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| Doug's 1st Movie | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Maurice Joyce |
| Written by | Ken Scarborough |
| Based on | Doug byJim Jinkins |
| Produced by | Jim Jinkins David Campbell Melanie Grisanti Jack Spillum |
| Starring | |
| Edited by | Alysha Cohen Christopher Gee |
| Music by | Mark Watters |
Production companies | |
| Distributed by | Buena Vista Pictures Distribution[a] |
Release date |
|
Running time | 83 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $5 million[citation needed] |
| Box office | $19.4 million[1] |
Doug's 1st Movie is a 1999 American animatedcomedy film based on the television seriesDoug. Despite the film's title, it is the series finale of the show.
Directed byMaurice Joyce, the film was produced byWalt Disney Television Animation andJumbo Pictures with animation provided by Plus One Animation. It stars the regular television cast of Tom McHugh,Fred Newman,Chris Phillips,Constance Shulman,Frank Welker,Alice Playten, Guy Hadley, andDoris Belack. It was released byBuena Vista Pictures Distribution under itsWalt Disney Pictures label on March 26, 1999; an accompanyingMickey Mouse Works short entitledDonald's Dynamite: Opera Box was also released with the film itself. The film received generally unfavorable reviews from critics, and no further films based onDoug were made.
BluffCo has been dumping waste into Lucky Duck Lake under the command of CEO Bill Bluff. This pollutioncreates a friendly creature that is discovered by Doug Funnie and Skeeter Valentine. They bring the creature in Doug's house, where they name himHerman Melville after he tries to eat a copy ofMoby-Dick. Not wanting him to be discovered, they disguise him as a foreign exchange student called Hermione, causing Doug's love interest Patti Mayonnaise to become jealous from all the attention he gives him, leading school paper reporter Guy Graham to make a move on her. Meanwhile, Roger Klotz and his cronies, after learning about Herman, build a robot to kidnap him, but instead it becomes very overbearing toward Roger.
Doug and Skeeter show Herman to Mayor Tippy Dink, who warns them that Bluff will kill the story if they try to get it into the press. After being mocked by Guy in front of Patti, Doug calls a press announcement where he promises to expose what Bluff is doing to the lake. While initially dismissive, Guy finds a picture of Herman and realizes Doug is telling the truth. He notifies Bluff, who sends BluffCo agents to Doug's announcement posing as reporters to capture Herman. Doug sees through the ruse and calls off the conference, but Herman ends up being captured and Patti now believes Doug to be a liar. Doug realizes everything was his fault because he put Herman out of his own selfishness.
The next morning, in the school newspaper office, Doug finds an article by Guy detailing how Herman attacked students at the upcoming Valentine's Day dance and was killed by BluffCo agents. Realizing Guy and Bluff's plan to cover up the pollution, Doug and Skeeter recruit Roger and Al and Moo Sleech to help thwart it. On the night of the dance, Doug gave up his last chance to win Patti back in order to save Herman. The Sleech's reprogram Roger's robot to act like the monster in Guy's article, distracting everyone while Doug and Skeeter find Herman and sneak him out of the school in a giant Valentine's decoration.
Doug and Skeeter bring Herman to lake and release him into the fresh waters, where they are confronted and threatened by Bluff. However, Bluff's daughter Beebe and Mayor Dink overheard Bluff's tirade, and Beebe defends both Doug and Skeeter while Mayor Dink hints on revealing Bluff's practices to the government unless he discuss things over with her. Threatened with a potential lawsuit that could bankrupt him, Bluff concedes defeat by agreeing to have his company clean up Lucky Duck Lake. Herman reveals himself to Patti, who realized that Doug was telling the truth before dumping Guy for lying to her. After the gang says goodbye to Herman, Doug tries to reveal his feelings for Patti, only for Roger to suddenly appear, thanking him for reprogramming his robot, which then chases him away. The movie ends with everyone going back to the dance except for Doug, Patti, Skeeter, and Beebe, who dances with each other by the lake.
Nickelodeon was originally making aDoug film adaptation in May 1993 when they made a deal with20th Century Fox to make films based on their properties along with films likeRugrats andRen & Stimpy.[2][3] However, the plans evaporated whenViacom acquiredParamount Pictures in February 1994,[4] and the deal expired in the following year. OnlyThe Rugrats Movie materialized in November 1998.
In February 1996, whenDisney boughtJumbo Pictures along with the cartoon, they decided to revive the project for theDoug film.[5][6] This film was originally planned as adirect-to-video release under the titleThe First Doug Movie Ever as shown in trailers, but due to the success ofThe Rugrats Movie, they decided to make it a theatrical release.[citation needed]
This is the last American theatrical animated film to usetraditional cels, in which the title sequence of the film useddigital ink and paint.
The film was theatrically released with the shortOpera Box, featuringDonald andDaisy Duck, from the television seriesMickey Mouse Works.
Doug's 1st Movie garnered a 28% approval rating onRotten Tomatoes, based on 36 reviews. The critical consensus reads, "Doug's 1st Movie may entertain very young fans of its main character, but essentially amounts to a forgettable feature-length episode of his show."[7] Critics were harsh toDoug's 1st Movie when it was released theatrically. Many noted that the film felt too much like an extended episode of the show (story- and animation-wise) and many mention that the film should have stayed a direct-to-video release. Most of the criticism came from the plot, writing, and music, though they praised the animation, voice acting and ending. Screenit.com awarded the film 4 out of 10, determining that it was mediocre and did not have "that magic or cinematic feel to warrant the big screen treatment" and it felt like the regular series.[8]
Roger Ebert gave the film 1½ out of 4 stars, quoting "Doug's 1st Movie is a thin and less than thrilling feature-length version of a Saturday morning animated series, unseen by me. Chatter on the Web suggests it was originally intended to go straight to video, but was rechanneled into theaters after the startling success ofThe Rugrats Movie. SinceDoug originally started on Nickelodeon, whereRugrats resides, the decision made sense – or would have if this had been a better movie."[9]
Doug's 1st Movie opened at #5 in its opening weekend with $4,470,489, for an average of $1,971 from 2,268 theaters. The film grossed $19,421,271 in ticket sales.[1]
The film was nominated for aStinker Award for Worst Achievement in Animation, but lost toPokémon: The First Movie.[10]
The film was released onVHS on September 21, 1999, and onDVD as a Disney Movie Club exclusive on July 20, 2012. The VHS featured, after the movie, a "Never-Before-Seen Dougumentary" that featured the creators of the show offering trivia facts and answering questions from fans; also featured is voice actorFred Newman who demonstrates his ability to make sound effects while doing the voice of Skeeter Valentine. The DVD used a TV edit, with fade-ins and fade-outs to make way for commercial breaks, as well as sped-up closing credits. As of 2024, the film has still not officially been released onBlu-ray.
The film, along withDisney's Doug, was released onDisney+ on November 12, 2019, its first day of release. This used a new transfer of the film sourced from the master print, allowing the end credits to be seen at their intended speed.