Джимми Нейтрон: Мальчик-гений (Jimmy Neutron: Mal'chik-geniy)

2001 American computer animated film

Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius is a 2001 American animated science fiction comedy film produced by Nickelodeon Movies, O Entertainment and DNA Productions, and distributed by Paramount Pictures. The film was directed by John A. Davis and written by Davis and producer Steve Oedekerk. Its voice cast includes Debi Derryberry, Patrick Stewart, Martin Short, Rob Paulsen, and Jeffrey Garcia. The film follows the title character, a schoolboy with super genius intelligence, who must save all of the parents of his hometown from a race of egg like aliens known as the Yolkians. The idea for Jimmy Neutron was first conceived by Davis in the 1980s, in which he wrote a script for a short film titled Runaway Rocketboy and starring a prototype character for Jimmy named Johnny Quasar. After revisiting the abandoned script several years later, Davis decided to retool it as a computer animated short and potential TV series. A 40 second demo was animated using LightWave 3D and gained popularity at the 1995 SIGGRAPH convention, garnering the attention of Oedekerk and leading DNA Productions to develop an extended TV pilot. After a successful pitch to Nickelodeon, a 13 minute episode was produced, and Nickelodeon, impressed with both the character and the 3D technology, raised the possibility of making both a TV series and a full length feature film. Davis suggested that the film be made first, so that the production team could create the assets on a higher budget and reuse them in the TV series. Production officially began in early 2000 and was completed in roughly 24 months, with the studio considerably raising its staff count and expanding its studio space. Jimmy Neutron was the first computer animated film to be created entirely with off the shelf animation software, including LightWave and project:messiah. Backed by a strong pre release campaign, Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius was released on December 21, 2001, who builds a rocket ship and runs away from his parents. Davis stated in an episode of the Nickelodeon Animation Podcast that he initially wrote the concept with the intention of creating it as a live action film with special effects and matte shots, even going so far as to apply for a grant to fund the project, but found that getting such an investment was difficult since the film was not educational or informative. He cold called Davis requesting to see a tape of the full short. After watching the demo, as well as seeing the show bible which Davis and Alcorn had developed, Oedekerk expressed interest in helping to pitch their concept to different networks. After teaming up with O Entertainment, the company began working on developing a full length episode for a TV series, titled The Adventures of Johnny Quasar, writing an expanded version of the original Runaway Rocket story and tweaking aspects of Johnny's design to make him look more like a child. In Fall 1995, the idea was pitched to Nickelodeon, who expressed immediate interest in the idea. Albie Hecht, the then president of Nick, was particularly impressed, coining him to be "half Bart Simpson and half Albert Einstein," he strongly praised Johnny's blended personality as an adventurous and intelligent character and one grounded in the reality of childhood, which, according to him, made him "the perfect Nick kid". Production officially started in February 2000 under the direction of Davis. In order to speed up the pace of work for a feature film, the company's staff count was considerably increased from 30 to around 150 employees, and the studio's workspace was also reformed in order to fit such a team of filmmakers.

Jimmy Neutron was the first computer animated film to be created entirely using commercial animation programs rather than proprietary software, with most animation done using both Lightwave and project:messiah.

The movie soundtrack was released by Zomba Music, Jive Records, and Nick Records on November 20, 2001, a month prior to the film's release. It includes covers of DJ Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince's "Parents Just Don't Understand", Thomas Dolby's "She Blinded Me With Science", and Kim Wilde's "Kids In America".

Additionally, a promotional CD containing the score by John Debney was released for Academy Award consideration.

To promote the film, a series of shorts were created to air on Nickelodeon, with the first one premiering on February 5, 2001. The shorts were tied in with online games available on Nick's website. In September 2001, to further raise awareness of the film, Nick launched a series of "pranks" in which Jimmy Neutron would appear in episodes of shows – such as Rugrats and SpongeBob SquarePants – and mischievously alter them using an electronic zapping device. It was re released on DVD twice, on June 22, 2011, and April 25, 2017. The film received a Blu ray release on March 8, 2022.

Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius received generally positive reviews from critics and audiences. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of based on reviews, with an average rating of The critics' consensus reads: "What Jimmy Neutron lacks in computer animation, it makes up for in charm and cleverness." According to Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 65 out of 100 based on 21 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A " on an A+ to F scale. Rita Kempley of The Washington Post praised the film, saying that "this little charmer both celebrates and kids the corny conventions of family sitcoms". Nell Minow of Common Sense Media enjoyed the "stylish 3 D computer animation, good characters", giving the film 3 out of 5 stars. Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly gave this film a grade of "B+", calling it "a lickety split, madly packed, roller coaster entertainment that might almost have been designed to make you scared of how much smarter your kids are than you". Paul Tatara of CNN called the film "the most delightfully original children's film of 2001". Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun Times gave the film three stars out of four, saying that "it doesn't have the little in jokes that make Shrek and Monsters, Inc. fun for grown ups. But adults who appreciate the art of animation may enjoy the look of the picture".

The film was financially successful, grossing $13,833,228 on its opening weekend in third place behind The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring and Ocean's Eleven and ended up with a total of $80,936,232 domestically, and the film did better overseas grossing $22,056,304 which made a total of $102,992,536 worldwide. It had a budget of roughly $30 million. It is one of only twenty feature films to be released in over 3,000 theaters and still improve on its box office performance in its second weekend, increasing 8.7% from $13,832,786 to $15,035,649.

Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius was nominated for the first Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, losing to Shrek. It was the first release from Nickelodeon Movies to receive an Academy Award nomination.

A sequel television series, The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius, ran from July 2002 to November 2006. Another series, Planet Sheen, is a spin off of the film and its 2002 series. It focuses on Sheen Estevez, and ran from October 2, 2010, to February 15, 2013. A simulator ride called Jimmy Neutron's Nicktoon Blast opened at Universal Studios Florida on April 4, 2003, and operated until August 18, 2011. It was set after the events of the film and featured guest appearances by other Nicktoons characters. The Jimmy Timmy Power Hour, a trilogy of crossover television specials with The Fairly OddParents, aired between 2004 and 2006.

In February 2002, a sequel was reported in development for a summer 2004 release. Producer Albie Hecht reported to The Los Angeles Times that the sequel "would be made on the same budget as the first, but with a new batch of inventions and adventures in Jimmy's town of Retroville." On June 20, 2002, The Hollywood Reporter reported that writer Kate Boutilier had signed a writing deal with Nickelodeon Movies and Paramount Pictures to write a sequel to the film, but the sequel never materialized. The film was cancelled because the writers could not agree on a story and Alcorn later stated in an interview that "once the TV series came out, there wasn't a lot of incentive to make a movie when fans could simply watch Jimmy Neutron for free at home." In 2016, director John A. Davis stated that he has a story for a Jimmy Neutron reboot feature that he would like to make, but he is waiting for the "right situation" to make it. When asked about a reboot in 2020, Rob Paulsen stated "Well, I've got to tell you, man. I go all over the world when we don't have the coronavirus, and people love Carl. They love Carl. I don't think it would be a bad thing at all to reboot Jimmy Neutron. I think that's one of those shows that a lot of people would love to see again. It was very good. Really smart. That wouldn't surprise me."