The Pebble and the Penguin facts for kids
Quick facts for kids The Pebble and the Penguin |
|
|---|---|
Theatrical release poster
|
|
| Directed by | Don Bluth (uncredited) Gary Goldman (uncredited) |
| Produced by | Russell Boland |
| Screenplay by | Rachel Koretsky Steven Whitestone |
| Narrated by | Shani Wallis |
| Starring |
|
| Music by | Mark Watters |
| Editing by | Fiona Trayler Aran O'Reilly |
| Studio | Don Bluth Limited |
| Distributed by | MGM/UA Communications Co. (United States) Warner Bros. (International) |
| Release date(s) | April 12, 1995 (United States) |
| Running time | 74 minutes |
| Country | United States Ireland |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $28 million |
| Money made | $3.9 million |
The Pebble and the Penguin is a 1995 animated musical comedy-drama adventure film directed by Don Bluth and Gary Goldman. The film stars the voices of Martin Short, Jim Belushi, Tim Curry, and Annie Golden. Based on the true life mating rituals of the Adélie penguins in Antarctica, the film focuses on a timid, stuttering penguin named Hubie who tries to impress a beautiful penguin named Marina by giving her a pebble that fell from the sky and keep her from the clutches of an evil penguin named Drake who wants Marina for himself.
Towards the end of production, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer significantly changed the movie, forcing Don Bluth and Gary Goldman to leave their film and demand to have their names taken off the film. The two would start working at Fox Animation Studios.
The film was released in the United States on April 12, 1995, by MGM/UA Communications Co., receiving extremely negative reviews. This is the last film to be produced by Sullivan Bluth Studios before the studio shutdown due to bankruptcy.
Contents
Plot
In Antarctica, the Adelie Penguins practice a tradition where during the mating season, the male birds gather on the beaches to find a pebble to use as a mating ritual, and during the night of the full moon mating ceremony, the males propose to the female they love by presenting their pebble to them, and if they accept it, they become a married couple.
Hubie, a shy and good-hearted male penguin, loves Marina, the most beautiful penguin in the rookery who also seems to like him, but his evil rival Drake, a muscular penguin who is said to always get his way, simiarly covets Marina's affection. One night, Hubie and Marina discuss their feelings for each other, but Hubie is unable to find a suitable pebble to propose to Marina with due to both his clumsiness and the other penguins desperately trying to find pebbles, too. He wishes on a star to make his dream come true and he receives a beautiful emerald cube from the sky. Hubie ecstatically rushes to find Marina but Drake thwarts him and taunts him, telling him nobody will marry somebody like him. When Drake demands Hubie to give him the emerald, Hubie refuses and Drake throws him into the water. Hubie narrowly escapes from a leopard seal and climbs onto a piece of an iceberg where he is swept away from Antarctica.
Hubie, after sleeping for three days, is picked up by humans and caged on their ship called "Misery", which transports penguins to a zoo, and meets a tough, grumpy, streetwise and somewhat arrogant but good-hearted rockhopper penguin named Rocko. After seeing a vision where Drake tries to hound Marina into marrying him and tells her that she'll be banished if she doesn't find a mate before the mating ceremony, Hubie decides to escape with Rocko and flees, before laying low on a beach. Rocko reluctantly tells Hubie about his desire to fly and live in a tropical climate. He convinces him to help him return to Antarctica by making up a lie about a flying penguin named Waldo. They have a short fight after Rocko tries to fly off to "an authentic, ancient aviarial airstrip" and another after Rocko saves Hubie from a killer whale. The two attempt to depart, but Hubie admits to Rocko that he lied to him about Waldo, which infuriates Rocko to the point he attempts to attack Hubie, but soon starts laughing when Hubie does an impression of a wheezing noise, and praises Hubie's determination to return to Marina. Hubie and Rocko run into the hungry and persistent leopard seal but are able to escape it. With that, they become true friends, and Rocko later teaches Hubie how to fight for Marina when the time will come. However, their joy is short-lived as three killer whales attack them, causing Hubie's pebble to get lost in the scuffle and Rocko to go missing, leaving Hubie to think he perished. Disheartened, Hubie eventually finds Drake's lair, and finds out that Drake had kidnapped Marina to force her to be his mate. Drake and Hubie charge at each other, but the former ends up knocking Hubie out and, thinking he won, tries carrying Marina off to the depths of his lair. Hubie, however, resuscitates and, remembering what Rocko taught him, fights Drake by doing martial arts and initially defeats him by dropkicking him off the stairway.
Hubie becomes overjoyed when Marina accepts his marriage proposal, and even more when Rocko reveals himself to be alive. Suddenly, while reuniting, Hubie and Rocko hear Marina scream in agony as Drake lifts the stair she was standing on and, in a final move, he throws it at Hubie, however, the two penguins both dodge the large stone just in time. The impact considerably damages Drake's tower with several slabs falling from the overhang, one of which crushes him instead. Rocko, however, rescues Hubie and Marina as the tower collapses while somehow becoming able to fly. When they arrive at the ceremony, Rocko gives Hubie his pebble and he presents it to Marina, and she tells him that she loves his pebble, but loves him even more and the two become mates. Rocko decides to stay in Antarctica with the film closing on him teaching Hubie and Marina's offspring how to fly.
Cast and characters
- Martin Short as Hubie, a shy and kind-hearted adélie penguin.
- Annie Golden as Marina
- Jim Belushi as Rocko, a grumpy, but streetwise Northern rockhopper penguin
- Tim Curry as Drake, a vain and dark-hearted penguin.
- Alissa King as Petra
- Louise Vallance as Priscilla and Chinstrap 2
- Will Ryan as Royal and Tika
- Neil Ross as Scrawny
- Stan Jones as McCallister
- S. Scott Bullock as Chubby and Gentoo
- Philip L. Clarke as King
- Shani Wallis as the narrator
- B. J. Ward as Megellenic 1
- Hamilton Camp as Megellenic 2
- Angeline Ball as Gwynne and Chinstrap 3
- Kendall Cunningham as Timmy
- Pat Musick as Pola and Chinstrap 1
- Michael Nunes as Beany
- Maggie Roswell as additional voices
Music
The songs were written by Barry Manilow, who previously wrote the songs for Thumbelina, along with longtime collaborator and lyricist Bruce Sussman. The film's score was composed by Mark Watters. Manilow, who had "started off wanting to be a composer," got an opportunity to do this when he was approached to "compose songs and the underscore" for the film and Thumbelina. Barbadian singer Geoffrey Holder sang the deleted song "The Beachmaster" for the film. An accompanying soundtrack was released on April 11, 1995. The instruments in the songs and score were performed by The Irish Film Orchestra. This soundtrack is currently out of print.
See also
In Spanish: The Pebble and the Penguin para niños
