The Lego Unikitty! Movie (2021 film)

Unikitty: The Movie is an upcoming American-Danish 3D hand-drawn animated fantasy comedy film produced by Warner Animation Group, RatPac Entertainment, The Lego Group, Lin Pictures, Lord Miller Productions, and Vertigo Entertainment and it was distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures.

Plot
As ruler of the kingdom, Unikitty has busy days full of royal responsibilities. Unikitty is most interested in making sure everyone is happy and ridding the kingdom of negativity, but don’t misunderstand her optimism – she is one kitty/unicorn hybrid not to be crossed. While she may be full of boundless energy and creativity, Unikitty is a force to be reckoned with if anyone gets in the way of spreading her positive vibes, especially if anyone makes her little brother and best friend, Puppycorn, sad. Also living in the castle are Dr. Fox, the resident scientist, Unikitty’s trusty bodyguard, Hawkodile, and Richard, a 1x3 grey Lego Brick. Through it all, Unikitty and her friends make sure that every day is the happiest and most creative ever.

Characters

 * Princess Unikitty (voiced by Tara Strong) - The princess of the Unikingdom who is a cat/unicorn hybrid. Alison Brie provided her voice for the character in the original film. She is very happy, playful and upbeat, but has an angry side that she sometimes struggles to control.
 * Prince Puppycorn (voiced by Grey Griffin) - Unikitty’s younger brother, a dog/unicorn hybrid. He is sometimes clueless and dimwitted, but is also loyal, good-hearted and his sister's best friend.
 * Dr. Fox (voiced by Kate Micucci) - The castle’s resident scientist, whose experiments and inventions can both create and resolve problems.
 * Hawkodile (voiced by Roger Craig Smith) - Unikitty’s trusty hawk/crocodile hybrid bodyguard who has a "macho" personality and appears to have a crush on Dr. Fox.
 * Richard (also voiced by Roger Craig Smith) - A grey 1x3 Lego brick who is Unikitty's royal advisor and castle caretaker. He speaks with a dull monotone voice and is often the voice of reason, though the others find him boring to listen to.
 * Master Frown (voiced by Eric Bauza) - The villain and enemy of Unikitty. He is one of the Doom Lords that spread pain and misery throughout the world. This often causes him to suffer the wrath of Unikitty, who wants to spread fun and joy.
 * Brock (voiced by H. Michael Croner) - Master Frown's close friend and roommate.

Production
Warner Animation Group had already begun the process of starting development of movies with budgets of around $150 million. The intellectual property for these films was meant to be supplied by Warner Bros. Animation, Hanna-Barbera (Warner Bros. Animation's in-name only division), Cartoon Network and Turner Entertainment (also both Time-Warner divisions) among others and included The Flintstones, The Jetsons, Scooby-Doo, Samurai Jack, Adventure Time, Cow and Chicken, and more, and of course, Codename: Kids Next Door. Cartoon Network had been approaching the original crew from the television series to make a high-profile, animated theatrical feature-length film adaptation and had long wanted to partner with Warner Bros. Pictures to release a Unikitty film given the network's extraordinary legacy in the world of animation, including some of the most enduring characters on cable television history.

Creators Phil Lord and Christopher Miller agreed to make a feature film version of the show with the promise it would be the first of a planned trilogy. During development stages of the film, he and his co-writer and co-producer Dan Lin intended to revisit some of the greatest films of the time, with Scarface and The Dark Knight having the core inspirations for the film.

Animation
The feature animation was handled by Snipple Animation Studios in Manila, the Phillipines. The crew used the same processes from the original television series in the making of the film, most notably the 'skroutlines', which was a seamless blend of a more traditional screenplay with a more simple outline which resembled strong short stories and gave the storyboard artists such as Kelsy Abbott, Mike Olsen, Aaron Preacher, Chad Quandt, Ed Skudder, Aaron Waltke, and Lynn Wang all the creative and aesthetic freedom neccessary. Dan Lin, Phil Lord and Christopher Miller themselves provided the film's animatics.

Famed comic book artists Ed Skudder, Aaron Waltke, and Lynn Wang and animation veterans William Reiss, Careen Ingle, Casey Alexander and Brock Gallagher also provided the film's storyboards. Dan Lin helped on the character designs and special effects work on the film. Another animation producer William Reiss also worked with Christopher Miller on the character designs of the film. Pencilled key animation sequences would be digitally inked-and-painted, enhanced and composited into backgrounds using Toon Boom Harmony.

Additional pre-production work was done at Warner Bros. Animation in Burbank, California where the series' pilot episode was produced. Animation was done at Snipple's facilities on Manila, Philippines.

The final animation was also provided by Wang Film Productions Co., Ltd. in Taipei, Taiwan, HGN Produções in Sao Paulo, Brazil, A.Film in Copenhagen, Denmark, Terryglyph Productions in Dublin, Ireland, Yowza! Animation in Toronto, Canada, Sunwoo Entertainment in Seoul, South Korea, July Films in Los Angeles, California, USA, Toon City Animation in the Philippines, SPA Animagic and Estudio Moro in Madrid, Spain and Neomis Animation in Paris, France.

Sound & Music
Nick Keller composed the soundtrack for the film with Thomas Newman and Brian Tyler serving as the soundtrack producers. In addition to using the original series on the film, he also composed themes for each Unikitty operative. Unikitty's awesome score was the major focus and he also composed themes for Unikitty, Puppycorn, Dr Fox, Richard, and the others. The music score was recorded at Warner Bros. soundstages in Burbank and mixed at Remote Control Productions in Santa Monica and and there was also music recorded at Abbey Road Studios in London, England, United Kingdom.

The sound design work was done at Skywalker Sound in Marin County, California and Warner Bros. Animation in Burbank, California.

Credits

 * Unikitty! The Movie/Credits