Movies - Osmosis Jones

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	Movies - Osmosis Jones

Osmosis Jones (2001) is a part animated, part live action film whose title character is Osmosis Jones, an anthropomorphic white blood cell. Unusually for this genre, the live action characters and cartoon characters never meet. The live action characters are people as they appear in the real world, and the animated characters are the cells and germs which live inside a man named Frank, whom the story concerns. A TV spinoff has been created named Ozzy & Drix
, which concerns the two characters of the same name.

Plot

Frank is a slovenly zookeeper. Much to the frustration of his young daughter Shane, he eats and drinks compulsively and has no regard for germs or diseases. Early on, as a follower of the "ten second rule", to Shane's disgust, he consumes a hardboiled egg that was covered in filth from the grass surrounding the monkey cages.

Inside Frank's body, another story unfolds. Osmosis Jones works as a member of Immunity, Frank's Immune system, as a white blood cell. He is a rebel cop, rarely doing what his chief tells him to. Meanwhile, Mayor Phlegmming is preparing for re-election, campaigning with the promise of more junk food (much to the joy of the citizens in the Love Handle District). The Mayor is largely responsible for Frank's deteriorating health. However, his re-election hopes are complicated by the arrival of Thrax, a deadly virus that came in with the egg.

In an attempt to cover up the severity of the situation, Phlegmming tells Frank to take a cold pill. The pill, Drix, arrives in the body and Osmosis Jones becomes his partner. Soon, they unravel Thrax's plot to masquerade as the common cold while at the same time plotting to overheat Frank's body, killing him from the inside out. Thrax is motivated by trying to become the nastiest new virus, attempting to kill each new victim faster than the previous. His grandiose plan for Frank is death in 48 hours.

Eventually, Osmosis and Drix confront Thrax in one of Frank's zits. Drix launches a grenade of medication at Thrax and his cronies, popping the skin blemish, and seemingly ending Thrax's siege. To sweep the dust under the carpet, Phlegmming convinces Drix to leave and fires Osmosis, who insists that Thrax was more than the common cold. Osmosis' prediction rings true as Thrax was able to survive the explosion and decides to launch a one-man assault on Frank's brain.

Thanks to the efforts of Leah, the Mayor's knowledgeable assistant, Osmosis and Drix are alerted to Thrax's plan and race to the brain for the final showdown with Thrax. They defeat Thrax and are able to save Frank. Phlegmming loses the election to a candidate who dramatically changes Frank's lifestyle, making him eat healthy and exercise.

Interlaced with the main plot are several live action sequences that detail Frank's rocky relationship with Shane outside the body. Her mother died at an early age, and we might speculate Frank "let himself go" out of depression. Frank humiliated Shane's teacher, Mrs. Boyd, during a science fair, thanks to a mistake on Ozzy's part when he, inside Frank's body, saw an oyster germ in the stomach and pushed the "puke" button. Mrs. Boyd is humiliated again later on in the film, when a popped blemish landed on Mrs. Boyd's lip. Shane is ashamed of her father. But, seeing him facing a terminal virus creates an epiphany in both of them. Frank needs to start caring for his body, and Shane learns to stop blaming Frank's apathy for her mother's death.

Film production

Osmosis Jones went through a troubled time in production. The animated sequences, directed by Tom Sit and Piet Kroon, went into production as planned, but acquiring both a director and a star actor for the live-action sequences took some time, until Bill Murray was cast as the main character of Frank, and Peter and Bobby Farrelly stepped in to direct the live action sequences. As part of their contract, the Farrelly Brothers are credited as the primary directors of the film, although they did no supervision of the animated portions of the film.

Upon its original release, the film lost a considerable amount of money, and was the second-to-last production for Warner Bros.' feature traditional animation department (following The Iron Giant
, and followed by Looney Tunes: Back in Action
, which both also lost money upon their original releases).

Taglines

He's one cell of a guy. (Osmosis)
He's a real pill (Drix)

Cast and crew

Directors

Tom Sito and Piet Kroon (animation)
Peter Farrelly and Bobby Farrelly (live action)

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Osmosis Jones ]

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