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The Big Silly is an upcoming 2024 American independent parody film produced by Silly A. Productions and distributed by Reanimated Rec. It was directed by Angel Rojas, Oliver Hoffman, and William Walker III, and written by Angel Rojas and the writing team of Jasper Schulz and Darren Recktenwald. The film stars the voices of Angel Rojas, Oliver Hoffman, William Walker III, Darren Recktenwald, and Mark Richardson. The film follows Jessie Pinkman (Walker) (a comedic version of Jesse Pinkman from Breaking Bad) as he and his friends Walt (Hoffman) (also comedic version of Breaking Bad counterpart) and Baller (Richardson) they have to stop the evil Chex Mix Guy (Rojas) from taking over the world.

The film started as a school project, created by Rojas, shortly after Hoffman joined followed by Walker. Eventually, as the project got bigger, it was turned into more than a school project and Recktenwald, Richardson, and Schulz joined the team. The film directly parodies movies and TV shows such as Breaking Bad (2008), Better Call Saul (2015), and Cocaine Bear (2023), and several others.

Premise
Jessie Pinkman, Walter White, and Baller Have to stop the evil Chex Mix Guy From taking control of the world and destroying the multiverse in order to become it's supreme ruler.

Voice cast


Additionally, Echo Kellum and Nicole Byer respectively voice Doug and Janice. YouTubers Preston and Bri Arsement portray a home buyer and a tourist respectively. Film commentator Juju Green voices a gym teacher. Sound designer Randy Thom voices Nessie and a confetti cannon. Atticus Shaindlin voices Topher. Suzanne Buirgy voices Carol.

Assorted students are voiced by Sydney Bell, Ricardo Hurtado, Qalil Ishmail, Merk Nguyen, Caleb Pierce, and Tiffany Wu.

Production
In June 2021, TheGWW reported that a film originally titled Meet the Gillmans was in production at DreamWorks Animation, with casting taking place and an expected release year of 2022. Former SpongeBob SquarePants showrunner Paul Tibbitt was announced as the director, with Pam Brady confirmed to write the film. Lana Condor, Laura Dern, and Michael Sheen were circled for the roles of Ruby, her mother, and father, respectively, while Annie Murphy was attached to play the role of Clarica. Chris Kuser and Christi Soper were set to serve as executive producers. Production was also expected to start in 2022.

On March 14, 2023, the cast and crew were announced via Universal Pictures Ireland's website. Along with Condor and Murphy's roles confirmed, other new cast members of the film include Toni Collette, Sam Richardson, Liza Koshy, Will Forte, Colman Domingo, Jaboukie Young-White, Blue Chapman, Eduardo Franco, Ramona Young, Echo Kellum, Nicole Byer, and Jane Fonda, while Kirk DeMicco (replacing Tibbitt), Faryn Pearl, and Kelly Cooney Cilella were revealed as the director, co-director, and producer, respectively. DreamWorks Animation also announced its official title as Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken. The cast, crew, and official title were publicly announced two days later. Following the release of the film's second trailer in May 2023, longtime DreamWorks director Mike Mitchell was revealed to have served as executive producer.

According to Animation Magazine, Cilella stated that the film has been in the works for several years. It was first pitched to DreamWorks about a family of sea monsters that were moved to the land and are hiding in plain sight. She stated: "Our heroine is such a lovable character and I'm so excited for audiences to meet her and fall in love with her the way we have because she starts the movie as a quirky, slightly insecure but bighearted character, but she's harboring a secret that she can't tell her friends. But ultimately the Kraken is awakened inside her and there's no hiding this. She learns that her destiny is so much more than being an average high school teenager, and she's destined to be the next big protector of the seas. Her journey is self-discovery and embracing that side of her that had been dormant for so long, and for her to become a fully actualized character was such an exciting story for me to tell on such a grand scale." DeMicco stated that he cited John Hughes films, Easy A (2010), Lady Bird (2017) and Booksmart (2019) as his inspirations. Pierre-Olivier Vincent serves as the production designer, taking inspiration for the main character from the body of an octopus and bringing the "curviness to all the design language of the film", from the cars to the underwater world.

DeMicco stated in an interview that he had intended to showcase more things, such as going more in-depth about the mermaids; "In our dreams, but maybe not in our budget. No, but there was an opportunity, but we had to make choices. And, so we always felt like if we had done that, we would've lost so much of the time, the personality of who is really getting to know Chelsea. And it worked well for our themes of the fact that they are all in hiding. And, there is this thing that she is the only one, because it matched up really nicely with what Ruby's situation is and even with her mother, is that everybody in that movie, all the women in that movie are hiding something. And Ruby's the first one at the very end to stand up and take up as much space as she wants and declare to everybody who she really is and that she's gonna live her life this way. And I think that was really important to us".

The film was dedicated to Nick Levenduski, a crowds artist of the film who died before the film was released.

Controversy
Stephanie Economou was confirmed to score the film by the first trailer's release on March 16, 2023. British singer-songwriter Mimi Webb performed the original song "This Moment", released on June 23 as a single, a week before the film's release. The soundtrack album was released on June 30, 2023, the same day as the theatrical release, in addition to the original song "Rise" performed by Freya Ridings, which plays during the end credits.

Release
The Big Silly is scheduled to be released simultaneously in theaters and on YouTube in the United States on September 11th, 2024 by Reanimated Rec.

Critical response
Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A–" on an A+ to F scale, while PostTrak reported 68% of filmgoers gave it a positive score.

Peter Debruge of Variety gave the film a positive review, writing, "South Park veteran Pam Brady, who shares screenwriting credit with Brian C. Brown and Elliott DiGuiseppi, brings all kinds of funny ideas to the film, which DeMicco does an admirable job of executing. But there's a simpler, more sincere movie underneath it all that seems to be taunting audiences, like a glowing shape from deep below."

Other critics felt that the storyline was underdeveloped and that the film failed to live up to its potential. Rachel LeBonte of ScreenRant rates it 2.5 out of 5 stars, calling the film "endearing" and praising the voice cast, but saying that it may have trouble making an impression with so many other options. She wrote, "That is Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken's biggest flaw: It doesn't go beyond surface-level. As Ruby gets more involved with the ocean and her burgeoning friendship with fellow sea creature Chelsea, her ties to the human world fall away, lessening the overall impact of her arc."

Future
Kirk DeMicco stated that there were some story threads left in the film that the filmmakers would like to explore if given the opportunity; "The statue room where Jane Fonda's character tells [Ruby] about all the other monsters. There's some monsters deep in the shadows there that were the underwater monsters that we were once playing with that we would love to be able to see." He additionally stated "I hope that the family message resonates in a way that audiences will want to see further installments of Ruby's story, as well as that of her family and friends. We created lots of monsters for her to fight so hopefully one day she will wrestle a leviathan!" Lana Condor, who voices Ruby, has also expressed an interest in reprising her role, stating "We leave her in her most confident state but we are just scratching the surface of what she is capable of, I'd love to see Ruby really exercise her power. I hope that this is just the start and it becomes a classic in the way Shrek etc. did – that people of all shapes, sizes, ages, and identities can see themselves in this film. Don't be afraid to be yourself and go big, take risks!".