Yogi Bear

Yogi Bear
Yogi Bear 2010 poster
Directed by	Eric Brevig
Produced by	Donald De Line Karen Rosenfelt
Written by	Brad Copeland Joshua Sternin Jeffrey Ventimilia
Starring	Dan Aykroyd Justin Timberlake Anna Faris Tom Cavanagh T. J. Miller
Distributed by	Warner Bros. Pictures
Running time	80 minutes
Country
Language	English
Rating
Budget	$80 million
Box office	$201,584,141

Yogi Bear is a 3D live action/computer animated comedy adventure film directed by Donald DeLine and produced by Karen Rosenfelt. It's a theatrical adaptation of the Hanna-Barbera cartoon series and it serves as a finale to the original series.

Plot

Yogi and Boo Boo are two brown bears who have a penchant for stealing picnic baskets from visitors to Jellystone Park, while park rangers Smith and Jones try to prevent them from doing so. Meanwhile, Rachel, a nature documentary maker, arrives at the park to make a film about Yogi as a rare example of a talking bear. To this end she fits Boo Boo with a bow tie containing a miniature camera, so she can get footage of Yogi in his natural habitat.

Meanwhile, Mayor R. Brown realizes that Franklin City is facing bankruptcy due to profligate spending on his part. He sold the public golf course to develop more condos, 2 of the 3 local fire stations to a frozen yogurt company and almost sold the library for a donut shop but it burned down. To solve it and fund his election campaign to be the next governor, the mayor decides to profit something they can't sell (he sold the bottling rights to another company) he selects Jellystone as a logging site, and Jellystone is prepared to be shut down.

To save the park from being shut down, Ranger Smith points out that the park is the best in the state and that he still has time to get enough money. Deciding to be fair for once, The mayor informs him that the deadline to collect enough money is in one week, the park will stay open if they collect enough money the logging will be called off. To help, Smith holds a Centennial festival where he hopes to make a profit selling Season Passes, he also tells Yogi and Boo Boo to stop stealing picnic baskets and stay away from the campers. To sabotage the effort, Mayor Brown plays on Ranger Jones' desire to be head ranger and promises him the position if the funds are not raised. Yogi had promised Smith to stay out of sight during the festival, but Jones convinces him to go ahead with the helping plan. Yogi tries to please the crowd with a waterskiing performance which receives a standing ovation, but soon goes awry when he inadvertently sets his cape on fire. In the ensuing chaos, the fireworks Smith set up are knocked over and ignited prematurely, launching them into the assembled audience who flee in a panic. The next day, Smith goes around upset seeing everyone's items and trash from the fleeing. Yogi tries to apologize to Smith but he tells Yogi that Yogi is not as smart as he thinks he is and blames him for what happened despite the fact that Yogi didn't mean for this to happen. After Jellystone is shut down, Ranger Smith is forced to stay in Evergreen Park, a small urban enclave choked with litter and pollution in the middle of the city. After he leaves, Yogi gives up stealing picnic baskets and decides to be in average bear which he is terrible at. Boo Boo decides to get Yogi back by telling him that he is smarter than the average bear and he should use it from now on regardless of the trouble they've gotten into. Jones on the other hand gets the thrill of being in charge and doing what he never would have done as assistant ranger. After seeing that their home is in danger of being destroyed, Yogi and Boo Boo travel to Evergreen Park, where Smith places the clues that Mayor Brown had given him, that Brown and his chief of staff, are planning to cut down Jellystone and its trees, to make money. While Smith admits defeat at first, Yogi energizes him by stating that people need to fight for what they love. They come back to Jellystone, and along with Rachel plan to stop the sale of the park. They learn that Boo Boo's pet frog-mouthed turtle is a rare and endangered species, which means that the Park cannot be destroyed with the frog-mouthed turtle there. Ranger Jones also teams up with them, after reforming when he learns Mayor Brown's plans for Jellystone. Mayor Brown captures the frog-mouthed turtle with help from his guards and tells his Chief of Staff to take it away, knowing that if it is no longer in the Park there is nothing to stop him cutting down the trees. He confesses his plan to shut down the park to Yogi and the others.

