Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius

Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius
Episode	9
Season	0
Airdate (US)	December 21, 2001
Invention(s)	Mark II Rocket Strato XL Robo-Barber Super Bubblegum-Mobile Communications Satellite Girl-Eating Plant Shoe-bot Amusement Park Space Armada Burping Soda
Previous	Calling All Aliens
Next	When Pants Attack

Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius is a 2001 American computer-animated comedy film. The film was based on a few animated shorts shown on Nickelodeon in 2001, created by John A. Davis, Keith Alcorn and Steve Oedekerk.

The television series was supposed to begin before the release of the film, but since there was not enough time, the animated shorts were created and the TV series began a year later. It was produced by Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies with O Entertainment. It was nominated for the first Academy Award for Best Animated Feature (but sadly lost to Shrek). The film was produced using off-the-shelf software (LightWave 6) by DNA Productions of Dallas, Texas. 

Plot

At an air force base, an incoming UFO is approaching and they send fighter jets up to examine the situation. The UFO turns out to be Jimmy, Carl and Goddard riding Jimmy's rocket ship. Jimmy needs to launch a communications satellite (which is really a toaster) to communicate with an alien species who sent him a message that was garbled in the ionosphere. Unfortunately, the pulse rockets fail, and the rocket cannot leave the atmosphere. Jimmy tapes some soda to the toaster and throws it, propelling the soda in outer space. Then, the rocket falls down to town and lands on his roof. He is scolded by his parents. Judy asks Jimmy why he disobeyed her again and Jimmy replied it's because he's been trying to make contact with an advanced alien race, who sent him a message that got gobbled in the ionosphere. Judy says he shouldn't talk to strangers, since they could be dangerous with Hugh agreeing with Judy about strangers, except for policemen. Jimmy gets off the roof and gets ready for school, but his antics cause him to miss the bus.

He tests his latest invention, a form of bubble transportation, made from a special bubble gum. He catches up with the school bus, but the bubble pops when it hits a tree.

In the classroom, Cindy is giving a report on dinosaurs. When Cindy says that girl dinosaurs are better than boy dinosaurs, Jimmy proceeds to correct her with technical data. During show and tell, Jimmy shows Ms. Fowl and the class his new shrink ray. He attempts to shrink Cindy's head, but the ray malfunctions and does not work, however upon leaving class, the shrink ray suddenly shrinks Ms. Fowl, causing her to get tiny and end up battling a worm that has gotten out of an apple.

When walking home, Jimmy, Carl and Sheen spot a poster for an amusement park. Sheen gets excited about meeting Ultra Lord. Carl gets excited to touch a llama. However, their parents refuse them go due to a school night, and Jimmy is still grounded for disobeying his mother again, so they sneak out without their parents knowing. They have lots of fun. Jimmy, Carl, and Sheen both go on many rides. Carl and Jimmy go on a tramway while Sheen goes to meet Ultra Lord, which is really a guy in a costume. Carl touches a Llama, and gets a button that says "I touched a llama." They then go on a roller coaster ride where the cars look like bats and Nick (who also snuck out) joins them as well. 

Meanwhile, the toaster is found by an egg-like alien race called the Yokians. They seem to be of green substance which contains no water, and they see with eye stalks. They use pods with hovering capability and robotic arms to move, but they fly spaceships in space (that look like chickens). King Goobot and his assistant, Ooblar, watch the message. Then, all the ships in the armada head to Earth and abduct the adults in Retroville. Judy and Hugh are among the first to be abducted.

On the way home, Carl spots a shooting star, so he, Jimmy, and Sheen wish for no more parents so they could have fun all the time and be free. The next morning, Jimmy spots the note set and reads it. The notes are the same for everyone, so Jimmy has Goddard scan for adult life forms. When the report comes back (none within radar range), the kids start celebrating and doing things they couldn't do normally. They eat tons of junk food, party like there's no tomorrow and rampage all over the city. 

The next morning, the craze has worn off and all the kids are sick from all the junk food, have gotten hurt and don't know how to take care of themselves. Jimmy is upset that his parents didn't say goodbye and just left him. Goddard shows Jimmy what happened before his parents got abducted and becomes suspicious. Jimmy goes to his lab and compares the note the Yolkians left with notes his parents wrote. When the writing doesn't compare, Jimmy realizes that the notes are fake. Goddard finds evidence of aliens on the computer, and Jimmy tracks them to another system. He organizes the other kids in town to build a space armada from the theme park rides to travel there. Three days later, the rockets are ready and the kids set off to rescue the adults.

While staying on an asteroid, everyone tearfully recalls what their parents did at bedtime before they were abducted by aliens.

