Wonder Park is the fourth film from Paramount Animation and co-produced by Nickelodeon Movies with Spain's Ilion Animation Studios (Planet 51) handling the animation. It was produced by Josh Appelbaum and André Nemec and Kendra Haaland from a screenplay by Applebaum and Nemec and a story by Robert Gordon, Appelbaum and Nemec. The movie stars Brianna Denski, Ken Hudson Campbell, Kenan Thompsonnote , Ken Jeong, Mila Kunis, John Oliver, Matthew Broderick, and Jennifer Garner. The film was released on March 15, 2019.
Cameron "June" Bailey is an optimistic and imaginative young girl who, following her mother becoming deathly ill and sent away for medical treatment, decides to abandon her creative pursuits in favor of keeping a watchful eye on her father. After escaping a bus on the way to summer camp due to paranoia about her dad's health, June stumbles across an abandoned amusement park in the forest that strangely mirrors the miniature one that she used to build with her mom, right down to the talking animals. With the park overrun by a mysterious dark force, June works with her creations brought to life to help return Wonderland back to its former glory, and maybe even recover her love of fantasy.
Notorious for being the first wide-release Hollywood production since 1995's The Pebble and the Penguin not to credit its director, as well as receiving its MPAA a full year before its release date.
Similarly to Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius and Barnyard, the film serves as the Pilot Movie to a television series
, however, the movie's poor performance means that the series may permanently reside on The Shelf of Movie Languishment.
Any tropes that relate to the characters, you can move to the character page.
Wonder Park provides examples of:
- A Protagonist Shall Lead Them: June helps the Wonderland animals to get the gears of the park working again.
- A Rare Sentence: When Greta asks June for proof about what she knows when she says that Wonderland is a figment of the latter's imagination.June: Every morning, Steve drinks his morning tea, 2.6 grams of loose Earl Grey to 250 milliliters of 86.1 degree water steeped for three minutes and 11 seconds and garnished to perfection with a spot of almond milk.
(Beat, then one of Steve's top quills springs off his head and into his tea) - Arc Words:
- "Splendiferous!"
- As well as "We are the wonder in Wonderland!"
- Amusement Park: This film can't be called Wonder Park without it.
- Badass Boast: June when she goes into the Darkness to save Peanut.June: I am the wonder in Wonderland. I am the wonder in Wonderland! I AM THE WONDER IN WONDERLAND!!!
- Bad "Bad Acting": Banky helps June ditch Math Camp to get home to her dad, by acting like he's about to barf.Banky: (hesitantly) Oh, no! I don't think I'm feeling very well at this moment.
- Book Ends: The movie starts and ends with the Wonderland mascots huddling up and being given a confident speech, followed by saying that they're "the wonder in Wonderland".
- Broken Pedestal: June becomes this to the animals the moment they found out the Darkness is created from her depression which led to Wonderland almost in ruins to the point of abandoning her.
- Rebuilt Pedestal: At the same time, she regains their trust when they see she is willing to fix the mess she created.
- Chekhov's Gun: Peanut's magic marker. At the start, it was used to make new rides. Come the climax, it gets used to save Wonderland and restart Clockwork Swings.
- Close on Title: The movie’s title doesn’t appear until the end of the film before the credits.
- Comically Missing the Point:
- Banky gets misled by June's words that riding the Grand Wonder couldn't be done.Banky: Who said it couldn't be done?
June: They.
Banky: Who's "they"?
June: (sighs) It's just an expression. Don't bust me on a technicality. - Steve does this during June and Greta's talk about the Wonderland exit.Steve: Did you know the verb "exit" comes from the Latin verb "exeo exitum", which derives from the Greek verb exime-exite? (everyone gives him a look) Um... Seems I have backed into the middle of something here.
- Banky gets misled by June's words that riding the Grand Wonder couldn't be done.
