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Meredith's Journey is a 1994 American animated fantasy adventure film produced by Paramount Feature Animation. It is the 36th feature film produced by the studio. It was directed by Julie Young from a screenplay by Young, Theresa Cullen, Elana Lesser, and Cliff Ruby, and stars the voices of Samantha Mathis, Jason Marsden, Patrick Stewart, Bridget Fonda, Alan Cumming, Jennifer Aniston, Will Ryan, Robin Williams, and Charlie Adler. The film follows a young princess named Meredith, who spirited away to the realm of Avalora. As she learns that the ruthless sorcerer Giancarlo plans to threatening this realm, it's up to Meredith, along with a prince Royce, to embark on a journey in order to save the realm and defeat Giancarlo. This is the only film in Meredith series to be released theatrically worldwide.
Development of Meredith's Journey began in 1990 when Young came up with the idea for the film. Computer animation was also used in several scenes, most notably in the waterfall sequence. The film later went into production by May 1992, alongside a new title under its current name. The film was the one of the three last animated films that George Burke and Lana Ponce ever be in their involvement of producing it before their retirement in the same year, as well as the first Paramount animated film to entirely use digital ink and paint and the last Paramount theatrical animated film made before William Mathews and River Becker became leading animation units for the entire Viacom group. Meredith's Journey and its art style were also influenced by animated films of the Disney Renaissance era and Don Bluth's animated films.
Meredith's Journey was originally released on December 16, 1994 to generally positive reviews from critics, who praised its animation, voice acting, and story, and earning $869 million at the box office on a $65 million budget, becoming the fifth highest-grossing film of 1994, the nineteenth highest-grossing film of all time, it the highest-grossing non-Disney animated film of all time, and Paramount Animation's highest-grossing film, all records held at the time of its release It is also the highest-grossing traditionally animated film of all time, as well as the best-selling film on home video, having sold over 50 million VHS tapes. An IMAX version of the film was released on December 25, 2003. After the success of the 3D re-releases of Titanic, the film was reissued in 3D in 2013.
The film later spawned an expanded franchise, with fourth direct-to-video followups, Meredith's Returns (1998), Meredith and the Mysterious Kingdom (2001), Meredith and the Royal Adventure (2004) and Meredith: The Legend of the Brave (2009), a television series, several video games, merchandise, and other media. A live-action remake was released on January 25, 2019. In 2007, the film was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
Plot
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Cast
- Samantha Mathis as Princess Meredith, the 16-year-old daughter of King Damien and Queen Kimora. Dalia Reed served as the supervising animators for Meredith.
- Jason Marsden as Prince Royce, a 16-year-old clever prince who is the son of Queen Talia. Daniel LaFrance served as the supervising animators for Royce.
- Patrick Stewart as Giancarlo, a ruthless evil sorcerer who plans to takeover the realm at large. Ramiro Eisenberg served as the supervising animators for Giancarlo.
- Clancy Brown, Frank Welker and Charles Nelson Reilly as Crawler, Liger and Ratty, Lord Giancarlo's henchanimals. TBD served as the supervising animators for the trio. They make their 9th appearance in a Paramount animated film.
- Alan Cumming as King Damien, Meredith's father. TBD served as the supervising animators for Damien
- Jennifer Aniston as Queen Kimora, Meredith's mother. Karlie Ramirez served as the supervising animators for Kimora.
- Deanna Oliver as Queen Talia, the governor of the kingdom and Royce's mother who always berates her son. Tom McGrath served as the supervising animators for Talia.
- Bridget Fonda as Adalida, a wise and mystical woman who serves as a mentor to Meredith, providing guidance and knowledge about the realm of Avalora. TBD served as the supervising animators for Adalida.
- Will Ryan, Robin Williams and Charlie Adler as Lukas, Malaki and Quincy, an animal trio who befriends Royce and Meredith. Lukas is a squirrel, Malaki is a hare, and Quincy is a hedgehog. TBD served as the supervising animator for Lukas, Malaki and Quincy.
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Additional voices
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Production
Development
The idea and concept for Meredith's Journey came from Julie Young, who submitted the story to Paramount Pictures in 1990, and the film immediately went into development under the working title A Princess Wish.
