| Beavis and Butt-Head Do the Universe | |
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 Release poster | |
| Directed by |
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| Screenplay by |
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| Story by |
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| Based on | Beavis and Butt-Head by Mike Judge |
| Produced by | Matthew Mahoney |
| Starring | |
| Edited by | Phil Davis Robert James Ashe Mike Mendez |
| Music by | John Frizzell |
Production companies | |
| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
Release date |
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Running time | 87 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Beavis and Butt-Head Do the Universe is a 2022 Americanadult animatedscience fiction comedy film directed by John Rice and Albert Calleros and written byMike Judge,Lew Morton, Guy Maxtone-Graham andIan Maxtone-Graham. It is the second film based on the animated television seriesBeavis and Butt-Head afterBeavis and Butt-Head Do America (1996). The film follows teenage delinquentsBeavis andButt-Head, who are transported 24 years from 1998 to 2022, encounter parallel-universe versions of themselves and are hunted by the US government.
The film was announced in February 2021. The production was conducted remotely viaZoom conferencing due to theCOVID-19 pandemic. The film was released on the streaming serviceParamount+ on June 23, 2022, to acclaim from critics.
In Highland,Texas, in 1998,Beavis andButt-Head accidentally burn down their high schoolscience fair. Believing they areat-risk youth, a judge sends them tospace camp at theJohnson Space Center, where they become engrossed in adocking simulator. Impressed, theNASAastronaut Captain Serena Ryan invites them to train as astronauts, which they mistake as an offer for sex. They undergo training and board theSpace ShuttleEndeavour to study amicro black hole.
In space, Beavis and Butt-Head create a catastrophe. When Serena volunteers to sacrifice herself, they mistake this for another offer of sex. They put on their spacesuits, and watch Serena through a window as she prepares to change. Enraged, Serena uses the shuttle controls to fling them into space, where they are sucked into the black hole.
The boys emerge inGalveston in 2022.The Pentagon detects their arrival and begins tracking them; Serena, nowgovernor of Texas, vows to kill them to cover up her attempted murder. The boys meet intelligent versions of themselves from another universe, Smart Beavis and Smart Butt-Head, who explain that they have two days to enter aportal on top ofMount Everest to prevent the destruction of themultiverse.
Beavis and Butt-Head acquire aniPhone and accidentally activateSiri, which they mistake for Serena; Beavis develops feelings for her. When Siri offers to set up theirsmart home, they believe Serena is waiting for them in Highland. After Beavis becomes trapped in aport-a-potty, he and Butt-Head are transported to a university. Smart Beavis and Smart Butt-Head urge them to enter the portal, which they have moved nearby, but instead they wander into agender studies class, where the professor lectures them onwhite privilege. Taking this to mean they have the right to do whatever they want, they steal a police car and are arrested. In jail, Beavis takes pills given to him by an inmate, transforms into his hyperactive alter egoCornholio, and incites an uprising. Discovering that the boys seemingly died in 1998, the warden decides that they are angels and releases them.
The boys arrive home, expecting to find Serena, but find it has been placed for sale. They blame each other and separate, but are quickly abducted by government officials. Serena's downtrodden lieutenant, Jim Hartson, covertly frees the boys, saying he knows what Serena did to them. Smart Beavis and Butt-Head urge them to enter the portal, but the boys ignore them.
All parties arrive at Beavis and Butt-Head's house. As Serena is about to shoot them, she realizes they are not her enemies, only foolish teenagers. Smart Beavis and Smart Butt-Head urge Beavis and Butt-Head to enter the portal, but Hartson is accidentally sucked in instead, closing the rift and saving the multiverse. Smart Beavis and Smart Butt-Head acknowledge that possibly anything could have worked and they were making it more complicated by saying only Beavis and Butt-Head could stop the portal, and acknowledge that while they are the smartest versions they are still not the brightest in existence. As Beavis attempts to express his love to Serena, Smart Beavis interrupts and offers to show her the cosmos; she leaves with him and Smart Butt-Head. In exchange for their silence, the government gives Beavis and Butt-Head their home back in its original condition. In another universe, the assembled alternative Beavises and Butt-Heads applaud Smart Beavis for becoming the first Beavis to have sex, although Serena does not return his calls.
Daria Morgendorffer, Principal McVicker, Tom Anderson, Stewart Stevenson, Mrs Stevenson and Coach Buzzcut makecameo appearances, most of them silent.
In 2008,Mike Judge stated, "I like to keep the door open onBeavis and Butt-Head, because it's my favorite thing that I've ever done. It's the thing I'm most proud of." However, he stated his reservations regarding the "year and a half [to] two and a half years" that it would take "to do that right," saying that a revival project "comes up every three years." In 2009, while promoting his filmExtract, Judge said he would like to see the characters on the big screen again, and that "I kind of think of them as being either 15 or in their 60s. ... I wouldn't mind doing something with them as these two dirty old men sitting on the couch."[1]
In March 2018, Judge toldRotten Tomatoes that the idea of doing a secondBeavis and Butt-Head movie had been brought up two months prior, saying "It's just a matter of coming up with an idea that feels like it's worth doing."[2] In July 2019, Judge again reiterated interest in a potential movie, stating, "I've got some ideas. I think it would have to be something that makes it relevant today. I think I might've figured out a way to do that." He further stated that he would probably direct it.[3][4]
In February 2021, it was announced that a newBeavis and Butt-Head movie was in production forParamount+, with Judge on board. The news came following the announcement of a revival series the year prior, which was originally set to air onComedy Central.[5] Originally, Paramount executives wanted a live-actionBeavis and Butt-Head movie, with Judge holding auditions over Zoom for the project before eventually talking the company into doing an animated movie instead to reestablish the characters first, with a live-action movie still a possibility.[6] In January 2022, Judge tweeted drawings of older versions ofBeavis andButt-Head.[7] A month later, the film's title was revealed asBeavis and Butt-Head Do the Universe.[8]John Frizzell, who composedDo America, returned to compose the score.[9] The entire production was conducted remotely viaZoom conferencing due to theCOVID-19 pandemic.[10]
While the series and the first filmDo America werehand-drawn animated byRough Draft Studios, animation services forDo the Universe were provided byTitmouse, Inc inLos Angeles, Snipple Animation Studios in thePhilippines, and Inspidea inMalaysia usingAdobe Animate, making it the first officialBeavis and Butt-Head animation to be done digitally. Some layouts were handled by Studio Moshi inMelbourne and Ink Animation inSingapore.[11]
The film's trailer was released on June 2, 2022.[12] A sneak peek debuted three days later, at theMTV Movie and TV Awards.[13]Beavis and Butt-Head Do the Universe was released onParamount+ on June 23, 2022,[14] and a day later on the UK version of the service.[15]
The soundtrack was released digitally on July 8, 2022, fromParamount Music.[16][17]
On thereview aggregator websiteRotten Tomatoes, 97% of 64 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.2/10. The website's consensus reads: "Fart-knockers beware: Beavis and Butthead are back, and they're just as stupidly hilarious (or hilariously stupid?) as ever."[18] OnMetacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 70 out of 100, based on 19 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.[19] Andy Kelly ofThe Gamer complimented the movie as one of the best movies of the year and a revival done well of which he also noted "Beavis and Butt-Head Do the Universe is a fine return to form for these characters—and forMike Judge, whose distinctive approach to comedy I've dearly missed".[20] Sol Harris ofStarburst Magazine gave the movie 4 out of 5 stars of which he wrote "Beavis and Butt-Head Do the Universe is a completely worthy follow-up toDo America and, frankly, a frontrunner for the title of funniest movie of 2022."[21]
