Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (film)

Aspiring scientist Flint Lockwood lives with Tim, his widowed father, and his pet monkey, Steve, in Swallow Falls, an island in the Atlantic Ocean with an economy based on sardines. Due to sardines being considered "really gross" by the rest of the world, Swallow Falls' economy has fallen into decline, forcing the citizens to subsist on a mainly sardine-based diet. Flint invents the "Flint Lockwood Diatonic Super Mutating Dynamic Food Replicator" (FLDSMDFR), a device which transforms water into food, in an effort to expand the town's diet, much to the chagrin of Flint's father, who intends for Flint to one day take over the family-owned fishing shop.

Flint's attempt to plug the device in knocks out his house's power, so he connects the FLDSMDFR to a local substation, overloading it and sending it rocketing across town, demolishing a sardine-themed amusement park meant to revitalize the town in the process before it disappears into the sky. The chaos earns Flint the ire of the town, along with that of Sam, an amateur field reporter, and the disappointment of his father. Soon after, however, cheeseburgers begin raining from the sky, and Flint realizes the FLDSMDFR is functioning successfully in the stratosphere, using the condensation from clouds to create food-based weather systems.

The town rejoices in their new food choices and Swallow Falls is renamed Chewandswallow and becomes a "food tourism" destination, making Flint a local celebrity. Flint and Sam grow closer after she reveals that she was teased as a child for her glasses and her fascination with meteorology. However, Flint notices the food has begun to "over-mutate", gradually becoming bigger and more unstable. He attempts to warn Mayor Shelbourne that the FLDSMDFR may be malfunctioning, but the Mayor ignores his warnings. After a tornado made up of spaghetti and meatballs threatens the town, Flint attempts to turn the FLDSMDFR off, but the control device is mistakenly destroyed by Shelbourne while he is trying to stop Flint, causing the device to go rogue and creating a massive "food storm" across the planet.

Flint places the kill code in a USB flash drive and builds a flying car to reach and destroy the FLDSMDFR, accompanied by Sam, her cameraman Manny, Steve, and the town's former mascot Brent. Upon reaching the FLDSMDFR, they discover it has surrounded itself with a giant meatball for protection. Reaching the interior, the flash drive containing the code is lost, and Brent is eaten by giant animated roast chickens. Flint calls his dad, Tim, to go to his computer to email him the kill code. Sam's peanut allergy is triggered by a piece of peanut brittle, and Flint tells her to return to the car while he carries on alone. The two profess their love for each other and Flint selflessly cuts the rope and plummets down. Sam and Brent, now wearing one of the roast chickens as makeshift armor, make it back to the car to get allergy medication.

In the tunnel, Flint connects his phone with the kill code sent by Tim to the FLDSMDFR but discovers Tim sent the wrong file. He uses his Spray-On Shoes formula on the machine, causing it to overload and destroy the meatball, ending the food storm. Flint, having survived the explosion, reunites with Sam and Tim, who finally shows appreciation for his son's inventions.

• Bill Hader as Flint Lockwood: a young, timid, unsuccessful but determined inventor and Sam's love interest.
  • Max Neuwirth as young Flint Lockwood.
• Anna Faris as Sam Sparks: a formerly nerdy weather intern from New York City and Flint's love interest. She has a severe allergic reaction to anything peanut-based.
• Neil Patrick Harris as Steve: Flint's sugar-addicted pet monkey who can communicate through a speak and spell thought-translating device.
• James Caan as Tim Lockwood: Flint's taciturn but caring technophobic fisherman father.
• Bruce Campbell as Mayor Shelbourne: the corrupt, greedy and selfish mayor of Swallow Falls. Unhappy with his status as a small town mayor, he sees Flint as his route to greater success. He becomes obese through constant eating.
• Andy Samberg as "Baby" Brent McHale: the arrogant and dim-witted mascot of Baby Brent's Sardines and Flint's former rival.
• Mr. T as Officer Earl Devereaux: the town's athletic cop and Cal's father.
• Bobb'e J. Thompson as Calvin 'Cal' Devereaux: Earl's young son.
• Benjamin Bratt as Manny: Sam's Guatemalan cameraman and former doctor, comedian, and pilot.
• Al Roker as Patrick Patrickson: the anchorman of the weather station.
• Lauren Graham as Fran Lockwood: Flint's deceased mother who had always believed in her son and always expressed it unlike her husband Tim.
• Will Forte as Joe Towne: a bearded redneck citizen of Swallow Falls who appears on numerous occasions throughout the film.
• Angela Shelton as Regina Devereaux: Earl's wife and Cal's mother.

On May 9, 2003, a year after establishment, Sony Pictures Animation announced its first animated slate, including Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, a film adaptation of the book of the same name. The Brizzi brothers were brought to direct the film, with Wayne Rice adapting the screenplay.[8] In 2006, it was reported that the film had been helmed by new directors and writers, Phil Lord and Christopher Miller.[9]

After a year working on the script, they were fired for story issues and replaced with new writers, who after a year were also fired. Lord and Miller were then re-hired in 2006. The two completely redid the script, this time with the creative input of their crew. The new draft had the protagonist as a failed inventor who wanted to prove himself to his town. The two were almost fired again after Amy Pascal, then-head of Sony Pictures, criticized the film for a lack of story. Although the film succeeded on the comedic front in the animatic stage, Pascal cited the lack of an anchoring relationship in the film as a failure in the story telling. Unable to create new characters and environments to suit the new story demands, the two elevated the character of the tackle shop extra to be the protagonist's father, thereby creating the relationship Pascal had requested. The pair's experience on Cloudy taught them two valuable lessons: the power of creative collaboration and the importance of emotion in a story.[10]

On September 18, 2008, Variety announced that Bill Hader and Anna Faris had signed on to voice the two lead characters, with James Caan, Bruce Campbell, Mr. T, Andy Samberg, Neil Patrick Harris, Bobb'e J. Thompson, Benjamin Bratt, Al Roker, Lauren Graham, and Will Forte also in the voice cast.[11] Lord and Miller said later that year that it would be a homage to, and a parody of, disaster films such as Twister, Armageddon, The Core, and The Day After Tomorrow.[12] Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs is the second film after Monster House that was made using the animation rendering software Arnold.[13]

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs is the soundtrack to the film of the same name, released under Sony Pictures Entertainment on September 15, 2009. The music of the film and this album are both credited to be composed and produced by American composer Mark Mothersbaugh of Devo.

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs premiered on September 12, 2009, at the Mann Village Theatre in Los Angeles, California.[6] The film had its wide release on September 18, 2009, along with a digitally re-mastered release to IMAX 3D theatres.[14]

• Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (video game), based on the film.

Real life food spill disasters

• Boston Molasses Disaster
• Honolulu molasses spill
• London Beer Flood

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• Official website
• Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs at IMDb
• Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs at AllMovie
• Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs at Rotten Tomatoes
• Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs at Metacritic
• Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs at Box Office Mojo