Alpha and Omega (film)
Encyclopedia
Alpha and Omega is a 2010 3D
American
computer animated
comedy-drama
film produced by Crest Animation Productions and Richard Rich
. The film is directed by Anthony Bell
and Ben Gluck
, starring the voices of Justin Long
, Hayden Panettiere
, Dennis Hopper
(in his last film appearance), Danny Glover
and Christina Ricci
.
The film was released on September 17, 2010 to 2,625 theaters nationwide by Lionsgate. It has been shown in its 3D format.
) and Kate (Hayden Panettiere
) are two wolves from the same pack in Canada
’s Jasper National Park
but on opposite ends of the social order. Kate, daughter of the main Alpha male Winston (Danny Glover
) and his mate Eve (Vicki Lewis
), is herself an Alpha and takes her duty to the pack seriously. Humphrey, on the other hand, is an omega wolf, the lowest of the pack, and spends his days making fun with his other omega friends. Despite his low rank in the pack, Humphrey falls in love with Kate and is valued in the pack as a peacemaker by virtue of his affable nature.
During her youth, Kate left to begin alpha school with her father. She returns as a fully trained alpha but on her first hunt (the alpha's are the ones responsible for providing food for the pack),two members of the Eastern pack cross into Western pack territory due to the lack of caribou in their own land. The hunt is ruined and the packs are nearly at war with each other. The two packs have had a bitter rivalry since Tony (Dennis Hopper
), the Alpha male of the Eastern pack, is afraid of his pack starving. Winston and Tony meet up one night and arrange for Kate to marry Garth (Chris Carmack
), Tony's son. Kate, having a sense of responsibility and duty, wearily agrees for the good of the pack and she meets Garth at the Howling Rock. Garth too is an alpha and appears perfect at first in every way, until Kate hears his howl. Kate, taken back by Garth's howl, leaves the scene to "get water" Humphrey notices Kate and surprises her. The two talk about Garth, when all of the sudden they get tranquilized by some men and taken away to Idaho. The two wolves wake up at Sawtooth National Recreation Area and meet a French-Canadian goose
named Marcel (Larry Miller
) who has an avid interest in golf
and his caddy, a duck
named Paddy (Eric Price).
Kate and Humphrey learn that they were relocated to repopulate the species. Marcel and Paddy agree to help the wolves return home to Jasper.
Trouble brews back at Jasper as the two packs discover that Kate has gone missing. Tony warns Winston that on the next full moon if Kate doesn’t return to marry Garth, he and his pack will declare war for their territory. Lilly (Christina Ricci
), an omega wolf who is Kate’s younger sister, has a crush on Garth and suggests that she show him around.
That night, Kate finds a ravine and attempts to cross it. She slips down the cliff, but Humphrey saves her. After that the two of them find a den for the night.
The next morning, Marcel and Paddy find the wolves and direct them to a train over a snowy mountain that will take them to Jasper. Climbing the mountain Humphrey meets a bear cub who is unfamiliar with wolves. When they are playing, the cub gets hurt when a snowball is thrown at him. This angers a trio of bears (most likely the cub's parents) who think that Humphrey was trying to harm the cub. When Kate realizes that Humphrey is in danger, she rushes in to help him, causing them to slide down the other side of the mountain. Humphrey saves Kate, and, as the train passes by, the two wolves manage to get into a boxcar just in time.
Meanwhile Lilly and Garth are bonding and Garth soon falls in love with her. At the midnight howl, Lilly is not deterred by Garth's less than perfect howl and teaches him to howl with his heart. At the same time Humphrey and Kate begin to howl together as well on the train. Both couples singing in perfect unison. By this time the full moon has come and the packs declare war against one another.
Shortly after, as the train passes by Jasper. Humphrey attempts to tell Kate how he feels about her, but the sight of the packs fighting causes her to jump off the train before he can finish. Kate stops the fight by announcing that she will marry Garth for the good of the packs, much to Humphrey and Lilly's surprise and disappointment.
