What if D Tor Productions was founded in 1940?/Dereck Torres Animation Television in 1985?/The Loud House Movie

The Loud House Movie is a 2004 American animated musical comedy film featuring characters from the D Tor Channel series The Loud House and the Derecktoons characters of the same name. Produced by Cyan Jetpack Animation Studios, D Tor Channel Movies, Chris Savino Productions, and Dereck Torres Animation Television and released by Cyan Jetpack Entertainment, it was directed by Dave Needham and Chris Savino in their directorial debut, from a screenplay by Kevin Sullivan and Chris Viscardi, and starring the voices of David Tennant, Michelle Gomez. Katy Townsend, and the regular voice cast of the series; consisting of Asher Bishop, Jill Talley, Brian Stepanek, Catherine Taber, Liliana Mumy, Nika Futterman, Cristina Pucelli, Jessica DiCicco, Grey Griffin, Lara Jill Miller, and Andre Robinson, reprising their respective roles. It tells the story of the Louds going to Scotland where they learn that they are descended from royalty.

The film was originally going to be theatrically released on February 7, 2003 by Cyan Jetpack Entertainment. Instead, the film had a delay to August 20, 2004, but was released theatrically. It was met with mixed to positive reviews from critics, praising its animation, acting, and songs, while some criticized the plot.

Premise
Lincoln Loud, the middle child and only son of Lynn Loud Sr. and Rita Loud, spends his time assisting his sisters - Lori, Leni, Luna, Luan, Lynn, Lucy, Lana, Lola and Lisa - as they go about their day-to-day duties, whilst also teaching his youngest sister Lily how to cope with living in a large family. After a particularly successful day where the sisters all win awards, they celebrate at Lynn Sr.'s restaurant. Whilst there, the Loud sisters are praised by fans, whilst Lincoln is pushed to the side and ignored. Feeling that he is living in their shadow, he consults his friend Clyde McBride, who tells him about the time he learnt his grandmother's side of the family was from Paris. Inspired, Lincoln asks his parents the same question and Lisa manages to trace Lynn Sr.'s heritage to Scotland. The Loud family then heads to Scotland for a week long vacation on a hectic trip involving parachuting from a cargo hold, flying in a hot air balloon, and traveling in a submarine. Upon arriving in the Scottish town of Loch Loud, a town filled with many oddities, the Loud family learns from the citizens of the town that they are descendants of Scottish royalty and are led to a castle ran by groundskeeper Angus and the disgruntled property caretaker Morag.

Angus then shows the family a painting of their descendants that bears a striking resemblance to themselves and reveals they ruled the town for many years before sailing away forever. Lincoln eventually learns from Angus that his own ancestral counterpart, the Duke of the family, was the most special member of the family, much to his delight. Wanting to become the new Duke of Loch Loud, he partakes in many community service events to help restore the village to its former glory and eventually guilt trips the rest of the family into moving to Scotland forever since the family no longer has to share one bathroom.

As the Louds adjust to their discovery while experiencing the ghost of their descendant Lucille Loud, a baby dragon who grows very fast that they name Lela, and enjoying their time in the castle, Morag becomes frustrated with the family after living in the castle peacefully and quietly for many years. She then devises a plan like her ancestor Aggie to get the family to leave Loch Loud forever by hypnotizing Lela with a magic gemstone known as the Dragon Stone and the royal scepter.

After the sisters begin to get attention in the village, Morag tricks Lincoln into riding Lela to try to get back his attention. While he rides the dragon, she uses the gemstone and scepter to hypnotize it into destroying the town so Lincoln could get blamed for the chaos. Feeling guilty for the damage, Lincoln asks the family to return home to Royal Woods. As the family leaves for home, Morag proceeds to make herself the new duchess of the town much to the displeasure of villagers. In response, she hypnotizes Lela again to cause more destruction to the village.

The ghost of Lucille Loud tells the family of Morag's plan and what she's doing to the town. The Loud children, head back to the town on a row boat and team up to defeat Morag and un-hypnotize Lela. The sisters eventually get the scepter back and Lincoln, using his magic skills and with help from Lily, destroys the gemstone which breaks Lela out of her spell and in response, Morag is dropped on an island filled with seals bearing resemblance to the Louds. The town of Loch Loud congratulates the family and asks Lincoln to resume his place as the duke of the kingdom, though Lincoln declines and instead offers the crown to Angus instead, feeling he deserved to be duke more, a decision approved by the kingdom and the ghosts of the Loud ancestors.

