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foodfightnovelization · 7 months ago

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Foodfight! Deluxe Sound Storybook Analysis and Discussion

So here it is, here's the book we're going to read together. That's right, I finally got my hands on a copy of the Foodfight! Deluxe Sound Storybook. Now you might be asking what's so interesting about this, since it's clearly a picture book for children even YOUNGER than the novelization's intended target audience, but if you're as fascinated by Foodfight! as I am, it's an absolute treasure. The front cover is made up of various concept art for the film, drawn by Foodfight! character designer Jim George, and the rest of the book consists of absolutely beautiful hand-drawn illustrations by artist Ron Zalme. It's like looking into an alternate timeline where Foodfight! was animated in the style of classic Disney films like Pinocchio or Snow White. Just getting to see versions of these characters and this story that are actually visually appealing is delightful, and it's reminiscent of the early footage of the film before it was retooled into what we know today.

The book inexplicably commands a high price on eBay, which is why I haven't had the chance to talk about it before, but now that I finally have a copy here in front of me (next to the multiple Foodfight! plush toys I own because I'm NORMAL about this movie), it's time to snap, crackle and pop our way into this book and see what lies within.

Now, before I get any further, I'd first like to take a minute to discuss the "sound" element of this book. This is a Deluxe Sound Storybook after all, which means small icons will appear next to words or phrases throughout the story, indicating the reader should press the corresponding button from a soundboard attached to the side. Given these types of books are designed for the very young, I'd imagine the purpose is to help teach word association and auditory learning. Plus, kids just like funny noises! This book in particular contains 16 different sound effects, which the front cover describes as "yummy" seemingly assuming the reader has developed the ability to directly taste sound. Given this is a movie-based storybook, you'd probably assume the sounds are taken, at least in part, from the movie itself right?

Well, you'd be wrong! As you can probably hear from the audio I included of all 16 sound effects (played in the order they are on the soundboard seen above) almost NONE of the characters are voiced by their actual actors, and the rest of the sounds are just miscellaneous foley. While I can't say if this is common for books of this nature, it's interesting to listen and hear just how different the voices are. Mr Clipboard sounds far more menacing and less deranged than Christopher Lloyd's interpretation of the character, Hairy Hold's voice is far more nasally, and Polar Penguin is just portrayed by generic blubbering.

The only character to be voiced by their actor from the movie is Kaptain Krispy, and given that he was voiced by Foodfight! producer George Johnsen in the film, this makes sense as he would've been readily available for recording something like this. Some characters don't even HAVE voice clips- for instance, despite being the main character of the film, Dex is represented only by the sound of a spatula flipping. Overall though, the sounds are remarkably well-done considering they clearly didn't have access to any of the main cast members. You'd easily be forgiven for thinking Lady X and Dan actually WERE voiced by Eva Longoria and Wayne Brady in this, as the impressions are surprisingly convincing. I'd say for what they were trying to do here, they did a great job. Now with that out the way, let's talk about the book itself!

Normally I'd start by discussing the inside cover pages, but there really isn't that much to talk about here. The only noteworthy element I can see is that the copyright date is listed as 2007, whereas the novelization is dated 2008, suggesting this was in the works long before the novelization was. But given that these books take a while to print and publish, and that the Sound Storybook didn't make it to stores until 2008, these dates are fairly non-indicative.

That does bring me to another interesting point of discussion though- unlike the novelization, the Deluxe Sound Storybook was actually published and sold at retail, with various websites and blogs from the time being suitably puzzled as to why tie-in merchandise was being sold for a movie that not only wasn't out yet, but didn't even have a concrete release date. If I had to guess, considering the movie was at one point set to release in 2007, it's possible the Sound Storybook was already printed and shipped out to stores to match that release, only for all the copies to start gathering dust when the movie didn't come out. Retailers, likely not wanting to destroy stock they'd been sitting on for quite some time, sold the books for cheap in the hopes that SOMEBODY would buy them. And thankfully somebody did, which is why we're able to talk about it today! Despite this book being far more expensive than the novelization, it's also far easier to find a copy given it actually made it to shelves, making it easily the most accessible of all the Foodfight! books. So if you ever feel like dropping way too much money on a children's book from over 15 years ago, eBay has you covered.

