Open Season (2006 film) facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Open Season
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Roger Allers Jill Culton
Produced by	Michelle Murdocca
Screenplay by	Steve Bencich Ron J. Friedman Nat Mauldin
Story by	Jill Culton Anthony Stacchi
Starring	Martin Lawrence Ashton Kutcher Gary Sinise Debra Messing Billy Connolly Jon Favreau Georgia Engel Jane Krakowski Gordon Tootoosis Patrick Warburton
Music by	Paul Westerberg (songs) Ramin Djawadi (score)
Editing by	Pamela Ziegenhagen-Shefland
Distributed by	Columbia Pictures (Sony Pictures Releasing)
Release date(s)	September 29, 2006 (2006-09-29) (United States) October 13, 2006 (2006-10-13) (United Kingdom)
Running time	86 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$85 million
Money made	$200.8 million

Open Season is a 2006 American computer-animated comedy film, directed by Roger Allers and Jill Culton from a screenplay by Steve Bencich, Ron J. Friedman, and Nat Mauldin. The film stars the voices of Martin Lawrence, Ashton Kutcher, Gary Sinise, Debra Messing, Billy Connolly, Jon Favreau, Georgia Engel, Jane Krakowski, Gordon Tootoosis, and Patrick Warburton. Its plot follows Boog, a domesticated grizzly bear who teams up with a one-antlered deer named Elliot and other woodland animals to defeat human hunters.

Open Season was produced by Sony Pictures Animation as its debut film, and was released to theaters by Columbia Pictures under Sony Pictures Releasing on September 29, 2006. It has also been released in the IMAX 3D format. A video game for the film was released on multiple platforms.

Despite receiving mixed reviews from film critics, the film was positively welcomed from audiences and was a box office success, earning $200.8 million on an $85 million budget and was followed by three direct-to-video sequels: Open Season 2 (2008), Open Season 3 (2010), and Open Season: Scared Silly (2015).

Plot

In the small town of Timberline, a 900-pound (408 kg) grizzly bear named Boog enjoys a captive but luxurious existence and spends his days as the star attraction of the town's nature show, while at night living in the garage of park ranger Beth, who has raised Boog since he was a cub. One day, the cold-hearted hunting fanatic Shaw drives into Timberline with a one-antlered deer named Elliot strapped to the hood of his truck, who is unconscious after being hit by the truck. After Boog frees him, the deer follows Boog home, only to find Boog sleeping comfortably in the garage. To wake Boog up, Elliot throws rabbits at the window. He tells Boog to be "free" from his garage captivity and introduces him to a world of sweet temptations he has never known. When Boog becomes sick from eating too many candy bars, events quickly spiral out of control, as the two raid a convenience store. Elliot escapes before Boog is caught by a friend of Beth's, Sheriff Gordy. At the nature show, Elliot, being chased by Shaw, sees Boog and goes to him for help, but wanting nothing to do with him after their previous encounter, Boog tries to get rid of him. The audience sees and mistakes him for attacking Elliot and they go into panic.

Shaw attempts to shoot Boog and Elliot, but Beth sedates both animals with a tranquilizer gun just before Shaw fires his own gun. Shaw flees before Gordy can arrest him. Realizing that Boog is too threatening in the town, Beth relocates him and Elliot into the Timberline National Forest, only two days before open season starts, but they are relocated above the waterfalls, where they will be safe from the hunters. Since he lacks any outdoor survival skills, Boog reluctantly takes Elliot as his unstable guide to get him back home to Timberline to reunite with Beth, but in the woods, they quickly learn that animals can be extremely unwelcoming. Boog runs into his share of forest animals, who think he’s a loser. They consists of skunks, Maria and Rosie, ducks, Serge and Deni, various unnamed panic-stricken rabbits, the Scottish-accented squirrel, McSquizzy, along with his loyal gang, Reilly, a beaver and his construction worker team, a porcupine named Buddy that is in search of a friend, and the herd of deer led by Ian and Giselle, with whom Elliot is in love with.

Eventually, Boog learns about self-reliance and Elliot gains self-confidence, and they start to become friends. The next day, it is revealed that Elliot has absolutely no idea where he and Boog are going and has been leading Boog in a big circle. After accidentally causing a flood at Reilly's dam, Boog and Elliot are confronted by Shaw; Boog rescues his toy bear, Dinkleman, before the current makes the doll float out of Boog's paw. They end up in a waterfall, which sends the animals falling down into the hunting grounds. After thinking Shaw is dead, at first all the animals are furious at Boog, but then he accuses Elliot of lying to him about knowing where Timberline is. Boog angrily storms off, but unwittingly ends up in Shaw's log cabin, where he is discovered by Shaw, who is revealed to have survived, and pursues him to the city road where Boog happens upon the glowing lights of Timberline. Instead of deserting the animals, Boog reconciles with Elliot and helps the animals defend themselves, while befriending them in the process, using supplies taken from an RV owned by a caring married couple named Bob and Bobbie, who are looking for Bigfoot, while their pet dachshund Mr. Weenie joins the forest animals.

The next day, Boog leads a revolution against the hunters, causing the hunters to retreat in defeat after McSquizzy blows up their trucks with a propane tank ignited by using an emergency flare. Shaw returns for a final showdown and seemingly kills Elliot by gun shot, prompting Boog to furiously confront Shaw and quickly overpower him by tying him up with his own gun. Boog accompanies Elliot, who survived but his remaining antler is broken off by the shot. The forest animals thank Boog for his help and then proceed to take out their vengeance on Shaw by smothering him with honey and pillow feathers and sending him fleeing into the woods. Beth later returns in a helicopter to take Boog back home. Realizing how the experience has changed him, Boog decides to stay in the forest with his new friends under Beth's blessing.

In a mid-credits scene, while crossing the street, Shaw suddenly gets struck by Bob and Bobbie, who humorously mistake him for Bigfoot and strap him on top of their trailer.

Voice cast

Video game

A video game based on the film was released on September 18, 2006, for PlayStation 2, Xbox, Xbox 360, Nintendo DS, Nintendo Gamecube, Game Boy Advance, PlayStation Portable, and Microsoft Windows. For Wii, it was released on November 19, 2006, together with the console's launch.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack includes an original film score by Ramin Djawadi and several original songs by Paul Westerberg, formerly of The Replacements. Rolling Stone gave the film's soundtrack three stars out of five, as did Allmusic.

Track list:

All music composed by Paul Westerberg, except as noted.

Open Season—Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (10″ LP) includes two songs that did not appear on the soundtrack CD: an alternative version of "I Belong" and a Paul Westerberg's version of "Wild as I Wanna Be".

Charts

Sequels

Open Season was followed by three direct-to-video sequels: Open Season 2 (2008), Open Season 3 (2010), and Open Season: Scared Silly (2015).

Images for kids

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  Roger Allers and Jill Culton, the directors of the film, at the 34th Annie Awards

See also

In Spanish: Open Season para niños