THE EMOJI MOVIE || This summer, Sony Pictures Animation brings to you what is basically their equivalent of Pixar’s Inside Out. Instead of emotions living inside a little girl, however, the emotions are emojis that live inside a teenager’s cellphone. Hence the title: The Emoji Movie. The “Meh” emoji, who is voiced by T.J. Miller, makes the wrong expression and is banished to the lounge of the unused emojis. Determined to get back, he must venture across the phone world, through games like Candy Crush and against an evil emoji that wants to wipe them away. If all of this sounds familiar, it’s because Sony is basically copying other, better animated films, mostly from the likes of Disney and Pixar, with titles like Inside Out and Wreck-It Ralph coming to mind as the two major storylines being borrowed from.
That’s not to say the trailer doesn’t have some decent moments. The funniest bit features Gene (Miller) and Hi-5 (James Corden) coming out of Candy Crush and Hi-5 expressing he’ll never eat candy again… then vomits up a candy corn. Gene then tries to get Hi-5 not to eat the candy corn since it’s already been in his mouth once and with a slow movement, Hi-5 eats it again. Also, it seems like the Poop emojis (one voiced by Patrick Stewart) will provide much of the comedic relief.
It should be no real surprise why this feels like a Disney effort, as Tony Leondis, the director, comes from Disney, having directed Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch and worked on The Lion King II: Simba’s Pride, Home On The Range, and Kronk’s New Groove in different capacities. Leondis also directed Igor and the short film Kung Fu Panda: Secrets of the Masters. Anna Faris, Maya Rudolph, Rob Riggle, Jennifer Coolidge, Sofía Vergara, and Christina Aguilera all provide voices for different emojis.
Release Date: July 28, 2017
Directed By: Tony Leondis
Studio: Sony Pictures Animation
