The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl in 3-D

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The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl
Promotional poster
Directed by	Robert Rodriguez
Produced by	Elizabeth Avellan Bob Weinstein Harvey Weinstein
Written by	Robert Rodriguez Racer Rodriguez
Starring	Taylor Lautner Taylor Dooley Cayden Boyd George Lopez
Music by	John Debney Graeme Revell Robert Rodriguez
Cinematography	Robert Rodriguez
Editing by	Robert Rodriguez
Distributed by	Dimension Films Columbia Pictures Troublemaker Studios
Release date(s)	June 10, 2005
Running time	93 min.
Country
Language	English
Budget	$50 million
Gross revenue	$39,177,541 (domestic) $69,425,966 (worldwide)
Official website
Allmovie profile
IMDb profile

The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl is a 2005 family film by Robert Rodriguez, the writer, producer and director of Spy Kids. The film uses the same anaglyph 3D technology used in Spy Kids 3D: Game Over. The film stars Cayden Boyd, Taylor Lautner, Taylor Dooley, and George Lopez. Many of the concepts and much of the story was conceived by Rodriguez' children, and seven-year-old Racer Rodriguez is given a writing credit in the film.

The film tells the story of a 10-year-old named Max, who is burdened by school bullies and quarrelling parents. He makes up two superhero friends, Sharkboy and Lavagirl, who are "real" and come and find Max in order to take him back to their home, Planet Drool, which is in danger. Most of the villains are really people in Max's real life. Much of the film deals with the conflict between fantasy (the dreamworld) and reality.

The film performed modestly at the box office. It won little praise from critics. The colorful, fantastic and sometimes nonsensical world presented in the film was aimed at children and did not appeal to a wide adult audience.

Contents 1 Plot 2 Cast and characters 3 Production 4 Reception 4.1 Lawsuit 5 DVD 6 Soundtrack 6.1 Track listing 7 Footnotes 8 External links

[edit] Plot

A boy simply called Max is regularly bullied at his Texas school, and his parents are constantly arguing (his mom also bakes cookies). Dissatisfied and lonely, he creates a dreamworld called Planet Drool where endless fun and brilliant dreaming are the norm. Many of the inhabitants of this world resemble people from Max's own life, including the two main villains. He also imagines two young superheroes: Sharkboy and Lavagirl. He records his dreams in his Dream Journal. One day, tells his whole class the story of how Sharkboy was raised be sharks after his father's laboratory was destroyed in a storm, and of how he and Lavagirl and Max eventually met. No one is at all kind to him, except Marissa, the daughter of the teacher, Mr. Electricidad. An overprotective father, Mr Electricidad does not want Max to befriend her, although he suggests that Max attempt to make friends in his real world, so as to distract himself from dreaming. Later, a bully called Linus (Jacob Davich) steals Max's Dream Journal. The next day, Max confronts Linus, who returns the now heavily vandalized Dream Journal to Max. As a storm gathers outside, the character's emotions become increasingly exaggerated. Max accuses Linus, who in turn demands that Max be expelled. Angered at having his authority challenged, Mr. Electricidad leeringly proclaims that they shall both report to the principal's office. Suddenly, the wall of the schoolroom is broken down by a cyclonic wind, revealing Sharkboy and Lavagirl. It is revealed that they have come to enlist Max's aid in saving Planet Drool from a "Darkness" which encroaches upon it. Neither of them denies that they are Max's creations: Lavagirl, when describing Planet Drool, remarks "You should know, Max; you made it up".

