was, and Dooly's superiors suggests that maybe it's time that the dog was retired from the force. Dooly isn't pleased with this idea, since Jerry Lee has become one of his best friends over the years, but when the dog can't keep up with chasing a gunman during a shootout, Dooly is overruled and he now has two additional partners -- Zeus (Lucan), a young, strong Doberman Pincher, and his new trainer. K-911 also stars Christine Tucci, James Handy, and Wade Williams.
72. K-9 P.I. (2002): Dooley and Jerry Lee are at it again. The day after Dooley (James Belushi) retires as a detective from the police force, he finds himself -- and his faithful canine companion Jerry Lee -- chasing high-tech burglars who have stolen a valuable prototype computer chip. Trouble is, Jerry Lee has eaten one of the chips, and the other three won't work without it. Meanwhile, Dooley is convinced to breed Jerry Lee and winds up with a crush on the female dog's owner (Barbara Tyson), however, a mysterious and beautiful client looking for her missing boyfriend has breeding ideas about Dooley of her own. Once again, Dooley needs Jerry Lee to rescue him from danger and straighten out his love life.
73. Batman Returns (1992): Around Christmas time in Gotham City, the aristocratic Cobblepots give birth to a baby boy. Due to him being deformed, they lock him in a box, where he shows his first sign of homicidal tendencies when he kills the family cat. They drop their deformed infant baby in the sewers, abandoning him because of his ridiculed look. Thirty-three years later, it is Christmas time again as the city is being run by Mayor Hamilton Hill, who deals with the ambitious but ruthless business tycoon, Max Shreck. Gotham comes under attack by the "Red Triangle Circus Gang" in a recent ceremony, although the heist is disrupted by the crime-fighting Batman. Shreck's timid secretary, Selina Kyle, is caught in the fray, but is soon saved by Batman, after which she steals a stun gun from one of the gang members. Shreck is kidnapped by the Red Triangles and is brought to their leader, a short, deformed man known as "The Penguin." Penguin blackmails Shreck with incriminating evidence of his more dubious activities, prompting Shreck to agree to help Penguin run for Mayor of Gotham.
Shreck arranges for the Penguin to "rescue" the mayor's infant child from his own gang members. The plan works, and Penguin becomes a hero to all except a suspicious Bruce Wayne (Batman's alter ego). After finding out his original birthname of Oswald Cobblepot, Penguin eventually wins the approval of citizens of Gotham and intends to run for Mayor. Shreck, however, is soon troubled by Selina's discovery of a dark secret behind his new power plant. Shreck tries to murder her by pushing her out of a skyscraper, but Selina survives the attempt, and is revived amid a huge crowd of cats. It is assumed through this event that Selena inherited her new abilities.
Dazed, Selina goes back to her apartment and goes ballistic. She destroys her apartment and crafts a homemade black vinyl costume to pursue a new life, as a vigilante figure named "Catwoman." Carrying a whip as her weapon of defense, she bombs Shreck's department store and battles with Batman, losing another life in the process. As Selina, she then forms a romantic relationship with Bruce Wayne, while also allying herself with Penguin to get back at Batman for 'killing' her.
When the subsequent plan is put into action, Batman is framed for kidnapping and murder and finds himself trapped in the Batmobile under Penguin's control. Catwoman and Penguin's alliance falls apart when she rebuffs a sexual advance from him, and Penguin opts to kill Catwoman himself. His campaign to recall the current mayor is quickly destroyed when Bruce Wayne plays selected comments he stated while controlling the Batmobile; comments insulting the people of Gotham at one of Penguin's speeches. The people of Gotham get angry, forcing Penguin to defend himself with his gun umbrella. The police chase after him, but Penguin flees into the sewers, and reveals his original plan: to kidnap and kill the firstborn sons of Gotham's most prominent families in revenge.
Bruce meets Selina at a dance party hosted by Shreck, where she reveals to him her intentions to kill Shreck. While dancing, the two subsequently discover the other's secret identity, but before they can leave to discuss this development, Penguin storms the hall and tries to take Max's son, Chip. Max successfully pleas with Penguin to take him instead. Batman attacks Penguin's Red Triangle Circus goons and puts a stop to the kidnappings. Penguin then dispatches an army of rocket-armed Penguins to bomb all of Gotham. Batman manages to jam the birds' control signals and turn them around so that they attack Penguin's base instead, apparently killing the Penguin and what is left of his gang inside.
Batman then discovers that Catwoman intends to kill Shreck inside Penguin's base. Shreck tries to bribe Batman, but Batman simply ignores him, and tries to talk Catwoman out of her planned murder. He promises they could live happily together, but Catwoman refuses to listen, and scratches him on the cheek with her claws. During this argument, Shreck draws a gun he took from a Red Triangle clown and fires it at Batman, but it only scrapes him. Catwoman then starts to approach Shreck, who shoots her four times, leaving Catwoman alive but wounded. Catwoman then exacts her revenge of Shreck by inserting the stolen stun gun into her mouth, activating the spark, and pressing her lips to Shreck's, while also ripping a cable out of Penguin's electrical generator with her free hand, sending the electricity everywhere. A huge explosion follows, and as the smoke clears away, Batman tries to find Selina in the debris, but only the charred corpse of Shreck is found. A gravely injured Penguin then emerges from the water and tries to kill Batman once again before ultimately succumbing to his wounds.
Some time later, Bruce drives around the city, with his butler, Alfred, when he sees Selina's shadow on a wall. Alfred stops the car and Bruce searches for Selina in vain; however, her cat rubs itself up against Bruce, who takes the cat with him and leaves. The camera then pans up to the top of the city, amidst the sky scrapers. The film ends as Catwoman appears, watching as the Bat-Signal light up the night sky.
74. Batman Forever (1995): The film opens with Batman (Val Kilmer) preparing for action. Two-Face, alter ego of former District Attorney Harvey Dent (Tommy Lee Jones), is holding a hostage in a bank vault. He connects the Bank vault by chain to a Helicopter, intending to fly it out of the bank. Batman arrives, rescuing the hostage and foiling the robbery by cutting the chain. Two face tries to escape but Batman hangs on to the chopper by the chain and is dragged through the City until he climbs slowly on top of the chopper. Two face aims at Batman but accidentally shoots the pilot and is forced to take his place at the wheel. Batman bashes his way into the cockpit, but not before Two Face aims to crash the chopper into the "Our Lady of Gotham" statue and locks the wheel. Two Face escapes using the only parachute on board, but Batman luckily manages to dive out of the cockpit and into the river in the nick of time.
Edward Nygma (Jim Carrey), a researcher at Wayne Enterprises, has developed a device to beam television directly to a person's brain. Bruce Wayne, convinced that mind manipulation would raise too many questions, turns the idea down, but Nygma continues to work on it after hours. When Fred Stickley, the head of the research department, discovers Nygma's clandestine overtime, Nygma knocks out Stickley then uses him to test his device, discovering that he can use it to absorb people's knowledge. Realizing Wayne was right about it being mind manipulation, Stickley fires Nygma, but Nygma murders Stickley, doctors the security tapes to make Stickley's death look like a suicide, and then resigns from Wayne Enterprises.
After having met clinical psychiatrist Dr. Chase Meridian (Nicole Kidman) at the robbery, Bruce Wayne invites her to a charity circus event. Two-Face and his cohorts storm the event, bringing a bomb with a two-minute timer. Two-Face, who blames Batman for the attack which left him disfigured, will detonate the bomb unless Batman reveals himself. Wayne attempts to reveal his alter ego to Two-Face, but is unheard over the screams of the audience. Meanwhile, the acrobatic family The Flying Graysons work to remove the bomb via an opening at the summit of the circus tent. The youngest member, Dick (Chris O'Donnell), goes ahead of his family and succeeds in pushing the bomb through the hole and out into the surrounding water. Upon his return, Dick discovers that Two-Face has killed his entire family and escaped. Wayne assumes responsibility for Dick and allows him to stay at his home, Wayne Manor. Dick declares his intention to avenge his family's deaths by killing Two-Face, and when he discovers Wayne's secret identity as Batman, he insists on becoming the crimefighter's partner in order to achieve his goal. Wayne is reluctant at first, telling Dick that killing Two-Face won't make the pain go away, but Dick names his alter-ego "Robin" at the suggestion of butler Alfred (Michael Gough).
Batman on his way to save Dr. Chase Meridian from Two-Face and The Riddler as seen in the climax of this film
Edward Nygma, who has been stalking Wayne and leaving riddles for him, is inspired and delighted by watching Two-Face's raid at the circus on live television and creates his own alter-ego in the form of The Riddler, a master of puzzles and quizzes. He perfects his brain-manipulation device into a system which beams signals to and from the human brain in order to simulate an immersive television viewing experience. This has the side effect of allowing the Riddler to read viewers' minds, as well as augmenting his own intelligence. Making a deal to use his brain-manipulation device to discover Batman's true identity, he becomes partner-in-crime with Two-Face in order to fund mass-production of the device. Successful, he readopts his Nygma persona and hosts a launch event for a set-top version of his device. Nygma convinces an unwitting Wayne to try it, resulting in Nygma discovering Wayne's alter ego. Two-Face attempts to kill Wayne/Batman, but the appearance of Dick (disguised as Robin)at the end helps to foil the plan. Armed with the knowledge of Batman's true identity, the villains later converge upon Wayne Manor. Unwilling to have Two-Face kill his idol, Nygma (as the Riddler) blows up the Batcave and leaves a final riddle for his nemesis, while Two-Face kidnaps Dr. Chase.
Bruce and Alfred eventually solve the riddles, each one having a number in it:
1. "If you look at the numbers on my face, you won't find 13 anyplace." (a clock)
2. "Tear one off and scratch my head; what was once red is now black instead." (a match)
3. "The eight of us go forth, not back, to protect our king from a foe's attack." (chess pawns)
4. We're five items of an everyday sort; you'll find us all in 'a tennis court'." (vowels- in the words 'a tennis court')
Each number corresponds to a letter in the alphabet, with 1 and 8 being digits for the number 18. 13 being "M", 18 for "R" and 5 for "E", M-R-E, or "Mr. E"- mystery, or enigma- Mr. E. Nygma). Changing into Batman, Bruce asks Alfred whether he should use the Batboat or the Batwing. Dick suggests both as he enters the Batcave- now dressed in a "Robin" costume of Alfred's design. Bruce decides two against two are better odds, and finally agrees to Dick becoming a partner.
Batman and Robin locate the Riddler's lair. During the assault on the lair, Robin confronts and overpowers Two-Face, but instead of letting Two-Face fall to his death, Robin rescues him, but Two-Face draws a gun capturing Robin. Batman manages to find his own way up to the high-altitude lair, only to find Robin already hostage along with Dr. Chase, both bound and gagged in individual cages on either side of Riddler's throne.
Riddler, challenging Batman with the greatest riddle of all ("Can Batman and Bruce Wayne actually co-exist?"), gives him the choice of rescuing only one of them, but Batman instead destroys the brainwave-collecting hub, sending Two-Face running for his life, and reversing the brainwave stream from Nygma's head. Before Nygma collapses, he springs the trap doors in Robin's and Dr. Meridian's cages, sending them plummeting to their apparent doom, but Batman rescues both of them, only to be drawn on again by Two-Face perched on a nearby plank. Batman reminds Two-Face that he's always of two minds about everything, so as Two-Face flips his coin in the air Batman pulls a handful of similar coins out of his pocket and tosses them into the air with it. Frantically trying to find his own coin, Two-Face loses his footing and falls to his death. Batman returns to the now-destroyed Riddler's lair and finds Edward, his mind now enfeebled by the brainwave reversal. He answers Nygma's riddle saying "I had to save them both. You see, I'm both Bruce Wayne and Batman."
The Riddler is later committed to Arkham Asylum, and Dr. Chase is asked to consult on his case. Riddler offers to reveal the identity of Batman to her, but he thinks he himself is Batman. Dr. Chase then meets Bruce Wayne outside and tells him his secret is safe.
75. Batman & Robin (1997): The film begins with Batman and Robin preparing to save Gotham City yet again. Batman receives a call from Commissioner Gordon, informing him of a new villain named "Mr. Freeze." The two of them go to the museum, but are forced to battle with his henchmen first. Freeze, whose goal is to steal a diamond of exceptional size, succeeds, and attempts to escape. Batman attempts to follow him by climbing into his rocket, but is trapped by Freeze, who freezes Batman to a wall. Freeze sets the ship to explode, before fleeing the craft. Robin, who grappled onto the rocket before its takeoff, manages to enter the ship before it detonates and rescues Batman.
Batman and Robin chase after Freeze, retrieving the diamond in the process; however, Robin is frozen by Freeze, and the diamond is stolen yet again. Batman, faced with the decision to either chase Freeze, or thaw out Robin, stays behind in order to save his young ward. As a result, Freeze escapes with the diamond.
Meanwhile, Pamela Isley, a scientist in South America, is trapped in a lab by her insane boss, Dr. Jason Woodrue, who refuses to tell her about his new experiment. She escapes the lab and witnesses him use her formula, developed to give plants the ability to defend themselves, to turn a diminutive convict into a hulking monstrosity, dubbed "Bane." Woodrue discovers Isley and attempts to sway her to his side, but his advances are denied. In a final effort to silence Isley, he throws her to the ground and crushes her under a shelf of poisons and toxins, killing her.
Isley is later revived, but instead of the unnatractive nerd she was before, she is a gorgeous seductress wearing hardly anything. She uses her newfound beauty to seduce Woodrue who can hardly speak because of her great beauty. She calls herself "Poison Ivy" and tells him that her blood was replaced with aloe, her skin replaced with chlorophyll and her lips filled with "Venom," a claim Woodrue verifies when he kisses her and dies instantly. She devotes her new life to destroying humanity and recreating the environment, with plants dominating the ecosystem. She destroys the lab, but not before deciding to visit Wayne Laboratories in Gotham City.
Mr. Freeze, hiding in an ice cream store, announces his plan to freeze Gotham City and hold it for ransom, in order to cure his wife's advanced case of the fictional disease McGregor's Syndrome. In order to keep her alive as he searches for a cure, Freeze has cryogenically frozen her.
The next day, at the Wayne mansion, Alfred Pennyworth's beautiful niece, Barbara, makes a surprise visit and is invited by Bruce to stay until she goes back to school. That night, when she's talking to Alfred, it's explained that her parents died in a car accident and that Alfred was very close to her mother, Margaret, nicknamed "Peg." After putting him to bed, Barbara sneaks out of the house and steals one of the Wayne manor motorcycles.
Bruce Wayne, attending the unveiling of a new telescope, demonstrates its ability to reflect light off satellites in the sky, allowing it to see any point on Earth. His girlfriend Julie is present and a reporter asks when they're getting married; Julie says that their love is enough, for now. The conference is interrupted by Isley, who tells Bruce that his company should be more focused on the environment and how it could be soon destroyed. Bruce declines her offer, as it would result in the deaths of millions of people, due to the fact that her proposal would be that Gotham City halt all operations of its energy plants. Angered by this, Isley tells the gathering that the plants they have so carelessly destroyed will rise up against them. She's then told that Batman and Robin are the protectors of Gotham and will be attending a ball where one of the Wayne Manor diamonds will be available for auction.
Batman and Robin attend the ball, where women are being "auctioned" in order to raise money for the telescope. However, everyone's attention is diverted by a person in a gorilla suit, dancing seductively atop some rocks. The gorilla reveals itself to be Poison Ivy, who uses her pheromone mist to entrance everyone in the hall, including Batman and Robin. She goes onto the stage and at first tells Batman to join her for the night, but seeing that Robin is younger, she decides to tell him to leave Batman and join her. She attempts to disrupt Batman and Robin's friendship by having them argue over her; she then puts herself up for auction, which starts a frenzy of bids. Batman is ultimately the victor, but before he can enjoy his spoils, Mr. Freeze bursts in and steals the diamond. Poison Ivy tries to use her mist on him, but because of his condition, he's immune.
Batman and Robin track down Freeze and his henchmen, and Batman prevents Robin from following him, knowing that his Redbird will be unable to make a perilous jump. Freeze is captured, and Batman and Robin have a falling-out. Robin says that until Bruce learns to trust him, their team will never work. Barbara, stealing another of the Wayne motorcycles, is seen by Dick, who grows suspicious.
Freeze is imprisoned in a chamber within a small area of the Arkham Asylum under a cold temperature. He tries to escape, but is unsuccessful because he cannot survive without a cold climate. Meanwhile, Ivy and Bane acquire a new hideout, which they steal from a petty gang.
Later, Bruce is eating with Julie, who proposes to him; however, he fantasizes Ivy walking into the room and doesn't pay attention to what Julie's saying. She kisses him, while he imagines that he's kissing Ivy. She angrily tells him that he called her Ivy, and asks him who Ivy is; he replies that he doesn't know. Barbara tells Dick that Alfred has McGregor's Syndrome, the same illness plaguing Freeze's wife.
Freeze is rescued by Ivy, posing as his sister; she disposes of two guards by seducing them and giving them her deadly kiss, and they escape from the prison. Batman and Robin rush to Freeze's hideout, to find that he's no longer there. They enter the room where Freeze's wife is being held and smell Ivy's dust. They follow it into the air vent, which leads to a new room.
Batman and Robin fight Bane, but Robin, who now knows Ivy's true ways, is interrupted by Ivy who seduces him and comes close to kissing him, but decides to seduce Batman when she sees he's been defeated by Bane. Batman, who unlike Robin can control his desire for Ivy, tells her to tell him where Freeze is, only to be caught by Bane again. Now that Bane has Batman, Ivy seduces Robin once again. Robin gives in to her beauty and agrees to kiss her, but is stopped by Batman, who now knows Ivy's deadly ability. Robin gets frustrated that he almost kissed Ivy, but was disrupted by Batman, so he fights him. While they fight, Ivy and Bane manage to escape. On the way out, Ivy disconnects the cryogenic chamber keeping Freeze's wife alive. Next, she and Bane steal the BatSignal from the police station.
Alfred, now bedridden, gives Barbara a disc. She manages to guess the password and is told by a digital representation of Alfred who Batman and Robin are, where the BatCave is and that there's a BatSuit in her size.
Later that night, Dick and Bruce see a Robin signal in the sky, and realize it's from Ivy. Dick goes there alone and asks Ivy what Freeze's plan is. She tells him, then kisses him; however, Robin has prepared for this, revealing that he's wearing rubber lips, preventing him from feeling the toxic effects of her kiss. Ivy traps Robin, then Batman, who appears shortly thereafter. However, a young, costumed girl appears to save the two of them.
Ivy and the girl fight and the girl pushes Ivy into her seat, where she's trapped by the giant leaves. Batman and Robin both escape from their traps. The girl says that she's Batgirl and tells them that she's actually Barbara. The three of them decide to go after Freeze together. By the time they get to the lab where Freeze and Bane are, Gotham is already almost completely frozen. Batgirl and Robin pull the tube on Bane's mask and release the venom, turning him back to the puny man that he was.
Batman and Freeze fight each other, with Freeze still thinking that Batman was the one who killed his wife. Batman wins the fight, as Batgirl and Robin unfreeze Gotham. Batman shows Freeze a recording of Ivy during her fight with Batgirl; it shows Ivy telling Batgirl that she was the one who pulled his wife's plug. Freeze hates himself for trusting her now. Batman tells him that his wife isn't dead; she's being held at a high-profile room at the hospital. Batman asks Freeze for a favor, in return for saving his wife: the cure Freeze has created for the first stage of McGregor's Syndrome, for a friend (Alfred) who's dying. Freeze gives him two tubes of medicine.
At the mansion, Bruce injects Alfred with the medicine, and he, Dick and Barbara pray that it will work. Ivy is shown imprisoned in Arkham, pulling petals off of a flower, saying, "He loves me, he loves me not." She picks a petal off the flower, then puts it in her mouth and starts to eat it. Just before she finishes it, Freeze walks in and tells her that he's her new cellmate and intends to make her life a living hell for almost killing his wife. The next morning, Alfred wakes up and tells Bruce, Dick and Barbara that he feels fine. Everyone agrees to let Barbara stay at the mansion, and the three of them agree to work together, fighting crime; Alfred remarks that they'll need a bigger cave. The movie ends with Batman, Robin and Batgirl running in front of the Batsignal to save the day again.
76. Pinky & The Brain (1995): Pinky and the Brain first appeared as a recurring segment on the animated series Animaniacs, another show produced by Steven Spielberg. On September 14, 1993, Pinky and the Brain premiered on television in the episode Win Big, which aired on the FOX Kids Network.
On September 9, 1995, Pinky and the Brain were spun off onto their own half-hour series on Kids' WB, with each episode consisting of one or more segments, including some of the segments from Animaniacs. The first season of the show was scheduled in a prime-time slot from September 9, 1995 through May 12, 1996 as part of the new WB Network lineup, and as a result, tended to have more jokes and humor aimed to adults rather than children. However, due to poor ratings, subsequent seasons were moved to Saturday mornings as part of the Kids' WB programming block.
Around 1997 the overall structure within the WB Network changed, including the placement of Jamie Kellner as head of the Kids WB programming. Along with this came pressure on the writers of the show to back off on the idea of world domination and to include more characters on the show.[16] The episode "Pinky and the Brain ... and Larry"[14] was a response to this pressure.[16]
With increased pressure from the WB network, the series was retooled on September 1, 1998 into Pinky, Elmyra & the Brain, in which Pinky and the Brain were owned by Tiny Toons character Elmyra Duff. The show lasted for 13 episodes, 5 of which were shown whole and 6 of which were chopped into segments and aired as part of The Cat&Birdy Warneroonie PinkyBrainy Big Cartoonie Show.
After Pinky and the Brain and Pinky, Elmyra & the Brain were canceled from the Kids WB, Cartoon Network aired Pinky and the Brain from 1998 to 2000. Nickelodeon then acquired syndication rights to broadcast all 65 episodes of Pinky and the Brain on both Nickelodeon, and later Nicktoons Network, beginning on September 4, 2000.[48][49] While the episodes aired unchanged, Nickelodeon altered the opening sequence, masking various items such as beakers with the orange Nickelodeon logo in the same shape and the Acme Labs sign changing into a Nickelodeon logo (this garnered a lot of negative criticism from fans). During 2003, Pinky and the Brain aired on Boomerang with the theme song unaltered. It continued to air on Boomerang and Nicktoons Network until 2005 when it was taken off both channels. It can now be found on Jetix (Toon Disney), every night at 10:00PM Eastern Standard Time.
During 2006, Pinky and the Brain, among other shows, was scheduled to be broadcast on the AOL broadband channel, In2TV.[50] However, as of 2007, Pinky and the Brain is no longer a featured series on the site.
In Canada, Pinky and the Brain is currently airing on YTV having started on September 3, 2007. The theme song has been unaltered.
77. The Pink Panther (1963): As a child, Lugash princess Dala's father gives her as a gift the largest diamond in the world, the Pink Panther. The huge pink diamond has an unusual flaw: if one stares into the stone long enough, one can see what appears to be the image of a leaping panther; hence the name. Viewers watch as this image comes to life and participates in the credits. When Dala is a young woman, rebels in her home country have seized power and are demanding the possession the jewel, but the princess refuses to hand it over.
Dala relaxes on holiday in an exclusive skiing resort in Cortina d'Ampezzo, where noted British capitalist Sir Charles Lytton, who leads a secret life as a jewel thief called the Phantom, has his eyes on the Pink Panther. Charles's American playboy nephew George follows to the resort in an attempt to steal it and blame it on "The Phantom", not knowing that the Phantom is his uncle.
On the Phantom's trail is French police inspector Jacques Clouseau of the Sûreté, whose wife Simone (unknown to him) is the paramour of Charles and helper in the Phantom's crimes. Clouseau tries to stop the theft attempts, but he is so clueless and clumsy that when several attempts are made at a fancy-dress party, he looks everywhere but the right place. Throughout the film, scenes at the skiing resort's hotel show Madame Clouseau dodging her husband while trying both to carry out Sir Charles' plans and to avoid George, who is enamoured of her.
In spite of himself, the buffoonish inspector captures Sir Charles and his accomplices. Conviction looks inevitable until Dala and Simone hatch a plan to frame Clouseau. The defense calls a surprised Clouseau to the stand as their lone witness. The barrister asks a series of questions that suggest Clouseau himself could be the Phantom. The unnerved Clouseau pulls his handkerchief out of his shirt pocket - to which is attached the jewel (planted there by Mme. Clouseau).
As Clouseau is being driven away to prison, a regretful Simone expresses fears that he will rot in prison. Sir Charles points out that "it takes years for people to rot; and when the Phantom strikes again, he'll be free as a bird." In the police car, the officers tell Clouseau as "The Phantom", he is a "national hero" and a sex idol for millions of young women. They ask him, with some deference, how he had committed all those robberies, he smiles a little and says, "Well, you know... it wasn't easy."
The cartoon character of the Pink Panther then closes the film. Because of Clouseau's popularity among viewers, the sequel A Shot in the Dark was rewritten to include him, having been originally intended to create a series of movies for David Niven's character, the Phantom. Later during the same year, the animated Pink Panther character got his own series of animated shorts.
78. A Shot In The Dark (1964): Inspector Clouseau is called to the country home of a Paris plutocrat, Benjamin Ballon, to investigate a murder. Although all evidence points to the beautiful maid Maria Gambrelli, an infatuated Clouseau stubbornly refuses to admit that she is guilty. In order for the real culprits to keep the truth hidden from Clouseau's boss, Commissioner Charles Dreyfus, they must commit more murders. Each time there is a murder, Maria is arrested, and each time Clouseau sets her free. Clouseau is always at the wrong place at the right time and manages to get himself arrested by uniformed police four times in quick succession (first for selling balloons without a license, then for selling paintings without a license, then for hunting without a license, and finally for public nudity, after ending up in a nudist colony). As Clouseau continues to bungle the case, Commissioner Dreyfus becomes increasingly agitated, resulting in his accidentally cutting off his thumb and stabbing himself with a letter-opener. An anonymous figure starts attempting to kill Clouseau, but ends killing a doorman, two cafe customers, and a Cossack dancer, thus leading to an explosive ending as all the suspects in the case – Ballon, his wife, and all of the servants were murdering each other for having love affairs, except Maurice, who was a blackmailing butler – are blown up as they attempt to escape in Clouseau's car. The anonymous bomber is revealed to be Commissioner Dreyfus, who has been driven mad by Closeau's blunders, and, in trying to kill him, has accidentally murdered the real killers.
79. The Pink Panther Strikes Again (1976): The story opens at the sanitarium for the criminally insane, where former Chief Inspector Charles Dreyfus (Herbert Lom), who is largely recovered from the murderous insanity that saw him repeatedly attempt to kill his rival, Inspector Jacques Clouseau, is about to be released. Unfortunately, Dreyfus' recovery is shortlived; upon encountering Clouseau (Peter Sellers), who is now Chief Inspector and has arrived with the helpful intention of speaking on Dreyfus' behalf, Dreyfus resumes his insanity.
Soon thereafter, Dreyfus escapes from the asylum, intent on killing Clouseau. His first attempt involves planting a bomb whilst Clouseau destructively duels with his manservant Cato (Burt Kwouk), who is under orders to keep Clouseau alert by randomly attacking him. The bomb merely destroys Clouseau's apartment whilst Clouseau himself is unharmed (viewers eventually learn that Cato was sent to the hospital), largely due to an inflatable costume and a telephone call. Dreyfus sets his sights higher; enlisting the help of an army of the most vicious criminals alive, he kidnaps nuclear physicist Professor Hugo Fassbender (Richard Vernon) and the Professor's daughter Margo, forcing the professor to build a "doomsday weapon" in return for his daughter's freedom. Because Hugo Fassbender fears to have his daughter harmed, he agrees.
Clouseau travels to England to investigate Fassbender's disappearance, with typically chaotic results, as Scotland Yard Superintendent Quinlan (Leonard Rossiter) painfully learns. Meanwhile Dreyfus reveals an elaborate plot to get rid of Inspector Clouseau by threatening the whole of humanity. Disintegrating the United Nations headquarters in New York City before the disbelieving eyes of the world, he blackmails the leaders of the world, including the President of the United States (a thinly-veiled impersonation of Gerald Ford, advised by a similarly poorly-camouflaged Henry Kissinger), into assassinating Clouseau.
Forced to take Dreyfus' threat seriously, several nations send murderers to kill Clouseau at the Oktoberfest in Germany; however, in his typical bumbling fashion, Clouseau manages to evade each assassination attempt just as it is about to happen, so that the assassins all kill each other instead. The assassins of twenty-six nations are killed in the attempt; the only survivors are the Egyptian (an uncredited cameo by Omar Sharif) and Soviet Russian operatives. The Egyptian assassin, sneaking into Clouseau's hotel room, shoots a man he believes to be Clouseau (who is in fact one of Dreyfus' henchmen, who had taken it upon himself to assassinate Clouseau). The Russian operative, Olga Bariosova (Lesley-Anne Down), who has sneaked into Clouseau's room, seduces the Egyptian, similarly mistaking him for Clouseau. His passionate sexuality convinces her not to assassinate him; when the real Clouseau makes an appearance, he is most surprised to discover a beautiful woman in his bed who confuses him further by declaring her undying passion for him, and by finding a dead man in his bath. A tattoo on the dead man, combined with Olga's dismissively revealed knowledge, reveals to Clouseau Dreyfus' location; a castle in Bavaria.
Dreyfus is elated at Clouseau's apparent demise, but his joy is soured by a bad case of toothache. Clouseau, who has arrived in the village near Dreyfus' castle and has unsuccessfully attempted to breach the castle, thwarted every time by a drawbridge that appears to be mocking him - eventually infiltrates Dreyfus' castle hideout disguised as a dentist, intoxicates Dreyfus with nitrous oxide, and pulls one of Dreyfus's good teeth. Realising the deception and laughing hysterically, Dreyfus orders Clouseau killed, but Clouseau escapes.
Enraged, Dreyfus means to seek vengeance on the world by destroying England; Clouseau—who has been thrown into the castle's barnyard—is literally catapulted onto Dreyfus' doomsday machine. The buffoon's weight redirects the disintegrator so that it hits Dreyfus (causing his feet to disappear) and Dreyfus' castle. As Dreyfus' henchmen, Fassbinder and his daughter, and eventually Clouseau himself escape the dissolving castle (Clouseau nearly thwarted once more by the drawbridge), Dreyfus himself plays the castle's pipe organ, laughing insanely and gradually disintegrating. The castle disappears.
Returning to Paris, Clouseau is reunited with Olga, who has dismissed Cato for the evening and intends on completing her seduction of Clouseau; their romantic evening is interrupted firstly by Clouseau's apparent inability to remove his clothes without a struggle, and then by Cato, who chooses this time to once more follow his orders and attack Clouseau. The inevitable struggle sees all three hurled by a reclining bed into the Seine.
80. Revenge of the Pink Panther (1978): A French businessman/mobster named Philippe Douvier (Robert Webber) is making a deal with a New York Mafia for a multimillion-Franc drug-smuggling operation, whose officers suspect Douvier of growing too old and being no longer strong enough to handle it. Douvier, along with his secretary and paramour, Simone LeGree (Dyan Cannon), attempts to prove his strength by assassinating the most famous person in France, the one believed to be the best: Chief Inspector Clouseau (Peter Sellers).
Douvier's first two attempts fail; his attempt to blow Clouseau up with a bomb fails, and the subsequent attempt by a Chinese assassin called Mr Chong (an uncredited appearance by Founder of American Kenpo, Ed Parker) is thwarted when Clouseau knocks him out of a window, believing him to be his (Clouseau's) valet Cato, who had orders to keep his employer alert by means of random attacks. That night, Douvier anonymously calls Clouseau and poses as an informant to tell him the whereabouts of a criminal known as the French Connection. Despite being warned by Cato, Clouseau drives toward the location, but his car and clothes are stolen by a transvestite named Claude Rousseau. Rousseau drives into the trap and is killed by Douvier's men. Subsequently, the majority of people believes Clouseau to be dead.
Clouseau's "death" makes several changes. His mad boss, ex-Commissioner Charles Dreyfus (Herbert Lom) is deemed sane, and is to be released from the Mental Asylum to try and crack the case, while Douvier's plans continue. [Curiously enough, in the previous movie, The Pink Panther Strikes Again, Dreyfus was made to vanish by a doomsday machine whose creation he had ordered; because the producers believed that a Pink Panther movie would be incomplete without him, he was revived without any explanation. Therefore, since all sequels include Dreyfus, this causes a continuity problem. Because most fans refuse to consider the four movies made without Sellers' involvement (Inspector Clouseau, Trail of the Pink Panther, Curse of the Pink Panther, and Son of the Pink Panther) as canon, some argue Revenge to be a prequel to Strikes Again, although dialogue in either or both films would seem to make this impossible].
In Rousseau's clothes, Clouseau is taken to the mental asylum (a scene featuring a cameo by Andrew Sachs from Fawlty Towers); he escapes into Dreyfus' room. Dreyfus faints at the sight of Clouseau, whom he believed dead (all Clouseau can say is "Peek-a-boo!"), whereupon Clouseau disguises himself as Dreyfus, and is driven home in a car by operative Francois.
At home, Clouseau finds Cato, who (despite having turned Clouseau's apartment into a Chinese-themed brothel) is relieved to see him alive, and the two plan their revenge on whoever ordered the assassination, taking advantage of the belief that Clouseau is dead.
Meanwhile, Dreyfus, thinking that Clouseau was just Rousseau, had returned to the commissioner's office to find out that he was the one to be read the eulogy at Clouseau's unofficial funeral. He refused since he "hated Clouseau intimately" and would rather thank his murderers than track them down. However, the commissioner revealed that the chief's wife had written the speech. Dreyfus would faint yet again into the empty burial pit at Rousseau's funeral (mistaken as Clouseau) when he saw Clouseau secretly reveal himself in the crowd.
Meanwhile, after his wife threatens him with a divorce, Douvier, needing her respectability and her silence pertaining to his crimes, tells Simone that their courtship must end. Angry, Simone storms out of Douvier's office, giving an impression that she may blackmail Douvier. Douvier gives orders to have Simone killed at Le Club Phut that very night.
That same night, after he is told by an informant of the possibility of trouble at the nightclub, Clouseau and Cato go to investigate, and accidentally save Simone from being murdered by Douvier's assassins. Clouseau and Cato are separated, because Simone has not noticed Cato and is eager to take Clouseau (whom she considers her savior) home. At Simone's flat, Clouseau tells Simone that he is the supposedly dead Chief Inspector; although Simone denies it- both of them being more than slightly drunk- he eventually convinces her of the truth, prompting her to reveal that Douvier is the man responsible for the assassination attempt. As the assassins enter, having tracked them down, Clouseau and Simone escape into the flat below, in which lives Dreyfus. Dreyfus faints again while the two depart, but not before he overhears Simone telling Clouseau of Douvier's plans.
Simone tells Clouseau of Douvier's plans to meet with the New York Mafia Godfather, Julio Scallini, in Hong Kong; Clouseau sees this as a chance for his revenge. Clouseau, Cato, and Simone travel from Paris to Hong Kong on a Lockheed L-1011 Tristar flight courtesy of Cathay Pacific Airlines. Disguised as an archaic Chinese- under the name "Mr. Lue Key"- Clouseau, Cato, and Simone tail Douvier to Hong Kong, unaware that Dreyfus is also after Douvier.
Clouseau disguises himself as Scallini while Simone stalls the real Scallini, so that Clouseau can uncover Douvier's plans. He succeeds; however, the plan goes terribly wrong when Clouseau's disguise is exposed. A car chase begins.
Eventually, everyone crashes; a shoot-out (provoked by a crazed Dreyfus, who has recognized his rival) in a firework warehouse leads to the arrests of Douvier and Scallini. Clouseau is awarded for bringing down the mobsters. Thereafter he and Simone spend the evening together, talking about their histories. This is the third sexual affair of which Clouseau has been part since the absconsion of his wife. His two previous partners were Maria Gambrelli in A Shot in the Dark and Olga the assassin in The Pink Panther Strikes Again. Curiously enough, dialogue in the first film implies that Madame Clouseau, like her third successor, was named Simone.
81. Trail of the Pink Panther (1982): When the famous Pink Panther diamond is stolen once again from Lugash, Inspector Clouseau (Peter Sellers), is called on the case despite the protest of Dreyfus (Herbert Lom). While on the case, it is revealed he is being followed by the mob.
Clouseau first goes to London to investigate Sir Charles Lytton (Clouseau is not aware he is in fact living in the South of France, but nobody bothers to tell him). Traveling to the airport, he accidentally blows up his car, but believes to be an assassination attempt. Clouseau decides to disguise himself (wrapped in several bandages) while on the flight, which leads to an awkward hassle with Scotland Yard (there to pick him up).
Meanwhile, it is confirmed there might be an assassination attempt against Clouseau, and is ordered not to go to Lugash. Unfortunately, Clouseau is later told by Dreyfus to go to Lugash.
En route Clouseau disappears, and Marie Jouvet (Joanna Lumley), a journalist investigating his disappearance, sets out to discover his background by interviewing people with whom he was involved over the years. This provides ample opportunities for flashbacks to scenes from the earlier films. Jouvet also interviews Clouseau's father (a heavily disguised Richard Mulligan), providing glimpses of Clouseau's childhood where he is played by Lucca Mezzofanti, and his early career in the French Resistance in which he is played by Daniel Peacock. Jouvet does encounter a run-in with the mafia, led by Bruno Langlois (Robert Loggia), the main antagonist of the two-part story made by this and the next film. Langlois politely warns Jouvet to stop searching for Clouseau (Clouseau apparently caused trouble for Langlois in the past), but Jouvet refuses, and complains to Dreyfus about the threat. Dreyfus, who wants Clouseau dead just as much as Langlois does, presses no charges against Langlois, much to Jouvet's frustration.
The film ends with Jouvet concluding that Clouseau must be alive. Clouseau (played by Joe Dunne only seen from behind) is seen standing looking over a seaside cliff, when a seagull flies over and messes the sleeve of his coat. The words "Swine seagull!" are heard in the distinctive 'over French' accent of Clouseau. A montage of funny clips from other Pink Panther films is seen until the end credits.
82. Scary Movie (2000): The movie begins as a girl called Drew Decker (Carmen Electra) is making popcorn in her house, when she receives a phone call from a person asking if she likes scary movies. The person reveals that he is watching her and then proceeds to attack her with a knife. She escapes into her garden with the killer on her tail, who eventually rips off her clothes and leaves her in her white bra and panties. After Drew passes through a set of sprinklers, she is accidentally run over by a speeding car. The killer catches and kills her and the opening credits start to roll.
The next scene takes place in the house of Cindy Campbell (Anna Faris) as her boyfriend Bobby Prinze (Jon Abrahams) shows up. Then, her father enters the room and Bobby hides under the bed. Cindy's father tells her that he'll be out of town doing business with Uncle Escobar. Next day in school, the news teams are trying to interview the police and students who knew Drew, but get turned down. In order to get a lead, Gail Hailstorm (Cheri Oteri) has sex with the retarded brother of Buffy Gilmore (Shannon Elizabeth), Doofy Gilmore (Dave Sheridan). The group (Cindy, Brenda Meeks (Regina Hall), Greg Phillipe (Lochlyn Munro), Ray Wilkins (Shawn Wayans), Bobby and Buffy) gather around the fountain and discuss how the killing happened exactly one year after their car accident.
Here, they recall how while drunk driving, Bobby and the rest of the group, along with Drew, accidentally hit a man but only injured him, then Greg (while trying to get rid of their beer) flings the bottle into the air and hits the man they hit (who was walking away at the moment) and really kills him. In the end, they hurl the body into the shore and swear to tell no one. While Cindy is in class, she receives a note saying that someone knows what they did last Halloween, she then recalls her date with Bobby, but then receives a note that says "No bitch! I'm talking about the guy you killed!" and gets scared.
During the miss Teenage Beauty contest at school, Buffy is about to perform her talent, an acting piece, but sees how Greg is murdered by the killer in the audience and starts screaming for help. The audience believes she is acting and give her the first prize. That night, Cindy is attacked by the killer, but she calls the cops and the killer escapes. Then Bobby shows up with the same gloves and knife as the killer and is arrested. Cindy goes to stay with Buffy that night but receives a call from the killer and has Bobby set free.
The next day, while changing in the locker rooms, Buffy teases Cindy about getting scared by the killer's phone call and Cindy leaves, offended. After everyone leaves the locker room, Buffy is left alone and the killer shows up. Buffy, noticing the 90's horror movie cliché pretends to be scared, then pretends to run around, then to make it more cliché breaks her own leg, leaving herself helpless and allowing the killer to cut off her head. However, (against all biological laws) her head stays alive and says "Ooh! Look at me I'm all dead, I'm a gross scary severed head!" prompting the killer to shove her head in a lost and found bin.
Ray asks Brenda to the movies and they go to see Shakespeare in Love, Ray goes to the bathroom and (since Ray shows several signs of being gay throughout the movie) peeks on a guy peeing and gets impaled through the head with the guy's penis. Then, the killer shows up at the cinema and sits next to Brenda, Brenda then starts talking throughout the movie and eventually starts talking on her phone. As the killer slowly pulls out his knife to kill her a pissed off audience member snatches the knife from him and stabs Brenda, then the whole audience starts attacking her until she finally dies in front of the movie screen.
In order to not stay alone, Cindy organizes a party in her house. During the party, Cindy has sex with Bobby. The killer then shows up to kill Shorty Meeks (Marlon Wayans), Brenda's stoner brother but winds up getting high with him and his friends and scares Cindy with a phone call blowing his secret strike. The killer, pissed off with losing his surprise attack (and after accidentally killing all of Shorty's friends while swinging his hook around in a rap off) attacks Cindy and Bobby. They both escape and Bobby reveals that he and Ray (who survived getting impaled with a penis) are two killers who are trying to start a new gay life in Los Angeles, but must first get rid of everyone who knows them.
Bobby shoots Shorty and kills him, then he and Ray prepare to kill Cindy, but since they said they are copying the real killer, the real killer shows up and slaughters them with his hook. Then the killer proceeds to have a The Matrix-style fight with Cindy using bullet time and winds up getting beaten and escapes. The police show up and take Cindy to the station, where they find out that Buffy's brother Doofy was actually faking to be retarded and is the real killer. The camera turns to a shot of Doofy walking down the street and pulling off his retarded disguise, then climbing onto Gail Hailstorm's car and driving away. The sheriff and Cindy find Doofy's disguise in the street and Cindy proceeds to scream "NOOOOOO!" until she is hit by a car and killed.
83. Scary Movie 2 (2001): The sequel to Scary Movie begins with a parody of The Exorcist, in which Megan Voorhees (Natasha Lyonne), is possessed and two priests, Father McFeely (James Woods) and Father Harris (Andy Richter), must drive the demon out. The exorcism doesn't go as planned, and a chain of The Exorcist-like vomiting occurs. Megan insults McFeely's mother and he shoots her in the head.
One year later, Cindy Campbell (Anna Faris), Brenda Meeks (Regina Hall), Ray Wilkins (Shawn Wayans) and Shorty Meeks (Marlon Wayans) are at college, trying to live new lives, after the curse in the last movie. (Although all of them died in Scary Movie, in a deleted scene, Brenda says her death was a near death experience, and Cindy was never officially declared dead.) Cindy and Brenda get tagged by a dorky girl, Alex Monday (Tori Spelling); Ray, who is still confused by his sexuality, has two new friends, Tommy (James DeBello) and Buddy (Christopher Masterson); while Shorty is still the same stoner he was in the last movie.
The story begins when a college teacher, Professor Oldman (Tim Curry) and his wheel-chaired assistant Dwight (David Cross) plan to study ghosts from a haunted mansion, with the clueless teens as bait. Newcomer Theo (Kathleen Robertson) becomes part of the study group.
As Cindy drives to the mansion she is singing along (very badly) with a song, possibly and most likely a joke from Urban Legend (Graduation (Friends Forever) by Vitamin C) when the radio stops and Vitamin C yells "Hey! Will you shut the fuck up and let me sing, bitch ?". When Cindy arrives at the mansion, she meets a talking Amazon parrot who is vulgar and slanderous, and the caretaker, Hanson (Chris Elliott), who has a grossly disfigured hand. After some weird incidents on that night (Cindy being beaten up by a cat, Ray raping a toy clown after it had attacked him, Shorty getting attacked and smoked by a weed-monster, Alex having a sexual encounter with a ghost, etc.), the teens finally learn about the professor's plan and try to escape the mansion.
The professor gets killed by a female ghost with disfigured features. The gang would like to kill the ghost of the mansion's former owner to escape. To this end, they are equipped with several technological devices by Dwight that serve to harass and injure the spectral enemy. They are pursued all throughout the mansion. Hanson gets possessed, and Cindy, Brenda and Theo parody Charlie's Angels to get him, but end up beaten up.
In the end, they use Cindy as bait to lure the ghost to a device that ultimately destroys it. Two months later, Cindy encounters Hanson again when she and Buddy are taking a walk. After Buddy disappears without notice, she looks up to see Hanson serving at the hot dog stand. She screams "No!" while Hanson screams "Yes!". Hanson is instantly hit by a car. It is being driven by Shorty, who is receiving oral sex by the beautiful ghost...with a bag over her head.
It is also revealed that Cindy is now taking care of the parrot, who despises her because she talks so much.
84. Scary Movie 3 (2003): The movie begins with two friends, Kate (Jenny McCarthy) and Becca (Pamela Anderson). Kate tells Becca that she watched a tape which supposedly kills people seven days after watching it. After Becca goes downstairs for drinks, she returns and sees Kate drowned and purple lying on a chair; Becca however, is oblivious that her friend is dead, even when Kate's head falls off. At the last second, the TV turns on and Tabitha, the ghost girl, leaps for Becca.
In a farm outside Washington D.C., Tom Logan (Charlie Sheen) is woken up by a little girl screaming, and accidentally bumps into a lamp after getting up. Tom goes outside to investigate the screaming and he meets up with his brother George (Simon Rex), who tells him the dogs are acting strange (the dogs are playing Julius Ceasar, smoking a waterpipe and riding a tractor). After both men look inside the corn field they discover Tom's daughter screaming and the reason of her screams: the crop field has a huge crop circle in it. After seeing the circle, George asks "what do you think it means?" even though when it's shown from above the circle's are shown to be a huge arrow with a sign pointing to the farm that reads "ATTACK HERE".
In Washington, news anchorwoman Cindy Campbell (Anna Faris) argues with her boss about the sexual content the news show reports, and she even goes as far as opening her top and revealing her breasts in a small blue-ish grey bra to show there's nothing interesting about them. After her problem at work, Cindy goes to pick up her nephew Cody at school, who according to Cindy's friend and Cody's teacher Brenda Meeks (Regina Hall) has been having visions. Then George Logan arrives to pick up his niece and winds up inviting Cindy and Brenda to a rap-off he's going to participate in. Back in the Logan farm, Tom is told by a friend that he (the friend) was the trucker who accidentally crushed his (Tom's) wife, Annie Logan (Denise Richards) into a tree and killed her. After this George prepares to leave for the rap-off, Tom tries to talk him out of it, but he fails. George, angry that his brother tried to pull him out of his dream, screams at Tom when he gets on the bus, and the door accidentally locks itself on George's face.
At the rap-off George meets his old friends CJ (Kevin Hart) and Mahalik (Anthony Anderson) who are going to be the rap-off judges since the original judge, Simon Cowell (played by himself) was shot dead by the audience when he gave another rap battle a horrible review. George is pitted off against Fat Joe (played by himself) and he wins, but he puts on his hood (which resembles a Ku Klux Klan uniform) and gets thrown out of a window by the audience. Cindy goes to Brenda's house that night and Brenda tells Cindy that she watched the killer tape last week and that she needs protection for the night, Brenda then suddenly has a heart attack, but it turns out to be a prank by Brenda. After many more pranks, Tabitha the ghost girl comes out of Brenda's TV and Cindy doesn't believe Brenda when she tells her. However Tabitha drips water on Brenda's new carpet and she gets pissed off, then she starts kicking Tabitha's ass until Tabitha knocks her over and strangles her. Cindy then goes to where Brenda is and finds her dead behind the couch.
At Brenda's funeral, Cindy gets the killer tape which Brenda watched and takes it home with her, also George mistakes The Wake as Brenda is not dead and tries to revive her with a lamp's wires, only blowing up the body and he gets thrown out the window by the mourners. Cindy takes the tape back home and watches it after that she gets a call from Tabitha who tells her she will die in seven days. Cindy asks Tabitha if holidays count since Martin Luther King day is coming up, the voice says Martin Luther King day is not a real holiday and Cindy contradicts her which pisses off Tabitha who says "Geez lady ,I'm giving you seven damn days, if you want I can just come up there and kill the shit out of you right now!" and hangs up. Cindy goes to do some inquiries and leaves George to look after Cody, but when she returns home, she finds George knocked out (who was playing Yatzee with Cody and got five equal dice, then he got up and bumped his head on a shelf) and Cody who has just watched the killer tape, just in the moment, CJ and Mahalik arrive and CJ comments his aunt Aunt Shaneequa is an oracle and she could help Cindy.
Cindy goes with Aunt Shaneequa (Queen Latifah) and her husband Orpheus (Eddie Griffin) and Cindy gives them a copy of the killer tape. After watching a segment of it Aunt Shaneequa discovers a backmasked picture of a lighthouse and then gets into a fight with a woman from the video, but she tells Cindy to go find that lighthouse from the tape. At work Cindy looks through various pictures of lighthouses and finds the one in the tape, but she leaves the tape behind and her boss grabs it. Cindy arrives at the lighthouse where she meets The Architect who tells her the real story of Tabitha and how the killer tape got out in the world, The Architect had rented Pootie Tang but accidentally returned the killer tape in Pootie Tang's box. He also says that Tabitha was their evil daughter and that his wife drowned her in the family's farm well while he thought a time-out would have worked. Meanwhile in the White House, President Harris (Leslie Nielsen) and his main agent, Agent Johnson (Ja Rule) beging worrying about the Alien Invasion warnings that Cindy Campbell had given in the news show and after destroying a Mother Teresa award ceremony believing that a lot of people there were Aliens in disguise, Johnson and President Harris go to look for Cindy in the Logan Farm.
In the Logan Farm, Tom has everybody in the house go into the basement for refuge while he, George and Mahalik go outside to fight off the aliens. Suddenly, two aliens sneak up behind Mahalik, Tom and George when Secret Serviceman Jones and President Baxter Harris arrive and accidentally run them over. Baxter tells them he came looking for Cindy since he claims that she may hold the key in defeating the aliens. Baxter then notices the UFOs mistakening them as the Air Force in those "new round planes." Just as the UFOs get closer, CJ arrives with an army of rappers and among them are Master P, RZA, Raekwon, Method Man, Redman, Macy Gray and U-God. However, they have an argument and shoot each other dead. After that, the aliens strangle Tom, George, Mahalik, CJ, Baxter, and Secret Serviceman Jones. Mahalik breaks free and knocks the head off of one of the aliens claiming "without their heads, they're powerless." The aliens' leader (voiced by Tom Kenny who also voiced the other aliens present) talks and reveals they came to earth because they need to kill Tabitha since they watched the killer tape, believing it to be Pootie Tang. When Mahalik asks why they were choking them, the aliens explain that strangalation is how they say hello. When George asks how they say goodbye, an alien kicks him in the balls. If they thought that was strange, one of the aliens shows them that they pee through their pointer finger which disgusts Tom at the moment that one of the aliens put his pointer in his mouth. President Baxter Harris quotes that the humans and aliens aren't that different after all and he pees through his pointer finger.
In the basement, Cindy recognizes a shot from the killer tape and then makes a hole in the wood and she finds the well where Tabitha drowned; suddenly Tabitha appears behind her. George goes to look for Cindy and then finds Tabitha attacking her, after a short battle Tabitha pretends the curse to be broken so she can attack them (Cindy: "So you won't be evil anymore?" Tabitha: "Nah, i'm just screwing with ya!") but as she prepares to attack, President Harris opens the door behind Tabitha and knocks her into the well. George seal the well and the curse is over. George and Cindy get married with everybody, including the aliens and Aunt Shaneequa in the ceremony. As George and Cindy drive away they accidentally leave Cody behind and when they rev up the car they are about to hit Cody but stop just in time, however a car coming from another direction hits Cody and throw him through the air as the movie ends and the credits roll.
85. Scary Movie 4 (2006): Shaquille O'Neal and Dr. Phil wake up chained in a bathroom (spoofing Saw). Shaq has to make a free throw with a huge rock in order to get the saw down to cut off their legs (spoofing Shaq's famous difficulties at the free-throw line). Shaq and Dr. Phil have only two minutes to free themselves of their leg braces before dying from the room's airborne nerve gas. Finally, Shaq makes the basket and lowers the saws down. Dr. Phil ends up sawing off the wrong foot, thereby remaining chained and the two are presumed to be dead.
Tom Logan (Charlie Sheen), spoofing Bill Pullman's character from The Grudge, wakes up. There are three girls (from The Girls Next Door on E!) in his bed who later have a pillow fight. He tries to kill himself by taking too many sleeping pills but the pills turn out to be Viagra, resulting in a monstrous penis. Unaccustomed with the different mass distribution he tumbles over a balustrade, lands on his erect penis, and dies. Cindy Campbell goes to get a new job (parodying Sarah Michelle Gellar's character in The Grudge). She's been asked to be a caretaker for the creepy "Grudge House." She receives a tour inside, Cindy expects nothing and she gets a 'feeling of evil' as the guide tries to hide the overflowing hair on the ceiling, in drawers and baskets and on his head; and The Grudge Boy in the bathtub by pushing him down with a plunger, and then walks out naked and Cindy smiles and says "I'll take it".
Meanwhile, Cindy's neighbour Tom Ryan (Craig Bierko), spoofing Tom Cruise's character in War of the Worlds, gets fired from his job as a crane operator at the docks. At a bar afterwards he runs into Mahalik (Anthony Anderson) and CJ (Kevin Hart) where it is revealed, in a parody of Brokeback Mountain, that the two have started a homosexual relationship. Tom gets home, where his ex-wife (Molly Shannon) has just arrived with his children, Robbie and Rachel, who both resent him. Cindy's job is to look after the incapacitated Mrs. Norris (Cloris Leachman), however she is incompetent at it, to the point of accidentally sponge bathing Mrs. Norris with her own urine. Throughout the night Cindy notices strange events going on in the house, culminating in her finding a ghostly boy in the attic.
The next morning she confides in Tom about the events of the previous night, which leads to a conversation about their past relationships. Cindy has a flashback to her first marriage, showing a big African-American man cussing her out, and then another to her second marriage, to the death of her husband George (Simon Rex) where, in a parody of Million Dollar Baby, George trips and breaks his neck (as do numerous members of the audience) during a boxing match between Cindy and Tiffany Stone, a female version of Mike Tyson also showing a pile of bitten-off ears. As they share a kiss, the sky suddenly goes stormy and everything electrical stops working (In the real movie cars stopped working, but in this movie cars, bicycles,skateboards and a man runs out of a toilet, trousers down and holding a newspaper ("My bowels have stopped moving!"). Tom goes to investigate, and discovers the world has come under attack by gigantic triPods (giant iPods) that play 80s music... and then switches to the "Destroy Humanity" playlist, transforming the iPods into actual Tripods, which vaporize the humans they zap (it was also showed three people which seemed to be rappers, gets vaporized and dropping a huge pile of bling-blings).
Cindy runs back into her house and finds the ghost boy again. They began talking in "Japanese" (actually Japanese brand names and "buzz words" such as Sony, Mitsubishi, and Fujitsu), in what may be a parody of the scene between Beatrix Kiddo and Pai Mei in Kill Bill in which Pai Mei says "Your Mandarin is lousy. It causes my ears discomfort.", which the ghost boy says to Cindy. She is told by the ghost boy that she can find the answer to the alien attack when she finds his father. He gives her directions to his location but Cindy couldn't read them so they transformed into a Yahoo map so that Cindy could read it. Tom splits up with Cindy and flees with his kids. Cindy runs into Brenda Meeks (Regina Hall), who apparently faked her death in Scary Movie 3, and together they manage to find the last working car and follow the directions of the ghost boy.
The scene then changes to the President of the United States being informed that aliens are attacking. President Baxter Harris (Leslie Nielsen) is sitting in Edna R. Penhall Elementary School, listening to a book being read; when his aide Jamison (Alonzo Bodden) comes, he sits motionless, wanting to hear the rest of the story. This mirrors George W. Bush's being read a children's story for seven minutes, after being told about the September 11 attacks. At an emergency session of the UN, and a round of horribly inappropriate jokes, President Harris reveals a weapon made to combat the aliens. Scientists have taken the lasers used by the TriPods, which kill the people but leave their clothes behind, and modified it to do the opposite to the aliens. The members of the UN get an unexpected, and quite unwelcome, demonstration when President Harris accidentally hits the switch and is soon standing in front of all the delegates, completely unaware that he is totally naked. It’s not long before the entire UN is stark naked. Baxter's aide Harper (Bryan Callen) tells Baxter that he's naked too where Baxter thinks that he was wearing a wrinkly leather coat. Harper escorts the President out of the UN.
Cindy and Brenda come across a village that is a hundred years behind modern times. After unsuccessfully trying to steal clothes off some villagers, they take some from a laundry basket and attempt to fit in. Unfortunately, they are captured and are taken into a court to decide their fate. Henry Hale (Bill Pullman), the head of the village, rules that Cindy and Brenda may stay in the village, but they may never leave.
Tom and his children run into a battle between the Army and triPods. Robbie decides to join the fight, excited by the graphic violence. While Tom tries to dissuade him, Michael Jackson (who has gathered a bunch of children) tries to persuade Rachel to come with him, but Tom manages to stop her in time. Unfortunately, Robbie gets away. Jackson is zapped by the triPod's heat ray; the first blast causes him to revert to his Bad appearance, the second into his Thriller appearance, and the third reveals his true form - a balding middle-aged black man - before a fourth blast destroys him totally, leaving only his nose. Tom and his daughter flee into house protected by Oliver (Michael Madsen), parodying Tim Robbins' character from War of the Worlds, who is telling them that they should make their own tripods ("Ours will have FOUR legs").
That night, the village is attacked by Those We Don't Speak Of, however it is discovered that they are simply villagers in costumes. Next door, Henry is stabbed by the mentally challenged Ezekiel (Chris Elliott). Henry reveals to Cindy and Brenda that he is the father of the ghost boy, who was killed at Cindy's boxing match because everyone snapped their necks and Don King crushed him. He tells Cindy that only she has the power to defeat the triPods. At that point, Cindy and Brenda get captured by a triPod, as do Tom and Rachel.
The characters wake up in the bathroom from Saw. Cindy and Brenda are wearing the "Venus Fly Trap" from Saw II and Tom is wearing a device that would shoot a large dildo into his anus. Jigsaw appears on a monitor on the wall, and tells them they have 60 seconds to get the Venus Fly Traps off before they close. Eventually, Cindy figures out (after much prompting) that she has to get the key from behind her eye, which she does with ease, because the key was behind a glass eye she got due to a "bad bar fight in '96". Cindy frees them from their traps, and Tom's kids come down from the ceiling, about to be sliced into bits unless he holds onto a rope which happens to be between an iron maiden. He grabs onto the rope which leaves him open to another torture device called the Nut Cracker, which gives him various punishments such as kicking his crotch, and giving him a purple nurple and a wet willy. Moments before their deaths, Cindy finds photos in the toilet of Jigsaw, a woman, and the ghost boy, and realizes that Jigsaw was the ghost boy's real father, and the entire invasion was revenge for his son's death. He then says "Anyone can hold a grudge, but it takes real courage to forgive," and it is at this time that Jigsaw comes into the spotlight. He then tells them that the invasion is over and allows them to leave.
He apologizes for the invasion, and then Brenda and Jigsaw's brother, Zoltar, emerge from the other room, where they have just had sex. Jigsaw asks Zoltar if he caught anything, Zoltar replies that Brenda (untruthfully) told him she was a virgin and Jigsaw finishes by saying "We are so fucked." Nine months later, Brenda gives birth to a baby that looks just like Jigsaw and Zoltar.
After that, James Earl Jones gets hit by a bus while delivering Morgan Freeman's closing lines from War of the Worlds.
A five minute epilogue spoofs the Tom Cruise couch incident by showing an Oprah Winfrey Show episode with Tom Ryan jumping on a couch with Oprah (played by Debra Wilson). Tom runs around the studio, does backflips (performed by David Leighton), swings across the studio, and chews/rips apart one of the couch cushions. Cindy Campbell walks in and gets thrown by Tom off the stage. Tom then breaks Oprah's hands and wrists, smashes a chair over her head, runs towards the camera lens, and the screen goes black.
86. The Nutty Professor (1996): The film opens with an exercise show hosted by Lance Perkins (Murphy) on TV and we see Professor Sherman Klump (also Murphy) getting ready for school. Meanwhile, hamsters are overrunning Wellman College and causing general chaos. It turns out that these are the school's laboratory hamsters that 400-pound Sherman accidentally released the night before. The problem contained, Sherman is given an update by his assistant Jason (Ales) about their latest project – an experimental formula that reconstructs the DNA of an obese person to make weight loss easy. It seems that their fattest hamster, Shelley, has lost 3 ounces, proving that the serum works. Jason suggests increasing the amount Shelley is fed, but the ever-kindly Sherman argues against it, saying it could be dangerous.
He then has an unpleasant meeting with Dean Richmond (Miller). The Dean tells him that the incident with the hamsters has cost the science department most of its funding. Harlan Hartley (Coburn) is the school's last remaining wealthy alumnus and is planning to award a $10 million grant to the college, and Klump is warned not to alienate him as well.
After class, Sherman meets the lovely Miss Carla Purty (Pinkett), a chemistry grad student teaching a class across the hall who is a big fan of his work, and falls instantly in love with her. Later that night, Sherman dines with his portly family (most of whom are also played by Murphy), and argues with them about obesity. Cletus, his carnivorous father, starts his habit of farting randomly. Treating this disgraceful procedure religiously, he breaks wind to the point where he has soiled himself. Sherman is hurt by the comments his father, Cletus, makes, but Sherman's mother, Anna, tells him that he is "beautiful inside and out".
This inspires Sherman to invite Carla on a date to "The Scream", a local comedy club and eatery. On his way home from her house, Sherman dances to Teddy Pendergrass' "Close the Door" and sings in glee:
I got myself a date,
Friday night, at 8!
And I will not be late,
She might even be my mate,
Yes, that would be so great,
Great-great, great-great, great-great!
And I can hardly wait!
While watching Lance Perkins on TV giving one his speeches of motivation, Sherman falls asleep and dreams he is making out with Carla on a beach but she gets burried into the sand by Sherman's weight, Sherman awakes to Lance telling the viewers to get up and tell themselves "Yes I Can!", which Sherman does. Now Sherman is motivated and full of energy and is determined to lose some weight. A Rocky-style montage ensues, showing Sherman trying various methods to get fit before the big date. However, although the date begins well, with Carla showing great admiration for Sherman's work with Shelley, it turns into a disaster when Sherman falls victim to the evening's star entertainer, an insult comic called Reggie Warrington (Chappelle), who humiliates him with cruel jokes about his huge obesity. Back at Carla's home, with tears in his eyes, Sherman says goodbye to his date.
Later that night, alone and depressed in his apartment, Sherman stuffs himself with junk food while watching Lance console a fat woman who tells a sad story about how a man asked her out as an excuse to make fun of her obesity. Sherman dozes off in front of the TV set, and has a nightmare in which he becomes the fattest man in the world and lays waste to the city with a single fart which is lit on fire accidentally. When he wakes, he finally yields to the temptation to try his new serum on himself. It seems to work perfectly: in seconds, he loses 300 pounds and becomes slim and fit. With his new body, Sherman also developes a split personality as well.
The following day, while still slim, he starts to flirt with Carla, who comes to the lab looking for Sherman. Quickly inventing the name "Buddy Love" for his new alter ego, based on a security guard saying "Hey, buddy, what the hell happened here?", although 'Love' is his own contribution, he invites Carla back to The Scream. However, the serum then begins to wear off, one hand bulking up and his voice returning to normal, and he ushers Carla out. Carla later tells Sherman about Buddy, and Sherman encourages her to go out with him. At The Scream, Buddy turns up very late in a brand new Dodge Viper and persuades an angry Carla (who is about to leave) to go back inside. This time, when Reggie appears, Buddy heckles him mercilessly, fires off a barrage of jokes about his mother's weight, and finally takes the stage himself, throwing the comedian into a piano.
Buddy returns to Carla, who is delighted with him. He gives a waiter a credit card to pay for the meal. Buddy and Carla then share a kiss. Immediately after, the serum begins to wear off and Buddy makes a quick exit. Jason happens to be at the bar and notes the card Buddy is using belongs to Sherman. He follows Buddy into the sports car to confront him, only to learn Sherman's secret when he discovers him in mid-transformation.
The next morning, Sherman is very late for a class, and his students have all left. The Dean, however, is there, and he confronts Sherman about the sports car, which Buddy bought on Sherman's faculty account. The Dean threatens to strangle Sherman if he screws up again and asks him to meet Hartley at a hotel restaurant to describe the weight-loss serum.
