Shorts: The Adventures of the Wishing Rock

Shorts: The Adventures of the Wishing Rock
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Robert Rodriguez
Produced by	Robert Rodriguez Elizabeth Avellán
Written by	Robert Rodriguez
Starring	Jon Cryer William H. Macy Leslie Mann James Spader Jimmy Bennett Kat Dennings
Narrated by	Jimmy Bennett
Music by	George Oldziey Robert Rodriguez Carl Thiel
Cinematography	Robert Rodriguez
Edited by	Ethan Maniquis Robert Rodriguez
Production company	Warner Bros. Pictures Imagenation Abu Dhabi Troublemaker Studios Media Rights Capital
Distributed by	Warner Bros. Pictures
Release dates	August 21, 2009 (2009-08-21)
Running time	90 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$20 million
Box office	$29 million

Shorts (also known as Shorts: The Adventures of the Wishing Rock, Shorts: A Not So Tall Tale only on the trailer and released internationally as The Wishing Rock) is a 2009 American sci-fi fantasy adventurelm which incorporates both live action and CGI animation. The film was written and directed by Robert Rodriguez, distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, co-produced by Imagenation Abu Dhabi, Lin Pictures, Warner Bros. Pictures, Media Rights Capital and Troublemaker Studios with music by Rodriguez, George Oldziey and Carl Thiel and produced by Rodriguez and Elizabeth Avellán for Media Rights Capital.^[1]

The film stars Jon Cryer, William H. Macy, Leslie Mann, James Spader, Jimmy Bennett and Kat Dennings. The special effects were done by KNB EFX Group, Troublemaker Digital Studios and Hybride Technologies for the animation.

Shorts: The Adventures of the Wishing Rock was theatrically released in the United States on August 21, 2009 by Warner Bros. Pictures.^[2] The film earned $29 million^[3] on a $20 million budget. It also received a Young Artist Award nomination for Best Performance in a Feature Film.

Shorts: The Adventures of the Wishing Rock was released on DVD and Blu-ray on November 24, 2009 by Warner Home Video. A Nintendo DS video game of the same name was announced on June 23, 2009, with a prospective July release date in advance of the movie but the video game was canceled.^[4]

Plot

Toby "Toe" Thompson (Jimmy Bennett) is bullied by Helvetica "Hel" Black (Jolie Vanier) and her brother Cole (Devon Gearhart) on the way to school. Toe speculates that Hel loves him, infuriating Hel and leading Cole and his gang to start throwing rocks at Toe. One of the rocks they throw is a rainbow colored wishing rock, which Toes uses to wish for friends, which come in the form of small aliens. Toe takes the aliens to school, but their presence causes Toe and Hel to fall from the school's roof. The aliens leave, but Toe keeps the rock.

Previously, the Wishing Rock appeared at the home of Loogie (Trevor Gagnon), Laser (Leo Howard), and Lug (Rebel Rodriguez) Short, and they eventually wished that one of them was very smart. However, the power was given to their infant sister (portrayed by Bianca Rodriguez and voiced by Elizabeth Avellan). She convinced the boys to hide the rock and Cole found it to it the next day to throw at Toe.

Toe's older sister Stacey (Kat Dennings) arrives to tutor "Nose" Noseworthy (Jake Short), Toe's old, germaphobic friend. Nose picks his nose against his father's wishes and accidentally flicks the booger into his father's radioactive work study. Toe and Loogie, now friends, arrive at Nose's house in time to see Nose's booger mutate into a giant monster. After helping Nose's father (William H. Macy) capture the monster outside, Toe and Loogie take the rock and leave.

Toe's parents Mr. and Mrs. Thomson (Leslie Mann and Jon Cryer), like all adults in the town, work for Black Box Unlimited Worldwide Industries Incorporated, which manufactures the universal "Black Box" gadget. They are assigned by Mr. Carbon Black (James Spader), owner of Black Box, to compete to create a new marketing strategy. Toe's mother finds the rock in Toe's room and takes it. She and Mr. Thompson go to a Black Box costume party. Since they were having trouble with their relationship, she wishes that she and her husband were closer. They become mutated together into a two-headed person, but Mr. Black thinks that they're wearing a costume. Meanwhile, Toe realizes that his mother took the rock and rushes to the costume party, but runs into Hel and Cole who take the rock and dump him in the garbage. Hel wishes that Cole would turn into a dung beetle and then loses the rock. The rock is found by Mr. Black who, unaware of its power, accidentally wishes for all of the employees to go for each other's throats. In the chaos, Toe retrieves the rock and wishes everyone back to normal. Hel takes the stone, wishes off her casts, and escapes before Toe throws the rock as far as he can, where it lands at the Noseworth's house.

As Toe and Loogie contemplate what to do with the rock, they are ambushed by the rest of the kids and fight until the rock winds up in the hands of Mr. Black. Mr. Black wishes that he was the most powerful thing in the world and turns into a giant Black Box. The infant tells them that the rock is starting to feel misused, as shown by the fact that the rock starts undoing all of their wishes. She also tells them the rock could destroy the Earth because of all of the petty wishes they make. Together they get rid of the rock and all of its effects are undone. Toe's parents decide to work on the marketing plan together and Mr. Black agrees. Mr. Black changes the Black Box into the more environmentally friendly Green Box. The Noseworthys lose their germaphobia, Toe's parents become closer, and it is suggested that Hel and Toe will marry in the future. All the children become friends wished that their story would become a Hollywood movie, breaking the 4th wall.