After helping repair the village, the Loud family says goodbye to Angus and the villagers and sets sail back home to Royal Woods. Bobby arrives in Scotland too late to find that Lori is on her way back to Royal Woods. Clyde welcomes Lincoln back to Royal Woods with some duke cupcakes.

During the credits, still images are shown that include but are not limited to the Duke's ghost riding Lela, Bobby finally reuniting with Lori, Leni contacting her love interest Scott online, Lincoln winning a 3rd place trophy with Lily present, Lela having laid three eggs, and Angus and the ghosts rescuing Morag who now works as the groundskeeper with Lela keeping her in line.

Cast

 * Asher Bishop as Lincoln / The Duke
 * David Tennant as Angus
 * Michelle Gomez as Morag
 * Jill Talley as Rita / 1600s Rita
 * Brian Stepanek as Lynn Sr. / 1600s Lynn Sr.
 * Catherine Taber as Lori
 * Liliana Mumy as Leni / 1600s Leni
 * Nika Futterman as Luna
 * Cristina Pucelli as Luan
 * Jessica DiCicco as Lynn / Lucy
 * Grey Griffin as Lana / Lola / Lily / Scoots
 * Lara Jill Miller as Lisa / 1600s Lisa
 * Katy Townsend as Lucille / Mrs. Scroggins / Old Aggie
 * Andre Robinson as Clyde
 * Carlos PenaVega as Bobby
 * Izabella Alvarez as Ronnie Anne
 * Billy Boyd as Scott / Fisherman / Additional Voices
 * Jan Johns as Lela the Dragon / Lolo the Dragon
 * Candi Milo as Submarine Captain / Additional Voices
 * Carlos Alazraqui as Bell Ringer / Additional Voices
 * Debra Wilson as Nana May / Nana Collette / Nana Helene / Mrs. Turnberry
 * Ruth Connell as Chip Shoppe Owner / Car Driver / Additional Voices
 * Tru Valentino as Fish Shoppe Owner / Additional Voices
 * Peter Ettinger as Uncle Jack's Nephew / Additional Voices

Howard, Harold, Flip, Mr. Grouse, Sam and Gayle have no lines

Songs

 * "Life is Better Loud"
 * "Ordinary Me"
 * "Now or Never"
 * "This Town Is Named for You"
 * "I'm Gonna Be the Duke"
 * "Loud Castle"
 * "The Duchess I Will Be"
 * "My Way Back Home"
 * "Let's Get Lost Together"

Development
On March 28, 1999, Cyan Jetpack Entertainment's president Marc Evans announced a film based on the series originally set for a theatrical release on February 7, 2003. However, in January 2000, Cyan Jetpack removed the film from their schedule. On February 5, 2002, it was announced that the film would be brought back and would be rewritten.

Cyan Jetpack president Marc Evans announced that, during a special report for CLN, the studio will work closely with D Tor's TV brands, most notably D Tor Channel, which includes this movie. When the film was first announced, in a 1999 interview, series creator Chris Savino stated that the film would be non-canon to the show. Dave Needham later contradicted Savino's claim stating that it is canon since Lily is still in her diaper appearance. In a later interview on the Nerds Social Club Podcast, Needham states that this film takes place during the summer somewhere between "Coupe Dreams" and "Schooled!"

In January 2004, it was announced that the film would be part of Cyan Jetpack Animation Studios' 2004 film lineup. The film's cast and crew were revealed in April 2004, confirming the entire main cast will be reprising their roles from the show, including new members such as David Tennant, Billy Boyd, and Michelle Gomez.