Just like the movie, the book opens with Mr Leonard closing his store for the night as the last customer of the day leaves, only obviously presented in a way that's far more aesthetically pleasing. Of note is that he appears to be locking the doors from the inside, trapping himself in the building as it transforms into Marketropolis. The man's going to have a heart attack when he sees the what the cereal mascots do after dark... (seriously though, I think it's just for practicality's sake, so we can see both the inside of the store AND him on the same page)

This beautiful illustration is accompanied by some narration from our hero Dex Dogtective, telling us how even though we may think a supermarket is just a place to buy food, we'd actually only be half right. I find it interesting that he mentions you "might recognize him" from the Cinnamon Sleuth cereal box- given at one point there were plans for a real Cinnamon Sleuth breakfast cereal to be released in stores, it seems like they were trying to allude to this while also leaving it somewhat ambiguous in case the food licensing deal didn't come through and no actual cereal ended up being produced. Which is what ended up happening, so it's a good job they just said you "might" recognize him! I also find it funny that Sunshine's raisin packages are the same size as the boxes of Cinnamon Sleuth- who's ever going to need that many raisins? Maybe if you were manufacturing your own Raisin Bran and needed to add two scoops to every delicious bowl, but that's still too many! I always imagined Sunshine Goodness raisins in those tiny snack-packs like Sun-Maid or something, not a giant 17oz cardboard box...

The store transforms into Marketropolis, and I know I've said this already but these illustrations are absolutely FANTASTIC! The character designs look so charming in this artstyle, and it really makes me wish the whole movie could've looked like this. Seeing Marketropolis actually resembling a city at night is fantastic as well, given that it's so horribly lit in the finished film it always looks like it's the middle of the day (despite the basic premise of the film literally being this is what happens when the supermarket closes at NIGHT). Dex and Sunshine look really cute together, and I think it's adorable how he refers to her as "his gal" in the narration. Dex talks about how this is where him and all the other product icons reside, and I can't explain why but I really like the way it's phrased as "At night, this is our world. This where we all live." Dex then goes on to talk about his best friend Daredevil Dan, describing him as "the world's greatest stunt pilot flying squirrel on a chocolate bar wrapper", which is perhaps the most overly narrow superlative I've ever heard. Just how many other stunt pilot flying squirrels are there on the front of chocolate bar wrappers?

Dex goes on to explain that not everyone's as sweet as his Sunshine and that he often has his hands full keeping the aisles safe, as we're treated to another fantastic illustration, this time of him fighting Fat Cat Burglar off with his price-tag gun. I don't have too much to say about these two pages, other than once again mentioning just how much I love the art in this. Part of why I bought the Deluxe Sound Storybook to begin with was so I could share the artwork with everyone, as I simply LOVE how it looks- even Fat Cat Burglar looks great when drawn like this.

Dex attempts to propose to Sunshine, only for Dan to crash his plane while attempting the loop-de-loop, with her disappearing on her way to check on him. What's described here more or less happens the same way in the film, but the artwork depicts it very differently. In the movie, this all happens outside whereas here it's in some sort of restaurant or club. In addition, Dex is wearing his white tux but at this point in the movie he's still in his Indiana Jones gear, and Maximilius is also in a white tuxedo while in the movie it's purple. (However in the case of Maximilius, this is just down to to the white being an earlier look for the character, as on the cover and throughout the rest of the book he's still wearing it)

I have to say, it's crazy how much of this is dedicated to what happens in the first 10 minutes of the movie. We're nearly halfway in, and we've only just gotten to Sunshine's disappearance- not that it's uncommon for storybooks like this to take liberties with the plot, but it does mean the majority of the movie's events are crammed into approximately ten pages and so have far less time to breathe than the first half of the book.

