Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Captain Underpants:The First Epic Movie |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | David Soren |
| Produced by |
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| Screenplay by | Nicholas Stoller |
| Starring | |
| Music by | Theodore Shapiro |
| Editing by | Matthew Landon |
| Studio | DreamWorks Animation |
| Distributed by | 20th Century Fox |
| Release date(s) | May 21, 2017 (Regency Village Theater) June 2, 2017 (United States) |
| Running time | 89 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $38 million |
| Money made | $125.4 million |
Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie is a funny computer-animated superhero movie from 2017. It's based on the popular children's books by Dav Pilkey called Captain Underpants. The movie was made by DreamWorks Animation and released by 20th Century Fox. David Soren directed it, and the story was written by Nicholas Stoller. Famous actors like Kevin Hart, Ed Helms, Thomas Middleditch, and Nick Kroll lent their voices to the characters.
The story is about two best friends, George Beard and Harold Hutchins. They are known for playing lots of pranks at their school. One day, they hypnotize their strict principal, Mr. Krupp. They make him believe he is Captain Underpants, a superhero who wears only underwear and a cape! Captain Underpants thinks he has amazing powers and tries to fight crime.
Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie first showed on May 21, 2017, in Los Angeles. It came out in the United States on June 2, in both 3D and 2D. People generally liked the movie. They praised its animation, funny humor, and how well it followed the books. The voice acting, especially by Ed Helms, was also highly praised. The movie earned $125 million worldwide, which was much more than its $38 million budget. Later, a Netflix TV show called The Epic Tales of Captain Underpants was released in 2018.
This movie was the last DreamWorks Animation film that 20th Century Fox distributed. Now, Universal Pictures owns the rights to all DreamWorks Animation movies. This happened after NBCUniversal bought DreamWorks Animation in 2016.
What is the movie about?
In Piqua, Ohio, two fourth-grade best friends, George Beard and Harold Hutchins, go to Jerome Horwitz Elementary School. They love to make people laugh by playing many pranks on the school staff. The boys also create their own comic books about a superhero named Captain Underpants. This hero has superpowers but only wears underwear and a cape! They sell these comics to their friends from their treehouse, which they call Treehouse Comix Inc.
Their pranks get them into trouble when they mess with a new invention. It's called the Turbo Toilet 2000, made by Melvin Sneedly, the school's smart but annoying snitch. This gives their mean principal, Mr. Benjamin "Benny" Krupp, a chance to separate the boys. He wants to put them in different classes to end their friendship.
To stop this, George uses a special 3D Hypno Ring from a cereal box to hypnotize Mr. Krupp. The boys notice that Mr. Krupp looks a lot like Captain Underpants without his wig. So, they tell him to become the superhero. Soon, they realize how serious this is when Captain Underpants starts causing chaos around Piqua. They quickly take him to their treehouse. There, they find out they can turn Captain Underpants back into Mr. Krupp by splashing water on him. To turn him back into Captain Underpants, they just need to snap their fingers.
Knowing that Mr. Krupp will keep trying to separate them, they decide to keep him as Captain Underpants for a while. They make him pretend to be Mr. Krupp as a "secret identity," and Captain Underpants agrees. His new, cheerful personality even makes the shy school lunch lady, Edith, like him.
Just when George and Harold think their problems are over, a strange scientist visits Jerome Horwitz Elementary School. He has a German accent and a funny name: Professor Peepee Diareashtein Poopypants esq.. Captain Underpants, still pretending to be Mr. Krupp, hires him as the new science teacher. But George and Harold are suspicious because he acts very short-tempered and angry. It turns out, Professor Poopypants wants to get rid of all laughter because people always made fun of his name and never took him seriously.