The next day, a heartbroken Humphrey decides to leave Jasper and travel on his own and shares his goodbyes with Kate, Marcel and Paddy, who have arrived and decided to stay. Yet Kate feels heartbroken too after realizing how she feels about Humphrey and decides to not marry Garth. Although Garth and Lilly declare their own love and offer to substitute for Kate, Winston is confused while Tony is revolted that his son wants to marry an Omega,which goes against pack custom and his pack starts to fight the other pack out of anger, but the conflict is cut short when a massive stampede of caribou interrupts the scene. Winston and Tony get caught in the stampede and Kate and Humphrey (who decided to return) rush in to save them. Kate is hit and Humphrey shields her with his body and Winston and Tony growl at the passing caribou in order to protect Humphrey who was being kicked by them due to shielding Kate. After the stampede passes, it appears that Kate has been trampled to death. Upon her seemingly apparent death, the wolves of both packs begin to howl in mourning sadness, but she wakes up to the joy and relief of the packs. Now, at long last, it is when Humphrey and Kate reveal their feelings for each other. Winston and Tony then decided to unite the packs.
Later at the Midnight Howl, all the wolves celebrate the marriages of Kate & Humphrey and Garth & Lilly. The film ends with Humphrey and Kate singing a beautiful duet.
. Production mainly took place in Toronto
, Canada.
three weeks later). In its second weekend, due to being overshadowed by Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole for 3-D screens, the film dropped 48% to $4.8 million and eighth place. At this point, Rotten Tomatoes
stated the film had only "bland visuals" to look at and that Alpha and Omega was the runt in 2010's animated litter, but after its third weekend, the film held better with a 37% drop to around $3 million and finishing in tenth place. The film ended its run on December 2, 2010 after grossing $25 million domestically and $45 million worldwide. Produced on a $20 million budget, the film has been declared a financial success, and is Lionsgate's highest-grossing animated feature to date.
in late 2010 and is only available in North America
.
(April 1, 2013 is the predicted date when 'Alpha and Omega 2' will be released.)
and Blu-ray
on January 11, 2011, and the PSP
version was released on February 8, 2011.
3-D film
A 3-D film or S3D film is a motion picture that enhances the illusion of depth perception...
American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
computer animated
Computer animation
Computer animation is the process used for generating animated images by using computer graphics. The more general term computer generated imagery encompasses both static scenes and dynamic images, while computer animation only refers to moving images....
comedy-drama
Comedy-drama
Comedy-drama is a genre of theatre, film and television programs which combines humorous and serious content.-Theatre:Traditional western theatre, beginning with the ancient Greeks, was divided into comedy and tragedy...
film produced by Crest Animation Productions and Richard Rich
Richard Rich (director)
Richard Rich is an American film director, producer and writer known for his work in animation. He is president of Crest Animation Productions. Unlike most animation directors Rich has never worked as animator on a film....
. The film is directed by Anthony Bell
Anthony Bell (director)
Anthony Bell is an animation director. After getting his start as a character layout artist and cleanup artist for The Simpsons in the early nineties, he got the opportunity to direct a number of episodes for the Nickelodeon hit, Rugrats...
and Ben Gluck
Ben Gluck
Benjamin Gluck is an American film director, screenwriter, producer and story artist known for his work in animation.-Biography:...
, starring the voices of Justin Long
Justin Long
Justin Jacob Long is an American film and television actor. He is best known for his roles in the Hollywood films Galaxy Quest, Jeepers Creepers, Dodgeball, Live Free or Die Hard, He's Just Not That into You, Drag Me to Hell, and Youth in Revolt, and his personification of a Mac in Apple's "Get a...
, Hayden Panettiere
Hayden Panettiere
Hayden Leslie Panettiere is an American actress and singer, best known as cheerleader Claire Bennet on the NBC television series Heroes. She began her acting career by playing Sarah Roberts on One Life to Live , and Lizzie Spaulding on Guiding Light , before starring at age 10 as Sheryl Yoast in...
