Wheely
Directed byYusry Abdul Halim
Produced byNorman Abdul Halim
Production
companies
Kartun Studios
KRU Studios
Distributed byPrimeworks Studios
Release date
16 August 2018
Running time
90 minutes
CountryMalaysia
LanguagesMalay
English
Budget10,000,000 Malaysian ringgit[1]
Box office$1,340,799

Wheely, also released as Wheely: Fast and Hilarious, is a 2018 Malaysian 3D computer-animated comedy film written and directed by Yusry Abd Halim as his first animated film.[2][3] It was released in Malaysia on 16 August 2018. Critically, the film received negative reviews, with critics calling it a mockbuster of Pixar Animation Studios's film Cars.

Plot

After a really bad crash, Wheely is demoted from a 3-time rookie racer to a downtown cabbie with a mountain of debt and a bruised ego. The cause of the accident is no other than Putt Putt, his philosophical/Feng Shui practitioner fan turned to-best friend. Everything was fine until Wheely fell "head-over-wheels" for Bella, a supermodel from the upper echelons of society. To make things worse...she's got a boyfriend! Luckily for Wheely, Bella finds his street smart, ghetto-like, funny-guy character appealing.... but just before he gets the chance to get to know her better, her stuck-up boyfriend, Ben, gets in the way. And that's not all.... Wheely's faced with an even bigger problem when his dream girl gets "car-napped" by a global syndicate masterminded by an monstrous 18-wheeler truck, Kaiser.

Cast

  • Ogie Banks as Wheely, a shy and good-hearted yellow Mitsubishi Evo that suffers a racing accident, the main protagonist
  • Gavin Yap as Putt Putt, a green Piaggio Vespa, Wheely's best friend
  • Frances Lee as Bella, an attractive red Alfa Romeo GT
  • Thomas Pang as Ben, a dark green Buick XP2000, Bella's boyfriend
  • Jay Sheldon as Frank, a rusty Ford Econoline, that is known as a cardiologist. Sheldon also voices Bryan the Commentator a blue helicopter who narrates Wheely's race
  • Brock Powell as Kaiser, an evil blue Volvo FH, who is the leader of a luxury "car-napping" syndicate
  • Raymond Orta as Parmo, a Mini Cooper, one of Kaiser's henchmen
  • Armando Valdes-Kennedy as Rumble, a Chevrolet Camaro, one of Kaiser's henchmen
  • Tamiyka White as Momma, a Jamaican-accented orange VW Beetle, Wheely's mother
  • Barbara Goodson as Sergeant Street, a Ford Crown Victoria, that takes care of Gasket City
  • Chris Jai Alex as Crank, a ship that transports Kaiser
  • Khairil Mokhzani Bahar as Joe Flo, a red 1991 Nissan Silvia
  • Gavin Yap as Brad, an orange and white 2002 Subaru Impreza WRX STi. Yap also voices Ryan the Commentator a red helicopter who narrates Wheely's race
  • Joe Murray as Royston, a wealthy blue 1960 Jaguar Mark 2, who is Ben's father
  • Ghafir Akbar as the Director, a unnamed purple Willys model Jeep, who directs a commercial that Bella is acting in
  • Diong Chae Lian as Amy, a yellow Daewoo Matiz, who is Wheely's biggest fan

Production

Yusry Abdul Halim came up with the idea for the film in 2014 under the name of KL Taxi. But when we it get marketed the internationally buyers didn’t get the "KL" name. So Yusry immediately changed the title to Wheely.

His brother Norman added that the car photos went through various inspirations for the character designs, with the concept being expanded on the storyline. “We got two British writers who sneaked into the KRU Creative studios in Ipoh to work on the script but we eventually realized that the humour and sensibilities don't fit intro our movie. We wanted the movie to be have American charm rather than British, which explains why Wheely is not red and white like regular taxis in Malaysia “Yes but you know, back in the 80's our taxis were yellow and black, so it’s still Malaysian in that sense,” said Norman. With half of the animation handled at Invector Heads studio in India, KRU produced stereoscopic 3D version exclusive for Russia.

Release and reception

Wheely was released in Malaysia on 16 August 2018,[3] and had a worldwide gross of $1,340,799, the highest grossing country being Poland with $348,806.[4]

Wheely: Fast and Hilarious was also released in Australian theatres on November 9, 2018, distributed by Odin Eye's Entertainment alongside Universal Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.

Critically, the film received negative reviews, with critics calling it a mockbuster of Pixar Animation Studios's film Cars.[5][2][6][7] But, according to Norman Abdul Halim, the movie is not a rip-off of Cars: "it has its own unique characters, designs, plot, storyline and flavour."

References

  1. ↑ Faizal, Shazryn Mohd (2 August 2018) Cerita Wheely hanyalah sekadar biasa sahaja. (in Malay). mStar Online. Archived from the original on 6 August 2018. Retrieved 24 September 2021.
  2. 1 2 Moore, Roger (17 March 2019) Family Movie Review: “Wheely” is “Cars” without the Pixar touch. Movie Nation. Retrieved 24 September 2021.
  3. 1 2 Nasser, Ashraf (15 July 2018) "Wheely" bakal kembalikan kegemilangan KRU Studios?. (in Malay). Cinema Online. Archived from the original on 27 October 2020. Retrieved 24 September 2021.
  4. ↑ Wheely at Box Office Mojo, an IMDb company. Retrieved 24 September 2021.
  5. ↑ Clarke, Cath (19 April 2019) Wheely review – shameless Cars rip-off skids along the hard shoulder. The Guardian. Retrieved 24 September 2021.
  6. ↑ Wheely at Radio Times. Reviewed by Luxford, James on 18 April 2019. Retrieved 24 September 2021.
  7. ↑ Wheely at Common Sense Media. Reviewed by Chen, Sandie Angulo on 12 April 2019. Retrieved 24 September 2021.
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