Trivia

 * Although Chris Savino stated in a 2001 interview that the events of the film would be separate from the show, Dave Needham, the film's co-director, overruled Chris' statement and confirmed that the film was canon to the series, as it is chronologically set between Season 4 and Season 5, since Lily is in her previous design.
 * Dave Needham elaborates in an interview on the Nerds Social Club Podcast that the film takes place during the summer following the events of "Coupe Dreams".
 * However, he and Chris were uncertain whether or not the show was gonna acknowledge the events of the film in a future episode.
 * The animation for this film was provided by the Philippines-based animation studio Top Draw Animation. The reason why they did the animation for the film was because Chris Savino Productions (the show's main animation studio) was too preoccupied working on other projects during the production of the film.
 * Despite, Top Draw Animation being the one animating the film, some scenes as well as storyboards and the majority of the film was done by Chris Savino Productions, D Tor Toon Animation, and Dereck Torres Animation Television.
 * The first promo image of the film features what seems to be the Loud family wearing Scottish clothes. For a while, people have debated whether the image was representing the present Loud family, or the Louds' ancestors. Dave Needham and Chris Savino confirmed in an interview on Animation Scoop that the image is of the ancestors 400 years ago. This is further supported by certain scenes in the film, such as when Angus reveals the portrait when the Louds enter their castle for the first time, and when Lucy summons Lucille.
 * In the same interview, Dave Needham reveals that when he signed on as director, he asked Kevin Sullivan and Chris Viscardi on why the film is specifically set in Scotland. The response he got was that Lynn Sr.'s side of the family came from Europe, but they never really specified where, saying they wanted someplace with a castle. Dave immediately approved of their decision to choose Scotland, saying that he has a personal connection to the country, as his sister lives there, while he grew up in Wales.

General trivia

 * The film reveals that Lynn Sr.'s side of the family are descended from Scotland, and that the entire Loud family is a part of Scottish rule, as their ancestors were once the rulers of a small Scottish town called Loch Loud.
 * According to Rita, her side of the family has always been in Royal Woods.
 * According to Clyde, his grandmother and great-grandmother are descended from France, and that they're well-known for their baking skills.
 * The setup of the film is similar to the setup of "Making the Case", as they both involve Lincoln realizing that he has nothing to show while his ten sisters are all beloved because of some sort of achievement or accomplishment.
 * At one point in the film, Angus and Morag reference the theme song:
 * Morag: "Crashing through the crowded halls, dodging girls like--"
 * Angus: "Ping-pong balls?"
 * Morag: "Just to reach the bathroom on time."
 * Angus: [chuckles] "That's rather catchy."
 * In the Season 5 episode "Rumor Has It", it was revealed that Lincoln's full name is Lincoln Albert Loud. Since the film is chronologically set between Seasons 4 and 5 (and most likely in production before Season 5), this would technically be the first piece of Loud House media to reveal this fact.
 * Some of the seals on the island where Lela drops Morag have some facial features similar to that of the Loud family.
 * One seal has Lincoln's cowlick.
 * One seal has buckteeth with braces, similar to Luan.
 * One seal is missing its front teeth, similar to Lana and Lola.
 * One seal has Lisa's hairstyle and glasses.
 * Innuendo: When Lincoln explains he's "duke-ing" by going down the stairs in his duke outfit, the twins misinterpret his words by believing he would soil himself (as in "take a duke").
 * Irony: All that mattered to Morag was deafening silence, so Lela proceeded to punish her by dumping her on an island full of noisy seals

Errors

 * Renee and Mollie can be seen in the opening sequence, even though they technically shouldn't be born around this time.
 * When baby Lincoln is crying, his tooth is visibly chipped, but when his sisters hug him, his tooth is no longer chipped.
 * During Luna's concert, Sam can be seen cheering alongside Lincoln, but in the next scene featuring Lincoln, Sam disappears.
 * During "Now or Never", the overhead view of the map of Europe has countless mistakes:
 * The island of Great Britain is yellow, but Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom, is green.
 * Albania, Denmark, Luxembourg, Montenegro, Morocco, Netherlands, Slovenia, and Tunisia are all unlabeled.
 * Montenegro is connected to Albania.
 * The Balearic Islands on Spain's east coast are purple, while the rest of Spain is green.
 * The islands of Corsica (France) and Sardinia (Italy) are yellow, while the two countries that own these islands are light yellow and red, respectively.
 * Kaliningrad (Russia) is connected to Poland.
 * Bosnia and Herzegovina is referred to simply as “Bosnia”.
 * Possible: North Macedonia is referred to simply as "Macedonia". However, since Macedonia changed its name to North Macedonia in 2019, the movie might take place before then.
 * Estonia and Russia are of the same adjacent color.
 * Zeeland (Denmark) is associated with Sweden.
 * When the map is close-up on the bus route, the Netherlands is indicated, but Luxembourg is connected to Belgium.
 * During Lincoln's slideshow, in the image of the the sisters finding all the things they like in Scotland, Lori's hands are unaligned with her wrists.
 * When the Loud kids are rowing back to Loch Loud after Lucille reveals to them Morag's treachery, Lynn's arms are layered behind the boat, making her hands appear as if they're levitating, and Luna's rowing appears to be occurring inside the boat.

