| Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs | |
|---|---|
| Author(s) | Judi Barrett |
| Illustrator | Ron Barrett |
| Country | United States |
| Genre(s) | Children's picture book |
| Publisher | Simon & Schuster |
| Publication date | 1978 |
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs is a children's book written by Judi Barrett and illustrated by Ron Barrett. It was first published in 1978 by the Simon & Schuster imprint Atheneum Books, followed by a 1982 trade paperback edition from sister company Aladdin Paperbacks.[1] A sequel, Pickles to Pittsburgh, was published in 2000 by Atheneum Books; a hardcover edition followed in 2009.
Contents |
The book is about a story that an elderly grandfather tells to his grandchildren about the town of Chewandswallow, where the weather comes three times a day, at breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and is always food and beverages. The rain is juice and soup, the snow is ice cream, and the wind brings hamburgers. Because of this phenomenon, there are no grocery stores. However, when floods and storms of giant food come, the population is forced to leave Chewandswallow on boats made of bread, and adapt to their new lives in the world where the sky doesn't bring food. The follow up of the story, Pickles to Pittsburgh, tells of the kindly grandfather's journey back to Chewandswallow, to help rebuild and restore the town, plus give away all the food to the other cities of the world who need it most.
On September 18, 2009, Sony Pictures Animation released an animated film adaptation of the book, and the DVD was released on January 5, 2010. Bill Hader and Anna Faris provided the voices of the two lead characters. Hader voices Flint Lockwood, "a young inventor who dreams of creating something that will improve everyone's life." Faris provides the voice for Sam Sparks, "a weathergirl covering the phenomenon who hides her intelligence behind a perky exterior." James Caan, Bruce Campbell, Mr. T, Andy Samberg, Neil Patrick Harris, Bobb'e J. Thompson, Benjamin Bratt, Al Roker, Lauren Graham, and Will Forte are also on the voice cast.[2] Co-writers and co-directors Philip Lord and Chris Miller said that it would be a homage to, and a parody of, disaster movies such as Twister, Armageddon, The Day After Tomorrow and 2012.[3] The book is based on true science
In conjunction with the September 18, 2009 film release, Ubisoft released a game for Wii, Nintendo DS, Playstation 3, Xbox 360, PC, and PSP,[4] [5] as well as a stereoscopic online mini game.[6]