CyberWorld

For the "Cyberworld 2020" episode, see Understanding (TV series).

CyberWorld is a 2000 American 3D^[3] animated anthology film shown in IMAX and IMAX 3D, presented by Intel. Several segments originally filmed in 2D were converted to 3D format by IMAX. As presented on its website, it was labelled the first 3D animated film in IMAX.

CyberWorld
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Colin Davies Elaine Despins
Screenplay by	Charlie Rubin Steve Hoban Jimmy Savile Hugh Murray
Story by	Hugh Murray Todd Alcott Additional story work: Mark Smith
Produced by	Steve Hoban Hugh Murray
Starring	Jenna Elfman Matt Frewer Robert Smith Dave Foley
Music by	Paul Haslinger Hummie Mann
Production companies	Intel EyeTide Media ZeoCast IMAX Sandde Animation Spin Entertainment Consolidated Film Industries Pacific Data Images (Antz and Homer³ segment)
Distributed by	IMAX Corporation
Release date	October 6, 2000 (2000-10-06)
Running time	44 minutes[1]
Country	United States
Language	English
Box office	$16.7 million[2]

Plot

A guide named Phig commences the movie by showing the audience the "CyberWorld", a futuristic museum of infinite possibilities. Meanwhile, three computer bugs (Buzzed, Wired, and Frazzled) try to eat the CyberWorld through its number coding. When Phig learns about them, she goes on the hunt for the destructive computer bugs while presenting various short premade clips of computer-animated productions, such as scenes from Antz and "Homer³" from The Simpsons.

In the end, Buzzed, Wired and Frazzled create a black hole (the one seen in "Homer³"), which kills them. Phig got almost swallowed up in the hole, but not before her "knight in cyber armour," technician Hank, reboots the entire system just as she gets sucked up into the vortex. Phig concludes the movie by explaining to the audience that none of the events caused by the bugs ever occurred. She attempts to summon her battle gear to prove her point, only to receive a pink bunny outfit in return (a similar trick the bugs played on her in the film's midsection).

Selected segments

• The dance sequence from the animated feature Antz
• The CGI parts of the "Homer³" segment from The Simpsons episode "Treehouse of Horror VI"
• The music video of the Pet Shop Boys song "Liberation"
• "Monkey Brain Sushi", a short film created by Brummbaer at Sony Pictures Imageworks
• KraKKen: Adventure of Future Ocean, a short film created by ExMachina
• "Joe Fly", a short film created By Spans & Partner
• "Flipbook and Waterfall City", a short film created by Satoshi Kitahara
• "Tonight's Performance", a short film created by REZN8 specifically for the film

Cast

• Jenna Elfman as Phig
• Matt Frewer as Frazzled
• Robert Smith as Buzzed and Wired
• Dave Foley as Hank the Technician
• Cara Pifko as Computer

Archive audio

• Woody Allen, Sharon Stone, and Sylvester Stallone (Antz)
• Hank Azaria, Nancy Cartwright, Dan Castellaneta, Julie Kavner, Harry Shearer, and Yeardley Smith of The Simpsons
• Chris Lowe and Neil Tennant of Pet Shop Boys
• David Geldart as Pete
• Richard Pearce as Joe Fly
• Ned Irving as Sanchez
• Mark Lyndon as The Praying Mantis
• Georg Hahn as The Mites
• Frank Welker as The Firefly

Release

CyberWorld premiered at the Universal Citywalk IMAX Theater on October 1, 2000. It is the first IMAX film with a PG rating (some language from the Antz and Simpsons segments).

Reception

Box office

CyberWorld was a box office success, grossing $11,253,900 in the domestic box office and $5,400,000 overseas for a worldwide total of $16,653,900.^[2]

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes, it has an approval rating of 55% based on 11 reviews, with an average rating of 6.18/10.^[4] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 53/100 based on 13 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.^[5]

Roger Ebert, writing for the Chicago Sun-Times, praised the film for accurately presenting what 3D technology is capable of. He particularly singled out the size of the IMAX screens the film was projected on. He wrote, "(The film) takes advantage of the squarish six-story screen to envelop us in the images; the edges of the frame don't have the same kind of distracting cutoff power they possess in the smaller rectangles of conventional theatres."^[6]

Contrarily, Paul Tatara of CNN.com was displeased with the film's over-reliance on 3D effects, continuing to say, "Unfortunately, you can't escape the sensation that you might end up wearing the contents of your stomach while you watch it."^[7]