Recess: School's Out

The school year ends and T.J. Detweiler expects a summer with his friends, but they head off to camp and he is left on his own. His boredom breaks when he notices strange green light coming from the empty school building. Investigating, he learns that Phillium Benedict, a former principal, intends to use a laser to change the weather and bring about permanent winter, which would mean year-round classes and no summer vacation. T.J. gathers his friends Vince, Spinelli, Gretchen, Mikey and Gus, and the group finds help from two unlikely sources, Miss Finster and Principal Prickly, in an attempt to stop the plan.

The 2001 release is an animated comedy from Walt Disney Pictures and Disney Television Animation, directed by Chuck Sheetz in his first feature, followed by Scooby-Doo! Pirates Ahoy! in 2006. Jonathan Greenberg wrote the screenplay, and the voice cast includes Andrew Lawrence, Rickey D'Shon Collins, Pamela Adlon, Ashley Johnson, Jason Davis and Courtland Mead among 45 credited performers.

On a budget of about 10 million dollars, the film earned roughly 44 million worldwide, a strong return for a television-derived animated feature. Its 5.4 rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes sits below the 7.3 on IMDb and the 6.6 on TMDB, so reviewers were less enthusiastic than general audiences.