Later, in the lab, Jason tells Sherman that he can't control Buddy, whose testosterone levels keep rising, using his out-of-character attitude as Buddy as an example. He warns him not to use the serum again and to focus instead on the research for Hartley. Later, Carla talks to Sherman about her date with Buddy, and Sherman takes the opportunity to ask Carla to dinner with his family, who promptly embarrass him by making various suggestive comments about their relationship. His confidence low, and after Carla mentions that she would like the opportunity to get to know the caring person she sometimes sees in Buddy's eyes, he uses the serum again. Jason tries to stop Buddy, soon Sherman tries to communicate to Jason from deep down inside Buddy and instructs Jason to go into the storage closet to get an antidote but the muscled Don Juan regains control and locks Jason in before departing.
Buddy, who is becoming ever more aggressive, takes Carla out on a second date, this time to the hotel where Sherman was to meet Hartley. The Dean, looking for Sherman, asks Carla if she knows where Sherman is, but Carla asks Buddy if he could take Sherman's place. With the Dean desperate to get the grant, he allows Buddy to talk to Hartley, Buddy subsequently taking all the credit for the work. Hartley and the Dean are both impressed, the Dean later asking if Buddy would be willing to fill in for Sherman on a more permanent basis.
Buddy then picks up three beautiful woman, and invites Carla to participate in some "group action." She promptly dumps him. Undaunted, he throws a party at Sherman's house that night, burning all the health food products in Sherman's fridge. Sherman, having transformed back during the night, wakes in a wrecked apartment surrounded by strange women, with no memory of the night before. Carla arrives to tell Sherman that she's left Buddy, as well as to apologise about her encouraging Buddy to talk to Hartley, but then sees one of Buddy's women. Thinking Sherman is as unfaithful as Buddy, she leaves in disgust. Jason then rushes in, telling Sherman to come to the school quickly.
When he arrives, he discovers that Buddy has been given his job and his ticket to the alumni ball. At home, depressed, Sherman accidentally activates the VCR, where Buddy has left a message taunting Sherman and encouraging him to take the serum once again. This inspires Sherman to take his life back, resolved to prove that he can defeat Buddy. He and Jason start destroying all the serum samples, but when he sips a diet drink that Buddy has craftily filled with the serum, he transforms again. Buddy, who has "taken on a life of his own" with a vengeance, tells Jason that if he drinks 500 mL of the serum, he will have enough cellular stability to be thin forever, thus "killing" Sherman; however, he cannot drink all of that serum at once, so he intends to drink half of it now and drink the rest later.
Buddy knocks Jason out and goes to the alumni ball, where he intends to drink the last of the serum and permanently eliminate Sherman, simultaneously proving the validity of his research. Jason, regaining consciousness, sees that the testosterone levels in Buddy are at dangerous levels and rushes off after him. At the ball, Buddy gets up on stage and demonstrates the effects of the serum to the amazed audience (which includes the Dean, Carla, Hartley, and Sherman's parents). Then, as he prepares to drink the second dose of serum to stay Buddy Love forever, Jason runs in, and tries to stop him. Buddy punches Jason, but Jason hits back.
As Buddy stands poised to return a blow, Sherman starts to "fight" him for control of his body: fat and thin body parts alternate with increasing speed while Buddy's voice shouts "You can't beat me!" and Sherman's voice replies "Yes I can!". Eventually, after a violent transformation/confrontation, Sherman wins the struggle. Still on stage, he tells the awed alumni that what he did was selfish and foolish, and that he has learned to accept himself as he is, rather than being unhappy about how much he weighs. He leaves, but Carla stops him and confesses that she loves him, the two subsequently dancing for the rest of the night, much to the approval of Jason and Sherman's family. Harley then tells the Dean that he's decided to give Sherman the grant because he's "a brilliant scientist, and a gentleman". Bloopers are then shown through the first part of the closing credits.
87. The Nutty Professor 2: The Klumps (2000): As the film opens, Sherman is working on a new miracle formula – this time, the fountain of youth. He is also preparing to marry a fellow scientist, Denise Gaines (Jackson). Unfortunately, he has started suffering from personality lapses that are threatening to alienate his bride-to-be: against his will, he acts like the obnoxious, hypersexed Buddy Love of the first film. After a particularly unpleasant incident, Sherman goes to his lab to analyze his DNA and locates Buddy Love's DNA in an abnormal gene. He decides to use Denise's genetic research methods to isolate the gene and permanently extract Buddy Love's DNA from his own. His assistant, Jason, tries to stop him, warning him that he might damage his health or even lose his intelligence. Sherman disregards the warning and, alone in his lab late at night, extracts Buddy's DNA.
The orphaned DNA, a glowing blob of jelly, combines with a hair from a basset hound and grows instantaneously into an adult man, Buddy Love—now a fully autonomous being. Thanks to his doggy heritage, however, this Buddy Love has a tendency to chase cats and cars. Sherman, meanwhile, has inflicted so much genetic damage on himself by removing Buddy that his brain cells begin dying at an exponential rate.
Buddy steals some of Sherman's youth formula, planning to sell it to the highest bidder, then adds a household chemical to the remainder of the mixture. When Sherman administers the adulterated potion to a hamster in front of a large audience, the hamster grows to enormous size. The Dean (Miller) hides from the hamster under a fur coat, which the hamster sees as a female. The hamster performs a lewd act (offscreen) on the Dean. After the fiasco, the deeply traumatised Dean tells Sherman that he is "fat...and dumb...and fired."
This, however, is the least of Sherman's problems; his brain damage is now reaching a critical level. With the help of his loyal lab assistant, Jason, he devises a strategy to restore his mind. He plans to reintegrate Buddy into his DNA by reverting him back to the jelly-like matter he used to be, then sucking him up through a straw.
Sherman concocts a new, stronger youth formula when he is interrupted by Dean Richmond, demanding to know what Sherman's playing at. Richmond explains Buddy Love is selling the youth formula to a rival company, and believes Sherman to be in on it. Sherman gets a tennis ball, and heads with Dean Richmond to the office where Buddy is pitching the youth formula he stole; if he can revert Buddy to an infantile state and consume him, the return of Buddy's DNA to his own system will repair the damage that he originally caused. When Sherman arrives Buddy laughs claiming "The inventor of Jumbo, the horny hamster has arrived" much to Richmonds trauma. Sherman then throws the tennis ball, and Buddy's dog genes compel him to give chase. Sherman has coated the ball with his new, super potent youth formula, and when Buddy catches the ball, he turns into a toddler. He runs off, then melts into a gelatinous blob that continues fleeing until it dissipates on the edge of a public fountain.
Denese and Cletus arrive, and see Sherman and Richmond. Sherman, before his brain becomes seriously damaged, sadly tells Denise, whom he no longer recognizes, that he's no smart, never, no more. Denise starts crying, and one of her tears lands on the dried blob, causing it to trickle into the fountain. As his companions begin to usher him away, Denise promising to take care of him, Sherman turns and mumbles something about "pretty water". Everyone sees the fountain's water glowing a bright neon blue. Denise realizes that Buddy's DNA is still alive in the water. She commands Sherman to drink, and he rapidly regains his mental faculties. In the last scene, Sherman and Denise are wed.
As in the first film, bloopers accompany the closing credits.
88. Dr. Dolittle (1998): The film starts out with Lucky the Dog (Norm Macdonald) is explaining in narration how it is so easy to pretend to talk with your dog. He then adds, "but what if it was not pretend".
The film now opens to John Dolittle as a kid talking to his Dog (voiced by Ellen DeGeneres). He asks his dog questions, one being "Why do dogs sniff each others butts"? Her response is that it's their way of shaking hands. His father (Ossie Davis) hears the question and says that the dog doesn't have any idea what he said. He was wrong. He finds this out when John meets his new principal, he sniffs his butt. The dog obviously knows something is going to happen. When his father hires a minister to remove the evil from him (and freaking him out), the dog saves him by biting the minister. The dog is then taken up for adoption. John is very upset now. He never talks to animals again (for now).
Thirty years later, we see John Dolittle (Eddie Murphy) shooing a puppy out of his apartment. He is a doctor, married with two kids. His oldest daughter Charisse (Raven Symone) is a gangster gal who wants to be named Paprika. His youngest daughter Maya (Kyla Pratt) is a nerdy girl who does experiments, such as raising a swan egg (or so she thinks) so it will bond with her. She also has a Guinea Pig named Rodney (Chris Rock). His wife Lisa (Kristen Wilson) just wants to spend time with him. Meanwhile at work, a big medical company owner Calloway (Peter Boyle) wants to buy the company. Everyone is very excited because this means much more money. John also takes his family out in the country for vacation. After taking the family to the country, he has to stay late at work to give Mrs. Parkus (Cherie Franklin), a woman who is addicted to shellfish even though she is really allergic to it, medication.
Driving home, he accidentily hits Lucky. Even though he feels terrible, Lucky, alive and well, walks away and shouts "Watch where you're going next time, you bone-head!". This is the first time an animal talks to him years later. While asleep, Rodney sneaks from under the covers to see John. The next day, he is driving Rodney to the country and Rodney starts talking to him. He than realizes that John can speak to animals but John says that the thing that made him talk to animals would not affect him but after those years, this starts happening to him. To stop the annoyance, John puts Rodney on the roof of the car.
Up in the country, an owl wants him to remove a twig in her wing. After this happens, she tells all the animals about this. Soon, animals start asking favors to John. Scared, he goes to see Dr. Litvak (Steven Gilborn) for a CAT scan, but nothing is wrong with him. He then meets two trash eating rats that obiously don't like him. The next day he finds Lucky being taken to a kennel.
So he takes Lucky out and then to the vet. Thinking he got rid of Lucky, Lisa calls and Lucky starts woofing to make it sound like John got a Dog. So John makes a deal with Maya. If she stays at camp, Lucky is all hers. That night, a large bunch of animals come to see the Doctor for treatment, such as a drunken circus monkey, two dysfunctional pigeons, a homosexual goat with a rash, an OCD dog , and some cloned sheep with rectal trauma. After treating a horse with near-sightedness, the drunk monkey tells the Doctor about a sick circus tiger (voiced by Albert Brooks). They find him atop a 5-story building attempting to commit suicide, while the rats make fun of him. John and Lucky confront him saying that everyone loves tigers(using Tony the Tiger and "Eye of the Tiger" as examples) and that he can cure him. his working with animals is distracting him from a meeting with Calloway and spending time with his wife. Soon Lisa finds all the animals.
She and Mark catch him giving CPR to one of the rats, which was a false alarm (a.k.a Gas). They send him to an asylum, where he meets Blaine, one of his enemies from medical school. Meanwhile, the Tiger is getting sicker, so Lucky tries to save John. John is mad at all the animals for sending him to the asylum. But Lucky says that he is hiding from his past self. With the help of Blaine's cat, John is released. Maya is home because she did not fit in, but she tells her Grandpa that she believes her dad has the gift of gab. Overhearing this, he realizes his mistake, so during the party where Calloway will buy the company, John and Lucky kidnap the tiger so they can cure him. Meanwhile, Rodney is at the party having fun. They break Mark's nose so they can get to the emergency room. Meanwhile, the police are after Dolittle, but Lucky gathers all the animals of San Francisco to help guard the building in which John is operating on the tiger.
But because they need to go through the party, and because Rodney is there, the tiger, whose name is Jake, comes out from under the hospital bed and scares everyone. Now everyone is watching the operation. Lisa is now upset that her husband thinks he can talk to animals. John's father reveals he can talk to animals. With that said, she comes in the operating room to comfort the tiger. John finds out that it is a blood clot, and with that, saves his life. Calloway is watching this and he is very amused. He wants to buy the company, but John refuses.
In the end, John is now a human doctor and an animal doctor. Maya's egg hatches, revealing to be an alligator. The rats are mad that the ending is happy. The owl shows up and chases the two. John and Lucky are seen walking to the circus and talking about things, while the song "Talk with the Animals" plays in the background.
89. Dr. Dolittle 2 (2001): The movie starts out with Lucky the Dog (voiced by Norm Macdonald) explaining John Dolittle's (Eddie Murphy) gift of talking to animals. John comes home from France and gives his wife a present from Paris while he was on talk shows and other things about his gift. He also gives his daughter, Maya (Kyla Pratt), a chameleon, named Pepito, from Mexico.
Also, Charisse's (Raven-Symone) sixteenth birthday is coming today, and John was mad because she decided to go out on a date when she was supposed to spend it at her house. She was also not doing well in her classes. As a punishment, her father takes her phone away. Later on, her boyfriend, Eric Wilson (Lil' Zane), comes over and he is told that they have to spend her birthday there so he joins them. John embarrasses Charisse by telling stories and doing stupid stuff. He is interrupted by Joey (voice of Michael Rapaport), a raccoon that tells him that his boss, the God beaver, wants to see him and he says no than later tells him to meet him in his car the next morning. He goes back inside and when they start singing happy birthday, Charisse's cake has the two annoying rats from the original film in it, claiming that they wanted to surprise her. John then brings them outside.
Afterwards, Charisse is in Maya's room later on as she hears a conversation between her little sister and Lucky and her father promises her they would go to Europe. The raccoon goes to her fire escape and John yells "Tomorrow" at him. So obviously, she thinks that he means they are going to Europe tomorrow. He tells her and his family that they are going.
The next day, John, Joey and a possum named Jimmy brings him to the forest outside of the city. He meets the Godbeaver (voice of Richard C. Sarafian) and the beaver shows him that the forest is being cut down. John plans to save the forest to get an endangered female Pacific Western bear together with a male to save their species though that is only if the male stays away from campsites and stores, though he only has one month to do it.
At a circus, John attempts to get Archie, the surviving male member in his species, to go out into the forest to teach him to become a real bear and mate with the lone potential Pacific Western bear female, Ava. Reluctantly, he agrees but John knows that Archie, being separated from his mother when he was six-months old, doesn't know what kind of bear he is and never acts as a real animal. John, after taking his family on a vacation to the forest for the rest of the month then makes a deal with Ava to not make any decisions for the month and promised to turn Archie into someone she will love to provide, hunt and protect for her when she has cubs, though she is already involved with someone else.
During the training, Archie attempts to catch a fish but he didn't have the time to grab one then drowned because of having an inability to lift his head out of the water, though he can't eat insects, and can't hibernate. After an unsuccessful attempt to be taught by two bears, John hires his animal friends to make an attempt to stop Charisse and Eric from making out, though unlike the training, it was a success.
Meanwhile, John then teaches Archie and Lucky to be the strongest males in their species, though the training goes to trouble when John accidentally scolds Lisa and then, unwittingly ignores her for the next few days. Then, John tells Archie that he will win Ava's heart, by challenging a fight to her boyfriend, the tough, western-accented Kodiak Bear, Sonny.
Then, every animal in the forest watches as John dances with Lisa and the two attempt to embrace but Lucky accidentally blows it, making John angrily getting the animals away from the cabin and Lisa dumps him by making him sleep on the couch, much to his chagrin. Then, Archie attempts to get Ava's attention by singing her a song while imitating John in a smooth voice and on a tree branch but blows his attempt when he is too heavy for the branch to hold and he falls down, humiliating himself.
Archie then refused to come out of his newfound cave because of humiliating himself in front of Ava and John attempts to get him out by calling him a coward. Archie proclaims that it was hard but John knows how hard it is when his wife grows mad at him, Charisse growing mad at him too and spending his family vacation with a pizza guy as Charisse's boyfriend. John constantly calls him a coward and pokes him, much to Archie's chagrin. When Archie hits John, making him fall on a muddy hole, Archie begins to listen to his "inner bear".
As he brings Ava a fish, Archie wants to know why Sonny is acting like Prince Charming, though Ava reveals that he brings a "hundred fish" and asking her if she'll be in heat, rather than telling her how beautiful she was and making her life comfortable with fun, poetry and laughs. The two then went out on a walk and as Lucky knows, there is "love in the air".
Then, Lucky then attempts to win the affection an attractive female wolf (though throughout the film, Lucky attempts to get her attention two times but both are unsuccessful as she runs off as Lucky assumes the weakness position for wolves and heads off after drinking Lucky's water bowl and being chased by John who teaches Lucky and Archie to be alpha males). The attempt was successful as Lucky urinates around her territory and she is about to go out with him but one of her packmates came and finds Lucky urinating part of the pack's territory and the two wolves leave, much to Lucky's depression.
Then, Archie and Ava, after the walk, find a bee hive on a fallen tree at the edge of a very tall hill and Archie attempts to get it but Ava tells him that many bears had died getting it, so he agrees. Sonny arrives at the scene and attempts to run Archie off but he gets outwitted by his rival, though he doesn't like getting confused. Archie still wants Ava around but Ava reluctantly goes with Sonny, much to Archie's depression.
Afterwards, Mr. Potter, the owner of two logging companies, attempts to make a deal with John and when Archie arrives, he tells John he has his "big finish", knowing that he will win Ava about John telling him to listen to his "inner bear". Back at the cabin, Charisse is beginning to hate living in the forest and is annoyed with her family talking to the animals, though John doesn't know what is bothering her. Meanwhile, Archie goes after the bee hive on the fallen tree branch while watching out for his balance and the log is beginning to collapse as the animals watch and John attempts to stop Archie from getting the hive.
The bees that are protecting the hive attack Archie, go after John but then, chase after Mr. Potter's apprentice. Archie, at all last, finally gets the hive, winning Ava's heart and earning the respect of the other animals, though a furious Sonny could have got that hive if he wanted and Ava then dumps him to go with Archie.
When the two play hide-and-seek to mate, Mr. Potter's apprentice tranquilizes him. John returns after this and finds that Archie, being hit by the tranquilizer dart, destroyed the back of a restaurant in the woods. After getting advice from the other animals of what happened, John visits Archie in jail after an attempt to get one more week to get Archie to mate with Ava to save the Pacific Western bear species. Archie then discovers that he may be too dangerous to be set free and is going to be sold to a Mexican circus.
Then, John realizes that Charisse has developed her father's gift of talking to animals, though it has been in her for two weeks now. Later, John held a meeting for every animal in the forest to not give up without a fight no matter what kind of animal expression they have and everyone agrees to do it and free Archie. The animals, led by Charisse, Eric, and Maya, rebel against the loggers and every animal around the world go on strikes as an effort to free Archie.
Mr. Potter and his apprentice are then attacked by some of the animals at the company, such as a swarm of rats, a fleet of pigeons, a pack of wolves and Mr. Potter's apprentice is then attacked by the swarm of bees outside the building, while Mr. Potter is cornered by Ava and Joey. Then, when the animals refused to have twelve acres in their home, the strike kept growing, though every animal pros are getting in on the act. As a deal is made, the Dolittles and the animals have saved the entire forest outside of San Francisco.
The film then ends as Charisse and her father getting closer than ever and helping Pepito with his blending problems, Lucky once again winning the affection of the female wolf and cubs being raised by Archie and Ava, though the brother-sister duo are taught by Archie on how to sing and dance.
90. Soul Plane (2004): After Nashawn Wade (Kevin Hart) gets stuck in an airline toilet, the plane suffers a minor disaster and, as a result, his dog is sucked through a jet engine. He then sues the airline. After getting a large settlement of $100,000,000 he decides to start his own airline, called NWA (Nashawn Wade Airlines), whose acronym and logo are a pop culture reference to rap group NWA. The airline specifically caters to African Americans and hip hop culture. The terminal at the airport is called the Malcolm X terminal, the plane is customized with low-rider hydraulics, spinners, and a dance club. The safety video is also a spoof of the Destiny's Child song Survivor. It's the first flight for NWA and Nashawn is trying to deal with a multitude of problems. His pilot Captain Mack (Snoop Dogg) has never flown before, learned to fly in prison and is afraid of heights, his partner, Muggsey (Method Man), is setting up a miniature casino and strip joint in one of the areas on the plane, and Nashawn's ex-girlfriend is on board and less than happy to see him. In another part of the plane the family Hunkee is dealing with problems of their own. Aside from being the only white people on the flight, Elvis Hunkee's (Tom Arnold) daughter is turning eighteen and plans to allegedly use the newfound freedom by drinking and having sex, his son has transformed in a matter of seconds from an exact duplicate of him to a loud wannabe gangster, and his girlfriend has found a new interest in black men after viewing pictures in a pornographic magazine. The pilot seemingly dies, after eating mushrooms that the co-pilot uses to soothe his genital crabs. Nashawn then attempts to contact the co-pilot, who is incapacitated after slipping on the water located around the hot tub, forcing Nashawn to attempt to land the plane himself. Nashawn then lands the plane safely, using the airplane stuartist's flight knowledge learned while having sex in the cockpit with the pilot on another flight, in the middle of Central Park only to have the spinners stolen from the plane. He then gets back together with his ex girlfriend after earlier revealing to her that he only broke up with her so she wouldn't give up her college opportunities for him. The pilot soon after wakes up, and realizes that he is on the plane alone and was mugged while sleeping. The movie then ends with the Nashawn telling the audience the fate of his crew. He claims that he and his ex girlfriend are back together taking their relationship slow this time around, his cousin Muggsey has started a strip club and gambling casino located in an airplane similar to the club in Nashawn's plane, Elvis Hunkee has begun a sexual relationship with Monique's perverteded character who had earlier in the movie sexually assaulted the same African American male athlete that Barbara left Hunkee for, and Elvis Hunkee's son has become a major music video director but has disappeared shortly after filming a Michael Jackson video (this references the child molestation charges that had been filed against Michael Jackson in both 1993 and 2003).
By Shway Ross & Richard Moody
CHAPTER 5
1. Blake Edwards: The Pink Panther (1964): The animated Pink Panther character's initial appearance in the live action film's title sequence, directed by Friz Freleng, was such a success with audiences and United Artists that the studio signed Freleng and his DePatie-Freleng Enterprises studio to a multi-year contract for a series of Pink Panther theatrical cartoon shorts.
The first entry in the series, 1964's The Pink Phink, featured the Panther harassing his foil, a little moustached man resembling an animated version of the feature films' Inspector Clouseau, by constantly trying to paint the little man's blue house pink. The Pink Phink won the 1964 Academy Award for Animated Short Film, and subsequent shorts in the series, usually featuring the Panther opposite the little man, were successful releases.
In an early series of Pink Panther animated cartoons, the Pink Panther generally remained silent, speaking only in two theatrical shorts, Sink Pink and Pink Ice. Rich Little provided the Panther's voice in the latter shorts, modelling it on that of David Niven (who had portrayed Clouseau's jewel-thief nemesis in the original live-action film). Years later Little would overdub Niven's voice for Trail of the Pink Panther and Curse of the Pink Panther.
All of the animated Pink Panther shorts utilized the distinctive jazzy theme music composed by Henry Mancini for the 1963 feature film, with additional scores composed by Walter Greene.
By the late 1960s, the Pink Panther cartoons were being shown Saturday mornings on NBC. Pink Panther shorts made after 1969 were produced for both broadcast and film release, typically appearing on television first, and released to theatres by United Artists. A number of sister series joined The Pink Panther on movies screens and on the airwaves, among them The Ant and the Aardvark, The Tijuana Toads (a.k.a. The Texas Toads), Hoot Kloot, and Misterjaw (a.k.a. Mr. Jaws and Catfish). There were also a series of animated shorts called The Inspector, with the bumbling Clouseau inspired Inspector and his Spanish-speaking sidekick Sgt. Deux-Deux, whom the Inspector is forever correcting. ("Deux" is French for "two", meaning the little man's name is both a pun and a play on words, "two" appearing two times in the name.) Other DePatie-Freleng series included Roland and Rattfink, The Dogfather (a Godfather pastiche), with a canine Corleone family and two Tijuana Toads spinoffs, The Blue Racer and Crazylegs Crane.
In 1976, the half-hour series was revamped into a 90-minute format, as The Pink Panther Laugh and a Half Hour and a Half Show; this version included a live-action segment, where the show's host, comedian Lenny Schultz, would read letters and jokes from viewers. This version flopped, and would change back to the original half-hour version in 1977.
In 1978, after nine years on NBC, The Pink Panther moved to ABC, where it lasted one season before leaving the network realm entirely. The ABC version of the series featured sixteen episodes with 32 new Pink Panther cartoons, and 16 of Crazylegs Crane. The 32 new Pink Panther cartoons were eventually released to theatres by United Artists.
DFE films as the last studio to produce new theatrical cartoons, finally ending production on Pink Panther and the other series in 1980. That year, United Artists Television syndicated a half-hour, repackaged version of the series, complete with original theatrical intros, outros and NBC-produced commercial bumpers, to local stations. Due to contractual obligations, many stations showed the series in the evening, as opposed to mornings or afternoons. The individual cartoons were syndicated to local stations beginning in the fall of 1982, with the NBC-added canned laughter removed from the soundtracks.
A single cartoon preceded the main feature in older James Bond VHS releases. In late 2004 in the UK and later in February 2006 in the US, all of the Pink Panther cartoons were released on DVD from MGM Home Entertainment.
2. The New Scooby Doo Movies (1972): Each of the episodes of this series featured a special guest star, who would help the gang solve the mystery of the week. Some of these guest stars were living celebrities who provided their own voices (Don Knotts, Jonathan Winters , Sandy Duncan, Tim Conway, and Sonny and Cher, among others); some were dead celebrities whose voicing was done by imitators (The Three Stooges and Laurel and Hardy), and the rest were present or future Hanna-Barbera characters: the characters from Harlem Globetrotters (1970), Josie and the Pussycats (also 1970), Jeannie (1973), and Speed Buggy (also 1973) all appeared on the show during or after their own shows' original runs; The Addams Family and Batman and Robin both appeared on the show a year before they were incorporated into Hanna-Barbera shows of their own -- The Addams Family and SuperFriends, (both 1973).
After the cancellation of The New Scooby-Doo Movies in August 1974, repeats of Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! aired on CBS for the next 2 years. No new Scooby-Doo cartoons would be produced until the show defected to ABC in September 1976 on the highly-publicized The Scooby-Doo/Dynomutt Hour. When the various Scooby-Doo series entered syndication in 1980, each New Movies episode was halved and run as two half-hour parts. Later, on the USA Network, the New Movies returned to their original broadcast format.
3. Hong Kong Phooey (1974): Hong Kong Phooey is supposedly a master of kung fu and other martial arts. The stories begin at the police headquarters, where Hong Kong Phooey's alter ego, Penry, works as a mild-mannered janitor. He works with Sergeant Flint (Sarge) and Rosemary, the telephone operator, who has a major crush on Hong Kong Phooey. After Rosemary gets a call and explains the criminals' crime Penry would run into a filing cabinet to transform himself into Hong Kong Phooey. In each episode, he ends up needing help from his loyal (somewhat less anthropomorphic) striped cat and sidekick, Spot, to get him out. Hong Kong never quite notices Spot's help, but instead is always proud of himself because he thinks he is the one who does everything.
Phooey would get into his Phooeymobile and would use the "bong of the gong" to turn it into whatever sort of vehicle best suited the occasion. He would find the thieves committing their crime. Mostly, Spot was the one who found a way to capture the criminals and foil their crime, but on occasion Hong Kong Phooey captures the villain on his own through sheer dumb luck. But because Hong Kong was the reputed superhero, every time Spot would save the day, everyone else (including Phooey) credited Hong Kong Phooey with being the hero. Every episode would end with a return to police headquarters, where Penry would usually have some sort of accident that would cause Sarge to yell at him. Still, Penry was never hurt by Sarge's yelling but would find a way to compliment himself on his incognito crime-fighting prowess as Spot sighed.
A running gag was that Hong Kong Phooey was such a respected hero that, when his incompetence caused him to crash into, harm, or otherwise inconvenience a civilian, the passerby would declare what an honor it was to have so interacted with "the great Hong Kong Phooey." On one occasion, for example, he drove the Phooeymobile through some wet cement, splattering the workers, who said that it was an honor to have a whole day's work ruined by "the great Hong Kong Phooey."
4. Dungeons & Dragons (1983): Although aimed at a young audience as many animated series are, the show has distinctive plots, and was unusual - especially at the time - in children's television for the amount of ethical awareness and empathy displayed to and encouraged in the viewer. It is not unusual for protagonists to lose hope or break down in tears, only to be comforted by others or reinvigorated through good works. The level of violence was controversial for children's television at the time, and the script of one episode, "The Dragon's Graveyard", was almost shelved because the characters contemplated killing their nemesis, Venger.[1] In 1985, the National Coalition on Television Violence claimed it was the most violent show on network television. At least some of the criticism of the show was based not so much on its actual content, as its association with the Dungeons & Dragons franchise which had become highly controversial by the 1980s due to its supposedly occult content. The general premise of the show is that a group of children are pulled into the "Realm of Dungeons & Dragons" by taking a magical dark ride trip at a fairground. Invariably, the children wish most to return home, but often take detours to help people, or find that their fates are intertwined with the fate of others.
After arriving in the Realm, the children are a little out of place, but the Dungeon Master, named for the role of the referee in the role-playing game, appears assuming the role of their mentor, and gives them each clothing and magical paraphernalia to suit their abilities.
The original title sequence is a concise dramatization of the children's arrival in the Realm and the assignment of their respective character classes. The second season version begins with the ride, only to shift to a stylized action sequence with the children, more accustomed to the demands of the Realm, capably doing battle. This sequence was kept when the show was re-broadcast by Fox, but was shortened and remixed with different music. The ending credit sequence was completely replaced by a generic closing credit sequence common to shows on the Fox network at the time. This is the version currently shown on Jetix in America. The U.S. DVD release uses both the original 1st Season opening and original ending for all the episodes, but still includes all the various openings and endings in the special features. A storyboard for the second season's introduction can be viewed here.
Re-runs
In 1987, the series premiered in France (under the name "Le Sourire du Dragon" — The Smile of the Dragon) and in the United Kingdom, satellite television channels were showing repeats at least into the late 1990s. In 1999, Saban Entertainment bought the Marvel Productions catalog, minus the Hasbro related series, including all the broadcast rights. Saban later merged with the Fox Entertainment Group, and for about six months, the Dungeons & Dragons cartoon was broadcast during the Saturday morning and weekday afternoon FoxKids time block. In August 2002, Disney acquired Fox & Saban and gained the broadcast rights to the cartoon; however, it had not been shown on any affiliated television channel until April 7, 2006, when it was broadcast on Jetix on Toon Disney. BCI has recently acquired the DVD rights. The whole series is currently available on DVD in the United Kingdom and was released in the United States on DVD for the first time ever on December 5, 2006.
5. Ghostbusters (1984): The concept was inspired by Aykroyd's own fascination with the paranormal, and it was conceived by Aykroyd as a vehicle for himself and friend and fellow Saturday Night Live alumnus John Belushi.[5] The original story as written by Aykroyd was much more ambitious—and unfocused—than what would be eventually filmed; in Aykroyd's original vision, a group of Ghostbusters would travel through time, space and other dimensions taking on huge ghosts (of which the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man was just one of many). Also, the Ghostbusters wore S.W.A.T.-like outfits and used wands instead of Proton Packs to fight the ghosts; Ghostbusters storyboards show them wearing riotsquad-type helmets with movable transparent visors.[6]
Aykroyd pitched his story to director / producer Ivan Reitman, who liked the basic idea but immediately saw the budgetary impossibilities demanded by Aykroyd's first draft.[7] At Reitman's suggestion, the story was given a major overhaul, eventually evolving into the final screenplay which Aykroyd and Ramis hammered out over the course of three weeks in a Martha's Vineyard bomb shelter.[8] Aykroyd and Ramis initially wrote the script with roles written especially for Belushi, Eddie Murphy and John Candy. However, Belushi died due to a drug overdose during the writing of the screenplay, and neither Murphy nor Candy could commit to the movie due to prior engagements, so Aykroyd and Ramis shifted some of these changes around and polished a basic, yet sci-fi oriented screenplay for their final draft.[7]
In addition to Aykroyd's high-concept basic premise and Ramis' skill at grounding the fantastic elements with a realistic setting, the film benefits from Bill Murray's semi-improvisational performance as Peter Venkman, the character initially intended for Belushi.[7] [8] The extent of Murray's improvisation while delivering his lines varies wildly with every re-telling of the making of the film; some say he never even read the script, and improvised so much he deserves a writing credit, while others insist that he only improvised a few lines, and used his deadpan comic delivery to make scripted lines seem spontaneous.
Louis Tully was originally to be a conservative man in a business suit played by comedian John Candy, but Candy was unable to commit to the role.[7] The role was taken by Rick Moranis, portraying Louis as a geek.[7] Gozer was originally going to appear in the form of Ivo Shandor as a slender, unremarkable man in a suit played by Paul Reubens.[9] In the end, the role was played by Yugoslavian model Slavitza Jovan, whose Eastern European accent (later dubbed by Paddi Edwards) caused Gozer's line of "choose and perish" to sound like "Jews and berries" to the crew's amusement.
The proton packs' particle throwers were originally portrayed as wands worn on each arm. Winston Zeddemore was written with Eddie Murphy in mind, but he had to decline the role as he was filming Beverly Hills Cop at the same time. If Murphy had been cast, Zeddemore would have been hired much earlier in the film, and would've accompanied the trio on their hunt for Slimer at the hotel and be slimed in place of Peter Venkman. When Ernie Hudson took over, it was decided that he be brought in later to indicate how the Ghostbusters were struggling to keep up with the outbreak of ghosts.
Gozer's temple was the biggest and most expensive set ever to be constructed at that time.[citation needed] In order to properly light it and create the physical effects for the set, other stages needed to be shut down and all their power diverted over to the set. The hallway sets for the Sedgewick Hotel were originally built for the movie Rich and Famous in 1981 and patterned after the Algonquin Hotel in New York City, where Reitman originally wanted to do the hotel bust. The Biltmore Hotel was chosen because the large lobby allowed for a tracking shot of the Ghostbusters in complete gear for the first time. Dana Barrett and Louis Tully's apartments were constructed across two stages and were actually on the other side of their doors in the hallway, an unusual move in filmmaking.
A problem arose during filming when it was discovered that a show was produced in 1975 by Filmation for CBS called The Ghost Busters, starring Larry Storch and Forrest Tucker. (It should be noted that this show's title is written as two words instead of one word like the 1984 movie.) Columbia Pictures prepared a list of alternative names just in case the rights could not be secured, but during the filming of the crowd for the final battle, the extras were all chanting "Ghostbusters", which inspired the producers to insist that the studio buy the rights to the name.
For the test screening of Ghostbusters, half of the ghost effects were missing, not yet having been completed by the production team.[7] The audience response was still enthusiastic, and the ghost elements were completed for the official theatrical release shortly thereafter.[7]
The film spawned a theme park special effects show at Universal Studios Florida. (The show closed some time in 1997 to make way for Twister: Ride it Out!) The Ghostbusters were also featured in a lip-synching dance show featuring Beetlejuice on the steps of the New York Public Library facade at the park after the attraction closed. The GBs were all new and "extreme" versions in the show, save for the Zeddemore character. Their Ecto-1 automobile was used to drive them around the park, and was often used in the park's annual "Macy's Holiday Parade". The show, Ecto-1, and all other Ghostbuster trademarks were discontinued in 2005 when Universal failed to renew the rights for theme park use. Currently, the Ghostbuster Firehouse can still be seen near Twister, without its GB logo and "Engine 89" ribbon. A "paranormal investigator" etching on a nearby doorway hints at the old show.
NECA released a line of action figures based on the first movie but only produced a series of ghost characters, as Bill Murray refused the rights to use his facial likeness. Their first and only series included Gozer, Slimer (or Onionhead), the Terror Dogs (Vinz Clortho and Zuul), and a massive Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man, contrasting the diminutive figure that was in the original figure line. Ertl released a die-cast 1/25 scale Ectomobile, also known as Ecto-1, the Ghostbusters' main transportation. iBooks published the novel Ghostbusters: The Return by Sholly Fisch and Rubies' Costumes has produced a Ghostbusters Halloween costume, consisting of a one-piece jumpsuit with logos and an inflatable Proton Pack.
A scarier version of the "Librarian Ghost" puppet was created, but it was rejected for being too scary. (The film has a PG rating for language and scary moments that are unsuitable for children under age 8, according to director Ivan Reitman and actor / writer Harold Ramis.) It was recycled and reused for the 1985 horror / comedy hit, Fright Night, also released by Columbia Pictures. Richard Edlund and his team did the special effects for both films back to back. In 1984, Harvey Comics, the copyright holders of Casper the Friendly Ghost, launched a lawsuit against Columbia Pictures for $52 million in damages on the grounds that the movie's logo was copied from their character. The case was dismissed in 1986. "There are only very limited ways to draw the figure of a cartoon ghost," said Judge Peter Leisure. (Time, November 10, 1986). Ironically, years later, Dan Aykroyd would perform a reprise cameo as Ray Stantz, saying the line, "Who ya gonna call? Somebody else," in the film adaptation of Casper. The soldiers seen towards the end of the movie belong to the 42nd Infantry (Rainbow) Division, as evidenced by their rainbow shoulder sleeve insignia. Since the end of World War II, the 42nd Infantry Division has been the largest element of the New York Army National Guard. In the January 2007 issue of Empire there was an article comparing Ghostbusters to Gremlins. Within the article were interviews from Ivan Reitman and Dan Aykroyd, and Aykroyd confirmed that his favorite character in the film was Louis Tully, played by Rick Moranis. He said, "I could listen to his dialogue all day on my iPod". During the scene where Tully runs from the terror dog, he ends up at a restaurant. In that restaurant is a birthday party, and the girl with the pink bow is Deborah Gibson, three years before the release of her first album.
In the middle of the film's initial release, to keep interest going, Ivan Reitman had a trailer run, which was basically the same commercial that the Ghostbusters use in the movie, but with the 555 number replaced with a 1-800 number, allowing people to call. They got a recorded message of Bill Murray and Dan Aykroyd saying something to the effect of "Hi. We're out catching ghosts right now." They got 1,000 calls per hour, 24 hours a day, for six weeks. Their promotion was similar to that of a calling service offered by the production of The Empire Strikes Back. In the published annotated script for the movie, there's more romantic-type banter between Dr. Venkman's "secretary," Janine Melnitz, and (a seemingly oblivious) Egon. While some of the dialogue remains in the finished movie, including a loving hug during the closing credits, Ghostbusters II seemed to drop that subplot for Janine's relationship with Louis Tully. The idea was played up expanded on a lot more, however, in The Real Ghostbusters cartoon series. Michael Ensign, the actor who played the uppity hotel concierge in the Sedgewick played virtually the same character in the film adaptation of Pink Floyd's The Wall. The cartoon initially featured Lorenzo Music as the voice of Peter Venkman, instead of Bill Murray. Lorenzo Music also played the voice of Garfield. Bill Murray then went on to play the voice of Garfield in the live-action movie. The Ghostbusters building was also used in the Seinfeld episode "The Secret Code".
Early storyboarding for the movie, along with the casting of Paul Reubens as Gozer, indicated that Sumerian god was to take the form of Ivo Shandor, as a thin man in a business suit.[citation needed] This was eventually scrapped due to recasting. Ivo Shandor is also referenced in the third issue of the limited comic book series Spike: Asylum as the creator of the cursed grounds upon which the Mosaic Supernatural Asylum is built. Brian Lynch, the writer of the comic, is a huge Ghostbusters fan. The character was also used by White Wolf, Inc. in the Vampire: The Masquerade accessory Havens of the Damned (ISBN 1-58846-225-0). In the book Shandor was a vampire and secret architect of the Winchester Mystery House.[citation needed]
Three misfit parapsychology professors are booted out of their paranormal studies research jobs at New York City's Columbia University. Despite their relative lack of funding, they start an enterprise called Ghostbusters, a spectral investigation and removal service. One of the men has a plan to catch and contain supernatural entities, though it has never been properly tested. Undeterred, they obtain a former fire station as a base and a 1959 Cadillac Miller-Meteor Ambulance dubbed Ecto-1 (which quickly gets some upgrades and repairs thanks to Ray's efforts), and begin advertising on local television.
At first, their clients are few and far between, and the Ghostbusters have to depend on their individual talents to keep the business alive: Dr. Egon Spengler (Harold Ramis) is a scientific genius, Dr. Raymond "Ray" Stantz (Dan Aykroyd) is an expert on paranormal history and metallurgy, and Dr. Peter Venkman (Bill Murray) has charm and business savvy, although he is in some ways a charlatan. Although he initially comes off as a bit of a wise guy, Venkman eventually finds a subtly heroic side to himself when he learns that a creature called "Zuul" is haunting the apartment of Dana Barrett (Sigourney Weaver), a client who has become the object of his lustful (and possibly deeper) intentions.
The business was struggling until one night, when Janine Melnitz (Annie Potts), the Ghostbusters' personal secretary, answers a desperate call from the Sedgewick Hotel about a ghost that needs to be removed quickly and quietly. The Ghostbusters quicky answer the alarm and drive the Ecto-1 (with a drastic, ambulance-like makeover) to the hotel. Although the Ghostbusters have no practical experience and their equipment has never been tested -- each man uses a nuclear accelerator (also referred to as a proton pack) which produces a powerful and destructive energy stream that is difficult to aim when active -- they successfully catch the ghost after a destructively clumsy hunt. It is also during this first real test for the team, that Egon makes mention that crossing the energy streams would be, in his words, "bad" (he further explained that doing so would cause the instant annihilation of anything in the vicinity by changing the proton streams to antiprotons). Peter thanks him for this "important safety tip".
Business soon picks up dramatically and the company becomes a household name, partially due to an unexplained increase in supernatural activity. Peter meets Dana and informs her that Zuul refers to a demigod worshiped around 6000 BC by the Hittites, Mesopotamians and Sumerians. Dana reads out loud from Peter's notes that "Zuul was the minion of Gozer", after which her additional questions are turned into a date-proposal by Peter.
Meanwhile, the Ghostbusters add a fourth member to their team, the blue-collar Winston Zeddemore (Ernie Hudson), to deal with the rapidly increasing workload. The company captures so many ghosts that the scientists become concerned about the capacity of their ghost-containment facility. Unfortunately, it soon becomes apparent to the Ghostbusters that the spike in paranormal events means they are headed toward a climactic confrontation with an entity called Gozer (Slavitza Jovan), whose presence was implied by bizarre occurrences such as the demonic Zuul appearing in Dana Barrett's apartment.
Gozer's minion entities—monstrous, dog-like demons called Zuul (the Gatekeeper) and Vinz Clortho (the Keymaster) — soon begin seeking human hosts. Zuul is easily able to possess Dana Barrett in her apartment by trapping her in her chair with three hideous arms and then pulling her into the fiery chamber that was once her kitchen. Vinz Clortho at first goes unnoticed as he waits in the bedroom of Louis Tully's (Rick Moranis) apartment where a party is being held to celebrate Louis's fourth year as an accountant; but then the minion becomes impatient and crashes the party. Louis flees into Central Park, but the beast corners him near the Tavern on the Green and possesses him. Dana/Zuul gets a visit from Venkman, and she/it tries to seduce him. He realizes something is up (after Dana starts levitating over her bed) and sedates Zuul with a large dose of thorazine. The possessed accountant Tully is found roaming Manhattan and is eventually brought to Ghostbusters HQ by the police and examined by Egon. He claims to be Keymaster to Gozer and appears as a horned entity on Egon's infrared scanner. It is determined that Dana and Louis must never meet, as the "Keymaster" and "Gatekeeper" would literally open the gates of Hell. Vinz remains rather passive, waiting for a "sign" that Gozer will come.
However, an overzealous EPA inspector, Walter Peck (William Atherton), arrives and starts asking questions, concerned about the alleged use of toxic chemicals in the Ghostbusters' business. Initially brushed off by Venkman, Peck angrily returns with a court order to shut down the ghost containment facility, although he is warned that it will bring dire consequences. An ConEd electrician reluctantly shuts the grid down, and all the captured ghosts immediately burst forth in a fantastic explosion. A massive number of supernatural events spark chaos throughout the city as long-dead spirits run wild terrorizing the populace. Peck accuses the Ghostbusters of causing the explosion due to their own negligence and has them arrested. Meanwhile, Louis Tully/Vinz Clortho wanders off during the mayhem, mumbling to himself that the eruption of the containment grid was the omen he was waiting for.
While the Ghostbusters are in jail, they examine the blueprints of Dana Barrett's apartment building. Ray explains that the structure is "a huge, super-conductive antenna designed and built expressly for the purpose of pulling in and concentrating spiritual turbulence." Egon elaborates further by telling them how an insane surgeon, Ivo Shandor, having deemed society "too sick to survive" after World War I, created a secret society worshipping the Sumerian god Gozer. The rituals performed were designed to bring about the end of the world.
Eventually, the mayor of New York (David Margulies) summons the Ghostbusters from jail in hopes that they can explain the various supernatural phenomena. Walter Peck makes a series of baseless accusations that the Ghostbusters are con artists; however, none of the department heads at the meeting are able to support Peck's claims, and with Venkman persuading the politicians, the Ghostbusters convince the mayor to let them deal with the crisis.
The Ghostbusters, along with representatives of the New York Police and local Army units, arrive at Dana's apartment building to a waiting crowd. The Ghostbusters collect their equipment and observe the building from street level, watching as the skies darken and the earth shakes beneath their feet. They wave at the adoring crowd before disappearing into the darkened apartment building.
The Gatekeeper and Keymaster finally meet and share a lustful kiss atop the art deco–style apartment building. The Ghostbusters climb wearily to the top of the tall building and find the two just as they transform into their true, demonic forms. The demon-dogs then use their combined powers to open a crystalline inter-dimensional gateway. The Ghostbusters watch in awe as the gate doors slide open and Gozer materializes before them in the form of a red-eyed woman with a flattop. Upon finding that the Ghostbusters are mere mortals, Gozer attacks them at once, hurling bolts of lightning from her fingertips. The Ghostbusters retaliate, but the entity is far too elusive, soaring 20 feet through the air and landing behind her attackers. The Ghostbusters try a second time, but the energy currents of their proton streams merely pass right through Gozer. She finally disappears altogether.
Believing Gozer to be destroyed, the Ghostbusters begin to celebrate, but Egon's readings suggest otherwise. A huge earthquake rocks the building as Gozer's disembodied voice echoes down from the dark clouds above. Gozer gives them the opportunity to choose the form of their doom (and the city's, presumably). While the other Ghostbusters deliberately clear their minds and think of nothing, Ray reflexively chooses a seemingly innocuous corporate mascot, the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man. A giant sailor-hatted marshmallow man instantly appears, trampling everything in his path. The Ghostbusters attack Mister Stay Puft with their particle accelerators, but this only ignites its marshmallow body and makes the creature angrily start climbing the building.
Egon suddenly realizes that "the door swings both ways" and suggests that the Ghostbusters cross their proton pack streams within the world on the other side of the portal, as Egon himself had informed them earlier that such an action would likely be cataclysmic. The plan succeeds in causing "total protonic reversal", destroying the world inside the gate and annihilating Gozer. The explosion generated by the event incinerates Mister Stay Puft, raining molten marshmallow down onto the roof of the skyscraper and the street below and Peck. The dark sky becomes sunny again and all the ghosts (seemingly) disappear.
As the city settles moments after the explosion, the Ghostbusters pull themselves from the wreckage. Peter is notably quiet, faced with the likely implication that Dana (in Terror Dog form) was killed during the explosion. However, this fear is put to rest when the team sees signs of life and frees both Dana and Louis from the petrified shells of what were once the Terror Dogs. The Ghostbusters and the no-longer-possessed apartment dwellers exit the building to massive applause from the crowd, who cheer them on as Peter shares a passionate kiss with Dana, and Janine runs towards Egon and hugs him. The team loads their equipment up into Ecto-1 and everyone, excluding Louis, departs in the car, followed closely by a running and cheering crowd. The theme song plays while the credits roll. The scene fades on a newly released Slimer screaming as he flies up to the camera (which was actual footage of him flying towards Peter).
6. The Real Ghostbusters (1986): Dr. Peter Venkman is the group's first-among-equals. While not their official leader, Venkman often makes the decision whether or not they will take a case. He also provides comic relief and is usually nominated for tasks no one else wants to do. Dr. Egon Spengler, a scientific genius, is the primary source of expertise the group uses to understand (and many times combat) the ethereal realm. A skilled theorist, in many episodes Egon formulates the solution when all hope seems lost. Dr. Ray Stantz is portrayed as an excitable jack-of-all-trades. He is second only to Egon in sheer intelligence, and leans toward practical applications of science as opposed to Egon's pure research – the engineer to Egon's physicist. He is also a child at heart, cheerful and optimistic (and rather enamored of cartoons and stuffed animals). As the only one of the four who can reliably understand what Egon is talking about, he is usually the one to put his theories into practice. Winston Zeddemore (sometimes spelled "Zeddmore") is the courage and straight-man of the group; his accuracy with the proton gun is his forte. Of all the Ghostbusters, Winston Zeddemore has the subtlest character development; it is hinted that he is an avid reader and the descendant of a powerful African bloodline.
7. Garfield Goes Hollywood (1987): Garfield and Odie believe their dance routines (as performed on the fencetop at night) can't be beat and so does Jon. They happen to be watching Pet Search (a pet's version of Star Search) when they come up with a great idea to go on the show. Jon is hoping to win the $1,000 prize, which Garfield is not really impressed by. They perform as an Elvis style trio called "Johnny Bop and the Two-Steps" (rather reluctantly, because they did not really want Jon involved in their act). Garfield believes it is embarrassing because they all have to wear Elvis-like costumes. Despite how embarrassing it felt to perform their rock 'n roll number, the gang are in for a big surprise... they win!(because the other pets lose for the bad things that are not that good, like a high diving cat who is scared of water.). Which means they can go to Hollywood and try their luck at the nationals. They hit the road to Hollywood and arrive at their fancy hotel. Garfield and Odie are concerned that their act is too mediocre to win first prize, so they destroy Jon's guitar when he isn't looking. This allows Garfield and Odie to come up with a better act for the show. Garfield and Odie compete in the finals as a tango dancing duo. They see all these fabulous prizes being offered to the winner. Jon is now much more serious, saying that he thinks being able to return to their old life would be the best prize of all. Garfield is focused on fame and thinks Jon has lost it. Unfortunately their act loses to an opera singing cat. Jon wins a boat as second place prize. The moral being that even though they didn't strike fame, at least they didn't get over their heads, right?
8. Scooby Doo Meets The Boo Brothers (1987): Scooby-Doo Meets the Boo Brothers centers around Shaggy's inheritance of a southern mansion from his recently departed Uncle Beaureguard. No sooner do he, Scooby-Doo, and Scrappy-Doo arrive at the plantation do they find it is haunted by the ghost of a Confederate soldier. Scrappy suggests they call ghost exterminators, and the trio end up appointing the Boo Brothers, three ghosts whose mannerisms closely resemble those of The Three Stooges (When Shaggy asks them how can they be ghost exterminators when they themselves are ghosts, one of the brothers replies "It takes one to catch one, you know!"). However, the Boo Brothers prove to be inept ghost catchers, and often find themselves in the way of Shaggy and the dogs.
While trying to eliminate the ghosts from his new residence, Shaggy discovers that his uncle has hidden a fortune in diamonds in various places throughout the plantation, with a clue at each location for how to find the next. Thus, he, Scooby, and Scrappy begin a quest to find the hidden treasure, while attempting to avoid and/or rid themselves of the Confederate ghost, who is also after the diamonds.
Other obstacles Shaggy, Scooby, and Scrappy encounter include Sheriff Rufus Buzby, who was impersonated by his twin brother at the beginning (the real sheriff has a mustache, whereas the sheriff Shaggy meets does not. This was only revealed when Shaggy telephones the real sheriff and unmasks the first one as the monster, who the real sheriff revealed to be 'my no goody brother', T.J. Buzby), and also who is on the trail of an escaped gorilla, and Sadie Mae Scroggins, who has a crush on Shaggy, much to her gun-toting brother Billy Bob's disapproval.
9. All Dogs Go To Heaven (1989): In 1939 New Orleans, Charlie B. Barkin, a rough-and-tumble German Shepherd (voiced by Burt Reynolds) with a con man's charm, is working at a casino with his gangster Pit Bull business partner Carface Carruthers. Carface, unwilling to share the earnings, has Charlie locked away at the pound, but with the help of his friend Itchy, a nervous Dachshund, he breaks out. Unaware of Carface's malicious intent, Charlie returns full of ideas about changing their business, but Carface wants to sever ties with him. To get Charlie out of the picture for good, Carface arranges his death. He takes Charlie out to Mardi Gras, gets him drunk and runs him down with a car, knocking him into the river.
Having died, Charlie goes to Heaven by default, despite not having done a single nice thing in his life; as the angelic Heavenly Whippet explains, “unlike people, dogs are naturally good and loyal and kind”. Dissatisfied at having died before his time, Charlie takes back his ‘life watch’ (a glowing pocket watch) and winds it up again, forsaking his place in Heaven and returning himself to Earth. While he has been returned to life, and cannot die while his life watch still ticks, when it does stop he will be condemned to Hell for eternity. (As the Heavenly Whippet says through the watch, "You can never come back.")
Back on Earth Charlie reunites with Itchy and plots his revenge against Carface by setting up a rival business, ‘Charlie's Place’. Itchy is reluctant to cooperate, fearing retribution not only from Carface but also a ‘monster’ he has heard Carface possesses. Upon investigation, Charlie discovers the ‘monster’ is in fact an orphan named Anne-Marie who Carface has been harbouring because of her ability to communicate with animals, giving Carface the advantage when gambling on races. Seeing the potential to use Anne-Marie's gift for his own gain, Charlie decides to take her, promising he will only use her abilities to do good and that he will find her a family. Ever the con-artist though, Charlie has no intention of doing so, and continues with his criminal ways, pickpocketing a married couple while Anne-Marie unwittingly helps divert their attention. When Anne-Marie finds out, she is furious at Charlie. His conscience pricked, Charlie begins to worry about his fate, and that night suffers a nightmare where he is banished to Hell and is encountered by a monstrous, doglike version of the Devil and its minions. The nightmare ends with the Devil saying to Charlie, "You can never go back!"
The next morning, Charlie wakes to find Anne-Marie has left to return the wallet he stole, and goes after her. He finds her eating breakfast with the couple in their home, and the couple planning to take Anne-Marie in. Realising he is about to lose his trump card in his revenge against Carface, Charlie tricks Anne-Marie into leaving by pretending to be unwell. As they leave, they are ambushed by Carface and his sidekick Killer. Hiding in a dilapidated warehouse, they fall through the crumbling floor and into a flooded underground cavern. There they are captured by a tribe of mice who plan to sacrifice them to King Gator. Moments from being devoured, Charlie lets out a melodic howl of anguish. King Gator, a camp character with a penchant for musical theatre-style songs, instantly develops a liking for Charlie's voice and sets him and Anne-Marie free. Unfortunately, their adventure in the flooded underground caverns has left Anne-Marie sick with pneumonia.
Meanwhile Carface, still out to get Charlie, storms into Charlie's Place with his thugs, assaults Itchy and sets fire to the establishment. When Charlie returns, Itchy is angry at him for paying more attention to Anne-Marie instead of being there to help his oldest friend. Charlie, in frustration, replies that he is only using her (despite having obviously grown to care deeply about her). Unfortunately, Anne-Marie overhears and, despite her illness, rushes heartbroken out into the night. Before long, Carface spots her and recaptures her, taking her to his hideout in an old oil tanker. When Charlie and Itchy realize what has happened, Itchy rounds up all the dogs in the neighborhood and heads to the married couple's house to alert them to Anne-Marie's plight, while Charlie heads for Carface's hideout to confront him and rescue the girl.
At Carface's hideout, Charlie fights his way through a horde of henchmen, but soon gets captured and tied to an anchor, ready to be thrown into the water. As he struggles, Charlie gets bitten and lets out a piercing howl; King Gator hears the voice and rushes to his aid. Just as Charlie is about to drown, King Gator frees him and begins tearing the oil tanker apart. Charlie confronts Carface in a deadly battle while the ship breaks apart around them. With the shaking and shuddering, the cage holding Anne-Marie falls into the river, and some oil barrels get knocked over, starting a fire. Charlie goes to save Anne-Marie, but Carface leaps on him and knocks his precious life watch, the only thing keeping him alive, onto the debris floating on the water. Just as Carface is about to deliver a killing bite to Charlie, King Gator rams the ship again. Carface tumbles into the water where he is devoured by King Gator. Charlie leaps to save both his life watch and Anne-Marie, but is unable to get to both in time; faced with the choice, he saves the girl. His watch sinks to the bottom of the river, its workings fill with water and it stops. On the riverbank, Itchy and the other dogs have led the married couple to the scene. Carface's former sidekick, Killer, has carried Anne-Marie away from the burning ship to safety.
Some time later, Anne-Marie sleeps at the married couple's house. Charlie's spirit returns, escorted by the Devil from his nightmare, to bid her farewell before he is banished to Hell. As the Devil beckons Charlie, a bright blue light enters and drives it away, and the voice of the Heavenly Whippet tells Charlie that his act of self-sacrifice has earned him his place in Heaven again. Charlie says his heartfelt goodbyes to Anne-Marie, and returns to Heaven.
In Heaven, Carface is furious at his untimely death and, just as Charlie did, he winds up his life clock to return to life, swearing revenge on King Gator. With a wink at the camera, Charlie remarks, “He'll be back”.
10. Talespin (1990): After a preview of The Disney Afternoon that aired on the Disney Channel in May 1990, the series began its run in September of the same year. The original concept was embodied in the introductory television movie Plunder and Lightning which was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program (Prime Time for Programming One Hour or More) in 1991 and was later re-edited into four half-hour episodes for reruns. The show was often seen either on its own as a half-hour show, or as part of the two-hour syndicated series The Disney Afternoon. TaleSpin ended on its 65th episode which ran in 1991. However, reruns continued to be shown on The Disney Afternoon through 1994. Afterwards, it was moved into Disney Channel and later into Toon Disney.
Several of the characters are loosely based on characters from Disney's animated film version of The Jungle Book: in particular Baloo, the hot-shot pilot hero of the series; Louie, the owner of Baloo's favorite bar; and Shere Khan, a business tycoon who appears in many episodes. Kit seems to be a stand-in for Mowgli, since Baloo calls him by the same nicknames his Jungle Book counterpart called Mowgli, like "Little Britches" and "Baby Bear".
Also, many of the series concepts seem to be based on the 1982 ABC series Tales of the Gold Monkey, including the main concept of a cocky flying boat cargo pilot and his rocky relationship with his girlfriend, his scatterbrained mechanic sidekick, the era and designs of the aircraft and costumes, the Pacific Islands setting, the secondary character relationships, even the visual appearance of the lagoon. Also, the protagonists of both series fly planes named for waterfowl (Cutter's Goose and Sea Duck) and are regular denizens of taverns named "Louie's".
The series was largely developed by writers Jymn Magon and Mark Zaslove, who were also the Supervising Producers on the series as well as Story Editors. There were four production teams, each one headed by a Producer/Director: Robert Taylor, Larry Latham, Jamie Mitchell and Ed Ghertner.
11. Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990): The film takes place a few years after the original film in New York City, where Rand Peltzer (Billy's father) had acquired Gizmo (voiced by Howie Mandel). Gizmo is a mysterious, cute, good-natured furry creature called a mogwai. In the first film, Billy was informed of the "rules" regarding mogwai; namely that one must keep mogwai away from any bright light especially sunlight, never get them wet or feed them after midnight. Nevertheless, Gizmo was later exposed to water and therefore multiplied. When the new mogwais ate after midnight, they morphed into dark green, reptilian monsters with sharp teeth and claws. These monsters, or gremlins, caused much destruction and mayhem in Billy's small hometown of Kingston Falls. Gizmo's original owner Mr. Wing (Keye Luke) took the creature back after the gremlins had been eradicated.
Billy and his girlfriend Kate Beringer (Cates) now live in New York, where they are having difficulty adapting to the large and impersonal city. Billy works for Clamp Enterprises, which is based in a large, automated skyscraper in Manhattan. Kate also works at the building as a tour guide. The head of Clamp Enterprises, Daniel Clamp (Glover), is a caricature of tycoon Donald Trump and media mogul Ted Turner.[1]
As part of the new development in the area, Gizmo's owner Mr. Wing is offered money to sell his store to Clamp. Mr. Wing refuses, but not long afterwards dies of old age. His store is then demolished; Gizmo is captured and taken to a laboratory in the Clamp office building. The lead scientist of this laboratory, Dr. Catheter (Lee), is a sinister mad scientist who threatens to dissect Gizmo.
Billy eventually learns that Gizmo is in the building and rescues him. However, when one of Billy's bosses takes Billy away to a restaurant, Gizmo is left in the office and accidentally gets wet. The resulting mogwais, Mohawk (essentially the original film's Stripe reincarnated), Daffy (the crazy one), George (the tough one), and Lenny (the stupid one), soon eat after midnight in a cafeteria or near a water main and are transformed into gremlins. They quickly start a fire that triggers sprinklers, causing them to multiply even further.
The new gremlins cannot leave the building because it is still daytime and they are vulnerable to sunlight. While confined to the building, the gremlins invade the laboratory, where they discover various fluids that cause them to become creatures never before known. One gremlin consumes a hormone that makes him super-intelligent and gives him the ability to speak with a refined voice (provided by actor Tony Randall); this "Brain Gremlin" acquires a pair of spectacles to denote his newfound intellect. Like the original movie in Gremlins 2 the gremlin with the stripe was the leader. However, once Brain appears he becomes treated as such by the others. Another gremlin takes the form of electricity; after he kills Dr. Catheter, Billy captures him in the phone system. Mohawk drinks a potion which enables him to change into a centauroid spider-Gremlin hybrid. Another gremlin drinks a bat formula and sprouts wings. The Brain Gremlin injects him with a genetic sunblock formula, making him immune to sunlight. The Bat Gremlin breaks out through the lab's wall and flies through the city. It soon attacks Murray Futterman, who pours cement on it; thereafter it lands on a church and becomes a gargoyle. Another gremlin becomes part-vegetable as a result of the formula it drinks. Finally, the last gremlin becomes a female named Malinda.
Kate is trapped in Mohawk's spider web with Billy's boss Marla with Mohawk advancing on them; Billy is tied up in a dentist's chair with Daffy about to experiment on him; and Gizmo is tied up after being tortured by Mohawk. Gizmo manages to free himself and makes a bow and a flaming arrow to use as a weapon. Mr. Futterman enters the building and rescues Billy by driving off Daffy with a dentist's light; they seek and find Kate and Marla. They try to free the two women; Mohawk comes after them, but he is killed by Gizmo with the flaming arrow. Later, the Brain Gremlin leads all gremlins into the lobby when they are ready to leave the building. Billy and his friends turn a waterhose on the gremlins and, as the monsters start to multiply, Billy releases the electric gremlin. The gremlins are hit by the electricity and consequently melt away, while the electric gremlin explodes into nothingness. The sole survivor of the new batch of gremlins was Malinda, who appeared at the very end of the film romantically pursuing security chief Forster (Picardo).
12. Batman The Animated Series (1992): The original series was partially inspired by Tim Burton's 1989 blockbuster Batman film and the acclaimed Superman cartoons produced by Fleischer Studios in the 1940s. Timm and Radomski designed the series by closely emulating the Tim Burton films' "otherworldy timelessness," incorporating period features such as black-and-white title cards, police blimps, 40s influenced fashion, 40s influenced car styling and a "vintage" color scheme in a largely film noir-influenced style.[4] The series initially took as its theme a variation of music written by Danny Elfman for Burton's Batman film; later episodes of the series used a new theme with a similar style by Shirley Walker. The score of the series was influenced by Elfman and Walker's work on Batman and Batman Returns and the music of 40s film noir. The art style of the original animated series was also partially a reaction against the realism seen in cartoons like X-Men; the second series in some ways was a further extension of that rejection of realism.
Like X-Men, the program was much more adult oriented than previous typical superhero cartoon series. In their constant quest to make the show darker, the producers pushed the boundaries of action cartoons: it was the first such cartoon in years to depict firearms being fired instead of laser guns (only one person has ever been actually depicted as shot; Commissioner Gordon in episode 49 was seen to have a gunshot wound after the firefight was finished), Batman actually punching and kicking the antagonists, as well as the existence of blood (such as Batman having a trail of blood from his mouth); in addition, many of the series' backgrounds were painted on black paper.[4] The distinctive visual combination of film noir imagery and Art Deco designs with a very dark color scheme was called "Dark Deco" by the producers. First-time producers Timm and Radomski reportedly encountered resistance from studio executives, but the success of Burton's first film allowed the embryonic series to survive long enough to produce a pilot episode, "On Leather Wings", which according to Timm "got a lot of people off our backs."[4]
The Emmy Award-winning series quickly received wide acclaim for its distinctive animation and mature writing, and it instantly became a hit. Fans of a wide age range praised the show's sophisticated, cinematic tone and psychological stories. Voice-actor Kevin Conroy used two distinct voices to portray Bruce Wayne and Batman, as Michael Keaton had done in the films. This series also featured a supporting cast that included major actors performing the voices of the various classic villains, most notably Mark Hamill, who defined a whole new career for himself in animation[5] with his cheerfully deranged portrayal of the Joker. The voice recording sessions were recorded with the actors together in a studio, like a radio play, unlike most animated films, in which the principal voice actors record separately and never meet (various interviews have noted that such an arrangement (having the cast record together) was a benefit to the show as a whole, as the actors were able to 'react' to one another, rather than simply 'reading the words').