- Curse Cut Short: Greta was about to drop an "S-bomb" when realizing she had her hooves in a looped part of the licorice that was used to slow down Boomer's cart on the Grand Wonder.Greta: Oh, sh—
- Disaster Dominoes: When June attempts a life-size test of a Wonderland ride in the neighborhood, damage ensues at the end, her family ends up footing the bill for all the chaos, the sheriff recommends she be sent to military school, and her mother is initially upset with her about it all.
- Dodgy Toupee: June and Banky speed pass a couple that was about to kiss, and blew off the man's hairpiece.
- Dramatically Missing the Point: June misinterprets her father's note as a cry for help after seeing the words "miss you".
- Eldritch Abomination: The Darkness, a giant swirling cloud that was created from June's depression.
- Foreshadowing: The piece of the blueprint with June's name on it later gives June the epiphany to restart clockwork swings.
- Groin Attack: Averted. Steve's quills nearly missed Gus' groin.
- Heroic Sacrifice:
- Peanut sends June back out of Zero-G Land from the Chimpanzombies that followed her in.
- June goes into the Darkness to save Peanut.
- Interspecies Romance: Steve (a porcupine) has a crush on Greta (a wild boar).
- It's All My Fault: This is the reason June abandons Wonderland; she blames herself for her mother getting sick and sent away from her.
- Meaningful Echo: "Without wrecking the neighborhood."
- Moody Trailer Cover Song: The trailer was scored by a surprisingly non-ironic cover of "What a Wonderful World" that was done in this manner.
- Narnia Time/Year Inside, Hour Outside: Despite June spending over a day in Wonderland, when she gets home her father notes she was only gone thirty minutes.
- Near-Miss Groin Attack: At one point, Steve's quills very nearly hit Gus's groin.
- Never Trust a Trailer: None of the trailers reveal the crucial plot point that June's mom gets ill, or that that's a crux of the entire story.
- Not Helping Your Case:
- On the subject of half of Wonderland being destroyed.
Gus: What happens if we lose the other half?
Cooper: Yeah. What's gonna happen to us?
Gus: I don't know. (Beat) But at least we got calzones.- And when Boomer passes by the spot Gus and Cooper were cutting.
Gus: Oh, man.
Cooper: Well, at least we got dinner. - Pungeon Master: Shannon the bus counselor.Shannon: Everybody here is heading to Camp Awe Sum, right? If you're not, you're on the "rhom-bus".
Now, I could start off with a million stories about my summers at Camp Awe Sum, but I wouldn't want to go off on a tangent! Are you gettin' my angle? - Ramp-rovisation: The Grand Wonder in June's neighborhood has a treadmill as a ramp.
- Running Gag: Boomer's late-onset hibernation disorder.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here:
- Steve when being told to hold his place to lure the Chimpanzombies into the rocket.
- June even says "I'm outta here!" from taking in so much of the current events in Wonderland during the same scene.
- Shout-Out:
- Greta calls Boomer Gandalf when he dramatically tells June about what happened to Wonderland.
- Gus and Cooper, at one point, say "Beaver twin powers, activate!".
- Sugar Apocalypse: Wonderland became this.Boomer: It was a day just like any other here in Wonderland when the strangest thing happened. Clockwork Swings, the heart of the park, came to a dead stop. And that's when we first saw it. The Darkness. It brought an evil that transformed the WonderChimp dolls into an army of Chimpanzombies. Every day since, the Chimpanzombies have waged war, tearing apart the park and feeding it piece by piece into the Darkness, never to be seen again.
- Talking Animal: The mascots of Wonderland are capable of human speech.
- There Are No Therapists: Oh, is it ever? Not even one therapist came to June.
- Wham Line:June: It's all my fault. (...) The Darkness. I think maybe I did create it.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Greta calls out June after saying that she was responsible for creating the Darkness. Followed by her new friends abandoning her.
- You Have GOT to Be Kidding Me!: Said by June after the blueprint piece flies away.
