Ted (film)

Ted
Promotional poster with original release date
Directed by	Seth MacFarlane
Produced by	Seth MacFarlane Scott Stuber John Jacobs Jason Clark
Screenplay by	Seth MacFarlane Alec Sulkin Wellesley Wild
Story by	Seth MacFarlane
Narrated by	Patrick Stewart
Starring	Mark Wahlberg Mila Kunis Seth MacFarlane Joel McHale Giovanni Ribisi
Music by	Walter Murphy
Cinematography	Michael Barrett
Editing by	Jeff Freeman
Studio	Media Rights Capital Fuzzy Door Productions Bluegrass Films Smart Entertainment
Distributed by	Universal Pictures
Release dates	June 29, 2012 (2012-06-29) (United States)
Running time	106 minutes 112 minutes (unrated version)
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$50 million
Box office	$549,368,315

Ted (stylized as ted) is a 2012 American comedy film directed, co-produced, and co-written by Seth MacFarlane, with MacFarlane, Mark Wahlberg and Mila Kunis in leading roles. The supporting cast includes Joel McHale and Giovanni Ribisi.

The film is MacFarlane's feature-length directorial debut,^[1] produced by Media Rights Capital and distributed by Universal Pictures. It was released on June 29, 2012, to critical and commercial success, becoming the 12th highest-grossing film of 2012, the highest-grossing R-rated film of the year, and the highest-grossing original R-rated comedy of all time.^[2][3][4] The film also received an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Song.

A sequel has been announced to be released on June 26, 2015 by Seth MacFarlane and Universal Studios.

Plot

John Bennett (Brett Manley) is an 8-year-old boy who lives in Boston and is friendless as nobody will play with him. On the Christmas morning of 1985 John gets a teddy bear from his parents (Alex Borstein and Ralph Garman) as a Christmas present and names him "Teddy" (Zane Cowans). That night, John wishes Ted was alive so he can have a friend and his wish is granted by a falling star. The next morning, Ted comes to life with the mind of a human such as being able to walk and speak. At first both John and his parents are scared, but soon become overjoyed. Soon after, Ted becomes famous world-wide, but his fame is short-lived.

Twenty-seven years later in 2012, John (Mark Wahlberg) at 35 and Ted (Seth MacFarlane) are still best friends and live together in an apartment in Boston smoking cannabis and boozing while watching TV. John's other room-mate and girlfriend of 4 years, Lori Collins (Mila Kunis) becomes annoyed that John is spending time with Ted and that he is acting like a child. After their dinner date one night, John and Lori discover that Ted invited female hookers for a party with one of them defecating on the carpet. John soon helps Ted get an interview at a local supermarket where he gets a job as a shop assistant. Ted flirts and befriends Tami-Lynn, another new employee. The pair are caught having sexual intercourse during their shift, but this only causes Ted to get promoted and not lose his job much to Ted's annoyance. After a dinner-date which includes Ted and Tami-Lynn goes wrong, Lori admits to John that she knows he is still hanging out with Ted, even making excuses to leave work as a car rental assistant early. John promises to stop being with Ted.

A few nights later at a house party hosted by Lori's stalking boss Rex (Joel McHale) who has a crush on her, John gets a call from Ted that Flash Gordon star Sam J. Jones is in his new apartment. John, after some encouragement disobeys Lori and goes to see Sam at Ted's party, there Sam befriends the duo, before they have the time of their lives getting stoned, drunk and Ted singing karaoke. Lori though discovers John had betrayed her and tearfully dumps him. John blames Ted for what happened and asks him to get out of his life. A week later, Rex asks Lori out on a date and she accepts, hoping to temporarily distract herself from heartache and finally get Rex to leave her alone. Ted finds out and visits the hotel room where John is staying to tell him about it. John accuses Ted of lying and says he wishes he had never asked for a teddy bear as a kid that Christmas. They get in a dramatic fist fight, which ends with them making up and deciding to crash the Norah Jones concert at the Hatch Shell where Rex took Lori.