Release
The Loud House Movie premiered in the United States on August 20, 2004. The film was rated PG by the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) for "mild language, crude humor, and fear of violence". The film's theatrical release was preceded by Deuces Wild, an The Loud House short featuring Lincoln, his sisters, and Clyde.

Marketing
The film's teaser trailer was released on July 10, 2003 and was attached into Bugs and Daffy a day later. The theatrical trailer was released on March 24, 2004 and was shown with Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed two days later. TV Spots began to air between May and August 2004. The film was backed by a large marketing campaign, with various merchandise becoming available throughout 2004. McDonald's promoted the film with a set of 8 happy meal toys featuring the characters from the film.

Radio Disney was told to allow any ads for the film to air on the station, stating, "Due to recent initiatives with The Walt Disney Company, we are being asked to align ourselves promotionally with this new release of The Loud House Movie. Stations may accept spot dollars only in individual markets". This applied later for the film's soundtrack album onto the network.

Home media
The Loud House Movie was released by D Tor Home Entertainment on VHS and DVD on December 17, 2004. The Loud House Movie 's video release made more than $100 million and eventually became the biggest selling DVD at the time with over 5.5 million sales.

The Loud House Movie generated more than $420 million in revenue for D Tor Productions on DVD and VHS and has sold more than 21 million copies of the 23 million shipped by January 2005 worldwide.

Music
The film's soundtrack was released on the same day the film was released, August 20. The theme by Christopher Lennertz and the official music by Phillip White, it features many songs sung by Oh, Hush!, graywolfe, Distant Cousins, and Tide Lines. The film's entire soundtrack is available on Spotify and from other popular MOD-providers.

Television broadcasting
The Loud House Movie had its network television premiere on D Tor Channel on Friday, July 14, 2006, at 8:00 pm. It then aired on DToons on November 24, 2006. Guitar also aired this movie on October 20 of that year. CLN aired this on February 16, 2007. Tag also aired it on May 18, 2007. Impact aired this movie on August 17, 2007.

Video game
A video game based on the film was published by Midway Games and released on November 7, 2004, for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 2, Nintendo GameCube, Game Boy Advance, and Xbox.

Box office
Before its release, some journalists expected The Loud House Movie to be a flop, mainly due to the show's decline around Seasons 4-6. The Loud House Movie opened on around 6,000 screens across 3,587 theaters, eleven of them showed the film digitally, made possible by the THX Division of Lucasfilm, This was the first time that D Tor Productions had shown one of its films digitally. The film earned $10.4 million on its first day and $40.5 million on its opening weekend, finishing second behind TBA and averaging $11,805 from 3,587 theatres. In its second weekend, the film gained 0.3 percent to $40.5 million and $52.5 million over the four-day weekend, resulting in an overall 30 percent gain. Despite this, the film topped the weekend and had an average of $15,240 from expanding to 3,623 sites.

In its third weekend, the film retreated 34 percent to $26.2 million for a $7,695 average from expanding to 3,661 theatres, finishing second behind newcomer The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie. The film closed on January 10, 2005, after grossing $212.1 million domestically, along with $253.7 million overseas, for a worldwide total of $465.8 million. Produced on a $76 million budget, the film was a huge box office smash and is the sixth highest-grossing film of 2004 behind The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie, The Incredibles, The Polar Express, The Defenders: Origins, C.O.P.I.E.S., Detective Pikachu 2: The Next Case, and Shrek 2. The film sold an estimated 47,290,600 tickets in North America.

Critical reception
On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an 91% approval rating based on 203 reviews, with an average rating of 7.81/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "Having enough colorful animation, brilliant humor and scenes to compete with the likes of Pixar, Amy and Yumiko perfectly lives up to be a hit on its own". Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 76 out of 100 based on 34 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.

The Loud House Movie was met with mixed to positive reviews from critics. Bob Hoose from Focus on the Family's pluggedin.com gave a positive review for the movie saying that "The Loud House Movie is a nicely balanced musical that somehow gives all of the kids—with their distinctive personalities and quirks—a moment to shine. All the while, it also delivers a rollicking, giggle-packed tale of castles, dragons and backstabbing caretakers". Common Sense Media's review published on The Washington Post noted that parents should "expect some name-calling like 'loser' and 'stinkin' Lincoln'," but noted that, "overall this is a funny, heartwarming story that the whole family can enjoy".

Accolades
TBA