Cast

• Jon Cryer as Mr. Bill Thompson, Toby's father who works at Black Box, Inc.
• Jimmy Bennett as Toby "Toe" Thompson.
• Leslie Mann as Mrs. Jane Thompson, Toby's mother who also works at Black Box, Inc.
• Kat Dennings as Stacey Thompson, Toby's older sister.
• William H. Macy as Dr. Noseworthy, A germophobe scientist who doesn't like Contamination.
• Jolie Vanier as Helvetica Black, a girl bully who secretly has a crush on Toby.
• Devon Gearhart as Colbert "Cole" Black, Carbon's son and captain of the football team. He's Helvetica's brother who cares deeply for her and is the leader of his own gang which Helvetica sometimes leads.
• James Spader as Mr. Carbon Black, a greedy man who invented the black box and founded the Black Box Community.
• Trevor Gagnon as Loogie Short, a boy who found the wishing rock. When he had the wishing rock he wished for unreasonable stuff. He flirted with Toby's older sister throughout the movie.
• Rebel Rodriguez as Lug Short, Loogie's older brother. He is the most video game obsessed and easily angered of the three Short brothers.
• Leo Howard as Laser Short, Loogie's older brother. He seems to be the smartest of the three Short brothers.
• Bianca Rodriguez as the Short brothers' infant sister, simply referred to as "(the) Baby". She is voiced by Elizabeth Avellan
• Jake Short as "Nose" Noseworthy, a germophobe scientist like his father.
• Racer Rodriguez as Bully #1, a member of Cole's gang.
• Rocket Rodriguez as Bully #2, also a member of Cole's gang.
• Alejandro Rose-Garcia as John, Stacey's boyfriend.
• Cambell Westmoreland as Blinker #1
• Zoe Webb as Blinker #2

Production

Spy Kids creator Robert Rodriguez is the film's director, producer, writer, editor, cinematographer and music composer.

On January 11, 2009, it was announced that Robert Rodriguez would direct, produce and write a 2009 American and Emirati^[1] live action and animated family science fiction fantasy adventure comedy movie which features live action and CGI animation titled Shorts also known as Shorts: The Adventures of the Wishing Rock, Shorts: A Not-So Tall Tale only on the trailer and released internationally as The Wishing Rock which would be released in cinemas on 21 August 2009 in the USA and Elizabeth Avellán would also produce the film with the budget of $20 million.

On July 16, 2009, it was announced that Jimmy Bennett would play the lead role in the film, while Jon Cryer, Leslie Mann and Kat Dennings were in early talks to join the cast. On July 17, 2009, William H. Macy, Jolie Vanier, Devon Gearhart, James Spader and Trevor Gagnon were also in final talks to join the film, Rebel Rodriguez, Leo Howard, Bianca Rodriguez, Elizabeth Avellan, Jake Short, Racer Rodriguez, Rocket Rodriguez, Alejandro Rose-Garcia, Cambell Westmoreland and Zoe Webb were added to the cast.

Shorts: The Adventures of the Wishing Rock was filmed in Austin, Texas on July 28, 2009. The special effects were done by KNB EFX Group, Troublemaker Digital Studios and Hybride Technologies for the animation.

George Oldziey, Robert Rodriguez and Carl Thiel scored the music for the film on its soundtrack and the film's soundtrack contains "Spy Ballet" performed by Robert Rodriguez and "Summer Never Ends" performed by Jimmy Bennett. Warner Bros. Pictures distributed the film^[1] to 2,160 screens in the United States.

Release

Shorts: The Adventures of the Wishing Rock was released in cinemas on 21 August 2009 in the USA by Warner Bros. Pictures, and on DVD and Blu-ray on November 24, 2009 by Warner Home Video.

Reception

Critical response

Jimmy Bennett was praised by critics for his performance.

The film holds a 45% approval rating on critical response aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, which is based on 100 reviews. Their summary of critical consensus reads, "Shorts has imagination and energy, but most viewers beyond elementary school will likely tire of the kiddie humor and sensory overload".^[5] On Metacritic, the film holds a score of 53/100, based on 22 responses, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.^[6]

Box office

For its opening weekend, the film made $6.4 million, an average of $2,065 per each of 3,105 theaters.^[3] It opened at #6, being overshadowed by Inglourious Basterds, G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, and Julie & Julia. Overall, the grossed about $20.9 million in the United States and Canada, and about $29 million worldwide.^[3]

Awards

Soundtrack

George Oldziey, Robert Rodriguez and Carl Thiel scored the music for the film on its soundtrack and the film's soundtrack contains "Spy Ballet" performed by Robert Rodriguez and "Summer Never Ends" performed by Jimmy Bennett. The soundtrack was released in 2009 by Warner Bros. Records.

Songs and music

• Spy Ballet – Robert Rodriguez
• Summer Never Ends – Jimmy Bennett
• All Music – Composed by George Oldziey, Robert Rodriguez and Carl Thiel

References

External links

• Official Site
• Official Facebook
• Shorts at Metacritic
• Shorts at the Internet Movie Database
• Shorts at Rotten Tomatoes