The animated film Norm and the Enduring: The Big Journey is a continuation of the adventures of the funny polar bear Norm and his friends the lemmings. The first film of this new franchise was presented in 2016, and for 2019 the creators have planned to release two parts at once. In March, the series "Norms and the Enduring: Keys to the Kingdom" was released in Russia, although its world premiere took place in August 2018. But we are expecting the second meeting in a year with our favorite characters in early July, and another sequel is announced in the very near future. …
History of creation
The Story of Polar Bear Norma is a joint project of American and Indian animators. Compared to other films of a similar genre, its starting budget was a "modest" $ 18 million. After the release of the first part, it turned out that the creators saved not only on animation, but also on scripts, generously using popular clichés and other people's ideas.
Although the comedy "Norm and the Enduring" grossed about $ 30 million worldwide, the film received a lot of negative reviews and criticism. He was scolded for unfunny humor and mediocre jokes, meaningless plot, poor animation and voice acting. In some moments, viewers saw similarities with other more successful projects - "Happy Feet", "Madagascar", "Ice Age". In addition, the main characters of the lemmings were called an unsuccessful version of the minions from the cartoon "Despicable Me". It is not surprising that on the authoritative movie site Rotten Tomatoes, the first part of "Norms and Enduring" has an average rating of 3, 1 point out of 10. However, some critics spoke more mildly and recognized this film exclusively for children, since a young audience is unlikely to pay attention to many blunders that are noticeable to an adult viewer.
And the main reason for the continuation of the story of Norm was, of course, commercial success. True, in the second episode of Norms and Invincible: Keys to the Kingdom (2018), the cast of the main characters has almost completely changed. For example, instead of the voice of Rob Schneider, the polar bear Norm spoke in the voice of Andrew To. Another celebrity, Heather Graham, who voiced Vera, also refused further cooperation. From the first cast, only the young actress Maya Kay remained in the role of Olympia.
The changes also affected the film crew. The first film in the franchise was directed by Canadian Trevor Stena, while the sequels, released in 2018 and 2019, were directed by a tandem of Richard Finn and Tim Maltby.
The plot, actors, trailer, premiere
The plot of "Norms and Invincibles: The Great Journey" together with the main characters transports the audience from the cold Arctic to different parts of the world. It happens when a villain named Dexter orchestrates a plane crash in the icy cliffs in order to steal an ancient Chinese artifact. Archaeologist Jin, who has lost a valuable exhibit, comes to the aid of the polar bear Norm. Together with the lemmings, he goes in search of the stolen statuette, which holds the key to untold riches.
In this difficult business, the heroes, as usual, face mortal dangers, but they will not stop until they punish the villain and return the ancient artifact to the people of China. In addition, Norm will have to solve another difficult task - to be in time for the wedding of his beloved grandfather, despite all the adventures.
In the third part, the roles are voiced by: Andrew To, Jennifer Cameron, Cole Howard, Michael Dobson, Maya Kay, Vincent Tong, Lee Tokar, Brian Dobson, Lisa Durupt, Alan Marriott, Jonathan Holmes and others.
The official trailer for Norm and the Enduring: The Big Journey was released shortly after the second installment of the franchise. The world premiere is scheduled for June 11, and the third episode of Norm's adventures is expected to be released on Blu-Ray, DVD and digital on the same day. For the Russian distribution the film was acquired by the Central Partnership company. In domestic cinemas, it starts on July 4.
Meanwhile, the creators of the franchise announced that the next part of Norm's story is ready. It will be titled Norm and Unbreakable: Family Vacation. Perhaps this film will also be released before the end of 2019. At the moment, the fifth part is in development.