It turns out Ted is personal friends with Norah, so she agrees to let John sing a song onstage dedicated to Lori, which turns out to be Octopussy theme, All Time High, by Rita Coolidge, in which he sings off-key. John is fiercely booed off the stage by the angry spectators, but Lori is touched by the gesture and ends her date with Rex prematurely. The next day, Ted shows up at Lori's apartment and tells her that John is lost without her and offers to leave forever if it would help them be together and he tells her what happened that night at Rex's. Lori then leaves to meet with John, before Ted is kidnapped by a creepy man named Donny (Giovanni Ribisi) and his obnoxious, overweight son, Robert (Aedin Mincks), who had offered to buy Ted from John in an earlier scene. At their home, Ted discovers pictures of himself all over the wall, and Donny explains that when he was a little boy, he saw Ted on TV and asked his father if he could have a magical teddy bear like Ted. His father said no, and Donny vowed that he would never say no like that to his own future son.

During Robert's play-time, Ted tricks the boy into playing a game of hide and seek, using the distraction to call John, who is now talking with Lori about their future together, but Donny catches Ted using the phone. Donny and Robert try to flee the house with Ted before being chased by John and Lori who shows up just in time to catch them in a car chase that leads them to Fenway Park. Ted manages to outrun Donny to the Green Monster, while John punches Robert in the face, knocking him unconscious. As they climb up one of the wall's light towers, Donny grabs Ted by the foot and accidentally tears Ted in half, causing him to fall limp to the field below. Donny runs away as the police show up, and John and Lori run on the field beside Ted. With his last breath, Ted tells John not to lose Lori again because she is the most important part of his life. The magical glimmer vanishes from Ted's complexion, and the life fades from his eyes.

Unwilling to lose him, John and Lori rush back to Lori's apartment to try to stitch Ted back together. Though they manage to do so, they are unable to bring him back to life, so they have no choice but to accept that he is gone. Lori then brings two cups of hot chocolate, and they hear thunder crash loudly outside, but John is too upset to be scared of the thunderstorm. That night as John is asleep, Lori sees a shooting star and closes her eyes, appearing to make a wish. The next morning John wakes up and discovers that Ted has come back to life, without any visible trace of the injuries he had suffered the previous night. Lori admits that it was her wish that was responsible for saving Ted, and John finally proposes to her.

John and Lori are then married where Sam Jones (who is apparently an ordained minister) presides over the wedding service and Ted is the best man at the wedding. Ted and Sam then end the day by doing the "Flash Jump".

The narrator (Patrick Stewart) reveals what happens to the characters after John and Lori are married:

• Ted continues his relationship with Tami-Lynn and gets promoted to store manager when he's caught eating potato salad off of her bare bottom.
• Sam Jones moves back to Hollywood to restart his film career and shares a studio apartment in Burbank, California with Brandon Routh from "that god-awful Superman movie".
• Rex is forced to give up his pursuit of Lori, falls into a deep depression, and dies of Lou Gehrig's disease which ironically had been wished on him by John.
• Donny was arrested by the Boston police and charged with "kidnapping a plush toy," but the charges are dropped when everyone realizes how completely absurd it sounded.
• Robert gets a personal trainer, loses weight, and goes on to become Taylor Lautner.

Cast

• Mark Wahlberg as John Bennett, a male Boston resident who owns his teddy bear friend, Ted.
  • Colton Shires as teenage John Bennett (opening credits).
  • Brett Manley as young John Bennett.
• Mila Kunis as Lori Collins, John's girlfriend.
• Seth MacFarlane as Ted (Voice and motion capture), John's teddy bear and best friend, who speaks with a strong Boston accent.^[5]
  • Zane Cowans as the voice of Young Ted. Cowans also plays Kid #1.
  • Tara Strong as Ted's "I Love You" function
• Joel McHale as Rex, Lori's boss and stalker.
• Patrick Stewart as Narrator
• Giovanni Ribisi as Donny, a "fan" of Ted who kidnaps him for his spoiled and fat son, Robert.
• Aedin Mincks as Robert, Donny's son.
• Patrick Warburton as Guy, John's co-worker.
• Laura Vandervoort as Tanya, John's co-worker.
• Matt Walsh as Thomas, John's boss.
• Jessica Barth as Tami-Lynn, Ted's girlfriend and co-worker.
• Bill Smitrovich as Frank Stevens, Ted's boss.
• Alex Borstein as John's mother
• Ralph Garman as John's father
• Jessica Stroup as Tracy, Lori's co-worker.
• Sam Jones as himself, Ted and John's movie idol
• Ryan Reynolds as Jared, Guy's boyfriend
• Norah Jones as herself
• Tom Skerritt as Thomas's idol
• Mike Henry as a Southern newscaster
• Robert Wu as Quan Ming, a Chinese man who acts as Flash Gordon's enemy Ming the Merciless
• Ted Danson as himself, in the Cheers DVD interview John and Ted watch