However, after Mayor Brown begins his press conference, Rachel realises that the camera in Boo Boo's bow tie has been filming the whole time and has captured the Mayor's confession. The turtle escapes from Brown's Chief of Staff by using his frog-like tongue to pull itself through the car window and out into the park. With Yogi and Boo-Boo distracting the security guards, Ranger Smith connects Boo Boo's camera to the jumbotron and Brown's confession is played to the assembled members of the press, and Brown and his guards are arrested by police officers. Brown's chief of staff attempts to run off, but Rachel pins him to the ground using what she learned from her time living with snow leopards. Smith resumes his post as head ranger, and he and Rachel admit their romantic feelings about each other. Jones works on the park's entrance booth, handing out leaflets about the rare frog-mouthed turtle to the vastly increased number of visitors, while Yogi and Boo Boo are stealing picnic baskets once again with Ranger Smith and Rachel in pursuit.

Cast

• Dan Aykroyd as Yogi Bear, the picnic basket-stealing talking bear who lives in Jellystone Park.
• Justin Timberlake as Boo-Boo Bear, Yogi's sidekick, and sometimes the voice of reason.
• Tom Cavanagh as Ranger Smith, the head ranger of Jellystone Park.
• Anna Faris as Rachel Johnson, a nature documentary filmmaker, and Ranger Smith's love interest. She is called "Miss Movie Lady" or "Miss Moviemaker Lady" by Yogi and Boo Boo. She has spent time with the animals that she makes a documentary on learning a gorilla's rage and pinning down people like a snow leopard.
• T. J. Miller as Ranger Jones, a park ranger who is tricked by Mayor Brown into getting Jellystone shut down, making the excuse that Jones will be the head ranger of the park.. All the same, Smith means well and wants to be a great ranger like Smith, he also has a great relationship with Yogi and Boo Boo.
• Andrew Daly as Mayor R. Brown, the main antagonist of the film. He is the Mayor of Franklin City who wants to shut Jellystone Park down so that he can make money for his city and become governor.
• Nate Corddry as the Chief of Staff, Mayor Brown's assistant.
• Frank Welker as Frog-Mouthed Turtle, Boo Boo's pet turtle.
• Josh Robert Thompson as the narrator.

Cameos

• David Stott as Mayor's Tailor
• Greg Johnson as Dirty Shopper
• Christy Qulliam as Stylist
• Patricia Aldersley as Elderly Purse Lady
• Tim McLachlan as Purse Snatcher
• Hayden Vernon as Security Guard
• Dean Knowsley as Security Guard
• Will Wallace as Security Guard
• Barry Duffield as Security Guard
• Michael Morris as Security Guard
• Matt Gillanders as Ranger on Stilts (uncredited)
• Suzana Srpek as Picnic Table Mom
• Matilda Fulljames as Picnic Guest (uncredited)
• Tom Kay as Park Visitor (uncredited)

Additional Voices

• Isabella Acres
• Stephen Apostolina
• Steve Alterman
• Greg Baglia
• Kirk Baily
• Shane Baumel
• Kate Carlin
• Emily Hahn
• Kerry Gutierrez
• Luisa Leschin
• Seth Morris
• Raymond Ochoa
• Juan Pope
• Jennessa Rose
• Michelle Ruff
• Will Shadley
• Stephen Stanton
• Jill Smith

Production

On October 2, 2008, it was confirmed that a live-action/CGI Yogi Bear movie was in the works. Ash Brannon was originally scheduled to direct the film but was replaced by Eric Brevig (Journey to the Center of the Earth 3-D) when it was decided that the film would be produced as a 3-D project. Filming took place in the Lake Whakamaru Reserve, Waikato, New Zealand, as it was winter in the northern hemisphere and to wait for summer would put the production end time to be 6 months longer than if in southern hemisphere.

Like many Hanna-Barbera characters, in the original cartoon, Yogi's personality and mannerisms were based on a popular celebrity of the time. Art Carney's Ed Norton character on The Honeymooners was said to be Yogi's inspiration; his voice mannerisms broadly mimic Carney as Norton. Norton, in turn, received influence from Borscht Belt and comedians of vaudeville. Dan Aykroyd, the voice actor of Yogi Bear, stated that he is trying to evoke the influences that shaped the original Yogi Bear's voice. Aykroyd said, "It's about hitting certain notes, going back to those old Lower East Side rhythms, the Catskills, Jersey, Upstate New York. It's the Yiddish language, essentially, being spoken in English. It's the 'setup, delivery, punch' that sitcoms live on today. That's where the origin of American humor is." Aykroyd has stated that he grew up watching Yogi Bear on the long, cold, dark afternoons in his native Ottawa: "As a kid growing up in Ottawa, Canada, where the sky turns dark in the winter at about 3:30, Yogi Bear was my fire, my hearth, when I would come home. I would immediately turn on the TV while I thawed out."