The next morning, the kids reach Planet Yokus and Jimmy, Carl, Sheen, Cindy, Libby and Goddard go to find the parents so they can call Nick and the others for backup, but they are all captured by the guards. Libby asks Goobot that what he wants with their parents. Goobot tells her that it's what Poultra wants. Cindy asks him what Poultra is. He says that he's tired of explaining and shows a newscast that says that Poultra is their god and the adults are to be sacrificed to her. He also reveals that Jimmy's message is what gave them the coordinates to earth. He orders his guards to throw the kids into the dungeon until they are adults, so they can be sacrificed as well and has Ooblar take Goddard to a torture chamber.

In the cell, the kids have given up hope and Sheen and Nick start having a heated argument. Realizing this is all his fault, Jimmy starts crying and feeling bad about giving Goobot the coordinations to earth. Cindy then comes to the depressed Jimmy and comforts him. To get out of the cell, Jimmy calls Goddard on Libby's cell phone and tricks Ooblar into thinking Goddard will self-destruct in an explosion covering 30 square miles. Goddard frees the kids using a glitch in his obedience program (when told to play dead, he detonates in a small explosion, which blows down the door), and they make it to the arena were the parents will be sacrificed to Poultra. When they reach it, an unusual ceremony is finishing (with mind-control devices, the parents do the chicken dance!), and Poultra, a gigantic three-eyed chicken with reptilian legs, hatches from her egg. Jimmy quickly comes up with a plan: Sheen heads to an airfield to obtain a transport, he gets the mind controller, and the rest of the kids keep the guards busy.

They escape, but Goobot follows them in his ship at the head of the Yolkus fleet. He orders the ships to open fire. During the battle, Jimmy skims the surface of the sun, and flares destroy all but Goobot's ship. The king sends a taunting message to Jimmy, who flies out with Goddard. He uses his shrink ray to make himself the size of a planet, and blows the ship into an oncoming asteroid. Goobot vows to return. The kids are reunited with their parents, and they make it home safe and sound.

The next morning, Jimmy and Carl have eggs for breakfast and Judy and Hugh take a few sips of Jimmy's experimental soda and begin to burp uncontrollably. Realizing a picture of an atom (Jimmy's signature logo that could only be found on the front of his shirt), Judy yells "James Isaac Neutro--" before burping loudly. They all laugh and outside Goddard imitates a bird as the film ends.

Cast

• Debi Derryberry as Jimmy Neutron
• Patrick Stewart as King Goobot V
• Martin Short as Ooblar
• Carolyn Lawrence as Cindy Vortex
• Frank Welker as Goddard
• Rob Paulsen as Carl Wheezer
• Jeff Garcia as Sheen Estevez
• Candi Milo as Nick Dean
• Crystal Scales as Libby Folfax
• Mark DeCarlo as Hugh Neutron
• Megan Cavanagh as Judy Neutron

Reception

The movie received very postive reviews from critics and audiences and has a 75% approval on RottenTomatoes and was a box office hit. Despite the sucess of the film, the show remains more popular to this very day and many people think the movie came during the early run of the show. 

Soundtrack

On November 20, 2001, the movie's soundtrack was released. It contains several original songs from early 2000's pop stars, a rendition of "Kids in America", a rendition of the franchise's theme song and a techno remix of "She Blinded Me with Science".

Track Listing

1. Leave it Up to Me - Aaron Carter
2. Pop - NSYNC
3. Parents Just Don't Understand - Lil Romeo, 3LW and Nick Cannon
4. Intimidated - Britney Spears
5. He Blinded Me with Science - Melissa Lefton
6. A.C's Alien Nation - Aaron Carter
7. Kids in America - No Secrets
8. The Answer to Our Life - The Backstreet Boys
9. Funky Chicken - Stupid
10. I Can Count on You - True Vibe
11. Go Jimmy Jimmy - Aaron Carter
12. Blitzkrieg Bop - The Ramones
13. Jimmy Neutron Theme - Bowling for Soup

Cancelled sequel and possible reboot film

In June 2002, it was reported that Kate Boutilier had made a deal to write a sequel to the film titled Jimmy Neutron 2: The Search for Carl. However, there was not any progress in the project and was cancelled.

In 2016, director John A. Davis has stated that he has a story for a Jimmy Neutron reboot feature that he would like to make, but he is waiting for the "right situation" to make it.

Deleted scenes

"If we blow up, whatever's left of me is kicking your butt."