Production

Seth MacFarlane's directorial debut is a live-action effort, with computer animation handled by visual effects facilities Tippett Studio and Iloura. MacFarlane wrote the screenplay with his Family Guy colleagues Alec Sulkin and Wellesley Wild.^[6] Filming began in May 2011 in Boston, Norwood, Swampscott, and Chelsea all in Massachusetts.^[7]

The film's North American release was scheduled for July 13, 2012, but it was brought forward to June 29, 2012, both to avoid competition with Ice Age: Continental Drift and following the delay of G.I. Joe: Retaliation.^[8] The film was released in Australia on July 5, 2012,^[9] and on August 1, 2012 in the United Kingdom and Ireland.^[10]

In a "behind the scenes" video, it was revealed that MacFarlane originally wanted to make Ted into an animated TV show, much like his previous works Family Guy and American Dad.

Soundtrack

Ted: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Soundtrack album by Walter Murphy and Various Artists
Released	June 26, 2012 (2012-06-26)
Genre	Film score, jazz, rock
Label	Universal Republic
Producer	Hans Zimmer

The film's soundtrack was released by Universal Republic Records on June 26, 2012. It features the score by Walter Murphy and songs by various artists such as Norah Jones and Queen. Seth MacFarlane co-wrote the opening theme "Everybody Needs a Best Friend" with Murphy.^[11] The song was later nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song at the 85th Academy Awards.

Track listing

All tracks by Walter Murphy except where indicated.

1. "Everybody Needs a Best Friend" by Norah Jones
2. "The Power of Wishes"
3. "Thunder Buddies for Life"
4. "John and Lori at Work" / "A Walk in the Park"
5. "Magical Wish"
6. "Rex's Party (Everybody Needs a Best Friend)"
7. "The Breakup"
8. "Never Be Scared of Thunder Again"
9. "Ted Is Captured" / "Raiders of the Lost Ark"
10. "The Car Chase" / "Fenway Pursuit"
11. "Climbing the Tower" / "She's Your Thunder Buddy Now"
12. "Saving Ted" / "Lori's Wish"
13. "The Proposal" / "The Wedding"
14. "End Titles"
15. "Flash's Theme" by Queen
16. "Sin" by Daphné
17. "Only Wanna Be with You" by Hootie & the Blowfish
18. "Come Away with Me" by Norah Jones
19. "All Time High" by Rita Coolidge
20. "I Think We're Alone Now" by Tiffany
21. "Thunder Buddies" by Mark Wahlberg

Other songs not included in the soundtrack, but used in the film include select tracks from Queen's Flash Gordon soundtrack: "Football Fight", "Battle Theme" and "The Hero", as well as the "Knight Rider Theme" by Stu Phillips, "Stayin' Alive" by "Bee Gees", "Kiss Kiss" by "Chris Brown" and "The Imperial March" by John Williams. The film trailers used the songs "Best Friend" by Harry Nilsson and "How You Like Me Now?" by The Heavy.

