Daddy Day Care
Encyclopedia
Daddy Day Care is a 2003 American comedy film
, starring Eddie Murphy
. It was written by Geoff Rodkey and was directed by Steve Carr. It was released in theaters on May 9, 2003. It was produced by Revolution Studios
and released by Columbia Pictures
. Although the film was financially successful, grossing $164 million worldwide on a budget of $60 million plus prints and advertising, it's 2007 sequel, Daddy Day Camp
starring Cuba Gooding Jr., was almost universally panned by critics and bombed in the box office.
) is a busy working father and his wife, Kim (Regina King
) has just gone back to work as a lawyer
. They enroll their child, Ben (Khamani Griffin
), in Chapman Academy, a very academic pre-school headed by Miss Harridan (Anjelica Huston
). Soon after, Charlie is laid off. In need of money, he opens up a day care center
, "Daddy Day Care" with the help of his best friend Phil Ryerson (Jeff Garlin
). At first, the local moms are suspicious of men
wanting to work with children (mainly because they think they're homosexual or child molesters). But as "Daddy Day Care" is cheaper and more child-centered than the academy, the latter begins to lose popularity. Miss Harridan attempts to shut down Daddy Day Care by notifying child services that Charlie and Phil are not following the regulations.
Mr. Kubitz, a director of child services notifies them of the codes that need to be fixed, which Charlie and Phil quickly correct. Daddy Day Care grows in popularity and attracts more children. Mr. Kubitz informs Phil and Charlie that they need another employee to keep an appropriate ratio
of children to caregivers. Luckily, Marvin (Steve Zahn
), a former co-worker, had dropped by and after seeing how good he is at entertaining the children, Phil and Charlie ask him about joining. Marvin is unsure at first, but then finds himself falling for Kelli (Leila Arcieri
), the single mother of one of the children and agrees.
Later, Mr. Kubitz tells them they have too many kids to stay at Charlie's residence. They find an abandoned building with potential, but don't have the money to buy it. They hold a fund raising called "Rock for Daddy Day Care" which Miss Harridan finds out about. Miss Harridan and her assistant wreck the festival by unplugging a bouncy castle, filling the food with cockroaches
and releasing animals from the petting zoo
. Daddy Day Care doesn't raise enough money. Shortly after, Charlie and Phil are offered their old jobs back, accepting Miss Harridan's offer to take the kids back to the academy. Marvin, heartbroken by the closing of the day care, declines Charlie and Phil's offer to be on board their marketing panel.
Charlie soon realizes that marketing
is not what it's all cracked up to be, and successfully convinces the children and their parents to return to Daddy Day Care, making it a raging success, and causing Chapman Academy to be shut down. Marvin is now in a relationship with Kelli. Miss Harridan now takes a job as a crossing guard
, and her former assistant, Jenny (Lacey Chabert
), joins Daddy Day Care at the new facility.
(which counts the general public's approval of films).
.
was released in 2007 titled Daddy Day Camp
with Cuba Gooding, Jr.
replacing Eddie Murphy's role as Charlie Hinton. The sequel was almost universally panned by critics and is considered a major flop
at the box office, even though it tripled its budget (barely making over 18 million dollars). The only characters to return from the original movie were Charlie, Phil, Ben, Max, Kim and Becca. In 2007, the film won the Razzie Award for "Worst Prequel or Sequel".
Comedy film
Comedy film is a genre of film in which the main emphasis is on humour. They are designed to elicit laughter from the audience. Comedies are mostly light-hearted dramas and are made to amuse and entertain the audiences...
, starring Eddie Murphy
Eddie Murphy
Edward Regan "Eddie" Murphy is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, singer, director, and musician....
. It was written by Geoff Rodkey and was directed by Steve Carr. It was released in theaters on May 9, 2003. It was produced by Revolution Studios
Revolution Studios
Revolution Studios is an American production company founded in 2000 by Joe Roth, a former chairman of Walt Disney Studios and 20th Century Fox. Revolution was formerly a strategic partner of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which distributed and marketed Revolution's films. The company's film division...
and released by Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production and distribution company. Columbia Pictures now forms part of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. It is one of the leading film companies...
