A 2006 American CGI animated film directed by Christopher Reeve (yep, the Superman guy), Daniel St. Pierre, and Colin Brady and starring the voices of Jake T. Austin, Rob Reiner, Whoopi Goldberg, Robin Williams, William H. Macy, Brian Dennehy, Raven-Symoné, Mandy Patinkin, and Forest Whitaker among others.
In 1932 New York City, 10-year old Yankees fan Yankee Irving is a big fan of Babe Ruth and dreams about becoming a professional baseball player himself one day, despite being lousy at being a novice. One day, during a visit at the Yankee Stadium with the help of his father working as a janitor there, he gets to see Ruth's special baseball bat. However, he is shooed away by an unknown security officer – who is actually Lefty Maginnis, a pitcher for the rival Chicago Cubs who's working for their owner Napoleon Cross to help them beat the Yankees in the upcoming World Series by stealing Babe Ruth's precious lucky bat. Lefty manages to do this, indirectly causing Yankee's father to lose his job and putting their family in danger of living out on the streets during The Great Depression. Yankee, knowing full well who was responsible for the theft, embarks on a journey to recover the bat and return it to Ruth in time for the series while dealing with Lefty and Napoleon.
Did we mention the bat and the baseball are alive in the eyes of Yankee?
Tropes:
- Adults Are Useless: The Chicago Cubs are depicted as complete buffoons during Yankee's attempt to score a home-run being distracted by people at the stands, crashing into each other, not paying attention to anything going on until the last minute, and being served as footstools.
- All of the Other Reindeer: Because of his bad baseball skills, the other kids dread having Yankee on their team. And make their displeasure very clear.
- Amusing Injuries: Lefty gets a lot of these, progressively making him look more and more villainous as a result.
- Anachronism Stew:
- The film is set in 1932, yet at one point Screwie mentions Superman (director Christopher Reeve's most iconic role), a character that wouldn't be created until 1938.
- Marti's father is a member of the Cincinnati Tigers, a team that wouldn't be founded until 1934.
- Yankee Stadium is shown with lights for night games, something that no major league ballpark had in 1932.
- Animate Inanimate Object: Darlin' and Screwie.
- Artistic License – History:
- The movie has been sometimes cited by publications as one of the most historically inaccurate movies ever released. The only Historical Domain Character depicted is Babe Ruth and the Yankees never lost any of the games during the 1932 World Series.
- Zig-zagged when Cross assumes that Ruth would be "nothing without his bat" and sends Lefty out to steal it. Ironically, the resal Babe Ruth was a fairly good pitcher before he became the power hitter history knows him by. In any case, Ruth disproves that he is bad without Darlin' when he tells Yankee that it's not about the bat, but the batter.
- Ascended Fanboy: Yankee is a big fan of the New York Yankees and an even bigger fan of Babe Ruth. He not only bats for them, but Babe even decided to have him bat for them.
- Bully Hunter: Marti makes her entrance by assisting Yankee against a couple of bullies from her home.
- Calling Your Shots: Babe Ruth is shown famously doing this in game three of of the 1932 World Series in a newsreel clip near the beginning of the film.
- Cassandra Truth: Nobody wants to believe Yankee's story that an unchecked security guard – who was actually part of the rival team – stole Babe Ruth's bat. This kick-starts Yankee's adventure to retrieve and return the bat to Ruth to save his family from living in the streets.
- Comical Nap Drool: A sleeping Yankee drools on Screwie, much to the latter's chagrin and disgust.Screwie: Hey, kid! Wake up! You’re turning me into a spitball!
- Deadpan Snarker: Screwie is full of this.
- Double Entendre: On the subject of Yankee meeting Marti, who's the daughter of Lonnie Brewster.Darlin: Ooh, he can pitch me anytime.
- The Great Depression: A surprisingly optimistic portrayal of this era. As Christopher Reeve himself put it, "Just because it's the depression doesn't mean it has to be depressing."
- I Call Her "Vera": Ruth calls his bat Darlin'. Yankee names the ball he found Screwie.
- I Miss Mom: Midway during his trip, Yankee starts to greatly miss his family and considers how awful things will get if he doesn't succeed.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Screwie proves that he has a heart and manages to cheer up Yankee right during Babe Ruth's big game as they're trapped in the room overlooking the field.
- Earlier, when Yankee breaks down crying from homesickness, he calls out Darlin' for putting a ten-year-old in this situation and not even saying "thank you."
- Kick the Dog: Did Cross have to taunt Yankee by saying his parents were probably looking for a new kid?
- Mama Bear: Marti's mother, who is quick to notice the man chasing Yankee is not his dad and tries to get him out of her house with a broom.
- Meaningful Name: Yankee is a big fan of the New York Yankees.
- The Napoleon: Fittingly, Napoleon Cross.
- Ow, My Body Part!: Parodied when Screwie, an anthropomorphic baseball, starts falling down a metal staircase."My head! My butt! My head! My butt!"
- Politically Correct History: Zig-zagged. Yankee and Marti socialize with no social stigma, but her father is clearly shown playing for a Negro League team.
- Reactive Continuous Scream: Initiated by Darlin', thinking she's being stolen by Yankee, who in turn screams back at the sight that Darlin' is also alive. Screwie on the other hand, lets out a sarcastic "aaahhh!"
- The Runaway: Yankee travels all the way to Chicago to return Ruth's bat, until his parents realize he's not with them and have to find him. Also coupled with the fact that the kid is being assailed by a grown man during said trip on top of dealing with the hardship of traveling.
- Title Character: The "hero" part in the movie's title refers to Yankee.
- Toilet Humor: The morning after his first night with Yankee, Screwie has the misfortune of rolling under the covers right when the kid farts."How long have you been takin' trombone lessons? "
- Took a Level in Badass: The intro shows Yankee as a terrible baseball player. Going through the adventures he went through and meeting people who helped him improve his form, allowed him to get a home run against Lefty.
- Took a Level in Idealism: Going on the adventure with Yankee and Darlin' helps Screwie become less of the cynic he was at the start.
- Unusually Uninteresting Sight: No one else besides Yankee seems to notice the bat and the ball are sentient. Even a ball rolling up in a can isn't weird on itself. It just rolled up by itself!
- Would Hurt a Child: Lefty is unnecessarily rough with both Yankee and Marti.