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Animation
The film was mainly animated at the main Paramount Feature Animation facility located in Los Angeles, California, United States. Animation cooperation was provided by Bardel Entertainment in Canada, Wang Film Productions/Cuckoo's Nest Studio in Taiwan, and A. Film Production A/S in Copenhagen.
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Casting
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Music
- Main article: Meredith's Journey/Soundtrack
The film's original soundtrack was released by MCA Records on September 27, 1994. The score for the film was composed by James Horner.
The score for the film, composed by Horner, was also released through MCA Records on October 17, 1994.
Release
Meredith's Journey was originally slated for release in June 1994, but the film's release date was changed to December 1994 in order to avoid competition with The Lion King. The film was theatrically released by Paramount Pictures in the United States and Canada on December 16, 1994.
Meredith's Journey was paired alongside a Noveltoons short film called What's for Dinner, while select prints contained a reissue of The Secret Crystal. After the success of the 3D re-release of Titanic, Paramount announced a 3D re-release of Meredith's Journey scheduled for January 25, 2013, but this was pushed back to May 10, 2013. The film later played a limited engagement in the Microsoft Theater at Los Angeles, California from November 2019 to December 2019 for its 25th anniversary. AMC Theaters screened the movie from February 7-13, 2020.
Marketing
Marketing for the film included $40 million spent by Paramount for advertising as well as advertisers such as Mattel, Pizza Hut, Oreo, Motel 6, Kellogg's, Nickelodeon, CBS, and Random House.
Home media
Meredith's Journey was released on VHS and Laserdisc on March 24, 1995 by Paramount Home Entertainment. The film became a sleeper hit due to its home video release; a strong promotional campaign helped it become one of the top-selling VHS releases of all time, selling over 50 million copies in its first month. A DVD release was followed on August 19, 1998, the first Paramount DVDs. The original DVD release contained no special features but an original theatrical trailer of the film.
It was released a second time on DVD on March 17, 2004 as part of the Paramount Animation Collection. The release included an audio commentary by Julie Young, a 28-minute making-of documentary, a gallery of concept art, storyboards, test footage, deleted scenes, and DVD-ROM features. Two short film What for Dinner and The Secret Crystal were also included. The DVD set features two versions of the film: the extended IMAX Special Edition and the original theatrical version. The film was also released on Game Boy Advance Video in October 2005 and on UMD for the PlayStation Portable.
On June 12, 2014, Paramount Home Media Distribution released the film on Blu-ray to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Meredith's Journey. The release is a 3-disc combo pack including a Blu-ray 3D disc, Blu-ray Disc and a DVD that includes both a DVD and digital copy of the film.
Meredith's Journey was re-released on HD and 4K digital download on May 28, 2019, with a physical media re-release on Blu-ray and Ultra HD Blu-ray on June 11, 2019 for the film's 25th anniversary containing a new 4K restoration and a DTS:X audio remix, as part of the Paramount Signature Collection edition.
On March 4, 2021, Meredith's Journey, along with other Paramount Animation films, was available on Paramount+.
Reception
Critical response
Reception of Meredith's Journey was well-received by film critics. Review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of 92% based on 64 reviews with an average rating of 7.8/10. The website's consensus reads, "Wonderful story, excellent animation, and amazing storytelling make Meredith's Journey a fresh feature-length debut for Kenny and Kella's granddaughter, Julie Young." On Metacritic, the film has a score of 75 out of 100 points, based on 32 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".
Box office
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Awards and nominations
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Other media
Video games
- Main article: Meredith's Journey (video game)
A video game based on the film, was released in North America and Europe on February 28, 1994 for Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Nintendo Entertainment System, Sega Genesis, Sega Game Gear, Sega Master System, Game Boy, Amiga, and Sega CD. The game was published by Acclaim Entertainment (Flying Edge for Sega consoles) and Virgin Interactive for the Amiga.
An LCD game based on the film was created by Tiger Electronics in 1994.
Television series
- Main article: Meredith (TV series) and Meredith: The Tales of Kingdom
Legacy
Cultural impact
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Sequels and spin-offs
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Video games
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Live-action film adaptation
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Other media
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Transcripts
Main
To see the main transcript of the film, click here.
Trailers
To see the transcript for the trailers of the film, click here.