. Although the film was financially successful, grossing $164 million worldwide on a budget of $60 million plus prints and advertising, it's 2007 sequel, Daddy Day Camp
Daddy Day Camp
Daddy Day Camp is a 2007 American family comedy film directed by Fred Savage in his feature film directing debut. It was the sequel to Daddy Day Care , with a recast of the characters that appeared in the original film. The film was produced by Revolution Studios and released by TriStar Pictures...
starring Cuba Gooding Jr., was almost universally panned by critics and bombed in the box office.
Plot
Charles "Charlie" Hinton (Eddie MurphyEddie Murphy
Edward Regan "Eddie" Murphy is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, singer, director, and musician....
) is a busy working father and his wife, Kim (Regina King
Regina King
Regina King is an American film and television actress. She is well known for her role as Mary Jenkins's studious daughter, Brenda Jenkins, on the 1980s sitcom, 227, and for her critically acclaimed supporting role in the feature film Jerry Maguire...
) has just gone back to work as a lawyer
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
. They enroll their child, Ben (Khamani Griffin
Khamani Griffin
Khamani Griffin is an American child actor and is best known for playing the voice of Tolee in the Nick Jr show Ni Hao, Kai-Lan....
), in Chapman Academy, a very academic pre-school headed by Miss Harridan (Anjelica Huston
Anjelica Huston
Anjelica Huston is an American actress. Huston became the third generation of her family to win an Academy Award, for her performance in 1985's Prizzi's Honor, joining her father, director John Huston, and grandfather, actor Walter Huston. She later was nominated in 1989 and 1990 for her acting in...
). Soon after, Charlie is laid off. In need of money, he opens up a day care center
Day care
Child care or day care is care of a child during the day by a person other than the child's legal guardians, typically performed by someone outside the child's immediate family...
, "Daddy Day Care" with the help of his best friend Phil Ryerson (Jeff Garlin
Jeff Garlin
Jeffrey "Jeff" Garlin is an American stand-up comedian, actor, producer, voice artist, director, writer and author, best known for his role as Jeff Greene on the HBO show Curb Your Enthusiasm...
). At first, the local moms are suspicious of men
Gender role
Gender roles refer to the set of social and behavioral norms that are considered to be socially appropriate for individuals of a specific sex in the context of a specific culture, which differ widely between cultures and over time...
wanting to work with children (mainly because they think they're homosexual or child molesters). But as "Daddy Day Care" is cheaper and more child-centered than the academy, the latter begins to lose popularity. Miss Harridan attempts to shut down Daddy Day Care by notifying child services that Charlie and Phil are not following the regulations.
Mr. Kubitz, a director of child services notifies them of the codes that need to be fixed, which Charlie and Phil quickly correct. Daddy Day Care grows in popularity and attracts more children. Mr. Kubitz informs Phil and Charlie that they need another employee to keep an appropriate ratio
Ratio
In mathematics, a ratio is a relationship between two numbers of the same kind , usually expressed as "a to b" or a:b, sometimes expressed arithmetically as a dimensionless quotient of the two which explicitly indicates how many times the first number contains the second In mathematics, a ratio is...
of children to caregivers. Luckily, Marvin (Steve Zahn
Steve Zahn
-Early life:Zahn was born in Marshall, Minnesota, the son of Zelda, who worked for the YMCA, and Carleton E. Zahn, a retired Missouri Synod Lutheran pastor. Zahn spent part of his childhood in Mankato, Minnesota, attending Kennedy Elementary School...
), a former co-worker, had dropped by and after seeing how good he is at entertaining the children, Phil and Charlie ask him about joining. Marvin is unsure at first, but then finds himself falling for Kelli (Leila Arcieri
Leila Arcieri
Leila C. Arcieri is an American actress and model. She was Miss San Francisco in the 1997 Miss California pageant and has appeared in many films such as xXx, Wild Things 2, and Daddy Day Care.-Early life:...
), the single mother of one of the children and agrees.
Later, Mr. Kubitz tells them they have too many kids to stay at Charlie's residence. They find an abandoned building with potential, but don't have the money to buy it. They hold a fund raising called "Rock for Daddy Day Care" which Miss Harridan finds out about. Miss Harridan and her assistant wreck the festival by unplugging a bouncy castle, filling the food with cockroaches
Cockroaches
A cockroach is an insect of the order Blattaria. "Cockroach" may also refer to:*Cockroach , a 2001 album by Danger Danger*Cockroach , a 2008 novel by Rawi Hage...
and releasing animals from the petting zoo
Petting zoo
A petting zoo features a combination of domestic animals and some wild species that are docile enough to touch and feed. In addition to independent petting zoos, also called children's farms or petting farms, many general zoos contain a petting zoo...
. Daddy Day Care doesn't raise enough money. Shortly after, Charlie and Phil are offered their old jobs back, accepting Miss Harridan's offer to take the kids back to the academy. Marvin, heartbroken by the closing of the day care, declines Charlie and Phil's offer to be on board their marketing panel.
Charlie soon realizes that marketing
Marketing
Marketing is the process used to determine what products or services may be of interest to customers, and the strategy to use in sales, communications and business development. It generates the strategy that underlies sales techniques, business communication, and business developments...
is not what it's all cracked up to be, and successfully convinces the children and their parents to return to Daddy Day Care, making it a raging success, and causing Chapman Academy to be shut down. Marvin is now in a relationship with Kelli. Miss Harridan now takes a job as a crossing guard
Crossing guard
A crossing guard , a school crossing patrol officer , school crossing supervisor or school road patrol is a traffic management specialist who is normally stationed on busy roadways to aid pedestrians...
, and her former assistant, Jenny (Lacey Chabert
Lacey Chabert
Lacey Nicole Chabert is an American actress and voice actress, known for her roles as Claudia Salinger in the television drama Party of Five and as Gretchen Wieners in the movie Mean Girls...
), joins Daddy Day Care at the new facility.
Cast
- Eddie MurphyEddie MurphyEdward Regan "Eddie" Murphy is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, singer, director, and musician....
as Charlie Hinton - Jeff GarlinJeff GarlinJeffrey "Jeff" Garlin is an American stand-up comedian, actor, producer, voice artist, director, writer and author, best known for his role as Jeff Greene on the HBO show Curb Your Enthusiasm...
as Phil Ryerson - Steve ZahnSteve Zahn-Early life:Zahn was born in Marshall, Minnesota, the son of Zelda, who worked for the YMCA, and Carleton E. Zahn, a retired Missouri Synod Lutheran pastor. Zahn spent part of his childhood in Mankato, Minnesota, attending Kennedy Elementary School...
as Marvin - Regina KingRegina KingRegina King is an American film and television actress. She is well known for her role as Mary Jenkins's studious daughter, Brenda Jenkins, on the 1980s sitcom, 227, and for her critically acclaimed supporting role in the feature film Jerry Maguire...
as Kim Hinton - Anjelica HustonAnjelica HustonAnjelica Huston is an American actress. Huston became the third generation of her family to win an Academy Award, for her performance in 1985's Prizzi's Honor, joining her father, director John Huston, and grandfather, actor Walter Huston. She later was nominated in 1989 and 1990 for her acting in...
as Miss Harridan - Lacey ChabertLacey ChabertLacey Nicole Chabert is an American actress and voice actress, known for her roles as Claudia Salinger in the television drama Party of Five and as Gretchen Wieners in the movie Mean Girls...
as Jenny - Kevin NealonKevin NealonKevin Nealon is an American actor and comedian, best known as a cast member on Saturday Night Live from 1986 to 1995, acting in several of the Happy Madison films, for playing Doug Wilson on the Showtime series Weeds, and providing the voice of the title character, Glenn Martin on Glenn Martin,...
as Bruce - Jonathan KatzJonathan KatzJonathan Paul Katz is an American comedian, actor, and voice actor who is best known for his starring role in the animated sitcom Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist...
as Dan Kubitz - Shane BaumelShane BaumelShane Baumel is an American teen actor. The first movie he appeared in was Daddy Day Care, with the role of Crispin. His latest appearance was in Wild Hogs, starring Tim Allen. He has also appeared on TV a few times, in shows such as Andy Barker, PI and the Emperor's New School, as the voice of...
as Crispin - Max BurkholderMax BurkholderMaxwell Henry Wolf "Max" Burkholder is an American child actor most noticeable for his role Max Braverman, who has Asperger Syndrome, in the NBC series Parenthood. Prior to that, he became known as a voice actor, among his many roles were those of Chomper in The Land Before Time television series...
as Max Ryerson - Jimmy BennettJimmy BennettJames Michael "Jimmy" Bennett is an American actor and musician. He is known for his roles as a child actor in Daddy Day Care, Hostage, Poseidon, and more recently in Orphan and as young James T. Kirk in Star Trek...
as FlashFlash (comics)The Flash is a name shared by several fictional comic book superheroes from the DC Comics universe. Created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Harry Lampert, the original Flash first appeared in Flash Comics #1 ....
/Tony - Leila ArcieriLeila ArcieriLeila C. Arcieri is an American actress and model. She was Miss San Francisco in the 1997 Miss California pageant and has appeared in many films such as xXx, Wild Things 2, and Daddy Day Care.-Early life:...
as Kelli - Khamani GriffinKhamani GriffinKhamani Griffin is an American child actor and is best known for playing the voice of Tolee in the Nick Jr show Ni Hao, Kai-Lan....
as Ben Hinton - Elle FanningElle FanningMary Elle Fanning , credited as Elle Fanning, is an American actress. She is the younger sister of actress Dakota Fanning and mainly known for her starring roles in Phoebe in Wonderland, Somewhere, Super 8 and We Bought a Zoo which will receive a theatrical release on December 23,...
as Jamie - Siobhan Fallon Hogan as Peggy
- Wallace LanghamWallace LanghamJames Wallace Langham II is an American actor. He currently plays the role of David Hodges in the American crime drama television series CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.-Film career:...
as Jim Fields - Lisa EdelsteinLisa EdelsteinLisa Edelstein is an American actress and playwright. She is best known for her role as Dr. Lisa Cuddy on the television drama House.-Early life and education:...
as Crispin's Mother - Hailey Noelle Johnson as Becca
- Andre Gayle as Random Guy
- Kennedy McCullough as Jeannie
- Cheap TrickCheap TrickCheap Trick is an American rock band from Rockford, Illinois, formed in 1973. The band consists of members Robin Zander , Rick Nielsen , Tom Petersson , and Bun E...
as Themselves
Box office
Despite the negative critical ratings, the film was a box office success, grossing over $160 million dollars worldwide. It has also received an overall rating of 50% on IMDbInternet Movie Database
Internet Movie Database is an online database of information related to movies, television shows, actors, production crew personnel, video games and fictional characters featured in visual entertainment media. It is one of the most popular online entertainment destinations, with over 100 million...
(which counts the general public's approval of films).
Critical reception
The film received generally negative reviews from critics, and currently holds a 28% rating on Rotten TomatoesRotten 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...
.
Sequel
Due to the film's success, a sequelSequel
A sequel is a narrative, documental, or other work of literature, film, theatre, or music that continues the story of or expands upon issues presented in some previous work...
was released in 2007 titled Daddy Day Camp
Daddy Day Camp
Daddy Day Camp is a 2007 American family comedy film directed by Fred Savage in his feature film directing debut. It was the sequel to Daddy Day Care , with a recast of the characters that appeared in the original film. The film was produced by Revolution Studios and released by TriStar Pictures...
with Cuba Gooding, Jr.
Cuba Gooding, Jr.
Cuba M. Gooding, Jr. is an American actor. He is perhaps best known for his Academy Award-winning portrayal of Rod Tidwell in Cameron Crowe's 1996 film Jerry Maguire, and his critically acclaimed performance as Tré Styles in John Singleton's 1991 film Boyz n the Hood.-Early life:Gooding was born...
replacing Eddie Murphy's role as Charlie Hinton. The sequel was almost universally panned by critics and is considered a major flop
Box office bomb
The phrase box office bomb refers to a film for which the production and marketing costs greatly exceeded the revenue regained by the movie studio. This should not be confused with Hollywood accounting when official figures show large losses, yet the movie is a financial success.A film's financial...
at the box office, even though it tripled its budget (barely making over 18 million dollars). The only characters to return from the original movie were Charlie, Phil, Ben, Max, Kim and Becca. In 2007, the film won the Razzie Award for "Worst Prequel or Sequel".