Baby Geniuses
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''Baby Geniuses'' is a 1999 American
family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...
comedy film The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor. These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have a happy ending, with dark comedy being an exception to this rule. Comedy is one of the o ...
directed by
Bob Clark Benjamin Robert Clark (August 5, 1939 – April 4, 2007) was an American film director and screenwriter. In the 1970s and 1980s, he was responsible for some of the most successful films in Canadian film industry, Canadian film history such ...
and written by Clark and Greg Michael, from a story by Clark, Steven Paul, Francisca Matos, and Robert Grasmere. It stars
Kathleen Turner Mary Kathleen Turner (born June 19, 1954) is an American actress. Known for her distinctive deep husky voice, she is the recipient of two Golden Globes, as well as nominations for an Academy Award, a Grammy, and two Tony Awards. After debuting ...
,
Christopher Lloyd Christopher Allen Lloyd (born October 22, 1938) is an American actor. He has appeared in many theater productions, films, and television shows since the 1960s. He is known for portraying Emmett Brown in the Back to the Future (franchise), ''B ...
,
Kim Cattrall Kim Victoria Cattrall (; born 21 August 1956) is a British, Canadian, and American actress. She is known for her portrayal of Samantha Jones on HBO's ''Sex and the City'' (1998–2004), for which she received five Primetime Emmy Award nominati ...
,
Peter MacNicol Peter MacNicol (born April 10, 1954) is an American actor. He received a Theatre World Award for his 1981 Broadway debut in the play '' Crimes of the Heart''. His film roles include Galen in '' Dragonslayer'' (1981), Stingo in '' Sophie's Choic ...
, and
Ruby Dee Ruby Dee (born Ruby Ann Wallace; October 27, 1922 – June 11, 2014) was an American actress. She was married to Ossie Davis, with whom she frequently performed until his death in 2005. She received numerous accolades, including an Emmy Award, ...
. The film has the distinction of being the first full-length feature to use
computer-generated imagery Computer-generated imagery (CGI) is a specific-technology or application of computer graphics for creating or improving images in Digital art, art, Publishing, printed media, Training simulation, simulators, videos and video games. These images ...
for the synthesis of human visual speech. 2D warping techniques were used to digitally animate the mouth viseme shapes of the babies which were originally shot with their mouths closed. The viseme shapes were sampled from syllables uttered by the babies on the set. ''Baby Geniuses'' was almost universally panned by critics, who lambasted its acting, humor, special effects, writing, and directing, but it grossed $36.5 million worldwide against a production budget of $12 million. In 2004, it was followed by a sequel, '' Superbabies: Baby Geniuses 2'', which was a box office bomb, and received even worse critical reviews, receiving a nomination for Worst Picture at the 25th Golden Raspberry Awards.