, Dennis Hopper
Dennis Hopper
Dennis Lee Hopper was an American actor, filmmaker and artist. As a young man, Hopper became interested in acting and eventually became a student of the Actors' Studio. He made his first television appearance in 1954 and appeared in two films featuring James Dean, Rebel Without a Cause and Giant...
(in his last film appearance), Danny Glover
Danny Glover
Danny Lebern Glover is an American actor, film director, and political activist. Glover is perhaps best known for his role as Detective Roger Murtaugh in the Lethal Weapon film franchise.-Early life:...
and Christina Ricci
Christina Ricci
Christina Ricci is an American actress. Ricci received initial recognition and praise as a child star for her performance as Wednesday Addams in The Addams Family and Addams Family Values , and her role as Kat Harvey in Casper...
.
The film was released on September 17, 2010 to 2,625 theaters nationwide by Lionsgate. It has been shown in its 3D format.
Plot
Humphrey (Justin LongJustin Long
Justin Jacob Long is an American film and television actor. He is best known for his roles in the Hollywood films Galaxy Quest, Jeepers Creepers, Dodgeball, Live Free or Die Hard, He's Just Not That into You, Drag Me to Hell, and Youth in Revolt, and his personification of a Mac in Apple's "Get a...
) and Kate (Hayden Panettiere
Hayden Panettiere
Hayden Leslie Panettiere is an American actress and singer, best known as cheerleader Claire Bennet on the NBC television series Heroes. She began her acting career by playing Sarah Roberts on One Life to Live , and Lizzie Spaulding on Guiding Light , before starring at age 10 as Sheryl Yoast in...
) are two wolves from the same pack in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
’s Jasper National Park
Jasper National Park
Jasper National Park is the largest national park in the Canadian Rockies, spanning 10,878 km² . It is located in the province of Alberta, north of Banff National Park and west of the City of Edmonton. The park includes the glaciers of the Columbia Icefield, hot springs, lakes, waterfalls and...
but on opposite ends of the social order. Kate, daughter of the main Alpha male Winston (Danny Glover
Danny Glover
Danny Lebern Glover is an American actor, film director, and political activist. Glover is perhaps best known for his role as Detective Roger Murtaugh in the Lethal Weapon film franchise.-Early life:...
) and his mate Eve (Vicki Lewis
Vicki Lewis
Vicki Lewis is an American film, stage, television and voice actress best known for her role as Beth in the NBC sitcom NewsRadio.-Personal life:...
), is herself an Alpha and takes her duty to the pack seriously. Humphrey, on the other hand, is an omega wolf, the lowest of the pack, and spends his days making fun with his other omega friends. Despite his low rank in the pack, Humphrey falls in love with Kate and is valued in the pack as a peacemaker by virtue of his affable nature.
During her youth, Kate left to begin alpha school with her father. She returns as a fully trained alpha but on her first hunt (the alpha's are the ones responsible for providing food for the pack),two members of the Eastern pack cross into Western pack territory due to the lack of caribou in their own land. The hunt is ruined and the packs are nearly at war with each other. The two packs have had a bitter rivalry since Tony (Dennis Hopper
Dennis Hopper
Dennis Lee Hopper was an American actor, filmmaker and artist. As a young man, Hopper became interested in acting and eventually became a student of the Actors' Studio. He made his first television appearance in 1954 and appeared in two films featuring James Dean, Rebel Without a Cause and Giant...
), the Alpha male of the Eastern pack, is afraid of his pack starving. Winston and Tony meet up one night and arrange for Kate to marry Garth (Chris Carmack
Chris Carmack
James Christopher "Chris" Carmack is an American actor and former fashion model.-Early life:Carmack was born in Washington, D.C., and grew up in Derwood, Maryland. He has two siblings, a brother and sister. As a young boy, he enjoyed participating in all types of sports: baseball, basketball,...
), Tony's son. Kate, having a sense of responsibility and duty, wearily agrees for the good of the pack and she meets Garth at the Howling Rock. Garth too is an alpha and appears perfect at first in every way, until Kate hears his howl. Kate, taken back by Garth's howl, leaves the scene to "get water" Humphrey notices Kate and surprises her. The two talk about Garth, when all of the sudden they get tranquilized by some men and taken away to Idaho. The two wolves wake up at Sawtooth National Recreation Area and meet a French-Canadian goose
Goose
The word goose is the English name for a group of waterfowl, belonging to the family Anatidae. This family also includes swans, most of which are larger than true geese, and ducks, which are smaller....
named Marcel (Larry Miller
Larry Miller
Larry Miller is the name of:*Larry H. Miller , American businessman, owner of the Utah Jazz 1985–2009*Larry Miller , American comedian, actor and columnist...
) who has an avid interest in golf
Golf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
and his caddy, a duck
Duck
Duck is the common name for a large number of species in the Anatidae family of birds, which also includes swans and geese. The ducks are divided among several subfamilies in the Anatidae family; they do not represent a monophyletic group but a form taxon, since swans and geese are not considered...
named Paddy (Eric Price).
Kate and Humphrey learn that they were relocated to repopulate the species. Marcel and Paddy agree to help the wolves return home to Jasper.
Trouble brews back at Jasper as the two packs discover that Kate has gone missing. Tony warns Winston that on the next full moon if Kate doesn’t return to marry Garth, he and his pack will declare war for their territory. Lilly (Christina Ricci
Christina Ricci
Christina Ricci is an American actress. Ricci received initial recognition and praise as a child star for her performance as Wednesday Addams in The Addams Family and Addams Family Values , and her role as Kat Harvey in Casper...
), an omega wolf who is Kate’s younger sister, has a crush on Garth and suggests that she show him around.
That night, Kate finds a ravine and attempts to cross it. She slips down the cliff, but Humphrey saves her. After that the two of them find a den for the night.
The next morning, Marcel and Paddy find the wolves and direct them to a train over a snowy mountain that will take them to Jasper. Climbing the mountain Humphrey meets a bear cub who is unfamiliar with wolves. When they are playing, the cub gets hurt when a snowball is thrown at him. This angers a trio of bears (most likely the cub's parents) who think that Humphrey was trying to harm the cub. When Kate realizes that Humphrey is in danger, she rushes in to help him, causing them to slide down the other side of the mountain. Humphrey saves Kate, and, as the train passes by, the two wolves manage to get into a boxcar just in time.
Meanwhile Lilly and Garth are bonding and Garth soon falls in love with her. At the midnight howl, Lilly is not deterred by Garth's less than perfect howl and teaches him to howl with his heart. At the same time Humphrey and Kate begin to howl together as well on the train. Both couples singing in perfect unison. By this time the full moon has come and the packs declare war against one another.
Shortly after, as the train passes by Jasper. Humphrey attempts to tell Kate how he feels about her, but the sight of the packs fighting causes her to jump off the train before he can finish. Kate stops the fight by announcing that she will marry Garth for the good of the packs, much to Humphrey and Lilly's surprise and disappointment.
The next day, a heartbroken Humphrey decides to leave Jasper and travel on his own and shares his goodbyes with Kate, Marcel and Paddy, who have arrived and decided to stay. Yet Kate feels heartbroken too after realizing how she feels about Humphrey and decides to not marry Garth. Although Garth and Lilly declare their own love and offer to substitute for Kate, Winston is confused while Tony is revolted that his son wants to marry an Omega,which goes against pack custom and his pack starts to fight the other pack out of anger, but the conflict is cut short when a massive stampede of caribou interrupts the scene. Winston and Tony get caught in the stampede and Kate and Humphrey (who decided to return) rush in to save them. Kate is hit and Humphrey shields her with his body and Winston and Tony growl at the passing caribou in order to protect Humphrey who was being kicked by them due to shielding Kate. After the stampede passes, it appears that Kate has been trampled to death. Upon her seemingly apparent death, the wolves of both packs begin to howl in mourning sadness, but she wakes up to the joy and relief of the packs. Now, at long last, it is when Humphrey and Kate reveal their feelings for each other. Winston and Tony then decided to unite the packs.
Later at the Midnight Howl, all the wolves celebrate the marriages of Kate & Humphrey and Garth & Lilly. The film ends with Humphrey and Kate singing a beautiful duet.
Cast
- Justin LongJustin LongJustin Jacob Long is an American film and television actor. He is best known for his roles in the Hollywood films Galaxy Quest, Jeepers Creepers, Dodgeball, Live Free or Die Hard, He's Just Not That into You, Drag Me to Hell, and Youth in Revolt, and his personification of a Mac in Apple's "Get a...
as Humphrey-an omega wolf and Kate's love interest. He is the leader among his group of friends. He likes to have fun and is really laid-back. He is heartbroken when he finds out Kate has to marry Garth. In the end, he and Kate become a couple. - Hayden PanettiereHayden PanettiereHayden Leslie Panettiere is an American actress and singer, best known as cheerleader Claire Bennet on the NBC television series Heroes. She began her acting career by playing Sarah Roberts on One Life to Live , and Lizzie Spaulding on Guiding Light , before starring at age 10 as Sheryl Yoast in...
as Kate-an alpha wolf and Humphrey's love interest. She is the daughter of Eve and Winston and older sibling to Lilly. She takes responsibility seriously. At first, she doesn't like Humphrey but starts to fall in love with him. She is engaged to Garth but she & Humphrey become a couple. - Christina RicciChristina RicciChristina Ricci is an American actress. Ricci received initial recognition and praise as a child star for her performance as Wednesday Addams in The Addams Family and Addams Family Values , and her role as Kat Harvey in Casper...
as Lilly-an omega wolf and Garth's love interest. She is the daughter of Winston and Eve and the youngest in her family. It is unknown why she is an omega despite her family being alphas. She usually wears her hair over one of her eyes but later does the opposite. She falls for Garth and he returns her feelings, making them a couple. - Chris CarmackChris CarmackJames Christopher "Chris" Carmack is an American actor and former fashion model.-Early life:Carmack was born in Washington, D.C., and grew up in Derwood, Maryland. He has two siblings, a brother and sister. As a young boy, he enjoyed participating in all types of sports: baseball, basketball,...
as Garth-an alpha wolf from the Eastern Wolf pack and Lilly's love interest. He is the son of Tony and at first the fiancee of Kate but becomes a couple with Lilly after he bonds with her and falls in love with her. He has a bad howl at first but it improves later in the film. - Danny GloverDanny GloverDanny Lebern Glover is an American actor, film director, and political activist. Glover is perhaps best known for his role as Detective Roger Murtaugh in the Lethal Weapon film franchise.-Early life:...
as Winston, Kate and Lilly's father and the alpha-male of his pack. - Vicki LewisVicki LewisVicki Lewis is an American film, stage, television and voice actress best known for her role as Beth in the NBC sitcom NewsRadio.-Personal life:...
as Eve, Winston’s mate and Kate and Lilly's mother. - Dennis HopperDennis HopperDennis Lee Hopper was an American actor, filmmaker and artist. As a young man, Hopper became interested in acting and eventually became a student of the Actors' Studio. He made his first television appearance in 1954 and appeared in two films featuring James Dean, Rebel Without a Cause and Giant...
as Tony, the alpha-male of the Eastern pack. - Larry Miller as Marcel, a golf-playing French-Canadian goose.
- Eric PriceEric PriceEric Price is an American comic actor. Price is most notable for his membership in the recurring cast of comedians on sketch comedy series MADtv during its 14th Season.-Early years:...
as Paddy, Marcel’s caddy, a duck, and as Mooch, an overweight omega wolf and one of Humphrey's friends. - Kevin SussmanKevin SussmanKevin Sussman is an American actor of television and film perhaps best known for his recurring roles Stuart the comic book store owner on "The Big Bang Theory" and Walter on the ABC comedy-drama Ugly Betty....
as Shakey, an omega wolf and another of Humphrey's friends. - Brian DonovanBrian DonovanBrian Donovan is an anime and cartoon voice actor residing in the U.S. state of California. As of 2011, he voices Rock Lee in Naruto Shippuden & is the voice of recurring character Salty in Alpha and Omega.- Animation/Anime Roles :...
as Salty, an omega wolf and the last of Humphrey's friends. - Bitsie TullochBitsie TullochElizabeth Tulloch is an American actress.-Early life and education:Tulloch was born in San Diego, California but grew up in Spain, Uruguay, and Argentina. Bitsie isn't a contraction of Tulloch's birthname, Elizabeth, but an homage to her unusually-nicknamed grandfather, a WWII bomber pilot...
as Sweets, an omega wolf who is best friends with Candy. - Mela LeeMela LeeMela Lee is an American singer and voice actress. She is known for voicing roles in Japanese anime and video games...
as Candy, an omega wolf who is best friends with Sweets. - Paul NakauchiPaul NakauchiPaul Nakauchi is an American actor. In the 1990s he guest starred in Knots Landing, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine , Batman: The Animated Series and ER....
as Hutch, an extremely loyal beta wolf who readily reports urgent news to Winston. - Maya Feltheimer as a bear cub, a small, innocent rascal who plays with Humphrey.
Production
Pre-production and post-production took place in Los AngelesLos Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
. Production mainly took place in Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
, Canada.
Box office
The film took in $2,288,773 on its opening day, and $9,106,906 on its opening weekend domestically, reaching fifth place at the box office. The film's opening was mildly disappointing, as it had only earned a fraction of 2010's other animated films as well as claiming the record for lowest-grossing 3D film released in at least 2,000 venues from Piranha 3D (only to lose it to My Soul to TakeMy Soul to Take
My Soul to Take is a 2010 American horror film, written and directed by Wes Craven. It is his first film since 1994's Wes Craven's New Nightmare that he both wrote and directed.The film stars Max Thieriot as the protagonist Adam "Bug" Hellerman, who is one of seven teenagers chosen to die.The film...
three weeks later). In its second weekend, due to being overshadowed by Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole for 3-D screens, the film dropped 48% to $4.8 million and eighth place. At this point, Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
stated the film had only "bland visuals" to look at and that Alpha and Omega was the runt in 2010's animated litter, but after its third weekend, the film held better with a 37% drop to around $3 million and finishing in tenth place. The film ended its run on December 2, 2010 after grossing $25 million domestically and $45 million worldwide. Produced on a $20 million budget, the film has been declared a financial success, and is Lionsgate's highest-grossing animated feature to date.
Critical response
Based on reports from critics and fans alike, Alpha and Omega received many mixed reviews. Critics stated the film had "a predictable plot, wooden dialogue and cardboard characters.", but since its release has done very well among fans all around the world. So much so, that a sequel is now in the works.Video game
Published by Storm City Games, a video game adaptation called Alpha and Omega (based on the film of the same name) was exclusively released for the Nintendo DSNintendo DS
The is a portable game console produced by Nintendo, first released on November 21, 2004. A distinctive feature of the system is the presence of two separate LCD screens, the lower of which is a touchscreen, encompassed within a clamshell design, similar to the Game Boy Advance SP...
in late 2010 and is only available in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
.
Sequel
Lionsgate announced that a sequel to the movie will be released in early April of either 2012 or 2013 under the running title, Alpha and Omega 2.(April 1, 2013 is the predicted date when 'Alpha and Omega 2' will be released.)
Home media
Alpha and Omega was released on DVDDVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
and Blu-ray
Blu-ray Disc
Blu-ray Disc is an optical disc storage medium designed to supersede the DVD format. The plastic disc is 120 mm in diameter and 1.2 mm thick, the same size as DVDs and CDs. Blu-ray Discs contain 25 GB per layer, with dual layer discs being the norm for feature-length video discs...
on January 11, 2011, and the PSP
PSP
PSP most commonly refers to the PlayStation Portable, a handheld game console produced by Sony Computer Entertainment.PSP may also refer to:-Computing and programming:*Corel Paint Shop Pro, a graphics editor...
version was released on February 8, 2011.