Key to the series' artistic success is that it managed to redefine classic characters, paying homage to their previous portrayals while giving them new dramatic force. The characterisation of villains such as Two-Face and the Mad Hatter and heroes like Robin—who had not appeared in the Burton film series—demonstrate this. The Penguin is based upon his appearance in Batman Returns, which was being released at the same time as the series. The series also gave new life to nearly forgotten characters like the Clock King. An often noted example of dramatic change is Mr. Freeze; Batman: TAS turned him from a clichéd mad scientist with a gimmick for cold, to a tragic figure whose frigid exterior hides a doomed love and a cold vindictive fury. Part of the tragedy is mimicked later in the plot of Joel Schumacher's live action movie Batman and Robin, although much of the drama was lost with the resurrection of the pun-quipping mad scientist image. The most famous of the series' innovations is the Joker's hapless assistant, Harley Quinn, who became so popular that DC Comics later added her to the mainstream Batman comics continuity.
This series became a cornerstone of the Warner Bros.' animation department, which became one of the top producers of television animation. For years, Warner Bros. Animation had been known only for doing Looney Tunes and their offshoots such as Tiny Toon Adventures. This was Warner's first attempt at doing a serious animated cartoon and it ended up working better than they thought. It also sparked a large franchise of similar TV adaptations of DC Comics characters. Despite the marketing decision by Warner Bros. of making the series a Saturday morning cartoon, Producer Bruce Timm and the crew were not interested in making a kid's show and they have often stated that this series and others in the DCAU, such as The New Batman Adventures, Batman Beyond and Justice League, are not childrens' programs but merely include children in their audience.
13. Fantastic Four (1994): In the mid-1990s, Marvel Productions syndicated a new Fantastic Four animated series as part of The Marvel Action Hour. The first half of the hour was an episode of Iron Man; the second half an episode of Fantastic Four. During the first season,[1] Stan Lee was featured speaking before each show about characters in the following episode and what had inspired him to create them.
Season 1
The vast majority of episodes in the first season consisted of fairly accurate re-tellings and intelligent re-interpretations of classic 1960s FF comic book stories by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, but the season's cost-effective animation and attempts to add humor through the inclusion of a fussy British landlady for the FF were generally met with displeasure by fans[2][3] - to say nothing of then-current FF comic book writer Tom DeFalco, who got in trouble for penning a scene in issue #396 of the series that featured Ant-Man watching and lambasting an episode of the cartoon.[4]
Season 2
Both the Fantastic Four and Iron Man series were radically retooled for the second seasons,[5] sporting new opening sequences, improved animation[6][7], and more mature writing (the first season was primarily written by Ron Friedman), though noticeably having fewer introductions by Stan Lee, with several of the new shorter intros being used more than once. The Season 2 episodes also drew upon John Byrne’s 1980s run on the Fantastic Four comic, in addition to further Lee and Kirby adventures. The Marvel Action Hour lasted two seasons before being canceled.
14. Toy Story (1995): On the day of his birthday party, Andy receives the brand new Buzz Lightyear action figure. What Andy doesn't know is that the toys come to life when humans are not around. Buzz creates a stir among Andy's other toys: Mr. Potato Head, Rex, a plastic dinosaur, Slinky Dog, and Woody, a cowboy and Andy's favorite, a Bo Peep doll (complete with toy sheep), and others.
As Andy's family prepares to move, tensions between Woody and Buzz rise. Woody tries to convince Buzz he is a toy, but Buzz believe he really is a "space ranger" sent on a mission to Earth. The other toys tell Buzz about the neighbor boy, Sid, who is mean and likes to torture his toys. Later that day, Andy, his mother and baby sister go to the local pizza place, Pizza Planet. Woody schemes to get rid of Buzz for the night and be chosen as the one toy Andy can take. The plan backfires, and Buzz ends up out of the window.
Buzz hitches a ride on the back of the family van, and after fighting underneath it while the family stops on a gas station, they are left behind. Woody and Buzz go to Pizza Planet, but while Woody tries to get back together with Andy's family, Buzz concerns himself in getting a toy rocket ship to "go home". They end up in a toy crane game, where Sid happens to win them.
Woody and Buzz have to escape Sid's house, all the while the rest of Andy's toys believe that Woody has turned into a cold-blooded killer, unaware that Buzz is fine. Buzz inadvertently sees a television ad of his action figure, and finally believes Woody's insistence that he is just a toy. As a last ditch effort, he tries to fly out of a window, but crash lands, spirit bruised. Meanwhile, Sid has ordered a rocket that he plans to blow up a toy with. Overnight, Woody and Buzz finally bond and together they make a daring escape from Sid's house, the same day Andy's family begins to move to their new house.
They finally catch up to Andy's family's car as the rest of the toys realize Woody and Buzz have become friends, and forgive Woody for his jealous actions in the past. That year, at Christmas, Woody and Buzz discuss about how they shouldn't be worried about any new toys Andy receives, only to find out he gets a dog. (In Toy Story 2, it is revealed that his name is Buster).
15. Muppets Treasure Island (1996): The movie begins as Jim Hawkins (Kevin Bishop), the Great Gonzo, and Rizzo the Rat as slop boys at an inn, listen to Billy Bones (Billy Connolly) telling stories of his days as a pirate and Captain Flint's treasure. When a pirate, Blind Pew, arrives at the inn and gives Bones the Black Spot (after blundering into walls, mistaking a mounted moose head for Bones, and assuming Jim to be a 'little girl' based on his long hair), they realize his stories are true. Before Bones dies of a heart attack (according to Billy Connolly, the only death in a Muppet film), he gives Jim a treasure map. The other pirates then break into the inn and tear it apart in their search for the map. The innkeeper, Mrs. Bluberidge (Jennifer Saunders) holds them off, giving Jim and co. a chance to escape with the treasure map. Gaining a ship from young Squire Trelawney (Fozzie Bear) (and the man who lives in his finger, Mr. Bimble), they set out, but Captain Abraham Smollett (Kermit the Frog) is concerned that the crew (consisting largely of Muppet monsters) cannot be trusted. It transpires that most of them were hired on the advice of the ship's cook, Long John Silver, who had befriended Jim.
Three of the pirates, Mad Monty, Clueless Morgan, and Polly (Silver's lobster), capture and attempt to torture Gonzo and Rizzo to make them reveal the location of the treasure map. They are rescued in time, with the only lasting result being the stretching of Gonzo's limbs to great and rather bendy proportions. Silver takes the brig keys from the first mate, Mr. Samuel Arrow (Sam the Eagle) and convinces him to take out one of the longboats to test it and see if it is leaky or not. He then releases and scolds the three captive pirates.
After the disappearance and presumed death of the first mate, Jim and his friends learn that the crew are pirates, and Silver is their captain. They warn Smollett, who asks the pirate crew to go ashore for provisions, planning to sail away and return when the fight has gone out of the pirates. This plan is abandoned when the pirates take Jim with them. Through song (Tim Curry's 'only number' in the film), they attempt to convince Jim to join their cause and come with them willingly. He refuses.
Arriving on the island to rescue Jim, Smollett, Gonzo and Rizzo are captured by wild boars, and are to be sacrificed to their Queen, who turns out to be Benjamina Gunn (Miss Piggy), still furious that Smollett left her at the altar. Simultaneously, the pirates use Jim's compass to locate where the treasure should be buried, but it is gone. The other pirates mutiny against Silver, who they believe has put them through all that trouble for nothing. Silver holds them off while Jim escapes.
Jim returns to the ship to rescue Smollett and his friends. They disguise Mr. Arrow (who has returned to the ship unaware that he had been tricked) as his own ghost, scaring the pirates and allowing them to retake the ship. In the meantime, the captive Silver reprimands the pirates for delivering him the Black Spot on a page of the Bible and convinces them to follow him again. The three cabin boys head back to the ship, while Smollett stays to talk to Benjamina. They are interrupted by Silver, who has realized that Benjamina must have the treasure. She tells him it is back at her place after they hang Smollett over the edge of a cliff, and they hang her over the cliff as well with a fire slowly burning through both of their ropes.
Jim and his friends retake the ship with the help of Mr. Arrow. They then rescue Benjamina and Smollett by driving the ship near the cliff where the ship figureheads (played by Statler & Waldorf) catch them while commenting that while they saved them (and that this made them heroes), it was too late to save the movie. With the good guys reunited, they take on the pirates. Smollett has a swordfight with Silver which goes well "for an amphibian", until his sword suddenly slips out of his hand - as a frog, he has slippery skin. However, Jim stands to protect the captain, and the rest of the crew stand to protect Jim. When Silver tries to escape, he finds himself faced with Benjamina and the wild boars.
Everyone returns to the ship with the treasure. In the ship's brig, Silver realizes he still has the keys from when he stranded Arrow. Jim, who is on watch, allows him to escape with one of the treasure chests, but says he never wants to see him again. Arrow notifies Smollett that he tested the longboats and found them leaky and unsafe. The movie ends as the longboat Silver is rowing springs a leak and sinks, and he winds up stranded on the island with only a joke-telling Easter Island Head for company. During the credits, the rats on the ship are seen scuba-diving and hauling up the sunken treasure.
16. The Powerpuff Girls (1998): the Powerpuff Girls revolves around the adventures of Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup, three cute little girls with super powers. The plot of a typical episode is some humorous variation of standard superhero and/or tokusatsu fare, with the girls using their powers to defend their town from various villains, such as bank robbers, mad scientists, aliens, or giant monsters. In addition, the girls also have to deal with normal issues young children face, such as bed wetting or dependence on a security blanket. The series is one in a long line of cartoons that derives a great deal of humor from pop culture references and parody. There is often a particular emphasis on cultural phenomenons and art styles from the 1950s, 60s, and 70s. For instance, the characters' dialogue often contain allusions to various classic rock and pop songs from these eras; there was even an entire episode whose dialogue consisted almost solely of lyrics from Beatles songs, while the episode's plot was a loose retelling of the Beatles career (featuring the show's villains in roles alluding to the original band members).
The show has a highly stylized, minimalistic visual look, reminiscent of 1950s and 60s pop art. Movie critic Bob Longino of the The Atlanta Journal-Constitution praised the style in his review of The Powerpuff Girls Movie by saying that "the intricate drawings emanate 1950s futuristic pizazz like a David Hockney scenescape", and that The Powerpuff Girls is "one of the few American creations that is both gleeful pop culture and exquisite high art".[1]
The show has been hailed for showing young girls as active and capable heroines. However, it has also come under criticism for its rather excessive violence (including images of characters gushing blood from their mouths when hit), and for what have been perceived as morally questionable actions on part of the main characters, such as sometimes using more brutal force than necessary
17. Static Shock (2000): The basic characters and setting of Static Shock are drawn from the Static comic book series, and many of the episodes adapt story elements from the comic books. However, the series varies from that continuity in many details, including Static's costume and his friends. There are also elements drawn from other Milestone comic books, most notably Blood Syndicate, from which several of the "Bang Babies" are taken. Recurring adversary Edwin Alva is based on a character from Hardware, and the Freeman Community Center is named after one of the central characters of Icon.
Dwayne McDuffie, the founder of Milestone and Static's co-creator, retained a substantial amount of control over the series' plot and characterization, and wrote several episodes.
Early in the series, similarly to the comics, the setting was explicitly not in the DC Animated Universe (DCAU), and DC superheroes such as Superman were treated as fictional characters, most notably when Virgil once remarked that "even Clark Kent had a day job." However, it later featured guest appearances by characters from other DC animated series, including The New Batman Adventures, Batman Beyond, and Justice League, establishing itself as part of the DCAU. An older version of Static was later featured in a two-part episode of Justice League Unlimited.
Other guest characters have included real-world individuals (voiced by themselves) such as basketball player Shaquille O'Neal, A.J. McLean of the Backstreet Boys, and recording artist Lil Romeo, who also performed the theme song used in the final two seasons of the show.
18. Scooby Doo And The Cyber Chase (2001): The mystery gang visits Freddy's friend Eric at Eric's college. Eric invited them because he made a prize-winning computer game based on their adventures using a high-tech laser. They arrive at the same time as a scary blue monster known as the Phantom Virus is causing mayhem. It is established that the creature has been "materialized" from a computer virus which has infected Eric's program and that it can be weakened by using high-powered magnets. The suspects appear to be Eric's teacher, Professor Robert Kaufman; Bill, a fellow student who is a baseball-loving programmer; and a grumpy police officer. During one of the Phantom Virus' scare runs and after the Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! theme song is played, the gang and the virus are beamed into Eric's ten-level video game.
To finish each level, they have to find Scooby Snacks, or Scooby Snax.
Level one is set on the moon where the Phantom Virus chases them with spooky moon ghosts. The second level includes the Phantom Virus unleashing three spooky Gladiators as well as a lion in ancient Rome. The third level includes a prehistoric jungle where they encountar a Tyrannosaurus rex, pterodactyls, and wooly mammoths. The fourth level takes place under the sea where they get attacked by giant octopuses, eels, and sharks. The fifth level includes a backyard where they are chased by caterpillars and ants. The sixth level takes place in ancient China. The seventh takes place in Ancient Egypt where they get chased by mummies. The eighth includes medieval times with dragons and ogres. The ninth takes place at the North Pole where they see polar bears, penguins, and walruses
On the tenth level, the gang discover cyber-versions of themselves (based on how they looked in the original "Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!" series) at a Malt-Shop. They help the gang deal with the Phantom Virus and the guardians of the last box of 'Scooby-Snax' boxes - which are monsters that the gang had faced before: Jaguaro, Gator Ghoul, The Tar Monster, Old Iron Face, and The Creeper...all of them are real in this game, whereas originally in reality, they were people in costume. After a chase through the amusement park to the arcade, they find the Scooby Snax box there. Scooby-Doo and his cyber-twin defeat the Phantom Virus. Back in their real world the gang, using the Phantom Virus's baseball terms, unmasked his creator, Bill, who was upset that his game wasn't picked, since he been at the college longer than Eric.
19. Samurai Jack (2001): AKU: Long ago in a distant land, I, Aku, the shape-shifting Master of Darkness, unleashed an unspeakable evil! But a foolish Samurai warrior wielding a magic sword stepped forth to oppose me. Before the final blow was struck, I tore open a portal in time and flung him into the future, where my evil is law! Now the fool seeks to return to the past, and undo the future that is Aku!
This quotation begins each episode of Samurai Jack, which tells the story of a young prince (Jack) from medieval Japan whose father's empire is destroyed by the demon Aku. Jack escapes destruction and travels the world training his mind and his body for years, until he reaches adulthood. Then, taking his father's magic katana, he challenges Aku to a duel and defeats the demon. However, before Jack can deal the killing blow, Aku creates a time portal and sends his opponent into the distant future, anticipating that he would be able to amass sufficient power to deal with the samurai later. The protagonist arrives in a hostile, futuristic Earth ruled by Aku and filled with his robot minions. The first people he encounters in the future call him "Jack" as a form of slang, which he adopts as his name (his given name is never mentioned in the series).
Standard episodes follow Jack's searches for a way to travel back to his own time, where he hopes to stop Aku before these events come to pass. The cartoon depicts Jack's never-ending quest to find a time portal, while constantly facing obstacles set by Aku in a classic battle of Good versus Evil. Typically each time Jack believes he has reached the end of his quest a deus ex machina causes him to dramatically miss his chance. In one attempt Jack locates a stable portal to the past, but the guardian of the portal defeats him easily and was about to crush him when the portal starts to flicker and glow, apparently giving the guardian a message, the guardian has a giant bird take the unconscious Jack away. After Jack leaves, the guardian states that it is not yet time for him to return to the past, and an image of what seems to be an older Jack is then seen in the portal; this seems to indicate that Jack is predestined to succeed, but it will take many years for him to reach his goal.[3]
20. The Powerpuff Girls Movie (2002): Townsville is ruled by criminals and villains. We're soon introduced to Professor Utonium who returns to his home where he attempts to create the perfect child using sugar, spice and everything nice. But his experiment goes wrong when his mischievous chimpanzee, Jojo, collides with the Professor who accidentally spills Chemical X into the mixture causing a massive explosion. Though the professor has some distance between him and the chemical reaction Jojo in his less then brilliant form stands near to look more closely at the specimen and gets the explosion head on which, throws him out of a window.
After the explosion, Professor Utonium regains consciousness and finds himself at three tiny girls who introduce themselves as his creations. Utonium proceed to name them Blossom (for being polite and the first to speak to him), Bubbles (for giggling as he named Blossom and seeming cute and bubbley), and Buttercup (because it also starts with a B, though much to her displeasure). Professor Utonium discovers that his daughters have superpowers, including super speed and flight when he rushes out to get them presents and comes back nearly tripping down the stairs but with Blossom catching him and Bubbles and Buttercup catching the presents.
The following morning, Utonium takes his girls to school and comes back to pick them up at noon. But the girls learn of the game tag and take it into overdrive when they start using their super speed to flee from one another. The girls fly about madly destroying various structures, with Utonium chasing them in his car all the while the girls seem oblivious to the havoc they're causing in the city until they collide with the mayor who was about to eat a pickle. Utonium eventually bundles the girls back to their house, telling them they should not use their superpowers in public for their own safety. The three understand, but they have no idea what consequences there will be for their reckless actions.
The following day, Blossom, Bubbles and Buttercup are treated as outcasts while Utonium is ambushed by the mayor and his guards and taken to prison for creating the girls. The girls wait for their father after school until, after he does not arrive, they are convinced that he hates them as well and they sadly try to find their way home on foot.
On the way, they see on nearby a television horrible remarks from citizens of the city, including the mayor who shrieks about them being "Pickle Destroyers." Eventually the girls are caught in a heavy rainstorm. Having no way into their house, the girls try to take shelter in some boxes in an alley, but the Gangreen Gang attack them. The girls are saved by none other than Jojo, now an intelligent monkey who hides in fear. The girls are moved by his speech on how people resent him.
The girls offer their help and Jojo accepts the offer. Together, the four build a new building on top of a volcano in the middle of the city that has a giant machine in its center. As a "reward" for their help, Jojo sneaks the girls into the local zoo, taking of the monkeys in the zoo.
The girls manage to get into their home and Utonium is thrown in through the front door and complains of arrest, lawsuits and other such difficulties. During the course of the night, Jojo activates teleporting devices he attached to the monkeys through his camera at the zoo and teleports them to his lair (the volcano in the middle of the city), where he uses Chemical X to mutate them into intelligent apes like himself.
The next day, the girls believe that the public will accept them, and travel with Utonium towards City Hall. Then, Jojo (now calling himself Mojo Jojo) attacks with his monkey army. Mojo Jojo announces that Blossom, Bubbles and Buttercup helped him with his plan. The girls try to convince Utonium that they were tricked, but he is heartbroken beyond conviction. Dejected, the girls blast off into space.
Mojo Jojo announces that the primates will rule the world in the human race's place. The monkeys, however, all having been rendered evil geniuses by the chemical X, all wish to be the future ruler of the monkey race. Mojo Jojo loses control over his army as it collapses into infighting. Frustrated, Mojo Jojo decides to kill Professor Utonium.
Up in space, the girls are on an asteroid traveling away from Earth, resigning themselves to isolation. However when they hear the screams coming from Townsville and particularly Utonium's yell, the girls fly back to Earth where they have to save all the people. They eventually realize that they can use their powers to fight all of the monkeys, each with a gimmick more bizarre than the other, to save the professor and the town.
Eventually they take the fight to Mojo Jojo who pump more Chemical X into himself and grows to the size of a giant. In the fight that follows, Mojo Jojo catches the girls in his humongous hand as he scales a skyscraper (an obvious reference to King Kong). He tries to make the girls join him, but they break free from his grasp and push him off the skyscraper. Utonium appears with an antidote for Chemical X that will shrink Mojo Jojo back to normal size. Mojo is about to fall directly on the Professor, but the girls push him out of the way, making him drop the antidote which shatters on the road. Mojo crash-lands on the antidote and shrinks back to normal before being arrested.
The girls decide to destroy their powers with the remainder of the antidote so the town will like them as ordinary girls, but the townsfolk protest. The Mayor apologizes on behalf of the whole of the city over their misunderstandings and asks the girls to become their local superheroes. The girls happily accept the job. The movie ends with the girls as the city's official superheroes and Townsville now a much better place. Plus, the narrator gives them their official name: the Powerpuff Girls.
21. Teen Titans (2003): Teen Titans is based on the DC Comics superhero team, the Teen Titans, primarily the stories told in the early-80s The New Teen Titans comic book series by Marv Wolfman and George Pérez. The series revolves around main team members Robin, Starfire, Cyborg, Beast Boy, and Raven. While it is an action cartoon, the series is also character-driven, with a focus on the main characters’ struggles with being teenage superheroes, their mutual friendships, and their limitations.[1] A major difference between the animated series and the comic book is that while the comic portrayed the characters as being in their late teens to early 20s (resulting in the comic series at one point even dropping the word Teen from its title to reflect its older characters), the animated series characters are all depicted as being children or in their early teens.
Seasons two and four are based upon two of the most popular New Teen Titans arcs, "Judas Contract" and "Terror of Trigon" respectively. Many characters from the comics, including Aqualad and Speedy, appear throughout the series. This is especially true in the final season which introduces many Titans from the comics into series for the first time as well as the Doom Patrol heroes and villains. Unlike the comics, Jinx eventually reforms and becomes a member of the Teen Titans.
The Titans resides in a giant T-shaped tower that is part high-tech command center, part dormitory, and part ultimate teen hangout. The Titans are based in an unnamed West Coast city, referred to as "Jump City" in the "Teen Titans Go!" spin-off comics. Also, their home which resembles a T may come to mean their name.
Teen Titans frequently uses self-referential humor, and its animation style is heavily influenced by anime. On different episodes, the series' theme song's lyrics alternate between English and Japanese, sung by the J-Pop duo Puffy (called "Puffy AmiYumi" in the United States to distinguish it from Sean Combs). Andrea Romano revealed in an easter egg on the season 3 DVD that the Japanese theme song means it will be a silly episode, while the English theme songs means it will be a serious episode. This can be accessed by going to the special features menu on disc 2 and selecting the + sign on Más' chest; examples are then shown.
In mid-November of 2005, TitansTower.com first reported the news that the prospects of a sixth season were looking extremely unlikely and fans were urged to express their support for the show to Cartoon Network. Several days after this initial posting, the word came that Cartoon Network had officially terminated the show.[2] According to Wil Wheaton, the actor who provided the voice of Aqualad, the series was terminated as a result of new Warner Bros. Feature Animation executives decision not to renew the series based on the pitch for the sixth season.[3] His story was contradicted by series story editor Rob Hoegee who stated that the decision not to renew the series came from Cartoon Network, not WB, being that the fact was that there were never any plans for a sixth season.[4] Reports of layoffs at the WB studios in late 2005 were also speculated to be a factor in the show's cancellation.[5]
After the series's cancellation, Warner Bros. Animation announced a feature called Teen Titans: Trouble in Tokyo. The film premiered at San Diego Comic-Con and was shown on Cartoon Network first on September 15, 2006. The DVD was released on February 6th, 2007. Warner Bros. announced that they may plan to make more Teen Titans direct-to-DVD films, depending on how the Trouble in Tokyo DVD sells.
22. W.I.T.C.H. (2004): W.I.T.C.H. is a French animated television series based on the Italian comic book series of the same name. Like the comics, the series follows five ordinary girls: Will, Irma, Taranee, Cornelia and Hay Lin who become endowed with magical powers and become the "Guardians of the Veil".
They must save Meridian from the evil sorcerer Phobos and Cedric who are searching for Phobos' sister, the long lost princess of Meridian. It is later revealed the princess is Cornelia's best friend Elyon, and the Guardians then set about saving her from Phobos. When Meridian is freed from evil and Elyon takes the throne, a new mysterious sorceress named Nerissa frees Phobos's top henchmen and forms them as the Knights of Vengeance. Once the Guardians learn more about the sorceress and her evil plan of reuniting former Guardians, they are able to defeat the Knights only to have more powerful Knights of Destruction, plus the old Guardians attack them.
The Guardians chief ally is Hay Lin's grandmother Yan Lin, a former Guardian herself, and the one that taught the girls about their magical destiny. They are also helped by Caleb, a heroic soldier from Meridian who leads the rebellion against Phobos, and Blunk, a frog-like goblin creature (known as a Passling) who takes things from the human world to Meridian (and vice-versa), humourously mistaking everyday objects for other things or items of value. Matt, Will's boyfriend, accidentally learns about Meridian and when he sees all the trouble on it going on, he learns how to become a warrior to help them. They are also helped by the Oracle, leader of the Universe in Kandrakar, who was the one who chose the Guardians.
Both the first and second seasons consist of 26 episodes each. Sip Animation completed the full production of W.I.T.C.H. Season 2 around September of 2006, and it premiered in the States, Canada, and The UK in spring of 2006.
W.I.T.C.H. airs on Jetix (on Toon Disney) in the US and on Jetix (UK) and CBBC in the UK. It has been screened in several other countries as well.
23. The Batman (2004): Season 1In the first season of The Batman, Bruce Wayne (Rino Romano) is 26 years old and in his third year as the Batman, protector of Gotham City. Along with a secret batcave, high tech batmobile, and a new technology he created called the Bat-Wave, he has his trusty butler Alfred Pennyworth (Alastair Duncan), who guides both Bruce Wayne and Batman when needed. Other characters are Ethan Bennett (Steven Harris), a cop who believes Batman is needed in their city, and at odds with Chief Angel Rojas (Edward James Olmos in his initial appearance, Jesse Corti in all his subsequent appearances), who has no room for vigilantes, and Ellen Yin (Ming-Na), Bennett's partner who has a conflict between being by the book and her personal feelings toward Batman and his existence. Both Bennett and Yin are charged with capturing the Batman throughout Season 1. Adam West, who played a campy version of the Caped Crusader in the 1960s Batman TV series, provides the voice for Gotham’s Mayor, Marion Grange for the first four seasons.
While crime in Gotham is at an all time low, new foes emerge and Batman confronts his rogues gallery for the first time. The first season featured new interpretations of Batman's villains such as Rupert Thorne (Victor Brandt), The Joker (Kevin Michael Richardson), The Penguin (Tom Kenny), Catwoman (Gina Gershon), Mr. Freeze (Clancy Brown), Clayface (Steve Harris), Firefly (Jason Marsden), Ventriloquist and Scarface (Dan Castellaneta), Man-Bat (Peter MacNicol), Cluemaster (Glenn Shadix), and Bane (Joaquim de Almeida in the first appearance, Ron Perlman in the second appearance).
At the end of Season 1, Ethan Bennett turned into Clayface thanks to the Joker. At that time, Yin changed her view on the Batman and from that point on the two became allies that continued in the second season.
Season 2
Season 2 introduced more villains with some being fan favorites, complete brand new origins: a sinister version of Riddler (Robert Englund), Professor Hugo Strange (Frank Gorshin, replaced by Richard Green after Gorshin's death), Rag Doll (Jeff Bennett), a more mystical oriented Spellbinder (Michael Massee), Killer Croc (Ron Perlman), and a thinner Solomon Grundy (Kevin Grevioux). At the end of this season, Ellen Yin is found out to have been working with Batman. At the same time, another main character to the Batman mythos, Commissioner James Gordon (Mitch Pileggi) is introduced in the show along with the Batsignal that is used throughout the show from that point. Gordon changes the GCPD's view of Batman and asks Batman to help him make Gotham a safe place for his daughter. The last episode of the season is the last one to feature Ellen Yin.
Season 3
Season 3 introduced a young Barbara Gordon, who becomes Batgirl (Danielle Judovits) and plays a major role along with her father. Barbara tries to be Batman's sidekick, to which Batman doesn't accept the need for a partner until the end of the Season. This differed from the comics, in which Robin was Batman's sidekick. This was due to Teen Titans animated series having the character in that show, and was off limits in appearing in other shows, much like the others in Batman's cast other than Batman weren't allowed to appear in Justice League Unlimited.
Several brand new villains for the series are introduced this season: Poison Ivy (Piera Coppola) (Barbara's best friend in this continuity), a different version of Gearhead (Will Friedle), a more threatening version of Maxie Zeus (Phil LaMarr), Cosmo Krank/Toymaker (Patton Oswalt), Prank (Michael Reisz) a pre-Harley Quinn sidekick to the Joker, Temblor (Jim Cummings) and D.A.V.E. (Jeff Bennett) - a H.A.R.D.A.C.-like super computer created by Hugo Strange.
Season 3 is ended with Professor Hugo Strange changing from professor to villain as part of Batman's rogues. Before the season finale, the ending to A Fistful of Felt had Batman uncovered that Strange played with Wesker from curing him to turning him back into a criminal. In Gotham's Ultimate Criminal Mastermind, the season finale to Season 3, Strange is brought to justice and becomes a patient in the Arkham. It wasn't until Season 4's Strange New World where it was revealed that Strange went to Arkham only so he could come up with new schemes.
Season 4
Robin, the Batman and Batgirl.
Season 4 was considered, by fans and the producers, as the show's "fan friendly" season. Season 4 featured a redesign to Bruce Wayne, with a stronger face structure, making him reminiscent of the DC Animated Universe Batman design.
Dick Grayson as Robin (Evan Sabara) was finally introduced into the show, as the Teen Titans animated series had been cancelled early in the year before this season started. Robin even bears the same resemblance to the character in the previous show. Batgirl was now part of the team and found out the secret identities of both Batman & Robin, and Lucius Fox (Louis Gossett Jr.) was introduced in the season finale.
More villains appeared such as Tony Zucco (Mark Hamill), Killer Moth (Jeff Bennett), Black Mask (James Remar), Rumor (Ron Perlman), Everywhere Man (Brandon Routh), Harley Quinn (Hynden Walch), Francis Grey (Dave Foley), and a new Clayface (Wallace Langham in the first appearance, Lex Lang in the second appearance).
J'onn J'onzz/Martian Manhunter on The Batman Season 4 finale.
One of the highlights of Season 4 was a possible future episode Artifacts, that had elements from the Frank Miller Batman: The Dark Knight Returns series. Set in the future of 2027, with the main storyline in 3027, it featured a wheelchair-bound Barbara Gordon as Oracle (Kellie Martin), Dick Grayson as Nightwing (Jerry O'Connell), with both Batman and the Batmobile resembling the versions in Miller's DKR.
The season finale featured an alien invasion by entities called The Joining and another superhero from the DC Universe; Martian Manhunter J'onn J'onnz and his alter ego Detective John Jones (Dorian Harewood). The ending of the finale had J'onn bringing Batman to a Hall of Justice Watchtower orbiting the Earth where he introduced him to Hawkman, Green Arrow, Flash and Green Lantern, in the character's cameos, as part of the Justice League of America.
This season also marked the departure of Jeff Matsuda and Michael Jelenic from the show.
This season also had a change in its theme music, swapping the original theme, performed by The Edge, for a more 1960s-esque theme more than a little reminiscant of Hawaii Five-O.
Season 5
The fifth and final season [1] was said by producer Alan Burnett to be the show's "The Brave and the Bold season." Most of the season featured Batman teaming up with other superheroes that are, or will be, part of the Justice League, following up on the Season 4 finale where Batman partnered with Martian Manhunter. Hamilton Hill replaced Grange as Gotham's Mayor.
The opening to Season 5 has Batman team-up with Superman (George Newbern). Other team ups for the season included Green Arrow (Chris Hardwick), Flash (Charlie Schlatter), Green Lantern (Dermot Mulroney), Martian Manhunter and Hawkman (Robert Patrick). The series finale featured the entire Justice League [2].
Villains for this Season were a combination of rogues from the superheroes appearing on the show with some Batman villains. Announced so far are: Lex Luthor (Clancy Brown), Mercy Graves (Gwendoline Yeo), Metallo (Lex Lang), Count Vertigo (Greg Ellis), The Wrath (Christopher Gorham), Toyman (Richard Green), Shadow Thief (Diedrich Bader), Sinestro (Miguel Ferrer), Mirror Master (John Larroquette), and the Terrible Trio (David Faustino, Grey DeLisle, and Googy Gress)[3]. Also, Firefly becomes Phosphorus. The Joining returns in the finale in alliance with Hugo Strange as The Joining's leader is revealed. The final episode is a forty minute movie, featuring all the members of the Justice League who have made an appearance in the show. The two final episodes were aired on March 8, 2008.
24. Scooby Doo In Where’s My Mummy (2005): the gang is in Egypt driving to surprise Velma, who has been restoring the famous Sphinx for the past six months with Prince Omar. They also discover that Queen Cleopatra's tomb is in the Sphinx. There they meet up with the following: an Egyptian nomad Amahl Ali Akbar(nicknamed "Triple A" by the gang) and his hawk Horus, "Fear Facers" host Rock Rivers, and a nasty Lara Croft-twin named Dr. Amelia von Butch and her minions. Against the wishes of Velma and Omar, Dr. von Butch and her team use modern equipment to open the tomb, unleashing a curse made by Cleopatra. The curse says that all who enter will be turned to stone. No one believes this until Omar, some of Dr. von Butch's minions (and later) Velma, and Rock Rivers are found as stone. Dr. von Butch decides to enter the tomb anyway. The Scooby Gang, after much trepidation, follows. After accidentally setting off a trap, the gang is split up. Fred and Daphne try to stop Dr. von Butch, while Scooby-Doo and Shaggy discover a Lost City where they are mistaken for the returning pharaoh Ascoobis and his faithful manservant.
In a town, Fred and Daphne are attacked by a disguised Dr. von Butch and her henchmen Campbell and Natasha where Fred and Daphne were hit by a sleeping powder as Dr. von Butch steals an artifact from them. Later that night, "Triple A" uses an herb to wake up Fred and Daphne and tells them that Horus is looking for Shaggy and Scooby. Horus finds Scooby's collar and leads them to where he found it.
Meanwhile, the Lost City's leader Hotep, attempts to feed them to his Spirit of the Sand, a giant scorpion monster that turns out to be a robot he had built. Fred and Daphne arrive with "Triple A," who reveals Hotep to be the brilliant civil engineer named Armin Granger who is illegally damming the Nile River.
After this, the gang leads an army composed of the citizens of the Lost City into Cleopatra's tomb to break the curse and free Velma. In the chaos of the battle between an army led by Daphne (pretending to be Cleopatra) and Cleopatra's undead army, the evil Amelia von Butch - who has now lost all of her team to the curse - sneaks into the chamber of Cleopatra, stealing the crown of Cleopatra and causing the Nile River to burst through the tomb, undamming the Nile and flushing out the riches hidden in the tomb, thus restoring the treasure to the people of Egypt according to Cleopatra's last wish. The mystery is solved when it is revealed that Cleopatra's mummy was really Velma, who had planned the whole thing along with Prince Omar and his workers in order to scare away all the treasure hunters. They had made cement copies of themselves to pass of as victims of "the curse". Dr. von Butch and her team (who were never turned to stone, just copies like Velma and Omar), are taken to jail.
Later that night, the Sphinx is finally restored. When Shaggy fired a firecracker, it ended up hitting the Sphinx's nose. Prince Omar states that the Sphinx is fine the way it is.
25. Garfield In The Rough (1984): Garfield is excited to learn that Jon wants to take him and Odie on vacation only to be disappointed to find out that they're just going camping. It takes a while for Garfield and Odie to adjust to the great outdoors and to Jon's banjo playing. Garfield eventually eats all of the food Jon packed, of course. However, there is news of a panther that escaped from a zoo lurking in the very woods they are in. Garfield tries to warn Jon of the bad situation but Jon insists that there is nothing to worry about, until the escaped panther enters their campsite. Garfield runs up a tree while Jon and Odie hide in the car. The panther keeps striking the car to break in. In a dramatic scene, Garfield leaps from the trees and takes on the panther. Garfield is about to be killed until the forest rangers arrive and fire a tranquilizer dart at the panther, knocking her out. Jon declares Garfield a hero and the gang heads for home.
26. Thundercats (1985): ThunderCats follows the adventures of the eponymous team of heroes, cat-like humanoid aliens from the planet of Thundera. The series pilot homages the origin of Superman, as the dying Thundera meets its end, forcing the ThunderCats (the title given to Thunderian nobility) to flee their homeworld. The fleet is attacked by the Thunderians enemies, the Mutants of Plun-Darr, who destroy all crafts save for the flagship containing the young Lord of the Thundercats, Lion-O, his protectors, and the mystical Eye of Thundera, the source of the ThunderCats' power, embedded in the hilt of the legendary Sword of Omens. Although the Mutants damage the flagship, they are driven back by the power of the Eye, and Lion-O's elderly guardian, Jaga, pilots the ship to the safety of the world of "Third Earth," but perishes in the process.
When the ThunderCats awake from their suspended animation on Third Earth, Lion-O discovers that his suspension capsule has failed to inhibit his ageing, and he is now a child in the body of a man. Together, the ThunderCats and the friendly natives of Third Earth construct a massive "Cat's Lair" that will be their new home, but before long, the Mutants track them down to Third Earth. The intrusion of these two alien races upon the world does not go unnoticed, however - the demonic, mummified sorcerer, Mumm-Ra, recruits the Mutants to aid him in his campaign to acquire the Eye of Thunder and destroy the ThunderCats so that his evil might continue to hold sway over Third Earth.
This status quo holds strong for the first season of the show, and serves as the basis for a vast array of stories that freely mixed elements of science fiction and fantasy into a traditional good-versus-evil tale that steadily introduced more and more recurring allies and villains into the world of the ThunderCats. Futuristic technology is just as central to the series as magic and myth, but even in the midst of all this action, the series never under-emphasizes the importance of moral values in solving problems. Each episode would normally include a short denouement, featuring the characters recuperating after the events of the story and taking the time to single out a personal value or wholesome approach that helped save the day, or could have done so if they hadn't overlooked it.
The first half of Season 1 featured a gentle continuity, with early episodes steadily following on from one another and establishing recurring concepts, although this became a little less common as the show transitioned into its second half, which was mostly comprised of incidental one-shot adventures. Tying the second season together was the over-arcing five-part adventure, "Lion-O's Anointment," in which the hero battled the other ThunderCats to truly earn his title as Lord of the ThunderCats. Although intended to be viewed consecutively (as the adventures depicted occurred one day after the other), the five parts of the mini-series were erroneously aired (and released on DVD) with multiple other episodes between each installment.
The 1986 TV movie "ThunderCats - Ho!" featured the first major shake-up to the status quo of the series, introducing three new ThunderCats who had also survived the destruction of Thundera. A massive cast of returning heroes and villains were incorporated into the story to make it the most epic ThunderCats adventure yet produced, and it concluded with the apparent destruction of Mumm-Ra. When the series returned in 1987, however, this was quickly proven not to be the case in the opening mini-series, "Mumm-Ra Lives!", as the evil wizard survived his fate. "Mumm-Ra Lives!" set the pattern for the show's final three seasons, which each began with a five-part mini-series that established the new characters and concepts that would go on to influence the rest of the season. In the case of "Mumm-Ra Lives!", these concepts included the debut of the villainous Lunataks, who became a third faction that existed for the rest of the series, and the new team of ThunderCats from "ThunderCats - Ho!" being given their own headquarters, vehicles and so forth.
The 1988 season began with "ThunderCubs," a somewhat mis-titled miniseries that was named for its plot about the ThunderCats being transformed into children, but which was principally about Mumm-Ra reconstructing Thundera in order to retrieve the weapon that had destroyed it, the Sword of Plun-Darr, and the legendary Treasure of Thundera, a collection of mystical items including the Book of Omens, which holds the secrets of the ThunderCats. Although the villain was foiled and the ThunderCats reclaimed the Book of Omens, the rest of the treasure was scattered across New Thundera. Subsequently, the scattered treasure formed the basis of most plots for the season, as the ThunderCats, Mutants, Lunataks and Mumm-Ra alternated their adventures between Third Earth and New Thundera, searching for the treasure and exploiting its powers.
Eventually, in the 1989 season, the ThunderCats return to New Thundera to rebuild their society, maintaining a council of guardians on Third Earth to secure the peace of the people on the planet and throughout the galaxy.
27. An American Tail (1986): The film starts off on Hanukkah in 1885, opening in the village of Shostka, Russia, and it shows the story of the life of a family of Jewish-Russian mice who emigrate to escape a pogrom after their village is destroyed by Cossack raiders and they are attacked by cats. Believing in the American dream they head to New York City because (as a song repeated early in the picture goes) "there are no cats in America, and the streets are paved with cheese." Once there, they immediately discover that there are indeed cats in America (and plenty of them), and begin living in a typical late 19th century immigrant manner: working in a sweatshop, living in horrible conditions, and submitting to a feline protection racket as an alternative to being eaten.
The film follows Fievel Mousekewitz, who is separated from his family during a storm as the boat approaches America after departing Hamburg, Germany. With nowhere to go upon arrival, Fievel ends up meeting Warren T. Rat, a conman who sells him to a sweatshop. Fievel escapes and with his new friends Tony and Bridget, begins a search for his parents.
During this time, the mice of New York decide that they are fed up with the continuous attacks by cats (and paying Warren for protection), and must find a way to defeat them. It is Fievel who suggests a plan to build a giant "Mouse of Minsk" (based on folklore) to chase the cats into the harbor where they will end up on a ship going to Hong Kong.
That night, the mice get to work. Fievel, however, still looking for his family, journeys through the sewers when he thinks he hears his Papa playing a violin. It turns out that the music is coming from Warren and a gang of cats. Warren is actually a cat in disguise and is running a protection racket. When they discover Fievel, the mouse is captured and imprisoned in a cage.
Fievel ends up befriending one of the cats, Tiger, who lets him go. The cats chase him to the docks where Warren's identity is revealed and the plan is successfully executed. A minor fire starts afterwards, which ends up bringing Tony, Bridget, Tiger, and Fievel's family together. Realizing they're all looking for the same person, they eventually find Fievel, who is finally reunited with everyone.
28. Garfield And Friends (1988): Cartoon series based on Jim Davis' popular comic strip. The star of the series was Garfield, a lazy feline whose only desires in life were lasanga, catnaps and kicking his hapless canine companion, Odie, off the table. The show also starred Garfield's hopelessly-single owner, Jon Arbuckle. Each Garfield adventure featured Garfield's adventures and run-ins with the cast of semi-regulars (including Neurmal, an irksome kitty; Binky the Clown and the mice which inhabited Jon's house); most were satires on American life and pop culture. Each show also featured "U.S. Acres," another of Davis' strips; this strip was set in a barnyard and featured the adventures of such characters as Orson Pig, Wade Duck, Roy Rooster, Bo and Lanolin the sheep, Booker the chick and Sheldon, an unhatched egg. Animated television series based on the popular comic strip. Each show is divided into stories about either Garfield and Odie and the trouble they get into, or Orson the Pig and his adventures on a farm with fellow farm animals.
29. The Simpsons (1989): the Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. It is a satirical parody of the middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its titular family, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie. The show is set in the fictional town of Springfield, and it lampoons many aspects of the human condition, as well as American culture, society as a whole, and television itself.
The family was conceived by Groening shortly before a pitch for a series of animated shorts with the producer James L. Brooks. Groening created a dysfunctional family and named the characters after members of his own family, substituting Bart for his own name.[1] The shorts became a part of The Tracey Ullman Show on April 19, 1987.[2] After a three-season run, the sketch was developed into a half-hour prime time show and was an early hit for Fox, becoming the first Fox series to land in the Top 30 ratings in a season (1992-1993).[3]
Since its debut on December 17, 1989, the show has broadcast 417 episodes and is currently in its nineteenth season. The season 18 finale, which aired on May 20, 2007, was the show’s 400th episode, and 2007 marked the 20th anniversary of The Simpsons franchise. The Simpsons Movie, a feature-length film, was released in theaters worldwide on July 26 and July 27, 2007, and has grossed approximately US$526.2 million worldwide to date.
The Simpsons has won dozens of awards since it debuted as a series, including 23 Emmy Awards, 26 Annie Awards and a Peabody Award. Time magazine's December 31, 1999 issue named it the 20th century's best television series,[4] and on January 14, 2000 it was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The Simpsons is the longest-running American sitcom[5] and the longest-running American animated program.[6] Homer's annoyed grunt "D'oh!" has been adopted into the English lexicon, while The Simpsons has influenced many adult-oriented animated sitcoms.[7]
30. Rugrats (1991): Rugrats is a show about 4 babies, Tommy (Pickles),Chuckie (Finster),and Phil and Lil (Deville). As we see their lives unravel, we get to hear them talk. On the sidelines, there is Tommy's mean cousin Angelica, their friend, Susie (Carmichael) (same age as Angelica), and everybody's parents
31. Goof Troop (1992): Premise Goof Troop bears similarity to several early-1950s Goofy cartoon shorts which depicted the Goof as a father to a mischievous red-haired son.
Goofy, now as a widower, moves back to his hometown of Spoonerville with his 11-year-old son Max. As it happens, Goofy and Max end up moving in next door to Goofy's high school friend: Pete, a used car salesman and owner of Honest Pete's Used Cars; Pete's wife Peg, a real estate agent; and their two children, 11 year old son P.J. (Pete Jr.) and 4 year old daughter Pistol. Max and P.J. become the best of friends and do practically everything together. A large portion of humor comes from the relatively normal Max's personality sharply contrasting with his father.
Broadcast history and feature films
Like its predecessors, DuckTales, Darkwing Duck, Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers and TaleSpin, it premiered as an hour-long TV movie, which was later broken up into a two-part pilot serial. It was later added as a part of The Disney Afternoon block of syndicated animated series during the 1992-1993 broadcast season. Following its cancellation, reruns aired on ABC Saturday Morning, The Disney Channel and later on sister cable channel Toon Disney. Reruns were shown on Toon Disney until January 2005, when Dave the Barbarian was added to the network. The program made a return during September 2006, and the Christmas Special is still aired on Christmas. The program returned to Toon Disney on November 3, 2006.
Goof Troop was adapted into the feature film A Goofy Movie (1995) and its direct-to-video sequel, An Extremely Goofy Movie (2000), The latter of which takes place a few years after the series. The two movies featured Bill Farmer, Rob Paulsen and Jim Cummings reprising their character roles from Goof Troop in these two movies, with Jason Marsden providing the voice of a now-teenager Max. Dana Hill, who provided the voice of Max, died on July 15, 1996, after suffering a massive stroke related to her diabetes.
32. The Gargoyles (1994): The series features a clan of warrior creatures known as Gargoyles that turn to stone during the day. Led by their leader Goliath in the year 994 A.D., they protect Castle Wyvern and its resident humans on the coast of Scotland until betrayal causes a massacre of the clan and a magic spell forces the six survivors into stone sleep, until "the castle rises over the clouds." In 1994, a billionaire named David Xanatos purchased the castle and moved it to the top of his New York City skyscraper. The spell is broken when the castle is literally placed above the clouds. Awakening in modern day Manhattan, the gargoyles must adapt to their new surroundings as they vow to protect the citizens of New York.
33. Timon And Pumbaa (1995): The show stars Timon, a meerkat, and Pumbaa, a warthog, both characters from the Disney animated film The Lion King, and its sequels. The characters were normally seen having misadventures in the jungle and Pride Land, but usually found themselves across the globe in various settings. While not technically canon, this would mean that The Lion King film, like Bambi, took place during the present day.
Production
Ernie Sabella and Nathan Lane reprised their roles as Pumbaa and Timon, respectively, in The Lion King, The Lion King II: Simba's Pride, and The Lion King 1½. Both actors were featured early in the television show, however, Lane isn't the only voice actor who played his respective role. The role was also played by Quinton Flynn, in some episodes, and Kevin Schon, in most episodes.
During the final season (1998-1999), there was also a change in writers, and a new director meant and the show became aimed more towards kids than the whole family. As a result of this, ratings declined and the show was cancelled by Disney in 1999.
Reruns of Timon and Pumbaa currently air both on Toon Disney and Disney Channel.
34. Family Guy (1999): the Griffin household includes two teenagers, a cynical dog who is smarter than everyone else, and a mutant baby who makes numerous attempts to eradicate his parents and siblings. Heading up this eclectic household is Peter Griffin. Peter does his best to do what's right for the family, but along the way, he makes mistakes that are the stuff of legends.
The Griffin household includes two parents Peter (Seth McFarlane) and Lois (Alex Borstein), two teenagers Chris (Seth Green) and Megan (Mila Kunis), a dog who is smarter than everyone else in the house Brian (Seth McFarlane), and a mutant baby Stewie (Seth McFarlane) who makes numerous attempts to eradicate his parents and siblings.
The wacky, occasionally irreverent misadventures of a Rhode Island family whose number includes a morbidly obese moron; his martini loving, genius dog; his sexpot wife; his gigantic thirteen year old son; his whiny, awkward daughter; and his homicidal infant son.
Family Guy revolves around a less than normal family in a less than normal world. With obsurd and often spontanious events this show will keep you laughing from the it starts up untill it ends. The family Consists of 6 members Peter the father, Lois the mother, Stewie the homocidal baby, chris the son, meg the daughter and Brian the dog who is often the smartest out of all of them.
35. Kim Possible (2002): The series revolves around the life of Kimberly Ann Possible, a teenage adventurer who deals with both super-villains trying to take over the world and her own school life without actually living a double life. Her lifetime friend Ron Stoppable and Ron's pet naked mole rat, Rufus, act as sidekicks. They are backed up by Wade Load, a twelve-year-old genius African-American boy who gives Kim her equipment and missions. Together, they are Team Possible.
The characters live in Middleton, a community somewhere in the United States, and while the series revolves mostly around Kim’s fight against her enemies, she usually also has to deal with problems on her own daily life as a teenager, normally as a subplot in many episodes. [1]
Production
Creators Mark McCorkle and Bob Schooley claim they created the show in an elevator. As they tell it, McCorkle looked at Schooley and said, "Kim Possible: she can do anything". Schooley at once replied, "Her partner is Ron Stoppable: he can't do anything". The creators also maintain that it was always their intention for Kim and Ron to eventually become involved romantically, rather than just remaining best friends. This becomes a reality in the supposed series-ending movie, Kim Possible: So the Drama. The romantic theme also continues in season four. [2]
The series premiered on Disney Channel in June 2002, and the first episode to air, Crush, was nominated for a Primetime Emmy award the following year. After the premiere of this episode, Kim Possible was the most watched and highest rated television show on Disney Channel at that time. The series as a whole was nominated for the Daytime Emmy in 2004, and again in 2005 (that year it received 5 nominations and 1 win).[3]. The show has been widely praised for its smart dialogue, fluid animation, and engaging, well-written characters (both heroic and villainous). [4]
On February 22, 2005, after 3 seasons and 65 episodes, the show ended production. Due to the popularity of the series and grassroots operations by dedicated KP fans, Disney announced on November 29, 2005, that the show would be renewed for a fourth season, which debuted on Disney Channel on February 10, 2007. The series finally ended permanently on September 7, 2007 with the airing of the one-hour-long concluding episode, "Graduation" [5]
Steve Loter documented the production of the final episode of season 4, and thus the completion of the Kim Possible franchise, in a blog titled "So the Finales" hosted on Blogger. It included behind the scenes and production information from the perspective of the crew as well as production sketches from one of several alternative endings that had been scripted. So the Finale maintained an open comment system allowing fans to express their views on the franchise and its closure. [6]
The show's title music, "Call Me, Beep Me", is sung by Christina Milian. Artist Stephen Silver was the lead character designer.
Kim Possible also airs on Toon Disney and Family Channel in Canada. Some early episodes have been aired on ABC as part of it's Saturday morning block ABC Kids.
The show can be seen often on Toonattik (GMTV's children's weekend slot on ITV1). It's currently on Saturday mornings.
36. Star Wars Clone Wars (2003): Star Wars: Clone Wars is an American animated television series set in the Star Wars galaxy. The series chronicles the Clone Wars between the Galactic Republic under Chancellor Palpatine, and the Confederacy of Independent Systems (CIS) under Count Dooku.
Chronologically, the series takes place during the three-year time period between the films Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones and Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. The original television series was produced by Cartoon Network Studios, and aired in 25 chapters from 2003 to 2005. A 3D CGI series called Star Wars: The Clone Wars will be set in the same time period, will be produced by Lucasfilm Animation and debut in 2008. The original series consists of 20 three-minute installments for Seasons 1 and 2 (later known as Volume 1), and five 12-to-15 minute installments for Season 3 (later called Volume 2). The 25 episodes are mostly comprised of energetic set-piece battles. Since much emphasis is placed on action, the story and plot is less developed than in the films. Despite this, it can be argued that the third season focused more on Anakin Skywalker's story.
The series follows the Jedi on their exploits fighting Dooku's separatist confederation. Many characters from the films are also featured prominently in the series, such as Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Yoda, Mace Windu, Chancellor Palpatine, Count Dooku, General Grievous, C-3PO, R2-D2 and Padmé Amidala. Other episodes feature minor players from the films, such as Kit Fisto, Ki-Adi-Mundi, Shaak Ti and Aayla Secura.
Seasons
• Season One/DVD Volume One - These two seasons feature one major storyline surrounded by a series of many battles. Count Dooku holds auditions for a bounty hunter on the planet Rattatak by pitting them against each other in a battle arena. Asajj kills every one of the bounty hunters and is sent on a mission to assassinate Anakin Skywalker. She engages him in a space battle, through the streets of Muunilinst and eventually leading him into Yavin 4, where the two engage in a lightsaber duel. Anakin emerges the victor, despite it being through means of rage and fear (feelings of a Dark Jedi).
Apart from the main storyline many battles ensue, including Mace Windu's fight on Dantooine, Obi-Wan fighting against bounty hunter Durge and the Banking Clan, Kit Fisto's battle against the Quarren on Mon Calamari, the adventures on Ilum and the Battle of Hypori in which General Grevious makes his first appearance in Star Wars media.
• Season Two/DVD Volume Two - The second and last season of Star Wars: Clone Wars gives the audience a look at Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker's adventures in the Outer-Rim Territories as mentioned in Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. Anakin is made a Jedi Knight and Coruscant comes under attack by the Confederacy of Independent Systems, as a diversion for General Grevious to sneak in and capture Chancellor Palpatine.
37. Over The Hedge (2006): RJ the Raccoon (Bruce Willis), after unsuccessfully trying to get a snack item from a vending machine, ventures into the cave of a hibernating bear named Vincent. While attempting to steal Vincent's cache of goods, RJ accidentally wakes Vincent, who after realizing what RJ is doing, attempts to scare him into giving his stuff back. While RJ tries to talk his way out of trouble, Vincent's cache rolls out of the cave, down to a street, and is destroyed by a passing truck. The furious Vincent threatens to kill RJ. RJ saves himself by offering to get all the goods back.
RJ finds the new suburban development El Rancho Camelot Estates in western Indiana where he can steal all the replacement items he needs. There, a community of foragers led by the practical turtle Verne (Gary Shandling), awakens from hibernation. Verne immediately directs his charges - Hammy (RJ during the film calls him "Hamilton"[2]) the hyperactive squirrel; Stella the skunk; Ozzie the opossum and his daughter Heather and porcupines Lou, his wife Penny, and their young off-spring Spike, Bucky, and Quillo - to start their yearly search for food to store.
They discover a hedge, which they had never seen before. Verne, while looking around the other side, is mauled and retreats explaining the dangers over the hedge. RJ, coming onto the scene, prompts them to scavenge for food and treasures he promises they'll find beyond the hedge, while Verne fears for what traps or predators also await. Yet a determined and desperate RJ convinces the woodland creatures to explore. Using a combination of con artistry and caper movie antics, they successfully snatch the goods RJ needs to appease Vincent, unaware of RJs debt.
All this prompts the ire of the homeowners' association president Gladys Sharp, who hires a pest-control specialist Dwayne LaFontant (who calls himself The Verminator). Seeing this, and realizing that they might be in danger, Verne tries to return everything they've stolen as a bargain to the humans to spare their lives. However, this fails as RJ tries to stop Verne and the hoard is destroyed in the resulting chaos.
Afterwards, the foragers present RJ with a makeshift place to sleep, and RJ can't resist having a growing affection for all of them. He slowly realizes that he should not be using them for his own needs and wonders if he should expose his secret and break their hearts. While speaking alone with Verne, RJ tries to show him a list of what he needs, so he can explain the true situation; but at the last moment he lies, and they devise a raid on a nearby party at Gladys's house using RJ's list.
While collecting food from the party, the foragers are caught when RJ argues with Verne about the importance of some chips (a can of Spuddies, Vincent's favorite snack), and RJ blurts out the truth. RJ retreats with the loot while the foragers are captured and caged. After giving Vincent the stolen food, RJ watches the Verminator's van drive past, and decides to save his friends. RJ shoves the wagon over the hill into the path of the Verminator's van, preventing him from driving any further as the impact from the collision knocked him out cold. As they drive back to the development, Vincent grabs hold of the van and is trying to kill RJ until he floats away with a set of balloons. After they make a crash landing at Gladys's house, the foragers run back to their home through the hedge. Much to their disbelief, Vincent managed to float back down, and now they must try to avoid getting killed by their enemies.
Trapped in the hedge between Vincent pulling sections out the hedge, Dwayne trying to shock them, and Gladys Sharp breaking the hedge with a weed hacker; RJ gives Hammy a caffeinated energy drink, causing him to move at light speed. He uses his increased speed to set the Verminator's traps against their assailants. Vincent, The Verminator and Gladys are trapped, being arrested for the use of inhumane traps, with Vincent being shipped to a preserve, and RJ and Tiger (a cat they had to fool to steal the food from the party, who is in love with Stella) are welcomed to the foragers as part of the family.
38. Inspector Gadget (1983): Gadget works as an inspector for the Metro City police department. His missions often take him to a different exotic locale, generally without giving any explanation as to how a crime on the other side of the earth was of any interest to the Metro City police.
Although there are the rare exceptions, every single episode of the first season follows a standard plot with little variation:
1: Gadget, Penny, and Brain are engaged in a typical family activity that is interrupted by Police Chief Quimby calling on the Top Secret Gadget Phone. He then appears in an outlandish disguise — a gas barrel, a Gypsy fortuneteller, even a gargoyle on Gadget's house, but most often, it's in a trash can.
2: Quimby gives Gadget a mission on a self-destructing sheet of paper. As Gadget reads the message, his eyes dart back and forth and the sound of a typewriter or fax machine plays. The last line of the message always reads "This message will self-destruct.", a spoof of the exploding taped messages from Mission: Impossible. Sometimes it would say that the message would self-destruct in ten (sometimes thirty) seconds. The second season often had "Caution: This message will self-destruct" as the final line in the message. Gadget says his catchphrase, which is "Don't worry, Chief, I am always on duty.", before he crumples up that paper, and then unintentionally throws the message back at the Chief and walks away in total ignorance. When the Chief hides out in a garbage disposal, Gadget puts the message in the trash, not knowing that the Chief is in there too. The message explodes seconds later in Quimby's face. The only episodes without the exploding paper are "Gadget's Replacement" (#23), where Gadget is replaced by a computer, and "Health Spa" (#6), in which Gadget doesn't even get a mission. Instead, Gadget slams the door in the Chief's face shortly after Quimby says, "At last, an assignment that didn't blow up in my face." In "M.A.D. Trap" (#20), Gadget did not get an assignment from Quimby, but when it appears that Dr. Claw does not intend to commit any crimes that day, Gadget gives Chief Quimby a paper that reads, "Have you got any assignments for me today? This message will self-destruct." Quimby panics at this and drops it in front of the pigeons he was feeding. While attempting to rescue them, Gadget's message blows up in Quimby's face.
3: Dr. Claw is always somehow visually monitoring this event on his computer from his desk or car, and introduces his scheme and usually a new super villain employee to the viewers. The schemes nearly always include trying to eliminate Gadget as well as stealing valuable things.
4: Gadget bumbles through his mission oblivious to the dangers and overall situation around him. He frequently makes ridiculous assumptions (such as thinking that the sound of explosions is thunder). He also almost always mistakes enemy agents for helpful allies, and vice versa.
5: Brain is always instructed by Penny to follow Gadget to make sure he doesn't get hurt: "I'm worried, Brain. You'd better follow him." Brain would make use of various costumes (although how he got them is not explained) and often interacts with Gadget, who never recognizes him. Gadget usually considers the disguised Brain to be the main suspect. When intervening to save Gadget from MAD agents, Brain often becomes the victim (along with the agents themselves) instead of Gadget. Gadget himself rarely comes to any harm, and if he does, it's usually self-inflicted. Even when Gadget falls into a MAD agent trap, he always escapes by using his gadgets.
6: Meanwhile, Penny investigates the crimes and is usually the one to solve the case with the help of her Computer Book. With it, she can override the controls of just about anything electronic. She often stops the MAD agents when she overrides the controls of the vehicle MAD agents drive and forces them to crash. Sometimes, she uses her Computer Book to override the controls of one of Dr. Claw's evil machines, causing it to overload and explode. On occasion, Gadget unintentionally solves the case without being aware of it. Penny may get captured and escape the criminals during her investigation, when Brain or Gadget comes to rescue her. Sometimes, Penny escapes herself when the M.A.D. agents do not lock her up properly, or are distracted by something. She will sometimes use the help of her Computer Book to escape as well.
7: Shortly before Penny solves the case, she calls Chief Quimby to the crime scene.
8: Gadget invariably gets credit for solving the mission, with everyone believing that he has in fact stopped Dr. Claw single-handedly. Chief Quimby appears and congratulates him. No one ever suspects that it was in fact Penny and Brain who did all of the work. Typically, they show up and Gadget doesn't even know how they got there, but he is delighted to see them. Like many cartoons, the episode usually ends with them all laughing at something.
9: After this, Dr. Claw is seen either in his hideout or escaping in his MADmobile, which can turn into an advanced jet or submarine, delivering his catch phrase: "I'll get you next time, Gadget... NEXT TIME!". Dr. Claw's cat, M.A.D. Cat, will usually hiss in agreement. This phrase is also played towards the end of the end credits in every episode.
10: In common with many 1980s children's TV shows, Inspector Gadget's last scene is a safety tip (known as a Gadget Team Alert) often relating to the episode (similar to Captain Planet's Planeteer Alerts or the Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog "Sonic Sez" segments).
While the show is admittedly formulaic (at the time, it is often compared with Get Smart, which also stars Don Adams), charming and appealing main characters, exotic and varied locations, and solid writing kept the series entertaining. In the final episodes of the series, a small storyline plays out involving members of a criminal retirement home that Claw recruits to eliminate Gadget. Whilst not entirely conclusive (Claw is never caught as always), the storyline was the only multi-part arc of the show's entire run.
39. The Brave Little Toaster (1987): The film opens with a slow pan into a seemingly abandoned cabin in the woods. A radio activates and begins to give the news as the other appliances (a lamp, an electric blanket, a vacuum cleaner, an air conditioner, and a toaster) wake up. Viewers learn that they have been left in the woods for many years by their master, a young child. Every time a car passes, they swarm to an overlooking window, hoping that he has returned. This is to the great amusement of the Air Conditioner, who was always jealous that the master played more with the others than himself. When the others confront him, he becomes furious and blows a fuse, apparently dying.
After the five appliances find out that the cabin is for sale, implying the coming of a new master, the Toaster announces that they must go out to find their own master. Using an office chair pulled by Kirby, the vacuum cleaner, the group sets out into the world, heading for the "City of Light". The Radio acts as a navigator.
That night, the appliances enact the first of many fights, having found themselves slightly off-course. The Toaster suggests that they sleep until morning. Blanky (the electric blanket) crawls around the others, wanting to sleep with someone as is his habit, but is refused by all, even the Toaster. He finally falls asleep hugging a picture of the master that he brought along.
In the morning, the group finds themselves in a colorful meadow that is home to many curious animals who have presumably never seen appliances before. When their attention becomes too much for Toaster, he hides in the forest, only to find a lonely flower. The flower sees its reflection on the Toaster's metal surface and embraces it. The Toaster flees in confusion, only to look back to find the flower has wilted. Afterwards, he decides to be nicer to Blanky because of this.
Leaving the meadow, the group camps out in the woods. Lampy, feeling awkward, asks the Toaster the reason for which he (Toaster) is being kind to Blanky. After several failed attempts to explain by making similar the emotion of compassion to warmth, the Toaster describes the feeling he has as a glow. Lampy, understanding, recalls feeling the same way when he thinks about the master.
The Toaster has a nightmare about being reunited with the master only to have him taken away by a puff of smoke. A demonic evil clown (dressed as a firefighter) then emerges and attacks the appliance with a stream of water in the form of flying forks. The Toaster wakes up as he falls into a bathtub, to find that a storm is brewing in reality. Blanky is swept up by a gust of wind and disappears into the night. The others try to follow him, but their batteries cease to support them. Remembering the description of compassion, Lampy points to the sky by acting as a lightning rod to conduct electricity, breaking his bulb and collapses with unconsciousness.