Plot

Two scientists, Dr. Elena Kinder and Dr. Heep use genius-baby studies to fund BabyCo's
theme park An amusement park is a park that features various attractions, such as rides and games, and events for entertainment purposes. A theme park is a type of amusement park that bases its structures and attractions around a central theme, often fea ...
"Joyworld". According to Dr. Kinder's research on toddlers/babies, babies are born possessing vast, universal knowledge and speak a secret yet impossible-to-translate baby pre-language called Babytalk. However, at age 2–3, the knowledge and language are lost as the babies "cross over" by learning how to speak
human languages Language is a structured system of communication that consists of grammar and vocabulary. It is the primary means by which humans convey meaning, both in spoken and signed forms, and may also be conveyed through writing. Human language is ch ...
. All babies raised in Dr. Kinder's underground research facility were adopted from the orphanages Babyco supports (as they serve to filter out which babies should or shouldn't be raised under the Kinder Method) and transformed into small geniuses through use of the Kinder Method, and then used in experiments to decipher this secret yet impossible-to-translate language used by the eight baby geniuses. One mischievous toddler, Sylvester (the only one of her toddlers raised via the use of the superior version of the Kinder Method), nicknamed "Sly", makes repeated attempts to escape Dr. Kinder's research facility. One night, Sylvester goes into a diaper truck and succeeds. The next morning, he is surprised to run into his long-lost normal twin brother, Whit, in a Joyworld playground. Although Sylvester and Whit share a
telepathic Telepathy () is the purported vicarious transmission of information from one person's mind to another's without using any known human sensory channels or physical interaction. The term was first coined in 1882 by the classical scholar Frederic ...
bond, each has no idea of the other's existence. The guards from Dr. Kinder's research facility capture Whit, mistaking him for Sylvester, and take him back to Dr. Kinder's research facility. Sylvester is taken home by Whit's adopted mother, Robin, who is Dr. Kinder's niece. Dr. Kinder and the seven other baby geniuses are shocked that Whit and Sylvester switched places at the mall, but Dr. Kinder becomes excited and begins to see this as an opportunity to do a cross-evaluation on the twins. However, when she comes to Dan Bobbin's place, she realizes that Dan can understand babies. After the attempts to retrieve Sylvester fail, Dr. Kinder decides to move the research facility to
Liechtenstein Liechtenstein (, ; ; ), officially the Principality of Liechtenstein ( ), is a Landlocked country#Doubly landlocked, doubly landlocked Swiss Standard German, German-speaking microstate in the Central European Alps, between Austria in the east ...
, and they have no choice but to make Whit the only normal baby to be raised in this research facility until they can find a possible way to get Sylvester back to her research facility. The babies at Bobbin's place hypnotize Lenny, the bus driver, to drive to Dr. Kinder's research facility. Once at the research facility, Sylvester goes to the control room to set the robots from the theme park on the lab scientists. When the Bobbins return home, their natural daughter Carrie tells her father that the children are in Dr. Kinder's research facility. At the end of the fight, Dr. Kinder captures Whit and takes him to the helicopter pad on the roof. Robin and Dan chase them to the roof, where Dr. Kinder reveals that she and Robin are not related and that Robin was adopted at age 2. After Dr. Kinder is arrested by the police, Sylvester and Whit come together on the roof to cross over. Dan and Robin adopt Sylvester. Dan is still curious about the secrets of life; but, as the twins have crossed over, they no longer know those secrets. Carrie, their sister, doesn't reveal anything (just giving her father a Sly smile) because adults are never meant to know their secrets.


Cast

*
Kathleen Turner Mary Kathleen Turner (born June 19, 1954) is an American actress. Known for her distinctive deep husky voice, she is the recipient of two Golden Globes, as well as nominations for an Academy Award, a Grammy, and two Tony Awards. After debuting ...
as Dr. Elena Kinder *
Christopher Lloyd Christopher Allen Lloyd (born October 22, 1938) is an American actor. He has appeared in many theater productions, films, and television shows since the 1960s. He is known for portraying Emmett Brown in the Back to the Future (franchise), ''B ...
as Dr. Heep *
Kim Cattrall Kim Victoria Cattrall (; born 21 August 1956) is a British, Canadian, and American actress. She is known for her portrayal of Samantha Jones on HBO's ''Sex and the City'' (1998–2004), for which she received five Primetime Emmy Award nominati ...
as Robin Bobbins, Dan's wife and the biological mother of Carrie and adoptive mother of Whit & Sylvester *
Peter MacNicol Peter MacNicol (born April 10, 1954) is an American actor. He received a Theatre World Award for his 1981 Broadway debut in the play '' Crimes of the Heart''. His film roles include Galen in '' Dragonslayer'' (1981), Stingo in '' Sophie's Choic ...
as Dan Bobbins, the biological father of Carrie and adoptive father of Whit & Sylvester *
Dom DeLuise Dominick DeLuise (August 1, 1933 – May 4, 2009) was an American actor, comedian, director, musician, chef, and author. Known primarily for comedy roles, he rose to fame in the 1970s as a frequent guest on television variety shows. He is widely ...
as Lenny, who is a janitor and sitter for Dan and Robin. * Kyle Howard as Dickie/Ice Pick, a teenage guru of the group in Dan and Robin's family. *
Ruby Dee Ruby Dee (born Ruby Ann Wallace; October 27, 1922 – June 11, 2014) was an American actress. She was married to Ossie Davis, with whom she frequently performed until his death in 2005. She received numerous accolades, including an Emmy Award, ...
as Margo, Dan and Robin's housekeeper. *
Sam McMurray Samuel McMurray (born April 15, 1952) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Supervisor Patrick O'Boyle in the CBS sitcom series ''The King of Queens'', Glen in the Coen Brothers comedy film '' Raising Arizona'', Trent Culpepper in th ...
as Goon Bob * James M. Hanks as Goon Ray *
Kathleen Freeman Kathleen Freeman (February 17, 1923August 23, 2001) was an American actress. In a career that spanned more than 50 years, she portrayed acerbic maids, secretaries, teachers, busybodies, nurses, and battle-axe neighbors and relatives, almost i ...
as Lenny's Noisy Neighbor (uncredited) * Dan Monahan as Reporter * Leo, Gerry and Myles Fitzgerald as Sylvester "Sly" & Whit ** Miko Hughes as voice of Sly and Whit * Brianna and Brittany McConnell as Lexi ** Lexi Thomas as voice of Lexi * Gabrielle and Megan Robbins as Carrie Bobbins ** Aaron Spann & Scarlett Pomers as voice of Carrie * Jacob and Zachary Handy as Ducy ** Seth Adkins as voice of Ducy * Griffen and Connor Legget as Basil ** Scotty Leavenworth as voice of Basil * Amanda & Caitlin Fein as Teddie ** Ashli Adams as voice of Teddie