The three travel to Planet Drool, where it is revealed that Max's dreamworld has become a garish nightmare. After rescuing some children form a never ending roller coaster, they confront the sadistic Mr. Electric, who overpowers them and sends them down the "Passage of Time" to the Dream Graveyard. There, Sharkboy and Lavagirl urge Max to dream, believing him to have great power; but Max is uncertain of how to proceed. Among the useless or forsaken dreams lying derelict there, Max discovers Tobor, a sapient, android robot Max once tried to build. Tobor advises them to catch the Train of Thought to a place of safety, allowing them to ride on his disembodied eyes and mouth, the only parts of his body he can still move. After they crash the Train of Thought in the Land of Milk and Cookies, Max is able to dream without the corrupting influence of the Darkness, abetted by some off-key singing by Lavagirl and a much better performance by Sharkboy. When they are attacked by Mr. Electric's plughounds, Max is able to dream up a banana split boat so that they are able to escape down the Stream of Consciousness. Here, Max reveals that they may try to obtain a thing called the Crystal Heart from its owner, the Ice Princess. In the Land of Ice, they must cross a long ice bridge. Lavagirl, whose heat threatens to melt the bridge if she is awake, attempts to sleepwalks across it. Mr. Electric ambushes them, and captures them after they barely make it to the other side. They are taken to the Dream Lair, where they discover that Linus, who now styles himself Minus, has been empowered by Max's corrupted Dream Journal and now stands poised to destroy the world recorded within it. They manage to escape when Lavagirl encourages some tiny, bubble-like, soothing dream-creatures called Lalas to sing at a frequency which provokes Sharkboy into tearing apart the cage holding them captive. They reclaim the Dream Journal, but it burns to ashes in Lavagirl's overeager hands. Shattered, she fervently laments her tendency towards destruction, and fears that she is inherently evil. She angrily questions Max as to why he made her of lava and paired her with Sharkboy, claiming that, like Max's parents, they are incompatible.

They return to the Ice Castle, where the Ice Princess, who more than slightly resembles his fellow-student Marissa, agrees to lend him the Heart, on conditions imposed by her father the Ice Guardian. Under the imposed conditions, Max must hold the Crystal Heart until death parts them. As they journey back, Mr. Electric returns and challenges who is then rendered insentient by electric eels. Spurning Max's warnings, Lavagirl sacrifices herself to rescue him. Max, grief-stricken, wonders what to do; Tobor's face appears like a helpful djinn, and offers THE QUEES ounsel. Max states that he should "dream a better dream", having hitherto only dreamed for himself, on purpose to escape from rather than improve on his real world. Sharkboy wakes and is aghast to see Lavagirl in her state of near-death. Max defines Lavagirl as light, and Sharkboy carries her to her volacano. She is immediately revived, whereupon her power manifests itself as a light that burns away the Darkness. Max, thaws the ocean for Sharkboy, who, aided by several mako sharks, pins Mr. Electric down. Max and Linus then duel, using escalating manifestations of thought to defeat each other, until Max realizes that at some time in the past, someone broke Linus' own dreams, with the result that Linus seeks to destroy everything that reminds him of what he has lost. Max offers him his friendship, and Linus accepts. Max then rescues Linus from falling. Lavagirl and Sharkboy join the reconciled Max and Linus at the Dream Lair, each one elated at having achieved their respective ambitions; Lavagirl at having her nature as a light revealed and Sharkboy at his new status as King of the Ocean. However, Mr. Electric sets off to kill Max, who is actually dreaming on Earth. Max reluctantly returns to his waking life, where Mr. Electric has stirred the local weather into a tornado, which sweeps up Max's parents as they attempt to rescue their son. They realize that, like Sharkboy and Lavagirl, they are still "best friends". Mr. Electricidad urges the students to think of a plan by which to defeat Mr. Electric. Linus suggests that Mr. Electric be frozen. Max, remembering that he has the Crystal Heart, gives it to Marissa, who being the Earthly version of the Ice Princess has the ability to use it. She confidently strides out into the windstorm (overriding her father's objections) and uses the Crystal Heart to change Mr. Electric into unseasonal snow. Sharkboy and Lavagirl rescue Max's parents, and Mr. Electricidad remarks to Max that he has been "awakened". Subsequently, Max reveals to the class that Sharkboy, now king of the ocean, travels in search of his father and cares for the ocean's creatures; above, Lavagirl tends to the volcanoes that originate on the ocean floor. They no longer visit Max, though he may visit them in his dreams. In the world of reality, Max finally builds Tobor.

