Judy Moody and the Not Bummer Summer


Judy Moody and the Not Bummer Summer is a 2011 American comedy film based on Megan McDonald's Judy Moody book series released on June 10, 2011 and starring Heather Graham, Preston Bailey, Taylar Hender, Jaleel White, and introducing Jordana Beatty as Judy Moody. Reviews were generally negative, as the film holds a 19% rating from Rotten Tomatoes. It was also a box office bomb, grossing $17 million against a production budget of $20 million

Plot

Feisty third-grader, Judy Moody, sets out to have the most thrilling summer of her life. However, her parents travel to California to assist Judy's grandparents, with Judy and her brother Stink being supervised by their aunt Opal. Judy decides to organize a contest with her friends to see who can have the most exciting summer by earning "thrill points". At the start of summer, her friends leave except for Frank. Amy is going to Borneo and Rocky is going to Circus Camp. Her friends send her pictures of their summer, so Judy tries to top them, but Frank ruins all her plans by knocking her off a tight rope, vomiting all over her on a roller coaster, and leaving the theater in the middle of a scary movie. After her ideas go wrong, she decides to stay in her room for the rest of the summer, until she hears the newscast in front of her house. She looks out of the window and discovers that Stink is going to be on the news, because of his search for Bigfoot. She attempts to be part of the story but the camera crew stop the cameras from filming her.
Judy tries to pair up with her brother Stink in the search for Bigfoot. One day while they're out, they see Bigfoot walking down the street. They try to chase him, but he jumps inside of an ice cream van. The two end up seeing members of Zeke's Bigfoot search club, and get into the van with them. They continue to chase after Bigfoot but the newscast van hurries and jumps in front of them. Judy and the others drive around them, and end up finding them in the Fun Zone, an old amusement park. Bigfoot and the ice cream van driver get out of the van. They find out that Bigfoot really is Zeke in disguise, and that he was helping Mr. Todd sell ice cream. As a prize for finding Mr. Todd, Judy gets two front row seat tickets for the circus. Judy ends up participating in a circus act. As she gets sawed in half, the scene goes to her in her backyard in front of her family getting sawed in half. Her Aunt Opal is about to leave, but before she leaves, her and Judy go to put hats on lions and she gets more thrill points. Judy says meeting her Aunt Opal helped her get the most thrill points. Aunt Opal says to Judy that next year, she's planning on wrapping the whole Eiffel Tower with 10,000 scarves and wants Judy to help her. The movie ends with them getting money for Stink's Bigfoot statue getting touched by the neighborhood.

Cast

Goliath is portrayed as the Scream Monster Rollercoaster in the movie.

Reception

Critical response

The film received a 20% "Rotten" rating on review aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes, based on 79 reviews, with a weighted average of 4.31/10. The consensus states: "Entertaining for some very young viewers, but for those with normal attention spans, Judy Moody is loud hyperactive overload". Film critic Roger Ebert rated the film two out of four stars, stating that "little kids might find perfectly acceptable" but " may find themselves looking for stuff to think about while watching this film." However, he said that the film progresses through "with lots of bright colors and jolly music."

Box office

The film debuted on June 10, 2011, earning $6,076,859 its opening weekend. As of August 10, 2011, it has grossed $15,013,650 and grossed an additional $2,016,232 overseas for a worldwide total of $17,029,882. It claimed the No. 7 spot on its opening weekend, opening in 2,524 theaters.

Awards

Home and television media

As Relativity Media has no home entertainment company, 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment acquired rights to release the film in home entertainment ports. 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment distributed the film on DVD and Blu-ray and was released on October 11, 2011.
The film made its network television premiere on Disney Channel on August 10, 2013 and on Disney XD on May 8, 2014.

Junior Novelization

The junior novel-tie in book was released on May 24, 2011. This was also the 10th book of the Judy Moody series, written by Megan McDonald and illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds.