The Pebble and the Penguin

The Pebble and the Penguin
Theatrical release poster
Directed byDon Bluth (uncredited)
Gary Goldman (uncredited)
Screenplay byRachel Koretsky
Steven Whitestone
Produced byRussell Boland
Don Bluth (uncredited)
Gary Goldman (uncredited)
John Pomeroy (uncredited)
Starring
Narrated byShani Wallis
Edited byFiona Trayler
Aran O'Reilly
Music byBarry Manilow (songs)
Mark Watters (score)
Production
companies
Distributed byMGM/UA Distribution Co. (United States and Canada)
Warner Bros. (International)
Release date
  • April 12, 1995 (1995-04-12) (United States)[1]
Running time
74 minutes
CountryUnited States[1]
LanguageEnglish
Budget$28 million
Box office$3.9 million[2]

The Pebble and the Penguin is a 1995 American independent animated musical comedy-adventure film[3] directed by Don Bluth and Gary Goldman. The film stars the voices of Martin Short, Jim Belushi, Tim Curry, and Annie Golden. Based on the true life mating rituals of the Adélie penguins in Antarctica, the film focuses on a timid, stuttering penguin named Hubie who tries to impress a beautiful penguin named Marina by giving her a pebble that fell from the sky and keep her from the clutches of an evil penguin named Drake who wants Marina for himself.

Towards the end of production, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures significantly changed the film, forcing Don Bluth and Gary Goldman to leave their film and demand to have their names taken off the film. The two would later start working at Fox Animation Studios.

The film was released in the United States on April 12, 1995, by MGM/UA Distribution Co.,[1] was panned by critics and became a box office bomb, grossing only $3.9 million against a $28 million budget. It is the final film to be produced by Sullivan Bluth Studios before the studio went bankrupt and ceased operations.

  1. ^ a b c "The Pebble and the Penguin". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. Retrieved 8 October 2019.
  2. ^ "The Pebble and the Penguin (1995)". Box Office Mojo.
  3. ^ "How the Secret of Nimh Proved Don Bluth Could Beat Disney". Nerdist. June 3, 2022.