The next morning, Lampy is revived a little bit and Kirby helps Blanky out of a tree, into which he had been blown by the wind. However, although the others are friends now, the long-aloof Kirby still distances himself from them. When they reach a waterfall, Kirby almost swallows his own power cord. Kirby then says a speech about about how much he'd be better off without his friends. The group attempts to cross the waterfall by climbing across attached with their cords. Unfortunately, they slip and fall, leaving only Kirby on the cliffs as he watches the others plunge towards the water. The vacuum finally shows his love for his friends by saving them. When they come to shore, they realize that, although safe, they are completely lost.
After the waterfall peril, the group finds themselves sinking in quicksand. Radio is the last to submerge; he therefore plays a final song ("My Mammy"). A rotund man, Elmo St. Peters, overhears this and pulls the appliances out. They are taken to a junk shop, where they are told by the many appliances there that life is a precarious, frightening situation for them (like a "B-Movie"), largely because Elmo is prone to dismantle any appliance on which he lays his hands and sell its components.
A customer comes in and asks for radio tubes, putting Radio in danger. As Elmo begins to cheerfully take him apart, the other four decide to break the unwritten appliance code of never coming to life in the presence of a human (or any other living thing, or organism). They dress as a ghost to scare Elmo away. The plan works; the group (along with every other appliance in the shop) escapes. Traveling through the night, they finally make it to the city.
Meanwhile, we find the master, Rob, who is now much older, being eighteen and getting ready to leave for college. Because he needs appliances for his dormitory, he returns to the cabin in search of the protagonists.
As Rob and his laconic girlfriend, Chris, leave, the appliances find their way to his apartment. The "Cutting Edge" appliances inside decide to dump the newcomers into a wastebin assuming Rob will take them to college instead because of their greater technological sophistication.
Rob finds the cabin empty, fixes the Air Conditioner, and goes home in dejection. Hope is not lost; the Black and White TV, a good friend of the protagonistic appliances, broadcasts advertisements for the dump where the appliances have been taken, advertising it as an attractive store.
The appliances, meanwhile, find themselves being stalked through the junkyard full of "Worthless" cars by a Giant Magnetic Crane, who intends stubbornly to drop them into a Trash Compactor. As the Crane grabs car after car, the cars recite their histories to the dismayed protagonists. Rob arrives in time to save the appliances (aside from the Toaster, whom he does not see). As he is leaving, the Magnet comes down and grabs them all, including Rob, and drops them on a conveyor belt delivering objects for the Trash Compactor. In an act of self-sacrifice, the Toaster jumps into the Compactor's gears and manages to stop the machine from destroying his friends and the Master.
Rob fixes the Toaster and loads the appliances into his car. The group is finally reunited with their master; all drive into the distance laughing for a happy ending.
Lampy: [in the distance] I'm aching with joy!
40. Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure (1989): Bill S. Preston, Esq. (Winter) and "Ted" Theodore Logan (Reeves) (or simply "Bill & Ted") are two hard rock-obsessed teenagers in San Dimas, California, (1988) who are about to flunk out of high school because they are failing history class. The only way they can pass history is to get an A+ on their upcoming history report. This situation is particularly "heinous" because Ted's authoritarian father, Capt. Logan, has threatened to ship him to the Alaskan Military Academy (run by the psychotic Colonel Oats) if he flunks.
Miraculously, a guitar-playing guru named Rufus (Carlin) arrives from the San Dimas of the year 2688 to help them pass a vital history report, because their garage band Wyld Stallyns holds the key to world peace and ultimate truth. However, they will not achieve this destiny if they flunk out and Ted is shipped to Alaska. Rufus lends them a time machine disguised as a phone booth to help them get an A+ on their oral report.
Various time traveling shenanigans ensue, as they proceed to "collect" various historical figures, including Napoleon Bonaparte, Socrates (whose name they pronounce IPA: /ˈsoʊkreɪts/, i.e., "So-Crates"), Billy the Kid, Sigmund Freud (whose name they also mispronounce, "Frood"), Ludwig van Beethoven (whose name they also mispronounce, "Beeth Oven"), Genghis Khan, Joan of Arc, and Abraham Lincoln to help them with their final history presentation. They also find love with Princesses Elizabeth and Joanna in 15th Century England, at the court of King Henry (presumably Henry VII as the princesses, who are young women when Bill and Ted meet them, are said in Bogus Journey to be 521 years old; as that film is set in 1991, the princesses were therefore born in 1470). They also run into some problems, including mechanical troubles with the booth, and Ted's brother, Deacon, "ditching" Napoleon because he's "a dick".
41. A Goofy Movie (1995): It is the last day of the school term for Goofy's teenaged son Max, who has a plan to shed his "Goof" label and impress his crush, Roxanne. Max and his two friends PJ and Bobby hijack the auditorium stage in the middle of Principal Mazur's speech, creating a small concert where Max performs while costumed as Powerline, a famous pop superstar. The performance succeeds in making Max a school celebrity, but Mazur puts it to a halt and the trio of friends are sent to his office. While waiting outside Mazur's office, Roxanne talks to Max and they both agree to go together to a party that Roxanne's friend, Stacey, is holding to watch Powerline's latest concert on pay-per-view. Unknown to Max, Mazur telephone calls Goofy, whereupon he reports Max's actions as "dressed as a gang member, your son caused the entire student body to break into a riotous frenzy." Believing that Max is exhibiting behavior that will lead him to a life of criminality ending in the electric chair, Goofy decides it is time re-establish his relationship with his son, which has drifted apart over the years.
Goofy decides to take Max on a fishing trip to Lake Destiny in Idaho, on the same route he and his father took years before. Max tries to dissuade his father, but is bundled into the family car and the holiday begins, but not before Max visits Roxanne at her house to tell her the news. When Roxanne disappointingly mentions possibly finding someone else to go with to the party, Max quickly creates a lie claiming he and Goofy are going to the Powerline concert in Los Angeles and will be on stage with Powerline. Roxanne falls for it. Goofy and Max head out on their uneasy road trip, but it is not incredibly fun as Goofy hoped.
Max is humiliated at Lester's Possum Park, having a possum leap down his pants and then dragged into a country dance by Goofy. They also watch an out-of-date country folk jamboree of animatronic possums (parodying The Country Bear Jamboree); are chased by Bigfoot during a fishing practice session involving Goofy's Perfect Cast technique; unexpectedly run into Pete and PJ; and Max even changes the road map in the direction of Los Angeles. Goofy later discovers this when Pete eavesdrops on a conversation between Max and PJ.
Goofy and Max later approach a highway junction, left goes to Los Angeles, right to Idaho. In a panic, Max picks left. Goofy, angered, stops the car at a mountain viewpoint but forgets to put the brakes on and the two Goofs pursue the car down the road. They eventually land in a river on the car where they argue, the fight eventually concluding with Goofy revealing he just wanted to be part of Max's life as he grew. The two later makeup and save each other from falling down a waterfall to their deaths.
Goofy and Max arrive in Los Angeles on the night of the concert, accidentally splitting up. Goofy is pushed into an electrical ball and flies out onto the stage where Powerline is. Max is chased by a security guard up onto the stage's lights, but Max crashes down onto the stage between Goofy and Powerline. The three break into dance, doing the Perfect Cast fishing technique as a dance style. Roxanne, Stacey, PJ, Pete, Bobby, and others watch the concert from various televisions. The next day, Goofy and Max pull up outside Roxanne's house in the remains of the car. Max reveals to Roxanne he lied to her about mostly everything but she instantly forgives him, revealing herself she has liked him for a long time, ever since he first laughed the classic "Ahyuck". The two make a deal to not lie anymore, sealing it with a kiss. Goofy's car blows up and he flies through the air, crashing through the roof of Roxanne's house where Max introduces him to Roxanne.
42. Batman: Mask Of Phantasm (1993): During a conference of crime bosses held in a Gotham City skyscraper, gangster Chuckie Sol is killed when a mysterious cloaked figure bursts in on the meeting. Batman is blamed for the death. Councilman Arthur Reeves tells the media that Batman is an irresponsible menace, then attends a party at the mansion of millionaire playboy Bruce Wayne, Batman's alter ego. Reeves jokingly taunts Bruce for having allowed an old girlfriend, Andrea Beaumont, to get away.
In a flashback to Bruce's college days, we see him meet Andrea in a cemetery while visiting his parents' grave. Bruce has vowed to avenge his parents' murder by dedicating his life to fighting crime. He dons a mask and black ninja-styled outfit and foils an armored car robbery, but is discouraged that the criminals do not fear him. Around the same time, he begins a romance with Andrea.
Back in the present, another mobster murder by the cloaked figure is pinned on Batman, moving sickly mob boss Salvatore Valestra to hire the Joker to kill the superhero. After inspecting the crime scene, Batman visits the Wayne family grave and is seen by Andrea, who realizes his secret identity. This prompts another flashback, in which Bruce and Andrea are enjoying themselves at the Gotham World's Fair. Bruce meets her father, Carl Beaumont, a businessman with ties to Valestra. Later, deciding that crime fighting and relationships don't mix, Bruce asks his parents for a sign that they'll forgive him for forsaking his vow. As if in answer, Andrea arrives at the site. Their relationship continues to grow, and when Bruce proposes to her in the backyard of the Wayne Manor, bats fly up out of a crack in the ground and momentarily surround them. The next day, Bruce is investigating the underground bat cave when Alfred arrives with a note from Andrea breaking off their engagement and bidding him farewell forever. Heartbroken, Bruce resumes his war on crime, turning the cave into a headquarters and wearing a fearsome uniform based on a bat. Alfred is visibly frightened by the sight of Bruce in the uniform, and Batman is born.
In the present, Batman has discovered evidence linking Beaumont with a number of organized crime figures. The mysterious cloaked figure targets Valestra, but is beaten to the punch by the unstable Joker; Batman is blamed again and has a close call with the police. Rescuing Batman in her car, Andrea explains that she and her father had been hiding in Europe, from the mob, to whom he owed a lot of money. Beaumont eventually repaid them, but that did not satisfy them. Batman believes that Andrea's father may be the Phantasm, until he learns that Beaumont was murdered some time before.
In a tussle with the Joker, the cloaked figure is revealed to be Andrea, intent on avenging her father's death by killing the mobsters to whom he owed money. During the course of their struggle, Batman arrives and battles with the Joker in a miniaturized replica of Gotham City. After a protracted battle, both the Joker and Andrea disappear in the confusion of fire and smoke, with Batman barely escaping into a waterway before a series of rigged explosions.
Back in the Batcave, a heartbroken Bruce receives consolation from Alfred. Meanwhile, Andrea stands on the deck of an ocean liner, alone. The final scene shows Batman standing alone on top of a building, still in grief. The Bat-Signal emerges in the distance and Batman flies into action.
43. The Pink Panther (1993): The Pink Panther is a 1993 animated television series. A co-production of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Animation, Mirisch-Geoffrey DePatie-Freleng and United Artists, this version stars the legendary hip feline in new adventures, but this time he talks (with the voice of Matt Frewer). Alongside the panther are his longtime friends and co-stars from other DFE shorts, The Inspector, The Ant and the Aardvark and The Dogfather (The Dogfather and his cronies were redesigned for this series), as well as "The Little Man" who was a co-star in the original theatrical shorts alongside the cool cat. Also, some new characters were created for the show, including a mask-wearing tribal witch doctor.
The show was nominated for a daytime Emmy award in 1994 for Outstanding Achievement in Music Direction and Composition
44. Superman The Animated Series (1996): Superman: The Animated Series is the name of a Warner Bros.' American animated television series that ran from 1996 to 2000. The official title of the series was simply Superman and starred the fictional character of the same name. Warner Bros. applied the same "more modern, more serious" animated treatment to DC Comics' flagship character in the same way they had successfully produced Batman: The Animated Series. Both shows had no logo. Slightly-edited reruns can currently be seen weekday evenings at 7/6c on Toon Disney (in spite of The Walt Disney Company being Warner's main competitor).
Airing ten years after the 1986 reboot of the Superman comic book character, the animated series paid tribute to both the classic Superman of old and the newer "modern" Superman. Perhaps most significantly, Clark Kent displays the more aggressive personality used by John Byrne in his reboot of the comic book continuity. Elements of Superman from all eras of his history were included in the series, especially in a portrayal of the planet Krypton, the planet that Superman was born on, that fans praised[citation needed] as a "modernization" of Superman's origin that contrasted John Byrne's reboot, and some fans felt[citation needed] was superior to the "newer" comic book version. Notably, the evil computer Brainiac was not only now from Krypton, but was portrayed as responsible for preventing the knowledge of Krypton's imminent destruction from reaching its people. In a lesser innovation, the ship that carried the infant Kal-El to Earth was designed to land smoothly upon reaching its destination, rendering it in perfect working condition during Superman's adulthood and is used as his mode of long range transportation in space.
The "new" Lex Luthor featured prominently in the series as well, menacingly voiced by actor Clancy Brown. Superman was voiced by Tim Daly.
While the series featured fresh re-creations of much of Superman's rogues gallery, the series' writers supplemented the supply of enemies by paying tribute to Jack Kirby's Fourth World creations which also introduced the villain Darkseid to the series as one of Superman's greatest enemies. Darkseid had been portrayed as a villain in Super Friends: The Legendary Super Powers Show and The Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians in the 1980s, but in the new Superman series, he was closer to the enormously powerful, evil cosmic emperor originally envisioned by Kirby. The tribute event extends to the supporting character, Dan "Terrible" Turpin, who is visually modelled on Jack Kirby himself.
On August 18, 1998, Warner Brothers released The Batman / Superman Movie on DVD and video. This movie was formed of three episodes from season 2 of Superman: The Animated Series, "World's Finest" parts 1, 2 and 3. Mark Hamill again provided the voice for The Joker.
Midway through the series' run, it was combined with episodes of The New Batman Adventures to become The New Batman/Superman Adventures. The characters of Superman and Batman were then spun off into a new animated series, Justice League, which also featured other popular DC characters, such as Wonder Woman, Aquaman and the Flash.
45. Batman Beyond (1999): In the pilot episode, we see approximately twenty years into the future, where an aging Batman is having increasing difficulty handling criminals he once subdued with ease. One night, a heart attack forces Batman to betray a lifelong principle by threatening a criminal with a gun, despite already wearing a new, high-tech Batsuit. Subsequently, Bruce Wayne decides to retire the Batman persona, and crime fighting in general, permanently.
The story then fast-forwards another twenty years. Gotham City is now a futuristic megalopolis equipped with staggering high rises and hovering/flying vehicles. Bruce Wayne is now a virtual recluse, spending his latter years living in bitter isolation with no companion but his guard dog, Ace. It is implied by virtue of his continuing to fight crime long after he should have, and his retaining of the costumes worn by Robin, Nightwing, and Batgirl, that even before he had a heart attack, something horrible transpired that caused Bruce to sever his ties with the Justice League and forbid his disciples from ever again assuming their alter-egos. The events which caused all of this was finally revealed in Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker.
In 2040, Terry McGinnis (born on August 18, 2023) is an athletic sixteen year-old high school student and reformed troublemaker with a deeply ingrained sense of personal justice. During the pilot episode, he saves a fellow passenger on a commuter rail from being hassled by one of the Jokerz, and later single-handedly takes on an entire gang of them to defend his girlfriend, ultimately resulting in a harrowing high-speed motorcycle chase through Neo-Gotham's expressways. The chase ultimately ends at the doorstep of Wayne Manor, where a fleeing Terry runs into the elderly Bruce Wayne. Bruce and Terry fend off the Jokerz side-by-side, but the exertion aggravates his heart condition. Terry helps Bruce back to the manor, and while staying there, he discovers the entrance to the Batcave, and later returns to "borrow" the Batsuit to avenge the death of his father. As crime and corruption are beginning once again to rear their ugly heads in Gotham, Bruce ultimately allows Terry to assume the mantle of Batman.
Terry continues the battle against crime tutored by Bruce, and aided by a new, high-tech Batsuit that augments his abilities, fires Batarangs from the wrists, flies using jets fired from the feet, allows eavesdropping through a hypersensitive touch microphone, and provides camouflage abilities. He comes to have his own rogues gallery, such as the seductive shape-shifter Inque, the hypnotist Spellbinder, the bitter, deaf sound expert Shriek, the deadly assassin Curare, the insane terrorist Mad Stan, the African hunter Stalker, a reincarnation of the Royal Flush Gang, and the Jokerz, a gang idolizing the Joker. However, on occasion, Terry is also forced to face his mentor's old foes, such as the atrophying Mr. Freeze, Bane (elderly, wasted, and dying from his consumption of Venom, the substance that gave him his strength), the immortal Ra's al Ghul, and even a reborn Joker.
Terry's greatest initial foe is Derek Powers, a ruthless billionaire who took over Wayne Industries and was later accidentally mutated into a radioactive monstrosity known as Blight. Powers had Terry's father, Warren, murdered after Warren discovered that Powers was in the process of developing a biological weapons program. The first season ended with a showdown between Batman and Blight aboard an abandoned nuclear submarine, where Powers was in hiding after his identity as Blight was revealed to the world by his ambitious son Paxton, who planned to usurp his father as chairman of Wayne-Powers.
Maxine "Max" Gibson (born October 28, 2023) is a seventeen year-old computer genius who discovers Batman's secret identity, and helps Terry with everything from computer hacking, to babysitting, to coming up with excuses for Terry's girlfriend, Dana Tan. Max plays an integral part in Batman's war on crime, essentially as his Alfred.
Terry also finds one other ally, though a begrudging one: Barbara Gordon, the former Batgirl. Having followed in the footsteps of her father, James Gordon, Barbara is now Police Commissioner of Gotham City. In one episode, Barbara reveals to Terry that she and Bruce had once been romantically involved. However, she is unhappy with the idea of a new Batman, especially a teenager, as she is still haunted by the same event that caused Bruce to go into isolation. However, knowing from personal experience that she cannot deter Terry anymore than she could have been deterred from being Batgirl, she relents, possibly also out of respect for her mentor and former lover, the original Batman. Also, passing conversation between Barbara and Bruce suggested that at the time of Batgirl's retirement, the suit had bullet holes in it that had been repaired.
46. X-Men Evolution (2000): Season one The first season introduced the core characters and laid the foundations for future storylines. Cyclops, Professor X, Wolverine, Storm and Jean Grey made up the original X-Men. As the season developed the ranks of the X-Men were bolstered by the appearance of Nightcrawler in the first episode, Shadowcat in the second, Spyke in the fifth and Rogue (who was part of the Brotherhood at first) in the seventh. In the later episodes of this season, Nightcrawler discovered the identity of his birth mother, Wolverine found answers to his past, Rogue switched sides to join the X-Men, and Xavier's half-brother Juggernaut is released from his prison.
Confrontations were typically with the Brotherhood, who vied for new recruits with the X-Men over the course of the season. Toad was the first to be introduced, followed by Avalanche, Blob and Quicksilver. The Brotherhood, apparently led by Mystique, were in fact being directed by a higher power, the identity of whom was revealed in the two-part season finale as being Magneto. After Cyclops discovered that his brother, Alex, survived the plane crash that killed their parents, they were both taken by Magneto into his "sanctuary" on Asteroid M. Magneto captured several X-Men and Brotherhood members in an attempt to amplify their mutant abilities and remove their emotions. Asteroid M was destroyed by Scott and Alex Summers, but not before two unidentified metal objects flew from the exploding rock.
Season two
The second season saw the addition of several new mutants, including Beast. During the course of the season it was revealed that the villains who supposedly perished on Asteroid M were in fact alive. Sabretooth, meanwhile, continued his pursuit of Wolverine, while Magneto continued to work his own agenda. Mystique posed as Risty Wilde, a high school student at Bayville High who befriends Rogue, and broke into the mansion, stealing Xavier's Cerebro files. Using the files, she recovered Wanda Maximoff, the Scarlet Witch, Magneto's daughter and Quicksilver's sister. The mentally unstable uber-mutant joined the Brotherhood upon Mystique's return, allowing them to defeat the X-Men in a battle at the Bayville mall. Before the finale, a pivotal episode aired featuring the telepath Mesmero opening one of three doors that would unleash a mutant known as Apocalypse.
In the season finale, Xavier rigorously trained his X-Men to face Magneto, pairing them with the Brotherhood. Cyclops, furious with having to work with his former adversaries, left the team. The mansion was later set to self-destruct with Cyclops and several students still inside. Magneto, meanwhile, recruited Sabretooth, Gambit, Pyro, and Colossus as his Acolytes to fight the X-Men/Brotherhood team. At the same time, Wolverine was captured by Bolivar Trask for use as a test subject for the anti-mutant weapon, the Sentinel. The Sentinel was unleashed onto the city, forcing the X-Men to use their powers in public. Wanda tracked down Magneto and attempted to crush him with the Sentinel. When the mutants who hadn't been captured by the Sentinel returned to the remains of the mansion, Cyclops and the students emerged from the explosion unharmed. Scott threw Xavier from his wheelchair and blamed him for blowing up the mansion. Xavier calmly stood up, transforming into Mystique.
Seasons three and four
By season three and four, the show notably begins to take a much more serious tone. After the battle with the Sentinel, the mutant race was no longer a secret. The public reaction was one of hostility. This brings the show into more traditional X-Men lore, with dealing with themes of prejudice, public misconception, and larger threats. As the season progressed, the real Xavier was found, Mystique defeated, the mansion rebuilt, and the X-Men allowed back into Bayville High. Wanda continued to search for Magneto (who was saved by his son, Quicksilver, at the last minute) until Magneto used the telepathic mutant Mastermind to change her childhood memories. Scott and Jean forged a deeper relationship, while the romance between Shadowcat and the Brotherhood member Avalanche ended. Also, Spyke left the X-Men when his power became uncontrollable, deciding to live with the sewer-dwelling deformities, the Morlocks.
As part of the series arc, Rogue loses control of her powers, leading to her hospitalization. During that time, she learned she was the adoptive daughter of Mystique. Mystique, through the visions of the mutant Destiny, foresaw that the fate of Rogue and herself lay in the hands of an ancient mutant that would be resurrected. The return of the long-awaited Apocalypse saga emerged in the season's final episodes. Mesmero manipulated Magneto into opening the second door, and used Mystique and Rogue to open the last, turning Mystique to stone in the process. Now released, Apocalypse easily defeated the combined strength of the X-Men, Magneto, the Acolytes, and the Brotherhood before escaping.
The final (and darker) season contained only nine episodes. In the season premiere, Apocalypse apparently killed Magneto while Rogue murdered Mystique by pushing her petrified figure off a cliff, leaving her distraught son, Nightcrawler, without closure. The Brotherhood became temporary do-gooders, Wolverine's teenage girl clone X-23 returned, Spyke and the Morlocks rose to the surface, Shadowcat discovered a mutant ghost, Rogue was kidnapped by Gambit and taken to Louisiana to help free his father, and Xavier attempted to defeat his evil son. The character Leech was also introduced as a young boy. In the finale, Apocalypse defeated Xavier and Storm, transforming them, along with Magneto and Mystique, as his Four Horsemen. Apocalypse instructed his Horsemen to protect his three domes and his 'base of operations', which would turn the entire world population into mutants. In the final battle, the Horsemen were returned to normal and Apocalypse was sent through time. Rogue and Nightcrawler refused the excuses of their mother, Shadowcat and Avalanche found love once again, Magneto reunited with Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch, as are Storm and her nephew Spyke and Xavier saw his students reunited as the X-Men.
47. Cyberchase (2001): The show stars three Earth children- Matt, Jackie and Inez- and Digit, a cyboid- a bird-like cyborg. The three kids and Digit work to stop the evil deeds of the Hacker and his two cyborg henchmen, Buzz and Delete.
The series takes place in Cyberspace, with planetlike bodies called "Cybersites." Each cybersite is inhabited by "Cyborgs", the virtual inhabitants of Cyberspace. Some are based on real-world places, such as ancient Egypt and the American Old West, or fantasy worlds, such as mythological Greece. The guardian of all Cyberspace is Motherboard; her repairman is Dr. Marbles.
48. Totally Spies (2001): Totally Spies stars three teenaged superspies from Beverly Hills: Sam, Alex and Clover. They secretly fight international crime with special gadgets supplied by their boss, Jerry, who is the founder and leader of the secret World Organization of Human Protection (WOOHP) agency. They must balance their missions with their day-to-day lives, maintaining their secret identities, high school (seasons 1-4), college (season 5), boys and their school rival: a prima donna named Mandy.
Thematically, it is reminiscent of the 1970s TV show Charlie's Angels, with Jerry serving as a kind of amalgamation of "Bosley" and "Charlie." Unlike Charlie, however, Jerry is not afraid to reveal himself to his agents. The spies are usually transported to his office via a secret tunnel, hole etc., which is a phenomenon known amongst the spies as "WOOHPing". In Jerry's office, the spies are briefed on their missions and occasionally are informed on relatively minor personal issues. The show displays a sexual aesthetic look that pays homage to 60s design/fashion, such as "flower power", and as well as the 1980s anime/manga Dirty Pair. For example, the suits and jetpacks used by the Dirty Pair in episode 8 of the original television series resemble the spies catsuits and jetpacks. They also change their clothes, unlike most cartoon characters who have one basic outfit.
49. Fairly Odd Parents (2001): A ten-year-old boy named Timmy Turner was granted fairy godparents after his evil baby sitter and dimwit parents made him miserable. His teacher, Mr. Crocker, in contrast with other adults in the series, firmly believes in fairy godparents and has been searching for them for a very long time. Mr. Crocker is dangerous to Timmy because according to Da Rules (a large rulebook that contains rules of what children can and cannot wish for), if the child reveals that he has fairies, or if someone discovers their fairies, they will lose the fairies forever.
50. Justice League (2001): Animator Bruce Timm, having successfully adapted both Batman and Superman into animated television programs in the 1990s, took on the challenge of faithfully adapting the Justice League comic book. Ignoring the sidekicks, pets and other extraneous elements of the earlier Super Friends show, the line-up of this new JLA adaptation was created with two things in mind: to pay tribute to the original line-up of the Justice League of America while also reflecting racial and cultural diversity. Significantly, the well-known (but much-depreciated) superhero Aquaman was left out of the lineup (although he would be used on the show) in favor of a second female on the team - Hawkgirl - and the African-American Green Lantern John Stewart, who has worked with the League in the comics before, was used rather than either of the better-known modern-era Green Lanterns Hal Jordan and Kyle Rayner, even though Rayner had appeared as Green Lantern in the Superman animated series. (In the second season, Rayner is described as a Lantern in training under Stewart's old mentor, explaining his absence. Both he and Jordan make brief appearances in Justice League Unlimited.)
The show met with significant success, partially due to loyal fans already familiar with these incarnations of the characters, and partially from a new generation of viewers. The two-part nature of most episodes led Cartoon Network to choose to air the episodes back-to-back.
According to audio commentary on the DVD release of Season 2, the second season finale "Starcrossed" was expected to be the final episode of the series. However, in February 2004, Cartoon Network announced a follow-up series, Justice League Unlimited, which premiered on July 31, 2004. Justice League Unlimited features a greatly expanded roster of heroes, usually with only a few appearing in any given episode, although there are a few featuring just about the entire roster fighting against one giant enemy.
51. Hey Arnold The Movie (2002): When a powerful developer named Mr. Scheck wants to knock down all the stores and houses in Arnold's neighborhood to build a huge "mall-plex", it looks likes the neighborhood is doomed to disappear. But with the help of a superhero and a mysterious deep-voiced stranger, Arnold and Gerald will need to recover a crucial document in order to save their beloved neighborhood. When corrupt developer Schek threatens to buy the run-down urban neighborhood where a fourth grader Arnold lives, and now Arnold and his cool-as-ice best pal Gerald are on the biggest mission ever to save their neighborhood as they go up against a powerful industrialist who invades the city and buys everything in sight so he can knock it down and erect a huge "mall-plex." It's up to Arnold and Gerald to save their neighborhood before it's too late and they'll have to move somewhere else. But with the help of of a superhero and a mysterious deep-voiced stranger, Arnold and Gerald will need to recover a crucial document in order to save their beloved neighborhood at all costs.
52. Justice League Unlimited (2004): The series is a continuation of its predecessor, taking up soon after Justice League ended. It is sometimes considered to be the same series as the original; the first season of Justice League Unlimited is referred to by the producers as the third season of Justice League. However, seasons referred to below treat Justice League Unlimited as a separate series, as it was marketed on DVD.
It features a greatly-expanded League, in which the characters from the original series—now referred to as "founding members"—are joined by a large number of other superheroes from the DC Universe; in the first episode, well over 50 characters appear. A number of these were heroes who had made guest appearances in the first two seasons of Justice League, Batman: The Animated Series, and Superman: The Animated Series, but many heroes and other characters made their first animated appearances in this series. The general format of each episode is to have a small ad hoc team assemble to deal with a particular situation, with a focus on both action and character interaction.
Most episodes tell a self-contained story, but the series also features extended story arcs, the first involving the building conflict between the League and a secret government agency known as Project Cadmus. This plot line builds upon events that occurred during the second season of Justice League (which in turn built upon events in Batman: The Animated Series, Superman: The Animated Series, Batman Beyond, Static Shock and The Zeta Project).[1], and has affected the plotlines of most of its episodes. It was resolved in a four-part story at the end of the second season of Justice League Unlimited. The third season story arc focuses on the new Secret Society (which is based on the Legion of Doom) as the main villains, a loose-knit organization formed to combat the increased superhero coordination of the first season.
Towards the end of the series, certain characters became off-limits to the show Characters associated with Batman (aside from Batman himself) were restricted due to the unrelated animated series The Batman. Aquaman and related characters were unavailable due to the development of a pilot for a live-action series featuring the character as a young man (similar to Smallville), which wasn't picked up. Characters from DC's "mature readers" Vertigo imprint were also not allowed. No characters appearing in the Teen Titans animated series appeared in JLU while the Titans series was running, nor vice versa.
DC Comics created an ongoing monthly comic book series based on the TV series, as part of its Johnny DC line of "all ages" comics.
Justice League Unlimited, like the second season of Justice League, is animated in widescreen. The show also features new theme music. The two-part series finale was aired in the UK on February 8 and February 18, 2006 and in the United States on May 6 and May 13, 2006.
53. Scream (1996): The film begins with a phone ringing. Casey Becker (Drew Barrymore) answers it and the man who has called says he has the wrong number. Casey doesn't care and hangs up. After a few seconds, the same man calls back to apologize for dialing the wrong number. He then proceeds to ask what her favorite scary movie is, and he then begins a lengthy conversation that starts getting odd. While Casey is making popcorn, the man says, "What's your name?", and replying to casey's "Why?", he says:"I want to know who I'm looking at." Casey panics when he says "I'll gut you like a fish." After telling her to turn on the patio lights, he tells her to look out on the patio, where her boyfriend Steven Orth (Kevin Patrick Walls) is bound and gagged with duct tape. The man wants to play a question game, and if she gets all the questions right, Steve will live, but when Casey makes a wrong awswer, Steve's guts are ripped out.
The man, however, gives Casey another round, and if she awswers them all right, he will leave her alone. Suddenly, a chair is smashed through the patio doors, and Casey runs out of the house, armed with a kitchen knife. However, she is caught by a cloaked figure in a mask and stabbed in the stomach and chest. When her parents return home, they find her gutted and hanging from a tree. In her dying breaths, Casey took off the killer's mask, and saw his face.
Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) attempts to cope with the anniversary of her mother's brutal rape and murder. The next night, while at home alone, the killer, who calls his/her victims on the phone and taunts them before attacking, invades her house and attempts to kill her. The killer is known as Ghostface, who wears a Halloween costume reminiscent of the painting The Scream by Edvard Munch.
Sidney tries to sort through the trauma of being attacked and, in reaction to circumstantial evidence, points an accusatory finger at her boyfriend Billy Loomis, played by Skeet Ulrich. She decides to stay at the home of her friend Tatum Riley (Rose McGowan) and Tatum's brother Dwight, nicknamed Dewey (David Arquette), the deputy sheriff. While there, she receives a phone call from the killer. Billy is released, as he couldn't have placed the call from jail, however we later discover that it was possible for him to have used his one allowed phone call to ring her from (jail).
Already under considerable stress, Sidney is forced to deal with the scandalization of her own attack by ambitious tabloid television newswoman Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox). Gale is responsible for a tell-all book revealing the promiscuous affair between Sidney's mother and her convicted killer, Cotton Weary (Liev Schreiber). School is soon cancelled as a precautionary measure, leaving the building temporarily abandoned. Despite the closing, the school principal (Henry Winkler) is killed while in school and Sidney encounters her attacker a second time, barely managing to escape. Unaware of their principal's fate, the teenagers plan a party. They are joined by Randy Meeks (Jamie Kennedy), a horror movie buff, and Tatum's boyfriend Stu Macher (Matthew Lillard), who suggested the party. The party quickly becomes a bloodbath as the killer murders Tatum, who dies when she becomes stuck inside an automatic garage door.
In the interim, Gale, sensing the potential for a major scoop, hides a video camera inside the house. She then goes outside and begins searching for anything suspicious, with the help of officer Dewey. Meanwhile, at the party, Billy shows up and is confronted by Sidney; they eventually head upstairs and Sidney loses her virginity to Billy. The partygoers soon receive word of the principal's death, and head to the school football field to find his corpse.
Back at the house, Billy is stabbed by the killer while getting dressed, forcing Sidney to run out of the room to escape the killer. Randy, watching (television), narrowly avoids death when the killer walks up to him only to be interrupted by Sidney's screams. The killer leaves Randy and chases after Sidney instead. Inside Gale's news van, her cameraman Kenny (W. Earl Brown) witnesses the killer's attempts to murder Randy and then lets a running Sidney inside. Kenny steps outside the van to try and warn Randy, but has his throat slashed by the killer.
Dewey leaves the house, and falls down to reveal a knife in his back. Sidney runs back to the house where she is greeted by Randy and Stu, who are presented as the only remaining suspects. When they both accuse each other of being the killer, Sidney doesn't know who to trust, and she slams the door in their faces.
Billy comes falling down the stairs, not dead, but seriously injured. Sidney helps him up and gives him a gun for safety. Suddenly, Billy shoots Randy (non-fatally), and shows the blood on his chest is corn syrup (as used in the production of Carrie). Sidney turns and finds Stu, who unveils the voice-changing box.
Finally, the truth is revealed: The murders were planned and carried out by Billy and Stu, as a means for getting revenge on Sidney's mother; it is revealed that Sidney's mother had an affair with Billy's father and this was the reason for the demise of Billy's parents' marriage. It is also revealed that it was Billy who murdered Sidney's mother and not Cotton Weary, who was convicted of the murder based upon Sidney's testimony; Billy's rage over his parents splitting up because of the affair with Sidney's mother turned him into a murderer. Sidney is saved by Gale, however briefly, (she forgot about the gun's safety) until she is again knocked unconscious. Stu and Billy also reveal they have abducted Sidney's father and it was his cellphone they used to make their ominous phone calls, and that they planned to murder Sidney and her father, then stab each other in non-vital places to make it seem like they were victims of Mr. Prescott's emotional and murderous breakdown while getting away with committing the murders. Things begin to fall apart though; Billy stabs Stu too deeply and he begins to bleed profusely. Sidney then manages to escape while they're dealing with Gale, before she kills Stu in self defense. Billy is shot by Gale but comes back for one more scare. However, Sidney shoots him in the head, finally killing him. Dewey is shown being carried away in a stretcher, alive.
The film ends at daybreak, with Gale making an impromptu report on the events of the previous night as the authorities finally arrive on the crime scene.
54. Scream 2 (1997): The plot is centered on a group of college friends, an ex-cop and a news reporter as they deal with some mysterious killings that take place after the release of the horror movie Stab, which was inspired by the events in the fictional California town of Woodsboro depicted in the original film. Many of the survivors from the first movie return to reprise their original roles in this film.
Sidney (Neve Campbell) and Randy (Jamie Kennedy) attend the fictional Windsor College. They see on the news that a couple (Jada Pinkett Smith and Omar Epps) were murdered in a movie theatre at the preview of Stab, a movie based on a book by Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox) about the Woodsboro murders. They realize that it's starting all over again. Dewey (David Arquette) is hanging around the campus to make sure Sidney's alright. Randy and Dewey talk to each other and explain to each other that anyone could be the killer (known as Ghostface), including themselves.
The killer attempts to kill Sidney, while setting up a copycat ploy. Casey "CiCi" Cooper, a sorority girl (played by Sarah Michelle Gellar), is the next victim. While alone at her sorority house, CiCi gets chased and literally stabbed in the back by the killer before being thrown over the third story balcony. Randy is the next victim when the killer calls and Gale and Dewey search for where the call is coming from when the killer says he can see them. Randy looks around and is outside of Joel's van when he is unexpectedly pulled into the van in broad daylight and stabbed to death after insulting the dead Billy Loomis . Officer Andrews and Officer Richards, the detectives who were assigned to protect Sidney, are also killed. Gale and Dewey are caught up in a game of cat and mouse with the killer, resulting in Dewey being stabbed. After being trapped in a cop car that has crashed and narrowly escaping a "tight" squeeze, Hallie (Elise Neal), Sid's roommate, is killed and Sidney heads for the campus theatre.
While in the school theatre, Sidney witnesses the death of her boyfriend Derek. In the final confrontation, the killers are revealed to be Sidney's new boyfriend's best friend, Mickey (Timothy Olyphant), and Mrs. Loomis (Laurie Metcalf), the mother of Sidney's previous boyfriend, Billy, who was one of the two killers in the first film. Mrs. Loomis wanted to kill Sidney as a revenge of killing her son, yet Sidney pointed out to her that if she didn't abandon Billy in the first place he wouldn't have been on his killing spree with Stu. Mrs. Loomis shoots Mickey, removing her accomplice and a potential threat, stating that his motive was completely absurd and that no one would believe it. (Mickey wanted to blame it on the craze that the film within a film, Stab, had created.)
Before he collapses, Mickey shoots Gale as she is running towards him, causing her to fall off the stage. Sidney is cornered by Mrs. Loomis and tricks her by saying, "Isn't Mickey supposed to be dead?", and when Mrs. Loomis looks, Sidney hits Mrs. Loomis in the face with a prop jar. Sidney then causes the stage to collapse on Mrs. Loomis. Mrs. Loomis survives and gets Sidney in an armlock, and Cotton (played by Liev Schreiber, the man framed for killing Sid's mother) shows up, and picks up Mickey's gun.
Mrs. Loomis tries to convince Cotton to kill Sidney, but Cotton shoots Mrs. Loomis instead. Gale is alive, as the bullet had bounced off one of her ribs. Then Mickey suddenly jumps up and Gale and Sidney shoot him multiple times. Then, Sidney turns around and shoots Mrs. Loomis in the head, killing her outright, "Just in case". It is then revealed that Dewey was alive after, quite literally, being stabbed in the back (while a horrified Gale watched while in a sound studio, unable to hear him cry for help because of soundproof glass). Gale is overjoyed that he was found alive, and the movie ends with Sidney looking up into the sky and walking away from the scene of the carnage.
55. Scream 3 (2000): Having experienced the trauma of the first two pictures, Campbell's Sidney Prescott character now lives in a secluded area of California where she works as a women's crisis counselor from her home. Her home has a security gate around it and she is now practicly an agoraphobe only leaving her house to walk her pet Golden Retriever (Which she most likely has to act as a guard dog.). Her whereabouts are unknown even to her surviving friends (save for Dewey, played by Arquette, and her father.). Gale Weathers (Cox) has become a largely successful news reporter (of a sensationalist style), thanks to the books she wrote revolving around the murders of the first two films (and subsequent films based on the books).
The film begins when Cotton Weary (Liev Schreiber), the man long-ago suspected of killing Sidney's mother, is slaughtered (along with his girlfriend). Suspected of being related to the original killings, Los Angeles police detectives (led by Mark Kincaid, played by Patrick Dempsey) inform Gale Weathers of Weary's murder, asking if she may know anything about a picture found at the murder scene. When she identifies it as a picture of Maureen Prescott, Sidney's mother, it becomes apparent the killings are linked to her murder.
Soon, these actors are systematically killed off in the same order as they are slated to be murdered in the Stab 3 script. Sidney is brought in to help unravel who is behind these killings, but she is barely holding onto her own sanity because of the trauma of past events.
It turns out that Roman (who had faked his own murder) is the killer known as Ghostface, the connection being that he is the son of Sidney's mother (her half-brother). He was born as the result of Sidney's mother being raped during her stint as a B-list movie actress in Hollywood. Gale and her movie counterpart discovered Sid's mother's acting career, which brought forth somewhat of a short-lived friendship, as fake Gale was killed towards the end. Roman tells Sidney that her mother left her father and cheated on him with Hank Loomis, causing Mrs. Loomis to leave her husband. So Roman told Billy Loomis why his mother had left his father, and told him to kill Maureen. Roman also told Billy to have an accomplice that was weak and easily willing to help him out, which turned out to be Stu Macher. Eventually, when Sidney confronts Roman, she "kills" him by shooting him with a gun she sneaked in, but he was wearing a bullet-proof vest. He manages to shoot her in the heart, but she was also wearing a bullet-proof vest (one from the police station), and kills him. As usual, Roman, being the main villain, wasn't really dead and Dewey kills him for real after being told (by Sidney, the only one who knew of Roman's bulletproof vest) to shoot Roman in the head.
56. The Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring (2001): The prologue, spoken by Galadriel, shows the Dark Lord Sauron (Sala Baker) forging the One Ring in order to conquer the lands of Middle-earth. A Last Alliance of Elves and Men is formed to counter Sauron's forces at the foot of Mount Doom, but Sauron kills Elendil, the High King of Men. His son, Prince Isildur grabs Elendil's broken sword Narsil, and slashes at Sauron's hand, separating him from the Ring and vanquishing his army. However, because Sauron's "life force" is bound to the Ring, he is not completely defeated until the Ring itself is destroyed. Isildur takes the Ring and succumbs to its temptation, refusing to destroy it. He is later ambushed and killed by orcs, and the Ring is lost in a river. The Ring is found by the creature Gollum thousands of years later, who takes it underground for five centuries, giving him "unnaturally long life." Since the Ring is bound to Sauron, it has a will of its own and wants to be found. Therefore, the Ring consciously leaves Gollum in its quest to be reunited with Sauron. However, it is instead found by the hobbit Bilbo Baggins, much to the despair of Gollum. Bilbo returns to his home in the Shire with the Ring, and the story jumps forward in time sixty years.
At his 111th ("eleventy-first") birthday, Bilbo leaves the Ring to his nephew and adopted heir Frodo Baggins. The Wizard Gandalf soon learns it is the One Ring, and that Sauron seeks to retake it. Taking no chances, Gandalf tells Frodo to leave the Shire with the Ring and sends him to Bree with Sam, with plans to meet him there after Gandalf goes to Isengard to meet the head of his order, Saruman. Saruman reveals that the Nazgûl, or Ringwraiths, have left Mordor to capture the Ring and kill whoever carries it; having already turned to Sauron's cause, he then imprisons Gandalf atop Orthanc. Gandalf is then forced to watch as Saruman orders his orcs to build weapons of war and create an elite Orc army called the Uruk-hai.
While traveling to Bree, Frodo and Sam are soon joined by fellow hobbits Merry and Pippin. After encountering a Ringwraith on the road, they manage to reach Bree, and there they meet a Man called Strider, who agrees to lead them to Rivendell. They agree only because Strider already knows about the Nazgûl and that Gandalf isn't there to guide them. After some travelling, they spend the night on the hill of Weathertop, where they are attacked by the Nazgûl at night. Strider fights off the Ringwraiths, but Frodo is grievously wounded with a morgul blade, and they must quickly get him to Rivendell for healing. While chased by the Nazgûl, Frodo is taken by the elf Arwen to the Elven haven of Rivendell, and healed by her father, Elrond.
In Rivendell Frodo meets Gandalf, who explains why he didn't meet them at Bree as planned (he had escaped Orthanc with the help of an eagle). In the meantime, there are many meetings between various peoples, and Elrond calls a council to decide what should be done with the Ring. The Ring can only be destroyed by throwing it into the fires (that is, lava) of Mount Doom, where it was forged. Mount Doom is located in Mordor, near Sauron's fortress of Barad-dûr, and will be an incredibly dangerous journey. Frodo volunteers to take the Ring to Mount Doom as all the others argue about who should or shouldn't take it. He is accompanied by his hobbit friends and Gandalf, as well as Strider, who is revealed to be Aragorn, the rightful heir to the throne of Gondor. Also travelling with them are the Elf Legolas, the Dwarf Gimli and Boromir, the son of the Steward of Gondor. Together they comprise the Fellowship of the Ring. The Fellowship set out and try to pass the mountain Caradhras, but they are stopped by Saruman's wizardry. At Gimli's insistence, they decide to seek safety and travel under the mountain through the Mines of Moria. They discover that an attempt by Gimli's cousin Balin to colonize it has failed. They are attacked by Orcs and a Troll, and encounter a Balrog, an ancient demon of fire and shadow, at the Bridge of Khazad-dûm. Gandalf confronts the Balrog on the bridge, allowing the others to escape the subterranean realm, while he falls with the creature into the abyss below.
The group flees to the Elven realm of Lothlórien, where they are sheltered by its rulers, Galadriel and her husband Celeborn. While resting, Boromir tells Aragorn about the troubles afflicting the land of Gondor and the people's desire to see a strong King rescue it from destruction. Frodo meets Galadriel, who tells him that it's his destiny to handle the Ring and ultimately destroy it. Before they leave, Galadriel gives Frodo the Phial of Galadriel, and the other members also receive gifts from them. Taking the straight path to Mordor, they travel on the River Anduin towards Parth Galen. After landing at Parth Galen, Boromir tries to take the Ring from Frodo, believing that it is the only way to save his realm. Frodo manages to escape by putting the Ring on his finger and vanishing. Aragorn encounters Frodo, but unlike Boromir, Aragorn chooses not to take the Ring. Knowing that the Ring's temptation will be too strong for the Fellowship, Frodo decides to leave them and go to Mordor alone. Meanwhile, the rest of the Fellowship are attacked by Uruk-hai, who Saruman had ordered to hunt down the Fellowship and take back the Ring. Merry and Pippin, realizing that Frodo is leaving, distract the orcs allowing Frodo to escape. Boromir rushes to the aid of the two hobbits but is mortally wounded by the orc commander Lurtz, and Merry and Pippin are captured. Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli (John Rhys-Davies) find Boromir, who regrets attempting to steal the Ring and dies. They begin their pursuit of the orcs and to rescue the hobbits, leaving Frodo to his fate. Sam joins Frodo before he leaves, and together the two head to Mordor.
57. The Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers (2002): The film begins with a flashback set to the first film, with Gandalf battling the Balrog on the Bridge of Khazad-dûm as both continuously to hurtle down below. Frodo awakens from his dream and continues his journey with his trusted and loyal friend, Sam. They are then attacked by the ring-possessed Gollum wishing to retrieve "his precious" from the ones he thinks stole it from him. The Hobbits subdue and bind him with Sam's Elven rope given to him by the Elven elder Galadriel in Lórien. Sam distrusts Gollum and wishes to abandon him, but Frodo understands the burden of the creature and takes pity on him. Realizing they are lost in the Emyn Muil and in need of a guide, Frodo persuades Gollum to lead them to the Black Gate of Mordor.
In Rohan, the pack of Uruk-hai run across the Middle-Earth landscape with their captives Merry and Pippin. Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli are in pursuit, following three days of running, Legolas surmises the Hobbits are being taken to Isengard. In the kingdom of Rohan, home of the horse lords, King Théoden is mentally and physically weak due to the enchantments of his steward, Gríma Wormtongue, who is secretly in the service of Saruman. Orcs freely roam the land and kill the people including the king's only son Théodred. Théoden's nephew Éomer interrogates Gríma, angrily realizing he has lustful eyes for Éomer's sister Éowyn and that he is now an agent of Saruman. Gríma banishes Éomer for undermining his authority and Éomer sets forth to gather the remaining loyal men of the Rohirrim throughout the land.
Frodo and Sam traverse the Dead Marshes, hiding from a newly seated Ringwraith on his flying Fell beast. Later they reach the Black Gate, only to have Gollum reveal to them a less risky path. Meanwhile, Éomer and his Rohirrim ambush and kill all of the Orcs and Uruk-hai at nightfall. During the battle, Merry and Pippin narrowly escape their captors by fleeing into the trees where they are aided by Treebeard the oldest of the Ents. Éomer later encounters Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli and in turn tells Aragorn there were no surviors of the Orc/Uruk-hai slaughter. Upon arriving at the battle site, Aragorn uses his tracking skills and find hobbit tracks that lead into nearby Fangorn forest. The three discover a wizard who is ultimately Gandalf reborn, now known as Gandalf the White. The quartet proceed to travel to Edoras, where they exorcise Saruman's hold on King Théoden and banish Wormtongue. Théoden is confronted with his dead son and rather risk open war, decides to flee to a large fortification which in times of trouble has saved the people of Rohan called Helm's Deep. Gandalf leaves to find Éomer and his Rohirrim, as a strong attraction draws Éowyn to Aragorn during the journey to Helm's Deep.
In Ithilien, Gollum battles his split personality in an attempt to befriend Frodo and Sam and ultimately banishes his "evil" half. The two hobbits are witness to an ambush of Easterners but are taken captive by soldiers of Gondor. Meanwhile, along the journey to Helm's Deep, the travelers are attacked by Saruman's Wargs. During the battle, Aragorn is dragged by a Warg and falls off a cliff into a raging river as the grief-stricken survivors reluctantly move on to Helm's Deep. In Rivendell, Elrond knows that the age of Elves is ending and convinces Arwen that it is hopeless to stay and should leave for the Grey Havens. Elsewhere, Frodo and Sam are taken to Henneth Annûn and brought before Faramir, the younger brother of Boromir. Gollum eluded capture and in order to save his life, is lured into a trap by Frodo. Faramir learns of the One Ring and to prove his worth to his father, decides the Ring shall go to Gondor. In Rohan, Aragorn washes up on the river's edge and is nudged back to consciousness by his horse, Brego. Battered but undaunted, he rides to Helm's Deep passing Saruman's army of Uruk-hai; at least 10,000 strong. His arrival is met with relief but is short lived with the news of only 300 men in the stronghold. In the midst of despair, a battalion of Elves from Lórien, lead by the elf Haldir, arrives to assist in the ensuing battle. At Fangorn forest, Merry, Pippin, Treebeard and other Ents hold a Council to decide on the roles of the Ents in the war with Sauron.
In the pouring rain, the battle of Helm's Deep begins with a flurry of Elven arrows piercing sky and Uruk-hai. The defenses are slowly being breached and the enemy manages to destroy the wall through its sewer drain. Despite Aragorn and Gimli's best efforts, the Uruk-hai manage to penetrate the main door and soon the stonghold is overrun. In the midst of battle, Haldir is slain and the few remaining men fall back into the Keep. In Fangorn, Treebeard and the other Ents have decided to not have any involvement in the war. Frustrated, Pippin cleverly takes him to the section of Fangorn Forest Saruman has decimated near Isengard. Treebeard is filled with rage at Saruman's betrayal and commands all other Ents to seek vengeance. Meanwhile, as the Keep is now under attack and realizing Gandalf's words before he departed, Aragorn and the rest make one last gallant ride on horseback to attack the army. As all hope seemed lost, Gandalf, Éomer, and two thousand Riders of the Rohirrim arrive to push back the Uruk-hai into the angry Fangorn Forest where death and revenge awaited them. Elsewhere, the Ents attack Isengard, tossing stone and rock while collapsing a dam to flood its surroundings. At Osgiliath, Faramir and the Hobbits are confronted by a Ringwraith and its fellbeast. With the help of Sam, Frodo narrowly escapes the beast's capture. Sam narrates how the story must go on and how they should keep pressing forward as Faramir decides to free them to finish their quest. Gandalf and the others now know a full war is inevitable and hope rests with Frodo and Sam. Accompanying them once again and having felt betrayed after his subsequent mistreatment by Faramir's men, Gollum's darker nature returns and decides to reclaim the ring by leading Frodo and Sam to "her."
58. The Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King (2003): The film begins with a flashback of Sméagol acquiring the One Ring, by murdering his friend Déagol and his slow evolution into 'Gollum', taking Frodo and Sam to Minas Morgul. Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli, Gandalf, Théoden and Éomer travel to Isengard where they are reunited with Merry and Pippin who tell them Treebeard and the Ents' are now in control. Pippin finds a palantír and reluctantly gives it to Gandalf at his behest. Back at Edoras, the kingdom honour the victorious dead as Éowyn falls in love with Aragorn. Later against Merry's warnings, Pippin's satisfies his curiosity and gazes deeply into the palantír. The sorcery of Sauron causes Pippin intense pain as he foresees a brief glimpse of the enemy's impending plan to attack the city of Minas Tirith. So that he may not cause any more mischief, Pippin accompanies Gandalf as the two set out to alert and prepare the White City of Gondor. On her way to the ships that lead to the Grey Havens, Arwen has a vision of Aragorn and her future son. She quickly returns to Rivendell and tells her father that she has forsaken the gift of immortality to be with Aragorn and to reforge the shards of Narsil so that Aragorn may reclaim his birthright. Elrond realizes that Arwen's fate now rests with the outcome of the war.
Elsewhere, Gandalf and Pippin arrive at Minas Tirith to find the steward Denethor mourning over his dead son Boromir. Grief and guilt stricken, Pippin foolishly offers his life in exchange and swears loyalty to him. To defend the city, Gandalf advises Denethor (who scoffs at the idea) to call Théoden for aid by lighting the beacons and renew the alliance of Gondor and Rohan. Meanwhile, Frodo, Sam, and Gollum take a small path of winding stairs narrowly avoiding the immense army of Orcs that are dispatched out of Minas Morgul by the most powerful of the nine Ringwraiths, the Witch-king. In Osgiliath, the Morgul army ambush the Gondorians by boat as they overrun and take the city. Faramir and his men are forced to flee to Minas Tirith as the Nazgûl attack, but are driven away with help of Gandalf. Denethor, bitter over Boromir's death and Faramir's perceived failure, commands his last son to retake Osgiliath. To prove his worth to his father, Faramir reluctantly obeys and sets out on his hopeless mission full aware that he may not return. Near Minas Morgul, the burden of the ring slowly drains Frodo as Gollum poisons his mind to believe that Sam desires the Ring. Framed by Gollum, a reluctant Sam is urged to return home by a paranoid Frodo. Realizing Denethor will remain idle, Gandalf secretly allows Pippin to light the first of the beacons that will signal Edoras. Aragorn subtly convinces Théoden to respond as Rohan rides to Dunharrow to gather The Rohirrim and prepare for war. Elrond later arrives in Dunharrow to present Aragorn the newly reforged sword Andúril — Flame of the West. Elrond convinces Aragorn to accept his kingship and take the path to the Dimholt to summon aid. Reluctantly forced to leave and convincing Éowyn to love another, Aragorn leaves with Legolas and Gimli to brave the Paths of the Dead and command the cursed Army of Dead to fulfil their vow to the king of Gondor. Théoden departs Dunharrow and rides off to war with six thousand riders, unaware that Éowyn and Merry are secretly amongst the army.
In Minas Tirith, a sole-surviving and unconscious, arrow-impaled Faramir returns being dragged by horse. The Morgul forces begin the siege of the White City, while the Witch-king and the other Ringwraiths on their Fell Beasts attack from above. The army of Orcs use an enormous battering ram Grond to break into the city. Elsewhere, Gollum convinces Frodo to enter a dark cave and abandons him to the large spider Shelob. Losing Sting and the Phial of Galadriel, Frodo manages to escape and is later attacked by Gollum who is thrown over a cliff to his perceived doom. In regret, Frodo attempts to continue his task alone but is ambushed by Shelob and prepared to be devoured by the giant spider. Sam returns with the Phial of Galadriel and Sting in hand to fend the spider away. Hearing nearby Orcs from the Tower of Cirith Ungol and believing Frodo to be dead, he takes the Ring and hides but is surprised to overhear that Frodo still lives. Back at Minas Tirith, a remorseful Denethor believing Faramir to be dead, goes mad and prepares a funeral pyre for himself and his unconscious son. Gandalf and Pippin arrive just as the pyre flames are lit and manage to save Faramir, however Denethor plunges to his burning death. Théoden and Rohan arrive and bravely charge into the Morgul army cutting down Orc after Orc. Despite this slight victory, the forces of Harad and their the immense Mûmakil appear as reinforcements against the Riders of Rohan. Unbeknownst, Aragorn with the help of the Army of the Dead, suddenly appears with the captured ships of the Corsairs of Umbar to a startled Orc army and proceeds to annihilate the enemy. Théoden is attacked the Witch-king and mortally wounded as Éowyn stands over him to protect. Based upon being a woman and with the help of Merry, Éowyn slays the Witch-king. Éowyn grieves as Théoden dies. Aragorn, much to the dismay of Gimli, releases the Dead Army's curse and holds their oaths fulfilled.
In Cirith Ungol, Frodo awakens to find an Orc and Urak-hai fighting over Frodo's shirt of mithril. As the fight turns into civil war, Sam capitalizes on the empty fortress and rescues Frodo, but not before dispatching three guards on his own. Sam reveals the Ring from his pocket and returns it to Frodo as they begin the long trek across Mordor to Mount Doom. Back at Minas Tirith, Gandalf realizes ten thousand Orcs stand between Frodo and Sam and Mount Doom. Aragorn plans to draw the enemy away from Frodo, towards him and sets out leading the remaining soldiers to the Black Gate. The weakened Hobbits collapse and by sheer strength of will, Sam carries Frodo upon his shoulders up to Mount Doom. Gollum now reveals himself and attacks the two just as the Men of the West furiously battle the Orcs. While Sam preoccupies Gollum, Frodo escapes to Crack of Doom. Later inside, Sam urges Frodo to cast the ring into the fire, but Frodo succumbs to its power and places it on his finger, disappearing from sight. Gollum uses a stone to render Sam unconscious and seizes Frodo's finger, biting it off. A joyful Gollum reunites with "his precious" and Frodo attempts to wrestle the Ring away as both fall over the edge. Falling into the lava fire, Gollum smiles as he clutches the One Ring, while Frodo hangs onto the edge of the cliff. Sam rescues Frodo as the Ring finally sinks into the lava and is destroyed. The Barad-dûr collapses and the Orcs are killed in the ensuing shockwave of earthquakes. Frodo and Sam manage to escape, but strand themselves in the lava flow, on an island of rock. Feeling despair, Sam recalls his life and what could have been. Gandalf arrives with the Eagles and saves them. Frodo later awakens in Minas Tirith to the sight of a smiling Gandalf and a happy group of friends.
Aragorn is later crowned King Elessar of Gondor, heralding a new age of peace and is surprised to be reunited with Arwen. Éowyn and Faramir have now fallen in love as Éomer is now Théoden's successor as king of Rohan. The new King and his kingdom all kneel before the four hobbits in honour of their bravery to Middle-earth. Unbeknownst to the town-folk, the quartet return to the Shire as heroes and things resume back to as they were. Sam finds the courage to speak with the lovely barmaid Rosie Cotton and ultimately Sam marries her. Frodo, having finished writing the story of the Lord of the Rings and still exhausted from his quest as the Ring-bearer, secretly decides to leave Middle-earth for the Grey Havens with Gandalf, Bilbo, Elrond, and Galadriel. Upon realizing this, a heartfelt goodbye is shared between the four hobbits as Frodo departs into the sunset. Sam returns and realizes Frodo leaves his account of the story to Sam, who peacefully continues his family life.
59. Scooby Doo The Movie (2002): n 2000, after solving the case of the Luna Ghost, the crime-solving team known as Mystery, Inc., consisting of Scooby-Doo (voiced by Neil Fanning), Shaggy (Matthew Lillard), Fred (Freddie Prinze, Jr.), Velma (Linda Cardellini), and Daphne (Sarah Michelle Gellar), splits up following a major argument, leaving Scooby and Shaggy to continue as Mystery Inc. and to take care of the Mystery Machine.
Now it's 2002, the gang are reunited (against their wishes) as each is individually invited to Spooky Island, a "frightfully" popular theme park owned by Emile Mondavarious (Rowan Atkinson). Once on the island, Mondavarious tells the gang that students are mysteriously becoming mindless zombies and only utter pop phrases. Of course, Fred, Velma and Daphne do not agree to team up and so they go in different directions.
Shaggy soon falls for a girl named Mary Jane (Isla Fisher), while Velma discovers of a group of so-called demons that inhabit the island and seek revenge. A man named N'Goo Tuana and a masked wrestler try to spook Velma, but she ignores them. Daphne finds a man trying to protect himself through voodoo (Miguel A. Nunez Jr.) who tells her not to go the Spooky Island castle but she goes anyway. Scooby gets attacked by a demon, but escapes him. The gang investigates the castle and Fred and Velma discover an odd kind of "training" video as if there were real monsters living on the island. Scooby and Shaggy amuse themselves with a burping and flatulence competition. Daphne discovers an odd item called the Daemon Ritus—a magical artifact that absorbs energy, particularly souls. The bad guys nearly track them down, but the gang escape (disguised as costumed statues of the ride) to their hotel.
The demons attack and kidnap a bunch of tourists including Fred and Velma. The following morning, everything seems to be normal, until Fred appears to be a zombie. Daphne is captured and becomes a zombie as well. Shaggy, Scooby and Mary Jane flee from the chasing zombies, but Scooby discovers that Mary Jane is a monster in disguise. After about of backtalk (and something about cats) and fight, Scooby unfortunately falls down a hole and Shaggy follows. He discovers a pool full of protoplasmic heads. He rescues Fred, Velma and Daphne from the pool and then spies the Daemon Ritus. Velma is the first to return to her body and then discovers that the demons were inside their bodies and died when they were exposed to sunlight. Velma also discovers that Fred and Daphne are in each other's bodies.
The gang is reunited, except for Scooby, and they randomly switch bodies until they return to their own. They then encounter the voodoo man who explains that the demons will rule the world for 10,000 years if they get their hands on the Daemon Ritus and complete their ritual (the "Darkopolypse Ritual", as said by the voodoo man). But they also need a purely good soul as well: Scooby-Doo.
The gang set up a trap to save the world and destroy the demons but it messes up and Fred and Velma discover that Mondavarious is the main villain. Shaggy knocks Mondavarious out and rescues Scooby. Velma and Fred find that Mondavarious is a robot and the one manipulating him is Scooby's nephew, Scrappy-Doo, who is the 'real' main villain, wanting revenge on Mystery, Inc., for abandoning him in 1988.
The Daemon Ritus sticks to Scrappy's chest, morphing him into a giant monster named Scrappy Rex and he chases Scooby and Shaggy about while the Scooby-Doo, Where are You song is played. Fred and Velma flee from minions while Daphne fights the wrestler on top of the island. She kicks him down the vent, releasing light that destroys all of the demons and releasing the rest of the tourists' souls back to their bodies. Unfortunately, Scrappy Rex is immune to the light and traps Fred and Velma while holding Scooby until Shaggy tells him that he's a very bad puppy and uses a machine (which was used in the ritual) to take the Daemon Ritus off of him, transforming him back to a puppy. Scrappy tries to fight back in his normal form using his usual line of he can take anyone, but Scooby just rolls his eyes annoyed and punches him into a wall with a flick of his paw knocking him out. Shaggy finds the real Mondavarious locked in a hole and the police arrest Scrappy and his minions. But before the gang can even relax, the news of another case arrives.
During the credits, Scooby and Shaggy get their free all-you-can-eat meal, and Scooby desperately tries to find a way to stop overheating after eating a jar of chili peppers. Shaggy helps by pouring ketchup on his tongue. then Shaggy grabs two jars of chili peppers. On a count of three, they ate the peppers and the next scene shows the restaurant's exterior and steam coming out of the voodoo mask's eyes.
60. Scooby Doo 2 Monsters Unleashed (2004): t's 2004 and Mystery, Inc. - Freddie, Daphne, Velma, Shaggy, and Scooby-Doo - are attending the grand opening of the Coolsonian Criminology Museum in Coolsville, the evening's premiere exhibition is the costumes of the many monsters Mystery Inc. has faced over the years. Velma has a crush on the museum's curator Patrick Wisely (Seth Green), while news reporter Heather Jasper-Howe (Alicia Silverstone) seems to berate Fred and Daphne's relationship. However, the night turns into a crimescene when an Evil Masked Figure (Scott McNeil) attacks the museum with the Pterodactyl Ghost and steals monster costumes.Jasper-Howe insults Mystery Inc's methods through edited video footage on the news. Shaggy and Scooby feel responsible for the problems in the gang and try to be better detectives by dressing in appropriate attire styles and acting smarter, with little results. The gang believe that an old foe is behind the theft, like Jonathan Jacobo (Tim Blake Nelson) and Old Man Wickles (Peter Boyle). Wickles becomes the primary suspect, since Jacobo apparently died during a prison escape.