With Captain Underpants as principal, the school becomes a fun place, even having a fair in the yard. But then, a rainstorm happens, and Captain Underpants turns back into Mr. Krupp. Mr. Krupp finally finishes the paperwork to put George and Harold into separate classes. Meanwhile, Professor Poopypants gets Melvin to join his plan. Melvin has no sense of humor and doesn't find the professor's name funny. Soon, Professor Poopypants tries to take over the town. He uses a giant version of Melvin's Turbo Toilet 2000. It's powered by the school cafeteria's leftover food, which Edith left out. He uses Melvin's brain to power a zombie-ray that turns the children into sad, humorless zombies.
Captain Underpants tries to stop them, but since he doesn't have real superpowers yet, he is easily defeated and thrown into the toxic leftovers. George and Harold are captured and turned into zombies too. But they manage to escape when their laughter from the joke that made them friends in kindergarten overloads the zombie-ray. This damages the Turbo Toilet 2000's computer and turns all the kids back to normal. After eating the toxic leftovers, Captain Underpants suddenly gets superpowers! With George and Harold's help, he defeats and shrinks Professor Poopypants, who then escapes on a bee.
Knowing they can't control Captain Underpants forever, George and Harold break the Hypno Ring. This makes him permanently change back into Mr. Krupp. The boys feel that Mr. Krupp would be much nicer if he had friends. So, they set him and Edith up on a date. This makes Mr. Krupp change his mind and return the comics he took from George and Harold. He even says their comics are funny! However, the toxic waste from the Turbo Toilet 2000 turns all the toilets at a scrap yard into an army of Talking Toilets. They attack the restaurant where Mr. Krupp and Edith are eating. When Mr. Krupp accidentally snaps his fingers, he becomes Captain Underpants again! He carries George and Harold away to help him fight the toilets, which surprises and impresses Edith.
In a short scene after the movie credits begin, George and Harold realize something funny. Mr. Krupp's secretary, Miss Anthrope, has been on the phone for the entire movie! They tricked her into thinking she was in a competition to win $1 billion. They hang up the call, which makes her very angry. This gives them an idea for a new comic book based on her reaction!
Who are the voices in the movie?
- Kevin Hart as George Beard: A fourth-grade student and Harold's best friend. He writes the stories for their comics. George is usually calm when things get tough.
- Ed Helms as Captain Underpants / Mr. Benjamin "Benny" Krupp: The mean principal of Jerome Horwitz Elementary School. He gets hypnotized into becoming the superhero that George and Harold created.
- Nick Kroll as Professor Poopypants: A very serious and humorless scientist. He is Captain Underpants' main enemy and wants to get rid of all laughter in the world.
- Thomas Middleditch as Harold Hutchins: A fourth-grade student and George's best friend. He draws the pictures for their comics. Harold is friendly but often more careful and worried than George.
- Jordan Peele as Melvin Sneedly: George and Harold's smart rival. He's a child genius inventor and becomes Professor Poopypants' helper.
- Kristen Schaal as Edith: The shy lunch lady at the school. She likes Mr. Krupp and was created just for this movie.
- Grey Griffin as Miss Anthrope: The school's secretary. George and Harold tricked her into staying on the phone for the whole movie.
- Dee Dee Rescher as Ms. Tara Ribble: The fourth-grade teacher.
- Brian Posehn as Mr. Riles Rected: The school's guidance counselor.
- Mel Rodriguez as Mr. Morty Fyde: The science teacher who gets fired and replaced by Professor Poopypants.
- David Soren as Tommy: A boy who often climbs into his locker.
- Susan Fitzker as Mrs. Dayken: George and Harold's kindergarten teacher.
- Lynnanne Zager as Mrs. Beard: George's mother.
- Tiffany Lauren Bennicke as Sad Girl
- James Ryan as Mime: A mime artist.
- Leslie David Baker as Officer McPiggly
- Sugar Lyn Beard as Goodie Two-Shoes Girl
- Lesley Nicol as Nobel Moderator
- Chris Miller as Nobel Audience Member
- Coco Soren as Balloon Girl
Images for kids
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Director David Soren showed the film at the 2017 Annecy International Animation Film Festival.
See also
In Spanish: Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie para niños
