Doug's 1st Movie

Doug's 1st Movie is a 1999 American animated film based on the Disney version of the Nickelodeon television series Doug. The film was directed by Maurice Joyce, and stars the regular television cast of Tom McHugh, Fred Newman, Chris Phillips, Constance Shulman, Frank Welker, Alice Playten, Guy Hadley, and Doris Belack. It was produced by Walt Disney Television Animation and Jumbo Pictures with animation provided by Plus One Animation, and released by Buena Vista Pictures on March 26, 1999.

Doug's 1st Movie
Theatrical release poster
Directed byMaurice Joyce
Produced byDavid Campbell
Melanie Grisanti
Jim Jinkins
Bruce Knapp
Jack Spillum
Screenplay byKen Scarborough
Based onDoug
by Jim Jinkins
Starring
Music byMark Watters
Edited byAlysha Cohen
Christopher Gee
Production
company
Distributed byBuena Vista Pictures
Release date
  • March 26, 1999 (1999-03-26)
Running time
83 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$5 million
Box office$19.4 million[1]

In theaters, the Disney short "Opera Box" from the television series Mickey Mouse Works was featured right before the film; the short featured Donald and Daisy Duck as the main characters.

The film received mixed to negative reviews, who criticized its plot, writing, and character development. However, the voice acting, ending and animation was praised. Despite the title and its success at the box office, no further films based on Doug were made. It serves as the series finale of the entire Doug series for Nickelodeon and Disney.

Plot

Doug and Skeeter discover a monster that lives in Lucky Duck Lake. At first they are scared of him, but later they find he is nice. Bill Bluff is polluting the lake, and the pollution created this monster. The Monster almost eats the book Moby Dick but Skeeter stops him, and they named him Herman for the book's author, Herman Melville. Doug remembers that he was supposed to meet Patti at Mr. Swirly's. He runs to Swirly's as fast as he can using the quickest short-cuts that he knew. Once he gets there, he does not see Patti. Mr. Swirly says the she was there and looked very upset, and then left with a guy who kept talking about his big plans for a dance. When Doug heard this, he knew that this guy was no one else but Guy Grahm, a snobby upper classman who wants Patti. Meanwhile, Roger and the A/V nerds are building a robot to kidnapp Herman, but when they build the robot it acts like Roger's babysitter.

Doug then rushes to the Funkytown night club, where Guy and Patti are working on the dance. He apologizes to Patti there and she accepts his apology. But Guy cuts in and says that Doug is just a stupid little kid. Doug, very angry now, says that he has proof that Bluff is evil and is polluting the lake. Guy calls Doug a liar. Doug then invites them both to the announcement to be held in front of Mr. Dinks house about Herman and the pollution. Doug leaves, but the picture of the monster falls out of his pocket without him knowing. Guy realizes that Doug was telling the truth. Guy calls Bluff, who he is tight with. Then at the announcement, Doug sees that a news reporter's camera is inflatable. He realizes that the news company is a fake, that it is supporting Bill Bluff and trying to compensate the monster. Doug then has to tell everyone that there has been a mistake, Patti gets mad at him, thinks that he is a liar and walks away with Guy.

That night, Bluff finds the boys with Herman and kidnaps the monster. The next morning, Doug knows that this is his last chance to save Herman. He goes to the school newspaper room, hoping to find Guy who can lead him to Bluff. Guy isn't in the room, but Doug sees a newspaper article that says that Mr. Bluff and his men blast a monster to smitherines at a school dance. Doug is at first sad and believes that Herman has died, but he than realizes that the school dance is not until tonight and this is what is being planned to happen so, Doug and Skeeter call Roger and The Sleech twins to help. At the school dance, he has to make the biggest choice of his life, going after Patti or saving Herman. When he does that, Bluff cathches the quintet in front of Crystal Lake and starts to enslave them, but is stopped by Mrs. Dink and Porkchop. Doug then finds Patti in front of the woods and Doug tries to tell her he is in love with her but is interrupted by Herman. Then, the kids say goodbye to Herman. After Herman jumps back into the lake, Doug tells Patti he likes her and Roger almost becomes friends with Doug but is interrupted by the robot.

