Bubble Boy

Director: Blair Hayes Blair Hayes

Overview

"Bubble Boy is Touchstone's comedic tale of a boy without any natural immunity to disease and his germ-proof bubble environment. Touchstone's Bubble Boy DVD is anything but sterile, however, providing a fertile variety of special features. In the film, ""Bubble Boy"" Jake Gyllenhaal constructs a portable bubble suit in order to travel through an unfamiliar world and try to reclaim the woman (Marley Shelton) he loves. Gyllenhaal and director Blair Hayes provide a commentary track as one of the DVD's special features. There is also a ""director's diary"" feature, which has Hayes ruminating during the filming of various scenes. Other extras include a feature on how the bubble suit was designed, a production design gallery, a look at the storyboards of a certain sequence, and a ""bright and shiny"" singalong (watch the movie, it'll make sense). The DVD presents the film in Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround sound and a widescreen version in a 2.35:1 aspect ratio enhanced for 16x9 televisions."

Product Details

Release Date:	01/15/2002
UPC:	0786936165401
Original Release:	2001
Rating:	PG-13
Source:	Walt Disney Video
Region Code:	1
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround]
Language:	English
Time:	1:24:00
Sales rank:	14,296

Special Features

Director's Diary; Building a Better Bubble Suit; Production Design Gallery; Storyboards: Niagara Falls; Bright and Shiny Singalong; Audio commentary with director Blair Hayes and actor Jake Gyllenhaal; French and Spanish subtitles; Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound; Widescreen (2.35:1) enhanced for 16x9 televisions

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Jake Gyllenhaal	Jimmy Livingston
Swoosie Kurtz	Mrs. Livingston
Marley Shelton	Chloe
Danny Trejo	Slim
Dave Sheridan	Mark,Mark
John Carroll Lynch	Mr. Livingston
Verne Troyer	Dr. Phreak
Ever Carradine	Mark's Sister
Brian George	Pushpak
Stephen Spinella	Chicken Man
Geoffrey Arend	Flipper Boy
Patrick Crenshaw	Pippy/Pappy
Beetlejuice	Li'l Zip
Matthew McGrory	Human Sasquatch
Bonnie Morgan	Rubber Woman
Jason Sklar	Shlomo,Dawn
Fabio	Gil
Ping Wu	Emcee
Zach Galifianakis	Bus Stop Man
Boti Ann Bliss	Cashier
Pablo Schreiber	Todd
Brian Gattas	Todd
Cinco Paul	Todd
Ken Daurio	Todd
Malik Toure	Todd
Leo Fitzpatrick	Todd
J.P. Cole	Todd
R.J. Durell	Todd
Brian Friedman	Todd
Arden Myrin	Lorraine
Merle Kennedy	Lorraine
Shulie Cowen	Lorraine
Alicia Gilley	Lorraine
Mandy Moore	Lorraine
Mitch Holleman	Jimmy (age 4)
Alex Black	Jimmy (age 8),Jimmy (age 10)
Robert Bailey Jr.	Neighborhood Boy
Oliver A. Kindred	Neighborhood Boy
Brandon DePaul	Neighborhood Boy
Steve Van Wormer	Mark's Friend
E.J. Callahan	Perris Townie
Charlie Dell	Perris Townie
Michael Loprete	Perris Townie
Charles Noland	Perris Townie
Emily Stewart	Perris Townie
Pattie Tierce	Perris Townie
Gary Bullock	Perris Sheriff
Susan Hawk	Perris Waitress
Steven Lawrence	Ice Cream Boy
Raja Fenske	Indian Boy
Cleo King	Minister
Robert LaSardo	Skinny Biker
Jorge Cottini	Big Biker
Madajah McCullum O'Hearn	Red Hot
Stacy Keibler	Working Girl
Betty Blowtorch	Actor
John Ottman	Composer

Technical Credits

Cinco Paul

Ken Daurio

Blair Hayes	Director
John Baker	Special Effects
Beau Flynn	Producer
Jack Gill	Stunts
Alec Gillis	Special Effects
Tim Landry	Special Effects
Eric McLeod	Executive Producer
John Papsidera	Casting
Tom Woodruff Jr.	Special Effects
Cinco Paul	Screenwriter
Ken Daurio	Screenwriter
Seth Arnett	Stunts

Editorial Reviews

Disney's Bubble Boy is a gross-out, irreverent comedy with a core of sweetness, in the style of the Farrelly brothers. Its arrival during a summer full of underwhelming would-be Hollywood blockbusters did nothing to ease its reception. Parents of children with immunodeficiency disorder organized in an understandable, if misguided, effort to protest the film's depiction of the illness as a basis for comedy. Critics lashed out at the film in nearly unanimous disdain for its scabrous mockery of religious devotion and its brazen parade of ethnic stereotypes. Many called it offensive, and worse -- unfunny. Much was made of the casting of physically unusual actors like Verne Troyer (Mini-Me from Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me) and Beetlejuice (from Howard Stern's radio program). But the real target of the film's admittedly uneven lowbrow humor is the kind of narrow-minded intolerance displayed by Mrs Livingston (Swoosie Kurtz), and the filmmakers' attempt to humanize her by making it obvious that ignorance and fear drive her. Most critics somehow missed the film's essential sweetness, appreciable in the wide-eyed, innocent joy of Jake Gyllenhaal's impressive lead performance. Gyllenhaal, in this film and in October Sky, displays the same kind of likable openness as Tobey Maguire, only with more vitality. The film is only sporadically funny, and it's frequently in poor taste, but it's got energy to spare, and Gyllenhaal's performance gives it a soul.