Synopsis

Domesticated grizzly bear Boog is unexpectedly stranded in the wilderness just three days before hunting season begins. With help from the fast-talking mule deer Elliot, Boog must learn to survive outside captivity while rallying the forest animals against the hunters. Their uneasy partnership gradually becomes a genuine friendship as they fight to reclaim the woods.

Factoids & Trivia

• Open Season was Sony Pictures Animation's first feature film.

• The story originated with cartoonist Steve Moore and producer John Carls, who submitted the project to Sony in June 2002. Production was formally announced in February 2004.

• The film's woodland setting drew inspiration from Sun Valley and McCall, Idaho, as well as the Sawtooth National Forest.

• Sony's animation team created a digital tool called "shapers." It allowed animators to push character poses and silhouettes beyond the underlying computer models, including squash, stretch, and smear effects associated with traditional hand-drawn animation.

• Sony Pictures Imageworks handled the computer animation and presented Open Season as an example of its developing CG-feature production pipeline at SIGGRAPH 2006.

• Paul Westerberg, formerly of The Replacements, wrote the film's songs and contributed to its original music. Ramin Djawadi composed the score.

• Open Season opened at number one in the United States in September 2006, earning more than $23 million during its first weekend.

• The film became the starting point for a direct-to-video franchise, followed by Open Season 2, Open Season 3, and Open Season: Scared Silly.