UglyDolls (film)

UglyDolls is a 2019 American computer-animated musical comedy film directed by Kelly Asbury and written by Alison Peck, from a story by Robert Rodriguez, who also produced. It is based on the plush toys of the same name, and follows a group of them as they try to find embracing from the real world despite their flaws. The film stars the voices of Kelly Clarkson, Nick Jonas, Janelle Monáe, Pitbull, Blake Shelton, Wanda Sykes, Gabriel Iglesias, Wang Leehom, Emma Roberts, Bebe Rexha, Charli XCX, and Lizzo.

UglyDolls was theatrically released in the United States on May 3, 2019, by STX Entertainment, the first computer-animated feature to be produced by the company. The film received generally negative reviews, with critics calling it "well-meaning but derivative".

Plot
In a hidden universe, dolls are given anthropomorphism and are chosen for a single special kid. However, dolls that are deformed get thrown into the remote town of Uglyville, where everyone is happy and at peace. Among the dolls in Uglyville is an idealistic and optimistic doll named Moxy (Kelly Clarkson), who dreams of the 'Big World' and getting chosen to be with a child, despite the fact that Uglyville's Mayor Ox (Blake Shelton) keeps on telling her that it is a myth. After inadvertently getting advice from the shy village 'wiseman' Lucky Bat (Wang Leehom), she decides to enter the hole where new Ugly Dolls are dropped off from to see if it leads to the Big World with the help of Lucky Bat and her other friends, easy-going Ugly Dog (Pitbull), cynical baker Wage (Wanda Sykes), and strong, soft-spoken Babo (Gabriel Iglesias). Going through the tunnel, Moxy and her friends soon end up at the Institute of Perfection where human-like dolls go through a series of tests, called the Gauntlet, to be with their perfect child. The Institute's leader, a suave yet superficial perfect doll named Lou (Nick Jonas), soon meets the Ugly Dolls but states that they cannot participate in the Gauntlet since they fall short of the standards needed for it, but Moxy's optimism coerces Lou to let them participate. As they settle in one of the institute dorms, they are visited and befriended by another perfect doll named Mandy (Janelle Monae), who is more accepting of the Ugly Dolls and has poor eyesight, but she refuses to wear glasses to be labelled as 'imperfect'. The Ugly Dolls' first day of training for the Gauntlet ends up disastrous as they are constantly put in a small washing machine for the slightest of messes. Eventually, they decide to try and dress up like the perfect dolls to have a better chance at going to the Big World. Lou sends the Spy Girls, a trio of ruthless female perfect dolls consisting of Tuesday (Bebe Rexha), Kitty (Charli XCX), and Lydia (Lizzo), to kidnap Ox and make him confess that he and Lou used to be friends who trained for the Gauntlet until apparently Ox fell short of the standards, resulting in him being banished to Uglyville and making him decide to keep the Big World a secret from his fellow Ugly Dolls to protect them from being judged since they were rejected from going to the Big World. Moxy, completely demoralized, decides to abandon her quest for the Big World and return to Uglyville.

Back at Uglyville, every Ugly Doll has become demoralized after the events of Moxy's adventure is disseminated. As Moxy decides to resign herself to a lifetime of sadness and self-loathing, Mandy visits her and convinces her that it doesn't matter what Lou says about her or any other Ugly doll since she believed that there was a child for her in the Big World. With her confidence renewed, Moxy decides to be in the Gauntlet after all, but she and Mandy are kidnapped by the Spy Girls on orders from Lou to put them in a recycling bin underneath Uglyville, which is basically a death trap. As Moxy and Mandy try to escape, the rest of the Ugly Dolls come to their rescue and they head to the institute to compete in the Gauntlet, much to the surprise (and chagrin) of Lou. As the Ugly Dolls advanced through the challenges Lou repeatedly tries to sabotage Moxy and make her avoid crossing the finish line, to no success. As they near the finish line, Lou upsets a robotic baby who only wishes to play with him, prompting an empathetic Moxy to forgo finishing the competition to comfort the baby. Even though Lou crosses the finish line, Moxy is dubbed the winner for making a child happy, which is a doll's true purpose. An attack from a robotic dog reveals that Lou is actually a 'prototype', which isn't supposed to go to the 'Big World' and he was the reason all of the Ugly Dolls were considered rejects. As punishment for his actions against the Ugly Dolls, he is sent to the same washing machine that he tormented Moxy and her friends with. Afterwards, the Ugly Dolls and the Perfect Dolls make peace and merge their hometowns to create the town of Imperfection. Moxy finally gets to go through a portal and is put into the arms of her special kid, who is revealed to have a similar facial imperfection as she does, much to her elation.