Marketing

To promote the film, Universal Pictures teamed up with Axe in a marketing campaign that involved the titular character and the brand's hair care product Axe Hair.^[12] In one commercial, Ted takes a woman on a date to a fancy restaurant, where he brings her to orgasm under the table before handing another man a box of Axe Hair gel.^[13]

In February 2013 star Mark Wahlberg and the titular character made an appearance at the 85th Academy Awards, which Seth MacFarlane hosted.^[14]

Release

Critical reception

Ted has received generally positive reviews, with critics praising Seth MacFarlane's comic performance, as well as Mark Wahlberg's portrayal of John Bennett. The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 68% approval rating with an average rating of 6.4/10 based on 202 reviews. The website's consensus reads, "Ted's "romance versus bromance" plot is familiar, but the film's held aloft by the high-concept central premise and a very funny (albeit inconsistent) script."^[15]

At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted mean rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the film received an average score of 62, based on 37 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews".[16] Roger Ebert gave the film three-and-a-half stars out of four, citing the film as "the best comedy screenplay so far [this year]," also praising the film on the fact that it "doesn't run out of steam."[17]

Nathan Rabin of The A.V. Club gave the film a "B" grade.^[18] Brent McNight of Beyond Hollywood commented on the jokes: "Some of these jokes hit, some jokes miss."^[19] On the other hand, A. O. Scott of The New York Times called Ted "boring, lazy and wildly unoriginal."^[20]

Box office

Ted earned $549,368,315 of which $218,815,487 came from the United States and Canada and $330,552,828 from foreign territories,^[21] making it Universal's highest grossing film in 2012, ahead of Snow White and the Huntsman and Battleship,^[4] the only one to pass the $400 million mark,^[22] and the 12th highest-grossing film of 2012.

Asia

Ted debuted in first place in Taiwan and got the best comedy opening ever there.^[23] It also debuted in Hong Kong, with $1.4 million, and grossed $571,000 in its first week in South Korea,^[24] eventually grossing $8 million, $3.8 million and $1.8 million in the three countries respectively.^[25] It also grossed $2.1 million in both Indonesia and Singapore, and $1.4 million in Thailand.^[25]

In January 2013, Ted opened at No. 1 in Japan, its final market, with $4.5 million, the best start ever for an R-rated comedy there. In comparison, it grossed more in its opening weekend than The Hangover Part II made in its entire run.^[26] The following weekend, it retained the No. 1 spot for the second consecutive frame, grossing $3.6 million at 137 dates, for a 10-day market cumulative total of $11.2 million.^[27] By its third weekend, the film stayed at the No. 1 spot for a third week, with earning down less than 10%, pushing Ted's overseas total past the $300 Million mark, and making it the top grossing R-rated comedy of all time in Japan.^[28] It then had its fourth consecutive weekend at No. 1, drawing another $3 million at 354 locations in the country.^[29] Its cumulative total stands at $44 million grossed.^[30]

Europe

Ted debuted with $14.3 million in the United Kingdom, making it the third-best debut ever for a Universal film behind Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason and King Kong,^[31] eventually grossing over $48.9 million in the country. Ted was released in cinemas across the UK on August 3^[25]

The film had a $7.4 million launch in Germany,^[31] holding #1 spot for three-straight weeks,^[32] eventually grossing over $31.4 million.^[25]

In Spain, it opened with $2.3 million, which is the highest ever for an original R-rated comedy there,^[33] eventually grossing over $14.3 million.^[25]

The film also had the best Hollywood comedy debut ever in Russia, grossing $5.5 million,^[31] eventually grossing $17 million.^[25]

Ted spent its first four weeks atop the weekend box office in both the Netherlands,^[34] and Austria,^[35] eventually grossing $8.4 million, and $6.2 million in those countries respectively.^[25] The movie also opened at No. 1 in Belgium, with $587,000, eventually grossing $4.4 million.^[25]

In Italy, Ted had a second place start, grossing $3.3 million in its opening weekend there,^[36] moving up to No. 1 on its second week, with $4.2 million grossed.^[3] It has since grossed $14.1 million there.^[25]

In France, Ted debuted at No. 2, grossing $3 million in 348 theatres during its opening weekend,^[37] eventually grossing $11.5 million in the country.^[25]