Production

Director
Bob Clark Benjamin Robert Clark (August 5, 1939 – April 4, 2007) was an American film director and screenwriter. In the 1970s and 1980s, he was responsible for some of the most successful films in Canadian film industry, Canadian film history such ...
became involved with the film in 1994 when he ran into
Jon Voight Jonathan Vincent Voight (; born December 29, 1938) is an American actor. Throughout his career, he has received numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, and four Golden Globe Awards as well as nominations ...
at a play who told Clark of a script his production company, jointly owned by Steven Paul, Crystal Sky Pictures had acquired that centered around intelligent babies. Clark took the script from Voight and expressed to him and Paul that he did not think the premise would work. However Clark changed his mind when Voight and Paul showed him a one minute proof of concept film they had done with some babies sitting around a table in a management meeting like they were executives with their mouths morphed to appear as if they were talking. The script Clark read was a much more fanciful fairy tale concept involving babies in a family discovering a hole that leads them to Baby World, inhabited by infants with only a few adults around. Clark eventually rewrote the script, jettisoning that plot completely in favor of the corporate intrigue angle desiring to go with a more realistic presentation of the concept. Adult actors were tested for the babies' voices, but this idea was quickly rejected with the producers opting for child voice overs. The film's concept was conceived by producer Steven Paul, who was inspired by a moment in his life when he saw two babies communicating together at a
Barneys New York Barneys New York is an American brand founded in 1923 by Barney Pressman that operated full-line department stores from 1923 until 2020. Authentic Brands Group acquired Barneys' intellectual property in 2019, and has licensed the brand to Saks F ...
. David Saunders, the then-president of Sony's Triumph Films, wasn't sure that the film could work until he saw the movie '' Babe'', which had similar use of mouth morphing. The studio held auditions for babies in about six cities. Triplet actors Miles, Leo, and Gerry Fitzgerald were almost three when they were cast in the dual role of Wilt and Sly. Jim Wagner, the film's baby wrangler, noted that the actors "still looked like babies. And with triplets, you can work longer hours than you can with twins." The film was shot for 50 days, wrapping in March 1997. The film faced numerous delays. It was originally planned to be released around Christmas 1997. Due to the incomplete visual effects, the film was postponed to April 10, 1998, then January 29, 1999, and then ultimately March 12, 1999. Baby Geniuses was one of the final films to be produced under Sony's Triumph Films label before it shuttered in 1997. The film was briefly handed off to Columbia TriStar Home Video for a
Direct-to-video Direct-to-video or straight-to-video refers to the release of a film, television series, short or special to the public immediately on home video formats rather than an initial theatrical release or television premiere. This distribution strat ...
release, but eventually reverted back to a theatrical release.


Reception

Audiences polled by
CinemaScore CinemaScore is an American market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts from the data. Background Ed Mintz, who ...
gave the film an average grade of "B−" on an A+ to F scale.
Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert ( ; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American Film criticism, film critic, film historian, journalist, essayist, screenwriter and author. He wrote for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. Eber ...
gave the film 1.5 stars out of 4, writing, "Bad films are easy to make, but a film as unpleasant as ''Baby Geniuses'' achieves a kind of grandeur. And it proves something I've long suspected: Babies are cute only when they're being babies. When they're presented as miniature adults (on greeting cards, in TV commercials or especially in this movie), there is something so fundamentally wrong that our human instincts cry out in protest." In a positive review, Dwayne E. Leslie of '' Box Office Magazine'' gave the film 3 out of 5 stars. He compared the film to ''
Look Who's Talking ''Look Who's Talking'' is a 1989 American romantic comedy film written and directed by Amy Heckerling and produced by M.C.E.G. Productions, Inc. and released on October 13, 1989 by Tri-Star Pictures. Starring John Travolta and Kirstie Alley, ...
'', calling it a "step beyond" for its use of computer-animated mouths "instead of using facial gestures to get implied meanings across." The reviewer also labeled the film as "a live action ''
Rugrats ''Rugrats'' is an American animated television series created by Arlene Klasky, Gábor Csupó, and Paul Germain for Nickelodeon. The series focuses on a group of toddlers, most prominently Tommy, Chuckie, Phil, and Lil, and their day-to-d ...
'' cartoon".


Box office

The film made over $5 million in its opening weekend, and was the 10th highest-grossing PG-rated movie of 1999.


Awards and nominations


Sequel and other media

Although the film was not received well by critics, its commercial success on
home video Home video is recorded media sold or Video rental shop, rented for home viewing. The term originates from the VHS and Betamax era, when the predominant medium was videotapes, but has carried over to optical disc formats such as DVD and Blu-ray. ...
prompted a
sequel A sequel is a work of literature, film, theatre, television, music, or video game that continues the story of, or expands upon, some earlier work. In the common context of a narrative work of fiction, a sequel portrays events set in the same ...
, '' Superbabies: Baby Geniuses 2''.
Bob Clark Benjamin Robert Clark (August 5, 1939 – April 4, 2007) was an American film director and screenwriter. In the 1970s and 1980s, he was responsible for some of the most successful films in Canadian film industry, Canadian film history such ...
returns to direct the sequel.
Jon Voight Jonathan Vincent Voight (; born December 29, 1938) is an American actor. Throughout his career, he has received numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, and four Golden Globe Awards as well as nominations ...
, who was previously co-executive producer for ''Baby Geniuses'', stars in the film as the antagonist, Bill Biscane. With reception much worse than the original, it was a
box office bomb A box-office bomb is a film that is unprofitable or considered highly unsuccessful during its theatrical run. Although any film for which the combined production budget, marketing, and distribution costs exceed the revenue after release has te ...
and is widely considered among the worst films of all time. In 2011, an original series based on the films was announced. The series has so far aired in Italy and the Far East. Additionally, the series was released as a set of movies. ''Baby Geniuses and the Mystery of the Crown Jewels'', which features episodes 1–4, was released
direct-to-video Direct-to-video or straight-to-video refers to the release of a film, television series, short or special to the public immediately on home video formats rather than an initial theatrical release or television premiere. This distribution strat ...
in 2013. Episodes 5–8, ''Baby Geniuses and the Treasures of Egypt'', came out in 2014, and episodes 9–12, were released as ''Baby Geniuses and the Space Baby'' in 2015. The series follow the Baby Squad Investigators, or B.S.I., as they pursue Big Baby (voiced by Christopher Bones), his father Beauregard Burger (Andy Pandini), and the international thief Moriarty (
Jon Voight Jonathan Vincent Voight (; born December 29, 1938) is an American actor. Throughout his career, he has received numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, and four Golden Globe Awards as well as nominations ...
).


References


External links

* * * {{Bob Clark 1999 films 1999 children's films 1999 comedy films 1999 science fiction films 1990s American films 1990s science fiction comedy films 1990s children's comedy films 1990s English-language films American children's comedy films American science fiction comedy films Child superheroes Crystal Sky Pictures films Films scored by Paul Zaza Films about babies Films directed by Bob Clark TriStar Pictures films Films based on The Prince and the Pauper English-language science fiction comedy films Films with screenplays by Bob Clark Films about telepathy Films about twin brothers