Can of Worms (film)

Did You Know?

• Kathy Mackel contested for sole screenwriting credit on the script and won through the Writers Guild arbitration process.
• The film was shot in Vancouver, British Columbia.
• Prosthetic and animatronic effects were provided by Steve Johnson's XFX Group and Stargate Films, Inc.

Plot

Mike Pillsbury, a teenage boy, believes he is an alien and does not belong on Earth. After being injured during a football game, he hallucinates an alien and questions whether football is the right sport for him, though his father, a former football player, insists he stick with it. Mike is surprised when popular girl Katelyn Sandman asks for his help decorating for a Halloween dance party. His foe, Scott Schriebner, sabotages the light and music equipment at the party. Upset, Mike leaves and uses a satellite dish to send a message to outer space asking to be rescued; lightning then destroys the dish. The next day, an alien dog named Barnabus appears, speaking through a translating device. Barnabus explains that Mike's message has opened the stargate door, and that he represents a galactic organization specializing in disaster relief and rights violations, having arrived to answer Mike's plea. Barnabus warns that other aliens with ulterior motives are traveling through the stargate to find Mike. Mike later meets The Bom, an alien lawyer who wants him to sue Earth for millions of galactic credits, but Mike refuses after being disgusted by The Bom's eating habits. Barnabus tells Mike that his message signaled to the universe that Earth has advanced technologically, making it ineligible for intergalactic protection for primitive life. Mike accepts Barnabus's offer to take him away but first tries to make amends with Katelyn. The Loafer Alien prevents this, proposing to become Mike's agent and star him in a weekly television show, an offer Mike declines.

Cast

Michael Shulman plays Mike Pillsbury, Erika Christensen plays Katelyn Sandman, Adam Wylie plays Nick, and Andrew Ducote plays his younger brother Jay. Garrett M. Brown portrays Mike's father Dana Pillsbury, Lee Garlington plays his mother Pamela Pillsbury, and Brighton Hertford plays his younger sister Jill. Marcus Turner appears as Scott Schriebner, Mike's rival. Malcolm McDowell voices Barnabus, an alien resembling a dog. Bruce Lanoil voices The Bom, an alien lawyer, and Wally Wingert voices The Loafer Alien. David Coburn voices The Jarm, Tara Strong voices Lula, and Peter Kelamis voices an Intergalactic Cop.

Reception

In December 2015, Megan Daley of Entertainment Weekly ranked Can of Worms at number 25 on a list of the top 30 Disney Channel Original Movies, noting the Malcolm McDowell-voiced pup and a pre-Parenthood appearance by Erika Christensen. In May 2016, Aubrey Page of Collider placed the film at number 38 in a review of all Disney Channel Original Movies released up to that point, praising its surprisingly creepy alien creatures and the involvement of Paul Schneider, Mark Mothersbaugh and Malcolm McDowell, while stating the film is not good and that the creatures kept the reviewer awake in 1999.

Re-airing

The film was broadcast as part of Disney Channel's 2006 Hauntober Fest and reappeared on October 23, 2007 as part of the Halloween film line-up. It was included in Wiztober in 2008 and 2009, and re-aired on October 9, 2011 as part of Monstober, on October 6, 2015, and in May 2016 as part of a celebration of 100 Disney Channel Original Movies. The film was made available on Disney+.