Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius

Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius is a 2001 American computer-animated comedy film. The film was based on a few 5-minute animated shorts shown on Pixar in 2001, The television series was supposed to begin before the release of the movie, but since there was not enough time, the animated shorts were created. It was produced by Walt Disney Pictures and Pixar Animation Studios with Aardman Features. It was nominated for the first Academy Award for Best Animated Feature (lost to Shrek). The film was produced using off-the-shelf software (LightWave 6) by DNA Productions of Dallas, Texas.

Plot
The movie begins at an Air Force base somewhere in Colorado. The Air Force radar detects up a UFO, and they send planes up to examine the situation. The pilots are surprised to find that it is a rocket carrying two boys and a robotic dog: James Neutron (A. K. A. Jimmy Neutron), Carl Wheezer and Goddard.

Jimmy needs to launch a communications satellite (which is really a toaster) to communicate with an alien species who sent him a message that was garbled in the ionosphere.

Unfortunately, the pulse rockets fail, and the rocket cannot leave the atmosphere. Jimmy tapes some soda to the toaster and throws it, propelling the soda into space. Then, the rocket falls down to town and lands on his roof. He is reprimanded by Judy Neutron and Hugh Neutron. He then gets ready for school, but his antics caused him to miss the bus.

He tests his latest invention, a form of bubble transportation, made from a special bubble gum. He catches up with the school bus, but the bubble pops when it hits a tree.

In the classroom, Cindy Vortex, Jimmy's rival and Nick's love interest, is giving a report on dinosaurs.

When Cindy says that girl dinosaurs are better than boy dinosaurs, Jimmy proceeds to correct her with technical data. During show and tell, Jimmy shows Ms. Fowl and the class a shrink ray. He attempts to shrink Cindy's head, but the ray malfunctions and does not work.

When walking home, Jimmy, Carl and their friend Sheen Estevez spot a poster for an amusement park. Sheen gets excited about meeting Ultra Lord. Carl gets excited to touch a llama.

However, their parents refuse to let them go due to a school night, and Jimmy is grounded, so they sneak out without their parents knowing. They have lots of fun. Jimmy, Carl, and Sheen both go on many rides. Carl, and Jimmy go on a tramway while Sheen goes to meet Ultra Lord, which is really a guy in a costume.

Carl touches a Llama, and gets a button that says "I touched a llama" They then go on a roller coaster ride that the cars look like bats. By now, the shrink ray is working again, so Nick Dean also had the Golden Rule.

Meanwhile, the toaster is found by an egg-like alien race called the Yolkians. They seem to be of green substance (or yolk, possibly) which contains no water, and they see with eye stalks. They use pods with hovering capability and robotic arms to move, but they fly spaceships in space (that look like chickens). Freddy Osborn (A. K. A. King Goobot) and his assistant, Malcolm Middle (A. K. A. Ooblar), watch the message, Then, all the ships in the armada head to Earth.

They take all the parents in the city and leave, putting obviously fake notes on the refrigerators to tell the kids where they've gone but there's something in their kitchen.

On the way home, Carl spots a shooting star, so he, Jimmy, and Sheen wish for no more parents so they could have fun all the time and be free. The next morning, Jimmy spots the Note set and reads it. The notes are the same for everyone, so Jimmy has Goddard scan for adult life forms. When the report comes back (none within radar range), the kids celebrating and doing things they couldn't do normally.

The next morning, the craze has worn off, and at home, Jimmy is upset that his parents didn't say goodbye. Jimmy goes to his lab and compares the note the Yolkians left with notes his parents wrote. When the writing doesn't compare, Jimmy realizes that the notes are fake. Goddard finds evidence of aliens on the computer, and Jimmy tracks them to another system. He organizes the other kids in town to build rockets from the theme park rides to travel there.

While staying on an asteroid, everyone recalls what their parents did at bedtime before they were abducted by aliens. The next day, Goddard assaults Goobot. Jimmy calls Goddard on Libby's cell phone and tricks Ooblar into thinking Goddard will self-destruct in an explosion covering 30 square miles. Goddard frees the kids using a glitch in his obedience program (when told to play dead, he detonates in a small explosion, which blows down the door), and they make it to the arena were the parents will be sacrificed to Poultra.