Following Sunshine's disappearance, Mr Clipboard arrives at the supermarket pushing Brand X products, and we're told customers are going crazy for them. While this does happen to some degree in the movie, the art we're seeing here is of a scene that was cut out of the finished film and we've only previously seen in the novelization. In said scene, Mr Clipboard has had a giant Brand X display set up in the store, with a cardboard washing machine that sprays Elixir into the air and attracts customers into buying Brand X products. This scene is important for two reasons- not only does it establish how a washing machine ends up in the store (explaining how Dex and Dan end up trapped in a dryer later on) but it also shows how Brand X's plan is affecting the real world, and the danger it poses to not only the store but to people everywhere as well. On top of that, it's cool to see the way the Brand X display resembles Lady X's tower, as in the movie we don't get to see what it looks like during the day.

Sometime after Brand X's arrival, Dan goes missing and Dex follows the trail right to Lady X. It's here we see yet another scene that was cut from the film and previously only in the novelization- Dex's first encounter with the Xobytes in Lady X's penthouse. (Dex even has two price-tag guns here, something I saw mentioned in the novelization and assumed was a mistake on the author's part as we only ever see him with one in the movie). I really think this scene should've been in the film, as it serves as a proper introduction to the Xobytes, as well as the threat they pose to Dex and the other Ikes.

Dex attempts to fight off the Xobytes with his price tag guns, but he's quickly defeated and wakes up in Lady X's dryer where he finds Dan. The fact that it's a dryer and not a washing machine gives some indication as to which draft of script author Justine Fontes was working from when writing this- the I Can Find It! book (which I covered in a previous post) was based on an earlier draft and had them trapped in a washing machine full of water instead, seemingly changed due to this being too difficult for animators to render. As such, we can hypothesize this book was likely based on the same draft of the script the novelization was, given it's a dryer in both (and later on in the story Brand X are defeated by a lightning storm, whereas in earlier drafts/the I Can Find It! book it's a flood)

Dex and Dan escape the dryer, only to find Brand X is building an entire army of the Xobytes encountered earlier. This scene goes down more or less the same as it does in the movie, but visually looks very different. In the movie Dex and Dan see the army of Xobytes while looking through an air vent, whereas here they spot them from around a corner. In addition, the Brand X War Room looks very different to the way it does in the movie, on top of the Xobytes' poison being green instead of black. However these changes are likely down to Zalme not having any reference images of the room to work with, and so instead coming up with his own version of the design (given even in early footage it looks the same as it does in the final film). In addition to that, some degree of creative liberty is always taken with these kind of books anyway- what looks good on film doesn't necessarily look good on paper, and so you have to come up with something that still looks dynamic and visually appealing as a 2D image.

The book then skips entirely over the part of the plot where they cross the supermarket during the day, visit the Expiration Station, and meet Vlad Chocool, and we instead go straight to Dex and the other Ikes waging a food fight against the Brand X army. While this is a mostly accurate depiction of the battle as it happens in the film, there are still a few changes. For one, Kaptain Krispy and Twinkleton (the blue elephant) are part of the scene, despite both having been rubbed out by Brand X at this point in the film. Granted, the book skips over this part of the plot as well, and they likely wouldn't have wanted to include characters being killed in something intended for very young children, so it's not surprising this change was made. However, it does mean the Ikes are waging a war against Brand X before they've actually done anything to wrong them. I guess Dex and Dan knew they were building an army though, so it was best to just deal with the threat before it became a more serious problem.