Cast
  • Tom McHugh as Doug Funnie, Lincoln
  • Fred Newman as Skeeter Valentine, Mr. Dink, Porkchop, Ned
  • Chris Phillips as Roger Klotz, Boomer, Larry, Mr. Chiminy
  • Constance Shulman as Patti Mayonnaise
  • Frank Welker as Herman Melville
  • Alice Playten as Beebe Bluff, Elmo (this would be her final role in an animated movie before her death in 2011)
  • Guy Hadley as Guy Graham
  • Doug Preis as Mr. Funnie, Mr. Bluff, Willie, Chalky, Bluff Agent
  • Eddie Korbich as Al & Moo Sleech, Robocrusher
  • David O'Brien as Quailman Announcer
  • Doris Belack as Mayor Tippi Dink
  • Becca Lish as Judy Funnie, Mrs. Funnie, Connie
  • Greg Lee as Principal White
  • Bob Bottone as Bluff Assistant
  • Bruce Bayley Johnson as Mr. Swirly
  • Fran Brill as Mrs. Elaine Perigrew
  • Melissa Greenspan as Briar Langolier

Additional voice artists

Production

Nickelodeon was originally planning a Doug film in 1993 when they made a deal with 20th Century Fox to make films based on their properties along with films like Rugrats and Ren & Stimpy. However, the plans evaporated when the deal expired in 1995. Only The Rugrats Movie materialized, by Paramount Pictures, in November 1998.[2][3]

In 1996, when Disney bought Jumbo Pictures along with the cartoon, they decided to re-circle the project for the Doug film.[4][5] This film was originally planned as a direct-to-video release under the title The First Doug Movie Ever as shown in trailers, but due to the success of The Rugrats Movie, they decided to make it a theatrical release.

This is the last American theatrical animated film to use traditional cels, in which the title sequence of the film used digital ink and paint.

Release

Critical reception

The film garnered a 26% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with 9 of a total 34 reviews being determined as positive. The critical consensus reads, "Doug's 1st Movie may entertain very young fans of its main character, but essentially amounts to a forgettable feature-length episode of his show."[6] Critics were harsh to Doug's 1st Movie when it was released theatrically. Many noted that the film felt too much like an extended episode of the show (story and animation-wise) and many mention that the film should have stayed a direct-to-video release. Most of the criticism came from the plot, writing, music, though they praised the animation, voice acting and ending. Screenit.com awarded the film 4 out of 10, determining that it was mediocre and did not have "that magic or cinematic feel to warrant the big screen treatment" and it felt like the regular series.[7]

Box office

Doug's 1st Movie opened at #5 in its opening weekend with $4,470,489, for an average of $1,971 from a very wide 2,268 theaters. While this may be deemed as low for an average Hollywood film, Doug only cost $5 million to make due to its direct-to-video budget and a somewhat low-key promotional campaign. As such, the film still managed to gross $19,421,271 in ticket sales, creating a large profit for Disney and making it a box office success.

Awards and nominations

The film was nominated for a Stinker Award for Worst Achievement in Animation.[8]

Home media

The film was released on VHS on September 21, 1999, and on DVD as a Disney Movie Club exclusive on July 20, 2012. The DVD used a TV edit when it was aired in Australia on the Seven Network with fade-ins and fade-outs in some parts to make way for the commercial breaks and the closing credits were sped up to fit the time slot.

The film, along with Disney’s Doug, was released on Disney+ on November 12, 2019, its first day of release. This version of the film did not use the TV edit found on the DVD release, allowing the end credits to be seen at their intended speed.

References
  1. Doug's 1st Movie at Box Office Mojo
  2. Hinman, Catherine (May 19, 1993). "Nickelodeon Adds Movies To Its Credits". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved July 15, 2018.
  3. "Nickelodeon gets into movie business". Toledo Blade. June 7, 1993. Retrieved July 15, 2018.
  4. Burbank, Calif (January 14, 1999). "Disney and Jumbo Pictures Get Animated This March With the Theatrical Release of "Doug's 1st Movie"". Business Wire. Retrieved July 15, 2018.
  5. Eller, Claudia (March 9, 1999). "The One That Got Away : With 'Doug,' Nickelodeon's Loss May Be Disney's Gain". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved July 15, 2018.
  6. Doug's 1st Movie at Rotten Tomatoes
  7. "DOUG'S 1ST MOVIE". screenit.com. Retrieved 2008-04-03.
  8. "The Worst of 1999 Stinkers Winners". thestinkers.com. The Hastings Bad Cinema Society. Archived from the original on April 13, 2001. Retrieved June 11, 2020.
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