Justin Timberlake came in with a prepared Boo-Boo voice; when he was learning to sing when he was younger, he imitated various cartoon characters. Eric Brevig said that he intended to make a film that did not want parents who remembered watching Yogi Bear cartoons to feel marginalized and displaced by the contemporary rendition of Yogi Bear.

The film's first trailer was released online on July 28, 2010. It was also attached with Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore and Alpha and Omega. A second trailer premiered with Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole, and a third trailer premiered with Megamind, Tangled, and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1. It features a Todd Collins song called "Walk, Walk, Walk." One of the trailers was also attached with UK showings of Tron: Legacy.

The film was originally slated for release on June 25, 2010, but was pushed back to December 17, 2010 to avoid competition with Grown Ups.

Rhythm and Hues provided CGI character animation for Yogi Bear, Boo-Boo Bear and the Turtle in the film. The company had previously worked with Hanna-Barbera on past theatrical productions: The Flintstones (1994), its prequel Viva Rock Vegas (2000), Scooby-Doo (2002), and its sequel Monsters Unleashed (2004).

Reception

Critical response

Yogi Bear received negative reviews from film critics. Based on 101 reviews collected by Rotten Tomatoes, the film received a 13% "Rotten" approval rating for critics, with an average score of 3.6/10. The site's consensus stated "Yogi Bear's 3D effects and all-star voice cast are cold comfort for its aggressively mediocre screenplay." The compiled score on Metacritic is 35%. One of few positive reviews came from film critics at Spill.com, who appreciated the film staying true to its original source material, and not trying to "hip it up", comparing the 2007 film Alvin and the Chipmunks. The critics also praised Dan Aykroyd and Justin Timberlake's performances, along the 3D effects. Common Sense Media gave the film one star, saying "Dumber-than-average family comedy won't even impress kids." IGN gave the film two stars, and summed up their review by saying "Of course, Yogi Bear is meant as a kids movie. And one supposes that it works on that level (the little ones at the press screening I attended seemed mildly amused). But we learned long ago that kids movies can operate on more than one level, and that's not something that director Eric Brevig (Journey to the Center of the Earth 3-D) or his screenwriters are interested in. The result is a movie that's dumber than the average bear. Though at least it has a pee joke in it."

Box office

Yogi Bear debuted at the American and Canadian box office at #2 behind Tron: Legacy, with an under-performing $16,411,322; compared to Tron Legacy's $44,026,211. The opening weekend was lower than Warner Bros. expected, but executives believed that the film would hold well throughout the holiday season. The film earned $28 million in its first seven days, becoming Warner Bros.' top-grossing start for a family film for that year. In its second weekend, the film fell 53% to $7.8 million, falling to fifth place.

This number was a much harder fall than what Warner Bros. was hoping for, but it blamed the drop on Christmas Eve landing on a Friday plus the big snowstorm in the eastern United States during that period. On Monday, that blame seemed justified, as the film jumped up 11% from Sunday to $3.6 million, which was altogether a 33% jump from its previous Monday. In its third weekend, the film jumped up 66% to $13 million and ranking fourth. The next weekend, it dropped 46% and ranked eighth with $6.8 million. Over the Martin Luther King, Jr. Weekend, it was able to pick up $7.4 million for the four-day, jumping up 12% from the previous weekend.

The film has picked up $100,246,011 in the U.S. and Canada and also has a worldwide total of $201,584,141. Against an $80 million budget, the film has become a surprise box office hit.

Awards and nominations

2011 Teen Choice Awards

• Choice Movie: Animation Voice - Justin Timberlake (nominated)

Notes/Trivia

• Cindy Bear did not appear in the 2010 film

• Many students of Daws Butler (the original voice of Yogi Bear) sent Dan Aykroyd tapes of Butler explaining how to do Yogi's voice. Aykroyd refused to listen to any of the tapes, preferring to do his own take on the classic character.

• This is the first live-action adaptation of a Hanna-Barbera cartoon to be made without the assistance of William Hanna or Joseph Barbera, who passed away in 2001 and 2006 respectively.

When Justin Timberlake was younger and learning to sing, he imitated various cartoon characters, and so came in with a prepared Boo-Boo voice.

