HOUBA! On the Trail of the Marsupilami
Short description
Dan Geraldo is a reporter whose career has faded, and he travels to the South American country of Palombia hoping to find a story that will restore his reputation. With Pablito Camaron, a local guide who claims to know the jungle and its secrets, he sets out to track down the Marsupilami, a creature long dismissed as a legend. The animal turns out to be real, and Dan is not the only one looking for it: soldiers, scientists and poachers all want the creature for their own reasons, and the hunt becomes a contest in which the Marsupilami itself proves far less easy to catch than anyone expects.
The film is a loose adaptation of the comic created by André Franquin, directed by Alain Chabat, who also plays Dan and co-wrote the screenplay with Jeremy Doner. It is his fourth feature as director, following Didier, Asterix & Obelix: Mission Cleopatra and RRRrrrr!!!. Jamel Debbouze plays Pablito, with Fred Testot, Lambert Wilson, Patrick Timsit and Géraldine Nakache in supporting roles. Made for a budget of around 50 million dollars, it grossed roughly the same amount worldwide.
On IMDb it holds 5.5 out of 10 from about 4,700 votes, and on TMDB 5.3 out of 10 from around 900 votes.
What's left behind the scenes
- The Marsupilami comics were translated into German, Dutch, Spanish, Portuguese, and many other European languages. One album was published in English in 1995, but due to poor sales, all plans for further translation and release in English-speaking countries were abandoned.
- Filming lasted 15 weeks from November 2010 to January 2011 on three continents: Central America, Southeast Asia, and Europe. Mexico was the main filming location, and aerial panoramic shots of the jungle were filmed on the island of Borneo.
- The same Mexican forest of Catemaco, near the city of Veracruz, was the site of Mel Gibson's "Apocalypto" several years earlier.
- Alain Chabat had been developing the project since 2005. The famous French actor and director had been a big fan of the Marsupilami comics since childhood.
- "The Jungle Calls!" was the first full-length French, and indeed European, film to use the IMAX format.
- The role of the giant Bollo was played by professional bodybuilder and wrestler Dalip Singh, known by the stage name The Great Khali.
- Patrick Pittavino, responsible for working with animals on set, had to look after a whole mini-zoo. It included llamas, parrots, coatis, a tortoise, and even a chihuahua.
- It took 8 weeks to make 350 costumes for the most diverse inhabitants of the exotic Palombia.
- The famous Marsupilami nest regularly required a lot of care. Made from natural palm leaves, it was taken to a refrigerated storage location at the end of each day of filming. A total of four nests, one and a half meters high and two meters wide, were made.
- For Alain Chabat, a big fan of the Marsupilami comics, it was a matter of honor to convey their spirit and atmosphere as closely as possible. No deaths, no excessive violence or cruelty, no scenes of sex or nudity.
- Always striving for perfection, Alain Chabat often worked on polishing dialogues and individual scenes in the script directly on set during short lunch breaks.
- The adventures of the Marsupilamis are the subject of two animated series: an American Disney version (1993, 15 episodes) and a French version (5 seasons starting from 2000).
Similar movies
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