[edit] Cast and characters

• Taylor Lautner as Sharkboy. Dreamt up by Max, Sharkboy is a young warrior who was raised by sharks after he was separated from his father (a marine biologist) when a storm destroyed their floating laboratory. Thus, he has many of the abilities of a shark. "He's very self-confident and sometimes his confidence gets him into trouble,' says Lautner about the character. "He's also kinda jealous of the character, Max, because he has an inside crush on Lava Girl and she's overly motherly to Max."^[1] Lautner's martial arts skills helped him to get the role of Sharkboy. "When I auditioned for the film, Robert Rodriguez, the director, didn’t know that I had my martial arts [background], and while we there in Austin, TX he saw a DVD of me and asked me to choreograph my own fight scenes", said Lautner.^[2]

• Taylor Dooley as Lavagirl. She is the other young warrior who protects planet Drool, and was also created by Max. Her origins are unknown; indeed, she is uncertain of her own identity/purpose throughout much of the film. The role of Lavagirl was cast after the two other main characters (Sharkboy and Max) had already been cast.^[3] Her lava bike was Computer-generated, like many of the elements in the film; Dooley and Lautner described the on-set versions of the lava bike and Sharboy's sharkboat as "a green box with handles".^[4]

• Cayden Boyd as Max.He is an imaginative ten-year-old, known as the day-dreamer on planet Drool. "At first he's dreaming all for himself; he wants Shark Boy and Lava Girl to take him away", says Boyd about the role. "I like that he's selfish in the beginning and he's not selfish in the end."^[5] Some of the dialogue between Lopez and Boyd in the film references Lopez's role on the George Lopez TV series. Luis Armand Garcia plays a character named Max in the series.

• George Lopez as Mr. Electricidad / Mr. Electric, Tobor, Ice Guardian. Mr. Electricidad is Max's teacher in the film. His alter ego is Mr. Electric, one of the main villains. Mr. Electric helps maintain the equilibrium of Planet Drool until he becomes corrupted by Minus. Mr. Electric is heard to have a sense of humor, manifest in puns related mostly to electricity. His challenge to Sharkboy is followed by a companiable "Watts up?"; a play on "What's up?", which is a way of inquiring into a friend's welfare. Later, Mr. Electric shouts "Charge!" as he emerges from the tornado, indicating both an electric surge of power and an advance into battle. Immediately before his destruction, he threatens the class with "Megahertz", suggesting "mega hurts". Rodriguez wrote the part with Lopez in mind.^[6]

• Tobor and the Ice Guardian(the Ice Princess' father) are voiced by George Lopez in the film. Tobor is a robot who appears in the Dream Graveyard on Planet Drool. Max had formerly tried to build Tobor in the real world, but had been discouraged by a careless remark from his fahter. Rodriguez states that he kept asking Lopez to play additional characters. Lopez spent a total of two weeks working on the film.^[7]

• David Arquette and Kristin Davis play Max's dad and mom respectively. Max's dad is an unemployed writer. They are on the brink of a divorce. They mean well for Max but are unable to settle his troubles.

• Jacob Davich as Linus / Minus. He is the bully at Max's school who steals his Dream Journal.

• Sasha Pieterse as Marissa Electricidad / Ice Princess. She is the daughter of Mr. Electricidad, and befriends Max. On Planet Drool, she appears as the Ice Princess, keeper of the crystal heart. The crystal heart is a necklace wore around her neck that can freeze anything, even time!

• Marc Musso as Classroom Kid #1 and Shane Graham as Classroom Kid #2.

As seen in the credits, two of Robert Rodriguez's children, Rebel and Racer, portray Sharkboy at age five and age seven respectively. Rico Torres plays Sharkboy's father.

[edit] Production

Parts of the film were shot on location in Texas, where Max resides and goes to school in the film. Much of the film, however was shot in a studio against green screen. Most of the ships, landscapes and other effects including some creatures and characters, were accomplished digitally. Among others, Industrial Light and Magic, Troublemaker Studios, The Orphanage, and Tippett Studios contributed to the digital visual effects in the film.

Robert Rodriguez appears in the credits fourteen times, most notably as director, a producer, a screenwriter (along with Marcel Rodriguez), visual effects supervisor, director of photograhy, editor, a camera operator, and a composer and performer.The story is credited to Racer Max Rodriguez, with additional story elements by Rebecca Rodriguez, who also wrote the lyrics for the main song, Sharkboy and Lavagirl. Other members of the Rodriguez family can be seen in the film or were involved in the production.

[edit] Reception

The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl 3-D was widely panned by critics, with a 19% rating on Rotten Tomatoes [1] yet performed modestly at the box office, grossing $39.1 million in North America and $30.2 million overseas [2]. Stars Taylor Lautner and Taylor Dooley were nominated for acting awards at the 2006 Young Artist Awards for their work in this movie [3].

