The Croods: A New Age
The Croods: A New Age is a 2020 American animated adventure comedy film produced by DreamWorks Animation. It is the sequel to The Croods, and was directed by Joel Crawford, and written by Paul Fisher, Bob Logan, and Dan and Kevin Hageman. Nicolas Cage, Emma Stone, Ryan Reynolds, Catherine Keener, Clark Duke, and Cloris Leachman reprise their roles from the original film, with Leslie Mann, Peter Dinklage, and Kelly Marie Tran joining the cast. The film follows the Croods, Guy, and their pets Belt, Chunky, and Douglas as they discover an idyllic, walled-in paradise that meets all of their needs. However, they must also learn to live with the Bettermans, a family a couple of steps above the Croods on the evolutionary ladder.
The sequel was first announced in April 2013, with directors Chris Sanders and Kirk DeMicco returning to helm the film. Its development continued through 2014 and 2015 until its cancellation in November 2016 due to doubts in response to NBCUniversal's August 2016 acquisition of DreamWorks Animation. However, the project was revived in September 2017, with Crawford replacing Sanders and DeMicco as directors in the following month, though they retain story credit. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, most of the animating process was done from the crew's homes.
The Croods: A New Age was theatrically released in the United States on November 25, 2020, by Universal Pictures. It grossed $215 million against its $65 million budget and received mixed reviews, with critics calling it "a decent-enough follow-up". The film was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Animated Feature Film.
Plot
The Croods, Guy, and their pets Chunky and Douglas roam their new homeland, fighting off dangerous creatures as they look for a place to permanently settle. Grug, the family patriarch, is increasingly concerned about the budding romance between Guy and his daughter, Eep, fearing they might leave the rest of the family behind.The Croods' journey takes an unexpected turn when Grug discovers a massive wall and leads the family over it into a paradise-like land on the other side. They are quickly captured by the land's owners, Phil and Hope Betterman, modern humans who were friends with Guy's late parents and are now technologically advanced. They release the Croods, but behave condescendingly towards them. Believing that Guy would be better off with them, Phil and Hope devise a plan to get him to leave Eep and the Croods.
Grug's time with the Bettermans becomes uncomfortable. As Phil takes him into his man cave, a sauna, he is manipulated by Phil who believes that Guy should stay with them while Eep stays with her family. Hope also tries to manipulate Ugga, Grug's wife, but fails, and Grug and Ugga consider leaving. Eep discovers that Phil and Hope's daughter, Dawn, has never been outside the walls. Eep persuades Dawn to escape with her for a joyride using Chunky, but their adventure goes awry, leaving them both disheveled. Upon their return, Guy scolds Eep for her recklessness, leading to a falling out between them.
During dinner, tensions escalate, and Grug accidentally reveals some of his conversations with Phil. Fed up with the Bettermans' condescension towards their differences, the Croods decide to leave, while Guy opts to stay behind. However, their departure is disrupted by Punch Monkeys, who are angry for not having the bananas that Phil usually provides as a daily offering due to Grug and Ugga having eaten all of them. The Punch Monkeys capture Grug, Phil, and Guy, taking them to their lair, while the remaining Croods and Bettermans follow their scent.
At the lair, it is revealed that one of Phil's irrigation projects deprived the Monkeys of their water supply; the monkeys demanded the bananas as repayment because they needed extra food to offer to a monstrous Spiny Mandrilla to maintain their peace with it. Meanwhile, the remaining Croods and Bettermans lose the boys' scent and find themselves marooned in a frozen wasteland, where they encounter giant wolf spiders. Hope finally comes to terms with her prejudice against the Croods; she and the others accept each other as equals and decide to call themselves "The Thunder Sisters". They eventually locate Grug, Phil, and Guy just as the Punch Monkeys prepare to sacrifice them to the Spiny Mandrilla. Guy and Eep reconcile and use a giant skull chandelier to knock the Spiny Mandrilla into a chasm, where it plummets to its death while the two families escape.
With their differences resolved, the Bettermans invite the Croods to live as neighbors on their land. Guy and Eep choose to share one of the Bettermans' bedrooms, and the Punch Monkeys become their next-door neighbors.
Voice cast
- Nicolas Cage as Grug Crood, a caveman and the patriarch of the Croods.
- Emma Stone as Eep Crood, a cavewoman, Grug's oldest daughter, and Guy's girlfriend.
- Ryan Reynolds as Guy, a caveman with an advanced modern mindset who lives with the Croods and is Eep's boyfriend.
- * Gabriel Jack voices a younger Guy.
- Catherine Keener as Ugga Crood, a cavewoman and Grug's wife.
- Cloris Leachman as Gran, an old cavewoman who is Ugga's mother and Eep, Thunk, and Sandy's grandmother.
- Clark Duke as Thunk Crood, a cave boy and Grug's son.
- Peter Dinklage as Phil Betterman, the patriarch of the Bettermans who had a history with Guy's parents.
- Leslie Mann as Hope Betterman, the matriarch of the Bettermans and Phil's wife.
- Kelly Marie Tran as Dawn Betterman, Phil and Hope's daughter and only child who befriends Eep and is Guy's old friend.
- Kailey Crawford as Sandy Crood, a cavegirl and Grug's 5-year-old daughter. Her vocal effects were previously performed by Randy Thom in the last movie.
- Chris Sanders as Belt, Guy's pet sloth.
- James Ryan as Sash, Dawn's pet sloth.
- Melissa Disney as Guy's mom, the unnamed mother of Guy who died in the rising tar pit.
- Joel Crawford as Guy's dad, the unnamed father of Guy who died in the rising tar pit.
- Januel Mercado as Shaman Monkey, the head of the Punch Monkeys.
- Ryan Naylor as Creepo Monkey, a creepy-eyed member of the Punch Monkeys.
- Artemis Pebdani as additional voices
Production
Development
In April 2013, DreamWorks announced a sequel to the film The Croods, with Chris Sanders and Kirk DeMicco set to return as directors and writers. According to DeMicco, the sequel would focus on Ugga and motherhood, making it "the first chapter of society," expanding on the first film, which he said is about "the last chapter of the caveman."On June 12, 2014, it was announced that the sequel would be released on November 3, 2017. On August 21, 2014, the film was pushed back to December 22, 2017. On August 9, 2016, nearing Comcast's impending acquisition of DreamWorks Animation, 20th Century Fox removed the film from the release schedule, with Blue Sky's Ferdiand taking over its release date. The film would instead be released by Universal Pictures, which would take over distribution once DreamWorks Animation's distribution deal with Fox expires in 2017, sometime in 2018. On August 23, 2016, it was reported that Kevin and Dan Hageman had been hired to rewrite the script.
On November 11, 2016, DreamWorks announced that production for the sequel was cancelled. According to reports, there had been doubts about proceeding with the project before NBCUniversal's acquisition of the studio, and DreamWorks decided to cancel the film. However, in September 2017, DreamWorks and Universal revealed that the film was back in production, with a release date scheduled for September 18, 2020. It was also revealed that both DeMicco and Sanders would not be returning. In October 2017, it was reported that Joel Crawford would replace them as director and Mark Swift would replace both the first film's producers, Jane Hartwell and Kristine Belson, as the producer of the film. Production of the film was shifted to work remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic.