Here’s a nice change-up from the usual campaign of picture, poster, brief teaser, trailer etc. For its new ‘toon, Home, DreamWorks Animation has cooked up a proper short to introduce the alien creatures who covet our world and put it online.
Home, adapted from Adam Rex’s book The True Meaning Of Smekday, finds Steve Martin as Captain Smek, the overly confident leader of the Boov, an alien race in search of a new planet to call home. When they arrive and successfully conquer the Earth, all but a handful of humans are promptly relocated.
But when one resourceful girl, Tip, (Rihanna) manages to avoid capture, she finds herself the accidental accomplice of a banished Boov named Oh (Jim Parsons). The two fugitives realize there’s a lot more at stake than intergalactic relations as they embark on a life-altering road trip. Can they save the human race? Will Home help DreamWorks Animation convince stock market types that they can launch big films outside of their well-known franchises? The answers to these and other questions are probably not in the film itself, but the short certainly helps make it look watchable.
Martin, of course, can usually be counted upon to be funny, and here he seems to have a character that fits with his wackier side. Home, which also features the voice of Jennifer Lopez, invades US cinemas on November 26 before making its way here on December 5.