North America

Ted earned $2.6 million in midnight showings in the United States and Canada.^[38] For its opening day, Ted scored one of the best R-rated comedy debuts ever since The Hangover with an estimated $20.2 million.^[21][39] The film earned a total of $54.4 million in its opening weekend, well over second-place R-rated Magic Mike's $39.2 million.^[40] Its overall weekend gross set a record for the highest original R-rated comedy opening in history.^[41] It was the first time two R-rated films grossed more than $21 million each during a weekend.^[42]

In Mexico, the film debuted in first place with $2.1 million,^[22] grossing $13.4 million.^[25]

Oceania

Ted also debuted at #1 in Australia and New Zealand, grossing over $35.5 million and $3.5 million respectively.^[25] Its $13.1 million opening in Australia, of which $4.5 million were from previews, was Universal's biggest opening ever in the country.^[23] In Australia, Ted was rated MA 15+,^[43] whereas in New Zealand, it was rated R13 for its theatrical release and R16 for the DVD/Blu-ray release.

South America

In Brazil, it opened with $1.4 million at 273 sites,^[44] moving up to 1st place in the country on its third week of release.^[45] It has since grossed $8.8 million there.^[25]

Ted also grossed $4.6 million in Argentina, 2 million in Chile, 1.9 million in Peru, and 1.7 million in Colombia.^[25]

Home media

Ted was released on DVD and Blu-ray in the United States on December 11, 2012 by Universal Studios Home Entertainment. Both formats were released in Australia on November 21, 2012, in an "Extended Edition".^[46] It was released on Blu-ray and DVD in the UK on November 26, 2012.

Accolades

Award (Ceremony)	Category	Recipients and nominees	Result	Ref.
Phoenix Film Critics Society Award (2012)	Breakthrough Performance Behind the Camera	Seth MacFarlane	Nominated
Teen Choice Awards (2012)	Choice Summer Movie: Comedy or Music	Ted	Nominated	[47]
	Choice Movie Voice	Seth MacFarlane as Ted	Nominated
	Choice Movie Chemistry	Seth MacFarlane and Mark Wahlberg	Nominated
Academy Awards (85th)	Best Original Song	"Everybody Needs a Best Friend" - Seth MacFarlane and Walter Murphy	Nominated	[48]
People's Choice Awards (39th)	Favorite Comedy Movie	Ted	Won	[49]
Empire Award (18th)	Best Comedy	Ted	Won
MTV Movie Awards (2013)	Movie of the Year	Ted	Nominated	[50]
	Best Female Performance	Mila Kunis	Nominated
	Best Shirtless Performance	Seth MacFarlane	Nominated
	Best Kiss	Mila Kunis and Mark Wahlberg	Nominated
	Best Fight	Seth MacFarlane and Mark Wahlberg	Nominated
	Best On-Screen Duo	Seth MacFarlane and Mark Wahlberg	Won
	Best WTF Moment	Seth MacFarlane	Nominated
Saturn Awards (39th)	Best Fantasy Film	Ted	Nominated
Critics' Choice Awards (18th)	Best Comedy	Ted	Nominated
	Best Actor in a Comedy	Mark Wahlberg	Nominated
	Best Actress in a Comedy	Mila Kunis	Nominated
American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (2013)	Top Box Office Films	Ted	Won
Spike Guys' Choice Awards (2012/2013)	Guy Movie of the Year	Ted	Won
	Best Fight Scene	Mark Wahlberg	Won

Sequel

During the 2012 American Dad! Comic-Con panel, Seth MacFarlane stated that he would be open to a sequel to Ted.^[51] In September 2012, chief executive Steve Burke said that the studio would be looking to make a sequel to Ted "as soon as possible".^[52] On Anderson Live, Mark Wahlberg confirmed that a sequel was in the works and that it would be the first sequel in his career, while also revealing that he and Ted (as voiced by MacFarlane) would appear at the 85th Academy Awards.^[53] Ted 2 will be released on June 26, 2015.^[54]

