A Wizard's Tale (also known as Ahí Viene Cascarrabias in Mexico and Here Comes the Grump internationally) is a 2018 animated fantasy adventure comedy film based on the DePatie–Freleng animated series, Here Comes the Grump, which originally ran from 1969 to 1970 on NBC.
Directed by Andrés Couturier and written by Jim Hecht, the film is an international co-production between Mexico, United Kingdom and India and is produced by Ánima Estudios, Prime Focus World, and GFM Animation, the film features the voices of Toby Kebbell, Lily Collins, and Ian McShane. The Spanish version stars the voices of Camila Sodi and Mauricio Barrientos "El Diablito".
It was first released in Italy on 1 March 2018. The film was later released on July 26 in Mexico and was a commercial failure.
The film was released by Blue Fox Entertainment in the United States in limited format and VOD on 14 September the same year, released as A Wizard's Tale.
Contents
Plot
In an alternate dimension, there exists a kingdom called Groovingham, where a wizard called The Grin lives. The Grin casts a spell to make people happy, but the magic deprives the subjects of their morality, resulting in instant pandemonium. Outraged, the king orders his royals guards to arrest The Grin. Though the authorities corner him on a cliff, The Grin escapes with his fiancée, Mary, in his blimp.
The Grin goes into hiding and adopts a baby dragon he names Dingo. Mary promises to return to The Grin, but the authorities capture her, and the king has her banished to Earth in a forest near a 1970 London. Unaware that Mary was exiled, the Grin becomes an embittered pariah called the Grump.
On Earth, Mary owns an amusement park that resembles Groovingham and has a grandson named Terry Dexter. During Terry's childhood, his grandmother reads him her bestselling story called "Here Comes the Grump", which summarizes the events before her banishment. Years later, Mary passes away, and Terry who is now a young adult became the qorker of her amusement park.
One night Terry finds a hidden handle piece of his grandmother's blimp. After reattaching the handle to the blimp, it sends him to Groovingham, much to his astonishment. Meanwhile, the Grump, who was captured at some point for his purported crime, escapes from prison alongside his diminutive henchmen called the Grumpies and enacts vengeance upon the king. However, he instantly realizes the king had died after spotting a statue built as his memorial. While feeling cheated out of revenge, the Grin discovers a poster of Princess Dawn's coronation and takes action against her instead. Interrupting the coronation, the Grump casts his "gloom spell" upon everyone, putting them into a state of depression. Princess Dawn manages to escape the gloom by being hidden in a chamber beneath her bed by her servants while her pet, a pink dog-like creature who can turn his nose into a jumping ball named Bip, leaves Groovingham to seek help from an outsider.
As Terry tries to pilot the blimp back to his homeworld, the handle piece is taken by Bip, prompting Terry to chase him into Groovingham. Emerging from hiding, Dawn begs Terry to help save her kingdom. Terry reluctantly agrees so that he can return home. When his minions inform the Grump that Dawn had escaped the gloom, he returns to the castle where Terry recognizes him as the Grin from his grandmother's story. After being chased by the Grumpies through the castle's interior, Terry and Dawn reach the map room where they met a mechanical bird named G. P. Sparrow, who agrees to navigate them to the Oracle who knows how to lift the Grin's curse.
Voice cast
Toby Kebbell as Terry Dexter
Lily Collins / Camila Sodi (Spanish) as Princess Dawn
Ian McShane as The Grump
Keith Wickham / Mauricio Barrientos (Spanish) as GP Sparrow
David Holt as Bip
Emma Tate as Grandma Mary/Nanny Bear
Amy Thompson as Mary / Old Woman / Whispering Orchids
Jay Britton as Grumpies / Caveman / Thelonious
Andres Williams as Chancellor Woodblock
Claire Morgan as Fashion Manager
Paul Tylak as Oracle / Balloon Herald 2 / Red Bird
Darren Altman as Robert
Inel Tomlinson as Prime Pine / Air Doll / Generic Balloon 1
Ed Gaughan as Omette / Christmas Tree 3 / Hobo
John Hasler as Amusement Park Dad / Beefeater 3
Rasmus Hardiker as Balloon Herald 1 / Prince Charming
Matthew Bloxham as Christmas Tree 2 / Generic Balloon 3
Fred Grey as Royal Guard 2 / Singing Map / Taxman / Additional Crowd
Alexander Cobb as Terry's Dad / Yellow Wizard / Additional Crowd
Development
The film was first announced in September 2014 when a film adaptation of the Here Comes the Grump cartoon, produced by Ánima Estudios, was in development. Development didn't start immediately after its announcement due to development of other projects. Despite being an American cartoon, the series was far more popular in Mexico than in the United States, which led to the film being produced.
Production of the film was completed in 2017.
Character designs
The film's characters were designed by Craig Kellman, who has also designed characters for other animated films, such as Hotel Transylvania and Madagascar.
Animation
The film's animation was created at Prime Focus World at its London and Mumbai facilities. that previously collaborated with Ánima. Greg Gavanski, head of Prime Focus Animation, said, "Animation is well underway and our artists are pushing the limits to put as much quality and humor into every last frame".
While Ánima itself was in charge of the film's creative development and supervision, with the direction done by Andrés Couturier, the manager at Ánima.
Casting
British actors Toby Kebbell, Lily Collins, and Ian McShane joined the film's lead English voice cast, while most of the English version was done in the United Kingdom, the rest of the casting done by Todd Resnick's The Voice Company studio in Los Angeles.
Prime Focus's Greg Gavanski commented that he was "thrilled" with the casting: "We are thrilled to welcome Ian, Lily and Toby to the Grump team. This hugely talented voice cast, alongside the beautiful animation delivered by the artists of Ánima [Estudios] and Prime Focus, has brought these fantastic characters to life in ways we couldn't have imagined. I couldn't have hoped for things to come together any better than this".
The casting has also been an important moment for Ánima Estudios, about which producer and company COO José C. García de Letona has shared his excitement: "Having such amazing actors be part of our movie makes us feel even more excited about it. We are sure that the audiences will love McShane's grouchy character, Lily's adorable princess and Toby's cool hero".
Music
James Seymour Brett composed the film's original score.
Release
The film was released in the United Kingdom on 11 May 2018 by Signature Entertainment. The film was released in the United States in limited locations and digital platforms on 14 September 2018.
Reception
The film received generally negative reviews from critics. On Tomatazos, it has a score of "43%". Meanwhile, on Rotten Tomatoes, it has a "Rotten" score of "17%", based on 6 reviews.
Box office
In Mexico, the film performed weakly at the box-office, opening at No. 6 and grossing $8.99 million pesos (est. $0.48 million USD). In its second week, the film moved down to No. 8, grossing $4.26 million pesos (est. US$0.2 million) which brings a total of $18.44 million pesos (est. US$0.99 million). It has earned $22.9 million pesos in total.
In the United States, the film has grossed $1,626 in 10 theaters.
The film has grossed a total of $4.55 million worldwide.