Cast

 * Kelly Clarkson as Moxy, the leader of the group. She has insatiable curiosity, limitless confidence, and the ability to make others feel great about exactly who they are, but she's also looking for something more.
 * Janelle Monáe as Mandy, a lonely perfect doll who befriends the UglyDolls.
 * Nick Jonas as Louis "Lou", the mean and preppy leader from the town of Perfection.
 * Blake Shelton as Ox, the Unofficial Mayor of Uglyville and a mentor to all of the other UglyDolls who is a former friend of Lou.
 * Pitbull as Ugly Dog, a one-eyed dog and Moxy's closest friend.
 * Wanda Sykes as Wage, a baker by trade who can be frequently found cooking up some amazing and inventive culinary concoctions.
 * Wang Leehom as Lucky Bat, a wise and thoughtful bat-like adviser, but he's a little insecure about his abilities.
 * Gabriel Iglesias as Babo, the largest, soft-spoken, and handiest of the UglyDolls.
 * Emma Roberts as Wedgehead, the newest citizen of Uglyville.
 * Bebe Rexha as Tuesday, a perfect doll and one of the Spy Girls that works for Lou.
 * Charli XCX as Kitty, a perfect doll and one of the Spy Girls that works for Lou.
 * Lizzo as Lydia, a perfect doll and one of the Spy Girls that works for Lou.
 * Ice-T as Peggy
 * Laura Nicole Harrison as Jumbotron
 * Jane Lynch as Scanner, Electronic Voice
 * Kelly Asbury as Gibberish Cat, Oliver, Chef, Buttons
 * Natalie Martinez as Meghan
 * Stephen Zimpel as Michael
 * Enrique Santos as Nolan
 * Rob Riggle as Exposition Robot
 * Steven Schweickart as New Arrival
 * Afi Ekulona as Tray
 * Jacques Colimon as Sporko

Production
In May 2011, it was announced that Illumination had acquired the rights to Uglydolls to make an animated feature film. Chris Meledandri was set to produce, with a screenplay from Larry Stuckey. The original creators, David Horvath and Sun-Min Kim, were set to executive produce. Four years later, in 2015, Variety magazine reported that an animated film based on Uglydolls would be the first project produced by STX Entertainment's new "family and animation" division. On March 28, 2017, Robert Rodriguez signed on to direct, write, and produce the film, with a release date set for May 10, 2019. Animation is being provided by Reel FX Creative Studios.

In March 2018, it was announced that the voice of rapper Pitbull would be featured in the film for an unknown role, and he would also provide an original song for the film. In May 2018, it was announced that Kelly Asbury had signed on to direct the feature film. In July 2018, another singer Kelly Clarkson joined the voice cast of the film as the voice of Moxy, and will provide an original song for the film In August 2018, Nick Jonas joined the voice cast of the film, and he would also perform an original song for the film. In September 2018, comedians Wanda Sykes and Gabriel Iglesias joined the film. On September 20, 2018, it was announced that country music singer Blake Shelton had joined the film, and will voice Ox, as well as performing original music. In October 2018, it was announced that Janelle Monáe and Emma Roberts had been cast in the film.

Music
The film features original music from Kelly Clarkson, Nick Jonas, Blake Shelton, Janelle Monáe, Bebe Rexha, Pentatonix, Anitta, and Why Don't We. The musical score is composed by Christopher Lennertz while songs are written by Lennertz and Glenn Slater. The film's soundtrack was released by Atlantic Records.

Clarkson's track "Broken & Beautiful" was released prior to the album, on March 27, 2019, as the soundtrack's lead single. Anitta's track "Ugly" was also released prior to the album's release, including a Portuguese version titled "Feia" not featured on the album.

Release
UglyDolls was initially scheduled to be released on May 10, 2019, but was later moved up a week to May 3, in order to avoid competition with Pokémon: Detective Pikachu.

Box office
In the United States and Canada, UglyDolls was released alongside The Intruder and Long Shot, and is projected to gross $12–14 million from 3,600 theaters in its opening weekend. The film made $300,000 from Thursday night previews.

Critical response
The film holds an approval rating of 36% based on 42 reviews, and an average rating of 4.51/10 on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes. The website's critical consensus reads, "Very young viewers may be entertained by UglyDolls, if only because they're less likely to recognize the many familiar elements in its affirmative yet formulaic story." Metacritic assigned the film a weighted average score of 39 out of 100, based on 17 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.

Owen Gleiberman of Variety magazine said that "the sincerity with which UglyDolls pits unblemished conformity against ungainly soul is touching — and, yes, instructive — in all the right ways." Conversely, Jesse Hassenger of The AV Club gave the film a grade C- and writes: "Like their Troll ancestors, the UglyDolls combine an evergreen cuteness with a why-now lack of currency."