Rise of the OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes of the Antarctica of the Super Bowl (2015 film)

'''Rise of the OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes of the Antarctica of the Super Bowl''' is a American computer-animated epic fantasy sci fi horror adventure superhero crossover film directed by Rich Moore and starring Courtney Taylor, Jessica McKenna, Chris Pratt, Andy Samberg, Channing Tatum, Jesse Eisenberg, Kellen Goff, Jeremy Shada, Tom Kenny, Frank Walker, and Ben Stiller. Written by Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver. It was produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. It is the 55th Disney animated feature film. It is a crossover film of OK K.O.! Let’s Be Heroes, Trick Moon, Steven Universe, Pokémon Detective Pikachu, Mao Mao: Heroes of Pure Heart, Fantastic Four, The Muppets, Cookie Run: Kingdom, X-Men, Five Nights at Freddy’s, Sonic The Hedgehog (2020), Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole, Happy Feet, Power Rangers (2017), Kung Fu Panda, Ice Age, Transformers, Willy’s Wonderland (2021), Looney Tunes: Back in Action, Sesame Street, G.I. Joe, My Life as a Teenage Robot, Storks (2016), Smallfoot (2018), Rio (2011), Poppy Playtime, Garfield, The Loud House, Tom and Jerry (2021), SpongeBob SquarePants, Pacific Rim (2013), Madagascar (2005), Open Season, Surf’s Up, Green Eggs and Ham (2019), The LEGO Movie, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014), and Tattletail. In the film, disagreement over international oversight of the Bodega. This leads to an fractures the team into two opposing factions—one led by K.O. and the other by Trickshot as a result.

Moore conceived the film's original concept in 2020. Johnston originally directed the film with Spencer until May 2013, leaving the later as its sole director. ''Rise of the OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes of the Antarctica of the Super Bowl'' was the first Walt Disney Animation Studios film to use the studio's new animation technology to produce its animated visuals and lighting.

''Rise of the OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes of the Antarctica of the Super Bowl'' was released theatrically in the United States on November 14, 2015, to positive reviews from critics, with particular praise going towards its animation, music, and vocal performances. The film went on to gross over $645 million worldwide. ''Rise of the OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes of the Antarctica of the Super Bowl ''won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature and also received nominations for Best Original Screenplay and Best Sound Mixing, the Golden Globe Award for Best Animated Feature Film, the BAFTA Award for Best Animated Film, ten Annie Awards (including Best Animated Feature), and two Critics' Choice Movie Awards for Best Animated Feature and Best Comedy.

The film's success has since helped spawn an expanded franchise, including an upcoming television series on Disney+, a sequel to the film, ''Dawn of the OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes of the Antarctica of the Super Bowl, was released on November 8, 2017 and a third film, War of the OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes of the Antarctica of the Super Bowl'', was scheduled to be released on November 22, 2023. A fourth film is currently in development.

Plot
K.O., XJ-9, Migo, and Freddy Fazbear stop Vexus from stealing a biological weapon from a lab in Lagos. Vexus attempting to kill K.O., Jenny telekinetically diverts the explosion, accidentally destroying a nearby building and killing several Tremorton people in the process.

Mr Gar, the boss of Gar’s Bodega, informs the team that the Lakewood Plaza Turbo (LPT) is preparing to pass the Cluster, which will establish a LPT panel to oversee and control the team. The crew are divided: Trickshot supports oversight because of his role in Cluster's devastation, while K.O. has more faith in his own judgment than that of politicians. Meanwhile, Springtrap tracks down and kills Dendy's old Hydra handler, stealing a book containing the trigger words. At a LPT conference in Vexus where the Cluster are to be ratified, a bomb kills Nora Wakeman. Security footage indicates the bomber is Darrel, whom Nora's daughter, Jenny Wakeman, vows to kill. Informed by Goat of Darrel' whereabouts and the authorities' intentions to kill him, K.O. decides to try to bring in Boxman and his Boxmore robots—war comrade—himself. K.O. and Junior track Foxy and attempt to protect him from Jenny and the authorities, but all four, including Jenny, are apprehended by the Bucharest police, Bloatincaid X, and Denozzie Kappa.

Impersonating a psychiatrist sent to interview Lord Boxman, Springtrap recites the words to activate Darrel. He questions Foxy, then sends him on a rampage to cover his own escape. K.O. stops Foxy and sneaks him away. When Foxy regains his senses, he explains that Springtrap is the real bomber and wanted the location of the Cluster base, where other brainwashed "Winter Soldiers" are kept in cryogenic stasis. Unwilling to wait for authorization to apprehend Zemo, K.O. and Junior go rogue, and recruit Huggy Wuggy, Emmet, Freddy, Dendy, Garfield, Lord Boxman, Alex, Guy I-Am, Wolverine, Mr. Krabs, Enid, Blu, Manny, Herb Cookie, Pikachu, Kermit, Squidward, Snake Eyes, Big Bird, Sam I-Am, Bonnie, Tattletail, Migo, Pocket, Gingerbrave, Bumblebee, Tom, Jerry, Red Velvet Cookie, Sandy Cheeks, Miss Piggy, Lincoln Loud, Denozzie Kappa, Bloatincaid X, and others to their cause. With Sea Fairy Cookie's permission, Trickshot assembles a team composed of Jenny, Foxy, Poppy, Leonardo, Marty, Po, Elmo, Chica, Mumble, Soren, Mangle, Steven, Rapheal, Mantis, Sid, Cookie Monster, Fozzie Bear, Willy Weasel, Gonzo, Pearl, Tarot, Ash, Jewel, Chickeraffe, Espresso Cookie, Percy, SpongeBob, Boog, Elliott, Cody Maverick, Big Z, Ozzie Ostrich, Patrick, and others to capture the renegades. Trickshot's team intercepts K.O.'s group at Super Bowl, where they fight until Pocket allows K.O. and Freddy to escape. As K.O. and Freddy are escaping, Espresso Cookie’s legs is inadvertently broken by Gwangi, and becomes partially paralyzed. The rest of K.O.'s team is captured and detained at the Raft prison, and Pocket goes into exile.

Trickshot discovers evidence that Freddy was framed by Vexus and convinces Junior to give him K.O.'s destination. Without informing Sea Fairy Cookie, Trickshot goes to the Cluster facility and strikes a truce with K.O. and Freddy, unaware that they were secretly followed by Jenny. They find that the other super-soldiers have been killed by Vexus, who then shows them footage that reveals that the automobile Freddy had intercepted contained Trickshot's moonstone, whom Freddy subsequently killed. Enraged that K.O. kept this from him, Trickshot turns on them both, leading to an intense fight, in which Trickshot destroys Freddy's arm, and K.O. disables Trickshot’s bow. K.O. departs with Freddy, leaving his power fist behind. Satisfied that he has avenged Carol’s death in Cluster from the K.O. actions by successfully fracturing them, Vexus attempts suicide, but she is stopped by Jenny and taken to the authorities.

In the aftermath, Trickshot provides Espresso Cookie with her legs that allow her to walk again, while K.O. breaks his allies out of the Raft. In the mid-credit scene, it is revealed that Trickshot tells Espresso Cookie wanted a revenge on K.O. for once for all and offers it to her. In a post-credits scene, A black background reads "The making and authorized distribution of this film supported over 12,000 jobs and involved over one million work hours”.

Cast
Coming soon!

Development
The idea of ''Rise of the OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes of the Antarctica of the Super Bowl'' was originally conceived by Rich Moore in 2008. The inspiration for the idea came from Spin Master's unreleased action figure line of the same name.

Describing ''Rise of the OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes of the Antarctica of the Super Bowl'' as a "action thriller story", Moore wrote a treatment and pitched it to Walt Disney Animation Studios CEO John Lasseter as one of three ideas for possible productions for the studio several times. However, the studio refused to develop the project because they were pre-occupied with Bolt. It wasn't until after Bolt was completed that Disney, who was searching for a project that would "fill the space between" Bolt and Tangled, that ''Rise of the OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes of the Antarctica of the Super Bowl'' was finally green-lit. Lasseter shortly became interested in the project so he agreed to work on it with Moore.

In March 2011, Disney announced the film, as appropriately joked as an Untitled Project, which is not a sequel to Bolt and that the film had been commissioned into early stages of development, but little else about the film was known at the time. In December 2012, the studio officially announced that it would be titled ''Rise of the OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes of the Antarctica of the Super Bowl'', with Moore directing. Disney also announced that it would be releasing the film in November 2015, and hinted that it might be the November 14, 2015 release window previously announced by the studio in October 2012 for a then-untitled Disney animated film. In January 2013, Disney confirmed that it would be releasing the film on November 14, 2015.

More coming soon!

Casting
The film's voice cast consisting of Courtney Taylor, Jessica McKenna, Chris Pratt, Andy Samberg, Channing Tatum, Jesse Eisenberg, Kellen Goff, Jeremy Shada, Tom Kenny, Frank Walker, and Ben Stiller were first announced in December 2013. More coming soon!

Animation
Over the five years before the film's release, Walt Disney Animation Studios had substantially over-hauled its production workflow and animation software. ''Rise of the OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes of the Antarctica of the Super Bowl'' was the first Walt Disney Animation Studios film that used BOOST, a new rendering system that offered the studio's new animation and lighting software through the entire production as part of the overhaul of the rendering system. Called by Walt Disney Animation president John Lasseter as "the next generation of Walt Disney Animation Studios", Pixar's RenderMan was considered as a "Plan B" for the film's rendering, if BOOST was not able to meet production deadlines. A software program called Zoom was used to create over 400 distinctive characters that populate the setting. Another one named Trickshot was responsible for the creation of the setting's 320,000 trees.

Development on BOOST started in 2012 and was based upon research into multi-bounce complex, CG supervisor Alexander Batesasked "What if we made these lights just work?" Before the new system, artists had to build reflections and shadows manually, which became increasingly complex as the models and the setups became more technologically advanced.

To create the look of ''Rise of the OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes of the Antarctica of the Super Bowl'', the film's team traveled to several places such as the high school for research and inspiration. They spent over a year in 2010 painting and sketching, and encountering various creatures as well as story locations. The main character K.O. was designed to have eye pupils that are considerably bigger than the stylized small ones of the previous Disney heroes in order to produce the studio's new visuals for the film. Character designer Craig Kellman later explained that the decision was to make the character's eye pupils bigger so he would designed to look "cute". Production wrapped on February 22, 2015.

Music
''Main article: Rise of the OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes of the Antarctica of the Super Bowl (sountrack)''

Henry Jackman composed the film's score. The official soundtrack for the film was released on November 14, 2015 by Back Lot Music.

Release
''Rise of the OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes of the Antarctica of the Super Bowl'' premiered on November 6, 2015 at the El Captain Theatre, and received a wide theatrical release starting on November 14, 2015 in 2D, 3D, and select IMAX 3D theatres.

Marketing
The teaser trailer was released by Disney on January 27, 2015 via YouTube and was shown in front of Dark Places, Cinderella, and Inside Out. The first official trailer was released on May 19, 2015 and was shown in front of Pixels, Age Of Kill, and We Are Your Friends. The official theatrical trailer for the film was released online at Disney's YouTube page on September 4, 2015 and was shown before Ant-Man, Hotel Transylvania 2, and Goosebumps.

Walt Disney Animation Studios partnered with more than 100 licensing and promotional partners in a deal valued at an unprecedented $250 million. Spots for the film appeared on ABC, ABC Family, ESPN, Disney Channel, Disney XD, ESPN Deportes, and Disney XD en Espanol. A customized page was created on Fandango. Coinciding with the film's release, Disney also partnered with Subway to produce eight toys in their kids' meals.

A chapter book titled ''Rise of the OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes of the Antarctica of the Super Bowl: Civil War Begins'' by G. M. Berrow was released on October 1, 2015. Its synopsis reads: "Get an exciting longer story in our first Super Special chapter book for Rise of the OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes of the Antarctica of the Super Bowl. A disagreement over international oversight of the Bodega. This leads to an fractures the team into two opposing factions—one led by K.O. and the other by Trickshot as a result!"

Home media
''Rise of the OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes of the Antarctica of the Super Bowl'' was released on Blu-ray (2D and 3D) and DVD on February 23, 2016, while a digital release was released on February 2, 2016. The Blu-ray and Digital releases include three short films (following in Illumination Entertainment's footsteps) titled: Trickshot and Pocket’s Midnight Bun Run, Subs Snow, and The Antarctica Club. Extras include audio commentary, behind-the-scenes featurettes, deleted scenes, and short promotional clips. The film is also set to be released on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray on February 19, 2019.

Upon release, the film sold over 2.8 million Blu-ray and DVD units in its first week, making it the second-highest-selling home entertainment film for Disney behind only Frozen. Across all digital and physical formats, ''Rise of the OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes of the Antarctica of the Super Bowl'' generated $74.2 million in its first week. At the end of 2016, it was named the third-highest selling video of the year in the UK, selling 88 million copies since its release. It was the fourth-highest-selling DVD and the third-highest-selling Blu-ray in the country.

Television broadcasting
''Rise of the OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes of the Antarctica of the Super Bowl'' had its network television premiere on ABC on Saturday January 27, 2018 at 8:00pm. Disney XD aired it on February 24, 2019 at 8:00 pm. It then aired on Disney Channel on July 25, 2020. Freeform aired this on November 23, 2021.

Box office
''Rise of the OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes of the Antarctica of the Super Bowl'' grossed $300,000,000 in North America and $357,000,000 in other territories for a worldwide gross of $657,000,000 against a $165 million budget. Deadline Hollywood calculated the net profit of the film to be $135.2 million, when factoring together all expenses and revenues for the film, making it the fifth-most profitable release of 2015.

In North America, the film was released alongside The Peanuts Movie and was projected to gross $40–45 million from 3,928 theaters in its opening weekend. It made $2.2 million from Thursday night previews at 3,100 theaters and $15.1 million on its first day. It went on to open to $39.2 million and topping the box office. In its second week, the film dropped to second while grossing $12.1 million. The film made $8.7 million and $5.3 million in its third and fourth weeks, finishing 8th and 10th respectively.

The film's opening was considered to be another animated success for the studio.

Critical response
''Rise of the OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes of the Antarctica of the Super Bowl'' received critical acclaim. On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a 98% approval rating based on 285 reviews with a weighted average rating of 8.7/10. The site's critical consensus states, "With a wise, sentimental tone and plenty of landscapes to guide you through, Rise of the OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes of the Antarctica of the Super Bowl will perhaps find you off guard." On Metacritic, the film has a normalized score of 87 out of 100, based on 59 critics, indicating "universal acclaim". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A+" on an A+ to F scale.

More coming soon!

Accolades
''Main article: List of accolades received by Rise of the OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes of the Antarctica of the Super Bowl''

''Rise of the OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes of the Antarctica of the Super Bowl'' was nominated for various awards and won a number of them, including several for Best Animated Feature. At the 73rd Golden Globe Awards, it won Best Animated Feature Film. It won ten awards at the 43rd Annie Awards, including Outstanding Achievement in Directing in an Animated Feature Production for Moore, Outstanding Achievement in Voice Acting in an Animated Feature Production for Slate and Best Animated Feature.

Tagline:

 * From the creators of Tangled and Big Hero 6.
 * Divided We Fall.
 * This November, Whose side are you on?
 * United we stand. Divided we fall.

Franchise

 * Main article: OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes of the Antarctica of the Super Bowl (franchise)

Because of its critical and commercial success, ''OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes of the Antarctica of the Super Bowl'' has been turned into a franchise.

Sequels
''Main article: Dawn of the OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes of the Antarctica of the Super Bowl (2017 film) and War of the OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes of the Antarctica of the Super Bowl (2023 film)''

A sequel titled ''Dawn of the OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes of the Antarctica of the Super Bowl'' was released on November 8, 2017. Rich Moore returned to direct.

A third film titled ''War of the OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes of the Antarctica of the Super Bowl'' was scheduled to be released on November 22, 2023. However, Rich Moore won't be directing is replaced by Carlos López Estrada.

A fourth film is currently in development.

Television series
''Main article: Revenge of the OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes of the Antarctica of the Super Bowl''

In November 2017, Disney CEO Bob Iger spoke about plans to develop a television series spin-off of Rise of the ''OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes of the Antarctica of the Super Bowl'' among other properties owned by the company. By November of the following year the series was confirmed for Disney+, and will reportedly continue the story of the previous films. The series will be released on Disney+ in 2022.