Big City Greens the Movie: Spacecation
Cricket Green takes his family on a chaotic space farming adventure.
Big City Greens the Movie: Spacecation is a 2024 American animated science fiction musical comedy film based on the Disney Channel series Big City Greens. Directed by Anna O'Brian and written by Lacey Dyer, Julia Layton, Mike Yank, and Shane and Chris Houghton, the film follows Cricket Green as he leads his family into an experimental farming mission in space. The film premiered on Disney Channel on June 6, 2024, and was released on Disney+ the following day.
Quick Facts
- Director
- Anna O'Brian
- Executive producers
- Chris Houghton; Shane Houghton
- Producer
- Michael Coughlin
- Writer
- Lacey Dyer
- Julia Layton
- Mike Yank
- Shane Houghton
- Chris Houghton
- Genre
- Science fiction
- Musical
- Comedy
- Based on
- Big City Greens, The Houghton Brothers
- Music
- Joachim Horsley
- Company
- Disney Television Animation
Facts from the source article.
Plot
Cricket Green is disappointed that the Green family road trip will be identical to the previous year. While dropping off produce at BigTech, he discovers that Gwendolyn Zapp is building a farm on an asteroid and a space hotel, but only the wealthy can attend. When Zapp's farm bots malfunction, she asks the Greens to go into space; Bill refuses, but Cricket secretly agrees to farm the asteroid in exchange for a free hotel stay, convincing the family it is a simulator. They discover the truth when Bill is nearly sucked into space and is rescued by astronaut Colleen Voyd. Tilly befriends a small gooey creature that destroys glass, naming it Cookie. On the farm asteroid, the Greens are attacked by farm bots, forcing Tilly and Alice to release Voyd, who uses the only escape pod to send produce to Earth. They learn the robots can be shut off via an energy compound, but its destruction causes the silos to explode, dislodging the asteroid. Cricket and Bill argue over Cricket's ideas, leading Cricket to disown Bill before the compound explodes. On Earth, Nancy and Gloria confront Zapp, who reveals her space farming goal stems from wanting to gloat over her kindergarten teacher.
Production
Development of a Big City Greens musical film at Disney Television Animation was reported in January 2022, though the script had been written a year earlier. Series director Anna O'Brian returned to direct, with creators Chris and Shane Houghton executive-producing. The film stars the regular voice cast along with guest stars Cheri Oteri, Jack McBrayer, and Raven-Symoné reprising their series roles, and Renée Elise Goldsberry and Joe Lo Truglio voicing new characters; astronaut Scott Kelly appears as himself. The film was developed alongside the series, requiring the Houghtons to expand their crew. They initially considered a story with series antagonist Chip Whistler but chose a stand-alone plot to avoid alienating new viewers. They set the film primarily in space, feeling it fit the series' "fish out of water" themes, and visited NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory for research. Original songs were written during the COVID-19 lockdown.
Release and reception
Big City Greens the Movie: Spacecation premiered on Disney Channel on June 6, 2024, and on Disney+ the next day. The Disney Channel premiere drew 178,000 total viewers with a 0.06 rating, including 65,500 viewers aged 18–49; the Disney XD simulcast added 114,000 total viewers. Combined, the film garnered 292,000 viewers and a 0.07 rating among adults 18–49. Diondra Brown of Common Sense Media gave it 4 out of 5 stars, praising its humor and family themes. Tessa Smith of Mama's Geeky commended the story, writing, pacing, animation, and songs, calling it a blast for the whole family. Brian Orndoff of Blu-ray.com rated it 8 out of 10, praising the writing, humor, and voice performances. David Kaldor of Bubbleblabber also gave it 8 out of 10, highlighting its accessibility to new viewers and its writing.
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