• In the theatrical trailer, there is a brief shot where Cindy is shown telling Jimmy, "If we blow up, whatever's left of me is kicking your butt." Television commercials for the movie had the line changed to "kicking your can." In the print novelization, Cindy says this line right before the kids blast off into space.
• The trailer and novelization also include two other lines of dialogue from Cindy that were ultimately unused in the film. The first of these is her response to Jimmy introducing his shrink ray, which was originally "Will it work on your big head?" (in the finished film, she says "What's the matter, Neutron? Aren't you short enough already?") The other line is "For a nerd, he sure comes in handy." The trailer suggests that she was to say this right before she and Jimmy smile at each other while flying through outer space. The novelization, however, has her saying it to Jimmy after he saves her from being attacked by one of the Yokian guards.
• The novelization also includes a few other scenes that were cut or changed in the movie itself:
  • A prologue scene is added, showing the Yolkians arriving in the solar system and setting a course for earth.
  • The scene with Cindy and Libby in Cindy's bedroom (right after Jimmy sneaks out of his house) is slightly longer. Libby asks Cindy if she ever thinks about getting married. Cindy balks at this, because she thinks boys are disgusting, but Libby teases her about her crush on Nick.
  • Another scene with the Yolkians arriving on earth while Jimmy, Carl, and Sheen are at Retroland is included. The Yolkians on the ship receive a video call from King Goobot, and when one of the crew members fails to salute, he is promptly ejected in outer space. Goobot proclaims to commence kidnapping the humans, reminding Captain Spoor to only grab the large specimens because size does matter.
  • After the sequence with the kids celebrating not having their parents around, there is a scene where the Yolkian ships return to Yolkus with the enslaved parents. King Goobot tries out the remote control for the Hats of Obedience, using Hugh Neutron as his test subject. But then Hugh's Hat malfunctions and he briefly reverts back to normal, much to Goobot's annoyance. When Captain Spoor's first officer points out that it was a result of the device being manipulated too aggressively, Goobot obliterates the unfortunate Yokian with his Doomstick (a device not seen in the movie).
  • After the kids blast off into space, there is an extra scene with King Goobot and Ooblar at the Yokian marination plant, discussing their plans to feed the adults to Poultra. They then start poking each of the adults, making them yell out in pain.
  • After Jimmy shuts off the hypnosis on the adults and they begin to escape, King Goobot uses his Doomstick on Ooblar.
  • During the kids' battle with Poultra, there's a brief scene where Sheen sneaks around the spaceport hangar and hijacks the large space freighter that the humans lateruse to escape Yolkus.
  • The novelization includes a Yokian character called Captain Spoor, who is in charge of their expedition to the solar system and, in the novelization, is the one who receives Jimmy's message. A brief clip and audio of Spoor watching Jimmy's message can be seen in the theatrical trailer. In the finished film, that scene is changed so that King Goobot directly sees the message himself.
  • In the film, Jimmy's Bubble Travel is engaged by chewing a gumball and blowing it up. But in the trailer, Jimmy hits the ends of his shoes to engage it.
  • The trailer shows three unknown yokians screaming and running away from Goddard. This suggests that those three yokians were suppose to disassemble Goddard instead of Ooblar trying to disassemble Goddard in the finished film.

