Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs by Judi Barrett

Finally, a Believable Weather Disaster Movie!

Get ready for Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs from Columbia Pictures and Sony Picture Animation!  It will be the most delicious event since macaroni met cheese.  Inspired by the beloved children’s book by Judi Barrett, the film focuses on a town where food falls from the sky like rain.

Bill Hader, star of “Saturday Night Live” and Night of the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian, will voice Flint Lockwood, a young inventor who dreams of creating something that will improve everyone’s life.

Anna Faris, who recently turned heads as the start of the comedy hit The House Bunny, takes on the role of Sam Sparks, a weather-girl covering the phenomenon who hides her intelligence behind a perky exterior.

James Caan plays Tim Lockwood, Flint’s technophobic father. Andy Samberg plays Brent, the town bully who has plagued Flint since childhood.  Bruce Campbell plays May Shelbourne, who figures out that Flint’s invention can put the town, and more importantly himself, on the map and the one and only Mr. T plays the by-the-rules town cop Earl Devereaux.

That’s right, Mr. T is doing a “Weather movie” – well, sort of anyway.

The Original Children’s Book

The book is about two children who listen to their Grandpa Henry tell the story of the town of Chewandswallow, where the weather comes three times a day, at breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and is always food and beverages. The rain is juice and soup, the snow is mashed potatoes, and the wind brings hamburgers. However, floods and storms of food come – creating dilemmas such as the school getting smothered beneath a giant pancake (forcing it to close), a tomato sauce tornado, and giant meatballs crushing the town. The townsfolk then build sailboats out of huge pieces of bread. They sail to a new place and grow accustomed to buying food in stores.

Film Adaption

The movie will be the first film made using Sony’s animation rendering software.  And it sports a trendy soundtrack with tracks by artist such as Miranda Cosgrove, Public Enemy, Lesley Gore, Trevor Rabin and The Alan Pasons Project.

Co-writers and co-directors Philip Lord and Chris Miller say that it will be a homage to, and a parody of, disaster movies such as Twister, Armageddon, and The Day After Tomorrow.

Release Date: In theaters on September 18, 2009 – nationwide.

In my opinion

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs will probably be more realistic than previous Hollywood disaster films.

The Original Book: Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, By Judi Barrett