"Shrimpanzees!" CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS 2 Trailer Is Very Punny

In my former life as a Los Angeles security guard, I had the good fortune to work an advanced screening for Sony Pictures Animation's Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs.  The film was not yet finished at the time, with much of the finale still comprised of storyboards and rough pre-vis animation, but even then I could tell that the movie was something special.  That hardly should have been a surprise since it was directed by Phil Lord and Chris Miller.  These guys were the masterminds of the short-lived-but-utterly-great animated series Clone High who would later bring us 21 Jump Street, easily one of the funniest movies of 2012.

Sadly Lord and Miller are not back for this Meatball sequel, but it still looks totally charming.  The Lost World/Jurrasic Park-esque approach to the sequel, returning to Swallow Falls to discover a lush, food-based ecosystem is actually pretty clever, building on the events of the first film instead of rehashing them in a new location.  While most of the vocal cast looks to be back, I can already tell that I'm going to miss the indelible vocal performance of Mr. T as the police officer.  (It helps that the main character, Flint Lockwood, has a name that seems tailor-made for Mr. T's particularly odd brand of intonation.)  Much like its predecessor, every frame of this thing looks like a rich visual treat.  I kept wanting to pause the trailer to identify all the various food creatures, which look to be an endless source of creativity and pun-based hilarity.

I mean, come on.  "There's a leek in the boat"?

Just take all of my dollars right now.