Trivia

• In an early sequence, Jimmy rides his jetpack past a train labeled MJ12, coinciding with the extraterrestrial theme.
• This is the only time the Earwax Museum is seen during Jimmy's brain blasts, unless you count the Attack of the Twonkies video game.
• This is the first time Jimmy cries. The second time will be in Brobot. 
• This is also the only Jimmy Neutron production to have two brain blasts, instead of one.
• Coincidentally, Patrick Stewart and Martin Short also starred in The Prince of Egypt.
• The film is notably more emotional and serious than the TV series. 
• A gentle dark ride "Planet of the Cats" is a obvious reference to Franklin J. Schaffner's 1968 film Planet of the Apes.
• When Jimmy crash lands on his house in the beginning of the movie, three birds flying in a V-shaped pattern can be seen in the sky, several times. This may coincide with the extraterrestrial photographs taken by Billy Meier that featured three UFO's flying over a valley. This can also be observed in several of the TV episodes.
• In the beginning of the message Jimmy sends to the aliens, he salutes them using the Vulcan salute, "Live Long And Prosper" and when Sheen takes the Ultra Lord oath in the amusement park, his right hand is doing the Vulcan salute as well.
• Jimmy's girl-eating plant is a parody of Audrey II from the musical "[Shop of Horrors]". Funny enough, the romance of Little Shop of Horrors is between a brown-haired nerd who and a blonde girl. Further, the plant does eventually eat the blonde girl.
• The egyptian-style ride "Show Me the Mummy" is a parody of Jerry Maguire's catch-phrase "Show me the money."
• One of the rides in Retroland, Eye in the Sky, has a scared kid's face with eyes wide open and his hands on his cheeks. That's the famous pose of Macaulay Culkin in Home Alone (which itself is a parody of the Edward Munch painting, The Scream). It is also the pose of Luigi in Luigi's Mansion, released around the time of this film.
• The alien's Y.T. program is a parody of E.T. (Entertainment Tonight).
• There is a CGI error, when Jimmy and Cindy are arguing about dinosaurs in the classroom, In the background, Carl appears to be phasing through his table desk.
• During the scene when the kids are camping on the asteroid, Nick's story is from the 1999 film The Blair Witch Project.
• One ride in Retroland that is made into a spacecraft is called "Bat Outta Heck", an obvious reference to Meat Loaf's song and album, Bat out of Hell.
• Libby wearing the ear piece on the Yolkian ship's bridge resembles that of Lieutenant Uhura from Star Trek.
• When the Yolkian planet is viewed in outer space, it seems to be based on Coruscant.
• Ooblar's name is perhaps a nod to The War of The Worlds where the martian's battle cry is Ulla - pronounced Oolaa.
• When Hugh is reading the newspaper, a picture of Jimmy and Carl on Jimmy's rocket is shown as a UFO, even though Jimmy is still currently flying.
• Jimmy keeps the rocket he flies in the film.
• Although Goddard's radar does not sense any adults, Ms. Fowl is still in the school. This may have been a malfunction.
• Ms. Fowl is not seen unshrink in the film, which becomes a question in the Q&A segment of a sneak preview for the series.
• In the film, Cindy drinks Purple Flurp while doing Tai Chi, but in the book version, she eats a Purple Flurp Bar while doing Tai Chi.
• In the book, Goddard does ask Jimmy to build him a female poodle in his options.
• Also, this is the only time Goddard's voice reads the options to Jimmy as opposed to the words that appear on the screen with clicking sounds.
• Jimmy and the other children battling the Yolkian guards is a reference to Agent J battling the giant alien cockroach to prevent him from going near the second spaceship at an abandoned World's Fair from the 1997 film Men in Black.
• During the opening scene, a Military Commander sends out planes to investigate what thing it is and the planes are scene flying they somehow resemble F-14 Tomcats, this is a reference to "Top Gun".

• This film is also based off of the 1998 pilot "Runaway Rocketboy", but with some major differences.

• The DNA Productions logo is not shown at all.
  • Also, this is only time where the original O Entertainment logo is shown. 
• Nick briefly makes an innuendo to Jimmy by telling him to "shake it off" when Jimmy has a stomachache from all the junk food.
• The film is one of two Nickelodeon animated films to be nominated for an Academy Award. The other movie being 2011's Rango, which in fact won the Oscar for best animated feature of that year.
• In 2017, a fan of the movie rescored the movie with orchestral scores from movies like Man of Steel, Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice, Superman (1978), Toy Story, Spider-Man, Star Wars, and Spider-Man: Homecoming.

Goofs

• At the start of the film, Jimmy ejects Carl from his rocket and Jimmy calls "See you in homeroom!" and Carl replies "Okay" but Carl's mouth doesn't move.
• When Jimmy is walking down the street holding his stomach, the TV "special report" comes on in the shop window. "Special" is misspelled "Specail."
• In the beginning of the movie, Jimmy uses yarn from Carl's sweater, which becomes visibly shorter. However, in later scenes, when Carl is hanging from a tree, his sweater is back to its initial length.
• When Jimmy flies through "John's Oysters" after school, he comes out with a net full of oysters. In all subsequent shots, the net has disappeared.
• When Jimmy's sneaking out, the picture of the family is hanging on the wall, perfectly straight, halfway up the stairs and with three other pictures surrounding it. The next morning, it has moved to the top of the stairs, is slightly crooked, and the three pictures are gone. The next time it's seen, when Jimmy looks at the picture while walking up the stairs the next morning, it's back in its original position and the three pictures are around it again.
• When we first see the parents under King Goobot's control, Jimmy's parents switch from who is on the left and who is on the right though we don't see them move at all.
• When the kids first see their parents again they are circled around the giant hatching chicken. The camera cuts away and in the next shot where the chicken is visible, the parents are missing. They return a few shots later.
• Jimmy uses a hair from his head to confirm a DNA match to enter his clubhouse. Hair doesn't contain DNA unless it's had skin cells on it.
• When Goddard performs the scan of Retroville, it shows there are no adults present. However Ms. Fowl is present in the montage at the school, despite her being an adult.
• When Cindy loses her balance while doing Tai Chi and drinking Purple Flurp at the same time and the can hits the floor, the liquid doesn't spill nor does the can become dented.
• In many shots, the car tires are square.

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