Judy Moody and the Not Bummer Summer is a 2011 American comedy film based on Megan McDonald's Judy Moody book series. Directed by John Schultz from a screenplay by McDonald and Kathy Waugh, it introduces Australian actress Jordana Beatty as the titular girl in a contest for the best summer with friends Amy Namey (Taylar Hender), who is off to Borneo; and Rockford "Rocky" Zang (Garrett Ryan), who is going to circus camp. Since her parents (Janet Varney and Kristoffer Winters) are off to California, Judy is stuck with her younger brother Stink (Parris Mosteller) and her free-spirited aunt Opal (Heather Graham). Her misadventures to have the best summer include a Bigfoot chase, various activities ruined by her friend Frank (Preston Bailey), and putting hats on animals with Opal.
Judy Moody and the Not Bummer Summer was the second project of couple and Smokewood Entertainment owners Sarah Siegel-Magness and Gary Magness, following the commercially and critically well-received film festival hit Precious (2009). The two bought the book rights on May 5, 2010, and Relativity Media bought the rights for domestic distribution on February 1, 2011. The adaptation's two-month shooting, which started in late August 2010; tracking of the score; and production of the animated sequences took place in and around Los Angeles, in order for Schultz to attend the birth of his child.
Beginning its domestic theatrical run on June 10, 2011, Judy Moody and the Not Bummer Summer was a box-office failure, grossing $17 million against a production budget of $20 million. However, despite the film receiving negative reviews from critics the film was praised for its casting and won a Young Artist Award for Best Young Ensemble Cast.
Plot Feisty girl Judy Moody sets out to have the most thrilling summer of her life. On the last day of the school year, Judy's teacher, Mr. Todd, announces that whichever student finds him over the summer gets a prize. Judy organizes a contest with her friends, who each have to do extraordinary things. If they each do them right, they earn “thrill points” and the best summer ever. Amy then announces that she is going to Borneo. Rocky announces he's going to circus camp, and Judy gets forced to spend the summer with her nerdy insecure friend Frank, much to her dismay. Judy attempts to convince her parents to let her go with Rocky to summer camp and then Amy to Borneo, but she fails. She emails her friends and tells them they can still have the contest but make it a race, and they agree, while also attempting to find Mr. Todd so they can get the prize. However, Frank unintentionally ruins all her plans by knocking her off a tightrope, inspired by a circus act Rocky did, vomiting all over her on a roller coaster called the Scream Monster at an amusement park, refusing to surf after a wave hits him at the beach, and leaving the movie theater in the middle of a scary movie marathon, and they fail to find Mr. Todd. After Judy's ideas go hilariously wrong, she decides to stay in her room for the rest of the summer.
Judy's parents then tell her that they have to travel to California to assist Judy's grandparents who are going through a difficult time, and their Aunt Opal will be staying with them while they're gone, whom Judy hasn't seen in years. Judy initially has a negative opinion about Opal, but once she reunites with her, she quickly bonds with her. Judy then learns that Opal is a bohemian “guerrilla artist” who “makes art out of everything and puts it everywhere.” They make their hats together and plan to put them on lion statues at the local library so everyone can see their artwork.
Meanwhile, she hears that Stink will be on the news because of his search for Bigfoot. Judy is interested in being a part of the story after hearing how famous Stink could be if he catches the creature, though the newscast ends as soon as Judy comes up.
Judy tries to pair up with Stink in the search for Bigfoot. One day, while Judy and Stink are out, they see Bigfoot walking down the street. They try to chase him, but he jumps inside an ice cream van. The two become Zeke's Bigfoot search club members and enter the van with them. They continue to chase after Bigfoot, but the news van hurries and jumps in front of them. Judy and the others drive around them and find them in the Fun Zone, an old amusement park. Bigfoot and the ice cream van driver (discovered to be Mr. Todd) get out of the van. They find out Bigfoot is Zeke in disguise and 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 with Rocky's family.
At the end of summer, Aunt Opal is about to leave, but before she leaves, she and Judy go put hats on lion statues, and she gets more thrill points. Judy says that Aunt Opal helped her get the most thrill points. Aunt Opal tells Judy that she plans to wrap the whole Eiffel Tower with 10,000 scarves next year and wants Judy to help her. Judy and Stink receive money for Stink's Bigfoot statue, which is being touched by the neighborhood.
Cast
Production Development Couple Sarah Siegel-Magness and Gary Magness of Smokewood Entertainment, after finishing Precious (2009), planned their next project to be an adaptation of a Judy Moody novel after their daughter read one. The books made Sarah Siegel-Magness feel nostalgic, and she appreciated the titular character for being someone "any girl in America can aspire to. [...] She takes everyday scenarios and turns them into something magical." It took close to a year to purchase the rights, which were bought on May 5, 2010 following a meeting between the couple and Judy Moody author Megan McDonald, and the couple had plans to make a franchise out of the film. On February 1, 2011, Relativity Media, a distributor with thrillers and adult comedy films in most of its line-up, acquired rights to domestically distribute Judy Moody and the Not Bummer Summer.