References

External links

• Official website
• Ted at allmovie
• Ted at Box Office Mojo
• Ted at the Internet Movie Database
• Ted at Rotten Tomatoes

v t e Seth MacFarlane Animated TV series Family Guy (1999–2003, 2005–present) American Dad! (2005–present) The Cleveland Show (2009–2013) Bordertown (beginning 2014) Live-action TV series The Winner (2007) Dads (2013–present) Documentary TV series Cosmos: A Space-Time Odyssey (beginning 2014) Animated web series Seth MacFarlane's Cavalcade of Cartoon Comedy (2008–2009) Television hosting Comedy Central Roast (2010–2011) Saturday Night Live (2012) 85th Academy Awards (2013) Voices Peter Griffin Brian Griffin Stewie Griffin Glenn Quagmire Stan Smith Roger Tim the Bear Films Ted (2012) A Million Ways to Die in the West (2014) Ted 2 (2015) Studio albums Music Is Better Than Words (2011) See also Filmography Awards Fuzzy Door Productions The Life of Larry and Larry & Steve Zoomates Rachael MacFarlane Robot Chicken Night of the Hurricane

v t e Fuzzy Door Productions Seth MacFarlane Animated TV series Family Guy (1999–2002, 2005–present) American Dad! (2005–present) The Cleveland Show (2009–2013) Bordertown (2014–) Live-action TV series The Winner (2007) Dads (2013–) Films Ted (2012) A Million Ways to Die in the West (2014) 20th Century Fox Television  · Night of the Hurricane

v t e Films produced by Scott Stuber The Break-Up (2006) You, Me and Dupree (2006) The Kingdom (2007) Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins (2008) Role Models (2008) Love Happens (2009) Couples Retreat (2009) The Wolfman (2010) Repo Men (2010) Love & Other Drugs (2010) Your Highness (2011) Safe House (2012) Battleship (2012) Ted (2012) Admission (2013) 47 Ronin (2013)

v t e Teddy bears Bear manufacturers Build-A-Bear Workshop Chad Valley J. K. Farnell Gund Ideal Toy Company Margarete Steiff GmbH Merrythought Teddy Atelier Stursberg Teddy-Hermann Ty Inc Vermont Teddy Bear Company Types of bear AG Bear Beanie Babies Boyds Bears Care Bears Coffee Bean Bears Forever Friends Freddy Teddy Gund Snuffles Holiday Beanie Babies Me to You Bears WereBears Teddy bear museums Teddy bear museum Dorset Teddy Bear Museum Teddy Bear Museum of Naples Famous teddies Aloysius Archibald Ormsby-Gore Benjamin Bear Berlino Duffy the Disney Bear Fozzie Bear Grizzly Teddy Lotso Microsoft Bear Misha Nassur Nev Paddington Bear Pooky Pudsey Bear Rilakkuma Roosevelt Rupert Bear Rupert (Family Guy) Smokey Sooty Super Ted Teddy (Mr. Bean) Teddy Ruxpin Uszatek Mr Whoppit Winnie-the-Pooh Yogi Bear Film and television The Adventures of Teddy Ruxpin Bear Behaving Badly Becky and Barnaby Bear C Bear and Jamal Colargol Disney's Adventures of the Gummi Bears Issi Noho Paddington The Secret World of Benjamin Bear SuperTed Ted The Teddy Bear Master Teddy Edward The Yogi Bear Show Boonie Bears Ted 2 Books Corduroy Teddy Dressing Uppo-Nalle Winkie Winnie-the-Pooh Music "(Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear" "Psycho Teddy" "Teddy Bears' Picnic" "The Teddy Bear Song" Video games Build-A-Bear Workshop Hubert the Teddy Bear: Winter Games Naughty Bear Opération Teddy Bear Related topics The Bear Club Peter Bull Gummy bears Round and round the garden SGUL Teddy Bear Hospital Richard Steiff Sudanese blasphemy case Teddybear Airdrop Minsk 2012 Teddy bear parachuting Teddy Bear Review Teddy bear toss Teddy Grahams Theodore Roosevelt

v t e Empire Award for Best Comedy Team America: World Police (2006) Little Miss Sunshine (2007) Hot Fuzz (2008) Son of Rambow (2009) In the Loop (2010) Four Lions (2011) The Inbetweeners Movie (2012) Ted (2013)