Re-Animated 2006

Jimmy Roberts is a 12-year-old middle school student who endures frequent bullying and belittlement from his peers. On a class trip to Gollyworld, a park built around the animated cartoons of the late Milt Appleday, Jimmy finds himself shut out from many of the park’s attractions. At the suggestion of his friend Craig, the popular kids prod him to search for Appleday’s frozen brain inside the ride Tux’s Arctic Adventure. Reluctantly, Jimmy wanders into the ride and runs into Milt’s middle-aged, clumsy son Sonny Appleday, who is frantically trying to retrieve the brain. In his panic, Jimmy bolts, only to be struck by the oncoming path of Crocco’s Train and knocked unconscious.

He is rushed to an on-site hospital, where the brain of Milt Appleday is transplanted into his head. Miraculously, Jimmy survives the operation intact, his personality preserved, yet he awakens to a startling new reality: he can perceive Appleday’s cartoon characters as living beings walking around the world. This strange gift becomes a double-edged sword, offering him access to immense creativity and influence while inviting danger from those who want to weaponize the situation.

With the help of his crush Robin, Jimmy discovers that Sonny’s misguided schemes have undermined the characters’ popularity, souring audience affection and threatening the very legacy Appleday built. Robin’s insight helps him see that the problem isn’t the characters themselves but the way their fame has been handled. Seizing the moment, Jimmy steps into a new role as the head of Appleday Pictures, replacing Sonny, and the park’s loyal mascot Golly Gopher senses a chance to reclaim stardom for the brand. Under the combined spark of Jimmy’s renewed imagination and a dash of Milt’s legendary creativity, Jimmy’s profile soars, bringing instant acclaim and a flood of attention—but it also pulls him away from school, family, and the simple rhythms of everyday life.

Behind the scenes, Sonny schemes to consolidate power by turning Jimmy’s home into a new base of operations. He even dines with the Roberts family while quietly plotting to remove the brain from Jimmy’s head. The threat escalates when Sonny devises a plan to retrofit Crocco’s Train with dangerous mechanisms designed to decapitate Jimmy. His plan is overheard in a moment of careless boasting, and Yancy, Jimmy’s alien sister, catches the danger before catastrophe can unfold. The tension between loyalty and ambition deepens as Robin tries to warn Jimmy that he’s being exploited, but he initially rejects the warning and focuses on his television debut.

Inside the studio, Jimmy’s fame feels hollow, and he confronts the consequences of his unprecedented ascent. He confesses that the presidency hasn’t given him what he truly wanted, and the moment provokes a stern rebuke from the park’s beloved mascot, who challenges him to stand up for real friendship over mere popularity. Realizing the truth of Robin’s warning, Jimmy renounces the show’s big moment to defend those closest to him, a decision that shifts the emotional center of the story.

The danger hits when Sonny ties Robin to the infamous train tracks, prompting a dramatic rescue. Golly Gopher apologizes for his earlier anger and temporarily transforms Jimmy into a heroic cartoon knight in shining armor, a gesture that embodies the very fantasy world Jimmy has become entangled with. Jimmy climbs aboard the train to confront the danger head-on, destroys the engine, and saves Robin from harm. In a final, poignant act, he disguises himself as Milt to momentarily distract Sonny by leaning into the love a son has for his father.

With the dramatic threat neutralized, Yancy teleports Sonny back home to be safe, then vanishes alongside him. Jimmy and Robin return to Craig’s house, where they repair their friendship amid the wake of the upheaval. Yet the partygoers who had tuned in to Jimmy’s message about friendship over popularity slip away, leaving the celebration quieter and more reflective than expected.

The story closes with a tongue-in-cheek mid-credits moment: as Jimmy heads off to school, Sonny attempts a further extraction of the brain using a crane-like device, but once again he misses his mark, leaving the fate of the brain and the future of Appleday’s creations uncertain. The film lingers on themes of friendship, responsibility, and the costs of chasing fame, inviting viewers to consider what truly defines success and how power can shape, and sometimes distort, the people who wield it.