{{Infobox film , name = The Last Mimzy , image = The Last Mimzy.jpg , caption = US Promotional poster , director =

Robert Shaye Robert Kenneth Shaye (born March 4, 1939) is an American businessman, film producer, actor, director, and writer. He is the founder of New Line Cinema, a film production studio that distributed films such as ''A Nightmare on Elm Street'', ''Te ...

, producer = Michael Phillips , based_on = {{Based on, " Mimsy Were the Borogoves", Henry Kuttner
C.L. Moore , screenplay = {{plainlist, *

Bruce Joel Rubin Bruce Joel Rubin (born March 10, 1943) is an American screenwriter, meditation teacher, and photographer. His films often explore themes of life and death with metaphysical and science fiction elements. Prominent among them are '' Jacob's Ladder' ...

Toby Emmerich Toby Emmerich (born February 8, 1963), is an American producer, film executive, and screenwriter. He has been with Warner Bros. for much of his career, and formerly served as the chairman of the Warner Bros. Pictures Group. Biography Emmerich ...

* James V. Hart * Carol Skilken , starring = {{plainlist, *

Joely Richardson Joely Kim Richardson (born 9 January 1965) is an English actress. She is known for her roles as Julia McNamara in the FX drama series ''Nip/Tuck'' (2003–10) and Katherine Parr in the Showtime series ''The Tudors'' (2010). She has also appea ...

Timothy Hutton Timothy Tarquin Hutton (born August 16, 1960) is an American actor and film director. He is the youngest recipient of the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, which he won at age 20 for his performance as Conrad Jarrett in ''Ordinary People ...

Michael Clarke Duncan Michael Clarke Duncan (December 10, 1957September 3, 2012) was an American actor. He was best known for his breakout role as John Coffey in '' The Green Mile'' (1999), for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor a ...

Rainn Wilson Rainn Percival Dietrich Wilson (born January 20, 1966) is an American actor, comedian, podcaster, producer, and writer. He is best known for his role as Dwight Schrute on the NBC sitcom ''The Office'', for which he earned three consecutive Em ...

Kathryn Hahn Kathryn Marie Hahn (born July 23, 1973) is an American actress and comedian. She began her career on television, starring as grief counselor Lily Lebowski in the NBC crime drama series ''Crossing Jordan'' (2001–2007). Hahn gained prominence ap ...

* Chris O'Neil * Rhiannon Leigh Wryn , music = {{plainlist, * Howard Shore * Roger Waters , cinematography = J. Michael Muro , editing = Alan Heim , distributor =

New Line Cinema New Line Cinema is an American film production studio owned by Warner Bros. Discovery and is a film label of Warner Bros. It was founded in 1967 by Robert Shaye as an independent film distribution company; later becoming a film studio after ...

, released = {{Film date, 2007, 3, 23 , runtime = 96 minutes , country = United States , language = English , budget = $35.5 million{{cite web , url=https://content.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1601439,00.html , gross = $27.5 million{{cite web , url=https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Last-Mimzy-The#tab=summary , title=''The Last Mimzy'' , publisher= The Numbers. Nash Information Services, LLC , access-date=March 19, 2018 ''The Last Mimzy'' is a 2007 American

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...

adventure An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extreme ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super ...

directed by

founder

. It was loosely based upon the 1943 science fiction

short story A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest ...

" Mimsy Were the Borogoves" by

Lewis Padgett Lewis Padgett was the joint pseudonym of the science fiction authors and spouses Henry Kuttner and C. L. Moore,Nicholls 1979, p. 445. taken from their mothers' maiden names. They also used the pseudonyms Lawrence O'Donnell and C. H. Liddell, as w ...

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...

of husband-and-wife team Henry Kuttner and

C. L. Moore Catherine Lucille Moore (January 24, 1911 – April 4, 1987) was an American science fiction and fantasy writer, who first came to prominence in the 1930s writing as C. L. Moore. She was among the first women to write in the science fiction and ...

). The film features

, and introduces

Rhiannon Leigh Wryn Rhiannon Wryn (formerly credited as Rhiannon Leigh Wryn) is an American actress. She had lead roles in the 2007 film ''The Last Mimzy'' and the 2010 film ''Monster Mutt''. She was nominated for both a Saturn Award and a Young Artist Award for he ...

as seven-year-old Emma Wilder and Chris O’Neil as ten-year-old Noah.

Plot

A scientist in the distant future has set out to avert a catastrophic

ecological disaster An environmental disaster or ecological disaster is defined as a catastrophic event regarding the natural environment that is due to human activity.Jared M. Diamond, '' Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed'', 2005 This point disti ...

, and sends a small number of

high tech High technology (high tech), also known as advanced technology (advanced tech) or exotechnology, is technology that is at the cutting edge: the highest form of technology available. It can be defined as either the most complex or the newest te ...

devices that resemble

toy A toy or plaything is an object that is used primarily to provide entertainment. Simple examples include toy blocks, board games, and dolls. Toys are often designed for use by children, although many are designed specifically for adults and pet ...

s back in time to modern day

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

. Here, they are discovered by two children: Noah Wilder and his younger sister, Emma. The "toys" are initially incomprehensible to them, other than one which appears to be a stuffed rabbit. The children keep their discovery secret from their parents. Emma becomes telepathically connected to the rabbit, "Mimzy", which imparts knowledge onto her. The children gain

genius Genius is a characteristic of original and exceptional insight in the performance of some art or endeavor that surpasses expectations, sets new standards for future works, establishes better methods of operation, or remains outside the capabili ...

-level intellects and

psionic In American science fiction of the 1950s and 1960s, psionics was a proposed discipline that applied principles of engineering (especially electronics) to the study (and employment) of paranormal or psychic phenomena, such as telepathy and psycho ...

powers: Noah can teleport objects using a card-sized rectangle of green lines of light and a conch shell to control spiders, but thanks to her link, Emma develops the more advanced abilities, becoming the only one who can use the "spinners", stones which can float and produce a force field. Emma describes herself as "the chosen one" but names Noah as "the engineer" without which she cannot "build the bridge to the future". The children's parents, and Larry White, Noah's science schoolteacher discover the devices and the children's powers. By mistake, Noah causes a power black-out over half the state of Washington, alerting the

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, t ...

to their activities. The family is held for questioning by Special Agent Nathaniel Broadman. The Mimzy is revealed as

artificial life Artificial life (often abbreviated ALife or A-Life) is a field of study wherein researchers examine systems related to natural life, its processes, and its evolution, through the use of simulations with computer models, robotics, and biochemistry ...

utilizing nanotechnology created by

Intel Intel Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California. It is the world's largest semiconductor chip manufacturer by revenue, and is one of the developers of the x86 seri ...

. Emma relates a dire message from Mimzy: Many Mimzys were sent into the past, but none of the others had returned to their home time, because they lacked an "engineer" like Noah, and now Mimzy is beginning to disintegrate, and must convey uncorrupted human DNA to the future to correct the damage done to DNA by ecological catastrophes. The FBI do not believe them, so Noah and Emma use their powers to escape. Mimzy absorbs a tear from Emma, which contains her DNA. Via the time portal which Noah constructs using the toys, Mimzy returns to the future. Larry, who witnessed Mimzy leaving the present, says he saw "numbers", a reference to a previous dream he had which related to him the winning lottery numbers: He had missed out before by never buying a ticket. In the future, Mimzy provides the genetic information required to restore humanity, both physically and mentally, with Emma dubbed "Our Mother" by the people of the future.

Cast

as Emma Wilder * Chris O'Neil as Noah Wilder ** Chris Sipe as Noah Wilder (other scenes) *

as David Wilder *

as Jo Wilder *

as Larry White, *

as Naomi Schwartz *

as FBI Special Agent Nathaniel Broadman. *

Patrick Gilmore Patrick Sarsfield Gilmore (December 25, 1829 – September 24, 1892) was an Irish-born American composer and bandmaster who lived and worked in the United States after 1848. While serving in the Union Army during the U.S. Civil War, Gilmor ...

as FBI Task Force Agent. * Kirsten Williamson as Sheila Broadman * Marc Musso as Harry Jones * Megan McKinnon as Wendy * Irene Snow as Lena, the story's narrator.

Other characters

Mackenzie Hamilton and

Calum Worthy Calum Worthy (born January 28, 1991) is a Canadian actor, writer, and producer, known for his roles as Dez on the Disney Channel series ''Austin & Ally'', Alex Trimboli in the Netflix series '' American Vandal'', Nicholas Godejohn in the Hulu ser ...

cameo as Teenage cyborgs. Well-known

string theorist In physics, string theory is a theoretical framework in which the point-like particles of particle physics are replaced by one-dimensional objects called strings. String theory describes how these strings propagate through space and intera ...

Brian Greene Brian Randolph Greene (born February 9, 1963) is a American theoretical physicist, mathematician, and string theorist. Greene was a physics professor at Cornell University from 19901995, and has been a professor at Columbia University since 1 ...

has a cameo appearance as an

scientist.

Development and production

''The Last Mimzy'' is loosely based upon " Mimsy Were the Borogoves" by

(the pen name of collaborators Henry Kuttner and

); the story appeared in

John W. Campbell John Wood Campbell Jr. (June 8, 1910 – July 11, 1971) was an American science fiction writer and editor. He was editor of ''Astounding Science Fiction'' (later called '' Analog Science Fiction and Fact'') from late 1937 until his death ...

's magazine ''

Astounding ''Analog Science Fiction and Fact'' is an American science fiction magazine published under various titles since 1930. Originally titled ''Astounding Stories of Super-Science'', the first issue was dated January 1930, published by William C ...

'' in 1943.{{cite web , last = Norwood , first = Rick , title = Review: The Last Mimzy , publisher = SF Site , year = 2007 , url = http://www.sfsite.com/04b/lm246.htm , access-date = October 19, 2007 The central idea of "toys" sent from the future to the present, and of the toys' alteration of the children's thought patterns remains, but with many differences. Originally, the transferral (from an unspecified date millions of years in the future) occurs by accident. The story makes the point that exposure to novel concepts would alter the children's perceptions "naturally" (irrespective of any intention on the part of the device's creator), since it would take place during an early phase of their intellectual development. Both the film's and short story's titles are derived from third line of the

nonsense verse Nonsense verse is a form of nonsense literature usually employing strong prosodic elements like rhythm and rhyme. It is often whimsical and humorous in tone and employs some of the techniques of nonsense literature. Limericks are probably th ...

poem "

Jabberwocky "Jabberwocky" is a nonsense poem written by Lewis Carroll about the killing of a creature named "the Jabberwock". It was included in his 1871 novel ''Through the Looking-Glass'', the sequel to '' Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (1865). The ...

" in

Lewis Carroll Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (; 27 January 1832 – 14 January 1898), better known by his pen name Lewis Carroll, was an English author, poet and mathematician. His most notable works are '' Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (1865) and its sequ ...

's ''

Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There ''Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There'' (also known as ''Alice Through the Looking-Glass'' or simply ''Through the Looking-Glass'') is a novel published on 27 December 1871 (though indicated as 1872) by Lewis Carroll and the ...

''. The adapted screenplay is by

and

. The film's production team also included editor Alan Heim and sound designer

Dane Davis Dane A. Davis is a sound editor with over 150 film credits. He won the Academy Award for Best Sound Editing during the 72nd Academy Awards for ''The Matrix''. He is most known for his work on ''The Matrix'' films. With the exception of '' Clou ...

. Visual effects were created by The Orphanage, and location filming was done in Roberts Creek and

Collingwood School Collingwood School is an independent, non-denominational, co-educational, university-preparatory school founded in 1984. Located in West Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, it delivers the British Columbia Ministry of Education curriculum from Ju ...

Re-release of the short story

''The Last Mimzy: Stories'', a retitled repackaging of the collection ''The Best of Henry Kuttner'', was released in paperback, with a new title and cover art to tie in with the film. "Mimsy Were the Borogroves" led off the collection.

Reception

Box office

''The Last Mimzy'' grossed nearly $21.5 million in North America and $6.1 million in other countries for a worldwide total of $27.5 million,

Critical response

Critical response to ''The Last Mimzy'' was mixed, and ranged from saying that it holds appeal for family audiences, especially children. They described the story as distracting. On

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, the film has an approval rating of 55% based on 126 reviews, with an average score of 5.8/10. The site's critical consensus states, "''The Last Mimzy'' makes efforts to be a fun children's movie, but unsuccessfully juggles too many genres and subplots—eventually settling as an unfocused, slightly dull affair" On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

, the film had a score of 59 out of 100, based on 25 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale. Jeannette Catsoulis of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' called it, "Wholesome, eager entertainment that doesn't talk down", agreeing with Ken Fox of

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media company that provides television program listings information as well as entertainment and television-related news. The company sold its print magazine division, TV Guide Magazine LLC, in 2008. Corpora ...

's ''Movie Guide'' who said it was "a thoughtful and sincere interpretation that actually get kids and their guardians thinking and talking." Calling the film "lightweight", the '' Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' rated it a "small gem". ''

The Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the ''Chicago T ...

'' went as far as to say ''The Last Mimzy'' is an "emotionless empty shell" compared to '' E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial''. Critics diverged regarding the scientific validity of the film. Reviewer Susan Granger said, "There's some validity to the challenging science depicted in the film, according to Brian Greene, Columbia University physics professor, and Susan Smalley, UCLA neurobehavioral genetics professor." By contrast, Rick Norwood (The SF Site) writes, "The Last Mimzy has carefully expunged all of the ideas from the story, and replaced them with the New Age nonsense that passes for ideas these days. They have also taken a very personal story about one family and a box of toys from the future and turned it into an epic story in which childlike innocence saves the human race".

Soundtrack

The soundtrack for the film was composed by Howard Shore, the award-winning composer behind the scores of ''The Lord of the Rings'' film trilogy. Former Pink Floyd member Roger Waters also collaborated on a song called " Hello (I Love You)". "I think together we've come up with a song that captures the themes of the movie—the clash between humanity's best and worst instincts, and how a child's innocence can win the day", Roger Waters commented.{{cite web, title="Hello (I Love you)" article, url=http://www.pr-inside.com/waters-records-film-tune-with-oscar-winning-r37315.htm, author=PR Inside, access-date=January 16, 2007

Track listing

{{Track listing , title1 = The Mandala , length1 = 1:37 , title2 = Whidbey Island , length2 = 3:21 , title3 = Under the Bed , length3 = 2:46 , title4 = Cuddle , length4 = 1:28 , title5 = Beach , length5 = 1:59 , title6 = Scribbles , length6 = 2:39 , title7 = Blackout , length7 = 3:17 , title8 = Palm Readings , length8 = 4:12 , title9 = I Love the World , length9 = 0:52 , title10 = Help! , length10 = 1:20 , title11 = I have to look , length11 = 4:20 , title12 = Can I Talk? , length12 = 5:26 , title13 = Eyes , length13 = 2:15 , title14 = The Tear , length14 = 4:07 , title15 = Through the Looking-Glass , length15 = 5:03 , title16 = Hello (I love You) , length16 = 6:16 , note16 = with Roger Waters

Awards

{, class="wikitable" , - ! Award !! Category !! Nominee !! Result , - , rowspan=2,

Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films is an American non-profit organization established in 1972 dedicated to the advancement of science fiction, fantasy, and horror in film, television, and home video. The Academy is headquarter ...

, , Best Performance by a Young Actor, , Rhiannon Leigh Wryn, , {{nom , - , Best Science Fiction Film, , , , {{nom , - , rowspan=4,

29th Young Artist Awards The 29th Young Artist Awards ceremony, presented by the Young Artist Association, honored excellence of young performers under the age of 21 in the fields of film, television and theatre for the year 2007, and took place on March 30, 2008 at th ...

{{cite web, url=http://www.youngartistawards.org/noms29.html , title=29th Annual Young Artist Awards , access-date=May 14, 2012 , url-status=dead , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080706161000/http://www.youngartistawards.org/noms29.html , archive-date=July 6, 2008 , , Best Family Feature Film, , , , {{nom , - , Best Performance by a Leading Young Actor, , Chris O'Neil, , {{nom , - , Best Performance by a Young Actress, , Rhiannon Leigh Wryn, , {{nom , - , Best Performance by a Young Ensemble Cast, , Chris O'Neil
Rhiannon Leigh Wryn
Marc Musso
Megan McKinnon
Nicole Muñoz, , {{nom

References

{{reflist

External links

{{wikiquote * {{Official website, https://web.archive.org/web/20070217154248/http://www.mimzy.com:80/ * {{IMDb title * {{Allmovie title {{Brian Greene {{Lewis Padgett {{DEFAULTSORT:Last Mimzy 2007 films American science fiction films Canadian science fiction films 2000s science fiction films 2000s children's fantasy films Dolls in fiction Films about psychic powers Films based on science fiction short stories Films directed by Robert Shaye Films produced by Michael Phillips (producer) Films set in Seattle Films set in Washington (state) Films scored by Howard Shore Films shot in Vancouver Films with screenplays by Bruce Joel Rubin 2000s English-language films 2000s American films 2000s Canadian films