As Siegel-Magness revealed her vision for Judy's actress, "I wanted a fresh face, someone who is not yet established, a young girl with a twinkle in her eye." Despite auditioning several actresses for the role of Judy, the studio failed to find a suitable one; a producer instructed Megan McDonald to look for one, and after some online research, the author found an image of Jordana Beatty: "I saw this wild, crazy red hair and this big smile and said, 'That's IT! It's her!'" McDonald had little expectations the producers would have her join; however, following a Skype audition, she was cast on July 21, 2010, for her "natural enthusiasm, humor and charismatic charm," reasoned Sarah Siegel-Magness.
Not counting a cancelled adaptation of Eloise in Paris (1957), Judy Moody and the Not Bummer Summer was Beatty's first lead role in a film. Beatty was a fan of all the Judy Moody books, reading them two times before she was cast. Being on set with other crew and actors who were American helped the Australian child actress develop an American accent for the character. McDonald was the most focused on Judy's actress not over-acting her mood swings: "If you exaggerate the moodiness just a little too much it can become kind of obnoxious. I was most worried that we'd get someone who would overplay the moods."
According to Jaleel White, "John Schultz told me to try to be part Richard Pryor and part Mister Rogers. I don't know what the heck that is even now, and I already completed the role."
Gayla Goehl served as Acting Coach during two weeks of preproduction with the young cast and for the entire filming on-set.
Set, filming, and music The producers were committed to staying true to the novel's illustrations, down to the look of the cast members, and designs of costumes and sets.
All the production was done in and around Los Angeles, due to the discounts of local studios and in order for Schultz to accompany his wife going through childbirth. It was filmed in various locations in Southern California, such as a Studio City home, streets in Altadena and Glendora, beaches in Oxnard, San Rafael Elementary School, Ague Dulce for a tree sequence, the Warner Grand Theatre in San Pedro where Judy and Stink see a horror film while dressed up in zombie outfits, and Griffith Park. Reel FX Creative Studios' Santa Monica branch produced the during-film animations, while Exceptional Minds, a non-profit studio for autistic students, animated the end credits in what was their first major film project.
Filming took place for two months beginning late August 2010. The scene with the trickiest location to find was a creek in Judy's backyard; it took three days of searching, but the chosen location was the middle of a desert, with shrubs and trees added around the creek.
Glendora Village Pet Shop served as the pet store Fur & Fangs, while Glendora's Domenico's Jr. was the pizzeria Gino's. Goliath serves as the "Scream Monster" in the film. The UN Zone set was built on an empty San Pedro space next to a river, and the day of filming it was 113 degrees Fahrenheit, breaking the Los Angeles thermometer.
For the rollercoaster ride, Preston Bailey was fed a combination of yogurt, oatmeal, blueberries, and Rice Krispies cereal for the puke effect. It was Beatty's least favorite sequence: "I knew he was going to puke on me and I had to act like I didn't know [...] So then I had to act like I was mad at him for the rest of the roller coaster ride. And I said to Megan after the scene, 'I didn't have to act mad. Because I was mad!'"
The score of Judy Moody and the Not Bummer Summer was tracked in four days at the Newman Scoring Stage, located at the 20th Century Fox studio lot in Century City, Los Angeles. To have the score sound like comedy films such as Home Alone (1990) and Back to the Future (1985), Schultz decided to have the music performed by a total of 80 union members and musicians local to Los Angeles; this was unusual in a film industry becoming more reliant on sampled instruments, synthesizers, nonunion musicians, and tax credits to cut budgets, and recordings of scores taking place more often in London than in Los Angeles.
Reception Release and commercial performance Since late April 2011, Judy Moody and the Not Bummer Summer was projected by Relativity and data analyst groups to gross within the range of $6–8 million in its opening weekend, and $23–25 million by the end of its run. The previous decade depicted poor box office numbers of book adaptations following female tween leads, such as Ella Enchanted (2004), Nancy Drew (2007), and Ramona and Beezus (2010). Ray Subers of Box Office Mojo predicted lame results with the Judy Moody film, citing the poor performance of Ramona and Beezus and movies based on non-fantasy books in general (excluding Diary of a Wimpy Kid). Ramona and Beezus was also used by The Numbers journalist C.S. Strowbridge for his predictions, as well as another Schultz-directed family film Aliens in the Attic (2009); feeling the Relativity-distributed feature would be a moderate hit at best, he forecasted Judy Moodys chances being harmed by its cast devoid of actors its demographic were familiar with.