Foodfight!

Foodfight! is a 2012 American computer animated adventure comedy film produced by Threshold Entertainment and directed by Lawrence Kasanoff. The film features the voices of Charlie Sheen, Wayne Brady, Hilary Duff, Eva Longoria, Larry Miller, and Christopher Lloyd. "Foodfight!" takes place in the "Marketropolis" supermarket which, after closing time, transforms into a city where all the citizens are "Ikes", personified well-known marketing icons. The story follows a cereal brand mascot, Dex Dogtective who, along with his best friend, Daredevil Dan, bands together a group of "Ikes" in Marketropolis to fight against the forces of the evil Brand X, who threaten to take over the entire supermarket.
After raising tens of millions of dollars in funding, "Foodfight!" had a troubled and much delayed production. The film was originally scheduled for a Christmas 2003 theatrical release; however, this failed to materialize, and later planned release dates were also missed. By September 2011, after the producers defaulted on a loan, creditors auctioned off the film's assets and all associated rights to Lionsgate.
In 2012, the film had a low-key release, being direct-to-video in most territories. Its critical reception has been overwhelmingly negative, with most criticism directed towards the animation, humor, and excessive product placement. It has since appeared on several lists of worst movies.
Plot.
When night falls at the supermarket Marketropolis, the store products' mascots ("Ikes") come to life and interact with each other. Heroic cereal mascot Dex Dogtective is about to propose to his girlfriend Sunshine Goodness, a raisin mascot, but she goes missing just before he is able to do so.
Six months later, a Brand X representative called "Mr. Clipboard" arrives at Marketropolis and aggressively pushes Brand X's range of generic products to Leonard, the store's manager. In the world of the Ikes, the arrival of Lady X, the seductive Brand X detergent Ike, causes a commotion at Dex's club, the Copabanana.
Brand X products begin to replace previous products, which is mirrored in the Ikes' world with the deaths of several Ikes. After Dex's friend Daredevil Dan, a chocolate squirrel, disappears, Dex begins to investigate. After rebuffing Lady X's attempts to bring him to Brand X's side, Dex is locked in a dryer with Dan to be melted, but the two manage to escape. Dan and Dex find out that Brand X contains an addictive and toxic secret ingredient.
Dex and Dan attempt to initiate a product recall with Leonard's computer. A Brand X Ike cuts power just as they send the message. Dex then rallies the citizens of Marketropolis to fight the armies of Brand X in a massive food fight. The citizens win the battle by using the supermarket's electricity.
Dex rescues Sunshine, who had been held hostage in the Brand X tower, and escapes with the help of Dan. Mr. Clipboard then enters the Ikes' world, but he is taken down by Dex, who discovers that he is a robot controlled by Lady X. Lady X reveals that she had previously been the hideous Ike of an unsuccessful brand of prunes, and had been stealing Sunshine's essence to create a new brand. Dex and Sunshine defeat her, reverting her to her original form. With Brand X defeated and a cure found that revives the killed Ikes, Dex and Sunshine finally get married.
Cast.
Alongside many licensed characters, the principal characters of this film are original characters.
Additional voices are provided by Melissa Disney, Jennifer Keith, Bob Bergen, Susan Silo, Daniel Bernhardt, and John Bloom.
Production.
Conception.
Lawrence Kasanoff and a Threshold Entertainment employee, Joshua Wexler, created the concept in 1999. A $25 million joint investment into the project was made by Threshold and the Korean investment company Natural Image, with the producers expecting that foreign pre-sales and loans against the sales would provide the remaining portion of the budget. The estimated remainder was $50 million. Kasanoff also decided to produce and direct the film, despite having no prior experience in the animation field.
Production setbacks.
The film was created and produced by the digital effects shop at Threshold, located in Santa Monica, California in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. In December of 2002, Kasanoff reported that hard drives containing most unfinished assets from the film had been stolen, in what he called an act of "industrial espionage" and "an incredibly complex crime". An investigation, which included the United States Secret Service, was unable to find the thief. The film was supposed to be computer-animated, with an exaggerated use of "squash and stretch" to resemble the Looney Tunes shorts, but after production resumed in 2004, Kasanoff changed it to a style more centered in motion capture, with the result being that "he and animators were speaking two different languages".
Delays.
Lionsgate established a distribution deal and the financing company StoryArk represented investors who gave $20 million in funding to Threshold in 2005 due to the Lionsgate deal, the celebrity voice actors, and the product tie-ins. A release date in 2005 was later announced, but missed. Another distribution deal was struck in 2007, but again, nothing came of it. Lionsgate had a negative reaction to the delays. The investors had grown impatient due to the film production company defaulting on its secured promissory note and the release dates that were not met. 
Auction.
Finally, in 2011, the film was auctioned for $2.5 million. StoryArk investors had ultimately invoked a clause in their contract that allowed the Fireman's Fund Insurance Company, which had insured "Foodfight!", to complete and release the film as inexpensively and quickly as possible. Animator Ken Bailey stated that "The film was already ruined. They were just trying to salvage what they could."
Release.
The insurance company received the copyright to the film in 2012 and began releasing it and its associated merchandise. In June 2012, "Foodfight!" received a limited release in the United Kingdom, grossing approximately £15,000 of ticket sales on its single week in theatres. It was released on DVD in Europe that October.
In February 2013, the film was released on VOD and was released on DVD in the United States on May 7, 2013. Jake Rossen of "The New York Times" described the film's United States release as "a muted debut". The United States release was delayed because the American distributor, Viva Pictures, wanted to release it when Walmart could arrange for a satisfactory product display for the film. According to company president Victor Elizalde, Viva Pictures' modest investment of an unspecified sum had proved profitable.
Reception.
At the time the film was announced, it was denounced for taking product placement to the extreme, and doing it in a film targeted at children. Kasanoff responded to the controversy by noting that they were not paid money for the brand inclusion and therefore the addition of known brands did not constitute product placement, though the brands were expected to provide $100 million worth of cross-promotion.
Since its release, "Foodfight!" has been considered one of the worst films ever made: "Mental Floss" included it in a list of "10 Really Bad Movies that Define 'Bad Movies'" in 2012 and it appeared in a list of the worst movies ever made on "Digital Trends" in 2017 and MSN in 2018. It has also been referred to as one of the worst animated films ever made by Indiewire in 2015 and twice by "Screen Rant", in 2017 and 2020. In 2017, Rebecca Hawkes of "The Daily Telegraph" described "Foodfight!" as "the worst animated children's film ever made".

