Igor (film) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Igor |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Tony Leondis |
| Produced by |
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| Written by | Chris McKenna |
| Starring | |
| Music by | Patrick Doyle |
| Cinematography | Dominique Monfery |
| Editing by | Hervé Schneid |
| Studio | Exodus Film Group |
| Distributed by | MGM Distribution Co. (United States) TFM Distribution (France) |
| Release date(s) | September 19, 2008 (United States) December 17, 2008 (France) September 9, 2009 (Brazil) |
| Running time | 86 minutes |
| Country | United States France |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $25 million |
| Money made | $30.7 million |
Igor is a computer-animated horror comedy film from 2008. It was directed by Tony Leondis and written by Chris McKenna. The movie was made by Exodus Film Group and was the first animated film to be paid for by private investors.
The animation for Igor was done in France and Vietnam. MGM Distribution Co. released the film in North America. This was MGM's first fully computer-animated movie.
The film features the voices of John Cusack, Steve Buscemi, Jay Leno, Eddie Izzard, Sean Hayes, Arsenio Hall, Jennifer Coolidge, John Cleese, Molly Shannon, and Christian Slater. Chris McKenna came up with the idea for Igor by twisting the usual stories about evil scientists.
In the movie, John Cusack voices Igor. Igor is a character who lives in the land of Malaria. People like him, who have hunchbacks, are usually helpers to evil scientists. Igor dreams of becoming an evil scientist himself. But when he tries, he accidentally creates a kind monster girl named Eva.
Igor first showed a sneak peek at the 2008 New York Comic Con. The movie was promoted with video games, toys, books, and comic books. It premiered on September 13, 2008, and was released in theaters five days later. The film got mixed reviews and earned $30.7 million worldwide. It was nominated for an Annie Award for its character design.
Contents
Story of Igor
The World of Malaria
The Kingdom of Malaria used to be a peaceful farming land. But a strange, never-ending storm ruined all its plants. This made the people of Malaria very poor. To save the country, King Malbert (Jay Leno) came up with a plan. He had the kingdom's best and most wicked scientists create powerful machines. These machines were so dangerous they could cause big problems for the world. The king used these threats to make other countries pay Malaria.
Because of this, Malaria became a dark place where evil was celebrated. Every year, there's an Evil Science Fair. In this fair, inventions fight each other. The fights are shown all over the world. Evil scientists are treated like celebrities. But people with hunchbacks are called "Igor" and are treated as less important. They usually work as helpers for the scientists.
Igor's Big Dream
One Igor (John Cusack) is different. He is a very smart inventor. He wants to become an evil scientist himself. His best inventions are his friends. One is Scamper (Steve Buscemi), an immortal rabbit. The other is Brain (Sean Hayes), a robot with a human brain in a jar. Igor has to keep his inventing a secret. If he doesn't, he could be sent to the Igor recycling plant. His master, Doctor Glickenstein (John Cleese), is not very good at inventing.
Meanwhile, another evil scientist, Dr. Schadenfreude (Eddie Izzard), is very popular. He wins many Evil Science Fairs. But he actually cheats. He steals inventions from other scientists before the fair. His girlfriend, Jaclyn (Jennifer Coolidge), can change her shape to help him. Dr. Schadenfreude wants to take over from King Malbert and rule Malaria.
Eva's Journey
One day, Glickenstein's "girlfriend" Heidi visits. She is actually Jaclyn in disguise, trying to steal his plans. Igor dreams of having a girlfriend too. Glickenstein ignores Igor's advice to use better parts for his new rocket. The rocket breaks and explodes, and Glickenstein is gone.
At the same time, King Malbert arrives. He wants Glickenstein to create an invention to beat Schadenfreude. Malbert fears Schadenfreude's popularity. Igor bravely tells the king that Glickenstein is creating life. The king is very happy. He says such an invention would make its creator the greatest evil scientist ever. After the king leaves, Igor tells Scamper and Brain his secret project. He plans to create a huge monster from human parts.
With help from Brain and Scamper, Igor builds the giant monster. He adds an "evil bone" to make it completely evil. At first, it seems like his experiment failed. But then, the monster comes to life. It turns out to be a female monster. She escapes and they find her playing with blind orphans. She is very sweet and kind.
Dr. Schadenfreude sneaks into Glickenstein's castle. He finds out Glickenstein is gone. He also discovers Igor's living monster. He believes this monster will help him become king.
Igor brings the giant monster back to the castle with flowers she likes. He realizes the evil bone didn't work. The monster is sweet and gentle, not evil. Igor tries to make her evil by telling her to kill a fly. But she catches it and lets it go outside. Igor tries to convince her she is evil. But she thinks he is giving her a name, "Eva."
