Baby Geniuses is a 1999 family-oriented comedy film directed by Bob Clark. It stars Kathleen Turner and Christopher Lloyd.
The film has the distinction of being the first full-length feature to use Computer-generated imagery for the synthesis of human visual speech. 2D warping techniques were used to digitally animate the mouth viseme shapes of the babies which were originally shot with their mouths closed. The viseme shapes were sampled from syllables uttered by the babies on the set.
It was followed by a sequel, Superbabies: Baby Geniuses 2 in 2004.
In 2011 an original series was announced. The series has so far aired in Italy and the Far East. Additionally, the series is being released as a set of movies. Baby Geniuses and the Mystery of the Crown Jewels, which features episodes 1-4, was released directly to video in 2013. Episodes 5-8, Baby Geniuses and the Treasures of Egypt, came out in 2014, and episodes 9-12, Baby Geniuses and the Space Baby, are expected to be released in 2015. The series/movies follow the Baby Squad Investigators, or B.S.I., as they pursue Big Baby, his father Beauregard Burger (Andy Pandini), and the international thief Moriarty.
§Plot
Two scientists, Dr. Elena Kinder (Kathleen Turner) and Dr. Heep (Christopher Lloyd), use genius-baby studies to fund BabyCo's theme park "Joyworld". According to Dr. Kinder's research on toddlers/babies, babies are born possessing vast, universal knowledge and speak a secret yet impossible-to-translate baby pre-language called "Babytalk". At age 2-3, however, the knowledge and language are lost as the babies "cross over" by learning how to speak our language. Most of the babies raised in Dr. Kinder's underground research facility were adopted from the Pasadena City orphanage, transformed into little geniuses through use of the Kinder Method, and then used in experiments to decipher this secret yet impossible-to-translate language used by the 7 baby-geniuses.
One mischievous toddler, Sylvester (the only one of her toddlers who was raised through use of the superior version of the Kinder Method), makes repeated attempts to escape Dr. Kinder's research facility and one night, Sylvester goes into a dirty diaper truck and he actually succeeds. The next morning, one thing Sylvester does not expect is to run into his twin, Whit, in a mall playground. Although Sylvester and Whit share a telepathic bond, they have no idea of each other's existence. While the guards from Dr. Kinder's research facility capture Whit, mistaking him for Sylvester, and take him back to Dr. Kinder's research facility, Sylvester is taken home by Whit's adopted mother, Robin (Kim Cattrall), who is Dr. Kinder's niece. After Dr. Kinder and the six other baby-geniuses are shocked that Whit and Sylvester switched places at the mall, Dr. Kinder decides to do a cross evaluation on Sylvester and Whit. However, when she comes to Dan Bobbin's place, she realizes that Dan can understand babies. After the attempts to retrieve Sylvester fail, Dr. Kinder decides to move the research facility to Liechtenstein (a.k.a. "the worst country in Europe"), and they have no chance but make Whit be raised in this research facility until they can find a possible way to get Sylvester back to her research facility.
The babies at Bobbin's place hypnotize Lenny (Dom DeLuise), the bus driver to drive to Dr. Kinder's research facility. Once at the research facility, Sylvester goes to the control room to set the robots from the theme park on the lab scientists. When the Bobbins return home, their natural daughter Carrie tells her father that the children are in Dr. Kinder's research facility. At the end of the fight Dr. Kinder captures Whit and takes him to the helicopter pad on the roof. Robin and Dan chase them to the roof, where Dr. Kinder reveals that she and Robin are not related, and that Robin was adopted at age two. After Dr. Kinder gets arrested by the police, Sylvester and Whit come together on the roof to cross over.
Dan and Robin adopt Sylvester. And Dr. Heep is now in charge of Dr. Kinder's Research facility. Dan is still curious of the secrets of life, but as the twins have crossed over they no longer know those secrets. Carrie, their sister, doesn't reveal anything (just giving her dad a sly smile) because adults aren't meant to know their secrets.
§Cast
- Kathleen Turner as Dr. Elena Kinder
- Christopher Lloyd as Dr. Heep
- Peter MacNicol as Dan
- Kim Cattrall as Robin
- Dom DeLuise as Lenny
- Ruby Dee as Margo
- Kyle Howard as Dickie/Ice Pick
- Jim Hanks as Goon Ray
- Brianna and Brittany McConnell as Lexi (Voiced by Lexi Thomas)
- Gabrielle and Megan Robbins as Carrie (Voiced by Aaron Spann & Scarlett Pomers)
- Jacob and Zachary Handy as Ducy (Voiced by Seth Adkins)
- Leo, Gerry and Myles Fitzgerald as Sylvester/Whit (Voiced by Miko Hughes)
- Griffen and Connor Legget as Basil (Voiced by Scotty Leavenworth)
- Amanda & Caitlin Fein as Teddie (Voiced by Ashli Adams)
§Reception
Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported that only 2% of critics gave the film a positive review. Its final consensus reads: "Flat direction and actors who look embarrassed to be onscreen make Baby Geniuses worse than the premise suggests." It was listed by leading American film critic Roger Ebert as one of his most hated movies and ranked as his worst film of 1999.
§Box Office
The film made over $5m in its opening weekend, and was the 10th highest-grossing PG movie of 1999.
§Awards and nominations
§Sequel
Although the film was not received well by critics, a sequel was made, titled Superbabies: Baby Geniuses 2, due to its commercial success on home video. The sequel, like the original, was directed by Bob Clark and is widely considered among the worst films of all time, and received worse reviews than the original.
§References
§External links
- Baby Geniuses at the Internet Movie Database
- Baby Geniuses at Box Office Mojo
- Baby Geniuses at Rotten Tomatoes