Robert Stuart House

The Robert Stuart House, also known as the Agent's House or Agency House, is a building located at 34 Market Street on Mackinac Island, Michigan. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971 and designated a Michigan State Historic Site in 1965.
History.
The Robert Stuart House was built in 1817 as the "Agent's House," housing the resident agent of the American Fur Company, which was at that time Ramsay Crooks. In addition the building housed other agents and clerks. The Agency House was part of a four-building complex constructed to house the American Fur Company's offices. The other three buildings were a clerk's quarters (now demolished), a warehouse built in 1810 (now the Community Hall), and a trading post (subsequently altered, but later restored).
Also in 1817, Robert Stuart arrived on the island as Crooks's assistant. Upon his arrival, Stuart was housed as a guest in the Agent's House. In 1820, Crooks moved on and Stuart was appointed to succeed him as resident agent, a position he held for the next 14 years. Because of Stuart's national prominence and his lengthy association with the Agent's House, the building is nominally referred to as the Robert Stuart House.
The 1820s and 1830s were boom years for the American Fur Company's operation on Mackinac Island; in 1822 more than three million dollars of furs were cleared through the Mackinac Island operation. Given his prominence, it was natural that Robert Stuart's house served as the social center of the island during this time. However, the fur trade began to decline in the 1830s, and in 1835 Stuart moved on to Detroit.
As the fur trade declined, Mackinac Island became a resort community. The Robert Stuart House was used as a boardinghouse in the years before and during the Civil War. In 1871, the entire American Fur Company complex was purchased by James F. Cable and the three main buildings - the Agent's House, warehouse, and clerk's quarters - were linked with palisades and turned into the premiere island hotel of the time, the John Jacob Astor House. It remained the social center of the island until the construction of the Grand Hotel.
Stuart House City Museum.
In 1900, the complex was sold to the city of Mackinac Island. It was operated as a hotel until 1929. In 1941 the building were separated back into individual units. The Robert Stuart House was used as a museum, and is now known as the Stuart House City Museum.
The bulk of the items in the museum were created by Dale Verne Gensman (Rounds) and are on semi-permanent loan to the museum. Dale was the son of Frank Rounds, builder of the Round Island lighthouse and Mackinac Island carpenter. The items donated by Dale are maintained by his Children and Grandchildren.
Description.
The Robert Stuart House is a two-story, Federal style structure with side gables sitting on a brick foundation. It is built with hand-hewn timber frame and clad with clapboards. The roof is shingled and features gabled dormers.
The front facade has a two-sided stairway leading to a small entry porch. The entrance door is flanked by sidelights and pilasters. The multiple windows have small panes.