When they reach it, an unusual ceremony is finishing (with mind-control devices, the parents do the chicken dance!), and Poultra, a gigantic three-eyed chicken with reptilian legs, hatching from her egg. Jimmy quickly comes up with a plan: Sheen heads to an airfield to obtain a transport, he gets the mind controller, and the rest of the kids keep the guards busy.

They escape, but Goobot follows them in his ship at the head of the Yolkus fleet. He orders the ships to open fire. During the battle, Jimmy skims the surface of Yolkus' sun, and flares destroy all but Goobot's ship. The king sends a taunting message to Jimmy, who flies out with Goddard. He uses his shrink ray to make himself the size of a planet, and blows the ship into an oncoming asteroid. Goobot vows he'll be back. The kids are reunited with their parents, and they make it home without further incident. After which they had eggs for breakfast and Judy and Hugh Neutron take a few sips of Jimmy's experimental soda and begin to burp uncontrollably.

Realizing a picture of an atom (Jimmy's signature logo that could only be found on the front of his shirt), Judy yells "JAMES ISAAC NEUTRON--" before burping loudly. The family (and Carl) laugh. Outside Goddard imitates a bird.

Cast

 * Debi Derryberry: James Issac Neutron/Jimmy Neutron
 * Jeffrey Garcia: Sheen Guerrero Estevez
 * Rob Paulsen: Carlton Ulysses "Carl" Wheezer
 * Frank Welker: Goddard
 * Ian McKellen: Mr. Dr. Moby "Freddy" Osborn/King Goobot V
 * Steve Buscemi: Dory Aardman "Malcolm" Middle/Ooblar
 * Candi Milo: Nicholas "Nick" Dean
 * Carolyn Lawrence: Cynthia Aurora "Cindy" Vortex
 * Crystal Scales: Liberty Danielle "Libby" Folfax
 * Mark DeCarlo: Hubert Woodrow "Hugh" Neutron
 * Megan Cavanagh: Judith Honey "Judy" Neutron
 * Andrea Martin: Winfred Fowl

Production
This film was intended as a television "pilot" for The Adventures Of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius. But when Paramount's executives saw very early footage, and early design plans for it, they were so impressed by it that they decided to release the film theatrically.

Reception
The film received generally favorable reviews from film critics. It currently holds a 75% "Certified Fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes. According to Metacritic, the film also holds a score of 65/100, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

Box office
The film was financially successful, bringing in $13,832,786 on its opening weekend for an average of $4,407 from 3,139 theaters, and ended up with a total of $80,865,848 domestically. It had a budget of roughly $25 million.

Awards
The film was nominated for the first Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, making it the first film produced by Nickelodeon Movies ever to receive an Academy Award nomination.

Video Game
A video game based on the film was released for the Nintendo GameCube, PC, PlayStation 2 and Game Boy Advance on November 7, 2001. The game is a 3D adventure starring Jimmy Neutron and his robotic canine Goddard. In the game, the evil King Goobot has abducted Jimmy's parents and friends, so Neutron must begin an intergalactic quest to save them. While progressing through various locales inspired by the movie, players need to solve puzzles using an assortment of gadgets. Also included are various mini-games to play within an amusement park, as well as hidden movie clips, character bios, and movie trailers to be unlocked. The game received negative reception.

Genius, Sheenius or Inbetweenius
An event that aired on May 19, 2007, Nickelodeon took the opportunity to rehire the original voice actors of Jimmy, Sheen and Carl to return for a special audio commentary version of the film in which their animated counterparts' silhouettes spoofing Mystery Science Theater 3000.

Trivia

 * This is the first non-Rugrats film from Nickelodeon Movies to be rated G.
 * As a result, it is the only CGI-film to do so.
 * This is also the first film from the studio to be spun off into a TV series, which has two spin-offs, The Adventures Of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius and Planet Sheen.
 * Oddly enough, this is the only Academy Award-nominated animated film where the main voice cast are mainly consisted with traditional voice artist.
 * This is the first film to be nominated for an Academy Award, where it was nominated for the first Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, but it lost to a DreamWorks film, Shrek. This makes Nickelodeon one of the first three studios to be nominated for this category.
 * This was Nickelodeon's and Paramount's last theatrical film to be G-rated by the MPAA until 2006.