Milo (Seth Green), Gribble (Dan Fogler) and Ki (Elisabeth Harnois) in MARS NEEDS MOMS, a film by Simon Wells. Copyright © ImageMovers Digital LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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Mars Needs Moms (2011)
Opened: 03/11/2011 Wide
| Wide | 03/11/2011 | |
| Georgetown 14 | 03/11/2011 - 04/14/2011 | 35 days |
| AMC Empire 25 | 03/11/2011 - 04/07/2011 | 28 days |
| AMC Loews Meth... | 03/11/2011 - 04/07/2011 | 28 days |
| Village East | 03/11/2011 - 03/31/2011 | 21 days |
| Showcase Cinem... | 03/11/2011 - 03/31/2011 | 21 days |
| AMC Deer Valley | 03/11/2011 - 03/31/2011 | 21 days |
| Columbia Park ... | 03/11/2011 - 03/31/2011 | 21 days |
| DVD | 08/09/2011 |
Trailer: Click for trailers
Genre: Animated Sci-Fi/Comedy
Rated: PG for sci-fi action and peril.
Synopsis
Take out the trash, eat your broccoli--who needs moms, anyway? Nine-year-old Milo (Seth Green) finds out just how much he needs his mom (Joan Cusack) when she's nabbed by Martians who plan to steal her mom-ness for their own young. Produced by the team behind "Disney's A Christmas Carol" and "The Polar Express," "Mars Needs Moms" showcases Milo's quest to save his mom--a wild adventure in Disney Digital 3D™ and IMAX® 3D that involves stowing away on a spaceship, navigating an elaborate, multi-level planet and taking on the alien nation and their leader (Mindy Sterling). With the help of a tech-savvy, underground earthman named Gribble (Dan Fogler) and a rebel Martian girl called Ki (Elisabeth Harnois), Milo just might find his way back to his mom--in more ways than one.
Directed by Simon Wells ("The Time Machine," "The Prince of Egypt"), the film also stars Kevin Cahoon as Wingnut and Tom Everett Scott as Dad. The screenplay is by Wells and Wendy Wells based on the book by Berkeley Breathed. The film is produced by Robert Zemeckis, Jack Rapke, Steve Starkey and Steven Boyd. Additional members of the creative team are production designer Doug Chiang ("Disney's A Christmas Carol," "The Polar Express"), editor Wayne Wahrman ("I Am Legend," "Charlie's Angels"), director of photography Robert Presley ("The Polar Express," "Beowulf") and composer John Powell ("How To Train Your Dragon," "Shrek," "The Bourne Identity").
About the Film
Famed cartoonist Berkeley Breathed was moved to write the book that inspired the film after an eventful dinner at home. "One night my son Milo threw his broccoli into the air and stormed from the table--a scene depicted with more civility in the movie," says Breathed. "Upon leaving, he said something about his mother too vile to repeat here--which would only result in expensive therapy later if he ever remembered. From out of nowhere came my next line: 'You might think differently about your mom if she were kidnapped by Martians.' I spun on my heels and wrote the book that night. The rest is Disney history."
ImageMovers Digital and the Disney team embraced the project, tapping Simon Wells to direct and co-write the script with wife Wendy Wells. The film follows in the footsteps of ImageMovers Digital's roster of well-received family fare, "The Polar Express" and "Monster House," bringing the story to the big screen via performance capture. The technique digitally captures the performances of the actors with computerized cameras in a full 360 degrees, allowing filmmakers to transport audiences to Mars--and back--creating elaborate out-of-this-world settings and characters while capitalizing on the expert performances of the cast.
"This film has an amazing center to it which is the mother's love for the child and the child's realization about that love," says Wells. "And that really spoke to me. It spoke to my wife and writing partner, Wendy. And we built the whole thing around that central moment, which was the whole reason why Berkeley wrote the original book in the first place."
Filmmakers decided to expand the reach of the book when it hit the big screen. "We wanted to age the characters up slightly," says Wells. "And we realized we were going to spend much longer on Mars. So you travel around an alien world, meet new beings and see the different aspects of that world. You're shot at and chased and you discover things. You get to experience environments that you would never in your normal lives get to see. You get to travel on a huge heroic journey in pursuit of the noblest cause of all, which is to save your mum because you love her."
Trailers