The gang go to Wickles' mansion where they find an old Celtic book describing how to create carbon-based organic composite predators, or as Velma puts, an instruction manual on how to create monsters. Shaggy and Scooby look for clues, discovering a sticky note inviting Wickles to the Faux Ghost, a nightclub. The Black Knight Ghost, Wickles' alter ego, shows up and fights Daphne. The gang escapes back to their home. Shaggy and Scooby sneak off to the Faux Ghost where they get caught in the antics of all the criminals who impersonated the monsters. Fred, Daphne and Velma discover that the main ingredient to produce monsters is a substance called Randomonium, which emits a glowing green color when used. Patrick shows up at the house, and Velma dresses up in a tight orange catsuit to try and impress him because she thinks she isn't "hot". The gang go to the museum where they learn that all the other costumes have been stolen. Shaggy and Scooby stalk Wickles to the old mining town where they find a secret laboratory and also a large dark room called the Monster Hive, where an advanced machine that creates monsters from the costumes. Fred, Velma and Daphne join them around this time. However, Shaggy and Scooby press a control panel (That they think is a device for making beats, which makes them rap and continue pressing buttons) which makes the machine and bring more monsters to life: The Skeleton Men, Miner Forty-niner, Captain Cutler, the Zombie and the Tar Monster. The 10,000 Volt Ghost also appears, previously transformed. Mystery Inc. flees with the control panel while the monsters invade Coolsville.
The gang flee to an old clubhouse in a swamp where they realise they can reverse the panel's programming to destroy the monsters. Shaggy and Scooby lament their stupidity outside wishing they could be heroes. Captain Cutler appears out of the swamp but is sent flying back in when Fred reverses Mystery Machine into him. The gang evades the monsters on the way to the Monster Hive, Scooby driving the Mystery Machine. Arriving at the Monster Hive, Fred gets into a jousting match against the Black Knight Ghost using a motorcycle, while Daphne tries to fight the 10,000 Volt Ghost. The two team up, defeating both ghosts by absorbing the 10,000 Volt Ghost's electricity into the Black Knight Ghost like a conductor. Velma gives Shaggy and Scooby confidence to be heroes, before she finds Patrick who has a shrine to Jonathan Jacobo. He saves her from the pterodactyl but is flown away by it. Shaggy and Scooby meet the Cotton Candy Glob but instead of running, they stand their ground and eat him. The gang reunite and proceed into the Monster Hive itself only to walk right into a trap, each captured by the Tar Monster. Scooby grabs a fire extinguisher and freezes the Tar Monster, beating his way through the monsters to the machine where he places the control panel. The monsters all die and return to their costume forms. The Evil Masked Figure is arrested and unmasked before public and press as Heather Jasper-Howe, who is actually Jonathan Jacobo in disguise. The gang reveal Jacobo survived the prison escape, used the Howe persona to turn the city against them, and framed Wickles as the culprit, all as an act of vengeance. Ned, Howe's cameraman is also arrested for briefly impersonating the Evil Masked Figure. Fred even tries to see if Ned is wearing a mask and pulls his skin. Velma and Patrick become a couple, while some of the old enemies of the gang become their friends including Wickles. The gang dance in the Faux Ghost along with Ruben Studdard to Shining Star.
61. Man On Wire (2008): On August 7, 1974, Philippe Petit, a French wire walker, juggler, and street performer days shy of his 25th birthday, spent 45 minutes walking, dancing, kneeling, and lying on a wire he and friends strung between the rooftops of the Twin Towers. Uses contemporary interviews, archival footage, and recreations to tell the story of his previous walks between towers of Notre Dame and of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, his passions and friendships, and the details of the night before the walk: getting cable into the towers, hiding from guards, and mounting the wire. It ends with observations of the profound changes the walk's success brought to Philippe and those closest to him
By Richard Moody, Tanya Ross & Greg Ross
CHAPTER 6
1. Blinky Bill (1992) Australian DVD: The series is based on the books, but brings the language and relationships up to date, and introduces new characters.
The main character, Blinky Bill, is known for his mischievousness and his love for his mother. His friends include his adopted sister Nutsy, his kangaroo friend Splodge, his Platypus friend Flap, Marcia his Marsupial friend, and his mentor Mr. Wombat or Wombo, as Blinky prefers to call him. In general throughout the stories he does things that are realistic for koalas as well as things that child readers would like to do.
One of Blinky's favorite words is "extraordinary" and he ends most episodes with his catchphrase.
In the first series, Blinky and the others have to save Green Patch Hill from the woodchip mill.
In the second series, Blinky has adventures in Green Patch Hill. Halfway through the series, the school has an excursion. During the excursion, Blinky, Nutsy, Flap, Marcia and Splodge decide to venture while the rest of the class were taking a nap. Blinky originally wanted to scare Miss Magpie and the other kids with a spooky voice, but suddenly, he and his friends fell down from a cave and couldn't get back to them. This then left Blinky and his friends have adventures away from Green Patch Hill, while the townspeople from Green Patch Hill try to find Blinky and his friends. In the end, Blinky and his friends come back home safely.
Another series called Blinky Bill round the world adventures. Blinky, Nutsy and Flap go on a balloon with other animal companions from a circus on a round the world trip. While trying to get all their companions back to their home towns, two people from the circus try to catch them and get them back to their circus
2. Blinky Bill Episodes 1-4 (1993) Australian DVD: On Volume 1 episodes are called “Blinky Bill’s Favorite Café, Blinky Bill’s Fire Brigade, Blinky Rescues The Budgie & Blinky Bill’s Fund Run.
3. Blinky Bill Episodes 5-9 (1993) Australian DVD: On Volume 2 episodes are called “Blinky Bill The Teacher, Blinky and the Red Car, Blinky Breaks The Drought, Blinky Saves Granny’s Glasses & Blinky Bill’s Ghost Cave.
4. Blinky Bill Episodes 10-13 (1993) Australian DVD: On Volume 3 episodes are called “Blinky Bill’s Zoo, Blinky and the Magician, Blinky Bill the Detective & Blinky and the Heart Of The Tree.”
5. Blinky Bill Episodes 14-18 (1993) Australian DVD: On Volume 4 episodes are called “Blinky and the Strange Koala, Blinky Bill’s Gold Mine, Blinky and the Film Star, Blinky Bill’s Treasure Hunt & Blinky Bill and Club Pet.”
6. Blinky Bill Episodes 19-22 (1993) Australian DVD: On Volume 5 episodes are called “Blinky Leads the Gang, Blinky Bill Finds Marcia House, Blinky and the Monster & Blinky Saves Twiggy.”
7. Blinky Bill Episodes 23-26 (1993) Australian DVD: On Volume 6 episodes are called “Blinky Bill the Mayor, Who Is Blinky Bill? Blinky Bill’s Mother’s Day & Blinky Bill’s Wedding Picnic.”
8. Austin Powers: International Man Of Mystery (1997): The year is 1967. Dentally challenged British gentleman spy Austin Powers and his nemesis Dr. Evil have faced each other many times during the decade. As Dr. Evil's henchmen have failed to dispose of Austin, he makes his own assassination attempt at a nightclub in London, England. Austin foils the attempt and Dr. Evil escapes in a space rocket disguised as a Bob's Big Boy statue, where he places himself in a cryogenic freezing chamber to return sometime in the future. In return, Austin volunteers to have himself placed in cryostasis in case his services are needed in the future.
Dr. Evil returns thirty years later in 1997 with new evil plans for world domination and reunites with his associates, Number Two and Frau Farbissina. During Dr. Evil’s absence, Number Two has developed "Virtucon", the legitimate face of Dr. Evil's empire, into a multi-billion-dollar enterprise, but Dr. Evil prefers to either (a) blackmail the British Royal Family, the wealthiest landowners in the world, by fabricating an extramarital affair involving Prince Charles which would lead to divorce or (b) use several industrial lasers to punch holes in the ozone layer and cause an increase in risks of skin cancer. Yet they are both rejected by Number Two as already having occurred. Frustrated, he decides to "do what [they] always do: hijack some nuclear weapons and hold the world hostage." It is only after Dr. Evil suggests a ransom of $1 million that he learns of Virtucon's revenues, and raises the demand to $100 billion.
Having learned of the return of Dr. Evil, the British Ministry of Defence unfreezes Powers. To help him adjust to the 1990s, he is teamed with Vanessa Kensington, the daughter of his 1960s sidekick Mrs. Kensington. After being reunited with his previous belongings, which include a "Swedish-made penis-enlarger pump", a reciet for a "Swedish-made penis-enlarger pump" and a book written by Austin entitled "I Own a Swedish-Made Penis-Enlarger Pump", Austin and Vanessa jet to Las Vegas in search of Dr. Evil. However, Austin's free love credo from the 1960s does not go down well with Vanessa, who continues to resist his advances.
Meanwhile, Dr. Evil learns that during his absence his associates have artificially created his son, Scott, using his frozen semen. Now a Generation Y teenager, Scott resents his father's absence, and they attend a "fathers and sons" group therapy session.
Posing as a married couple, Austin and Vanessa check into a hotel and are put on the trail of Number Two. They use the alias' of Richie and Oprah Cunningham. During their time in Las Vegas, Vanessa gradually warms to Austin's charms, but he refuses to take advantage of her while she is intoxicated. Over a game of blackjack, Austin meets Number Two's buxom "Italian confidential private secretary," Alotta Fagina. Under instructions from the British Secret Service, Austin breaks into Alotta's penthouse apartment in search of plans for Dr. Evil's "Project Vulcan". After learning that Project Vulcan involves driving a nuclear warhead into the Earth’s molten core to trigger massive volcanic eruptions, Austin is discovered by Alotta and he watches her strip naked through the door to her bedroom. She walks out wearing nothing but a very small bathrobe, which she takes off and walks into a hot tub. Austin follows her in there, where she learns his true identity and seduces him into having sex with her. Meanwhile, Dr. Evil learns that Austin Powers is after him, but his entourage have identified Austin's libido as his weakness and created a group of fembots: beautiful, blonde female androids equipped with automatic guns concealed in their breasts. Dr. Evil tests his new weapons on his own guards and they perform flawlessly, getting the guards to lower their guns with their looks and then killing them with their breast guns.
The British Secret Service discover that Virtucon conducts tourist tours of its headquarters, and this is considered an ideal opportunity for Austin and Vanessa to infiltrate. After bamboozling a security guard to gain entrance to the restricted area, Austin and Vanessa are apprehended by Dr. Evil's henchman, Random Task.
Dr. Evil presents his ultimatum to the United Nations (here represented by diplomats seated around a table with stereotypical international figures such as matadors and sumo wrestlers surrounding them) and they concede to his demands. However, he is so evil that he decides to keep the ransom but still destroy the world. Austin and Vanessa are then placed in "an easily escapable situation involving an overly elaborate and exotic death" from which they escape, and Vanessa is sent for help.
While Project Vulcan is put into operation, Austin tries to find Dr. Evil but stumbles upon the fembot assassins in fuzzy, see-through lingerie. They seduce him by performing cartwheels, jumping on his shoulders, and eventually knocking him out with a pink gas that "came out of their jubblies" as Austin later explained. Austin lies in bed with the fembots, and tries to snap out of it by thinking of non-erotic things (such as baseball, cold showers, and former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in the nude), but the fembots continue to rub their hands over his body, and he keeps caving in, but snaps out of it and eventually overcomes them with the use of his "mojo" in a sex-charged striptease.
Led by Vanessa, British forces raid the underground lair, and at the last moment Austin stops the doomsday device. Austin confronts Dr. Evil and is joined by Vanessa, who is being held hostage by Alotta Fagina. They are interrupted by Number Two, who resents Dr. Evil's illegitimate plans after he has been so successful in the conventional business world and wishes to make a deal with Austin. Before he can, Dr. Evil (apparently) kills Number Two and seizes his opportunity to initiate the self-destruct mechanism and, once again, escape in his cryogenic freezing chamber inside the "Big Boy" spaceship. Austin and Vanessa escape in Austin’s conveniently parked Jaguar while the underground lair is destroyed in a nuclear explosion.
Austin and Vanessa are later married, but during their honeymoon Austin is attacked by Dr. Evil's henchman, Random Task. Defeated in conventional combat, Austin subdues the assassin through the use of his "Swedish-made penis pump", allowing Vanessa to knock him out with a glass bottle to the head. In a romantic moment Austin and Vanessa adjourn to their balcony to observe the stars. Noticing a rather bright star, Austin pulls out a telescope to discover that it is in fact Dr. Evil's cryogenic chamber in which Dr. Evil vows to "get" Austin Powers.
9. Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999): NATO’s monitoring facility observes the return of Dr. Evil (Mike Myers) and informs British intelligence. At Dr. Evil’s Seattle headquarters, Dr. Evil is presented with a one-eighth-size clone of himself (Verne Troyer) whom he calls Mini-Me. Number Two (Robert Wagner), who survived his incineration towards the end of the previous film, also reveals the enormous profits they have made by legitimately investing in a previously unknown startup company called "Starbucks". However, Dr. Evil is unimpressed and unveils his latest evil plan—he has developed a time machine to go back to the sixties and steal Austin Powers’ (also Mike Myers) mojo, a fluid inside his body that's the source of Austin's skills and his sexual prowess.
Dr. Evil and Mini-Me go back to 1969 and meet up with a younger Number Two (Rob Lowe) and (a not-so-young) Frau Farbissina (Mindy Sterling). A disgruntled “Scottish Guard” with unusual eating habits called Fat Bastard (again, Mike Myers) has been hired to extract Austin’s mojo from his frozen body at the Ministry of Defence Cryo Chamber.
Meanwhile, back in 1999, Austin is still enjoying his honeymoon with his wife—the former Vanessa Kensington (Elizabeth Hurley). Unfortunately, something goes amiss, and it turns out that she is actually one of Dr. Evil’s kamikaze fembots who attempts to kill Austin but eventually self-destructs.
British intelligence warns Austin that one of Dr Evil’s agents is after him, and during a photo shoot the wanton Ivana Humpalot (Kristen Johnston) seduces him, but at the last moment she admits to her orders and claims he is too sexy. They then proceed to have sex in her bed. Unfortunately they do not get far before he discovers that he has lost his mojo.
The MOD learns that Dr. Evil has developed a time machine and sends Austin back to 1969 with its own time travel device, in a convertible Volkswagen New Beetle painted with 60's LSD-themed colors. Austin arrives back at a party in his London pad and with the assistance of a CIA agent, Felicity Shagwell (Heather Graham), escapes another assassination attempt by two of Dr. Evil’s operatives. However, the two of them are chased by Mustafa (Will Ferrell), yet another of Dr. Evil's henchmen, and when caught he reveals the existence of a secret volcano lair (due to an inability to withhold the answer should he be asked the exact same question three times in a row), but is prevented from divulging its location by the intervention of Mini-Me. After examining photographs from the crime scene at MOD headquarters, Austin identifies Fat Bastard as the perpetrator of the theft.
At Dr. Evil’s secret volcano lair, Fat Bastard arrives with Austin’s mojo. Dr. Evil drinks some of it and engages in some “private time” with Frau Farbissina. This results in an awkward “sometime after” situation when Frau reveals that she is “late.” However, at the same moment Scott Evil arrives through the time portal. Dr. Evil announces his latest plan: to hold the United States — and the whole world — ransom by threatening to destroy Washington D.C., and then additional major cities each hour, using a giant laser on the moon.
In London, Austin and Felicity get to know each other, but he has to reject her advances owing to the loss of his mojo. Under MOD instructions to implant a homing device, Felicity seduces Fat Bastard. Unfortunately, it is left in a public toilet, but a stool sample from the scene reveals traces of a rare vegetable that only grows on one Caribbean island.
Austin and Felicity arrive on the island but are apprehended. They are put in a cell with a single guard who is overcome by the fact that Felicity shows off her breasts, upon which the mesmerized guard falls into a pool of lava. Dr. Evil and Mini-Me leave for the moon to install the giant laser and are followed by Austin and Felicity, who hitch a ride on Apollo 11. In Dr. Evil’s moon base, Austin battles with Mini-Me, whom he eventually flushes into space.
As Austin confronts Dr. Evil, the giant laser is fired, but Austin manages to divert it and save Washington D.C., although Felicity is killed by poison gas. However, using Dr. Evil’s time portal Austin travels back ten minutes and meets up with himself to save both the world and Felicity.
Foiled again, Dr. Evil initiates the self-destruction mechanism of the moon base and escapes in his rocket after throwing the bottle of Austin's mojo in the air. He fails to catch it and it crashes on the floor, destroyed, but Felicity points out that all the things he has done show that he never really lost it in the first place. With seconds to spare they escape through the time portal to 1999.
Fat Bastard makes another attempt to assassinate Austin, but is kicked in the crotch by Felicity. Finally, Dr. Evil recovers Mini-Me from space and once again vows to "get" Austin Powers.
During the closing credits, it is revealed on Jerry Springer that Scott (Seth Green) was not created in a test tube but is actually the love child of Dr. Evil and Frau Farbissina. The closing credits also reveal that there are two Austins in 1999 as both Austins escaped Dr. Evil's moon base using the time machine.
10. Austin Powers: Goldmember (2002): The movie starts with an action sequence, after which the protagonist is revealed to be not Powers, but Tom Cruise playing him, alongside other A-list actors (Gwyneth Paltrow as Dixie Normous, Kevin Spacey as Dr. Evil, and Danny DeVito as Mini-Me), in a film about Powers directed by Steven Spielberg. Powers is then shown talking to Spielberg during the production of the film, but breaks into his usual dance in the beginning until he and his group stumble on Britney Spears in the middle of a music video shoot (for her song "Boys"). Austin and Britney start a dance off until Britney turns out to be a fembot when twin machine gun barrels pop out of her leather top. She tries to kill Austin but fails, and Austin uses his mojo to make her head blow up.
The year is 2002. In his new underground lair behind the famous Hollywood sign, Dr. Evil outlines his latest evil plan. Using a time machine he will go back to 1975 and bring back a Dutchman, Johan van der Smut (alias Goldmember), who had developed a cold fusion unit for a tractor beam. He intends to use the tractor beam to pull a golden meteor into the Earth to strike and melt the polar ice caps and cause global flooding. However, the plot is discovered by the British Secret Service, and Austin leads a group of commandos to arrest Dr. Evil and place him in a maximum security prison.
Austin is knighted for his services but is disappointed when his father (the famous super-spy Nigel Powers) fails to attend the investiture. However, he later learns that his father was kidnapped from his yacht and that some of the crew have had their genitals painted with gold. It was immediately revealed to Austin that Nigel was kidnapped after he skipped out on the knighting ceremony. In search of answers, Austin visits the imprisoned Dr. Evil, who tells him that the insane Goldmember is behind the abduction and, on the condition that he be transferred to a normal prison to be with his beloved Mini-Me, reveals that he is in 1975.
Traveling back to 1975, Austin infiltrates Goldmember's roller disco club "Studio 69" (a spoof of Studio 54) and begins the search. Austin meets up with Foxxy Cleopatra--an old flame and FBI agent--who is working undercover in the club. Austin locates his father but before they can escape they are delivered into Goldmember's inner sanctum. Goldmember abducts Nigel to 2002 in Dr. Evil's time machine. Austin and Foxxy give chase in the MOD's time-travel device (a pimpmobile).
Back in 2002, Frau Farbissina visits Dr. Evil is in his normal prison and tells him that his son, Scott, wants to take over the family business and has started becoming evil to the point of losing his hair. By way of a passionate kiss, Frau passes a key to Dr. Evil. The other prisoners are encouraged to start a riot, which distracts the guards and permits Dr. Evil and Mini-Me to escape.
A British Intelligence mole (who, much to Austin's disgust, actually has a large mole on his face) in Dr. Evil's organization informs Austin that the doctor has moved to a new lair somewhere near Tokyo, Japan. Austin and Foxxy fly to Tokyo where they are informed that Dr. Evil's henchman Fat Bastard is wrestling at the Asahi Sumo Arena. Slipping into the changing rooms, Austin confronts Fat Bastard and manages to subdue him. Fat Bastard confesses that a Japanese businessman, Mr. Roboto, is making some sort of contraption for Dr. Evil.
Dr. Evil's new lair is a submarine lurking in Tokyo Bay. Goldmember tells Dr. Evil that they have the ultimate insurance policy in Austin Power's father. Mini-Me escorts Nigel to his cell but he starts to subvert Mini-Me, claiming that he will gain as much respect from Dr. Evil as he actually is of him: one-eighths. Later, Scott presents his father with a pair of sharks with laser beams attached to their heads. Overjoyed, Dr. Evil professes his love for his son and seats Scott at his right hand, displacing Mini-Me. The clone leaves dejected (but not before giving everyone in the room the finger).
Austin and Foxxy meet with Mr. Roboto, who pleads ignorance about Nigel's whereabouts. Unconvinced, Austin and Foxxy infiltrate Roboto's factory where the command unit for the tractor beam is being loaded in Goldmember's car. Roboto hands Goldmember a golden key which is needed to activate the beam. Foxxy confronts Goldmember, but Nigel is about to have an "unfortunate smelting accident" and Goldmember escapes as Nigel is being rescued. They chase Goldmember through Tokyo, but he reaches the safety of Dr. Evil's sub which departs before they can apprehend him. Austin and Nigel dispute the course of action but cannot agree, and go their separate ways.
In Austin's hotel, the mole has arranged the defection of Mini-Me. Austin, Foxxy and Mini-Me (now an Austin Mini) use Nigel's spy car in submarine mode to reach Dr. Evil's lair and gain entry. Foxxy splits up from Austin and Mini-Me, and they begin to search the sub.
In the control room, Dr. Evil threatens the World Organization with a global flood. To prove he isn't bluffing, he uses the tractor beam to pull a satellite out of orbit. Following the successful trial of the beam, Roboto demands a bonus which Dr. Evil refuses. Becoming more evil, Scott takes over and disposes of Roboto in the shark tank.
Austin and Mini-Me, disguised as one person are waylaid by the medical officer but obtain a plan of the vessel. Rumbled by the MO, Mini-Me escapes and meets up with Foxxy while Austin is taken to the control room.
Dr. Evil offers to show Austin his plan before killing him, but the activation key is missing. Foxxy and Mini-Me enter with guns and the missing key. Austin now threatens Dr. Evil at gunpoint, but his father intervenes and reveals that Dr. Evil and Austin are brothers, separated at an early age during an assassination attempt. The three are reconciled, but Scott interrupts, angry that now that he's finally become evil his father is turning good. Declaring that he hates them all, he vows revenge and leaves.
However, Goldmember intends to complete the destruction of the world. Although Foxxy throws the activation key into the shark tank, Goldmember has a spare: his gold-plated penis. As Goldmember begins to activate the tractor beam, Dr. Evil reverses the polarity of the cold fusion unit, which electrocutes and kills Goldmember and destroys the meteor.
Then it suddenly appears this entire string of events was actually adapted into a film by Steven Spielberg, starring Tom Cruise. The whole Austin Powers cast (aside from Scott) are in the audience of a Hollywood theater, and enjoy watching the film. Upon exiting, they bump into Fat Bastard, but he isn't fat anymore - he took the Subway diet and lost a lot of weight, and is now very thin. Austin and Foxy congratulate him on this achievement, though "Fat" Bastard reveals all of his excess skin sagging off his muscles, and adds that his neck looks like a vagina. Austin and Foxxy exit the theater and share a kiss under some fireworks.
Alone in Dr. Evil's Hollywood lair, a completely bald, maniacal Scott has taken over Dr. Evil's criminal empire and declares, like his father did in the last two films, that he will "get" Austin Powers; he then proceeds to inexplicably get out of his chair and dance like Michael Jackson.
11. The Addams Family (1991): The story begins as Gomez (Raúl Juliá) laments to his lawyer, Tully Alford, that he has not spoken to his brother Fester since a quarrel 25 years earlier. Morticia invites the Alfords to a séance in which they would attempt to contact Uncle Fester's spirit.
Tully returns to work to find that his loan shark, Abigail Craven (Elizabeth Wilson), and her son Gordon (Christopher Lloyd) have come to collect what he owes them. Gordon harasses Tully until he discovers the gold doubloons with which Gomez has paid the lawyer's bills. Tully notices that Gordon appears similar to Fester, and proposes that Gordon pose as Fester to infiltrate the Addams' house to find the vault where they keep their vast riches.
At the séance, the Addamses attempt to contact Fester's spirit, demanding he knock three times. As they ask, they hear a knock at the door. They answer it to find Gordon, posing as Fester, with Ms. Craven, posing as a psychiatrist named Dr. Greta Pinder-Schloss. Gomez is initially overjoyed but becomes more and more suspicious as "Fester" fails to remember important events from their childhood.
Gordon and Ms. Craven attempt to break into the Addams family vault, but fail, as the vault is protected by several complicated safeguards: a hidden door unlocked only by removing the correct book from the bookshelf, an entry chute hidden among several similar chutes (most of which drop the user outside the building) and so on.
Despite Gomez's doubts, the brothers reconcile and throw a party for the extensive (and very peculiar) Addams clan. When Wednesday is sent to check on Fester, she finds Gordon in the bathroom, with his mother shaving his head. The two of them are talking about their plans for the evening. Wednesday realizes that he is an impostor and escapes to the family graveyard, with Gordon in pursuit.
Tully Alford has discovered that Fester, being the older brother, would inherit the entire Addams fortune, and enlists the aid of Gomez' neighbor, a judge whose windows are constantly being broken by Gomez hitting golf balls from his roof. As the party winds down, the family discovers that Wednesday is missing and search for her, but return to the house to find Tully behind the locked gate, holding a restraining order, demanding they stay at least a thousand yards from the property. Gomez takes the issue to court, but the judge presiding over the case – the same one contacted by Tulley – rules in favor of Gordon.
While Gordon, his mother, and Tully Alford try to reach the vault, the Addamses try to adapt to their new situation but are ill suited to live in the outside world. Morticia returns to the mansion to confront Gordon, but is captured by Tully and Craven, who torture her so that she would reveal how to reach the vault. Thing sees this and returns to the motel, where he informs Gomez that his beloved wife is in trouble. Gomez rushes to her rescue, whereupon Craven offers an ultimatum, wherein she demands that he take them to the vault or she will kill Morticia.
Gordon, who has become sympathetic to the Addams family, takes matters into his own hands. The bookshelf concealing the passageway to the vault contains books which, when opened, project their contents into reality. Gordon threatens Tully and his mother with a book named "Hurricane Irene" while Gomez and Morticia escape. Tully and Craven are launched out a window into open graves, while Gordon is struck by lightning emitted by the book, which restores his memory, revealing that he was in fact Fester, but had lost his memory in the Bermuda Triangle.
Seven months later, all is well with the family as they are throwing a Halloween party. As Fester and the children rush out to the graveyard for a rousing game of "Wake the Dead", Gomez ponders what could possibly make life better. Morticia, at this, reveals that she is pregnant (a plot which sets the stage for the sequel Addams Family Values). The movie ends with their kiss.
12. The Addams Family Values (1993): The movie begins when Morticia gives birth to a boy, Pubert, whereupon Wednesday and Pugsley develop an extreme form of sibling rivalry, attempting to kill the baby. When Morticia and Gomez try to hire a nanny, the children frighten them all away. The last applicant, Debbie Jellinsky, proves to be of sterner stuff; she is, however, a fortune hunter/serial killer known as "The Black Widow", who is in pursuit of Uncle Fester and the vast Addams fortune. When Wednesday begins to suspect this, Debbie convinces Morticia to send the older children to Camp Chippewa, a summer camp for privileged children.
Debbie marries Fester, then attempts to kill him during their Hawaiian honeymoon. As an Addams, he is practically indestructible, and he mistakes her murder attempts for ordinary affection. At her wits' end, Debbie refuses to have sexual intercourse with him unless he promises never to see his family again. In anguish, he agrees. The "happy" couple then move to a garish McMansion in the suburbs.
With Uncle Fester gone, his younger brother Gomez goes into a depression, and Pubert becomes "possessed", as a result of which he becomes blonde, rosy, and cheerful. Meanwhile, at camp, Wednesday and Pugsley are not fitting in among the bubbly blond campers from wealthy backgrounds. Wednesday, however, does meet a soulmate of sorts in the person of Joel, an introverted Jewish boy plagued by allergies, who confirms Wednesday's suspicions of Debbie.
When Wednesday refuses act in the end-of-summer play, all three "little outcasts" are locked in the "Harmony Hut" and forced to watch Disney movies and television shows ranging from The Sound of Music to The Brady Bunch. The three pretend to be cowed long enough to sabotage the play and flee the camp for home.
Meanwhile, when Debbie fails to kill Fester by blowing up the house, she snarls "I want you dead, and I want your money!". He flees, but she chases him to the Addams mansion, arriving just as Wednesday and Pugsley arrive home. Debbie ties everyone except Pubert to electric chairs; however, Pubert short circuits the wiring, so that when Debbie throws the switch to electrocute everyone, she is incinerated, leaving only a pile of ashes, her shoes, and a couple of credit cards.
In the epilogue, Gomez and Morticia give Pubert a birthday party. Among the guests is a potential new love for Fester, a bald nanny named Dementia who works for Itt and Margaret Addams (who have an Itt Jr. named What). Joel, dressed like Gomez, also attends. Joel and Wednesday sneak off for a romantic moment in the family graveyard, where he asks Wednesday if she would ever want to get married and have children; she flatly says no. He then asks "What if you found a guy who would do anything for you, who would be your devoted slave?" and she responds, "I'd pity him". Joel expresses sympathy for Debbie, Wednesday replies that Debbie was "sloppy", and that if she, Wednesday, wanted to kill her husband, she would not get caught. Joel asks her how, and she replies, "I'd scare him to death". As Joel places flowers on Debbie's grave, an arm bursts out of the ground and grabs Joel. Wednesday looks on, satisfied with Joel's screams.
13. Aladdin (1992): The story begins on a dark night, when Jafar, the Grand Vizier to the Sultan of Agrabah, attempts to access the Cave of Wonders, a trove where a magical lamp containing a genie is hidden. He and his talking parrot, Iago, learn that the only one who can enter the Cave of Wonders is the metaphorical "Diamond in the Rough".
Meanwhile, in the palace of Agrabah, Princess Jasmine, the beautiful teenage daughter of the Sultan, must be married before her upcoming birthday, but she rejects every prince she meets, as she wants to be married for true love and not merely for wealth. Later Jasmine, frustrated with "having her life lived for her," climbs over the palace walls, and sees the marketplace for the first time, where she meets the street urchin Aladdin and his pet monkey, Abu. Jafar uses a machine to see that the "diamond in the rough" is Aladdin. Jafar sends a group of guards to capture Aladdin while Jasmine is still with him. Jasmine tells Jafar to release him, but Jafar lies and tells her he is already dead.
Jafar, disguised as an old man, releases Aladdin from prison and leads him to the Cave of Wonders. They are told by the tiger-shaped head of the cave to touch nothing but the lamp. Aladdin enters the cave and encounters a magic carpet before finding the lamp. Abu tries to steal a ruby and causes the cave to start collapsing, but the carpet helps them to the entrance. Jafar takes the lamp from them and tries to kill them but Abu takes the lamp back and bites his arm causing him to knock Abu back into the cave just as it collapses.
When Aladdin awakens, he is given the lamp, and after rubbing it a genie is unleashed, revealing that he will grant Aladdin three wishes. Aladdin dupes the genie into freeing them from the cave without using a wish. Jafar, having lost the lamp, plans to trick the Sultan into marrying him forcefully to Jasmine, then kill off both of them.
While contemplating his wishes, Aladdin asks for the genie's opinion. The genie admits he would wish for freedom, since he is a prisoner to his lamp and must follow the orders of the lamp's master. Aladdin promises to wish him free with his last wish. Happily the genie grants Aladdin his first wish: making him a prince so he can marry Jasmine. They parade to the Sultan's palace, much to Jafar's dismay, but Jasmine initially rejects "Prince Ali" considering him a buffoon like all the others before him. Later that night, Aladdin meets Jasmine, and takes her on a magic carpet ride through the sky. She soon realizes that he is the same boy she met in the streets and that he has lied to her. Aladdin comes up with a story that he sometimes dressed as a "commoner" to escape the pressures of palace life, and she believes him. Aladdin returns her home and they kiss.
Jafar sends the guards, who slap Aladdin in chains and throw him off a cliff into the ocean. The lamp falls from inside his turban, and rubs against his limp hands luckily releasing the genie, who then rescues Aladdin as the second wish after liberally interpreting Aladdin's nodding head. Aladdin returns to the palace, smashing Jafar's staff and revealing the vizier's plot to Jasmine and the Sultan. Jafar realises Aladdin's identity, and escapes. Iago later steals the genie's lamp and brings it to Jafar, who becomes the genie's new master and uses his first wish to become sultan. Jafar then wishes to become a powerful sorcerer and turns Aladdin back to rags, sending him to a blizzard-swept, far-off place.
Aladdin uses the magic carpet to return to Agrabah, where Jafar is keeping the Sultan, the Genie, and Jasmine as his slaves. He offers Jasmine a place as his queen and wife, but she refuses. Jasmine then notices Aladdin coming in the palace. She tries to trick Jafar into believing that she's desperately in love with him. Jasmine gives Jafar an extremely passionate kiss, but he sees Aladdin's reflection in her tiara. Aladdin fights Jafar. When Jafar boasts that he is "the most powerful being on Earth," Aladdin tells him that he isn't as powerful as the genie. Jafar uses his final wish to become a Genie and tries to gain control of the universe with his powers. But he forgets that Genies are bound to their lamps and is sucked into his new Black lamp dragging Iago with him. The genie then flicks the lamp into the Cave of Wonders.
Aladdin and Jasmine say goodbye to each other now that Aladdin is not a prince so they cannot be married. Aladdin wishes for the genie's freedom, much to the genie's surprise and happiness. Since Jasmine loves Aladdin, the Sultan changes the law so that Jasmine can marry anyone she chooses and she chooses Aladdin. The genie then leaves to explore the world while Aladdin and Jasmine celebrate their engagement.
14. Aladdin & The King Of Thieves (1996): During their wedding ceremony, Aladdin and Princess Jasmine find themselves the targets of a raid by the infamous Forty Thieves, led by a man named Cassim. Although Aladdin, Jasmine and the rest of their gang successfully stop the raid and drive the thieves away, they are unable to prevent the wedding from being ruined. Determined to learn what the thieves were after, Aladdin finds an unusual staff (which The King of Thieves tries to steal) among the treasures given as wedding presents. The staff contains an oracle, able to see into the past or the future, but is only able to grant an answer to one question asked per person. Aladdin knows his future is being married to Jasmine but can't remember most of his past. But he remembers that his mother died when he was a kid and he never knew his father. The oracle reveals that his father is still alive.
Aladdin chooses his question and asks "Where is my father?". The oracle answers "Follow the trail of the Forty Thieves. Your father is trapped within their world." Believing him to be their prisoner, Aladdin tracks them down and stows away into their hideout( the leader opens the cave with the words "Open Sesame" the same words Ali Baba used). He is shocked to find that his father is not their prisoner at all, but their leader: Cassim, the King of Thieves, the very man he fought during his wedding's invasion. But, family or not, Aladdin has trespassed in their lair and the Forty Thieves are eager to have him punished for it. Cassim, however, suggest that Aladdin instead face "the Challenge" - an initiation ritual - where he must defeat another one of the Forty Thieves and take his place. Aladdin eventually defeats Cassim's right-hand man, Sa'luk, in battle, gaining him a place among the thieves. It is then that he learns the true motives behind the raid, and his father's leave of absence from his family: he had discovered evidence of the existence of the Hand of Midas, a powerful artifact that can transform anything it touches into solid gold. Cassim believed that, with the Hand, he could return to his family and give them the life they deserved instead of one living out in the streets, and had instigated the raid so he could capture the oracle's staff so he may question the seer as to the precise whereabouts of the artifact.
Aladdin convinces Cassim to come back with him to the Palace as his guest and, for a while, he is happy to spend quality time with his son. But the pull of his obsession with the Hand is too great, and he ends up stealing the Oracle's staff and getting captured by the guards of the palace. Aladdin helps his father escape, but is recognized by the Captain of the Guard, forcing him to flee the city with Cassim and Iago, Aladdin's treasure-loving parrot. Rather than abandon Jasmine (like his father had left him), Aladdin angrily confronts Cassim and returns to Agrabah to take responsibility for his actions. Meanwhile, Iago and Cassim return to the thieves' cave to find that Sa'luk is still alive and is now the leader of the remaining thieves (thirty-three thieves were captured so only seven remain). The remaining thieves are a fat and slighty stupid one, one capable in martial arts, one who specializes in swords and daggers, three that look alike and mostly talk at the same time and on who's skin resembles a snake(he was seen coming out of a pot the same way a cobra does) Sa'luk convinces the remaining thieves that Cassim sold them out to the palace guards and was to blame for the recent raid upon their hidden fortress (in actuality it was Sa'luk who told the guards so he could frame Cassim). Cassim, desperate to prove his loyalty, is forced to use the stolen oracle in order to find the location of the Hand, and then lead his men there. The Oracle directs them to The Vanishing Isle, a great marble fortress built on the back of a gigantic undersea turtle that periodically dives to the bottom of the ocean, taking the golden Hand with it.
Iago manages to escape from the group, and goes off to lead Aladdin and Jasmine to his imprisoned father. Aladdin and Cassim reconcile, and retrieve the Hand just as the turtle is beginning to submerge when they are attacked by Sa'luk. Then, after struggling to escape the flooding fortress, Cassim throws the Hand of Midas to Sa'luk, who doesn't know the legend of the Hand. Foolishly grabbing it by the gold hand (instead of the wood handle), Sa'luk is turned into gold. Aladdin and Cassim manage to escape with the Hand but, finally realizing how much pain his obsession with the trinket had caused, Cassim decides to toss it into the sea. However, it does not hit the sea just instantly. It hits the thieves' ship instead, turning it gold, and it sinks. The fate of the thieves remains unknown but it is implied that they died of dehydration. As the movie closes, Aladdin and Jasmine finally get married, and Cassim accepts the parrot Iago as a traveling companion as he goes off once again to see the world.
A reprise of Arabian Nights is then sung; the Peddler makes an appearance at the end of this film to mark the end of the legend of Aladdin (originally planned for the end of the first film) as Aladdin and Jasmine fly past him and wave good-bye to Cassim and Iago, and the two kiss.
15. Batman Begins (2005): Eight-year-old Bruce Wayne falls into a cave, where he encounters a swarm of bats. Having developed a fear of bats, he urges his parents to leave an opera featuring bat-like creatures. Outside the theater, they are mugged by Joe Chill, who proceeds to kill the parents. Bruce blames himself for his parents' murders.
Years later, Bruce returns to Gotham City from Princeton University, intent on killing Chill, whose prison sentence is being suspended in exchange for testifying against mob boss Carmine Falcone. Before the hesitant Bruce can act, one of Falcone's henchmen kills Chill. Bruce tells his childhood friend Rachel Dawes about his foiled plan, and she expresses disgust for his blind vengeance without regard for justice. Bruce confronts Falcone, who tells him that he is ignorant of the nature of crime, so Bruce decides to travel the world to understand the criminal mind. After nearly seven years, he is eventually detained for theft in a Bhutanese prison, where he meets Henri Ducard. Ducard invites Bruce to join an elite vigilante group, the League of Shadows, led by Ra's al Ghul. Wayne is freed, and travels to a mountaintop to begin his combat training with the League, who secretly intend to use him to destroy Gotham. Bruce completes his training with the League, overcoming his childhood fear of bats in the process. However, when he is ordered to execute a criminal, he disobeys the order and instead initiates a chaotic scene by lighting the building on fire to escape, destroying the League's headquarters and killing Ra's in the process. Bruce rescues an unconscious Ducard from the wreckage, and leaves his mentor at a nearby village.
Bruce Wayne is instructed to gather this blue flower. They are the source of the hallucinogenic compound used by Scarecrow to taint Gotham's water supply.
Bruce Wayne returns to a Gotham City ruled by Falcone, and decides to plot a one-man war against the city's corrupt system. He seeks the help of Rachel, now an assistant district attorney, and police sergeant Jim Gordon, who consoled him in the aftermath of his parents' murder. After reestablishing his connections to his father's company, Wayne Enterprises (under the control of the unscrupulous William Earle), Bruce is able to acquire, with the help of former board member Lucius Fox, a prototype armored car and an experimental armored suit. In his new Batman costume, he disrupts a drug shipment by Falcone, and leaves the mob boss tied to a searchlight, forming a makeshift Bat-Signal. He also disrupts an assassination attempt on Rachel, leaving her with evidence against a judge on Falcone's payroll. While investigating the "unusual" drugs in the shipment, Batman is stunned by sinister psychopharmacologist Dr. Jonathan Crane, who sprays him with a powerful hallucinogen. Bruce's butler Alfred Pennyworth rescues Bruce, who uses an anti-toxin developed by Fox to save him. Crane later poisons Rachel after showing her that the toxin, which is harmful only in vapor form, is being piped into Gotham's water supply. Batman saves her and attacks Crane with his own poison. The police enter Arkham Asylum and arrest Crane while Batman escapes with Rachel. After administering the antidote to Rachel in the Batcave, he gives her two vials of it for Gordon – one to inoculate himself, and another to mass-produce for the city's general population.
During his birthday celebration in Wayne Manor, Bruce is confronted by a group of League of Shadows ninjas led by Ducard, who reveals himself to be the real Ra's al Ghul, and that the man killed earlier was a decoy. Ra's, who had been conspiring with Crane the entire time, plans to destroy Gotham by distributing the toxin undetected via Gotham's water supply, and then vaporizing it with a microwave-emitter stolen from Wayne Enterprises. Bruce insultingly dismisses his guests under the guise of being belligerently drunk, and fights briefly with Ra's while the League of Shadows set fire to Wayne Manor. Bruce escapes the inferno with Alfred's help just as the manor is destroyed. Batman arrives at the "Narrows" section of Gotham to aid the police in battling psychotic criminals, including Crane, now calling himself "Scarecrow", whom the League set free from the asylum. Rachel is briefly confronted by Crane, but quickly wards him off; she is rescued by Batman when more criminals go after her. Batman intimates his identity to her, and leaves Gordon in control of the Batmobile to stop the elevated train used to transport the microwave-emitter to the city's central water-hub. Batman battles Ra's aboard the train, then escapes just as Gordon topples the elevated line using the Batmobile's missiles, leaving Ra's to crash to the ground with the train and perish in the resulting explosion.
Following the battle, Batman becomes a public hero. Bruce gains control of Wayne Enterprises and installs Fox as CEO, firing Earle. However, he is unable to hold onto Rachel, who cannot reconcile her love for Bruce Wayne with his dual life as Batman. Gordon, now a lieutenant, unveils a Bat-Signal for Batman. Gordon mentions a criminal who, like Batman, has "a taste for the theatrical", and who leaves Joker playing cards at his crime scenes. Batman promises to investigate it. As Batman is leaving, Gordon mentions that he has not thanked Batman for his help in cleaning up the city. Batman replies that Gordon will never have to, and flies off into the night.
16. The Batman VS Dracula (2005): At Arkham Asylum, the Penguin is told by another prisoner that a large amount of money is hidden in Gotham Cemetery, in a crypt behind a tombstone with a cross. After the prisoner mentions he told the Joker, an alarm sounds and a guard yells that the Joker has escaped. Penguin uses the confusion to break out as well.
Penguin meets up with Joker on his way to the graveyard and they strike a deal - but Joker loses no time in double-crossing Penguin and knocking him out with an electrified Joy Buzzer. As Penguin watches, he sees The Batman following Joker.
Penguin reaches the graveyard, but it turns out that many of the tombstones have crosses. Meanwhile, The Batman and Joker fight, ending in Joker's apparent death, falling in water and being electrocuted by his own Joy Buzzers.
While in the graveyard, Penguin finds a crypt and cuts loose a suspended coffin. In the process, he cuts his hand on the blade of his umbrella and the blood drips onto the corpse inside. As Penguin leaves the crypt, the corpse reanimates and gains new flesh and organs.
Penguin hears the corpse and sees Dracula rise. He runs trying to escape but Dracula follows the scent and trail of blood from Penguin's cut. Dracula finds the night watchman and drains his blood. Penguin is surprised when he sees the watchman become a vampire, protesting that a dead man can't do that. Dracula replies that he is undead.
Dracula hypnotizes Penguin into becoming his servant to show him Gotham so he can feed. Dracula notes that Transylvania has changed, and is informed by Penguin that he is in Gotham City. Dracula concludes that he has been moved since his death. On a flashback, a group of angry people, led by a well-dressed and seemingly very educated man (probably Abraham Van Helsing), march upon the castle Dracula. The leader drives the stake through Dracula's heart in order to finally destroy him. However, the leader knows that he has merely incapacitated the vampire, paralyzing him in a death-like state. Soon, he arranged the vampire's body to be transferred out of Transylvania, buried in America, on land that would eventually become Gotham City.
Bruce has an interview with Vicki Vale at a restaurant. On his return to Wayne Manor, he tells Alfred that he invited her to the corporate dinner and a dinner on Saturday.
As the Batman patrols the city, a woman is robbed, but when the crook is stopped before the Batman can arrive, he decides he's not needed. Hearing the woman scream again, he sees that the night watchman is a vampire. The crook and the woman have also become vampires. The Batman fights them but is unable to defeat them and forces them to retreat. Penguin then wakes up Dracula who now looks more human, having fed on some people, with plans to turn Gotham into a city of vampires.
Batman does not believe what he has seen, but knows something is wrong. At the party Bruce meets Dracula under the name of Alucard. Dracula takes an interest in Vicki Vale and says he is studying the Batman. When a waiter comes by with a tray of garlic shrimp he is noticeably disturbed. Bruce notices this and offers him some, but Dracula hypnotises him and leaves. A moment later the hypnotised Bruce leaves Vicki and wanders over to the balcony, where Dracula is waiting to bite him. However, just before Dracula is to bite his victim, Alfred arrives, prompting Dracula to disappear and Bruce to snap out of the trance. Dracula meanwhile feeds on one of the waiters. Alfred discovers the waiter is a vampire and narrowly avoids being attacked. Bruce meanwhile deduces "Alucard"'s true identity: Dracula.
After an intensive research with Alfred in the Batcave, Batman begins to realize that many of Dracula's legends were true events. Also realizing that Gotham citizens' disappearances are because of Dracula, he and Alfred realize that the vampires' number will grow exponentially into an army in a matter of weeks. Rather than killing the vampires, Bruce decides to find a way to revert Dracula's victims to normal again, since vampirism seems to be transmitted as a disease, and normally there's a chance to treat it. Bruce and Alfred headed toward the manor's library for its collection of medical textbooks and researches belonged to Bruce's father himself, Dr. Thomas Wayne.
The next morning it is reported that The Batman is causing people to disappear and is attacked that night on patrol. As Batman traces the city's number of disappearances, he discovers that the first attack occurred at Gotham Cemetery, where a watchman has disappeared . After realizing that vampirism is plaguing the city, Alfred not only arms the mansion with relics and herbs known to ward off the creatures, but also Batman's own arsenal as well. At night, while investigating at the cemetery, the Gotham P.D. SWAT unit members are also at the scene. As he escapes, the police members are taken by Dracula. Batman encounters Dracula on a rooftop. Dracula, admittedly admiring the Dark Knight, offers him a chance of immortality. Batman understands what this offer would really mean to him and refuses, and tries to fight, but is unable to defeat him and is severely injured. Fortunately, Dracula retreats when the sun rises, but not before Dracula promises to the Dark Knight that he will kill him because of the rejection. Bruce wakes up later on in his bed after having a nightmare in which he sees his parents killed after finished watching the movie The Cloaked Rider and sees the Batman as a vampire. The young billionaire wakes up, in fear of his own persona as The Batman and Dracula's evil.
Joker shows up at the graveyard after a fisherman took him to a boat and demands his share from Penguin. He chases Penguin into the crypt where he opens Dracula's coffin and is attacked. Later, in a bloodbank, a nurse is attacked and The Batman finds Joker feasting on the blood from the numerous vials on the shelves. The two fight until they knock over the shelves. While Joker is distracted drinking blood raining down from a collapsed set of shelves, The Batman hits him with garlic bombs.
Batman takes him inside the Batcave and gets to work curing vampirism, which the computer identifies as a form of virus infecting a host's cellular structure, and also obtaining the whereabouts of the Prince of Darkness from the Clown Prince of Crime. The Joker, despite his hatred toward the vampire lord, is unable to tell his location, due to the fact that the vampire has completely taken control of his will, as the Joker is now his vassal. Unfortunately, as the Dark Knight works toward discovering the cure and locating Dracula and his victims, he stands up Vicki who is at a train station where she meets Dracula. Bruce tries to call her but gets no answer. He finishes work on the cure in the form of a vaccine, using it to cure Joker. He has lost his memory of what happened at the crypt, however using what the Joker remembered prior to being bitten, Batman is able to deduce Dracula's location. Batman then proceeds to mass produce the vaccine and plan his attack.
Inside the crypt Dracula takes the ashes of his former wife, Carmilla, who was killed when exposed to the sun as she was also a vampire, and places them on a slab suspended above Vicki. He then begins to use her soul to reanimate her.
The Batman enters the crypt at Gotham Cemetery, and discovers a catacomb underneath it, which explains how Dracula was able to bypass the Christian relics above it. During the Dark Knight's attack, Batman cures all the vampires with the vaccine. Batman is about to fire a projectile carrying the last vial of the vaccine to the vampire lord when Dracula hypnotizes the Dark Knight and makes him unable to fire and destroy him. After hearing Dracula mockingly laugh at him, and remembering the childhood tragedy that inspired him to become Batman, the Dark Knight willfully breaks free of the vampire lord's control. He then rescues Vicki and fights with Dracula. Batman learns that the caves lead to the Batcave and uses explosives to delay Dracula and enter the Batcave. He is beaten, however, and Dracula plans to kill him rather than turn him into a vampire.
Alfred stabs a vial of the vaccine into Dracula but it does not work, as Dracula is the original - "evil incarnate". Batman then activates a device from Wayne Industries that can store and emit sunlight as well as turn it into energy. Dracula realizes too late that Bruce Wayne is Batman. Batman steps away from the sunlight which then dissolves Dracula, leaving only a skull with fangs. Alfred proceeds to sweep his remains into the dustbin.
In the meantime, Penguin is chasing Vicki, and is just about to catch her when he is freed from his hypnosis and they finally discover the gold. He is overjoyed but is then caught by police. News reporters state that the people were under Penguin's control and Penguin keeps saying they were vampires as he is taken away. Vicki sees The Batman, who arrives to check on the victims, and smiles knowing he saved the city. The Batman swung proudly throughout the city, knowing that he has just defeated an ultimate evil, and resumes his patrol, ready to defend Gotham against any others that might threaten its safety.
17. Beetlejuice (1988): Happily-married couple Adam (Alec Baldwin) and Barbara Maitland (Geena Davis) decide to spend their holiday decorating their idyllic New England home. Returning from a trip to town Barbara swerves to avoid hitting a dog. Their car drives off a bridge into a river and then they find themselves back at their house. A book entitled Handbook for the Recently Deceased reveals to them their predicament. Although they are now ghosts, they can remain in their home; if they try to leave, they end up in another dimension, a desert world populated by enormous sandworms.
Their peace is soon shattered, however, when their house is sold and the new residents arrive from New York. The Deetzes, consisting of Charles (Jeffrey Jones), aspiring sculptor and Charles' second wife Delia (Catherine O'Hara), stepmother to Charles' Goth daughter Lydia from his first marriage (Winona Ryder). They are under the guidance of interior designer Otho (Glenn Shadix), and begin transforming the house into a horrific piece of modern art. The Maitlands seek help from their afterlife case worker, Juno (Sylvia Sidney), who informs them that they must remain in the house for 125 years. If they want the Deetzes out, it is up to them to scare them away. The Maitlands' attempt to haunt their home proves ineffective. Although the Maitlands remain invisible to Charles and Delia, their daughter Lydia can see Adam and Barbara and becomes their friend.
Against the advice of Juno, the Maitlands contact the miscreant Betelgeuse (Michael Keaton), a freelance "bio-exorcist", to scare away the Deetzes, but Betelgeuse is more interested in marrying Lydia in order to re-enter the land of the living. It takes the combined efforts of the Maitlands and Lydia to defeat Betelgeuse and banish him to the afterlife. The Deetzes and the Maitlands decide to live together in harmony.
18. Big Momma’s House (2000): FBI agent Malcolm Turner (Lawrence) is known best for being a master of disguise. Malcolm's latest assignment sends him to a small-town Cartersville, Georgia where he's assigned to trap a brutal bank robber and recent prison escapee (Terrence Howard) who they suspect will be coming down to visit his ex-girlfriend Sherry (Nia Long) and her son, Trent (Jascha Washington). Malcolm sets up a stakeout across from the home of a larger-than-life Southern matriarch named Hattie Mae Pierce, aka Big Momma (Ella Mitchell), who's about to be visited by Sherry. It's a simple plan, but there's one big problem: unknown to Sherry, Big Momma has unexpectedly left town. So Malcolm decides to impersonate the cantankerous Southern granny. Using a few tricks of disguise, he completely transforms himself into Big Momma, even taking on the corpulent 70 year old's everyday routine-from cooking soul food to delivering babies to "testifying" at the local church. In the mean time, Malcolm starts falling for Sherry, who may or may not be hiding some stolen cash. Now, Malcolm must somehow find a way to nab his criminal and the lady.
19. Big Momma’s House 2 (2006): Malcolm Turner (Martin Lawrence) has been assigned a desk job as FBI PR officer since he wanted to be with his wife during her delivery. An incident occurs at the Orange County where his former partner is killed while posing undercover. His partner was doing surveillance on a former Military Intelligence Specialist by the name of Tom Fuller (Mark Moses) who had retired and worked for a private corporation. The FBI had reasons to believe that he was developing a virus which will create back doors on all data stored on FBI/NSA's computers. Turner, deeply saddened by this incident, asks his chief permission to go to Orange County, but is refused. On the pretext of attending a safety conference, Turner leaves his home, taking with him the entire "Big Momma" costumes.
Turner goes undercover as the nanny in Fuller's house, and beats other candidates for the nanny position. Turner arrives and sits down with the other candidates and humiliates them out of the house by considering one candidate a nudist, the other one as firing the "ak ak gun", and humiliates and blows the cover of another FBI agent by pulling out the agent's pistol. Turner then meets the kids, who are Carrie, a 7-year old cheerleader, Andrew, a 3-year old child who loves to jump off heights, and cannot talk, and Molly, a 15-year old goth girl. After severely neglecting her tasks, she is fired, but Mrs. Fuller (Emily Procter) changes her mind at the last minute.
Big Momma is soon accepted within the household and becomes a daily part of their lives. Tasks such as accompanying Mrs. Fuller to the spa, taking the family to the beach, watching out for trouble, or simply playing a game of bingo (intending to find out the password for the program) soon become part of her routine.
After he finds out the password for Mr. Fuller, he is called by Molly who tells him that she needs him at a nightclub, and is really scared. Malcolm/Big Momma goes at once, only to find that Molly was lured there by Fuller's bosses, who kidnap her and Malcolm.
Big Momma has a blade, which Molly reaches for and uses to free the two. Big Momma sees Tom giving a Chinese man a disc, he puts it in his laptop (and is granted full access to FBI data), and he points on a sea-doo jumping it onto the deck, sending it into 2 terrorists and landing on one herself. She helps Tom the way Big Momma handles them. Big Momma and Tom leave, but one of the terrorists fires a gun at Big Momma. The FBI shows up, and Big Momma's co-worker is given handcuffs to put on Tom, but Big Momma tells the woman in charge that Tom's family was threatened, and that no charges should be filed. They agree, and the case is solved.
After this, Big Momma goes to the girls' state championships. Their stuntwoman has broken her leg, Big Momma help them out by doing the stunts herself. The film ends with Big Momma leaving a letter telling the Fullers that she must go on, and that she might one day be at their door.
20. Forest Gump (1994): The film begins with a feather falling to the feet of Forrest Gump who is sitting at a bus stop in Savannah, Georgia. Forrest picks up the feather and puts it in the book Curious George, then tells the story of his life to a woman seated next to him. The listeners at the bus stop change regularly throughout his narration, each showing a different attitude ranging from disbelief and indifference to rapt veneration.
On his first day of school, he meets a girl named Jenny, whose life is followed in parallel to Forrest's at times. Having discarded his leg braces, his ability to run at lightning speed gets him into college on a football scholarship. After his college graduation, he enlists in the army and is sent to Vietnam, where he makes fast friends with a black man named Bubba, who convinces Forrest to go into the shrimping business with him when the war is over. Later while on patrol, Forrest's platoon is attacked. Though Forrest rescues many of the men, Bubba is killed in action. Forrest is awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for his heroism.
While Forrest is in recovery for a bullet shot to his buttocks, he discovers his uncanny ability for ping-pong, eventually gaining popularity and rising to celebrity status, later playing ping-pong competitively against Chinese teams. At an anti-war rally in Washington, D.C. Forrest reunites with Jenny, who has been living a hippie counterculture lifestyle.
Returning home, Forrest endorses a company that makes ping-pong paddles, earning himself $25,000, which he uses to buy a shrimping boat, fulfilling his promise to Bubba. His commanding officer from Vietnam, Lieutenant Dan, joins him. Though initially Forrest has little success, after finding his boat the only surviving boat in the area after Hurricane Carmen, he begins to pull in huge amounts of shrimp and uses it to buy an entire fleet of shrimp boats. Lt. Dan invests the money in "some kind of fruit company" (Apple Computer) and Forrest is financially secure for the rest of his life. He returns home to see his mother's last days.
One day, Jenny returns to visit Forrest and he proposes marriage to her. She declines, though feels obliged to prove her love to him by sleeping with him. She leaves early the next morning. On a whim, Forrest elects to go for a run. Seemingly capriciously, he decides to keep running across the country several times, over some three and a half years, becoming famous.
In present-day, Forrest reveals that he is waiting at the bus stop because he received a letter from Jenny who, having seen him run on television, asks him to visit her. Once he is reunited with Jenny, Forrest discovers she has a young son, of whom Forrest is the father. Jenny tells Forrest she is suffering from a virus (probably HIV, though this is never definitively stated).[1][2][3] Together the three move back to Greenbow, Alabama. Jenny and Forrest finally marry. Jenny dies soon afterward.
The film ends with father and son waiting for the school bus on little Forrest's first day of school. Opening the book his son is taking to school, the white feather from the beginning of the movie is seen to fall from within the pages. As the bus pulls away, the white feather is caught on a breeze and drifts skyward.
21. Idlewild (2006): Percival (Benjamin) and Rooster (A. Patton) have been good friends since childhood. However as they grow up they each begin to live separate lives. Percival works at his father Percy Senior's (Vereen) morgue preparing dead bodies during the day, and works at a local club called Church (owned by Ace (Love)) at night playing the piano. Rooster grows up and involves himself in gambling, partying and business deals; he also gets married to Zora (Williams) and has a family. In addition, Rooster also works at the Church club as a performer. Another performer at the club is Taffy (Gray) who is a drunk, loudmouth, jealous diva, who is slowly falling out of the limelight.
One night when Rooster shows up late to the club, due to an argument with his wife Zora, everyone becomes upset and rowdy including gangsters Spat (Rhames), Trumpy (Howard), Ace and Rose (Paula Jai Parker) who have a business deal with the club and Rooster. Finally Rooster shows up and performs, Rooster, Spat, Trumpy and Ace talk about their deal and how Spat and Trumpy can get their money. Meanwhile backstage a sexy singer from St. Louis named Angel Davenport (P. Patton) comes into the club and starts to complain about her train ride and her contract with the club, Angel also begins to flirt with Percival.
Rooster and Rose have sex in a car in a warehouse until they hear people coming into the warehouse, Rose jumps out of the car, gets dressed and confronts Spat, Trumpy and Ace who have just arrived. Rose then runs off, Trumpy then shoots and kills Spat and Ace and then walks out of the warehouse.
The following day Percival receives his boss Ace's body at the morgue and begins to insult him. Soon after Angel comes to visit Percival at the morgue and they begin to talk. Meanwhile Rooster runs into Trumpy while taking his family shopping and Trumpy explains that the debt owed by Ace is now his problem. He has to come up with this money by selling "hooch" or liquor at Church bought from Trumpy's "suppliers". Rooster goes to Rose's house to warn her of danger, but she is already packed up and ready to leave. As Rose drives away in a taxi, she is being watched by one of Trumpy's henchmen (However this henchman tells Trumpy the wrong information about what he saw).
Meanwhile Rooster begins to have more problems at the club, and forces Angel to sing. Angel then has a flashback of how she stole the real Angel Davenport's (LaBelle) identity, and begins to show fear about singing onstage. However Percival gives her a song that he wrote for her to sing. At first she shows stagefright and is booed at the club, but then she gets into the song and the crowd goes wild, and Percival and Angel fall in love. Angel tells Percival how she plans on doing a concert in Chicago, and then travelling then world.
During a storm, Percival is playing the piano in the attic of the morgue, while Angel lies on her bed thinking about him, Angel runs over to the morgue to be with Percival, and the two have sex. Roosters's wife Zora gets tired of his cheating and moves with their children to her mother's house. Angel finds out that she got the deal in Chicago and persuades Percival to go with her, but he refuses, since he wants to stay and take care of his father.
The next morning Angel wakes to find out that Percival knew that she wasn't who she said she was, and reveals that her real name is Sally B Shelly and finally persuades him to go to Chicago with her.
Rooster devised a plan to buy liquor from two bootleggers that are well known to him, GW (Nunn) and his partner. One day, Rooster is making his rounds to pick up hooch from GW to load in a hearse borrowed from Percival, when he sees a car on the road that seems to be stuck. He approaches the car to see an old woman Mother Hopkins (Tyson) and her grandchildren. The Mother Hopkins tells Rooster that he is an angel and gives him a bible. Rooster walks into the old abandoned house of the two bootleggers and sees that GW's partner is killed and Gw is being beaten to the point of death by Trumpy's henchmen.
Rooster is caught and brought to Trumpy, and GW is shot and killed. There is a fight between Rooster and Trumpy's henchmen. Rooster is shot but not killed due to the bible in his jacket and drives away in a hearse. However Trumpy pursues him and shoots at him. Rooster escapes into the Church club, and soon after Trumpy arrives at the club. Before going to Chicago, Angel and Percival decide to make a stop at the Church club, Rooster and Trumpy have a dramatic fight in the club and shots are fired by Trumpy. Everyone in the club panics, and just when Trumpy is about to shoot Rooster, Trumpy is shot and killed by Percival.
Percival then notices that Angel has been shot and runs to her aid. However Angel dies soon afterward and Percival begins to grieve. He then tends to her and prepares her for burial, dressing her up in a wedding gown and slipping a ring on her finger, implying that he was planning on marrying her. Afterwards, Percival attempts to commit suicide by hanging himself in his room, but is stopped when Rooster rings the doorbell, and Percival goes to answer it. Percival is consoled and gives Angel's Chicago bound ticket to Rooster, who is then reunited with his wife and children. Percival then begins to make records and tour in clubs throughout America and becomes famous. Pictures of Percival, and Angel in her coffin are hung next to a picture of Percival's mother in her coffin at Percival's house.
22. Indiana Jones & The Last Crusade (1989): the prologue depicts a young Indiana Jones in 1912 as a Boy Scout in Utah, battling grave robbers for the Cross of Coronado (an ornamental cross belonging to Francisco Vásquez de Coronado). As the foiled grave robbers give chase, Indiana hides in a circus train, in the process using a whip, scarring his chin, and gaining a fear of snakes. Although he rescues the cross, the robbers tell the Sheriff that Indiana was the thief, and he is forced to return it, while his oblivious father Henry is working on his research. The leader of the hired robbers, dressed very similarly to the future Indiana, gives him his fedora with some encouraging words. In 1938, an adult Indiana is on the robbers' ship, the Coronado, off the Portuguese coast, finally retrieving the Cross and donating it to Marcus Brody's museum.
Indiana meets the wealthy Walter Donovan, who informs him that Indy's father vanished while searching for a clue to the location of the Holy Grail, using an incomplete stone tablet as his guide. Indy receives a package which turns out to be his father's Grail diary in which he recorded all his findings and clues towards the Holy Grail. Understanding that his father would not have sent the Grail Diary, his father's life's work, to him unless he was in trouble, Indiana and Marcus travel to Venice. There they meet the beautiful and mysterious Dr. Elsa Schneider who had been working with Indiana's father. Using clues in Henry's diary, Indiana and Elsa search the ancient catacombs underneath the library where Henry was last seen. The catacombs are filled with oil slicked water several feet deep and infested with rats. Inside is the tomb of Sir Richard, a knight of the First Crusade, whose shield holds a complete version of the half-tablet which Henry Jones had found.
The Brotherhood of the Cruciform Sword, a secretive and fanatical religious cult that protects the Holy Grail, sets fire to the oil in the catacombs to kill Indiana and Elsa. Indiana overturns Richard's sarcophagus so that he and Elsa can take refuge underneath it from the flames, and emerge from a sewer grate in Venice outside the library. Indiana and Elsa commandeer a motorboat to escape, managing to fight off all but the cult's leader, Kazim, during the ensuing chase. Jones convinces Kazim that he is looking for his father, not the Grail, and Kazim reveals that his father is being held in a castle near the Austrian-German border. Indiana finds his father, but they are betrayed by Elsa and Donovan, who worked with the Nazis to stage Henry's kidnapping, so that Indiana would solve the mystery of the Grail for them. Meanwhile, in İskenderun, Hatay, the Nazis capture Brody, to whom Indiana had given the map for safekeeping.
