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Delgo is a 2008 American animated Fantasy film adventure film directed by Marc F. Adler and Jason Maurer, written by Scott Biear, Patrick J. Cowan, Carl Dream, and Jennifer A. Jones. The film stars Freddie Prinze Jr., Jennifer Love Hewitt, Anne Bancroft, Chris Kattan, Louis Gossett Jr., Burt Reynolds, Eric Idle, Michael Clarke Duncan, Kelly Ripa, Val Kilmer, and Malcolm McDowell with narration by Sally Kellerman. It was the final film for Bancroft and John Vernon, who both died three years before its release, and was dedicated to the former.
The film was distributed by Freestyle Releasing with music by Geoff Zanelli and produced by Electric Eye Entertainment Corporation and Fathom Studios, a division of Macquarium Intelligent Communications, which began development of the project in 1999.
Despite winning the Best Feature award at Anima Mundi, the film was widely panned by critics and audiences, and its box office was one of the lowest-grossing wide releases in recent history. Delgo grossed under $1 million in theaters against an estimated budget of $40 million. The film was released independently with a large screen count (over 2,000 screens) and a small marketing budget. As a result, it became a massive box-office bomb, losing an estimated $46 million. 20th Century Fox later acquired the film rights for international and domestic home media distribution.
Delgo, meanwhile, is raised by Elder Marley, who tries to teach him how to use the power of magical stones. Delgo grows up, and he gives in to his desire for revenge against all Nohrin. He meets Nohrin Princess Kyla and develops a tentative friendship with her. When she is kidnapped by Nohrin General Raius, who is actually working for Sedessa, Delgo and his friend Filo are blamed and arrested.
In the Nohrin prison, Delgo meets Nohrin General Bogardus, who was forced to illegally gamble with his weapons by Raius, because Bogardus opposed an all out war with the Lokni. Delgo, Filo, and Bogardus escape into some caverns and eventually reach Sedessa's stronghold and rescue Kyla. They return too late to avert a war taking place. Bogardus fights and defeats Raius, but he is mortally injured.
Just as Bogardus dies from heavy wounds, Delgo realizes that he was the Nohrin soldier who spared his life many years ago during the first war between the Nohrin and the Lokni. Meanwhile, Sedessa's army of monsters joins in the battle. Kyla convinces the Nohrin generals to direct their troops to stop fighting the Lokni and instead pick them up and fly them away from the battlefield. Filo then directs an entire stampede of large animals onto the battlefield, sending Sedessa's minions fleeing for their lives.
Delgo goes off to face Sedessa and find King Zahn, whom she has taken prisoner. He finally manages to master the stone magic, and defeats Sedessa. He also puts the past behind him by saving her rather than letting her fall to her death. However, Sedessa then attacks Kyla, who has come to Delgo's aid. The two struggle and Sedessa finally falls, injuring herself by the fall and her artificial wings being of no use. Later, during the celebrations, it turns out Raius was not dead, and he makes one last attempt to kill Delgo. However, he is subdued by a Nohrin, but not before he throws his spear at Delgo. Then, out of nowhere, the spear breaks in midair. Everyone turns to look at Filo, who has finally mastered his slingshot. Delgo and Kyla's friendship eventually blossoms into romance when they finally kiss.
Adler recruited main crew members locally from "Savannah College of Art and Design, Georgia Tech and smaller digital outfits". Students from the drama department of North Atlanta High School acted out some of the scenes to create reference material for the animators. Adler said that their team created eight main characters, at least twenty "secondary characters", "twenty-two creatures, thirty plants, and fifty-six film set", as well as numerous background characters. According to Warren Grubb, Fathom's head animation director, one of the challenges with modeling the background elements was that "We couldn't even use most of the off-the-shelf systems at the time in creating the background assets because they were based on Earthly vegetation." The filmmakers put together kits with artwork and actual replicas of the stones used in the film to send to the actors, rather than just an offer letter. Once the cast had signed on, the filmmakers had to travel to where the actors were with all their equipment rather than have the actors come to them to record their voices. Anne Bancroft, the voice of villainess Sedessa, died in 2005, before production finished. On the film's end credits, the film is dedicated to her. Aside from the death of Bancroft, the film had several other setbacks which delayed its release. John Vernon, the voice of Judge Nohrin, also died in 2005, making this his final film. The directors acknowledge the influence of artist Roger Dean, specifically his for Yes and Asia, on their backgrounds.DVD commentary track. A partnership with Dell provided Fathom Studios with the hardware required to render Delgo.
In 2004, Playmates Toys revealed in an article that they planned to make Delgo merchandise, which included dolls, action figures, play sets, vehicles and toy accessories. Ultimately, they never followed through.
Leonard Maltin's publication TV Movies gave the film a "BOMB" rating, calling it "a complete misfire". Critics from Newsday and Campus CircleKoslow, Jessica (2008-12-10). "film notes – reviews: Delgo". Campus Circle. gave the film acclaim, citing a unique look.
Tom Keogh of The Seattle Times praised Bancroft's "excellent voice work" and noted the film was a "busy but decent animated fable that feels like a Star Wars or Lord of the Rings spin-off".
Although Delgo was conceived and written as the first installment of an intended trilogy, plans for it were cancelled when the film bombed critically and financially.
On August 26, 2009, the makers of Delgo were considering suing James Cameron for Avatar, claiming that it stole assets, ideas, visuals, and concepts from Delgo. The case was eventually dropped.
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