Roger Ebert, who is among those film critics who did not entirely dislike the film, found that the 3-D process used was distracting and muted the colors, thus, he believes, "spoiling" much of the film. He expressed hope that the 2D version released on the DVD would look much better.^[8]

[edit] Lawsuit

TNA professional wrestler Dean Roll, who trademarked the name "Shark Boy" in 1999, filed a lawsuit against Miramax on June 8, 2005, claiming that his trademark had been infringed and demanding "[any] money, profits and advantages wrongfully gained". In April 2007, the suit was settled for an undisclosed amount.

[edit] DVD

A DVD was released which contained an audio commentary with Robert Rodriguez, a featurette showing how Rodriguez' children's stories and drawings were translated into a film, and four pairs of 3D glasses (styled after Sharkboy's and Lavagirl's in the film) as well as both the 2D and 3D versions of the film.

[edit] Soundtrack

Original Motion Picture Soundtrack: The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl in 3-D
Soundtrack by various artists
Released	June 28, 2005
Genre	Soundtrack Rock Pop
Length	43:26
Label	Varèse Sarabande
Professional reviews
Filmtracks Music from the Movies SoundtrackNet
Robert Rodriguez film soundtrack chronology
Sin City (2005) The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl in 3-D (2005) Planet Terror (2007)

Director Robert Rodriguez composed parts of the score himself, with contributions by composers John Debney and Graeme Revell.

[edit] Track listing

1. "The Shark Boy" (Robert Rodriguez/John Debney) – 3:47
2. "The Lava Girl" (Robert Rodriguez) – 1:28
3. "Max's Dream" (Robert Rodriguez) – 1:37
4. "Sharkboy and Lavagirl Return" (Robert Rodriguez) – 1:44
5. "Planet Drool" (Robert Rodriguez) – 2:12
6. "Mount Never Rest" (Graeme Revell) – 2:35
7. "Passage of Time" (Robert Rodriguez, Carl Thiel) – 1:30
8. "Mr. Electric" (Graeme Revell) – 1:09
9. "Train of Thought" (John Debney) – 2:01
10. "Dream Dream Dream Dream (Dream Dream)" (Robert Rodriguez) – 1:54
    • Performed by Taylor Lautner
11. "Stream of Consciousness" (John Debney) – 1:33
12. "Sea of Confusion" (John Debney) – 3:04
13. "The LaLa's" (Nicole Weinstein) – 1:09
14. "The Ice Princess" (Robert Rodriguez)/(John Debney) – 2:51
15. "Sharkboy vs. Mr. Electric" (Graeme Revell ) – 0:55
16. "Lavagirl's Sacrifice" (Robert Rodriguez) - 2:10
17. "The Light" (Robert Rodriguez) – 2:21
18. "Battle of the Dreamers" (Robert Rodriguez) – 1:21
19. "Mr. Electric on Earth" (Graeme Revell) – 1:15
20. "Unplugged" (Robert Rodriguez)/(John Debney) – 1:12
21. "The Day Dreamer" (Robert Rodriguez)/(John Debney) – 1:29
22. "Sharkboy and Lavagirl" (Robert Rodriguez) – 4:09
    • Performed by Taylor Dooley

[edit] Footnotes

[edit] External links

• Official site
• The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl at the Internet Movie Database
• The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl at Allmovie

v • d • e Films of Robert Rodriguez Mexico Trilogy El Mariachi (1992) • Desperado (1995) • Once Upon a Time in Mexico (2003) Spy Kids trilogy Spy Kids (2001) • Spy Kids 2: Island of Lost Dreams (2002) • Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over (2003) Sin City Sin City (2005) • Sin City 2 (in development) • Sin City 3 (pre-production) Other films Bedhead (1991) • Roadracers (1994) • Four Rooms (1995) • From Dusk Till Dawn (1996) • The Faculty (1998) • The Adventures of Shark Boy & Lava Girl in 3-D (2005) • Grindhouse: Planet Terror (2007) • Machete (2008) • Barbarella (in development) • Other works Rebel Without a Crew (1995 autobiography) • Chingon (band)