Indiana and Henry are tied up, but escape and travel to Berlin to retrieve Henry's diary, which contains the clues to evade three booby traps guarding the Grail. At a Nazi book burning rally, a disguised Indiana corners Elsa and forces her to return the diary to him. Indiana and Henry travel on a Zeppelin, but Indy realizes the Nazis have caught up to them when the Zeppelin changes course. They escape the ship by taking an attached fighter plane, evading Nazi dogfighters. Henry accidentally shoots out the tailfin, and they crash land. They steal a car, causing one Nazi plane to be destroyed when it follows them through a tunnel. On a beach, Henry uses his umbrella to stir up a flock of seagulls, which strike the second plane, crashing it. The Joneses meet up with Sallah and confront the Nazis, who have captured Brody. The Brotherhood of the Cruciform Sword also appears, attacking the Nazi caravan, but are defeated. Henry attempts to rescue Brody from the tank wherein he is being held, but is himself captured. Indiana jumps onto the tank and rescues the captives before it drives off a cliff. The others believe Indiana is dead until he climbs back up the cliff, where he emotionally reunites with his father.
The Joneses, Sallah, and Brody reach the Canyon of the Crescent Moon, the site of the temple housing the Grail. The Nazis capture them in the temple, and Donovan shoots Henry, forcing Indiana to retrieve the Grail, so as to heal his father's fatal wounds. Guided by the diary, Indiana circumvents the deadly booby traps, reaching a room where a knight of the First Crusade, kept alive by the power of the Grail, has hidden it among many false cups, while Donovan and Elsa follow. The knight informs them that, if they wish for the Grail, they must choose wisely for it, for while drinking from the true Grail will bring them everlasting life, a false Grail will take it from them. Elsa identifies a golden, bejeweled cup as the Grail, and Donovan impatiently drinks from it. Realizing the Grail is false, Donovan dies, aging rapidly into dust.
Indiana picks out the true Grail, a plain cup with a gold interior, worthy of a humble carpenter (Jesus), and drinks from it, whereupon the knight advises him that he has chosen "wisely". Indiana fills the Grail with water and uses it to heal Henry. Despite a warning from the knight not to let the Grail go past the Great Seal in accordance with the Law of God, Elsa tries to leave with the Grail and the interior starts to collapse. She loses her balance at the edge of a newly-formed crevasse; despite Indiana's attempts to lift her, she greedily reaches for the Grail and falls into the abyss. Indiana loses his footing and finds himself in the same situation, with his father keeping him from following the same fate as Elsa. He also tries to get the Grail, until Henry says simply, "Indiana, let it go."
Realizing that this is the first time his father has properly referred to him as an individual (rather than condescendingly calling him Junior), and that his father valued his son over the Grail, Indiana reaches up and holds on. The Grail and the old knight are left in the ruins as the Joneses, Brody, and Sallah escape the crumbling temple. Afterward, Henry reveals that Indiana was the family dog's name, much to Sallah's amusement, and that Indiana's real name is Henry Jones Jr. All four then ride off into the sunset.
23. Inspector Gadget Last Case (2002): In 2002, DiC released an animated direct-to-video feature film called Inspector Gadget's Last Case, directed by Michael Maliani.
When Inspector Gadget gives up his beloved but aging Gadgetmobile, his archenemy Dr. Claw uses a competing crime fighter to discredit Gadget and cost him his badge.
It should be noted that in this film, Gadget is less bumbling and clueless than his 1983 series counterpart, whereas Penny and Brain get far less screen time. In this movie, Dr. Claw's face is also finally visible to the audience...sort of.
This film has the same animation style as the Gadgetinis series, paving the way for the concepts to follow in Gadget and the Gadgetinis.
Gadget's voice was provided by veteran voice actor Maurice LaMarche rather than Don Adams.
24. King Kong (2005): The film opens in New York City, 1933, at the height of the Great Depression. Having lost her job as a vaudeville actress, Ann Darrow is hired by troubled filmmaker Carl Denham to be an actress in his new motion picture. With time running out, Ann signs on when she learns her favorite playwright Jack Driscoll is the screenwriter. On the SS Venture, they slowly fall in love. As for Carl, a warrant is out for his arrest and Captain Englehorn begins to have second thoughts, following the fears of his crew over the legend of Skull Island. Despite his attempt to turn around, their ship is sucked up into a fog and crashes into one of the encircling rocks.
Carl and his crew explore the island, with a deserted village against a wall, but they are attacked by the vicious natives. Mike, the sound technician, is speared, one of the sailors has his head crushed, and Jack is knocked out. Ann screams, and a roar beyond the wall responds. The matriarch vows to sacrifice her to "Kong", a 7.6 metres (25 ft) gorilla.Englehorn and his crew break up the attack and return to the damaged ship. They finally lighten the load to steer away, until Jack discovers Ann has been kidnapped. On the island, Ann is hung from a balcony to the other side of a valley. The crew comes armed, but are too late. Carl sees the 7.6 m (25 ft) gorilla that has taken her. Englehorn gives them 24 hours to find her. In the meantime, Ann discovers the remains of the previous sacrifices, and stabs Kong's hand with her ceremonial necklace to no avail. Kong takes Ann into the jungles of the island.
Ann and Kong share one last moment atop the Empire State Building, before the arrival of the biplanes.
The rescue party is caught up in a Venatosaurus pack's hunt of Brontosaurus, and four of them are killed while Jack and the rest of the crew survive. Ann manages to entertain Kong with juggling and dancing, but he does not kill her when she refuses to continue. He leaves her. The rest of the rescue party come across a swamp. It is here that Bruce Baxter and two others leave the group. The survivors stumble across a log where Kong attacks, shaking them off the log into a ravine. He returns to rescue Ann from three Vastatosaurus rexes (modern Tyrannosaurs), and takes her up to his mountain lair. Englehorn and the rest of the crew rescue whomever is left of the rescue party from the pit of giant insects, and as Jack decides to continue to search for Ann, Carl decides to capture Kong. Jack comes to Kong's lair, and disturbs him from his slumber. As Kong fights a swarm of giant bats, Ann and Jack escape by grabbing the wing of a Terapusmordax and then jumping to a river. They arrive at the village wall with the angry Kong following them, where Ann becomes distraught by what Carl plans to do. Kong bursts through the gate and struggles to get her back, but he is knocked out by chloroform.
In New York around Christmas, Carl presents Kong - the Eighth Wonder of the World on Broadway. Ann has become an anonymous chorus girl and a double of her is no replacement for Kong. Camera flashes from photographers enrage the gorilla. Kong breaks free from his chrome-steel chains and chases Jack across town, where he encounters Ann again. They share a quiet moment on a frozen lake in Central Park, before the army attacks. Kong climbs onto the Empire State Building, where he makes his last stand against the Curtiss Helldivers,[3] downing three of them. Ultimately Kong is hit by several bursts of gunfire from the surviving planes, and gazes at a distraught Ann for the last time before falling off the building to his death. Ann is greeted by Jack, and the reporters flood to Kong's corpse. Carl takes one last look and says "It wasn't the airplanes. It was Beauty killed the Beast."
25. Monster’s Inc (2001): The story is set in Monstropolis, a 1930's retro city inhabited by monsters, and centers around Monsters, Inc., the city's power company. Monsters, Inc. sends its employees to human children's bedrooms to scare the children, through teleportation doors set up on the work floor. The screams of children generate electric power for the city. In addition, the monsters believe that human children themselves are toxic (part of the skill involved in scaring includes avoiding contact with the children). The chairman and chief executive officer of Monsters, Inc. is a crustacean-like monster called Henry J. Waternoose (James Coburn).
The top scarer at Monsters, Inc. is James P. "Sulley" Sullivan (John Goodman), a furry, blue, behemoth-like giant who is partnered with the short, green, one-eyed Mike Wazowski (Billy Crystal). The two of them are best friends and roommates. Sulley is a gentle and easy-going creature, while Mike is obsessed with his car and with marrying his girlfriend, the Medusa-like Celia Mae (Jennifer Tilly). Sulley's main rival as a scarer is the chameleon-like Randall Boggs (Steve Buscemi), who possesses the ability to change the color of his skin to match his surroundings, and is second only to Sulley in the scarer ranks.
As Sulley and Mike go to work one day, they discuss Monstropolis's power shortage. Children have become desensitized to fear by over-exposure to television, and screams are harder to provoke. Just before they are about to leave after a long day, the secretary, the slug-like Roz, asks Mike to hand in his paperwork. Mike had forgotten about it, and leaves it to Sulley to fill up his papers and hand them in, since Mike is in a hurry to leave on a date with Celia for her birthday. As Sulley reaches the work floor to find Mike's papers, he finds a lone door on the work floor after hours, which is a violation of policy.
After inspecting the door, Sulley discovers a human toddler (Mary Gibbs) behind it. Because Sulley lacks the access card required to open the door, he cannot send her home. Frightened, he tries to hide the girl from coworkers, believing he could be blamed for her presence. After several misadventures, Sulley takes the girl to Mike, who is enjoying a romantic dinner with Celia at a sushi restaurant. The girl escapes from Sulley's grip at the restaurant, creating havoc amongst the monsters, and triggering the Child Detection Agency troops to take action; Mike and Sulley grab the girl and hurry home, trying to avoid the CDA.
The girl stays overnight at Mike and Sulley's apartment and is soon named Boo, for her habit of saying "Boo!" to surprise Sulley. The two find that she is not dangerous as they thought, but still plan to return her to her world the next day to avoid trouble from the CDA. They disguise her as a monster and sneak her inside Monsters, Inc., where they lose and regain track of her on two or three accounts. Eventually, Mike is caught by Randall, who offers to return Boo's door to the work floor. When Sulley mistrusts Randall, Mike enters the door himself to prove its safety and is mistaken for Boo by Randall, who places him in a box and takes him to a room hidden in the basement of the scream factory. There, Mike is shown a Scream Extractor, a large, vacuum-based device designed to drain energy from children. Sulley and Boo, who have followed Randall, distract him and free Mike from the machine, leaving Randall's assistant in his place.
Sulley decides to inform Waternoose of Randall's evil scheme, but is forced to participate in a scare demo to teach new scare recruits. Boo is frightened by Sulley's roar, and running away, she trips; the hood of her costume reveals that she is the escaped human child. Sulley, in his guilt, looks up at the images of the scare in action, revealing Boo's crying face. Sulley understands how children really feel when scared.
Mike quickly reports Randall's scheming to Waternoose before he can seize Boo. But it turns out that Waternoose is the mastermind of Randall's scheme. Because of the decline in productivity, he fears for the company's future, and sees Randall's machine as the only way of ensuring Monsters Inc's survival. Waternoose betrays Sulley and Mike, and banishes the two into the Himalayas through a one-way teleportation door.
The two stay with the Abominable Snowman (John Ratzenberger) at a cave until the Snowman tells Sulley of a village far below the mountain. After an argument with Mike, Sulley sneaks back to the monsters' world through a closet door in a child's bedroom in the village; after some deep thought, Mike soon follows. The two confront Randall and attempt to rescue Boo from scream extractor. Mike, Sulley, and Boo then lead Randall on a chase through moving teleporation doors, before Randall seems to have the upper hand on Sulley. Boo, furious at Randall, attacks him until Sulley climbs out of danger and he seizes Randall by the throat. Then Mike and Sulley throw Randall (whom Boo is no longer afraid of) through a teleportation door that sends him to a remote motorhome in a Louisiana swamp, where he is beaten senseless with a shovel by the family living inside, who mistake him for an alligator. Mike and Sulley destroy the door Randall went through, thus ensuring that he doesn't return.
Upon returning to the scare floor, Mike distracts the CDA while Sulley and Boo run off with Boo's door. Waternoose, however, spots this and pursues them. Sulley lures Waternoose onto the company's scare rehearsal stage. At the stage, Sulley angers Waternoose to such an extent that Waternoose blurts out his despicable plans in a rage. But then, the curtain goes up and Mike has the CDA watching the truth come out. Waternoose's statement is caught on tape, and he is taken into custody by the CDA. It is also revealed that the secretary, Roz, was in fact the leader of the CDA and had been doing undercover work to trap Randall for the agency. She admits without Sulley getting caught in the incident, she had never known the company corruption went as high as Waternoose. Boo is soon sent home and her door is put through a wood chipper, and Sulley says one last goodbye.
During his time with Boo, Sulley has learned that children's laughter is much better than screams at generating power. Using this revolutionary approach, Sulley is made the new chairman and CEO of Monsters, Inc. and the company is redefined. Now the monsters enter through the teleportation doors and make kids laugh; in this way, ample power is created for Monstropolis, thus ending the power shortages in the city. Meanwhile, Mike has secretly reassembled Boo's splintered door, and the only part missing from it is the wood chip that Sulley had salvaged as a memory of Boo. Mike shows this to Sulley, and Sulley puts the wood chip in place and the door becomes functional. Then, Sulley enters through the door to take a peek inside. Boo is heard but not seen, and the movie ends with a surprised and pleased smile on Sulley's face.
At the end, several comical "out-takes" are shown where the movie's characters are portrayed as actors. There is also a low-budget musical put on for the employees based on their lie from earlier in the movie. These are also available on the 'bonus features' section of the DVD.
26. Scooby Doo & The Legend Of Vampire (2002): The film takes place in Australia and Vampire Rock, a Rock formation shaped like a vampire head. There is a legend of a vampire named the Yowie Yahoo, who lives in the rock. The film starts at Vampire Rock where the "Vampire Rock Music Festival" is being set up. Many people are excited for it, but some don't think it should take place because it would anger the Yowie Yahoo. One such person is Malcolm Illiwara, but the problem is, his own grandson Daniel is the manager of the contest! One night, as Malcolm and his son watch a sure-to-win performer named Matt Marvelous, the Yowie Yahoo appears! The Yowie Yahoo and its three Vampire minions capture Matt Marvelous and take him away. Everybody is scared, and Malcolm blames the contest for what happened.
Meanwhile, Scooby-Doo and Mystery Inc. arrive in Australia for a vacation after solving the mystery of the Sea Serpent Smugglers on a cruise ship. After seeing the harbor, the gang decides to go to the outback and see the music festival. When they arrive, they meet the Hex Girls, (the band the gang had met before in Scooby-Doo and the Witch's Ghost) who are the opening act. They also see Daniel, Malcolm, and Russell, who runs the contest with Daniel. Malcolm says he has warned Daniel about what has happened and drives off. Daniel tells them that most of the performers have left because they are too scared of the vampires. Daniel and Russell then tell them about Wildwind, a musical group who performed at the Vampire Rock Music Festival the year before. They tell the gang Wildwind put on a great performance, but only got third place. They then went into Vampire Rock to camp, but were never heard from again. There were three performers, Dark Skull, Stormy Weather, and Lightning Strikes. Legend says that they have been turned into Vampires by the Yowie Yahoo. Daniel says he does not believe it, but then Russell reminded him that the three Vampires who were with the Yowie Yahoo when it kidnapped Matt Marvelous looked just like the members of Wildwind!
Fred decides the best way to solve the mystery is to enter the contest as a band, in order to drive the Yowie Yahoo to capture them. Russell is skeptical, but Daniel thinks it is a good idea. The Hex Girls make them look like rock stars, and soon they are on stage. While they are practicing, (but not very well), a golf cart approaches them. In it are Jasper Ridgeway, a snotty manager, and his band, the Bad Omens, who have three performers. They criticize the gangs playing and make them leave the stage so they can practice. Then the gang learns that Ridgeway was once the manager of Wildwind. Jasper says Wildwind was the greatest band he ever managed and is sad that they disappeared. He then complains about the head and camping, and goes back to his "tent", leaving his band to practice. The gang grows suspicious of Ridgeway and thinks he might have put his band up to masquerading as vampires and getting rid of all the other performers. They split up, with Fred, Velma, and Daphne going to Jasper's trailer and Shaggy and Scooby staying at the food stands.
At the trailer, Fred, Velma, and Daphne find that Jasper has lots of mementos of Wildwind, including three copies of the suits the band members used. They also wonder why Jasper did not come to his trailer, (as they have been there); when he said he was going to. Meanwhile, Scobby and Shaggy get chased by the Wildwind Vampires, but eventually loose them. They end up back at the stage, where the Bad Omens are rehearsing. There, they witness the Yowie Yahoo and the Wildwind vampires capture the Bad Omens is the same way they captured Matt Marvelous. They tell the others. Jasper is sad they are gone, but then he says he should have gone back to his trailer, when in fact he was never there at all. Fred decides that everyone should sleep at the same place, so no one gets taken.
During the night, a band named Two Skinny Dudes arrives. They say they have been staying in Vampire Rock, but have not seen any. Jasper quickly forgets the Bad Omens and asks Two Skinny Dudes if they wanted him to be their manager, which makes the gang suspicious. The next day the gang and Daniel go to see Malcolm. He explains how Wildwind was foolish to go into Vampire Rock. He also says how Vampires hate the sun, cannot run over running water, and cannot be seen in a picture. That night is the performance, and the Hex Girls start things off. However, the Yowie Yahoo and the Wildwind vampires appear and capture the Hex Girls! The crowd thinks it was an act, but the gang decides to investigate the rock.
Inside, Fred, Velma, and Daphne find lots of special effects equipment like fans and lights. However, they also find the Wildwind Vampires and get chased. Scooby and Shaggy get trapped by a group of dingoes. The sound of Fred, Velma, and Daphne running scares off the Dingoes, but then the whole gang gets trapped by the vampires and the Yowie Yahoo. The gang is able to avoid them until the sun comes up. The sun reflects off Scooby-Doo's collar, which shines on the Yowie Yahoo and destroys him. However, the Wildwind vampires are not affected by the sun or running over water, and give chase to the gang. The chase them until the gang and Daniel unleash a trap and capture the "vampires". Jasper and Daniel are confused at who did it, but the gang knows. After splashing water on the faces to get rid of the makeup, the gang shows that it was Two Skinny Dudes and Russell. Daniel and Jasper are surprised, but get even more surprised when the gang unmasks them and it is shown that the members of Wildwind are the actual Vampires. They explain how they wanted to start up their carrier, so they posed as dead and were planning to perform again. They used special effects to make the Yowie Yahoo and climbing equipment to fly around. When asked about the missing performers, they said they gave them free Great Barrier Reef Scuba Diving tours and sent them away. Then the Hex Girls and Malcolm show up. They say they were left in the Outback because they did not want the trip, but Malcolm found them.
Wildwind are sent to jail. Daniel says that Mystery Inc's. band is the only one left, so they win. The film ends with the gang performing to the crowd and getting their band name, Those Meddling Kids.
27. Scooby Doo In Arabian Nights (1994): Scooby and Shaggy are hired as royal food-tasters by a young Arab Caliph - a job offer they can't refuse. When they eat everything, the Caliph gets mad and has his guards chase them, until he finds Shaggy disguised in drag as a harem girl. In order to make the prince fall asleep, Shaggy tells him two classic stories:
• The first tale is about a female character named Aliyah-din and how the genies (played by Yogi and Boo Boo) help her obtain the love of a prince while thwarting the plot of the evil wizard Haman.
• The second tale is about Sinbad the Sailor (played by Magilla Gorilla) and how he mistakens a pirate ship for a cruise ship.
When Shaggy is about to escape, the Caliph decides to start the ceremony right away. When the wedding cake arrives, Shaggy pigs out and his ruse is discovered. He and Scooby are asked to be the royal storytellers, and the duo accept as well as being the royal food tasters again.
28. The Simpsons Movie (2007): While rock band Green Day are performing on Lake Springfield they are killed when the pollution in the lake erodes their barge. At a memorial service, Grampa has a prophetic vision in which he predicts the impending doom of the town, but only Marge takes it seriously. Lisa and an Irish boy named Colin, whom she has fallen in love with, hold a meeting where they convince the town to clean up the lake.
Meanwhile, Homer adopts a pig from a restaurant. Homer stores the pig's feces in an overflowing silo which Marge tells him to dispose of safely. However, Homer gets distracted and instead dumps the silo in the lake, re-polluting it. Moments later, a squirrel jumps into the lake and becomes severely mutated. Nearby, Flanders and Bart discover the squirrel during a hike, and the EPA captures it. Russ Cargill, head of the EPA, presents five options to President Schwarzenegger, who randomly picks the action of enclosing Springfield in a giant glass dome. When the police discover Homer's silo in the lake, an angry mob of townspeople approach the Simpsons' home but the family escapes through a sinkhole and flee to Alaska.
Cracks start to appear in the dome and Cargill, not wanting news of what he has done to become widespread, plans to destroy Springfield. In Alaska, the Simpsons see an advertisement for a new Grand Canyon to be located on the site that was Springfield. Marge and the kids decide to go and save the town, but Homer refuses to help the people who tried to kill them. The family abandon Homer and leave but are captured by the EPA and placed back in the dome. After a visit from a mysterious Inuit shaman, Homer has an epiphany and believes he must save the town in order to save himself.
Just as he arrives at Springfield to do so, a helicopter lowers a bomb suspended by rope through a hole in the dome. Homer climbs to the peak of the dome and descends the rope, knocking the escaping townspeople and bomb off. Homer grabs the bomb and a motorcycle. After reuniting with Bart, they cycle up the side of the dome and Bart throws the bomb through the hole, seconds before detonation. The bomb explodes, shattering the dome. The town praises Homer, who rides off with Marge on the motorcycle into the sunset. The townspeople begin restoring Springfield back to normal.
29. Star Wars IV A New Hope (1977): An opening crawl reveals that the galaxy is in a state of civil war. The Rebel Alliance has stolen plans to the Galactic Empire's Death Star: a space station capable of annihilating a planet. Rebel leader Princess Leia Organa has possession of the plans, but her ship is captured by Imperial forces under the command of Darth Vader. Before she is captured, Leia hides the plans in a droid named R2-D2, along with a holographic recording. The small droid escapes to the surface of the desert planet Tatooine with fellow droid C-3PO. The two droids are quickly captured by Jawa traders, who sell the pair to moisture farmer Owen Lars and his nephew, Luke Skywalker. While Luke is cleaning R2-D2, he accidentally triggers part of Leia's holographic message, in which she requests help from General Obi-Wan Kenobi. The only Kenobi Luke knows of is an old hermit named Ben Kenobi who lives in the nearby hills; but Owen dismisses any connection, suggesting that Obi-Wan is dead.
During dinner, R2-D2 escapes to seek Obi-Wan. Luke and C-3PO go out after him, and are met by Ben Kenobi. Kenobi reveals himself to be Obi-Wan, and takes Luke and the droids back to his hut. He tells Luke of his days as a Jedi Knight, and explains to Luke about a mysterious energy field called the Force. He also tells Luke about his association with Luke's father, also a Jedi, who he says was betrayed and murdered by Darth Vader, Kenobi's former pupil who turned to evil. Kenobi then views Leia's message, in which she begs him to take R2-D2 and the Death Star plans to her home planet of Alderaan, where her father will be able to retrieve and analyze them. Kenobi asks Luke to accompany him to Alderaan and to learn the ways of the Force. After initially refusing, Luke discovers that his home has been destroyed and his aunt and uncle killed by Imperial stormtroopers in search of the droids. Luke agrees to go with Kenobi to Alderaan, and the two hire smuggler Han Solo and his Wookiee co-pilot Chewbacca to transport them on their ship, the Millennium Falcon.
Meanwhile, Leia has been imprisoned on the Death Star and has resisted interrogation. Grand Moff Tarkin, the Death Star's commanding officer, tries to coax information out of her by threatening to destroy Alderaan, and proceeds to do so even after she appears to cooperate, as a means of demonstrating the power of the Empire's new weapon. The planet's destruction is felt by Kenobi aboard the Millennium Falcon while he is instructing Luke about the Force. When the Falcon arrives at the Alderaan's coordinates, they arrive instead in a field of rubble. They follow a TIE Fighter towards the Death Star, which they mistake for a moon, and are captured by the station's tractor beam and brought into its hangar bay. The group takes refuge in one a command room on the station while Kenobi goes off on his own to disable the tractor beam. While they are waiting, R2-D2 discovers in the stations computer that Princess Leia is onboard and is scheduled for termination. Han, Luke and Chewbacca stage a rescue and free the princess. Making their way back to the Millennium Falcon, their path is cleared by the spectacle of a lightsaber duel between Darth Vader and his former master, Kenobi. Kenobi allows himself to be struck down as the others race onto the ship and escape.
The Falcon journeys to the rebel base at Yavin IV where the Death Star plans are analyzed by the rebels and a potential weakness is found. The weakness will require the use of one-man fighters to slip past the Death Star's formidable defenses and attack a vulnerable exhaust port. Luke joins the assault team while Han collects his reward for the rescue and leaves, despite Luke's request for him to stay. The attack proceeds when the Death Star arrives in the system, having followed the Falcon to the rebel base. The rebel fighters suffer heavy losses and after several failed attack runs, Luke remains piloting one of the few remaining ships. Darth Vader appears with his own group of fighters and begins attacking the rebel ships. Luke begins his attack run with Vader in pursuit, as the Death Star approaches firing range of Yavin IV. During his run, Luke hears Kenobi's voice telling him to use the Force, and he turns off his targeting computer. As Vader is about to fire at Luke's ship, the Millennium Falcon appears and attacks Vader and his wingmen, sending Vader's ship careening off into space. Luke fires a successful shot which destroys the Death Star seconds before it fires on the rebel base. Later, at a grand ceremony, Princess Leia awards medals to Luke and Han for their heroism in the battle.
30. Star Wars VI Return Of The Jedi (1983): The opening crawl reveals that the Galactic Empire has been working on the construction of a new armored space station which is to be even larger and more powerful than the first Death Star. Jedi Knight Luke Skywalker, Chewbacca, Lando Calrissian, Princess Leia Organa, C-3PO, and R2-D2 return to Tatooine in an attempt to rescue Han Solo from the gangster Jabba the Hutt. Leia, disguised as a bounty hunter, attempts to secretly free Solo, who is still encased in carbonite. She succeeds, only to be discovered and captured by Jabba, who makes her his personal slave. Several days later Luke arrives to make one final plea to Jabba to release Solo. Luke is then captured by Jabba's guards and dropped into a dungeon to battle a rancor. After defeating the rancor he is sent along with Han Solo and Chewbacca to the Great Pit of Carkoon to be slowly consumed by the Sarlacc. With the help of R2-D2, Luke escapes and a large battle erupts; during the chaos, Leia repays Jabba for her humilation by strangling Jabba to death with her slave chains, and Han accidentally knocks Boba Fett, the bounty hunter who brought him to Jabba, into the pit where he is swallowed alive by the Sarlacc. Following this, Luke blasts Jabba's sail barge with its own deck cannon, and all of the heroes manage to escape before it explodes.
Luke then returns to Dagobah to complete his Jedi training. However, upon arriving, he finds Yoda is dying. Yoda tells Luke that no other training is required, but that he will not truly be a Jedi until he confronts Darth Vader who, Yoda confirms, is Luke's father. Yoda then dies, but not before telling Luke that "there is another Skywalker". The spirit form of Obi-Wan Kenobi then appears and confirms that Vader was once Anakin Skywalker, a former Jedi who was turned to the dark side of the Force. Though he initially seemed to imply that Vader was merely another Jedi who betrayed and murdered Anakin, Obi-Wan explains that Vader truly did this in the sense of the dark side consuming Anakin's mind, apparently destroying the good man who was Luke's father and replacing him as Vader. Luke asks Obi-Wan about the "other" Skywalker Yoda mentioned—Obi-Wan reveals that this "other" is his twin sister, hidden from Anakin and separated at birth to protect them both from the Emperor. Using his intuition, Luke quickly deduces that his sister is Leia, which Obi-Wan confirms.
Meanwhile, the entire Rebel Alliance is meeting to devise an attack strategy. As part of the attack, Han is elected to lead a strike team to deactivate the shield generator on the forest moon of Endor which is projecting a protective shield up to the orbiting and incomplete Death Star. Luke, having returned from Dagobah, joins him and Leia for this mission; however, he soon fears that, after sensing Vader's presence within the nearby Imperial Fleet, his own presence may endanger the mission. On Endor, Luke and his companions encounter a tribe of Ewoks, primitive yet intelligent indigenous forest creatures of Endor. With the help of C-3PO, whom the Ewoks believe is a god, they are able to forge an alliance with the forest creatures. Later, Luke decides that the time has come for him to face Vader. He confesses to Leia the truth about her and Vader, and that he has to try to save the man who was once their father. He surrenders peacefully to Vader and unsuccessfully tries to convince his father to abandon the dark side. They go to the Death Star and meet the Emperor, who reveals that he knew of the attack before, and that the Rebel Alliance is walking into a trap. On the forest moon, the Rebels – led by Solo and Leia – enter the shield generator control facility only to be taken prisoner by waiting Imperial forces. Once they are led out of the bunker, however, the Ewoks spring a surprise counterattack. A desperate ground battle begins with the Rebels and Ewoks fighting the Imperial forces. The Rebels eventually gain the upper hand, due in large part to a hijacked Imperial AT-ST Walker.
During the strike team's assault, the Rebel fleet, led by Lando, emerges from hyperspace for the battle over Endor, only to discover that the shield of the Death Star is still functioning. An intense space battle takes place as the Rebel fleet battles to give the surface party more time to complete their mission of deactivating the Death Star's shield. During the battle, the Death Star is revealed to be operational; its superlaser is fired at the Rebel fleet and obliterates two Rebel star cruisers. This forces a rethinking of strategy and the fleet closes with the Imperial star destroyers to prevent the superlaser from firing on the Rebel fleet without knocking out its own ships as well.
On the Death Star, the Emperor tempts Luke to give in to his anger. A ferocious lightsaber duel erupts between Luke and his father. In the midst of combat, Vader reads Luke's feelings and learns (apparently for the first time) that Leia is his daughter. When Vader toys with the notion of turning Leia to the dark side, Luke gives in to his anger and brutally overpowers his father, eventually slicing off Vader's robotic right hand. However, despite the Emperor's goading, Luke refuses to kill his father, realizing that he is traveling down his father's path towards the dark side. He declares himself a Jedi, like his father before him. Upon realizing that Luke cannot be turned, the Emperor tortures and slowly tries to kill him with Force lightning; in unspeakable pain, Luke begs his father for help. Unable to bear the sight of his son's torture, and refusing to lose him as he lost his beloved wife (Padme), Vader finally repents in return of his former self, Anakin Skywalker, and turns on the Emperor, grabbing him over his shoulder and throwing him down a reactor shaft to his death, thus fulfilling the ancient Jedi prophecy; restoring balance to the Force by destroying the greatest evil the galaxy had ever known. However, Vader did so while the Emperor was still firing Force lightning bolts at Luke and as a result he was hit with a fair portion of the bolts; the lightning shorted out his life support system and left him clinging to life. Moments from death, he begs Luke to take off his breath mask to see him with his own eyes. Luke does so, and finally sees his father's true face: that of a pale, withered man ravaged by the dark side. He entreats Luke to leave him and save himself, and to tell Leia that there was some good left in him after all. With those last words Anakin Skywalker dies, finally at peace.
Back on Endor, the strike team finally destroys the shield generator. The Rebel fleet seizes the opportunity to launch a final assault on the Death Star in space. Lando leads Wedge Antilles and his fighter group into the interior of the Death Star and they fire at the main reactor, causing its collapse. Luke escapes the Death Star with his father's body in an Imperial shuttle. Moments later, Wedge in his X-Wing and Lando in the Millennium Falcon emerge from the Death Star as well, just as it explodes. Back on Endor, Leia senses that Luke had escaped the station before it exploded. Han believes that she loves Luke and is prepared to let her go, but Leia reassures Han of her love for him and reveals (to his surprise and relief) that Luke is actually her brother. That evening, Luke cremates the remains of his father in his black armor on a funeral pyre on Endor.
The entire galaxy celebrates the fall of the Empire and the Rebellion's victory. On Endor, Luke, Leia, Han, Lando, and the rest of the Rebellion, along with the Ewoks, celebrate the victory as well. During the celebration, Luke catches sight of the spirit figures of Obi-Wan Kenobi, Yoda and the redeemed Anakin Skywalker, who watch over them with pride.
31. Superman (1978): On the planet Krypton, using evidence provided by the eminent scientist Jor-El, the Ruling Council sentences three insurrectionists, General Zod, Ursa and Non, to "eternal living death" in the Phantom Zone for attempting to install a dictatorship. Following this success, Jor-El attempts to convince the Council of his belief that the Kryptonian sun will shortly explode and destroy their planet, but they dismiss his theory as "outlandish". Threatened with his own imprisonment in the Phantom Zone if he makes his theory public or attempts to flee, Jor-El instead launches a spacecraft containing his infant son, Kal-El, towards Earth, a distant planet with a suitable atmosphere, ensuring he will survive. Barely after the ship launches, the sun explodes and Krypton is destroyed.
Three years later, the ship reaches Earth, crashing near an American farming town, Smallville, where little Kal-El is found by Jonathan Kent and wife Martha Kent and raised as their own son, Clark. Fifteen years later, after Jonathan Kent suddenly dies, Clark hears a psychic 'call', and discovers it is coming from a glowing green crystal in the remains of his ship. Compelled to travel north, he leaves the homestead and heads to a specific point in the Arctic, where the crystal somehow builds a "Fortress of Solitude", resembling the architecture of Krypton. Activating a control panel inside the fortress, a vision of Jor-El appears before him and takes him on a journey through time and space, explaining his origins and educating him in his powers and responsibilities. After twelve years, with his powers fully developed, he leaves the fortress and, as Clark Kent, finds a job at The Daily Planet in Metropolis. He meets and develops a crush upon fellow reporter Lois Lane, but the feelings are not returned, though she comes to regard him as a friend. Shortly afterwards, she is involved in a helicopter accident where conventional means of rescue are impossible, requiring him to use his powers in public for the first time in order to save her.
Later, he visits her at home, takes her for a flight over the city and allows her to interview him for a newspaper article in which she dubs him "Superman." Meanwhile, criminal genius Lex Luthor has developed a cunning plan to make a fortune in real estate, by buying large amounts of 'worthless' western desert land and then diverting a nuclear rocket from a missile testing site to the San Andreas fault line. This will destroy California and leave Luthor's desert as the new West Coast, increasing its value exponentially. After his incompetent henchman Otis accidentally redirects the first rocket to the wrong place, Luthor's girlfriend Eve Teschmacher successfully changes the course of a second missile. Realizing Superman could stop his plan, Luthor lures him to his underground hideaway, where he exposes him to Kryptonite, the only substance known to cause him harm. As Superman weakens, Luthor taunts him by revealing the first missile is headed to Hackensack, New Jersey, knowing Superman could not stop both impacts. Miss Teschmacher is horrified by this, as her mother lives in Hackensack, but Luthor does not care and leaves Superman to a slow death.
Miss Teschmacher, after some hesitation, rescues Superman, on the condition that he deals with the New Jersey missile first. He is consequently too late to stop the second impact; the missile explodes, causing a massive earthquake which Superman battles to correct. However, while he is busy saving others, Lois Lane is killed, when the earthquake causes her car to fall into a crevice, and she suffocates from debris. Distraught at being unable to save Lois, Superman ignores Jor-El's warning not to interfere with human history, preferring to take Jonathan Kent's advice that he is here for "a reason" and travels back in time in order to save Lois. Having finally corrected the disaster, Superman delivers Luthor and Otis to prison, until they can get a "fair trial." The Warden tells Superman that the country is safe again, thanks to him. Superman disagrees, saying, "Don't thank me, Warden. We're all a part of the same team." Flying away into the reaches of outer space, the Man of Steel flashes a smile knowing that all is right with the world.
32. Superman II (1980): A prologue recounts the trial of the Kryptonian criminals as seen at the beginning of Superman (although in this version of the scene, Jor-El is absent from the trial) in which General Zod and his co-conspirators, Ursa and Non, are banished to the Phantom Zone by the Kryptonian high council as punishment for attempting to establish a dictatorship to rule Krypton.
After the opening credits, which recap many important scenes from Superman, Clark Kent arrives for work and learns from his boss Perry White that Lois Lane is in France, where terrorists have seized the Eiffel Tower and threatened to level the city with a hydrogen bomb contained in an elevator. Clark immediately transforms into Superman and flies to Paris. He arrives just as the French authorities make an ill advised attempt to disarm the terrorists, by blowing up the support cables to the elevator where they are keeping the bomb. This activates the timer on the bomb and sends Lois, who had been hiding under the elevator seeking a story, plummeting. Superman catches the elevator, putting Lois out of harm's way, before throwing the elevator out of the atmosphere and into deep space, where it explodes. The shockwaves shatter the crystalline conduit into the Phantom Zone, now floating near Earth, and Zod, Non, and Ursa are released.
Lex Luthor, meanwhile, has escaped prison with Miss Teschmacher's help, leaving a hapless Otis behind. Luthor locates Superman's Arctic Fortress of Solitude, where he learns from a hologram about the three Kryptonian villains. Putting the pieces of the puzzle together, he hurries south, convinced his device has detected the three criminals' alpha wave signatures.
Clark and Lois are sent on assignment to Niagara Falls, Ontario, investigating what Perry calls a "honeymoon racket." They are walking near the falls when a boy drops over the railing. In the confusion, Clark is able to get away, change into Superman and save the boy. Lois suddenly decides it is far too convenient that Clark disappears every time Superman makes an appearance, and that Superman just happened to be right on hand to save that little boy. Soon after, she tries to prove it by jumping into the Niagara River, screaming for Superman to save her. Clark does not change his identity and remains his nerdy self, feigning panic. However, unbeknownst to Lois, he uses his heat vision to sever a tree branch for Lois to use to stay afloat. After Lois gets herself to shore, she scolds herself for putting herself in danger and actually believing Superman could be such a weakling like Clark.
However, later in their hotel room, Clark's powers are revealed when he accidentally trips and falls onto the fireplace with his bare hands. Seeing that he is unscathed, Lois realizes the truth. After some hesitation, Clark admits his secret identity and takes Lois to the Fortress of Solitude, showing her the crystals that created it and control its operations; given the green crystal to examine, Lois inadvertently leaves it under her purse, outside the control panel. After a conversation with the hologram of his mother Lara about the consequences of being in love with a "mortal" (Earth woman), Superman agrees to give up his powers to begin a relationship with Lois despite warnings that the process is irreversible. The process, which bombards Clark with a replication of the energy output spectrum of Krypton's sun, destroys the crystal control console. The two retire to his bedchamber.
Meanwhile, the three Kryptonian criminals have devastated a joint NASA-Soviet moon expedition, killing three astronauts. They fly to Earth, which they believe is called "Planet Houston" (having overheard radio transmissions with Mission Control in Houston, Texas). They wreak havoc on a small town (East Houston, Idaho), easily defeating the U.S. military. After defacing Mount Rushmore, the trio attacks the White House, where Zod forces the President of the United States to kneel before him.
Returning from the Fortress of Solitude, the now-depowered Clark is beaten up in a diner by a bullying truck driver. His despondent mood worsens when, in horror, he watches the President announcing his abdication and Zod's now-supreme authority over the Earth. The President suddenly pleads for Superman's help and Zod issues a challenge to Superman to face him. Realizing the danger posed to the world and the terrible mistake he made, Clark returns to the Fortress in search of a way to restore his lost powers. Arriving in the dark sanctum, he falls into despair, shouting for his father. He sees the green crystal glowing where Lois accidentally left it.
Meanwhile, General Zod and his cronies have grown bored with ruling the Earth, longing for a challenge. Lex Luthor pays them a visit in the Oval Office and negotiates a means to lure Superman to the villains by holding Lois hostage. He also reveals that Superman is the son of Jor-El, their imprisoner, knowing they will want revenge. They arrive at the Daily Planet offices and seize Lois, only to be interrupted by the arrival of Superman, his powers fully restored. A destructive battle ensues among the three Kryptonians as Superman struggles with the new experience of battling multiple enemies of his own power level. During the battle, Ursa and Zod discover Superman's weakness, his concern for human life, and use this against him. Finally, Superman flees, seemingly in defeat. Luthor convinces the villains that they must pursue Superman to his Fortress.
At the Fortress of Solitude Superman presents himself atop an opening above them. Non immediately launches himself at him but is cast back to the ground by a triangular entrapment fabric thrown by Superman. Superman then repels all three of them attempting to overpower him with beams of energy. This fails and Superman attempts to distract the villains with a hologram that creates multiple images of himself throughout the fortress. This interesting duel concludes when Zod, slightly unsure, is seized and overpowered by the real Superman. However, after grappling with Zod, Ursa and Non threaten to tear Lois limb from limb, and Superman agrees to release Zod and capitulate to them to spare her life. Superman manipulates Luthor into tricking the criminals, counting on Luthor to double-cross him. Superman is forced into the same depowering chamber he used before, and the red Krypton sunlight that drains super-powers is actually set loose on the Fortress. The three supervillains are drained of their powers, Lois and Luthor are unaffected, while Superman is safe inside the chamber. Superman feigns weakness and then crushes Zod's hand after seemingly accepting it in submission. Lois easily dispatches the now-powerless Ursa, and Non leaps towards Superman, only to find he can no longer fly. All three villains fall into the depths of Superman's fortress, apparently to their doom.
Back in Metropolis, Clark finds Lois in her office crying about how selfish she was to steal Clark away from his job as Superman. Clark then kisses Lois and in the process uses a form of telepathy to erase the knowledge of his dual identity from Lois, returning them to their usual status quo.
Later, Clark takes revenge on the customer who bullied him at the diner, who breaks his hand after attempting to punch the Man of Steel. Clark then shyly claims he has been lifting weights and pays the truckstop owner for the damages. The film closes with Superman restoring the American flag atop the White House and assuring the President that he will never again abandon his duty as Superman.Flying away into the reaches of outer space, the Man of Steel flashes a smile knowing that all is right with the world.The film ends by stating that the series will continue in Superman III.
33. Superman III (1983): In this third installment, unemployed Gus Gorman (Richard Pryor) discovers a knack for computer programming. After embezzling large amounts of money from the company payroll (through a technique known as salami slicing), Gorman is brought to the attention of his employer, Ross Webster. Webster (Vaughn), a wealthy man who runs a large conglomerate called Webscoe Industries, is obsessed with the computer's potential in aiding him in his schemes for world domination. Joined by his sister Vera and his "psychic nutritionist," Lorelei Ambrosia, Webster blackmails Gorman into helping him.
Meanwhile, Clark Kent has convinced his newspaper to allow him to return to Smallville for his high school reunion. In Smallville, Clark is reunited with childhood friend Lana Lang (Annette O'Toole). Lana is now a divorcee with a young son named Ricky (Paul Kaethler). Although Clark and Lana begin to share affection for each other, Lana's former boyfriend Brad (Gavan O'Herlihy), a former jock and Clark's childhood bully and now an alcoholic security guard, is still vying for her attention.
Back in Metropolis, Webster attempts to monopolize the world's coffee crop. Infuriated by Colombia's refusal to do business with him, he orders Gorman to command an American weather satellite, Vulcan, to create a hurricane to decimate the nation's entire coffee crop. However, Superman flies into the eye of the hurricane, neutralizing it and saving the year's harvest. Perceiving Superman as a threat to his plans, Webster then orders Gorman to use his computer knowledge to create synthetic Kryptonite after remembering Lois Lane's Daily Planet interview from Superman, during which Superman identified it as his only weakness. Gus creates the synthetic Kryptonite, but replaces an unknown element with tar.
Lana convinces Superman to make a personal appearance at her son's birthday party; however, the event becomes a community welcoming for the Man of Steel. Gus and Vera, disguised as an Army general and a WAC officer, give Superman the chunk of kryptonite as a gift, and are dismayed to see that it appears to have no effect on him. However, the compound begins to produce symptoms: Superman becomes selfish, which causes him to delay in rescuing a truck driver from his jackknifed rig and to question his own self-worth. As the Kryptonite takes effect, Superman becomes depressed, angry and casually destructive, committing petty acts of vandalism such as blowing out the Olympic torch and straightening the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Ross, seeing that Superman is presumably out of the way, creates new plans and orders a supercomputer to be built.
Superman sullenly assuages his depression with a drinking binge, but is overcome by guilt and has a nervous breakdown. After nearly crash-landing in a junkyard, he splits into two personas: the evil, selfish Superman and the moral, righteous Clark Kent. The evil Superman and Clark Kent, the embodiment of Superman's remaining good qualities, engage in an epic battle. Although Clark is initially overpowered by his alter ego, he eventually takes the upper hand, feverishly strangling his evil identity until he fades from sight.
After defending himself from an MX missile, he does battle with Gorman's supercomputer, which, after attempting to suffocate him, severely weakens the Man of Steel with a ray of real Kryptonite. Gorman, guilt-ridden and horrified by the prospect of "going down in history as the man who killed Superman", manages to destroy the deadly laser with a fire axe and Superman flees. The computer begins to malfunction, becoming self-aware, defending itself against Gus, and draining power from nearby electrical towers, causing massive blackouts. Ross and Lorelei are able to escape from the control room, but Vera is sucked into the main entrance of the computer and transformed into a cyborg. Empowered by the supercomputer, Vera attacks her brother and Lorelei with beams of energy, which weaken and immobilize them.
Superman returns with a small vial of acid from the chemical plant from earlier in the film. The intense heat emitted by the supercomputer causes the acid to turn volatile, destroying the machine and turning Vera back to normal. Superman flies away with Gus, leaving Webster and his cronies to face the authorities. After dropping Gus off at a West Virginia coal mine, where he gives him a job reference, Superman returns to Metropolis and reunites with Lana Lang, who has decided to relocate to the big city and finds employment as Perry White's new secretary.Flying away into the reaches of outer space, the Man of Steel flashes a smile knowing that all is right with the world.
34. Superman Returns (2006): As the film begins, we learn that Superman has been missing for five years. He has traveled to where astronomers believed they had discovered the remains of Krypton. Superman returns to Earth, crashing back into his adoptive mother's corn field in a craft like the one that delivered him to Earth when he was a baby. He returns to the The Daily Planet and his life as Clark Kent in Metropolis. He learns that Lois Lane has won the Pulitzer Prize for her article "Why the World Doesn't Need Superman."
During Superman's absence, Lex Luthor has been released from prison. While away, Superman missed the appeals trial to testify against Lex. Upon his release, Lex marries a rich widow and obtains her fortune, immediately upon her death. Lex travels to the Fortress of Solitude, steals Kryptonian crystals, and returns to Metropolis to experiment with a tiny fragment. The growing crystal causes a blackout due to an electromagnetic pulse, interfering with the test flight of a new space shuttle tethered to a Boeing 777—a plane which Lois Lane is aboard while covering the story. Clark flies into action as Superman and stops the plane from crashing onto a baseball field.
The world rejoices in Superman's return, but Lois is more concerned with the blackout. Clark meets her fiancé Richard White, nephew of Daily Planet editor-in-chief Perry White, and their son, Jason. Clark is emotionally hurt when he overhears a conversation between Lois and Richard in which she says she never loved Superman. He buries himself in his work, including halting a bank heist and saving Kitty, Luthor's co-conspirator. While Kitty distracts Superman, Luthor steals Kryptonite from the Metropolis Museum of Natural History. Perry assigns Lois to interview Superman while Clark investigates the blackout. That night, Superman arrives at The Daily Planet and takes Lois for a flight, during which he apologizes for leaving her.
After her latest Superman interview, Lois focuses her attention on the blackout again and ascertains its origin. She and Jason steal onto Luthor's ship, not realizing who owns it, and are captured. Luthor reveals his grand scheme: using one of the stolen Kryptonian crystals to grow a new continental landmass in the Northern Atlantic Ocean that will destroy much of Earth's existing continents, and in the process killing billions of people and leaving him as the new landmass' owner. After seeing Jason's adverse reaction to Kryptonite, Luthor inquires as to who Jason's father really is, but after Lois asserts that the father is Richard, he leaves to launch the crystal (now encased in green Kryptonite) into the sea. Under water, the crystal begins to create Luthor's new landmass. Lois faxes their co-ordinates to The Daily Planet and is attacked by a henchman. The henchman is hit by a piano, appearing as though Jason pushed it at him; afterward, Lois and Jason are imprisoned in a galley. Luthor hears of the incident and flees in a helicopter. The landmass's growth causes destruction in Metropolis, to which Superman attends, and Richard arrives in a sea plane to rescue Lois and Jason. Superman arrives to help, and then he flies off to find Luthor, who has returned to the still-forming continent.
Meeting Luthor, Superman discovers the landmass is filled with Kryptonite, which weakens him to the point that Luthor and his henchmen are able to beat and torture him. Superman falls into the ocean, after being stabbed with a shard of Kryptonite by Luthor. Lois makes Richard turn back to rescue Superman, and she removes the Kryptonite from his back. Superman, after regaining his strength from the sun, lifts the landmass by putting layers of earth between him and the Kryptonite. Luthor and Kitty escape in their helicopter, but not before Kitty, unwilling to let billions of people die, tosses away the crystals; she and Luthor are stranded on a desert island some time later. Superman throws the landmass into space, but is weakened by the Kryptonite and crashes back to Earth. Doctors remove more Kryptonite from Superman's wound, but after it is removed they cannot penetrate his skin with their surgical tools. While Superman remains in a coma, Lois and Jason visit him at the hospital, where, careful not to let Jason overhear, Lois whispers a secret into Superman's ear. Superman later awakens and flies to see Jason, reciting Jor-El's last speech to Jason as he slumbers. Lois starts writing another article, titled “Why the World Needs Superman". She goes outside, only to be greeted by the Man of Steel after he has just finished visiting Jason. Despite another attempt to tell him that she loves him, she doesn't finish, but the look on Superman's face tells her that she doesn't need to. After reassuring her that he is now back to stay, he flies off on another patrol around Metropolis and then into space, having finally accepted Earth as his new true home.
35. Teen Titans: Trouble In Tokyo (2006): the Teen Titans spring into action when a new threat, the dichromatic ninja Saico-Tek, appears in their city. A chase across the city ensues, ending at Titans Tower. Saico-Tek is interrogated by Robin with the aid of a translation program, and reveals the identity of the one who sent him. The ninja then escapes his bonds and vanishes after destroying a fire sprinkler, and the Titans' only lead is to head to Japan and search for his mysterious master - the shadowy figure known as Brushogun.
Beast Boy is overjoyed to finally get a vacation, but once the Titans are in Tokyo, the language barrier poses some trouble until Starfire uses her inherent skill to absorb language by kissing a passer-by (much to the shock of her team-mates (not really Raven), especially Robin). With directions to Shinjuku thus acquired, the team heads off, but they don't get very far before trouble shows up in the form of "Gorgo," a gigantic reptilian monster that is tearing its way through the city. The monster shares the regenerative powers of Saico-Tek, and the Titans' abilities have no effect on it; thankfully, Tokyo's own super-normal defence force - the Tokyo Troopers, led by Commander Uehara Daizo - arrives to stop the beast in its tracks with an energy cage.
Daizo shows the Titans around the Tokyo Troopers headquarters, and when Robin questions him on Brushogun, he informs the teens that he is nothing more than an urban legend. Left at a loose end, the Titans can do nothing more than bow to Beast Boy's desire to enjoy Tokyo as tourists. Cyborg takes in the local cuisine, while Raven's desire for reading material leads her to a bookshop where she learns of the myth of Brushogun. Beast Boy, meanwhile, attempts to visit the publishing house of his favourite manga, only to find it closed - instead, he relaxes with a manga on the steps of the building, and soon catches the eye of a cute girl.
Robin and Starfire, meanwhile, visit a video game arcade, where Starfire's game skills attract a lot of attention. Afterward, she and Robin retreat to a rooftop to discuss more intimate matters - Robin recalls how Starfire kissed him when they first met, and now understands that it was to learn English, but Starfire has now learned that on Earth, the action means "much more." Robin, however, is focused on his mission to apprehend Brushogun - he and Starfire are heroes, and for now, much to her dismay, they cannot be "much more." Meanwhile the girl leads Beast Boy to a karaoke bar where he finds more girls who love his performance and don't want him to leave....
Investigating alone, Robin is attacked once more by Saico-Tek, and they get into a very violent fight which ends with Robin pummeling the ninja into the ground. But when Saico-Tek does not rise, the crowd watching believes Robin has murdered his opponent. Commander Daizo apprehends Robin, despite the hero's protestations of innocence, but as he is transferred, a slip of paper bearing the name "Brushogun" flits into the armoured car carrying him and explodes, freeing him. Now on the run, Robin co-opts the identity of a Shinjuku mugger who tried to shoot him, and reunites with the other Titans, who have themselves been attacked by strange creatures that look like they leapt straight out of a Japanese comic book. He and Starfire spend another tender moment again... which is suddenly interrupted by the other Titans, as Raven reveals to them the legend of Brushogun.
Brushogun, Raven relates, was an artist who fell in love with a woman he had drawn, and attempted to bring her to life using Japanese black magic. But the spell turned against the artist, and his flesh became as paper, and ink flowed through his veins - ink that he could use to bring any creation he could imagine to life. With this new information, Robin has no trouble deducing Brushogun's hideout: the manga publishing house. Breaking in(after being chased by a majority of Tokyo's citizens), the Titans discover a horrifying sight - the frail, withered form of the man called Brushogun, wired into a printing press that draws on his powers to create the enemies the Titans have been faced with. But if Brushogun is imprisoned, who is the true villain? The answer, as Robin deduces, is Commander Uehara Daizo, who has used Brushogun's powers to create the villains and monsters that his Tokyo Troopers were made famous by capturing.
A massive battle between freshly-printed versions of Brushogun's creations ensues, culminating when Robin faces Daizo on a walkway above the factory floor. With no options of escape left, Daizo hurls himself from the catwalk, into the ink reservoir of the press below - in doing so, taking control of Brushogun's powers and transforming himself into a giant, hulking mass of ink and machinery, with Brushogun himself at the centre. As the other Titans battle the warped creations that Daizo hurls at them, Robin frees Brushogun from the monstrous conglomeration; as the old man fades away in his arms like ink fading with time, his powers disappear and Daizo is left defeated and exposed.
In the wake of the battle, Robin tells Starfire that this whole experience has shown him that it is possible to be something more than a hero. As he stumbles out an explanation of his feelings, Starfire simply says, "Robin, stop talking." Then Robin and Starfire kiss, to approval from the other Titans. Cyborg even declares "Well, it's about time." A short time later, the Titans are awarded medals by the mayor for their actions, as the inhabitants of Tokyo welcome their new heroes. In this scene Robin and Starfire are seen tenderly holding hands. Beast Boy then declares that next year, he wants go to Mexico, bringing Raven to smack him off the screen, concluding a long-running gag and the movie.
36. Treasure Planet (2003): The film's prologue depicts Jim Hawkins (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) as a three-year-old boy, reading a holographic storybook in bed. Jim is enchanted by stories of the legendary pirate, Captain Flint, and his ability to appear from nowhere, raid passing ships, and disappear in order to hide the loot on the mysterious "Treasure Planet." The scene dissolves to twelve years later, and Jim has grown into an aloof and alienated teenager, begrudgingly helping his mother Sarah (Laurie Metcalf) run an inn, and deriving amusement only from "solar surfing" (a hybrid of skysurfing and windsurfing atop a board attached to a solar-powered rocket), a pastime that frequently gets him in trouble.
One day, a ship crashes near the inn. The dying pilot, Billy Bones (Patrick McGoohan), gives Jim a sphere and tells him to "beware the cyborg". Shortly thereafter, a gang of pirates raid and burn the inn. Jim, his mother, and their dog-like alien friend Dr. Delbert Doppler (David Hyde Pierce) barely escape. The sphere turns out to be a holographic projector, showing a map (the film's equivalent of Flint's Fist) that Jim realizes leads to Treasure Planet.
Doppler commissions a ship on a secret mission to find Treasure Planet. The ship is commanded by the cat-like, sharp-witted, and often sarcastic Captain Amelia (Emma Thompson) along with her stony-skinned, loyal, strict-disciplined First Mate, Mr. Arrow (Roscoe Lee Browne). The crew is a motley bunch, secretly led by cook John Silver (Brian Murray), whom Jim suspects is the cyborg of whom he was warned. Jim is sent down to work in the galley; despite his mistrust of Silver, they soon form a tenuous father-son relationship. (A song montage shows Jim and the cyborg bonding over various sailing chores, interspersed with flashbacks from Jim's childhood, during which his father appears indifferent to him and finally leaves without warning when Jim is a pre-teen.) During an encounter with a black hole, Arrow is dropped overboard and lost, for which Jim blames himself for failing to ready the lifelines properly. Viewers, however, see that Arrow's line was cut by a ruthless, insectoid crew member named Scroop (Michael Wincott).
As the ship reaches Treasure Planet, mutiny erupts, led by Silver. Jim, Dr. Doppler, and Captain Amelia abandon the ship, accidentally leaving the map behind. Silver, who believes that Jim has the map, has a chance to kill Jim, but refuses to do so because of his attachment to the boy. The fugitives are shot down by a mutineer, identified in novelizations as "Meltdown", during their escape, causing injury to Amelia.
The fugitives meet B.E.N, an abandoned robot who claims he's lost half his brain. (Martin Short), who invites them to his house to care for the wounded Amelia. The pirates corner the group here; using a back-door, Jim and B.E.N. return to the ship in an attempt to recover the map. The pirate Scroop, aboard the ship as lookout, stalks and fights Jim. B.E.N. accidentally turns off the artificial gravity, whereupon Jim and Scroop threaten to float off into space. Jim grabs the mast while Scroop gets entangled in the flag and cuts himself free: no longer connected to the ship, Scroop floats away. Jim and B.E.N. obtain the map; upon their return, they and the map are captured by Silver, who has already captured Doppler and Amelia.
When Jim is forced to use the map, the group finds their way to a metaphysical portal that can be opened to any place in the universe; this being the means by which Flint conducted his raids. The treasure is at the center of the planet, accessible only via the portal. Here, the so-called Treasure Planet is revealed to be a large, complex space station built by unknown architects and commandeered by Captain Flint. In the stash of treasure, Jim finds a missing part of B.E.N's cognitive computer(brain), which causes him to remember that the stash is booby-trapped and the planet is set to explode upon the treasure's discovery. In the ensuing catastrophe, Silver finds himself torn between holding onto a literal boat-load of gold and saving Jim, who hangs from a precipice after a fall. Silver saves Jim, and the group escapes to their original ship. The ship is damaged and lacks the motive power required to leave the planet in time to escape. Jim attaches a rocket to a narrow plate of metal and rides this device towards the portal to open it to a new location while Delbert pilots the ship behind him. Jim manages to open the portal to his home world of Montressor, through which all escape the destruction of Treasure Planet.
After the escape, Amelia has the surviving pirates imprisoned aboard ship and offers to recommend Jim to the Interstellar Academy after his heroic actions. Silver sneaks below deck, where Jim finds him preparing his escape. Jim lets him go, inheriting the shape-changing pet called Morph. Silver predicts that Jim will "rattle the stars", then tosses him a handful of jewels and gold to pay for rebuilding the inn, revealing that it was he who had burned it. The film ends with a party at the rebuilt inn, showing Doppler and Amelia now married with children, and Jim a military cadet. He looks to the skies and sees an image of Silver in the clouds.
37. Waterworld (1995): Some time in the future, the polar ice caps have melted due to unexplained events. The Earth's surface is almost entirely covered with water. The surviving humans have forgotten the past and believe in a modified creation myth in which God created the world as a ball covered with water, but that there is also dry land somewhere out there.
The survivors can be classified into four groups:
• Traders, who ply the water in boats, collecting things from the ocean floor to trade to each other
• Atoll Dwellers, who live in large floating constructs called atolls
• Smokers, so called because they smoke and trade cigarettes, and because of the smoke from oil-power machines, such as jetskis, using oil left in oil tankers.
• Slavers, who are mentioned, but never seen.
The antihero is a trader known only as the Mariner (Kevin Costner) who comes into an atoll to trade. He is a mutant, a new step in evolution to accommodate the changes in climate, with webbed feet and gills. The atollers, fearful of mutants, try to kill him. At that moment, however, the smokers arrive in a raid on the atoll. They are searching for a girl living there named Enola, who has what appears to be directions to dry land tattooed on her back. Her caretaker is Helen, a woman in her twenties or thirties, and they plan to escape with Gregor, the atoll's resident astrologer, for dry land because, like the Mariner, they don't fit in.
But Gregor's escape balloon escapes too early with him on it, leaving Helen and Enola stranded. They escape with the Mariner, who seems ill-pleased with their company.
Chasing them is Deacon, who is the 'captain' of a derelict oil tanker, the Exxon Valdez. He also wants to get to dry land, and has a number of skirmishes with the Mariner in his attempts to get Enola back.
Helen wants to know where the dry land went. The Mariner, who can breathe underwater, puts her in a diving bell, and swims down to a sunken city on the ocean floor to show her. While they are distracted beneath the ocean's surface, Deacon and the smokers board the boat. Enola hides to avoid capture. When Helen and the Mariner resurface, Deacon orders them to tell him where Enola is. When they both refuse to talk, Deacon pretends to shoot them and Enola emerges from hiding and is captured. After he has Enola, Deacon has his machine gunner open fire (the Mariner and Helen dive underwater to escape) and burn the Mariner's boat. Since Helen cannot breathe water, the Mariner offers, "to breathe for the both of [them]" resulting in a prolonged underwater kiss of life.
They are later rescued from the wreckage of the Mariner's trimaran by survivors of the atoll attack, including Gregor in his balloon.
Using a jet-ski the Mariner chases down the Exxon Valdez and boards it. Deacon is having a great celebration, during which he tosses gifts to the crew of the Valdez, proclaiming they have found the map to dry land. After they have all left, the Mariner walks out onto the deck and threatens to throw a road flare into the oil tanks unless Deacon releases Enola. He refuses, saying that the trader would be crazy to blow up the ship. He throws the road flare in.
The ship explodes, and the Mariner escapes with Enola. They float at sea for a time, then have one last battle with Deacon (who survived), before being rescued by Gregor. He and a few others have gone off to start anew. He finally figures out the map, and steers his balloon toward what does turn out to be dry land. Gregor, Enola, Helen and the others start civilization anew on the island, which a plaque reveals to be the peak of Mount Everest. Enola, saddened to hear the Mariner leaving asks why he must go. He explains that he doesn't belong on dry land and that the ocean calls out to him. He finds a boat near the beach, and before sailing off, Enola and Helen look out to him drifting away, back to his old life.
38. Were Back! A Dinosaurs Story (1993): The story begins as Buster, a baby bird tired of his siblings picking on him, packs up and leaves his nest despite his mother telling him that he is too young to do so. Buster jumps off the tree, but unfortunately has not yet learned to fly. He falls to the ground and meets Rex, the now-intelligent Tyrannosaurus rex, who is playing golf. They introduce themselves and Buster tells Rex that he is leaving home to "join the circus". Rex tells him that some of his friends have been in circus, and the story unfolds from there.
The scene changes to a flashback, in which a small dinosaur is being chased by a hungry T. rex in what is presumably the Late Cretaceous Period. He is interrupted when a gigantic futuristic craft knocks him down. A small green alien (later identified as Vorb) flies out of the craft and starts advertising "Brain Grain Cereal", which increases the intelligence of whoever (or whatever) eats it. After the T. rex tries to eat him, Vorb lures the dinosaur into the craft, where he force-feeds him 210 portions of Brain Grain. The T. rex transforms, becoming intelligent, able to speak, and more gentle-looking. The T. rex receives the name Rex, and is introduced to other dinosaurs who have been fed Brain Grain Cereal: Dweeb (a Parasaurolophus), Woog (a Triceratops), and Elsa (a female Pteranodon). Rex is surprised to discover he can read, while the rest of them seem more at ease with their newfound intelligence.
After a hot dog lunch, the dinosaurs meet Captain Neweyes, operator of the winged time ship and inventor of Brain Grain. He demonstrates his Wish Radio, which picks up people's wishes (usually children's, as they wish the hardest). The captain also reveals that in the early nineties many wishes revolve around seeing "real dinosaurs", and explains that he gave the dinosaurs Brain Grain so they could decide for themselves whether or not to go visit the children of the future.
Rex and his friends accept, and Captain Neweyes informs them that there are two people to keep an eye out for: Dr. Bleeb, a scientist from the Museum of Natural History, and Professor Screweyes, Captain Neweyes's insane brother. He instructs them to find Dr. Bleeb, who is expecting them, and to avoid Professor Screweyes and his Eccentric Circus. The timeship travels to New York City, circa 1993. Vorb supplies the flightless dinosaurs with parachutes and Elsa with a raft.
