One little discovery, one giant adventure! Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile brings the pages of the beloved classic to life! This musical-driven story is adorable as Families will be rooting for this misunderstood loveable creature! As this Crocodile teaches us to overcome our obstacles. Based on the best-selling book series by Bernard Waber, Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile is a live-action/CGI musical comedy that brings this beloved character to a new, global audience.
When the Primm family (Constance Wu, Scoot McNairy, Winslow Fegley) moves to New York City, their young son Josh struggles to adapt to his new school and new friends. All of that changes when he discovers Lyle – a singing crocodile (Shawn Mendes) who loves baths, caviar and great music-living in the attic of his new home. The two become fast friends, but when Lyle’s existence is threatened by evil neighbour Mr. Grumps (Brett Gelman), the Primm’s must band together with Lyle’s charismatic owner, Hector P. Valenti (Javier Bardem), to show the world that family can come from the most unexpected places and there’s nothing wrong with a big singing crocodile with an even bigger personality.
This warm, charming adaptation truly reinvents the show by presenting a new take on mixing live-action with animation. The expressive eyes and shyness truly capture Lyle’s characteristics and silky singing voice provided by Shawn Mendes, Although Lyle doesn’t talk throughout a trait that is carried over from Waber’s beloved picture book series which began in 1962 with “The House on East 88th Street” Throughout the film we get an understanding of the gentle sweet soul that’s beneath his scaly exterior.
Lyle the crocodile (voice of Shawn Mendes) in “Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile.” (Sony Pictures/Columbia Pictures)
This adaptation tells the story of showman Hector P.Valenti played fantastically with an exuberant performance from Javier Bardem, he’s a man searching for fame and fortune after repeatedly auditioning and failing to round up an audience. Spectacularly he stumbles upon something magical at the pet store, a singing baby crocodile and believing he’s found such a spectacle he raises Lyle with him to perform which ultimately doesn’t go well and Hector leaves his pet at home to seek work out and leaves the family that moves in to discover a reptilian housemate that throughout the movie teaches each family member to let loose. Lyle’s friendship with Josh (Winsow Fegley) who’s trying to manage his anxiety at being the new kid in school and in a big-and-scary new city he’s terrified of the dangers of urban living. These two outcasts begin an unlikely friendship as they bond over dumpster dives and rooftop dinners in the theatre district, Lyle ultimately frees Josh from his anxieties and begins to teach two valuable lessons to Josh’s parents. Katie (Constance Wu) learns to let loose as she delivers a catchy song-and-dance number with Lyle (Shawn Mendes) in “Rip Up The Recipe” and the lovable Crocodile teaches Joseph to unleash his inner animal.
However, everything is not at all musical as below them in the brownstone’s basement apartment is the apt named Mr Grumps (Brett Gelman) who is suspicious of the family and can’t stand the noise from above and he keeps looking for reasons to get them evicted. He’s strangely obsessed with his grump-looking cat Loretta. This cat which is sometimes depicted through CGI is the writer’s tool for plenty of comedic and potty humour that’s perfect for the young viewers watching.
From left, Constance Wu, Winslow Fegley, Lyle the crocodile (voice of Shawn Mendes) and Javier Bardem in “Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile.” (Sony Pictures/Columbia Pictures)
The film is harmless fun and contains plenty of laughs and sweet moments to keep you entertained. The screenplay written by Will Davies allows the story to incorporate the extravaganza pop-rock musical moments thanks to Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, the hit songwriters behind some of the greatest movies/musicals such as “The Greatest Showman”, “Dear Evan Hansen”, and “La La Land”. Throughout the film, they collaborate with Ari Afsar, Emily Gardner Xu Hall, Mark Sonnenblick and Joriah Kwamé to create original tunes that become catchy. The soundtrack includes many favourites from the soaring anthem of “Top of The World”, the emotional power ballad “Carried Away” and my absolute favourite the darling duet “Take a Look AT Us Now” sung by Bardem and Mendes.
Under the direction of Will Speck and Josh Gordon, “Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile succeeds in creating a fun and entertaining family movie musical that has tons of heart and gentle life lessons. Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile is now showing in cinemas around the US and UK from Friday the 14th of October
Your Little Crocs can download a Lyle activity pack HERE!
Netflix seems to be in on almost everything anime or manga-related including live-action iterations for some of the more popular franchises. First, having made a Death Note film back in 2017, followed by a live-action Cowboy Bebop series before pivoting to focus on the One Piece and Avatar the Last Airbender series, it seems that they are taking another swing on a big anime property for their streaming service.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Netflix will team with Legendary Entertainment, best known for their monsterverse films centering on Godzilla and King Kong on a live-action feature film based on the popular manga, My Hero Academia. Joby Harold (Obi-Wan Kenobi, Army of the Dead) will write the script as Shinsuke Sato (Alice in Borderland, I Am a Hero) will make his English-language debut as director for the film. My Hero Academia debuted in 2014 and has quickly ascended into one of the more popular manga titles before gaining attention and turning to anime where its currently in its fifth season.
Legendary boarded the property all the way back in 2018 aiming to create a live-action movie and will aim to generate a wide-scale audience by teaming with Netflix. My Hero Academia revolves around a world in which 80 percent of people have a power called “quirks.” Lead character, Izuku Midoriya, or Deku, is a superhero fanboy who happens to be a part of that unfortunate 20 percent without powers and is discouraged. However, after meeting the legendary hero, All Might, he sets on a path to become the ultimate hero himself.
There has been much anticipation in waiting to see the unveiling of the structure of James Gunn and Peter Safran as the new heads of DC for Warner Bros. News came just this week from Gunn that the comic book flagship money maker for Warner Bros. that he and Safran are aiming to make everything cohesive within their vision connecting movies, television, video games and animation throughout the universe. However, a new report from Deadline sees that they may be looking at a new (or additional) streaming home for animated content surrounding their heroes and villains.
In an article originally reported from Deadline, Channing Dungey, the Chairwoman of Warner Bros. Television, has alluded to “closing a big deal” with Amazon featuring DC branded content in animation on their streaming platform, Amazon Prime Video. Though she also explained that HBO Max will be the “first stop” for all things DC, it’s interesting to note a deal such as this potentially going through with a company and competitor as big as Amazon, no less.
While it’s hard to imagine any major DC characters synonymous with the brand such as Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman or Green Lantern getting animated foray onto Prime Video, it begs the question, could we see Amazon as a pipeline to popularity for some lesser-known characters getting introduced to a larger audience? There is so much potential and richness of characters within the DC landscape that have yet to be introduced through live-action or animation so this seems like a risk that might be worth taking, especially considering the financial troubles that Warner Bros. Discovery has been reported to have.