• Yogi, the cartoon character, has an iconic pose often used in comic books, advertising, etc. He is leaning, one arm extended, legs crossed at the ankles. Ranger Smith replicates this pose in the background of one scene.
• T.J. Miller had a nearly fatal brain disease while shooting this film, and required surgery.
• Dan Aykroyd and Justin Timberlake recorded most of their dialogue together.
• The film was primarily shot in New Zealand, as it was winter in the northern hemisphere and to wait for summer would delay the shooting schedule longer by six months longer than if in southern hemisphere.
• WILHELM SCREAM: When a pinecone falls out of a tree and hits Yogi in the eye.

Home media

Warner Home Video released the film on Blu-ray/DVD on March 22, 2011 in four versions:

• DVD (single-disc)
• Blu-ray (single-disc)
• Blu-ray/DVD/Digital Copy
• Blu-ray 3D/Blu-ray/DVD/Digital Copy

Sequel

A part two is in the works, and Jay Chandrasekhar has been chosen to direct.

Music

Yogi Bear
John Debney
Recorded	2010
Length	56:09
Produced by	Donald De Line

Yogi Bear is a soundtrack to the film of the same name, released under Warner Bros. Pictures The music of the film and this album are both credited to be composed and produced by American composer John Debney

Track listing

All music is composed by John Debney.

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Lasagna Performed by"	2:48
2.	"Rhythm Of Love Performed by Plain White T's"	3:17
3.	"Baby Got Back Performed by Sir Mix a Lot"	4:14
4.	"The Sound of Sunshine Performed by Michael Franti & Spearhead"	TBA
5.	"William Tell Overture by Gioachino Rossini"	3:14
6.	"Nothin' But a Good Time Performed by Poison"	3:43
7.	"Runnin' Wild Performed by Airbourne"	TBA
8.	"Don't Stop Believin' Performed by Journey"	TBA
9.	"My Best Friend Performed by Weezer"	2:48
10.	"Rachel's Song Performed by Tom Cavanagh"	(2:22)
11.	"Yogi Bear 3-D Jellystone Park"	(01:54)
12.	"Main Title - Smith and Jones"	(01:20)
13.	"Rigged Picnic Table"	(02:59)
14.	"Mayor's Scheme - Yogi - Rachel Intro"	(01:19)
15.	"Kindred Spirits"	(01:34)
16.	"Boo Boo Cam"	(02:08)
17.	"Rezoned"	(01:53)
18.	"Baskitnabber 2000"	(01:13)
19.	"Hiding the Glider"	(00:50)
20.	"Fannypack of Merit Badges"	(00:27)
21.	"Sprawling Beauty"	(00:29)
22.	"Fireworks"	(01:29)
23.	"Jones Enlisted"	(01:19)
24.	"Can't Wait"	(00:11)
25.	"Handcuffed"	(01:23)
26.	"Hope Nothing Goes Wrong"	(00:23)
27.	"Jones Tricks Yogi"	(01:10)
28.	"Chaos at the Fireworks"	(00:52)
29.	"How Smart Are You Now"	(01:29)
30.	"Ranger Smith is Gone"	(01:30)
31.	"How Could It Be Worse"	(00:59)
32.	"Something's Wrong"	(00:19)
33.	"Jellystone Under Siege"	(02:08)
34.	"Catching the Train"	(01:02)
35.	"Getting Bearings"	(01:06)
36.	"Yogi Fly By"	(00:29)
37.	"Rollar Blade Near Miss"	(00:17)
38.	"Fight for the Things You Love"	(01:35)
39.	"Smith Rachael Reunion"	(01:23)
40.	"Frog Mouth Turtle"	(00:32)
41.	"I Have a Plan"	(00:53)
42.	"Flight of the Nabber"	(04:43)
43.	"The Rapids"	(02:37)
44.	"Return of Armadillo - I Want Power"	(01:08)
45.	"Keep Your Dignity"	(00:56)
46.	"Is He Still Filming"	(00:22)
47.	"Caught Red-Handed"	(01:49)
48.	"He's Right Next to Me"	(01:31)
49.	"Goodbye Jellystone"	(02:17)
50.	"Also Sprach Zarathrustra"
Total length:		TBA

External links

• Official website
• Yogi Bear at the TCM Movie Database
• Yogi Bear at IMDb
• {{{title}}} at Rotten Tomatoes
• National Wildlife Federation: Activity Guide for Educators and Parents