They drop into one of the city's rivers, accidentally capsizing a boy and his lashed-together raft. After fishing him out of the water, he introduces himself as Louie. When the raft approaches the shore, they all lean back in appreciation of the skyline, and Rex unbalances, falling off the raft. Rex can't swim, so Louie jumps into a nearby backhoe and lifts him out of the water. Just after Louie and the dinosaurs leave the scene, Dr. Bleeb enters with posters advertising a new dinosaur attraction at the museum (Dr. Bleeb's unfortunate timing is a repeating gag in the movie).
Louie hides his new friends in a back alley, explaining people will panic if they see them. He focuses on Elsa, calling her a bat and asking if she can fly. In retaliation, she picks him up and carries him into the air. While in flight, Louie notices a crying girl on the balcony of a building and has Elsa return to her. They speak with the girl and learn she is upset because her parents won't be home for Thanksgiving. She agrees to join them and Elsa flies them both back to the alley. She introduces herself as Cecilia Nuthatch.
The dinosaurs have explained they need to get to the museum, and Louie has the idea of disguising them as floats in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. All is going well until Rex decides he can't deny the children's wishes of meeting a real dinosaur and reveals himself after performing a song of his own and then shaking hands with a balloon of a Apatosaurus. The balloon deflates and falls on all of them. The dinosaurs are forced to flee from the police and National Guard and are separated from Louie and Cecilia. Rex then falls on the bed of a pickup truck, a red Dodge Dakota, and uses it as a Skateboard. The dinosaurs (including the truck) are then chased into a condemned building, which is demolished while they are inside. The blast sends them flying into Central Park. Meanwhile, Louie and Cecilia have made their way to Central Park as well, and Louie is entranced by a poster advertising Professor Screweyes's Eccentric Circus. They find their way to the circus proper, where they meet the Professor himself and are conned into joining, signing a magical blood contract.
A moment too late, the dinosaurs locate the children. At first, Professor Screweyes is frightened of them, but when he realizes they are intelligent he offers a trade: the children's freedom for themselves, to use in his act. The dinosaurs agree and are fed Brain Drain, the antidote to Brain Grain, and the dinosaurs are returned to their natural state and caged.
The kids wake up the next morning and are warmly greeted by Stubbs, a circus clown who wants to show off his hilarious act but is not allowed by the professor. At their demand, he reluctantly shows them what has become of their dinosaur friends: they are once again dangerous, vicious animals. Louie and Cecilia talk Stubbs into sneaking them into the show that night, where the dinosaurs will be featured.
That night, the three disguise themselves in monster costumes and watch as the dinosaurs are revealed and 'hypnotized' by the professor. As Screweyes forces Rex to do what he commands, a raven gets into the control room and accidentally repositions a spotlight, shining it in Rex's eyes. This breaks the professor's hold over him and he moves to attack the professor. Cecilia wishes for nothing bad to happen as Louie runs forward to try and reason with the beast. Eventually, Louie's impassioned pleas reach Rex, and he transforms back into his intelligent self. Louie and Cecilia hug the other dinosaurs, which returns them to their intelligent forms as well.
Just then, Vorb flies into the tent and directs gunners on the timeship to destroy the chains shackling the dinosaurs. Captain Neweyes descends into the ring via a hydraulic platform and tells Cecilia he'd heard her wish that "no bad happen". She and Louie then kiss. And then fireworks appear exploding out of the sky over the circus tent and Louie, Cecilia, the dinosaurs, and everyone else in the circus tent. Stubbs finally speaks his mind, hitting his boss with every gag he's got and quits amid the audience's laughter. The dinosaurs and children board the captain's platform as he asks his brother to forsake his twisted ways and join them. Professor Screweyes refuses, and Captain Neweyes returns the platform to the ship, which departs.
The professor is left alone in the dark, and his fear overcomes him. A flock of ravens surrounds him and perch on him, completely hiding him from sight, before scattering and revealing all that remains of Professor Screweyes: the screw that replaced his left eye. The last raven picks it up and flies off with it.
Captain Neweyes takes the dinosaurs to the Museum, where they finally meet Dr. Bleeb. She has arranged an exhibit where the dinosaurs pose as models while the parents are there, but after she ushers them out of the room, the dinosaurs come to life to meet the children, thereby allowing them to meet real dinosaurs.
The movie ends with Rex and Buster back on the golf course, though it is now sunset. Rex provides an epilogue, explaining that Louie and Cecilia are now a couple and that Cecilia reconnected with her parents. Buster picks up on the point and returns to his family. Rex walks off into the sunset, presumably to return to the Museum, where the other dinosaurs are waiting.
39. Superhero Movie (2008): After being bitten by a genetically-altered dragonfly, high school loser Rick Riker (Drake Bell) develops superhuman abilities such as high-speed reaction and armored skin (although he cannot fly). Rick decides to use his new powers for good and becomes a costumed crime fighter known as "The Dragonfly." However, standing in the way of his destiny is the villainous Lou Landers (Christopher McDonald). After an experiment gone wrong, Lou develops the power to steal a person's life force and in a quest for immortality becomes the supervillain, "The Hourglass." Throughout the movie, Rick tries to woo the girl of his dreams (Sara Paxton) and battle the comically vicious Hourglass and finally becomes able to fly.
40. Kung Fu Panda (2008): Po (Jack Black) is a panda who works in a noodle restaurant owned by his goose father Mr. Ping (James Hong). He is a kung fu fanatic with secret dreams of becoming a great master in the discipline. However, his weight and clumsiness seem to make his goal unattainable; Mr. Ping hopes instead that Po will one day take over the restaurant, and waits for the perfect opportunity to disclose the secret ingredient to his family's noodle recipe.
The tortoise Master Oogway (Randall Duk Kim) has a premonition that the evil snow leopard warrior Tai Lung (Ian McShane), the former student of his own protégé, the red panda Master Shifu (Dustin Hoffman), will escape from prison and return to threaten the Valley of Peace. While Shifu sends Zeng (Dan Fogler), a messenger goose, to Chor Ghom Prison to have the security increased, Oogway orders a formal ceremony to choose the mighty Dragon Warrior who can defeat Tai Lung. Everyone assumes that one of the Furious Five — Tigress (Angelina Jolie), Monkey (Jackie Chan), Mantis (Seth Rogen), Viper (Lucy Liu), and Crane (David Cross) — a quintet of supremely skilled martial artists trained by Shifu,[4] will be chosen for this honor.
While the Five demonstrate their skills at the ceremony, Po arrives too late and finds himself locked outside the walled palace square. As a last-ditch attempt to get in, he ties several fireworks to a chair and ignites them, which sends him crashing into the center of the arena. Inspired by this sudden appearance, Oogway designates Po the Dragon Warrior. Despite Po's protests and Shifu's pleas to reconsider, Oogway stands by his decision.
Revolted at having Po under his tutelage, Shifu attempts to make him quit by berating and humiliating him. The Five similarly dismiss Po as a worthless interloper. Although he becomes aware of Shifu's true intentions and is deeply hurt by his heroes' disdain for him, Po endures their abuse willingly for the dream to become something more than the failure he thinks he is. Master Oogway, still certain that Po is the right choice, gives him sage advice to believe in himself. Eventually, Po endears himself to the Five (except for Tigress) with his tenacity, good cooking, and sense of humor. At this time Tigress reveals to Po how Tai Lung came to be so evil. Shifu raised him from a cub and treated him like a son. When Oogway refused to make Tai Lung the Dragon Warrior, he became enraged and laid waste to the Valley. He then tried to take the dragon scroll. Shifu tried to stop him, but could not bear to destroy what he had created. Tai Lung was defeated by Master Oogway and imprisoned. Tigress ends her story by saying that Shifu loved Tai Lung like he never had before, or since.
Meanwhile, Zeng's errand backfires when a tour of the prison given to him by the overly confident head of security, Commander Vachir (Michael Clarke Duncan), inadvertently enables Tai Lung to escape. Tai Lung orders Zeng to send word of his arrival to Shifu. In the Valley of Peace, Oogway passes away and ascends to the heavens, leaving his final wish that Shifu train Po. However, upon learning of Tai Lung's return, and realizing that he has to face the evil warrior, Po attempts to flee. Shifu stops the panda and promises to train him if he is truly destined to be the Dragon Warrior. When Po confesses his belief that he may never be a match for Tai Lung, Shifu is at a loss for a solution. Overhearing this argument, Tigress takes it upon herself to intercept Tai Lung, and the rest of The Five follow her to assist. The following morning, Shifu discovers that Po is capable of impressive physical feats when motivated by food. He leads Po to the countryside for an intensive training regime in which Po is offered food as a reward for learning his lessons. As Shifu hopes, Po swiftly becomes a skilled combatant.
The Five battle Tai Lung but are eventually defeated with a specialized nerve-striking technique, and they retreat to the valley. When they return, Shifu decides Po is ready to face the villain and gives him the sacred Dragon Scroll, which promises great power to the possessor. When Po opens it, he finds nothing but a blank reflective surface. Stricken with despair at the scroll's apparent worthlessness, Shifu orders his students to lead the villagers to safety while he stays to delay Tai Lung for as long as he can.
As Po participates in the evacuation, he meets his father, who tries to cheer him up by telling him the secret ingredient of the family's noodle soup: nothing. Things become special, he explains, because people believe them to be special. Realizing that is the very point of the Dragon Scroll, Po rushes off to help Shifu. At this time, Tai Lung arrives at the palace. He blames Shifu for not granting him the title of Dragon Warrior just because Master Oogway did not choose him, and the two begin to fight. For his part, Shifu is crippled by his profound feelings of guilt and responsibility for his former protégé, whom he loved and raised like a son, turning to darkness.
When Tai Lung discovers that the Dragon Scroll is gone, he attempts to kill Shifu in anger. But before he can, Po finally arrives and challenges him. Although Tai Lung scoffs at Po's abilities, the ensuing fight proves Po to be a formidable opponent. Despite Po's skill, Tai Lung temporarily stuns him and gains the Dragon Scroll, but is unable to understand its symbolism. Po tries to explain the wisdom of the scroll to Tai Lung, but the frustrated leopard tries to subdue Po with his nerve strikes. The attack proves useless on the panda, as his nerves are difficult to find due to his body fat. Emboldened, Po counter-attacks with an improvised combat style that takes advantage of his girth to absorb and deflect the force from Tai Lung's attacks back at him. In the end, Po uses the Wuxi Finger Hold on Tai Lung (a technique Shifu had previously threatened to use on Po), defeating him in a large explosion of golden light that ripples through the valley.
The Five return to the valley to investigate and find a slightly dazed but triumphant Po. Deeply impressed by Po's victory, Tigress leads the Five to acknowledge him as a Kung Fu master. Po suddenly remembers that his teacher is badly wounded, and rushes back to Shifu. At first the master appears to be dying, and Po panics. But it turns out that he is only resting after such a terrible battle with Tai Lung.
At the end of the credits, Shifu and Po are seen eating together by the sacred peach tree. A peach seed planted by Shifu before Oogway's passing has sprouted into a new plant.
By Bill Ross & Richard Moody
CHAPTER 7
1. Herbie Goes Bananas (1980): Loosely picking up where Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo left off, Pete Stancheck (Stephen W. Burns) has inherited the one-of-a-kind automobile from his uncle, Jim Douglas. Pete travels to Mexico with his friend Davy "D.J." Johns (Charles Martin Smith) to retrieve the car. There, they meet little Paco (Joaquin Garay, III), a comically mischievous, orphaned pickpocket.
Pete and D.J. board a ship to Rio de Janeiro to enter Herbie in the Brazil Grand Primeo. Unbeknownst to them, Paco has hitched a ride under Herbie's hood to avoid three irate victims of his thievery. On the trip, they meet an anthropology student named Melissa (Elyssa Davalos) and her extragavant, eccentric aunt Louise (Cloris Leachman), who is trying to find a husband for her niece. When Herbie wreaks havoc on board, Pete pretends to court Melissa, with the intended result that her Aunt Louise is soon sponsoring the men for their race.
Meanwhile, Herbie helps Paco, who has dubbed the car 'Ocho' (which means 'eight' in Spanish, Paco having simply added together the individual numerals in Herbie's number 53, also being a pun on the affective Mexican nickname for the beetle: "vocho" or also spelled "bocho". ), escape captivity. When the overenthusiastic ship's captain Blythe (Harvey Korman) has his costume party wrecked by the mischievous boy and car, he puts Herbie on trial and sentences him to be dropped in the sea. Herbie becomes a rustbucket as a result of immersion in the salt water, but is rescued from the sea by Paco and disguised as a taxi.
Thence follows an Inca gold-stealing plot, Herbie's matadorian part in a bullfight, romance between Aunt Louise and Captain Blythe, and some bananas which are initially used to camouflage Herbie in a convoy of farm vehicles travelling to market and later used to comic effect by Herbie and Paco in an attempt to stop the villains escaping in their plane. The bad guys (headed by Animal House alum John Vernon and The Godfather's Alex Rocco) are in pursuit of Paco, who misplaced some important film when he stole their wallets.
2. The Great Muppet Caper (1981): In the story, Kermit the Frog, Fozzie Bear, and Gonzo the Great play twin newspaper reporters for the Daily Chronicle (the source of a running gag - supposedly, nobody can tell them apart unless Fozzie wears his hat) and are eventually assigned to investigate the theft of valuable jewels from fashion designer Lady Holliday (Diana Rigg). They travel to London to interview her, but with only $12 for the trip, they're forced to fly in the airplane's baggage hold and are thrown out of the plane as they arrive over Britain. They stay at the dilapidated (but free) Happiness Hotel, run and populated by Pops, Scooter, Rowlf, and Dr. Teeth and The Electric Mayhem. When Kermit seeks out Lady Holliday in her office, however, he instead finds her receptionist Miss Piggy and mistakes her for the fashion designer. Piggy masquerades as Lady Holliday, even going so far as to sneak into a ritzy townhouse (located at 17 Highbrow Street) in order to impress Kermit with her dwellings, much to the surprise of the true British residents (one of whom is John Cleese).
Lady Holiday's necklace is stolen by her jealous brother Nicky (Charles Grodin), assisted by Carla, Marla and Darla, three of her put-upon fashion models. Despite Nicky's instant attraction to Miss Piggy, they successfully frame her for the theft and proceed to steal an even more valuable prize--the coveted Baseball Diamond, which is on display at a local gallery, the Mallory Gallery. Kermit's crew, along with their friends from the Happiness Hotel, have no choice but to intercept and catch the thieves themselves in order to clear Miss Piggy's good name. Piggy, meanwhile, has escaped from prison and, in a bout of serendipity, finds a motorcycle which she uses to literally crash into the film's climax, knocking Nicky, who is holding Kermit hostage, out in the process. Carla, Marla and Darla confront Piggy, only to be quickly dispatched by a flurry of furious karate chops. The Muppets then return to America the same way they departed, being thrown out of the cargo hold and parachuting back to Earth, over the end credits.
3. First Blood (1982): John Rambo (Sylvester Stallone) is a former member of an elite United States Army Special Forces unit, and was awarded a Medal of Honor for his service in the Vietnam War. The film begins after the war, in America. Rambo is searching for his friend, and soon learns that he has died from cancer due to Agent Orange exposure. Although not yet revealed to the audience, Rambo knows he is now the last surviving member of his unit. The scene cuts to Rambo entering the small town of Hope on foot. With his long hair and military-style coat, he is quickly spotted by the town's overzealous and paranoid sheriff, Will Teasle (Brian Dennehy), who quickly drives Rambo out of town, noting his strong distaste for "drifters". Rambo heads back toward town immediately, to the dismay of Teasle, who arrests him.
Rambo is generally non-compliant with the officers at the station, and is beaten and harassed by Art Galt (Jack Starrett), the sheriff's cruel head deputy and closest friend. Rambo has flashbacks to his time as a prisoner of war, and is also the subject of police brutality. Rambo finally snaps when the officers attempt to dryshave him with a straight razor. Rambo fights his way out of the station, steals a motorcycle, and is pursued off-road into the nearby mountains. The deputies are eventually forced to search for Rambo on foot, and he climbs down onto a steep cliff to elude capture. After spotting Rambo from a helicopter, Galt blatantly disregards protocol and attempts to shoot him in cold blood. Rambo drops into a mass of trees, and cornered, throws a rock at the helicopter in self-defense. The helicopter pitches and Galt, the passenger, falls to his death. Teasle, who did not see Galt's attempt to kill Rambo, vows to avenge his friend's death.
Teasle leads his deputies into the woods in an attempt to capture Rambo. The deputies are inexperienced and bicker, particularly after learning over the radio about Rambo's combat experience and status as a war hero. Rambo quickly disables the small, disorganized team using guerrilla tactics and booby traps, severely wounding — but not killing — the deputies. In the chaos, Rambo isolates and confronts Teasle with a knife to the throat. "Don't push it or I'll give you a war you won't believe. Let it go", he warns, before disappearing into the woods. A base camp is assembled near the site and the National Guard is called in. Colonel Samuel Trautman (Richard Crenna) soon arrives, who takes credit for training Rambo. He is surprised to find any of the deputies still alive, and warns that it would be safer to let Rambo go and find him after the situation has calmed down. Teasle refuses to give in.
Rambo is eventually cornered by the National Guard in a mine entrance. The inexperienced guardsmen fire a disposable M72 LAW rocket launcher at him, collapsing the mine and trapping him inside. They assume Rambo is dead. However, unbeknownst to his pursuers, Rambo has escaped into the tunnels of the mine. Rambo quickly finds some old fuel and makes an improvised torch. Then wading through waist deep water and fighting off rats, he is relieved to eventually find an exit, near a main road. Rambo quickly hijacks a passing Army truck and returns to town, crashing it into a gas station, which effectively blocks the highway to anyone in pursuit when he lights the entire station ablaze with a Zippo lighter. Now armed with an M60 machine gun, Rambo effortlessly destroys a sporting goods shop and a few other businesses (all of which was done to keep Teasle off balance) before making his way to the police station, where Teasle awaits on the roof.
Eventually Rambo enters the police station. Teasle spots Rambo and fires at him, but misses. Rambo shoots back at Teasle, injuring him. Teasle falls through the roof onto the floor. Rambo steps over him, prepared to kill him. Before Rambo can shoot Teasle, Colonel Trautman appears and tells him that there is no hope of escaping alive. Rambo, now surrounded by the police, rages about the horrors of war, and the difficulties he has faced adapting to civilian life. He weeps as he recounts a particularly gruesome story about witnessing his friend's death. Rambo then turns himself in to Trautman, and is arrested. The credits roll as he and Trautman exit the police station.
4. The Muppets Take Manhattan (1984): As the film opens, Kermit and many of his friends are graduating from college and are performing in a variety show on campus. Instead of splitting up and going their separate ways after graduation, the gang decides to try to take their act to New York and try to make it on Broadway. Kermit and the others are so confident in the show that they anticipate becoming instant stars, but as the months pass and their funds run dry (due to the fact that the local producers refused to produce their show, except for Murray Plotsky, who agreed to produce their show (but only for the money), but he's arrested for tricking an elderly woman into giving him her life savings and impersonating producer Martin Price) they are forced to go their separate ways and find jobs. Kermit remains in New York and gets a job at a local diner, befriending the owner, Pete (Louis Zorich), and his daughter Jenny (Juliana Donald), who works there as a waitress. She has just been accepted to a college in fashion design.
Complications arise in the form of unsavory jobs for Kermit's friends (Scooter becomes an usher at a movie theater in Cleveland, Ohio, Fozzie hibernates in Maine, Dr. Teeth and the gang work as a party band outside Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Gonzo works as a daredevil in Michigan, Rowlf runs the desk at a dog kennel in Delaware), a jealous Miss Piggy who secretly remains behind to keep an eye on Kermit and Jenny, and Kermit's additional failed attempts to break into stardom. After finally finding a producer who is willing to fund the show, however, Kermit is so excited that he unknowingly steps into the path of an oncoming vehicle and is knocked unconscious. He awakens with no memory, decides his name is Phil when he sees an advertisement with similar diction, and eventually falls in with a group of fellow frogs who write ad campaign slogans. Kermit, as "Phil", then begins to work as an advertising executive.
Kermit's companions are reunited in New York, along with the many friends they've each met along the way. Despite the fact that Kermit is missing, they decide the best thing to do is to go on with the show in his honor. After the amnesiac Kermit visits the diner and his friends recognize him, they recover him and Miss Piggy manages to knock him back to his senses. The show is a tremendous hit, and during the finale, Piggy slyly hires a real minister for the wedding scene and Kermit is confused and says "I thought Gonzo was supposed to play the minister". When it is time to say "I do", Kermit is hesitant at first but forces himself to say "I do" and he and Piggy are wed.
5. The Goonies (1985): The Goonies, a group of young pre-teenaged friends living in Astoria, Oregon, face foreclosure on their families' homes from the expanding Astoria Country Club. On one of their last days their morale sinks particularly low due to the cancellation of their programmed farewell road trip due to Mikey's older brother having failed his driver's license exam.
While rummaging through the bric-à-brac accumulated in the Walshes' attic by their father (a local museum curator), they find an old newspaper clipping, a Spanish map, and an artifact relating to a rumor of a forgotten pirate treasure somewhere in the area. Hearing the call of adventure, Mikey tries to persuade his friends to join him in search for the treasure hoarded by a pirate named One-Eyed Willie. Initially reluctant, the group eventually decides to usurp the authority of Mikey's older brother, Brandon, and escape for one last "Goonie adventure."
They head to the coast and stumble upon an abandoned seaside restaurant that seems to match coordinates set by the map and an old doubloon. With the help of Mouth, a cocky but loyal friend of the group, they are able to translate the map and confirm they are headed in the right direction. Unbeknownst to the Goonies, the restaurant is actually a secret hideout of a family of Italian criminals known as the Fratellis. While the kids believe the Fratellis are restaurant owners and workers, they are inevitably shooed away by Mama Fratelli, but they evacuate the premises only to come back later when the coast is clear. Once Brandon finally tracks the boys down and insists they return home immediately, they are met with Steph and Andy, two female peers Brandon knows from school. Undeterred with his agenda, and with Brandon being distracted by the company of the girls, Mikey continues to search for clues, feeling that he is closer than ever in finding the treasure. Data, the group's tech whiz, discovers a counterfeit money-making machine and soon the group realizes who the Fratellis really are. To make matters worse, they find the dead body of an FBI agent stored away in a freezer, and the Fratellis have returned to the hideout, though they remain unaware of the Goonies' presence in the basement.
Taking refuge in a tunnel discovered underneath a fireplace, the group escapes to safety but not before sending Chunk, the clumsy, heavy-set compulsive liar of the group, to notify the police of the situation. With nightfall looming, Chunk quickly finds his way to the nearest road and flags down the first vehicle he sees. As luck would have it, the passengers of said vehicle are none other than the Fratelli brothers themselves, on their way to dispose of the dead FBI agent. Chunk is apprehended and questioned by the Fratellis under threat of death, but after offering unrelated (though truthful) testimony about every misdeed he committed in his life, Chunk's story about the treasure hunt and tunnels under the restaurant is corroborated when the fireplace bursts forth with dozens of bats which swarm the basement. The Fratellis set off to hunt down both the kids and the treasure, while Chunk is tied up in the basement with the forsaken and deformed Fratelli brother, Sloth. In short time, both prisoners become friends and manage to free themselves.
With the Fratellis in close pursuit, the group risks life and limb navigating the caves and dodging booby traps until they discover the hidden cove and final resting place of The Inferno, One Eyed Willie's pirate ship. Mikey finally sees the legendary pirate face-to-face and recognizes him as the "first Goonie". He tells the others to take whatever treasure they can hold, but to leave a share for Willy as tribute. Before they get too carried away, the Fratellis capture the group on board the ship, strip them of their treasure, then force them to walk the plank. When all hope seems lost, Chunk makes his grand entrance with Sloth, and they rescue the remaining Goonies on board and take them to safety. Thinking the Goonies are no longer a threat, the Fratellis indulge in the new-found treasure but are greedy to take even Willie's share that Mikey instinctively left alone. This action sets off Willie's final booby trap, which starts collapsing the cave.
The Goonies barely escape and make their way out to the beach outside the cave, where they are met by the early morning and spotted by a couple of police scouts on ATVs. The group is reunited with their families, Sloth and Chunk proclaim their love for one another, and the rest of the Fratellis are arrested. Even though everyone is happy that the young adventurers were unharmed, the kids themselves are devastated at their inability to hold onto any of the treasure lost in the cave's collapse. All hope is restored when Rosalita, the Walshes' housekeeper, discovers a handful of precious jewels left in Mikey's marble bag. With this new fortune, the Goonies are able to save everyone’s homes from foreclosure. The Inferno, One-Eyed Willie, and its cargo of "rich stuff" gracefully sail out of the collapsed cave and into the sun.
6. Harry and the Hendersons (1987): Returning from a hunting trip in the forest, the Henderson family's car hits an animal in the road. At first they fear it was a man, but when they examine the "body" they find it's a "bigfoot". They think it's dead so they decide to take it home (there could be some money in this..). As you guessed, "it" isn't dead. Far from being the ferocious monster they fear "Harry" to be, he's a friendly giant. In their attempts to keep Harry a secret, the Henderson's have to hide him from the authorities and a man, who has made it his goal in life, to catch a "bigfoot".
7. Look Who’s Talking (1989): Mollie Jensen (Kirstie Alley) is an accountant living and working in New York City. The latest client she has been assigned by her firm is a charmingly-handsome but shallow womanising executive named Albert (George Segal) who seduces her and although married embarks on an affair with Mollie, promising to leave his wife for her. Mollie insists their relationship has to stop; however, succumbing to temptation, Mollie has sex with him and unbeknownst to her, she becomes pregnant with his child.
After realising she is pregnant she informs Albert who takes the news well and again promises to leave his wife and raise the baby with her. Until then, Mollie decides to tell her eccentric and over-bearing parents (Olympia Dukakis and Louis Heckerling) that there is no father and that she became pregnant via a sperm donor.
Mollie continues her relationship with Albert as the pregnancy develops, however she fears he's seeing another woman, Melissa (Joy Boushel). Later when Mollie and her best friend Rona (Twink Caplan) are shopping Mollie finds Albert in a clinch with Melissa. Angry and upset, a heart-broken Mollie storms off in a rage while the fight causes her to suddenly go into labour. When she hails a cab the driver James Ubriacco (John Travolta) realises the seriousness of the situation and speeds off to the hospital. Upon reaching the hospital, the nurses' confuse him for being the father of Mollie's baby and he feels inclined to stay. Mollie gives birth to a son she names Michael "Mikey" (voiced by Bruce Willis and played by child actor Robert Wallace).
A few days after Mikey is brought home, Mollie receives a visit from James, where he returns the purse she left behind in his taxi. James meets Mikey, and they seem to enjoy each others company. Over the next month or so, Mollie is dealing with being a single parent and Mikey is becoming used to his new world when she discovers that James has been using her address to keep his grandfather (Abe Vigoda) in a nursing home in the local area. She confronts James and he offers to baby-sit Mikey if she lets him continue to use the address, which she agrees to.
Mollie starts dating again, but quickly realises that none of the men she has been seeing are good enough for Mikey and one night she lets her guard down and almost sleeps with James; however after imagining what life would be like if she married him, she asks him to leave, despite James telling her he loves both her and Mikey.
Soon after, Mollie is forced to help Albert with his taxes, when he pleads her to let him see Mikey (who he mistakenly calls "Mickey"). Mollie agrees to let Albert see Mikey that night however forgets to inform James, who is babysitting Mikey. A fight ensues when Albert arrives claiming to be Mikey's father as James does not believe this possible as Mollie told him Mikey was conceived by a sperm donor. James and Mollie get into an argument and he leaves. Later Mollie takes Mikey to see Albert where he shows that he has not changed and she proceeds to destroy Albert’s office with the help of a very enthusiastic Mikey.
Mollie later receives a call from the nursing home James' grandfather is staying at complaining about his behaviour. She explains to the manager why James' grandfather's behavior had been so bad and the manager agrees to let him stay believing Mollie to be James' wife. Mollie runs into James outside the office (who had overheard her talking to the manager) and he thanks her. After Mikey sees a yellow taxi cab outside the nursing home and believing it to be James, he proceeds to leave and ends up standing in the middle of open traffic, looking for James' taxicab. James and Mollie rescue Mikey from the street and when Mikey calls James "Da-da!" Mollie sees that James is not only perfect for Mikey, but is also perfect for her as well and they kiss, with Mikey looking on happily.
The end credits roll as we see an older Mikey and James walking through a hospital to see Mollie, who has just given birth to Mikey's half-sister, Julie, setting the sequel, Look Who's Talking Too, in motion.
8. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990): The film begins as April O'Neil, an investigative reporter at Channel 3 Eyewitness News, is researching a story on a recent, immense crime wave in New York City. She is later rescued by the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles from a group of street thieves. As the Turtles are celebrating their victory, an ex-hockey player called Casey Jones, having become a vigilante so as to combat the crime wave, is shown beating two thieves with his sports equipment and arguing with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Raphael over the proper way to punish criminals. The crime wave is traced by April to the Foot Clan; when she makes them uncomfortable, the Foot Ninjas attack her and knock her unconscious, whereupon Raphael rescues her - not noticing that one Foot soldier follows him through the sewer system.
As the Turtles escort April back to her apartment, where they remain for some hours, the Foot raid the Turtles' lair and kidnap Splinter. They carry him back to their headquarters, where their master Shredder is forming an army of corrupted, ninja-trained teenagers to build himself an empire of crime. One of those teenagers is Danny Pennington, the son of April's boss; having seen the Turtles at her apartment, he tells Shredder where to find them. The Foot therefore launch a surprise attack on April's apartment. Caught off-guard and outnumbered, April, the Turtles, and Casey (who had intervened when he saw Raphael in danger) are forced to escape to April's childhood home in a rural farmstead. Raphael is rendered unconscious during the battle and does not wake from his coma for several days, during which his brothers and their friends use diverse methods to recover from their losses.
After Raphael's recovery from his coma, the Turtles refine their ninja skills in anticipation of their return to the city. When their sense of purpose is renewed by a telepathic encounter with Splinter, they return to New York and fight the Foot while Casey and a repentant Danny rescue Splinter from the Foot Clan's lair. The Turtles take the battle to the sewers, to the streets, and ultimately the rooftops, where they meet the Shredder. The Shredder proves to be an enemy of skill outstripping their own. During the fight, Shredder claims that Master Splinter is dead, and Leo attacks him in anger. Unfortunately, Shredder pins Leo down and holds his spear at Leo's throat. he orders the other three turtles to drop their weapons or Leonardo dies. To save their brother's life, the turtles obey, but Shredder attempts to kill him anyway. However, his victory is forestalled when Splinter unexpectedly arrives.
Splinter then reveals that the Shredder is in fact one Oroku Saki, the man who killed Splinter's beloved master Hamato Yoshi. The Shredder is then reminded of a much-resented scar inflicted on him by Splinter. When the Shredder tries to impale him, Splinter calmly uses Michaelangelo's nunchaku to grab his attacker's spear and flip Shredder over the side of the building. As he hangs, the Shredder makes a last desperate attempt to kill his opponent; this causes Splinter to release the grip of the other side of the nunchaku, allowing Shredder to fall off of the roof of the building and into a garbage truck. Casey then activates the truck's crushing mechanism, whereupon Shredder is apparently crushed to death.
The trainees of the Foot Clan confess all of their involvement to the New York Police Department, while April asks Casey for a kiss, which he gives wholeheartedly. The film concludes with Partners In Kryme's track "Turtle Power" and the Turtles celebrating their victory over the Foot Clan. Splinter, to summarize their emotions, contributes the word "Cowabunga" (a favorite slogan in later films), to which he proclaims "I made a funny! Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!".
9. Beethoven (1992): When the film opens, a St. Bernard puppy (later named Beethoven) and some other dogs are stolen from a pet shop by two thieves. Beethoven manages to escape from the thieves and sneaks into the home of the Newton family. The father, George, doesn't want the responsibility of owning a dog, but his wife, Alice, and children convince him. While trying to name the dog, the youngest daughter, Emily, plays a portion of Ludwig van Beethoven's Fifth Symphony and the puppy barks along, thus he is named Beethoven.
Initially, George only focuses on Beethoven's negative aspects: scratching the door, shedding on the furniture, dining off the kitchen counter, and otherwise chewing the house apart. However, the rest of family grows more attached to Beethoven, who helps the children overcome their problems in various ways, such as frightening off the bullies that are bothering Ted, helping the eldest girl, Ryce, talk to her crush, and saving Emily's life when she falls in their babysitter's swimming pool.
The family takes Beethoven to a local veterinarian, Herman Varnick, for a routine medical examination and immunizations. The family is unaware that Varnick is involved in unethical and deadly animal experimentation and hired the two thieves, Harvey and Vernon, that were seen in the opening sequence. Varnick wants to use Beethoven for an ammunition test and urges the family to leave him overnight at the clinic, but they refuse.
Varnick later visits the Newton home under the guise of doing a follow-up exam on Beethoven. He stages an "attack" by Beethoven on him, claiming that Beethoven bit his arm. Varnick says Beethoven must be euthanized or he will press charges. Emily, who saw Varnick hit Beethoven, protests that the attack was fake, but George reluctantly gives Beethoven over to Varnick.
Later, George has a change of heart and the entire family goes to Varnick's office. They discover that Varnick was lying. They demand that Beethoven be returned but Varnick claims they're too late. This angers George and he whacks Varnick around the head, knocking him into a cage in the boarding kennel area in the back of the clinic. Afterwards, the family decide to follow Varnick to his secret facility. While Alice calls the police, Beethoven breaks free and chases and attacks Harvey and Vernon, George crashes through the facility skylight while Ted drives the family car through the wall, all to save Beethoven and the other dogs. Varnick is injured by chemical syringes and later arrested and indicted. His two nutty sidekicks run from a large pack of dogs (which includes Beethoven). They think they got away from them when they hop a junkyard fence, and begin dancing shaking their butts in dogs faces but they turn around and see four angry dogs who attack them.
The film ends with George and Alice saying goodnight to all the dogs they brought home from Varnick's facility.
10. Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey (1993): The film begins with Chance the American Bulldog (voiced by Michael J Fox) telling the story of how he himself arrived in the family. Also living in the family with him are Shadow, an aged, wise Golden Retriever and Sassy, a sarcastic, humorous Himalayan cat. The story begins at a wedding, after which the family has to leave for San Francisco in California for an important trip. They can't take the animals with them, so they leave them at a ranch belonging to an old friend of the wife's. Shadow becomes worried about Peter, the oldest boy in the family and his best friend, so he decides to go and find him. Although unenthusiastic at first and insistent that they must stay at the ranch because their humans may come back for them, Sassy and Chance also go with him.
The three pets make their way through the rocky, mountainous wilderness and eventually need to spend the night there. Chance becomes uneasy and begins hearing strange noises, Shadow tells him and Sassy that it is just a moose. To make it worse, when Chance asks what a moose is, Shadow replies by describing it, sarcastically, as a "Big razor toothed animal that comes out at night to eat the tails of smaller animals".
In the morning, Shadow rouses Sassy and Chance by telling them he's found breakfast: fish. Sassy catches Chance one and he is about to eat it when a pair of juvenile black bears come along and try to steal it from him. Chance manages to frighten them away but then a huge Grizzly bear comes up behind him without him knowing and roars at the trio; this results in them running away from him.
They soon come to a river. Being a cat, Sassy is very unsure of how she can get across. The dogs simply swim across at a shallow, slow-flowing area and ask Sassy to try and swim too, but she refuses and tells them she'll find her own way to get over, which she does, in the form of an old beaver dam. Just as she looks to be safe, the dam breaks apart and Sassy falls into the water and gets washed towards a waterfall. Shadow jumps in and tries to rescue her but doesn't make it in time and the cat goes over the falls.
Shadow mourns the loss of his friend and that night, tells Chance that they had a responsibility to care for Sassy and watch over her like he has to Chance and Peter, and like Chance has to Jamie, the youngest member of the family.
Sassy, meanwhile, is soon found all bedraggled by an explorer and taken to his hut in the forest. That same morning, the two dogs encounter a new problem: they run into a mountain lion. They realise that they need to harness the power of teamwork when they reach a dead end and Chance says "The bones are buried by the jungle gym and the TV remote is under the seesaw." Shadow then has a brilliant idea: they will lure the lion onto a seesaw shaped rock and catapult it into the river, the same as Chance had catapulted Sassy into a sandbox at the start of the movie. Their plan succeeds and they bark in happiness. Sassy, who has been completely rejuvenated by the explorer, hears them barking and runs off to find them. She follows the sound of the barking, leading to a joyful and emotional reunion.
Unfortunately, Chance soon gets into a bit of a fix with a porcupine. Sassy tries to pull the quills out but that only makes things worse. Shadow tells Chance "Whatever you do, DON'T LICK YOURSELF!". Soon, they encounter a young girl who has been separated from her parents. They stay with her for the night and in the morning, Shadow hears people passing by (who, coincidentally, happen to be the girl's parents) and leads the father to her, resulting in lots of happy faces all round.
The pets are soon recognized from a flyer they were on, and are sent to an animal shelter. Chance has had horrible experiences with animal shelters in the past and wants to get out although the doctors remove the quills from said porcupine. Shadow does not believe Chance until then staff put a mouth restraint device on his mouth. Sassy manages to escape the shelter staff, and frees Shadow and Chance. Soon they all escape from the shelter and are well on their way to getting home, as there are only about 40 or so miles left to go.
The animals soon come to a train yard. They very carefully make their way through it but Shadow falls into a pit concealed by boards. Sassy and Chance try to get him to climb out again but he can't do it. He says he's too old to do anything any more, and that the others should just leave him to die.
Near dusk, the family is out in the backyard playing basketball when Jamie hears a dog barking, and thinks it's Chance. Sure enough, it is him, and not far behind is Sassy. Just when it looks as though only these two will return home, Shadow limps over the hill into the yard. An overjoyed Peter dashes to Shadow, reunited with his best friend. The movie ends with Chance saying that after all that excitement, he finally has a home.
11. True Lies (1994): Harry Tasker leads a double life, performing dangerous covert missions for Omega Sector with his support team of Albert "Gib" Gibson and Faisil while hiding this work from his wife Helen and daughter Dana under the guise of corporate travel. Harry, however, is unaware that Helen is feeling unappreciated from him and his daughter doesn't respect him. During a mission in Switzerland, Harry encounters and becomes suspicious of antiques dealer Juno Skinner. His suspicions are correct, as Juno is helping to smuggle nuclear warheads into the United States for a Palestinian terrorist faction, Crimson Jihad, led by Aziz. However, while tailing Aziz through the Georgetown Park shopping mall and the Westin Bonaventure Hotel, Harry is late for his own birthday party, angering Helen.
The next day, Harry tries to surprise Helen at work during lunch but overhears her talking with a co-worker about a man named Simon. Harry is later heartbroken, believing his wife is having an affair with another man. Enraged, Harry uses Omega Sector's resources to track down Simon, and comes to realize that he is just a used-car salesman trying to seduce Helen by telling her he's a spy. In order to win Helen back and retaliating Simon's attempt of breaking his marriage, Harry arranges for a SWAT team to capture Helen and Simon while they are meeting. He interrogates her through a one-way mirror and voice distortion to learn that Helen never had an affair with Simon but was only craving adventure, something that Harry never provided her. Harry arranges a fake mission for Helen to undertake as an operative, and tells her to pose as a prostitute in order to plant a tracking bug on an arms dealer staying in a nearby hotel. Later, Harry and Gib briefly terrorize Simon before letting him go. Harry assumes the role of the dealer, using the darkened room to hide his face, and planning to reveal himself to her to reaffirm his love. As Helen strip-teases for Harry, Aziz's men burst into the room, and both Harry and Helen are taken prisoner.
The terrorists take them to their hideout on an island in the Florida Keys, and Aziz reveals they plan to detonate one of four nuclear warheads to cover their tracks while they flee with the other three and make their demands to United States government. Harry frees himself and Helen, and they attempt to escape, but Harry appears to be caught in a large refueling truck explosion, while Helen is taken hostage by Juno. The two join the terrorist convoy as they flee the island before the first warhead explodes. Gib, in a helicopter, finds Harry using the tracking bug he had planted in Helen's purse at Harry's request, and together, they coordinate an attack with two Marine AV-8B Harrier jets on the convoy as they cross the Overseas Highway to the mainland. Helen is able to escape through the roof window of Juno's limousine during the attack, and is pulled to safety by Harry before the limousine falls over a damaged section of the bridge into the ocean. The forces regroup on the mainland in time to avoid being struck by the nuclear blast, during which Harry and Helen kiss, reaffirming their love for each other.
The forces shortly receive news that Aziz and his remaining allies have taken refuge in a Miami office skyscraper, with Aziz holding Harry's daughter Dana hostage, and demanding a television crew so that he can make demands to the government. Harry borrows one of the Harrier jets to get to the building. Faisil poses as part of the requested television crew, and is able to kill a number of the terrorists; in the confusion, Dana steals the launch key for the warheads and escapes to the roof, chased by Aziz. Harry arrives and kills the remaining terrorists in the building with the jet's guns, and then helps to save Dana while killing Aziz by launching him on an AIM-9 Sidewinder missile towards a helicopter with the last of Aziz's forces. In the following year, the Tasker family's bonds have strengthened after the event from Florida. The family are now aware of each other's secrets and Helen becomes Harry's partner in Omega Sector, and the couple are able to balance their professional and personal lives.
12. The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997): The film opens with a family of tourists on the island of Isla Sorna. Their young daughter explores on her own and runs into a baby Compsognathus. When the child attempts to feed the dinosaur, a large pack emerges and attacks the girl for more food. Her parents run to her when they hear her screams, though it is not shown what happens to her.
Four years have passed since the disaster at Jurassic Park, and John Hammond has lost control of InGen to his ruthless nephew, Peter Ludlow. Despite having signed a non-disclosure agreement about the prior events, chaos theorist Ian Malcolm has gone public and revealed details of his experiences at Jurassic Park. Unfortunately for him, his stories are not widely believed, threats of legal action prevent him from producing any evidence, and his academic reputation is destroyed.
Hammond summons Malcolm to his home, where he reveals the existence of Site B, Isla Sorna. Sorna was the facility where the dinosaurs were actually engineered, before being sent to Isla Nublar when mature. The island was abandoned after a hurricane wiped out most of the facilities, and the creatures have been living in the wild ever since. Hammond mentions what happened to the young girl, informing Malcolm that she's fine. However, Hammond goes on to explain that the loss of Nublar and the incident with the girl have all but bankrupted InGen, and so Ludlow plans to bail the company out by exploiting Site B. Hammond requests Malcolm's help in stopping Ludlow and preserving the dinosaurs' natural habitat, by creating a wildlife portfolio that will convince environmentalists to leave the island as a nature reserve. He initially refuses, but after learning that his girlfriend, paleontologist Sarah Harding, is already on the island, he goes along.
The team consists of Eddie Carr, an engineer who built the custom vehicles the team will use, and documentary producer and environmentalist Nick Van Owen. Shortly after arriving on the island, they find Sarah and escape a Stegosaurus herd. When they return to camp, they find Kelly, Malcolm's daughter, has stowed away. He tries to contact the boat to take them home, but they are interrupted by the arrival of an InGen team Hammond sent there too.
The rival team quickly captures samples of several species, including Parasaurolophus, Stegosaurus, Mamenchisaurus, Gallimimus, Pachycephalosaurus, Triceratops, and a swarm of Compsognathus. That night, Nick and Sarah sneak into the InGen camp to free the dinosaurs and cut the fuel lines on the vehicles. The freed dinosaurs cause a huge commotion, compounded by the exploding vehicles. Soon, Roland's second in command, Dieter Stark, was said to never be left in charge.
Meanwhile, Roland Tembo, the leader of the InGen team, is hunting for his prize trophy, an adult Tyrannosaurus, breaking the leg of a young T. Rex so that its cries might lure its parents. When he returns to the camp, Nick frees the baby, taking it back to their trailer so Sarah can set its broken leg. Eddie and Kelly hide in a tree stand called a high hide, while Malcolm returns to the trailer. The adult Tyrannosaurs come searching for their child and, after retrieving it, throws one half of the hinged trailer over a cliff with Malcolm, Nick and Sarah inside. Sarah falls on the glass, almost breaking it. But Malcolm comes down, grabs Sarah's "lucky pack" and Sarah holds on to it. Eddie throws down a rope and tries to pull the trailer back up using one of the SUVs, but is torn in half and eaten by the Tyrannosaur parents. The trailer falls off the cliff, but its occupants survive by holding on to the rope, only to be rescued by the InGen team. With all of the communications equipment destroyed in the attacks, both groups team up to reach the old InGen compound's radio station, right through a Velociraptor nesting site, while Sarah suspects the adult Tyrannosaurs will continue pursuing them.
On the way, Dieter Stark goes off in the woods, where he is killed by compys. But Carter could not hear Dieter's calls for help. At night, the male Tyrannosaur comes into the group's camp and looks into Sarah and Kelly's tent. One of the InGen team members, Carter, wakes up and notices the tyrannosaur. His shouts awaken the other group members and they all run, with the Tyrannosaur in pursuit. Tembo tries but fails to shoot the Tyrannosaur, finding his ammunition disabled by Nick. Carter is crushed underfoot and the group separates in the chaos. Nick, Sarah, Kelly and another InGen team member, Dr. Robert Burke, take refuge in a small cave behind a waterfall. The Tyrannosaur puts its head inside but cannot spot them since they are all standing still. However, Burke discovers a coral snake slithering on him and tries to run out of the cave in a panic. The Tyrannosaur then catches and devours him, although, ironically, the snake was a compleately harmless milk snake. Malcolm comes in a few moments later, much to the group's relief. Nick decides to go ahead to the compound and radio for help.
Still fleeing the Tyrannosaur, the InGen team passes through a field of tall grass and are picked off one by one by Velociraptors hiding in it. Malcolm and his friends pass through the field unharmed, but are attacked by three raptors and go into hiding. Kelly wounds one of them by knocking it out of a window (using her gymnastic skills) and Dr. Harding manages to pit the last two against each other. The team then run towards a building, where they contact a rescue helicopter. As they fly away, they see that Tembo has caged the adult female Tyrannosaur that he had tranquilized earlier when it had attacked the camp, and Ludlow is preparing to ship it and the baby back to the mainland. Tembo however states that he is done with InGen and hunting, having lost his best friend, Ajay, to the Velociraptors.
When the ship carrying the dinosaur arrives in San Diego, it crashes into the dock. A boarding party finds out the entire crew is dead, apparently killed by the Tyrannosaur, which had somehow escaped. While searching for survivors, a guard opens the cargo hold and inadvertently releases the Tyrannosaur, which enters the city. Malcolm and Sarah learn that the Tyrannosaur stopped breathing due to a tranquilizer overdose, it was given amphetamines to bring it round, but not knowing the proper dosage, they administered too much and the dinosaur is out of control. Realizing that the Tyrannosaur will likely come for its infant, Malcolm and Sarah rush to the Jurassic Park arena to get the young T. rex, which had been brought in separately by plane. They lure the adult with the baby and run back to the boat. Ludlow tries to intervene, but is trapped in the cargo hold and devoured by the two Tyrannosaurs. Malcolm and Sarah manage to tranquilize the adult before it can escape again, and seal it in the hold.
Later, as Malcolm and Sarah fall asleep on the couch in their living room, Kelly is watching television and sees the cargo ship on its way back to Site B, surrounded by a convoy of naval vessels. The program breaks away to an interview of restored InGen Chairman John Hammond, who explains that the island will now be left alone as a natural reserve so the dinosaurs can live free of human interference. He offers a quote by Malcolm, "Life will find a way." The scene cuts to Site B, where the family of Tyrannosaurs is shown in the wild, alongside various other dinosaurs.
13. Muppets From Space (1999): Gonzo has always been classified as a "whatever," but after he begins to have disturbing dreams of abandonment, he begins to realize just how alone he is in the world. After an alien race appears to be trying to send him a message through bowls of cereal, Gonzo realizes that he may not be so alone after all and climbs to the rooftop to start watching the sky. His dreams are realized when he's hit by a bolt of lightning that serves as a conduit that allows him to communicate with a pair of cosmic fish, revealing to him that he is, in fact, an alien from outer space.
When Kermit and his friends refuse to believe his wild raving, however, Gonzo is lured into the clutches of K. Edgar Singer (Jeffrey Tambor), a government agent who has also taken note of the aliens' attempts at communication and believes that Gonzo is his key to convincing his superiors that aliens do in fact exist. Kermit and the gang spring into action to rescue Gonzo, with the help of some handy inventions courtesy of Dr. Bunsen Honeydew.
A talking sandwich asks Gonzo where the alien ship can land, and Gonzo suggests Cape Doom. The Muppets go there after rescuing Gonzo and, along with a crowd of alien-happy spectators, await their arrival. The ship comes to Earth and the aliens, who all look like Gonzo, explain that many Zultans ago they lost him but welcome him back to the fold. K. Edgar Singer turns up and tries to kill the Aliens, but thanks to Bobo the bear who has disabled his weapon, he cannot and is laughed at. Gonzo considers going in to space with the Gonzo-like aliens, until he realizes his true home is on Earth with his surrogate family and friends, and K. Edgar Singer goes with the aliens as Earth's ambassador due to being so amusing.
The film ends with the Muppets watching the stars on the roof. Gonzo tells Kermit he wonders why did his family ask him to build a jacuzzi. Pepe chuckles because he and Rizzo had pretended to be them and asked him to do it.
14. The Muppet’s Wizard of Oz (2005): The film follows Kansas girl Doroth Gale, a young woman living in a trailer park. Dorothy desperately wishes to leave home and become a famous singer, but her dreams of becoming one appear impossible. One day, after completing her shift at her aunt and uncle's diner, she overhears that the Muppets are looking for a female singer for a cross-country "Star Hunt." Her aunt disapproves, but with her uncle's best wishes, she goes to the audition, arriving late and only managing to give the Muppets a demo CD that she created beforehand. In returning home, a tornado hits her family's area. When Aunt Em and Uncle Henry run into the county storm shelter for safety, Dorothy hurries back to her family's mobile home to get Toto, her pet prawn. Dorothy does not make it out in time, and the two are swept by the tornado across the vast fields of Kansas. When Dorothy climbs out of the wreckage, she finds that Toto can talk and that she is no longer in Kansas.
Dorothy and Toto discover that they are in Munchkinland, a small town part of the vast Land of Oz. After discussing her situation with the town's people, the Munchkins, Dorothy learns that the land's ruler, the Wizard of Oz, has the power to grant her wish of becoming a famous singer. Dorothy meets the Good Witch of the North, and receives a pair of magic silver slippers from the Wicked Witch of the East, the Witch of the North's sister who was killed when Dorothy's trailer fell on her. Soon after, she embarks on a journey with Toto on the yellow brick road to meet the Wizard of Oz, who lives in Emerald City, the capital of Oz. On her journey, she meets three creatures: a scarecrow, a tin robot, and a cowardly lion. They are also seeking the Wizard of Oz. After arriving at the Emerald city and meeting the Wizard, Dorothy and her friends are sent to retrieve the Wicked Witch of the West's magic eye, a tool the Witch uses to see anything she desires in the Land of Oz.
The group assumes that completing this task will result in the granting of their wishes, but they are soon captured by the Wicked Witch of the West and almost killed by her henchmen, the Winged monkeys. After being threatened to be killed by the Wicked Witch of the West, the captured lion calls the Munchkins, who set Dorothy free. Seconds later, she kills the Wicked Witch by kicking her into a tub of water, in which she melts. Dorothy finds the magic eye unharmed and floating in the tub of water. After gaining control of the Winged Monkeys, Dorothy travels back to the Emerald City to have her and her friends' wishes granted. When they all storm into the Wizard's room, they discover that the "Wizard" is just an ordinary man pretending to be someone he is not. Even so, he still proceeds to grant the group's wishes. Dorothy finally becomes a singer in the Land of Oz, but realizes that all she ever really wanted was to go back home and be with her family. After traveling back to Munchkinland, she meets Glinda, the Good Witch of the South, who tells Dorothy that if she taps her heels together three times and recites the line, "take me home to Aunt Em", she will go back to her home.
Dorothy immediately completes this task, and is reconciled with her family. Much to her surprise, Aunt Em tells Dorothy that she can go with the Muppets on their Star Hunt. Dorothy sings "It's a Good Life" on television with the Muppets as the film ends.
By Richard Moody
CHAPTER 8
1. Allo Allo (1982): Set during World War II, 'Allo 'Allo! tells the story of René Artois, a French café owner in the village of Nouvion (the town square was based on a courtyard at Lynford Hall, Norfolk where the pilot episode was shot).Germans have occupied the village and stolen all of its valuable artefacts. These include the first cuckoo clock ever made and a painting of The Fallen Madonna by Van Clomp (known to those who have seen it as The Fallen Madonna with the Big Boobies). The commandant of the town has decided to keep them for himself after the war and forces René to hide the painting in his café. Hitler also wants the painting for himself, and sends Herr Otto Flick of the Gestapo to the town to find it. Flick, in turn, conspires to keep it for himself. The paintings are duplicated by a forger, get mixed-up and put in knockwurst sausages. One is sent to Hitler on an ammunition train which gets blown up, one is hidden and the other is eaten for dinner by Flick himself.
At the same time, the café is being used as a safe house for two brave but clueless downed British airmen. René is forced to work with the all-women Resistance, who would otherwise shoot him for serving Germans in his café. The far-fetched plans of the Resistance to get the airmen back to England, which always fail (except at one point when a truckload of British Airmen mixed with disguised German Generals, in that case it wasn't successful in bringing their two Airmen back to England as the truck was filled to capacity), are one of the main running gags of the series. As part of these plans, the Resistance have placed a radio in the bedroom of René's mother-in-law. This secret communication device between London and the resistance (codename "Nighthawk") is hidden under the bed, and incoming messages are signalled by triggering the light bulbs concealed in the bed-knobs, leading the elderly mother-in-law to cry "Ze flashing knobs!" René answers with "'Allo, 'allo, zis is Night'awk, are you receiving me?", hence the title of the show ("allô" is the normal French way of greeting someone over a remote communication system).
René is also trying to keep his affairs with his two waitresses secret from his wife Edith (who regularly sings in the café, although she is an appallingly bad singer, which she does not realise). In addition, the women-only Communist Resistance members are plotting against René for serving Germans and working with the Gaullist Resistance. Ironically, the Communist Resistance only blow things up for money. The only reason that they do not shoot René is that their leader is in love with him, a fact he has to hide from both his wife and his waitresses. Furthermore, the seemingly gay German Lieutenant Gruber is also continually flirting with René. These situations are even more humorous by the fact that René is not exactly the best looking man in France, is hardly a hero, and is often forced by his wife to do missions and secret operations. One memorable situation was when Edith pointed a gun at René to stop him from running away to hide with his cousin (when interrupted by the Colonel and the Captain, he said that his wife was proposing to him).
René's death at the hands of a German firing squad was faked in an early episode, and throughout most of the show's run, he has to pose as his own twin brother, and to convince his wife to marry him again in order to regain ownership of his café. In the meantime, René's wife is wooed by Monsieur Alfonse, the village undertaker, who is torn between his love for her and his admiration for René whom he considers to be a true hero of France.
These few plot devices provide the basic storyline throughout the entire series, on which are hung classic farce set-ups, physical comedy and visual gags, amusingly ridiculous fake accents, a large amount of sexual innuendo and a fast-paced running string of broad cultural clichés. Each episode builds on the previous ones, often requiring one to have seen the previous episode in order to fully understand the plot. At the start of each subsequent episode, René would summarise the plot to date to the audience in a gag based on the "As you remember..." device commonly used in serials. In re-runs, local TV stations have shuffled the episodes, making the plot synopses useful. A recurring theme within individual episodes is that of independent plots aiming for a common objective ending up cancelling out each other's effectiveness. It has also been noted that 'Allo 'Allo! seems to parody the drama series Secret Army, following a similar plot and with characters that are very similar to the drama.
2. Garfield’s Halloween Adventure (1985): Garfield is awakened by the Binky The Clown Show and learns that it is Halloween. Garfield enlists Odie's help in Trick-or-treating, hoping to get twice as much candy for himself. After trying on different costumes in the attic, Garfield and Odie settle on pirate costumes.
Soon they are out trick-or-treating amongst other children in the neighborhood. After several encounters with what appear to be real ghosts and goblins in costume, the pair find that they have visited every house in the neighborhood. Garfield notices more houses across the river, so he and Odie take a boat to get to the other side.
Odie misunderstands Garfield's command to "put out the oars" and throws the oars overboard, leaving the boat adrift down the river. Soon the boat arrives at an abandoned dock near a run-down mansion. Garfield and Odie venture inside the home to warm next to the fireplace and are startled to find an old man sitting in a nearby chair. The man tells the pair that they have chosen the wrong night to visit - 100 years ago that very night, pirates, pursued by government troops, buried their treasure in the floor of the mansion and signed a blood oath to return for the treasure at midnight 100 years later. The old man claimed to be the cabin boy, now 110 years old, from this very pirate ship. Before Garfield and Odie could decide on leaving, the old man steals their boat and leaves the two behind.
The clock chimes midnight and Garfield and Odie watch as a ghostly ship materializes on the river and pirate ghosts emerge. Garfield and Odie hide in an empty cupboard as the ghosts reclaim their buried treasure from the floorboards of the house. As the cat and dog stay where they are, one of the ghosts blow pepper from a pepper mill into a keyhole and immediately into Odie's nose. When Odie sneezes (because of the pepper), it alerts the ghosts to where they are. Making a run for it, Garfield and Odie jump into the river to escape, where Odie has to save Garfield as he cannot swim.
The pair wash ashore and find their boat with the candy still inside and untouched. They go home happy and Garfield rewards Odie's rescue by giving him his share of the candy.
Garfield later turns on the television and sees the same old man, (this time in the pirate hat Garfield lost while in the river) hosting an all-night pirate movie festival. Garfield abruptly turns off the television and goes to bed.
3. The Incredibles (2004): On the night of his wedding to Elastigirl (Holly Hunter), Mr. Incredible (Craig T. Nelson) takes enough time to stop crime in the city of Metroville. While he is attempting to capture villain Bomb Voyage (Dominique Lewis) during a bank robbery, Buddy Pine (Jason Lee), a fan of Mr. Incredible, attempts to help acting as Mr. Incredible's sidekick "IncrediBoy". Buddy's interference almost kills him, and Mr. Incredible is forced to save Buddy and let Voyage escape, and barely makes it to the ceremony on time. However, as a result of Mr. Incredible's actions, the public begins to disfavor anyone with superpowers, fearing them and using litigation to stop them from harming the public despite trying to save their lives. Supers are forced to abandon their heroic roles and adapt to regular life. Mr. Incredible and Elastigirl settle down in suburbia as Bob and Helen Parr and raise a family; their children appear to have super powers as well - the hot-headed Dash (Spencer Fox) possesses super speed, while timid Violet (Sarah Vowell) has the ability to turn invisible and create a force shield. However, their toddler, Jack-Jack (Eli Fucile and Maeve Andrews) has yet to show any special abilities.
Bob has grown tired of his insurance job, and with his best friend and former Super, Lucius Best, aka Frozone (Samuel L. Jackson), sneaks off at night to fight petty crimes. Bob accidentally loses his job when he injures his boss Gilbert Huph (Wallace Shawn) when he is prevented from stopping a nearby mugging. When Bob returns home, he discovers a mysterious message from a woman named Mirage (Elizabeth Peña), outlining an offer for Mr. Incredible to stop a rogue robot, the Omnidroid 9000, on a distant island for a large sum of money. Bob accepts the job, and though the fight is difficult at first due to being out of shape, he is successful and reinvigorated. On the promise of more work from Mirage, Bob keeps up the pretense of still having his insurance job while he spends the days working himself back up into shape. Bob visits superhero suit designer Edna Mode (Brad Bird), who fashions a new supersuit for Bob, but refuses to add a cape as his request, noting that capes have caused the demise of many other heroes.
Bob soon receives Mirage's next offer and returns to the island where he is attacked by a new Omnidroid that lacks the weaknesses of the previous model. Bob realizes he has been misled: the Omnidroid is not 'rogue' at all: it actually takes direction from Buddy Pine, who is now calling himself Syndrome, and is attempting to get his revenge on Bob for having snubbed him as a sidekick years ago. Bob is forced to flee from Syndrome and the robot. Whilst in hiding, Bob discovers the skeleton of a former Super that gives him a clue about Syndrome's plans. Bob sneaks back into the island facilities and cracks Syndrome's supercomputer, from which he discovers that numerous Supers have lost their lives to the Omnidroids, with each engagement ultimately contributing to the development of less vulnerable Omnidroids.
Meanwhile, Helen has become suspicious of Bob's activities and discovers that he has visited Edna. She finds that Edna, in creating Bob's new suit, has created new suits for each member of the Parr family, including a homing device in each suit. Helen uses this to discover Bob's location on the remote island, but it's signal alerts Syndrome and Bob is captured again. Helen procures a jet to find Bob, but finds Dash and Violet have stowed away. When Syndrome sends missiles to shoot the jet down as it nears the island, the three are able to escape using Helen's fireproof suit. Bob tries to grab Syndrome but Mirage puts herself in the way. He threatens to kill Mirage if Syndrome does not let him go. Syndrome doesn't believe him and tells him to do it but Bob, unable to deny his moral code, is unable to kill her. On land, Helen frees her husband from the base while Dash and Violet avoid capture by Syndrome's forces. The four reunite but are re-captured by Syndrome, who reveals that he plans to launch the final Omnidroid to Metroville, using a remote control to act as if he was saving the city in order to gain superhero status. After the robot is launched, Mirage turns on her boss and helps the Parrs to escape and follow on a second rocket.
The Parrs arrive in Metroville to find the Omnidroid rampaging through the city, having used its ability to learn and cope with opponents to separate Syndrome from his remote control. Assisted by Frozone, the Parrs seize the remote control and take advantage of its design to destroy the Omnidroid. They then return home, where Syndrome, having discovered the Parrs' identity, is attempting to kidnap Jack-Jack and make him his sidekick. As Syndrome flies to his waiting jet, Jack-Jack's innate superhuman power manifests itself as the ability to shape-shift into a number of difficult-to-handle forms, the last being a devilish being, causing Syndrome to drop him. Bob throws Helen into the air to safely catch Jack-Jack, then throws his new car at Syndrome's jet, which causes Syndrome's cape to get caught in one of his jet engines, dragging him to his apparent death. The Parrs resume their normal life, albeit more contentedly with their status quo than before. But when the city is threatened by a new villain called the Underminer (John Ratzenberger), the family of supers prepare to fight together anew.
By Liz Ross & Richard Moody
CHAPTER 9
1. X-Men (2000): In Congress, Senator Robert Kelly attempts to pass a "Mutant Registration Act", which would force mutants to publicly reveal their identities and abilities. Magneto begins his plans to level the playing field between mutants and humans. Meanwhile, a girl named Marie (a.k.a Rogue) runs away from her home in Meridian, Mississippi. She meets Wolverine in Canada. Suddenly, both of them are attacked by Sabretooth, a mutant and associate of Magneto. Cyclops and Storm arrive and save Wolverine and Rogue and bring them to the X-Mansion. Professor Charles Xavier runs the facility, and leads a group of mutants who are trying to seek peace with the human race, educate young mutants in the responsible use of their powers, and stop Magneto from starting a war with humanity.
Senator Kelly is abducted by Mystique and Toad, and brought to Magneto, who tests a machine on Kelly that artificially induces mutation. Kelly manages to escape imprisonment with his new abilities. After an accident causes Rogue to use her powers on Wolverine, she is convinced by Mystique (disguised as Bobby Drake, a boy whom Rogue likes) that Xavier is angry with her and that she should leave the school. Xavier uses Cerebro to locate Rogue at a train station. Mystique infiltrates Cerebro and sabotages the machine. Wolverine convinces Rogue to stay with Xavier. A fight ensues with Wolverine, Cyclops and Storm against Magneto, Toad and Sabretooth. Rogue is taken by Magneto. Senator Kelly arrives at Xavier's school, but dissolves into a puddle of water when his mutation becomes unstable.
The X-Men learn that Magneto intends to use Rogue's ability on himself so that Rogue can power his machine. Xavier attempts to use Cerebro to locate Rogue, but Mystique's sabotage causes him to fall into a coma. Jean fixes it and uses Cerebro to find Magneto's machine on Liberty Island, which Magneto intends to use on the world leaders who are meeting for a summit on nearby Ellis Island. Just as the group arrives at the top of the statue, Magneto and Sabretooth incapacitate the group and continue with their plans. Magneto transfers his powers to Rogue who is forced to use them to start the machine. Wolverine breaks free and initiates a fight with Sabretooth; however, Wolverine is thrown over the side of the statue and Sabretooth redirects himself to the group to finish them off.