Igor tries to make Eva evil by taking her to a brainwashing salon. Brain also gets his brain cleaned. He breaks the TV remote in Eva's room. He tries to change the channel but accidentally changes it from horror movies to a talk show about acting. Eva watches the show for hours. When she leaves, she can speak well and wants to be an actress.
The Big Science Fair
Igor takes Eva back to the castle, feeling like a failure. On the way, Schadenfreude chases them. He tries to steal Eva using a shrink ray. But he accidentally shrinks himself instead. Igor and his friends almost drive off a cliff. But Eva saves them all, showing she cares about all life. Brain then admits he changed Eva's TV channel. Igor gets angry and tries to hit Brain with an axe. Eva asks what they are doing. Scamper jokes that they are practicing for a play. Eva believes them and thinks they are performers.
Igor then gets an idea. He will show Eva at the science fair. He lies to her, saying the fair is an "Annie" audition. While helping Eva with the "play," Igor starts to like her. Eva tries to tell Igor that being good is always better than being evil.
Dr. Schadenfreude takes Igor to his home. He tries to force Igor to give him Eva. He threatens to tell King Malbert that Glickenstein is gone. Igor escapes. But it's too late. Schadenfreude tells the King about Igor. The King sends Igor to an "Igor Recycling Plant." Schadenfreude tricks Eva into coming with him. He has Heidi (who is Jaclyn in disguise) pretend to kiss Igor.
At the fair, Schadenfreude tricks Eva again. He makes her hit him, which activates her evil bone. She turns into a wild, destructive monster. She destroys all the evil inventions while singing "Tomorrow" from Annie. Brain and Scamper help Igor escape the plant. They learn that Malbert had caused the storm that ruined Malaria's crops. He did this so he could use his "Evil Inventions" plan to stay in power.
Igor rushes into the arena. He tries to talk to the angry Eva. Brain and Scamper turn off the weather ray. Eva roars at Igor. But then, sunlight shines on Malaria again. This turns off her evil bone forever, and she becomes sweet and gentle again.
A New Beginning
The crowd boos at Malbert for his bad actions. The damaged weather ray falls and crushes him. Dr. Schadenfreude tries to take power. But Eva embarrasses him. The country decides not to have a king anymore. Malaria becomes a republic, a country run by elected leaders. Igor becomes the president.
Schadenfreude becomes a pickle salesman. Jaclyn, who is revealed to be a female Igor, becomes a pretzel saleswoman. She starts to have feelings for Schadenfreude's Igor. The annual science fair becomes an annual musical theatre show. Igor tells Eva he plans to build a dog. Eva says they will just adopt one if it doesn't work out. Igor and Eva live happily together, and Malaria becomes a better place.
Who's Who in the Cast
- John Cusack as Igor, a short hunchback who wants to be an evil scientist.
- Molly Shannon as Eva, the ugly but sweet monster Igor creates. She wants to be an actress and is like Frankenstein’s Monster.
- Steve Buscemi as Scamper, an immortal rabbit.
- Sean Hayes as Brain, a not-so-smart human brain in a jar. Scamper sometimes calls him "Brian" to tease him.
- Jennifer Coolidge as Jaclyn/Heidi, Dr. Schadenfreude's girlfriend who can change her shape. She helps him steal inventions.
- Eddie Izzard as Dr. Schadenfreude, a cheating but showy rival scientist. He takes credit for other scientists' inventions.
- Jay Leno as King Malbert.
- Arsenio Hall as Carl Cristall, an invisible talk show host.
- Christian Slater as Dr. Schadenfreude's Igor.
- John Cleese as Dr. Glickenstein, Igor's master who is not very smart.
- Paul Vogt as Buzz Offmann.
- James Lipton as Himself.
- Jess Harnell as Announcer, Royal Guard #2.
The Music of Igor
The film's music was created by Patrick Doyle. He met the director, Tony Leondis, in 2007. Leondis showed Doyle the film without music and some drawings. Doyle was very excited about the project.
The music for Igor has many different styles. This is because there are different themes for each character. For example, Eva's theme uses a piano concerto style. Dr. Schadenfreude's theme has a tango feel. Leondis asked Doyle to give the music a "slightly eastern feel." He suggested looking at the works of composers like Bela Bartok. The dark, Gothic parts of the music were made using choir sounds. The soundtrack also includes five songs by Louis Prima. The official soundtrack was released on September 30, 2008. The song "Pocketful of Sunshine" by Natasha Bedingfield was played during the end credits of the movie. However, it was not included on the soundtrack album.
Images for kids
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Igor writer Chris McKenna came up with the idea of a twist on scientist horror films in 1998.
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Igor premiered at the Grauman's Chinese Theatre on September 13, 2008.
See also
In Spanish: Igor (película) para niños