Dex gives the signal for his secret plan, and Cheazel T Weasel starts a an electrical lightning storm, destroying the Brand X buildings while the rest of the Marketropolis is safety protected by lightning rods. It's a shame Cheazel only gets a brief mention here- I would've loved to see how he looked in this artstyle, and given he was voiced by director Larry Kasanoff they could have easily got him to voice a line for the soundboard as well. Seriously, how did Lord Flushington get a button on there over Cheazel? One is a toilet frog who has maybe two scenes in the entire movie, and the other is a classic "lovable rogue" character who plays a key role in taking down Brand X, helps save the day, and was even important enough to get his own plush toy. The Brand X Mashed Potato Man is similarly absent from this version of the story, but despite my preference for the character, he isn't particularly relevant to the plot, so this makes sense.

In the midst of the chaos, Dex finds Sunshine at the top of the Brand X tower, and as I'm sure you already know from either watching the movie or reading my analysis of the novelization, it's revealed Lady X had her kidnapped. (I know this is all incredibly obvious, I just like describing the plot of things, okay?) As the building collapses, Dan finally gets the loop-de-loop right and saves both Dex and Sunshine, daring the day and flying away. And damn, I know I've said this at least three times already, but I still can't get over how fantastic these illustrations are! The characters look so charming in this artstyle and they're drawn so dynamically against the night skies of Marketropolis, it's just a visual delight to look at. The one downside to all this is the book's extremely short length- just two more pages and it's over already! I'd have happily read a version of this that was double the length, so we could see how the rest of the characters and story would've looked drawn this way. (We didn't even get to see the Copabanana in this version of the plot) Still, it has all the major beats of the film covered, so let's press on and see how it ends.

Mr Clipboard comes stomping through the store, threatening to destroy Marketropolis. Dex gets Maximilius to use a piece of dental floss as a tripwire, and as Mr Clipboard's head hits the ground it breaks open, revealing he was one of Lady X's robots the whole time. Once again, the Marketropolis is safe, and Dex and Sunshine can finally be together.

This is more or less how the ending goes across all versions of the story (except the I Can Find It! book which Mr Clipboard is entirely absent from), but it does leave out the Lady X revealing she used to be Priscilla Pussly, the Ike for a failed brand of genetically giant prunes, along with Sunshine beating her up so badly her plastic surgery comes undone and she's transformed back into the hideous prune she once was. I'm glad this was left out- as much as I've warmed up to Foodfight! over time, I always thought repeatedly hitting a woman so badly that it destroys everything she's done to feel good about herself was a pretty horrible way to end things. Like yeah, destroy her sense of image and humiliate her in front of everyone, THEN kill her? That's so cruel, aren't Dex and the other Ikes supposed to be the good guys?

Either way, with that we reach the end of the Deluxe Sound Storybook. Despite consisting of an incredibly trimmed-down version of the movie's plot, the beautiful artwork was worth the price of admission alone, and it was truly fantastic to see characters and environments from Foodfight! rendered so beautifully. I'd say it's up there alongside the novelization, meeting the (incredibly low) bar of versions of Foodfight! far better than the finished film. I'm really glad I got to share this book on my blog too- while the Deluxe Sound Storybook has been talked about across various places over the years, nobody made its contents available in their entirety before now. I hope you all enjoyed taking another dive into the fascinating world of Foodfight! merchandise, and shortly after this post I'll make my scans of the book available on the Internet Archive for anyone who wants to check it out for themselves.

If you can believe it, long before I started this blog, all I ever wanted out of Foodfight! was a copy of this book someday so I could see what the movie would've looked like if it hadn't been spoiled before its time. But then I stumbled onto the novelization and realized I just HAD to write about that, then ended up interviewing a cast member, and ultimately ended up getting involved in a documentary that'll satisfy everyone's curiosities about Foodfight! a million times better than the Deluxe Sound Storybook ever could. However, finally getting to discuss what I was originally so fascinated by makes it feel like my blog has truly come full circle. Thank you for joining me on this journey, and I'll see you next time!

#foodfight #dex dogtective #daredevil dan #lady x #analysis #book review #mr clipboard #deluxe sound storybook

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