Wolverine returns, and Cyclops, with Jean's help, blasts Sabretooth out of the statue. With Jean stabilizing him, Storm uses her abilities to send Wolverine to the top of Magneto's machine. With time running out, Wolverine attempts to stop the machine and save Rogue, but Magneto, now having regained some of his strength, halts Wolverine's claws. Cyclops manages to find a clean shot, wounding Magneto and allowing Wolverine to destroy the machine. Placing his hand to her face, Wolverine succeeds in transferring his regenerative abilities to a dying Rogue. Professor Xavier recovers from his coma, and the group learns that Mystique is still alive when they see her impersonating Senator Kelly on a news broadcast. In an attempt to help Wolverine learn more about his past, Xavier sends him to a military base near Alkali Lake. Xavier visits Magneto in his plastic prison cell, and the two play chess. Magneto warns his friend that he will continue his fight, to which Xavier promises that he (and the X-Men) will always be there to stop him.
2. Ocean’s Eleven (2001): Shortly after being paroled from prison in New Jersey, Danny Ocean (George Clooney) breaks parole to visit Los Angeles, meeting up with Rusty (Brad Pitt), a former partner in his criminal schemes, to propose a new scheme he has in mind. The two head to Las Vegas to approach wealthy friend and former casino owner Reuben Tishkoff (Elliott Gould), with a plan to rob the vaults of the Bellagio, The Mirage and the MGM Grand casinos. At first Reuben is very reluctant, knowing himself how much security there is in every casino, but Reuben, seeing this as a way to get back at his rival, Terry Benedict (Andy Garcia), owner of the 3 casinos, finances the option and suggests the plan be executed on the night of the highly-anticipated Lennox Lewis/Wladimir Klitschko boxing match. By Nevada Gaming Commission rules, the casinos must maintain adequate funds in their vaults to cover all bets, and during the busy casino night coinciding with the match, more than $150 million is expected to be stored in the Bellagio vault. Danny and Rusty begin to recruit former colleagues and other criminal masterminds into their group. The team plans and carries out a series of reconnaissance missions at the Bellagio to learn as much as possible about the security, the lay of the land and the routines and behaviors of the casino staff. At the same time, they recreate a perfect replica of the Bellagio vault to practice evasion of the vault's formidable security systems. During this planning phase, the team discovers that Danny's ex-wife, Tess Ocean (Julia Roberts), is currently Terry's lover, and Rusty urges Danny to drop the plan, aware that Tess may warn Terry that something is afoot if she sees Danny, but Danny figures this into the plan.
On the night of the fight, the plan is put into effect. Danny himself goes to the casino in order to be seen by Terry, who, as he expects, has him locked up in a storeroom to be beaten up by one of his bouncers. The bouncer, however, is in Danny's pocket, and he allows Danny to escape through a ventilation shaft and meet with his team in the vault. The team activates a stolen pinch device to temporarily disable power from the city, allowing them to breach the vault undetected. As Terry tries to restore order in the casino after the power outage, Rusty anonymously calls him via a cell phone that Danny planted earlier in Tess's coat. He lets him know that his vaults are being robbed and that all the money will be blown up if Terry does not cooperate to load half the money from the vault into a van waiting outside. Terry observes video footage of the vault that confirms Rusty's demands, and concedes to help move the money, but orders his men to follow the van when it departs while also calling a S.W.A.T. team to attack the vault. The S.W.A.T. team's arrival causes a shootout and the explosion of the other half of the money. The S.W.A.T. assures the situation is secure and departs with their equipment, leaving Terry to contemplate the ruins.
Terry realises that the vault video feed was faked when he notices that the vault's marble-inlay floors are missing the Bellagio logos, which were only very recently installed in the vault. His men following the van find that it is being driven remotely, and is only filled with "fliers for hookers". A flashback reveals that Danny used his vault recreation to create the fake video feed. The rest of Danny's team posed as the S.W.A.T. team, and took all of vault money unchecked. Terry returns to the room where he left Danny, finding that Danny is still there, leaving Terry no way to connect him to the theft. Danny offers to assist Terry in finding the money on condition that he give up Tess, to which Terry agrees. However, the team routes the live security feed of this conversation to Tess's suite. Angry at being used by Terry, she leaves him and returns to Danny. Danny is still arrested for violating parole, the police having been tipped off by Terry, and spends some months in prison. When Danny is released, he is met by Rusty and Tess, and the three drive off, closely followed by Terry's bodyguards.
3. Hulk (2003): David Banner is a genetics researcher who experiments on himself, trying to improve human DNA. Once his wife gives birth to their son Bruce, David realizes his mutant DNA has been passed on and attempts to find a cure for his son's condition. The government, represented by General "Thunderbolt" Ross, shuts down his research after learning of his dangerous experiments. David, in a fit of rage, causes a massive explosion of the facilities' gamma reactor, and accidentally kills his wife. He is then put into a mental hospital, while 4-year-old Bruce is sent into foster care and adopted, taking on the last name of Krenzler, believing his biological parents are deceased. The events surrounding his mother's death leave Bruce unable to recall details of his early childhood.
Years later, Bruce is a brilliant researcher freshly graduated at the University of California, Berkeley. The military-industrial complex, represented by the unscrupulous Major Talbot, becomes interested in the research to build regenerating soldiers. David reappears and begins infiltrating Bruce's life, working as a janitor in the lab building. Ross, now an Army general, also begins to investigate. Ross, the estranged father of Bruce's ex-girlfriend and co-researcher Betty Ross, becomes concerned both for his daughter's safety around Bruce, but also because Bruce is working in the same field as the father he does not remember.
Bruce succumbs to a scientific experiment accident. Afterwards, we see Bruce sitting in a hospital bed telling Betty that he's never felt better, which she can't fathom due to the fact that the nanomeds have killed everything else they've touched. The radiation has intertwined with Bruce's already-altered DNA. That night, his father confronts him, revealing their relationship and hinting at the mutation inside Bruce. Using Bruce's DNA, he begins experimentation on animals. Soon after, the building rage within Bruce stemming from all of the stresses building up around him activates his gamma-radiated DNA, transforming him into the Hulk.
After the destruction at the lab, Bruce is found unconscious and at home by Betty. Bruce barely remembers his transformation, a sensation similar to birth. Ross arrives, suspicious, and places him under house arrest as well as taking over Bruce and Betty's lab. That night, David phones Bruce and tells him he has unleashed three mutant dogs to Betty's house. Enraged and attacked by Talbot, Bruce transforms again and, after seriously injuring Talbot and the guards, fights and kills all three dogs and saves Betty. The next morning, Bruce is tranquilized and taken to an enormous underground base in the desert. Betty tries to convince her father to allow her to attempt to help Bruce control his transformations, but Ross remains extremely skeptical, believing Bruce is "damned" to follow in his father's footsteps. In the meantime, David breaks into the lab and subjects himself to the nanomeds and the gammasphere, gaining the ability to meld with and absorb the properties of anything he can touch.
Talbot, seeing an opportunity to profit from the Hulk's strength and regenerative capability, attacks and taunts Bruce, but fails. Talbot puts him in a sensory deprivation tank and induces a nightmare that triggers his repressed memories and transforms him into the Hulk, eventually leading to the death of Talbot. David confronts Betty and offers to turn himself in. In exchange, he asks to speak to Bruce "one last time." The Hulk escapes the base in the process. He battles the army in the desert, defeating four tanks and two Comanche Helicopters, and leaps all the way to San Francisco to find Betty again. Betty contacts her father and convinces him to take her to meet the Hulk, believing that he needs "a chance to calm down." Bruce's love for her comes through the Hulk, and he transforms back into his human form. David is allowed to visit the base and talk to Bruce. David, having descended into megalomania, fails to convince Bruce to give him his power. David transforms into a powerful electrical being after biting into a wire and absorbing the energy. Bruce then transforms into the Hulk and battles his father. Both are presumed dead after Ross orders a Gamma Charge Bomb to end the fight, leaving no trace of them. A year later there have still been numerous sightings of the Hulk. Bruce finds exile in the Amazon Rainforest as a doctor in a medical camp.
4. X-2 (2003): Nightcrawler, a teleporting mutant, attempts to assassinate the President of the U.S. in the White House, but he fails and escapes. Wolverine reappears after discovering nothing at Alkali Lake, while Storm and Jean find Nightcrawler with the help of Professor Xavier and Cerebro. Cyclops and Professor X visit Magneto in his plastic prison to see if he had any part in the attack on the President. Reading Magneto's mind, Professor X discovers that a covert government operative, William Stryker, has been extracting information from Magneto. A trap is sprung and Cyclops and Professor X are captured by Stryker and his assistant Yuriko Oyama. A military raid of the X-Mansion begins, with the soldiers sedating every student they find; most escape and six are captured, while Wolverine encounters Stryker, who fails to shed any light on his past.
Impersonating Senator Robert Kelly and Yuriko, Mystique gains information about Magneto's prison and provides a means for him to escape. Wolverine, along with Rogue, Iceman and Pyro, heads to Iceman's home in Boston. After a 9-1-1 call by Bobby's brother Ronnie, the police arrive just as the group is about to leave, ensuing into a dispute with Pyro. The X-Jet arrives to pick them all up, and the X-Men team with Magneto and Mystique. Magneto has learned Stryker orchestrated the attack on the President and has been experimenting on mutants, using a drug injected directly into the back of the neck to control them. Jean reads Nightcrawler's mind and determines that Stryker's base is located at Alkali Lake, inside the dam. He has also stolen enough equipment from Xavier's own Cerebro unit to build a second Cerebro, with which he plans to kill all the world's mutants.
Stryker gains control over Professor Xavier through his son, Jason Stryker, who is able to project powerful visions in the mind, blinding a person to reality. Professor X is instructed to use Cerebro to find and kill all existing mutants. Mystique infiltrates Stryker's base using a number of disguises. As the X-Men enter Storm and Nightcrawler pair off, searching for kidnapped students. Jean, Magneto, and Mystique are attacked by a brainwashed Cyclops on their way to rescue Professor X, causing damage to the generators that keep the dam from collapsing. The force of Jean's telekinetic blast awakens Cyclops from his brainwashing. Wolverine finds Stryker in an adamantium smelting room along with Lady Deathstrike. Wolverine and Deathstrike begin fighting, and after a brief struggle Wolverine defeats and kills her. Wolverine finds Stryker on a landing pad, where Stryker attempts to bargain Wolverine for his life with stories of his past. Wolverine refuses and leaves him for dead, stabbing him and chaining him to the helicopter wheel.
Mystique, disguised as Stryker, uses Jason to convince Professor X to kill all humans. Magneto and Mystique use Stryker's helicopter to escape Alkali Lake, chaining Stryker to concrete rubble, and are also joined by Pyro. Meanwhile, Nightcrawler teleports Storm inside of Cerebro, where she frees the Professor from his telepathic illusion. A malfunction aboard the X-Jet prevents it from taking off, and the dam finally bursts. The flood gets stronger, drowning Stryker. Jean leaves the jet and creates a telekinetic wall in order to stop the wave, and at the same time raises the jet above the flood waters; all the while surrounded by a corona of fire. Jean activates the X-Jet's primary engines, before releasing the torrent of water down on herself. The X-Men are able to supply the President with files from Stryker's private offices, and Professor X warns him that humans and mutants must work together to build peace, or they will destroy each other through war. The film ends with a voiceover by Jean Grey on the process of evolution (a speech originally made by Professor Xavier in the introduction of the first film). The camera floats over Alkali Lake, showing a vague shape of a Phoenix in the lake.
5. Ocean’s Twelve (2004): Terry Benedict (Andy Garcia) rounds up the eleven members of Danny Ocean's (George Clooney) gang, and threatens them to pay back the $160 million that they stole from his Vegas casino from their previous heist, along with $38 million in interest, within two weeks. Collectively, the group is short by nearly half, and are forced to stage another heist to collect the funds. The group opts for a European target as they are too well recognized in the United States, and select the world's oldest stock certificate issued by the Dutch East India Company in 1602, being kept in a private home in Amsterdam; the value would not be enough to settle the debt but sufficient to extend their deadline. While the group is able to breach the security of the house, including physically lifting the house to gain the correct line of sight to deactivate the security codes, they find they have been beaten by another master thief, François Toulour also known as "The Night Fox" (Vincent Cassel). Toulour invites Danny to his home, and reveals that it was he that tipped off Terry on Danny's casino heist, due to being upset that his mentor Gaspar LeMarque (Albert Finney) has believed Danny was the world's best thief. Toulour challenges Danny to see who could first steal the Coronation Egg within the week, offering to pay off Terry's debt if Danny should win.
As Danny's group prepares to steal the Egg during its exhibition at a museum, Europol detective Agent Isabel Lahiri (Catherine Zeta-Jones), who has long been on the trail of LeMarque and Toulour, discovers the theft of the stock certificate. She manages to connect the theft to Danny's group due to her previous relationship with Rusty (Brad Pitt) and begins to track them. As such, many of the group are captured in their first attempt to steal the Egg, leaving only Linus Caldwell (Matt Damon) and two others free. Linus comes up with a second plan, in which Danny's wife Tess (Julia Roberts) is to pose as a pregnant Julia Roberts as to allow them to get close to the Egg, but the group is inadvertently foiled by the appearance of Bruce Willis (playing himself) who recognizes Tess is not the real Julia Roberts. While Lahiri prepares her case against Danny's team, they are extradited by Linus's mother Mrs. Caldwell (Cherry Jones) posing as a U.S. official.
Danny and Tess return to Toulour's estate at Lake Como in Italy, where he reveals his glee at their fate and that he had stolen the Egg at night using his agility to sneak past the laser sensors. Danny informs Toulour that he still lost the bet. Danny explains that when they arrived in Europe, they were contacted by LeMarque and told of the plans to transport the Egg from Paris to Amsterdam by way of a non-descript carrier while a show of an official convoy was made. Danny's team was able to switch the courier's backpack during transit with an identical looking one carrying an imitation of the Egg without notice, thus stealing the Egg before it even went on display. Toulour is forced to admit his defeat and pays the debt owed to Terry.
LeMarque reveals in a meeting with Danny and Rusty that he had been playing a long con. LeMarque wanted to humiliate Toulour by taunting him into the bet with Danny, as well as to regain possession of the Egg that he had stolen himself long ago, only relinquishing it due to his wife's nagging. But more importantly, LeMarque wanted to be reunited with his daughter, revealed to be Lahiri, which could only be done after Danny's crew were extradited. With Rusty's help, Lahiri is flown in to an emotional meeting with her father. The group pays the money back to Terry, though under watch by Toulour, and then enjoy a private poker session, with Lahiri rejoining with Rusty.
6. Hellboy (2004): In 1944, the German Nazis work with the undead Russian mystic Grigori Rasputin on an isolated island off the coast of Scotland to build a dimensional portal. They intend to use it, with Rasputin's help, to awaken the Ogdru Jahad, monstrous entities that have been imprisoned and asleep since an undisclosed time, to destroy their enemies. But Rasputin secretly intends to use the entities to bring about the destruction of the entire Earth. He is aided by his servant, Ilsa von Haupstein, to whom he has granted eternal life, and Nazi Lieutenant Colonel Karl Ruprecht Kroenen, Hitler's finest assassin and leader of the Thule Occult Society. The United States sends a small Army team to destroy the portal, guided by a young doctor, Professor Trevor Broom, who is well-versed in the occult. In the ensuing battle, the German scientists and soldiers are killed and the portal is destroyed, in the process absorbing and apparently killing Rasputin. Ilsa and Kroenen escape capture. As the Army team surveys the ruins for anything that may have sneaked into their dimension through the portal, they discover an infant demon with a stone right hand. Broom coaxes it into his arms with a Baby Ruth candy bar. They name the little creature "Hellboy."
Sixty years later, a young FBI agent named John Myers is transferred to the B.P.R.D., run by Broom. He is introduced to Hellboy, now an adult. Also employed with the B.P.R.D. is a fish man named Abe Sapien who has advanced psychic abilities, and Liz Sherman, a pyrokinetic who has yet to learn to control her firestarting abilities. Liz has recently left the bureau (for the thirteenth time) and checked herself into a mental hospital in an effort to protect others from her talent. Despite regular visits and coaxing from Hellboy, who appears infatuated with her, she is determined not to return.
Meanwhile, Kroenen and Ilsa resurrect Rasputin. Rasputin and his companions travel to New York and the Machen Library of Paranormal Artifacts. There, they open a display and, through magic, release a monstrous hellhound known as Sammael. Rasputin imbues Sammael with the power to reincarnate and split his essence, causing two of the creature's "eggs" to hatch and mature in seconds each time one dies. Rasputin then visits Liz as she sleeps, reactivating her powers and causing the near-total destruction of the hospital. Afterwards, Myers talks to her, and convinces her to return to the bureau, at least for the short term.
The multiplying Sammael quickly becomes a major problem, as Hellboy repeatedly kills it, creating dozens. Abe is injured during an attempt to retrieve some of their eggs, and Kroenen kills one of the FBI agents sent with Hellboy, and Sammael kills the other two agents. Kroenen, whose mutilated body is now run by mechanic parts, then shuts himself down and pretends to be defeated just before Hellboy arrives. Kroenen's body is brought to the bureau for examination. FBI Director Tom Manning is angered by Hellboy's recklessness, which he feels is indirectly responsible for his agents' deaths. Hellboy gets mad and threatens Manning just as Liz returns, almost causing her to leave again just as quickly. Myers, in an effort to help her overcome her difficulties with Hellboy, takes her out for coffee and to talk. Hellboy, jealous, covertly follows them.
While they are away, Rasputin appears at the bureau, reanimating Kroenen before they confront Professor Broom. Out of twisted respect for Broom's protection and nurturing of Hellboy, Rasputin promises him a quick death, but first offers him a vision of the future, showing Hellboy is the agent that has destroyed the world. Rejecting Rasputin's vision of Hellboy's destiny, Broom is stabbed in the neck by Kroenen and, clutching a rosary, collapses and dies.
Manning takes over the B.P.R.D. and, with the help of Hellboy and the others, manages to find Rasputin's physical body located in a mausoleum in an old cemetery outside Moscow, Russia. An enraged Hellboy, with Manning's help, defeats Kroenen once and for all, to avenge the death of his father. Telling Manning to stay back, Hellboy reunites with Liz and Myers at Sammael's nest to defend them, but the creatures overwhelm him. In an effort to help, Liz, with some encouragement from Myers, ignores the fear that has prevented her from unleashing her full potential and uses her pyrokinetic powers to encase herself in fire, which she uses to incinerate the army of Sammaels and all the eggs. Unfortunately, this effect renders Hellboy, Liz and Myers unconscious and they are captured by Rasputin.
To force Hellboy to release the Ogdru Jahad, Rasputin sucks Liz's soul out of her body, telling Hellboy that Liz will come back to life only if he complies. Hellboy, not wanting to lose Liz, awakens his true power as Anung un Rama, causing his horns to regrow. He nearly releases the Ogdru Jahad, but the injured Myers reminds him of who he is and that he has the right to choose his own path. He snaps off his horns, returning to his former self and resealing the Ogdru Jahad. As Rasputin screams his frustration and disappointment at Hellboy, Hellboy stabs him in the belly with one of his broken horns.
However, Rasputin has one last trick up his sleeve: he is possessed by a creature from the Ogdru Jahad. The tentacled Behemoth bursts out of Rasputin's body, grows to immense size, and kills Rasputin and Ilsa. Hellboy grabs a stone sword from a nearby statue and attacks the Behemoth's tentacles, then allows himself to be swallowed while detonating a belt of live hand grenades. The subsequent explosion tears the Behemoth apart from inside, destroying it. Liz's vital signs are gone when Hellboy returns from the fight, but he whispers into her ear, and suddenly her life is restored. When she asks how her soul was returned, Hellboy replies that he simply told the creatures from the other side the cost of taking her: "Hey, you on the other side. Let her go. Because for her I'll cross over, and then you'll be sorry." She and Hellboy kiss as she surrounds them in flame, and the narrator, Myers, says that what truly makes a man is "Not how he starts things, but how he decides to end them."
Finally, the film ends with a humorous mid-credits scene, where a forgotten and frightened Manning is lost several levels down in the dank and dim halls of the mausoleum, listening to maybe the rustle of footsteps, and looking to see if there's anyone around.
7. Fantastic Four (2005): Dr. Reed Richards (Ioan Gruffudd), a brilliant but timid and bankrupt physicist, is convinced that evolution is triggered by clouds of cosmic energy in space, and has calculated that one of these clouds is soon going to pass near Earth. Together with his friend, the gruff yet gentle astronaut Ben Grimm (Michael Chiklis), Reed convinces his equally brilliant but conceited MIT classmate Dr. Victor von Doom (Julian McMahon), now CEO of Von Doom Industries, to allow him access to his privately-owned space station.
Von Doom agrees, in exchange for control over the experiment and a majority of the profits from whatever benefits it brings. He brings aboard his chief genetics researcher (and Reed's ex-girlfriend) Susan Storm (Jessica Alba), and her hot-headed brother Johnny Storm (Chris Evans), his private astronaut, who was Ben's subordinate at NASA but is his superior on the mission, much to Ben's disgust. The quintet travels to space to observe the cosmic energy clouds, but Reed has miscalculated and the clouds materialize well ahead of schedule.
Victor refuses Reed's plea to abort the mission, knowing he must produce results to justify his expenditure, no matter the human cost involved. Knowing Ben is space-walking to set up equipment, Reed, Susan and Johnny leave the shielded inner area of the station to rescue him, and Victor closes the shield behind them. Whilst Victor is seemingly safe, the others are exposed to the cloud. Ben receives full exposure out in space, while the others receive a more limited dose within the station.
The astronauts make it home intact; however, before long they begin to mutate, developing strange powers. Reed is able to stretch like rubber; Susan can become invisible (by bending light around objects) and create force fields, especially when angered; Johnny can engulf himself in fire at up to supernova-like temperatures, and is able to fly; and Ben is transformed into "The Thing", a large, rock-like creature with superhuman strength.
After Ben, brooding about his situation on the Brooklyn Bridge, accidentally causes a major traffic pile-up whilst attempting to stop a man from committing suicide, the four use their powers to prevent any loss of life and to rescue a fire truck and its crew from falling off the bridge. The media dubs the team the 'Fantastic Four'; whilst Johnny eagerly embraces his powers and new life, Ben - the only one whose transformed appearance is permanent - suffers.
His disfigurement has caused his fiancee, Debbie, to abandon him and has seen him shunned and feared by much of New York. Blaming himself, Reed vows to return Ben to his human form. Therefore he, Susan and Ben work on a cure, constructing a healing chamber in Reed's high tech Baxter Building loft-turned-laboratory. During this time, Reed and Susan begin to rekindle their attraction to one another. Susan admits that she is not interested in Victor, but had turned away from Reed because he feared to make a binding vow, thinking only in terms of variables.
His excessive caution was hard for Susan to deal with, and now it begins to test Ben's patience, as he is eager to return to his human form while Reed is taking his time on the machine. Unknown to the others, however, Victor's body is also mutating; he is turning into organic metal capable of absorbing and manipulating electrical energy. As a result of the disastrous expedition, his company is going bankrupt and he is losing public stature; blaming Reed for his misfortunes, Victor swears revenge.
After killing a bank chairman who had pulled out of the Von Doom Industries' IPO, Victor sees the opportunity to finish off his rival once and for all. Manipulating Ben's insecurity and anguish, Victor tricks Ben into thinking that his teammates are not working on a cure with due diligence; after a vicious argument between himself and Reed, Ben storms out of the Baxter Building. Reed experiments with the curative machine on himself and nearly dies in the process, but learns that the machine only needs more power to fully succeed. Victor, who has been spying on Reed, tricks Ben into entering the machine and provides the extra power.
Ben becomes normal again, while Victor's own mutation increases exponentially, increasing his power but also physically disfiguring him. When Ben realizes that Victor merely wanted the super-strong Thing out of the way so that no one could stop him, Victor immobilizes Ben. Reed discovers them and Victor attacks him, taking him prisoner, and sarcastically asks "What happens when you super-cool rubber?" while getting him frozen to prevent him using his powers of distention. When Susan and Johnny realize what has happened, Victor - now calling himself 'Doom' - fires a heat-seeker missile at the Baxter Building, intending it to target and kill Johnny.
Johnny uses his powers of heat and flight to lead the missile to open water, where he ignites a garbage scow to dispose of the missile. However, he is thrown into the water, and whether he remains alive is not shown. Meanwhile, Susan attempts to rescue Reed and confronts Doom. She soon proves no match for the powerful Doom, and he is on the verge of killing her when Ben - having activated Reed's machine and used it upon himself to restore his mutation - bursts into the room. Doom and Ben fight, until the battle spills onto the street below.
But no matter how hard Ben attacks him, he is unable to overpower Doom, and Doom knocks him flat on his back. He is about to deal the finishing strike, when a recovered Reed and Susan arrive to save Ben. Doom begins to scorn them, when he is blasted from behind with fire from none other than Johnny, who survived his encounter with the missile unharmed. Doom absorbs all the electricity in the area that he can to begin the final showdown. At first, it seems that Doom has the advantage, as the team struggles under his onslaught of electric blasts.
Reed manages to use his elastic body to temporarily restrain Doom, and then coordinates the team for an offensive attack, trusting his initial judgment for the first time. He starts by telling Johnny to unleash his supernova heat on Doom, despite the fact that even Johnny agreed this was dangerous. Johnny uses this to surround Doom in a vortex of fire, while Reed gets Susan to try to contain it (and its dangerous amount of heat) within a force field.
She manages to do so while Doom makes futile attempts to break free with his electric blasts. When Johnny and Susan give out, it looks as if Doom is just starting to melt, but he is still on his feet and merely sneers "Is that the best you can do? A little heat?". Reed responds "Time for your lesson - Chem 101. What happens when you rapidly cool hot metal?" Ben then kicks the top off of a fire hydrant, and he and Reed direct the water shooting out of it at Doom. The steam created as the water hits Doom forms a thick cloud, and when it settles, Doom is seemingly left as a statue of inert metal.
Ben informs Reed that he has accepted his condition with the help of Alicia Masters, a blind artist for whom he has developed feelings, and the team decide to embrace their roles as superheroes and unite officially as the Fantastic Four. Reed proposes marriage to Susan, who accepts. Doom's remains are being transported back to his homeland of Latveria when the ship carrying them experiences unusual electronic interference.
8. Ocean’s Thirteen (2007): Veteran confidence man (and partner in the two prior "Ocean's" capers) Reuben Tishkoff (Elliott Gould), in an effort to legitimize himself and secure himself financially in his later years, partners himself with notorious hotelier Willy Bank (Al Pacino) to build a major hotel and casino in Vegas called "The Midas". Bank double-crosses Reuben by modifying the partnership in the final contract so as to freeze Reuben out and subtly threatening his life, forcing Reuben to sign over his half of the business. Reuben suffers a heart attack, and is bedridden, seemingly having lost the will to live. Reuben's friend Danny Ocean (George Clooney) attempts to persuade Bank to reconsider the deal, but Bank refuses. Danny gathers the same group of con men seen in Ocean's 11 and Ocean's 12 to exact revenge on Bank, by making the casino (Now renamed "The Bank") an immediate flop on its opening night.
The group launch a multi-faceted attack on Bank. They bribe the Bank's concierge with a job offer for a casino resort in Macao, and having Saul Bloom (Carl Reiner) pose as the AAA hotel reviewer. Bank is counting on recieving another "Five Diamond Award" rating for this hotel, as he has for all his other hotels. The real reviewer (David Paymer)is made as miserable as possible, the crew contaminating his room with horrible odors, freezing him out of the casino's best restaurant (by bribing the maitre'd), giving him food poisoning and a horrible (but harmless) rash, then (with two members of the crew disguised as Bank security men) evicting him from the hotel. Ocean very publicly 'steals' Bank's high profile, rich guests (known in Las Vegas parlance as 'whales') having them leave The Bank for other accommodations. These are just misdirection and harassment tactics, as the crew work towards their ultimate goal: taking all of Bank's money. The crew plans to rig the gaming machines to give off massive payouts to the opening night crowd and force Bank to lose the $500 million he needs to retain ownership of the hotel. They infiltrate a dice-making factory in Mexico to contaminate and rig the dice for the whole casino at the source. They also plan to modify the card dealing machines and rig slot machines to pay off on a specific sequence of coin drops.
While the caper largely goes according to plan, some complications arise. The Mexican factory suffers a strike and a lockout by management. Livingston (Eddie Jemison)cannot make the card dealing machines work as planned. Worst of all, they discover that Bank has set up an elaborate and supposedly unbeatable artificial intelligence system called the "Greco" that would discover any manipulation of the gambling machines, and can identify cheaters by use of biometric readings. They consult their con artist friend and technical expert Roman Nagel (Eddie Izzard) for help. Nagel determines that while the Greco cannot be beaten, it can be disabled for several minutes by activating a magnetron near the mainframe. Using Bank's own greed against him, the crew acquires a prototype cell phone that they know Bank has been asking for. The crew secrets a magnetron device in the phone that can be activated to disable the Greco. While this will allow the casino players to break the bank, it will not make them leave. To ensure the winners do not simply put their money back on the gambling tables, the crew must simulate a disaster, such as an earthquake. To do so requires the purchase of the underground boring machines that constructed the Chunnel to create a fake tremor that evacuates the building. When the cost of acquiring the machines proves more than the crew can afford, they recruit millionaire casino owner Terry Benedict (Andy Garcia), the 'mark' of the first Ocean's caper. Benedict, who loathes Bank for being classless and soiling the reputation of all casino owners, agrees to help on two conditions - he is reimbursed the money he fronts for the operation, and the crew must steal Bank's collection of diamond necklaces, (Bank has bought one for each of his other AAA "Five Diamond Award" winning casinos around the world). While the crew first balk at the idea of adding a jewel heist to the plan at the last minute, they concoct a scheme - planting young Linus (Matt Damon) in a position to seduce Bank's attractive (but slightly older) assistant Abigail Sponder (Ellen Barkin).
While the rest of the crew works at their various tasks, Basher (Don Cheadle) has been sending Reuben heartfelt letters to encourage his recovery. Basher, stuck manning the boring machine, asks Linus to read the to Reuben, but Linus is embarrassed to read the sentiments aloud, and leaves them on Reuben's nightstand. Reuben eventually reads them himself, and slowly regains his strength and reassurance. He finally finds the stamina to visit the Bank on opening night and watch the crew put the plan into action.
Most aspects of the plan work as expected. The Greco is disabled, the tremor evacuates the winners, and Linus succeeds in seducing Sponder and getting her to let him into the secure diamond room, on the top floor of the casino. However, other aspects fail catastrophically. FBI agents arrest Livingston, caught trying to plant the rigged card dealing machines. The rest of the crew narrowly avoids capture when Bank runs Livingston's fingerprints and attempts to determine Livingston's known criminal associates through the Las Vegas 'black book' database. Only the fast work of Basher (impersonating a stunt cyclist hired to perform at the casino opening) distracting Bank, and a quick hack of the database by Virgil and Turk Mallor (Scott Caan, Casey Affleck) to alter the images of the crew prevent Bank from uncovering the scheme. The FBI agents also arrests Linus. Linus and the lead FBI agent proceed to the roof of the casino.
It is then revealed that the FBI agent is in fact Linus' father, Bobby Caldwell (Bob Einstein). Caldwell has maintained a deep cover identity as an FBI agent. Livingston's arrest was part of the plan, as the actual rigged card machines are seen being put into place by Roman. Linus and Caldwell await retrieval by Basher in a helicopter, but are confronted and held at gunpoint by François Toulour (Vincent Cassel), the European thief named the "Night Fox" they had encountered before. Tolour demands the diamonds from Linus. Toulour then parachutes off of the roof, seemingly with the diamonds. Linus, Caldwell, and Basher then steal the real diamonds by making off with the entire Diamond Award display case with the help of the helicopter and planted explosives. Tolour sees the helicopter fly off, and quickly discovers the 'diamonds' he took from Linus are fakes. He throws them in a dumpster ans stalks way, muttering.
As the guests evacuate the hotel and his diamonds fly way, Bank realizes he has been duped, that Saul is not the hotel reviewer, his casino is bankrupt, and he has been ruined by Ocean. Bank threatens to send people after Danny and his crew. Ocean confidently informs him he knows that Bank, who achieved most of his success illegally, won't go to the police, and that nearly everyone else on the other side of the law holds a grudge against Bank and would rather remain in Danny's favor than aid Bank in his revenge. Ocean admonishes Bank by reminding him that he once shook Sinatra's hand, and should know better.
The group gives Reuben a deed to 4.6 acres (19,000 m2) of land on north end of the Las Vegas Strip to develop a new hotel. Danny learns that Benedict hired Toulour to interfere with the plans. As 'revenge', Ocean takes Benedict's money and donates it to a children's charity which earns Benedict an appearance on "Oprah" obliging him to the role of heroic philanthropist.
As the group disperses, they repay the real hotel reviewer for the unpleasant experience they made him go through by setting him up him to win $11 million on an airport slot machine.
9. Surf’s Up (2007): A documentary crew follows the events of Cody Maverick (voiced by Shia LaBeouf) a small rockhopper penguin residing in Shiverpool, Antarctica (a pun on Liverpool, England). After a childhood visit from surf legend Zeke "Big Z" Topanga, Cody aspires to emulate the renowned legend by becoming a famous and respected surfer.
Eventually, talent scout Mikey Abromowitz (voiced by Mario Cantone) arrives in Shiverpool scouting for surfers to compete in the Big Z Memorial Surf Contest. Cody joins the group of surfers, once he's proven himself to Mikey, and quickly befriends Chicken Joe (voiced by Jon Heder), an easy-going surfer from Wisconsin. Other prominent surfers are part of the scouting tour as well, Renato Mendes (Brazil), Rory Nubbins (Australia), and Tatsuhi Kobayashi (Japan). Soon after arriving at Pen Gu Island, Cody crosses paths with the local lifeguard named Lani Aliikai (voiced by Zooey Deschanel) as she rescues the penguin child, Arnold, from "drowning." Shortly thereafter, Cody has an altercation with the egotistical Tank "The Shredder" Evans (voiced by Diedrich Bader), a large muscular penguin and nine time winner of the Big Z Competition, when he witnesses Tank hurling stones at Big Z's memorial shrine. The disturbance catches the attention of promoter Reggie Belefonte, all too eager to allow Cody to challenge Tank to a surf-off on the spot. Unfortunately Cody's inexperience with the challenges the competition has to offer leads to a terrible wipeout; unable to come up for a proper breath of air, he is pulled under and injured when he steps on a fire urchin. Lani takes the injured and unconscious Cody to the jungle home of a hermit called the Geek (voiced by Jeff Bridges) in order to get help for his injuries and to recuperate. The Geek studies the injury, removes the urchin spine, and uses an old trick taught to him to heal the poisonous sting, urinating on it.
By morning Cody is woken by the Geek, who is eager to remove the young surfer from his premises. On the escort back, Cody realizes that he has lost his Big Z necklace. Geek is less than impressed, though shows curious reactions to Cody's tale of Big Z and how Cody received said necklace. He shows Cody the route back to the beach, and leaves the young penguin be. A short time having passed, Geek has found Cody's necklace in his hut and quickly returns to the path fork, finding Cody still sitting on the log, and returns the Big Z necklace. As if in an effort to make up with the surfer-to-be, Geek notices the log's type, Koa (of which all the best surfboards are made), and decides for Cody that they're making him a surfboard. Cody, bemused and surprised, reluctantly agrees and the two attempt to haul the log back to Geek's hut.
A little slip up on Cody's part and soon the log is rolling in the opposite direction, with Geek soon with it. The log ends up flying off a cliff, Geek, however, stays hanging on for dear life on the cliff itself. After a quick rescue from Cody, the young surfer notices what the cliff looks over: a beautiful and pristine beach. Unable to contain his curiosity, Cody treks down the steep cliff, inadvertently taking Geek with him. On the beach now, Cody explores a toppled tree and soon realizes it houses several old surfboards, those of Big Z's. Geek is seen investigating a dilapidated shack littered with messages of grief from Big Z's fans, and from his reaction, Cody realizes that the Geek is Big Z.
Almost instantly, Cody's excitement that his lifetime hero still lives is unleashed in a torrent of questions and theories as to what happened, much to the chagrin of Z, who quickly takes to hiding within his old home. Cody is now convinced that this is his chance, with his hero by his side to train him, he can win the Memorial Surf Off no question. Eventually Cody lures Z from the hut, having pulled Z's old boards from their resting spot and attempting to surf with them out in the crystal blue ocean. Cody takes a few more wipeouts as he attempts to get Z in the water, but slowly manages to work tips from Big Z; Z, however, is still not impressed, and with one last (and Z predicted) wave, Cody is pulled ashore ("Don't touch my stuff, man.") and told that he won't be doing any surfing until he has made a board of his own.
Eager Cody and mellow Z finally get to work on the Koa board, halving the log from earlier, and getting a pattern drawn. The two are quickly at odds with one another, Cody becoming frustrated with his mentor's overbearing attitude towards the board ("No, no I don't want your help!"). Z backs off, and allows Cody to pry his way through the wood, creating a "work in progress" gouged plank that quickly snaps once actually in the water. Cody becomes irritated and leaves the beach, leaving Z and the documentary crew behind (Z offering them barbecue cooked over the broken wood). He's soon reunited with Lani, on her way to Geek's hut with a satchel full of clams. It is revealed that Lani knew of Geek's true persona, she was his niece, and in her very own excitement, she takes Cody to a special spot on the island, the Lava Tubes. After a thrilling race through the tubes and a "winning" landing in glow worm droppings, a shower, and a talk, Lani convinces Cody to return to Z. Cody complies, realizing his folly, and returns to Z's beach, beginning work on a new surfboard under the bright moonlight.
By morning, he has finished the board, Z is surprised and pleased, Cody has successfully created a proper board this time. Z, being the playful sort, puts Cody through a few more land-based tests first, before he allows Cody in the water, all intended to make Cody realize that surfing should be about having fun, and not contests and winning. Once the young surfer has proven that to Big Z, they're off to the water! A true feat, Z's first attempt at surfing in over 10 years proves that he's still the soul surfer he always was. Lani soon arrives on the beach and joins the duo as they surf the rest of the day away.
Now evening, Cody, Lani, and Zeke are resting beside a fire, cooking a few shrimp, Z is entertaining them with his personal ukulele song, while Cody waxes his new board. Cody soon asks Big Z to come and watch him surf in the Big Z Memorial Surf competition. Z is highly reluctant, becoming irritated with the questioning, but ashamedly reveals the truth behind his disappearance. Ten years ago, winning had become everything to Z, he was facing Tank Evans in a Reggie Belafonte backed contest, and realizes soon enough that he couldn't beat the then up-and-coming Tank. Not wanting to end up a loser and wash-up to his fans and friends, Z decided the only right choice was to disappear.
On that last big wave, Z lets go of his board, allowing it to careen into the Boneyards, himself slipping off into the wave and out of sight, permanently. Cody is in disbelief, his hero had given up. Tossing his necklace into the dark waves, Cody storms off, intending to win the contest alone. Cody continues through the forest and is caught in a trap set by the natives of Pen Gu island. Chicken Joe appears, having been looking for Cody ever since his disappearance, and since had befriended and apparently traveling with the Pen Gu-ins, retrieves Cody just as the horn blows for the start of the Surf Off.
The first waves remove most of the surfers from the contest, leaving Tank, Cody and Chicken Joe to continue on. Things become heated and Tank makes it clear his intentions to take out Chicken Joe, leaving Cody with an opportunity to win, an opportunity he does not take. Instead he clashes with Tank, sending them both to "The Boneyard", a section normally roped off and considered the most dangerous section due to the rough nature of the waves and the lacerating and towering rock formations. Tank is knocked out cold after colliding with some of the rocks, Lani rescues Tank and brings him to shore while Cody hangs on to dear life on any surface he can grab. Big Z appears and with the help of a particularly large and crashing wave, rescues Cody from the dangers of the Boneyard. Once together on Zee's old board they exhaustedly paddle safely to shore. Finally ashore, Z is quickly revealed to the curious and questioning onlookers. After standing up to Reggie in his attempt to auction off the "deceased" Cody's board, Z invites everyone to his old beach spot to surf. Cody finishes talking with the documentary crew at this point and joins his friends in the water. Having learned that friendship and fun is the heart behind surfing, Cody finally catches a tube with Big Z. The film ends with Z, Cody, Lani, and many others surfing the waves as the sun sets.
By Richard Moody & Susan Kendall Moody
1. Garfield The Movie (2004): The story takes place in Muncie. It begins when Garfield who lives with Jon Arbuckle is a fat lazy cat (voiced by Bill Murray) who wakes up from a good night's sleep and awaits a tasty breakfast. Jon is woken by the fat cat with a dogpile. After switching his liver flavored cat food with Jon's corned beef hash, Garfield spots a pie outside on the neighbor's window. He tricks the Doberman Pinscher Luca (voiced by Brad Garrett) in order to get the pie and tangling his leash around many bushes and ceramic ducks. He also tricks his dimwitted neighbor cat Nermal (voiced David Eigenberg) to tip over a milk bottle for Garfield's breakfast.
After walking the cul-de-sac, Jon spots a mouse and counts on Garfield to get it. Garfield refuses and Jon runs after the rodent. He then trips on one of Garfield's toys and says "What good is it to have a cat, if it can't catch a mouse". Garfield then runs outside and catches up to the mouse. The mouse turns out to be Garfield's best friend and his name is Louis (voiced by Nick Cannon) and he was warned by Garfield that he should not run around the house when Jon is home. Jon walks out after Garfield and sees Louis in his mouth. Jon is proud of the tabby cat and when he leaves Garfield spits him out and spares his life. He only did it so Jon wouldn't hurt him.
At the telegraph tower, Happy Chapman (the main villain played by Stephen Tobolowsky) the star of a Saturday morning show is sick of cats (because of his allergies) and wishes for a dog star along with him, and to outdo his more successful twin brother Walter, a news anchor. After his show, Jon comes home with some food he bought at the store. Garfield pigs out of the lasagna trays and Jon is terribly disappointed. Garfield is brought to the vet (Garfield previously thought he was going to Chuck E Cheese's, Wendy's, Taco Kitty or Olive Garden), with Jon and is checked out by Liz (a vet played by Jennifer Love Hewitt), a nice and attractive veterinarian and is also Jon's high school crush. Jon tries to ask her out when a dog is brought in. His name is Odie and Liz asks Jon to take care of Odie or he will not survive on his own. Garfield comes out of the vet and sees Odie in the car, and Liz ends up asking Jon out.
Garfield is (needless to say) not very happy now that a dog is running amuck in the house, sitting in his chair, getting the paper, and sleeping beside Jon when Garfield is not allowed to. To make things worse, Liz shows up and Jon, with Odie, leave to go to the town dog show, and Garfield chases after them. At the dog show (where Liz is a judge) and where Jon is in the audience with Odie, Garfield unwittingly walks right into the show, is spotted by the dogs competing in the show and runs away with the dogs in hot pursuit. The music goes on and Odie leaps out of Jon's hands and attempts to dance (just as when Garfield was dancing back at the house). The judges are impressed as well as the audience. Garfield succeeds in escaping and Odie is rewarded by Happy Chapman (also a judge) He says Odie may have a future in television, but Jon turns it down. When a picture for the news paper is taken, you can see Happy looking greedily at Odie.
Garfield hangs on under Liz's truck on the way back, and Jon and Liz plan a dinner on Sunday. Garfield is very angry because Odie got all the attention. He smacks a ball which starts an unusual Rube Goldberg contraption and results to the square shelves above the computer to fall down (along with leaving the house in shambles). Garfield gets kicked out and he watches in the windows how much Jon loves Odie. He sleeps on the porch that night and Odie comes out to comfort him. Garfield is touched, but then hops inside and locks the doggy door, and locks Odie out. Odie runs away and ends up found by a sweet old lady.
Jon finds out Odie has gone and he feels terrible. After putting up posters around town, Liz arrives for the dinner, Jon cancels the dinner and tells Liz about Odie. Jon and Liz than work to together to find Odie. Meanwhile Happy Chapman finds a found poster by the old lady and knows it is Odie. He takes back Odie (which is a crime, because it is not his dog) and the dog performs on the Happy Chapman show. Garfield sees him and Happy announces that he and Odie are going to New York by train for a big performance. Garfield attempts to show Jon, but the show goes to a Wendy's commercial. Garfield then sets out on a mission to rescue the pup.
In the city, Garfield meets Louis again and the mouse guides the fat cat to the Telegraph Tower. Garfield can't go in by the doors, so he climbs the vents and finds Odie in Happy's room. Happy comes in and puts on an inhumane shock collar that with a press of a button, Odie gets a small shock and performs backflip. Happy than heads to the Train Station and Garfield follows behind, The tabby is than caught by Animal Control and is thrown in the pound. Jon sees Liz at a clothing store and tells Liz that Garfield has run away too. The couple goes and investigates. Finding a found poster of Odie, the old lady says Odie is Happy Chapman's dog and the two drive to telegraph tower.
Garfield, at the pound meets Persnikitty (voiced by Alan Cumming), Happy's last show cat that he threw inside the pound. A family arrives to take a cat home for a pet. Persnikitty, Garfield, and 3 other cats are taken and lined up behind a wall. The little girl picks Persnikitty. The old show cat tells Garfield that he will press the red button (which opens all the cages) in order to escape. All the caged up animals ran like mad cows out in the city.
At the Train Station, Happy places Odie in the luggage cart and sits down for lunch. Garfield just misses the train. Jon and Liz arrive at the Train Station after being told that Happy was going to leave. Garfield sneaks into the control room, and messes with the commands. The tracks get rearranged that all the trains are on the same tracks. Just when the trains are about to collide, Garfield stops all the trains with the press of a certain button. Garfield climbs in the luggage cart after the train returns to the station. He reunites with Odie.
Happy sees Garfield and Odie run out and is shocked. He runs out and chases them into the station's luggage halls, traps the two animals and threatens Odie with the shock collar. Garfield jumps to the rescue and Happy throws the tabby on some luggage. Garfield gets up and is greeted by the pound animals. They've come to help. The animals corner Happy, and Garfield gives orders to attack and place the shock collar on Happy's neck. The pound animal leaves than Garfield and Odie finish off Happy with 2 shocks of the collar. Jon and Liz arrive, Jon furiously punches Chapman. Jon promises the cat and dog to never leave them out of his sight. Chapman gets arrested and Garfield is now known as a hero.
Back home, Liz and Jon began a relationship, along with a passionate kiss. Garfield learns friendship and love, and they live as a big happy family....But all that changes when he intentionally pushes Odie off his chair over and over again.
The film closes with Garfield singing and dancing to James Brown's "I Got You (I Feel Good)". He does a split and can't get up.
2. War Of The Worlds (2005): The story opens in Newark, New Jersey, with dock worker Ray Ferrier (Tom Cruise) finishing the third shift in the morning. His pregnant ex-wife Mary Anne (Miranda Otto) and her wealthy new husband Tim (David Alan Basche), drop off Ray's 10-year-old daughter Rachel (Hannah Dakota Fanning) and teenage son Robbie (Justin Chatwin) at his house. They are staying with him in Bayonne, New Jersey, while Tim and Mary Anne visit her parents in Boston, Massachusetts for the weekend. Rachel suffers from a panic disorder, while Robbie harbors resentment and outright disrespect towards his father. Later that day, Ray wakes up from a nap and is told by Rachel that Robbie has stolen his car and left.
Ray immediately sets out to find him, but is distracted by a strange wall cloud formation near his neighbourhood. As he and Rachel view it from the garden, the clouds begin to unleash electromagnetic pulses, disabling all of the working electronic devices in the area, including cars. Ray finds an apologetic Robbie, and tells him to take care of Rachel in the house while he goes to look at a hole in the ground that Robbie mentioned. Traveling past, he advises a mechanic to replace the solenoid of a Plymouth Voyager he is repairing. Ray and many other people find the mysteriously cold hole in the intersection, from which a large Tripod machine emerges. It begins to vaporize all humans within its range, and starts to destroy all the buildings in its path. Ray however, manages to escape and returns to his house. After packing food, Ray and the kids abandon their home and steal the Plymouth Voyager, which, due to Ray's advice of changing the solenoid, is the only operating vehicle in town.
The family drive to Tim's house, and take refuge in the basement for the night. During the night, a tripod destroys an airliner that crashes into the development, demolishing many of the houses. In the morning, Ray meets a small news team, who show close-up video footage to Ray of the lightning in the previous "storm". In slow-motion, they see what they believe to be a pod, deducing that the aliens "rode" down the lightning into the ground where the Tripods were located. The reporter believes that the machines were buried in the Earth long before the rise of humanity. After hearing the siren of a nearby Tripod approaching the area, the news crew flees, leaving Ray to assemble his kids with the intention of driving on to Boston.
As the family continues on their journey and stop for a bathroom break, Rachel is startled by the sight of mutilated corpses floating along the Hudson River. Then they are passed by a convoy from the U.S. Army. Robbie begs the soldiers driving by to allow him to join and fight, but is ignored until Ray confronts him along with Rachel. In the evening, their van is attacked by a mob along their travel route - who are desperate for transport - and the family only survives the small riot because Ray had a revolver. However, after a man steals the van by holding Ray at gunpoint (forcing him to drop the revolver), Ray and his children are forced to continue on foot. They reach a Hudson River ferry in Athens, New York, but as a Tripod appears over the hills on the horizon (joined by two others), the crowd panics and the ferry immediately sets off. However, evasion proves futile as a fourth Tripod hiding underwater capsizes the ferry. Ray, Robbie, and Rachel manage to escape and swim to safety, while other refugees are captured or killed. On a hill, they witness the town of Athens being destroyed.
Later, the family come across U.S. Military forces somewhere in Massachusetts, attacking a group of Tripods; an entirely fruitless effort as the machines are protected by force-fields. Although their weapons are ineffective, the military continues with their assault to delay the advance of the Tripods, and give some time for the refugees in the area to escape. Robbie attempts to join the battle, and Ray reluctantly lets him go in order to save Rachel from being taken away by a couple nearby, who see her waiting alone by a tree and worry for her safety. In the ensuing chaos an enormous firebomb erupts, and Robbie is separated from Ray and Rachel, and they assume he is dead.
Immediately following the battle, Ray and Rachel are offered shelter in a basement by a man named Harlan Ogilvy (Tim Robbins), who lost his family to the Tripods. The invaders settle close to the house where the trio are hiding, and tensions start to emerge between Ogilvy, who wants to strike back at the aliens, and Ray, who is preoccupied with his own safety and that of his daughter. Later that night, a Tripod probe gains access to the basement, and the three barely manage to escape detection. A small contingent of aliens then enter to explore afterwards, and Ray struggles to stop Ogilvy from attacking them. But the aliens are summoned back to the Tripods by a siren, before Ogilvy has an opportunity to shoot them with his shotgun. Meanwhile, the invaders begin spreading a strange "red weed", which appears to be a mysterious plant fertilized with the blood of captured humans. Subsequently, Ogilvy mentally cracks after witnessing one of the Tripods harvesting blood and tissues from a helpless human victim. Ray, concerned that the commotion Ogilvy is creating might draw the attention of the invaders to himself and his daughter, makes the decision to murder Ogilvy and thereby silence him. Rachel goes to comfort her father afterwards, who is clearly affected by having to carry out the killing. The pair then fall asleep, but are awoken by another probe entering the basement, which sights Rachel. Ray attacks the probe with an axe and it retreats, while Rachel flees the house.
Ray attempts to find Rachel, but is attacked by a Tripod. As he tries to find safety in a truck which the Tripod tosses upside down, Ray spots his daughter standing nearby, screaming as the Tripod advances towards her. The Tripod captures Rachel and ignores Ray's provocation, forcing him to harass it with some hand grenades he finds nearby. Though the shield protects the Tripod, it immediately captures Ray and deposits him in a metal cage with many other captives, and a traumatized Rachel. A closed chute above the cage releases a mechanical arm which periodically grabs a human, to be violently processed within the machine. After it grabs Ray, the other prisoners fight to save him, and successfully pull him out from within the interior of the Tripod. Ray reveals that he left the remaining grenades primed within the Tripod, and the grenades detonate, destroying it. The cage is dropped on a tree, and Ray and Rachel - along with the other surviving captives - escape.
Soon afterwards, Ray and his daughter continue to move towards Boston. It is there that they find that all the "red weed" is dying, and the Tripods are beginning to seriously malfunction. After seeing birds fly near, and land, on one still-moving Tripod, Ray realizes that the shields are no longer operational. He draws this to the attention of a group of soldiers who are trying to lead refugees to safety, and the soldiers attack the Tripod with several Javelin missile launchers - successfully bringing it to the ground. When the soldiers advance towards the Tripod afterwards, it discharges a cargo of blood-colored liquid, and one of the dying aliens within. With the threat gone, Ray finally brings Rachel to Mary Anne and Tim at her parents' house, where she has been waiting for them. Robbie also comes out of the house, revealing that he survived too. The movie closes with Ray and Robbie hugging, and Ray crying in relief.
Afterwards, the narrator reveals that the Tripods were breaking down because the invaders and their weeds were suffering from terrestrial diseases, for which they had no immunity.
3. The Pink Panther (2006): The film opens with the Chief Inspector, Charles Dreyfus (Kevin Kline), who tells the story of the Pink Panther diamond theft case. A flashback appears as Dreyfus tells the story. Yves Gluant (Jason Statham) comes down the stadium, showing his trademark Pink Panther diamond ring. He then happily kisses Xania (Beyonce Knowles), his girlfriend, after whispering to her. Yves' team won the match, but then Yves dies with a poison dart in his neck, and the Pink Panther diamond ring has vanished from his hand. Inspector Charles Dreyfus, eager to win the Légion d'honneur (translated as the "Medal of Honor" in the film), appoints clumsy third class detective Jacques Clouseau (Steve Martin) to the case as Dreyfus assembles a team of investigators to tackle the mystery in secret, while planning to take over the case and win the Légion d'honneur. Dreyfus also appoints Gendarme Gilbert Ponton (Jean Reno) to report on Clouseau's whereabouts at all times.
Clouseau makes little progress at first, bungling one situation after another. Bizu, a star player who hated Gluant and was the prime suspect, is shot in the head and killed. A girl witness had heard him say "Oh, it's you" immediately before being shot; therefore Clouseau tells Ponton to gather all the people in Paris with the name "You". He interviews an old Cantonese woman (credited as "Yu") and appears not to understand her, though it is revealed later that he understood every word. While at a casino, with the intent of asking some questions of owner Raymond Larocque (Gluant's business partner, played by Roger Rees), he encounters British Secret Agent 006 Nigel Boswell (Clive Owen, parodying James Bond). Boswell later poses as Clouseau in order to conceal his identity while stopping a robbery by the notorious "Gas-Masked Bandits". Clouseau receives credit for the deed and thus is nominated for the Légion d'honneur, much to Dreyfus's annoyance.
Believing that Xania knows more than she has revealed, Clouseau follows her to New York City, having tried to gain a flawless American accent but with no success. Before he can return to France, his bag is exchanged for another by a woman working for Dreyfus while he waits in line at airport security. The new bag, which contains several weapons (including a flail, a pocket knife, nunchucks, a grenade, and a revolver), sets off the metal detector. After he refuses to empty his pockets, which contain hamburgers, he is arrested, being unable to explain his situation as a result of his inability to pronounce the word "hamburger", the only word Clouseau's dialect coach tried (and failed) to teach him. Upon Clouseau's return to France, Dreyfus insults him and strips him of his inspector rank, preparing to win the case. Based on his evidence — that the poison that killed Gluant was derived from Chinese herbs — Dreyfus deduces that the killer is a Chinese envoy named Dr. Pang, whom he plans on arresting at the upcoming Presidential Ball. Dreyfus later orders the event's planners to remove Clouseau's name from the guest list.
Having returned home, Clouseau finds a photo of his arrest on the Internet. He sees something significant in the photo, and immediately makes his way to the Élysée Palace with Ponton, where they sneak into the Presidential Ball with the help of Clouseau's girlfriend Nicole. Dreyfus arrests Dr. Pang for double murder, but Clouseau and Ponton are able to prevent the murder of Xania by pursuing and capturing the real killer, who turns out to be Yuri, the French soccer team's trainer. Clouseau then reveals that the Cantonese woman "reminded" Clouseau that all soccer trainers must be learned in Chinese medicine; furthermore, Bizu was shot in the occipital lobe of the brain, a location that would be known to Yuri on the premise that all soldiers who served in the Russian military (as Yuri was) must also be expert marksmen and know the precise location of the occipital lobe (though in the film the shot was actually into the frontal lobe). Clouseau also reveals that Yuri tried to kill Xania because she went out with Gluant and Bizu and ignored him, as all women is like an artichoke, because you have to do a bit of work before you can get to her heart. Xania is revealed to have the Pink Panther diamond sewn into the lining of her purse, having received it from Gluant as an engagement ring. Clouseau then reveals that he had seen the diamond in her purse while examining the photograph of his arrest, which also showed a view of her purse as it appeared to the airport's luggage scanner. Dreyfus makes a clumsy attempt to take credit, saying his arrest of the Chinese envoy was a ploy to draw out the real killer. For his success, Clouseau wins the Légion d'honneur.
Later, Dreyfus is severely injured when Clouseau's Smart car drags him on the road for several minutes after Clouseau unknowingly closes the door on his pant leg. A visit by Clouseau to a hospital where Dreyfus lies bandaged culminates in Dreyfus's plunge through a hospital window into a river as he lies on a gurney, screaming, "Clouseauuuuuuuu!!!!!!!!" (Note: The original theatrical release has him mumbling loudly while plunging into the river, and his voice is not clearly heard)
4. Alvin & The Chipmunks (2007): The tree that the chipmunks Alvin (voiced by Justin Long), Simon (voiced by Matthew Gray Gubler) and Theodore (voiced by Jesse McCartney) live in is cut down and driven to Los Angeles to become a Christmas tree. Once in LA, the Chipmunks meet struggling songwriter David "Dave" Seville (Jason Lee) who had his latest song rejected by JETT Records executive Ian Hawke (David Cross), who was Dave's college roommate. Dave once had a relationship with his beautiful next door neighbor, Claire (Cameron Richardson). She broke up with him because she felt he was too busy and irresponsible and he didn't have any time for her.
Once the Chipmunks sing Dave's song, however, they become extremely successful. Managed and promoted by Ian, the Chipmunks continue to be wildly popular. When Dave expresses concerned for their well-being and insists that the Chipmunks are "kids" who don't need so much craziness in their lives, Ian tells the Chipmunks that Dave is holding them back.
Eventually, Dave and the Chipmunks have an argument and, in anger, Dave tells them that if they like "Uncle Ian" so much, they should just go live with him. Although their life with Ian starts off great (they arrive at his mansion to a room full of expensive toys and the declaration is that the only rule is that there are no rules), after they set out for their coast-to-coast tour, Ian suddenly becomes a jerk and begins to change their image completely and overwork them to the point of exhaustion.
Right before a big concert is supposed to begin, a doctor says that the Chipmunks can't sing because their voices have given out. Ian doesn't want to hand out refunds and orders the Chipmunks to lip sync (which Simon calls "cheating"). With the help of Claire, Dave sneaks into the concert, but is grabbed by the security guards. When the Chipmunks see Dave being taken away, they realize they've been tricked, decide that they've had enough of Ian, reveal that they were lip-syncing and run amok, ruining the concert. They are soon caught by Ian just when Dave is about to rescue them. He locks them up in a cage (where Alvin screams "You'll never take us alive!" and Simon replies "They just did take us alive, Alvin"). Dave tries to convince Ian to let the boys go but Ian refuses. Ian then leaves in his limo with the boys and Dave chases them but the boys have mysteriously ended up in his Car. The boys thought they wanted to live with "Uncle Ian" to make more money for him. Dave immediately pulls over and admits that he loves them like his own family. Meanwhile, Ian looks in the cage and sees the boys have replaced themselves with ugly look-alike dolls (something Ian tried to get Dave to sell earlier in the film - Ian had mentioned earlier in the film to Dave that these dolls speak Spanish, however, they were actually speaking Japanese).
Sometime later, the boys are now "Sevilles" and they invite Claire over for a meal (toaster waffles). Alvin mistakenly breaks Dave's priceless china cabinet and short out the circuits trying to open champagne. Dave decides not to say it, but it causes a blackout. Dave decides to say it, and receives his trademark "ALLLLVINNN!!", and Alvin responds with "Okay!"
5. The Dark Knight (2008): In Gotham City, the Joker robs a mob bank with his accomplices, whom he tricks into killing one another, ultimately killing the last one himself. That night, Batman and Lieutenant James Gordon contemplate including new district attorney Harvey Dent in their plan to eradicate the mob. However, Batman wonders if Dent can be trusted. Bruce runs into Rachel Dawes and Dent, who are dating, and after talking to Dent, he realizes Dent's sincerity and decides to host a fundraiser for him. Mob bosses Sal Maroni, Gambol, and the Chechen meet with other underworld gangsters to discuss both Batman and Dent, who have been cracking down on the mobster's operations. Lau, a Chinese mafia accountant, informs them that he has hidden their money and fled to Hong Kong in an attempt to preempt Gordon's plan to seize the mobsters' funds and hide from Dent's jurisdiction. The Joker appears and offers to kill Batman for half of the mafia's money, but they flatly refuse and Gambol places a bounty on the Joker's head. Not long after, the Joker kills Gambol and takes control of his men.
In Hong Kong, Batman captures Lau and delivers him to the Gotham City police, where Lau agrees to testify against the mob. In retaliation, the mobsters hire the Joker to kill Batman and Lau. The Joker issues an ultimatum to Gotham: people will die each day until Batman reveals his identity. When Commissioner Gillian B. Loeb and Judge Surillo are murdered by corrupt police, the public readily blames Batman, prompting Bruce to decide to reveal his identity. Before Bruce can turn himself in, Dent holds a press conference to try and persuade the public not to sell Batman out just because of one terrorist, but the public insists that Batman turn himself in, so Dent announces that he himself is Batman and is arrested as part of a plan to draw the Joker out of hiding. The Joker attempts to ambush the police convoy carrying Dent, but Batman and Gordon intervene and capture him. In recognition of his actions, Gordon is appointed the new police commissioner.
Later that night, Dent and Rachel disappear. At the police station, Batman interrogates the Joker, who reveals that Dent and Rachel's police escorts were on Maroni's payroll and have placed them in warehouses rigged with explosives on opposite sides of the city — far enough apart so that Batman cannot save them both. Batman leaves to save Rachel, while Gordon and the police head after Dent. With the aid of a smuggled bomb, the Joker escapes police custody with Lau. Batman arrives, but finds Dent instead of Rachel. Batman successfully saves Dent, but the ensuing explosion disfigures Dent's face. Gordon arrives at Rachel's location too late, and she perishes when the bomb detonates. Aboard a cargo ship, the Joker burns Lau to death atop a pile of the mob's money, and has the Chechen killed before taking control of his men.
Meanwhile, an accountant at Wayne Enterprises finds out Batman's identity and after failing to blackmail the company, decides to go public. However, realizing that he does what he does only because of Batman, The Joker changes his mind about revealing Batman's identity and issues a public ultimatum: either the accountant is killed, or the hospital Dent is at will be destroyed. When the police refuse to carry out his demands, The Joker goes to the hospital and frees Dent from his restraints, convincing him to exact revenge on the people responsible for Rachel's death, as well as Batman and Gordon for not saving her. Dent begins by flipping for the Joker's life, and spares him. The Joker destroys the hospital on his way out, and then escapes with a hijacked bus full of hospital patients.
Out of the hospital, Dent goes on a personal vendetta, confronting Maroni and the corrupt cops one by one. The Joker announces to the public that anyone left in Gotham at nightfall will be subject to his rule. With the bridges and tunnels out of the city closed due to a bomb threat by the Joker, authorities begin evacuating people by ferry. The Joker has explosives placed on two of the ferries—one ferry with convicts, who were evacuated in an effort to keep the Joker from freeing them, and the other with civilians—telling the passengers the only way to save themselves is to trigger the explosives on the other ferry; otherwise, he will destroy both at midnight. Batman locates the Joker and the hostages he has taken. Realizing the Joker has disguised the hostages as his own men, Batman is forced to attack both Gordon's SWAT team and the Joker's henchmen in order to save the real hostages.
The Joker's plan to destroy the ferries fails after the passengers on both decide not to destroy each other. Batman finds the Joker, and after a brief fight, is able to subdue him, preventing him from destroying both ferries. When Batman refuses to kill the Joker, the Joker acknowledges that Batman is truly incorruptible, but that Dent was not, and that he has unleashed Dent upon the city. Leaving the Joker for the SWAT team, Batman searches for Dent. At the remains of the building where Rachel died, Batman finds Dent holding Gordon and his family at gunpoint. Dent judges the innocence of Batman, himself, and Gordon's son through three coin tosses. As the result of the first two flips, he shoots Batman in the abdomen and spares himself. Before Dent can determine the boy's fate, Batman, who was wearing body armor, tackles him over the side of the building. Gordon's son is saved, but Dent and Batman fall to the ground below resulting in Dent's death. Knowing that the citizens of Gotham will lose hope and all morale if Dent's rampage becomes public news, Batman convinces Gordon to hold him responsible for the murders. Images are shown of Gordon delivering the eulogy at Dent's funeral and smashing the Bat-Signal. Police swarm the building, and Batman flees as Gordon and his son watch.
By Richard Moody & Scott Moody
THE END
