Under the Boardwalk is a 2023 American animated musical comedy film directed by David Soren, who co-wrote the screenplay with Lorene Scafaria. Produced by Paramount Animation, and Big Kid Pictures, and animated by DNEG Animation, the film features the voices of Keke Palmer, Michael Cera, and Bobby Cannavale.
Under the Boardwalk was released in select theaters on October 27, 2023, followed by a video-on-demand release on November 7. It was also released in Australian theaters on February 9, 2024.
Plot[]
A community of land crabs underneath a New Jersey beach boardwalk often play host to a community of sea crabs that come to the land for vacation and both species of crabs can't stand each other. Armen, a timid land crab, is reluctant to go out and socialize due to how his mother and father died in a storm when he was younger and his rotting shell, inhabited by a fun-loving organism named Anemone, is the only reminder of them. However, three muscular crabs and Armen's friends, Bobby, Manny and Jimmy, drag him to a club owned by his uncle Bruno. The crabs get into a fight with an arrogant sea crab named Mako when Armen inadvertently bumps into Ramona, a tourist sea crab he fell in love with earlier. The land crabs get evicted as a result and Armen frustratedly takes his leave. As he is sulking by the seashore, Mako and his goons come to hassle him and steal his shell. Ramona intervenes, but she and Armen get swept away in a high tide that ruins the land crab civilization. Armen ends up in the far end of the beach and above the boardwalk where he is captured by a human collector to sell as a pet and is given an artificial shell to boot. He soon reunites with Ramona and together, they escape and work together to get back home. On their journey, they each share their insecurities, Armen for being too frightened to do anything besides stay in his shell and Ramona from wanting to get away from her overbearing mother Val, who expects perfection from her. Armen and Ramona's disappearances soon intensifies the rivalry between the land and sea crabs, mostly due to how Mako made up the story of how Armen tried to steal Ramona way from him. Bobby begins second-guessing his tendency to use physical force against his enemies and soon encounters Ramona's deaf sister Shelly looking for Ramona. However, as he walks her home, Val sends him away and when he tries to break up a fight between his friends and Mako's gang, he accidentally snaps off Mako's right arm. Mako vows revenge and claims that Armen is dead, giving them Armen's shell and a shell-shocked Anemone. The land crabs then declare war.
As Armen and Ramona fall in love, two of the crabs they met while at the pet shop begin judging them, making Armen feel hesitant about his feelings, much to Ramona's distress. Eventually, Ramona begins to get dehydrated and passes out, prompting Armen to carry her into the water, moving past the conflict between the land and sea crabs, who cease their fighting to see Armen carrying Ramona and dragging her into the water. Ramona wakes up and kisses Armen and they go back to the surface where Armen is praised for his heroism and Mako is outed as a liar. The land and sea crabs work past their differences with Mako giving Bobby a new shell as a peace offering and Armen giving his shell to a new crab who needs it more.
Cast[]
- Keke Palmer as Ramona, a sea crab
- Michael Cera as Armen, a land crab
- Bobby Cannavale as Bobby, a land crab
- Russell Brand as Mako, a sea crab
- John Magaro as Manny, one of Bobby's friends
- Jon Rudnitsky as Jimmy, one of Bobby's friends
- Steven Van Zandt as Bruno, Armen's uncle
- Vanessa Bell Calloway as Val, Ramona and Shelly's mother
- Shoshannah Stern as Shelly, Ramona's deaf sister who communicates through sign-language
- Ron Funches as Anemone, Armen's best friend that lives within his shell
- Mario Cantone as Mr. Cacciatore, Armen and Bobby's boss
- Gideon Adlon as Denise
- Liza Tarbuck as Camille
- Lesli Margherita as Etta / Bedazzled lady
- Cassandra Scerbo as Loretta / Sea crab mom / Female land crab / Big Sal / Little Junior / Donny the bouncer
- Phil LaMarr as Bucket man / How You Doin' crab / Beach land crab
- Steven Schirripa as Mr. Marinara
- Sharon Angela as Mrs. Marinara
- MrBeast as Hot sauce crab
- Joseph Balderrama as Chauncey
- Sean Chiplock as Nigel
- David Soren as Yoga crab / Battle dad
- Valarie Rae Miller as Townie crab / Neon crab / Female sea crab
- Jim Cummings as Curly / Local land crab
- Maureen Van Zandt as shop mother
- David Ian Salter as Unicorn crab
Production[]
The production of the animated film gave the Jershey Shore territory as the film's main setting. Most apparently, The Seaside Heights boardwalk gave the movie a blasting idea for Paramount's Under the Boardwalk film.
Reviews[]
- 5.9/10 from IMDb
- 87% from Rotten Tomatoes
- 3/5 from Common Sense Media
- 47% from the Google users
References[]
- ↑ "Under The Boardwalk (PG)". British Board of Film Classification (August 14, 2023).
Trivia[]
External links[]
