Spy Kids is an American family action film franchise created, written, and directed by Robert Rodriguez, and produced by Dimension Films and Troublemaker Studios. The franchise consists of four feature films, a Netflix series, one Netflix film, and several games. books and comics. The series follows various children who discover that their parents are spies and become involved in an espionage organization. Initially, the series was following the adventures of Carmen and Juni Cortez, two Hispanic-Latin-American siblings who become involved in their parents' espionage.
Background and Production[]
Influences[]
Spy Kids was heavily influenced by James Bond films. Robert Rodriguez says the first film was the "Willy and James Bond mix"[1] and the second was the "Mysterious Island and James Bond mix"; by this pattern the third film could be described as the "Tron and James Bond mix". Technology in the films is almost always portrayed as looking friendly, and a bit cartoonish.
The spy organization featured in the films is called the OSS. The initials seem to have been derived from the Office of Strategic Services, a former American intelligence organization during WWII which later evolved into the CIA. What the initials stand for in the Spy Kids universe is never specified in the movies. However, on the merchandise, they stand for Organization of Super Spies[2], but according to the Spy Kids Adventures books and Spy Kids: Junior Novel, they stand for their real life initials, Office of Strategic Services.
Themes[]
One of the chief themes of Spy Kids is the unity of family. The films also play with the idea of children having adult responsibilities, and how keeping secrets from family members can have a negative effect on relationships. The first film also deals extensively with sibling rivalry and the responsibility of older children. The films tend to have a strong Hispanic heritage theme, as Rodriguez is of Mexican descent.[3]
Feature films[]
Spy Kids (2001)[]
- Main article: Spy Kids
After retiring from espionage for ten years, Gregorio (Antonio Banderas) and Ingrid (Carla Gugino) are pulled back into duty for one last mission, despite the fact that they were out of practice, and were captured in the process. Their two children, Carmen (Alexa PenaVega) and Juni (Daryl Sabara), discover the truth of their parents' past, which they had neglected to tell them because they were afraid that if they knew, they would picture danger at every corner, and decide to rescue them. On their first mission, Carmen and Juni manage to find their estranged uncle, Isador "Machete" Cortez (Danny Trejo), a genius gadget inventor, and Juni helps to redeem Fegan Floop (Alan Cumming). Together, Carmen and Juni thwart the plan of Alexander Minion (Tony Shalhoub) to develop an army of androids resembling young children for a mastermind named Mr. Lisp (Robert Patrick) and his partner Ms. Gradenko (Teri Hatcher).
Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams (2002)[]
- Main article: Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams
As agents of the OSS’s new Spy Kids Division, Carmen and Juni face a particularly hard competition with Gary (Matt O'Leary) and Gerti Giggles (Emily Osment), the two children of a double-dealing agent Donnagon Giggles (Mike Judge), whom Carmen and Juni helped to rescue from the first film. Juni gets fired from the OSS after fighting with Gary over a smaller version of the Transmooker, a device that can shut off all electronic devices, even though it was Gary who started the fight. Juni loses his spot for the "Spy Kid of the Year" award, while Donnagon plans to steal the Transmooker to take over the world. On their new, more challenging mission, the Ukata assignment, Carmen and Juni follow the trail to the mysterious island of Leeke Leeke which is home to Dr. Romero (Steve Buscemi), an eccentric scientist who attempted to create genetically-miniaturised animals, but instead ended up with his island inhabited by mutant monsters. Eventually, Donnagon is fired and Gary is disavowed, and the Transmooker is destroyed. Juni is offered his job back, but in order to take a break from the OSS, he retires to start his own private eye agency.
Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over (2003)[]
- Main article: Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over
After retiring from the OSS, Juni is thrust back into service when an evil mastermind named Sebastian the Toymaker (Sylvester Stallone) creates a fictional video game called Game Over, which hypnotizes its users. Carmen was sent on a mission to disable the game, but disappeared on Level 4. With the help of his maternal grandfather, Valentin Avellan (Ricardo Montalban), who uses a wheelchair, Juni is sent after Carmen and helps her to disable the game in order to save the world. It is revealed that Sebastian was the one who disabled Valentin in the first place. Instead of avenging his former partner, Valentin forgives Sebastian, who redeems at the end.
Spy Kids: All the Time in the World (2011)[]
- Main article: Spy Kids 4D: All the Time in the World
The fourth film in the series took a different direction, for not only taking place ten years after the first movie, it introduces a new generation of Spy Kids. The OSS has become the world's top spy agency, while the Spy Kids Division has become defunct. A retired spy, Marissa Wilson (Jessica Alba), is thrown back into the action along with her two stepchildren, Rebecca (Rowan Blanchard) and Cecil (Mason Cook), when the maniacal Timekeeper (Jeremy Piven) attempts to take over the world. In order to save the world, Rebecca and Cecil must team up with Marissa, along with familiar faces Juni and Carmen, who are young adults and have passed the torch on to Rebecca and Cecil.
Spy Kids: Armageddon (2023)[]
- Main article: Spy Kids: Armageddon
On January 26, 2021, it was announced that Skydance Media optioned the rights to the Spy Kids franchise and would be the lead studio to oversee development and production of a reimagining. Rodriguez would write, direct and produce the movie, while Spyglass Media execs Gary Barber and Peter Oillataguerre will be the executive producers. The only details known then is the new family of spies, the Tango-Torrez family, would be multicultural[4], and the film would be titled Spy Kids: Armageddon.[5]
On March 30, 2022, the film was confirmed to be distributed by Netflix,[6] making it the second Spy Kids project produced for the streaming service. David Ellison, Dana Goldberg and Don Granger would produce for Skydance, which would oversee development and production. Elizabeth Avellan and Rodriguez's son Racer Max Rodriguez will also produce.[7][8][9][10]
The plot for the film is two children, Tony and Patty Tango-Torrez, of the world's greatest secret agents, Nora Torrez and Terrence Tango, unwittingly helping a powerful Game Developer, Rey "The King" Kingston, unleash a computer virus that gives him control of all technology, and they must become spies themselves to save their parents and the world. Production of the film wrapped in late August 2022[11][12], and was released on Netflix worldwide on September 22, 2023.[13]
Though the movie does not feature characters from past films, Rodriguez confirmed that it takes place in the same continuity, hoping to include "legacy characters" in future films.[14]
Television series[]
Spy Kids: Mission Critical (2018)[]
- Main article: Spy Kids: Mission Critical
On June 16, 2016, Netflix announced an animated Spy Kids TV show entitled Spy Kids: Mission Critical, with FM DeMarco of Netflix original series Dragons: Race to the Edge as head writer.[15][16] The show follows brother-and-sister team Juni and Carmen Cortez as they attend Spy Kids Academy, a top-secret spy school for kid agents. They must train and lead a team of fellow Spy Kids cadets against the forces of S.W.A.M.P. (Sinister Wrongdoers Against Mankind’s Preservation) and their leader, Golden Brain. The first and second seasons both containing 10 episodes and was produced by Mainframe Studios.[17] Rodriguez served as one of the executive producers on the show. The show became available to Netflix members worldwide on April 20, 2018, with the second season premiering on November 30 the same year.
Books[]
Junior novelizations (2001-2003)[]
Novelizations of Spy Kids, Spy Kids 2, and Spy Kids 3-D were released by Disney-Hyperion during the films' releases. They were adapted by Megan Stine, Kiki Thorpe, and Kitty Richards.
KD Novelties personalized book (2002)[]
In 2002, KD Novelties made a personalized children's book based on Spy Kids 2.
Spy Kids Adventures (2003-2004)[]
- Main article: Spy Kids Adventures
From 2003 to 2004, a spinoff book series titled Spy Kids Adventures was released by Disney-Hyperion, consisting of ten original stories written by Elizabeth Lenhard.
Comics[]
Syndicated comics (2001-2004)[]
From 2001 to 2004, children's anthology magazines Disney Adventures and BBC Magazines' Disney's Comic published over a dozen syndicated short comics that accompanied the first three films as well as additional stories for Disney's Comic in 2003.
| Title | Originally published in | Issue | Printed code | Written by | Lettered by | Pencils and Inks by | Colors by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pop! Goes the World! | Disney Adventures | September 2001 | JZ584 | Steve Behling Michael Stewart |
Michael Stewart | Christine Norrie | John Green |
| Deep Trouble! | Disney Adventures | October 2001 | JZ591 | Michael Stewart | Michael Stewart | Christine Norrie | John Green |
| Caught by the Web! | Disney Adventures | November 2001 | JZ601 | Steve Behling | Michael Stewart | Christine Norrie | John Green |
| F.A.N.G.s a Lot! | Disney Adventures | March 2002 | JZ626 | Steve Behling | Michael Stewart | Christine Norrie | John Green |
| The Big Drop! | Disney Adventures | April 2002 | JZ640 | Steve Behling | Michael Stewart | Christine Norrie | Atomic Paintbrush |
| The Invisible Enemy! | Disney Adventures | May 2002 | JZ646 | Steve Behling | Michael Stewart | Christine Norrie | John Green |
| Fright Flight! | Disney Adventures | June 2002 | JZ653 | Steve Behling | Michael Stewart | Christine Norrie | John Green |
| The Menace of Micro-Man! | Disney Adventures | Summer 2002 | JZ662 | Steve Behling | Michael Stewart | Christine Norrie | John Green |
| The Mysterious Many-Man! | Disney Adventures | Super Comic Special 2002 | JZ666 | Michael Stewart | Michael Stewart | Christine Norrie | John Green |
| Rodeo Ruckus! | Disney Adventures | September 2002 | JZ674 | Michael Stewart | Michael Stewart | Christine Norrie | John Green |
| Face to Face with F.A.N.G.! | Disney Adventures | April 2003 | JZ719 | Steve Behling | Chris Dickey | Christine Norrie (pencils) Daniel Krall (inks) |
John Green Marion Vitus[18] |
| Nightmare at 30,000 Feet! | Disney's Comic | May 2003 | BBC/DC14/2/SK2 | N/A | N/A | Christine Norrie | N/A |
| Cereal-ised! | Disney's Comic | June 2003 | BBC/DC15/10/SK | N/A | N/A | Christine Norrie | N/A |
| Top Gear! | Disney's Comic | July 2003 | BBC/DC16/10/SK | N/A | N/A | Christine Norrie | N/A |
| That's Snow Spy! | Disney's Comic | August 2003 | BBC/DC17/2/SK | N/A | N/A | Christine Norrie | N/A |
| Metal Menace! | Disney's Comic | September 2003 | BBC/DC18/8/SK | N/A | John Green | Christine Norrie | N/A |
| Tomorrow Trouble! | Disney Adventures Comic Zone | Summer 2004 | JZ852 | John Green | Michael Stewart | Christine Norrie | Hi-Fi Color Design |
McDonald's comics (2003)[]
- Main article: Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over (comic book)
In July 2003, McDonald's published a six-issue limited series based on Spy Kids 3-D, bundled with Happy Meal toys as well as anaglyph 3D glasses made for the comics.
Video games[]
Tie-in video games (2002-2011)[]
- Main article: Spy Kids Challenger
- Main article: Spy Kids: Mega Mission Zone
- Main article: Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over (video game)
- Main article: Spy Kids: All the Time in the World (video game)
In 2002 and 2003, Disney Interactive published several tie-in games released for the Game Boy Advance and PC/Mac based on Spy Kids 2 and Spy Kids 3-D, and in 2011, Majesco Entertaiment published a tie-in game released for the Nintendo DS based on Spy Kids: All the Time in the World.
Spy Kids: Learning Adventures (2003-2004)[]
- Main article: Spy Kids: Learning Adventures
From 2003 to 2004, Brighter Minds Media published an educational spinoff game series released for the PC/Mac titled Spy Kids Learning Adventures, consisting of four original stories.
Future[]
In September 2023, Rodriguez confirmed that Netflix intends to develop more Spy Kids movies[14], with the series creator hoping to begin production on a sequel to Armageddon the next year.[19] Rodriguez explained that Armageddon started over with a new family because so much time had passed since All the Time in the World, and so he wanted to incorporate a new set of characters before going back to what came before, thus confirming his intention to bring back "legacy characters" from the previous movies in any future movies.[14]
Characters[]
- Main article: List of Spy Kids characters
- Italics indicate a cameo
- A dark red cell indicates the character did not appear in the film or show.
| Characters | Original Film Series | Reboot Television Series | Reboot Film | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spy Kids (2001) |
Island of Lost Dreams (2002) |
Game Over (2003) |
All the Time in the World (2011) |
Mission Critical (2018) | Armageddon (2023) | |
| Gregorio Cortez | Antonio Banderas | Christian Lanz (voice) | ||||
| Ingrid Cortez (née Avellán) | Carla Gugino | Mira Sorvino (voice) | ||||
| Carmen Cortez | Alexa PenaVega Addisyn Fair (infant) |
Alexa PenaVega | Ashley Bornancin (voice) | |||
| Juni Cortez | Daryl Sabara | Carter Hastings (voice) | ||||
| Isador "Machete" Cortez | Danny Trejo | Danny Trejo (cameo) | ||||
| Valentin Avellán | Ricardo Montalbán | |||||
| Helga Avellán | Holland Taylor | |||||
| Donnagon Giggles | Mike Judge | |||||
| Gary Giggles | Matt O'Leary | |||||
| Gerti Giggles | Emily Osment | |||||
| Fegan Floop | Alan Cumming | Christian Lanz (voice) | ||||
| Alexander Minion | Tony Shalhoub | |||||
| Felix Gumm | Cheech Marin | |||||
| Dr. Romero | Steve Buscemi | |||||
| Dinky Winks | Bill Paxton | |||||
| Ms. Gradenko | Teri Hatcher | |||||
| Mr. Lisp | Robert Patrick | |||||
| Diego Devlin | George Clooney | George Clooney | D. J. Cotrona | |||
| Alexandra | Taylor Momsen | |||||
| The President of the United States | Christopher McDonald | |||||
| Sebastian The Toymaker |
Sylvester Stallone | |||||
| Francesca "Cesca" Giggles | Salma Hayek | |||||
| Demetra | Courtney Jines | |||||
| Arnold | Ryan Pinkston | |||||
| Francis | Bobby Edner | |||||
| Rez | Robert Vito | |||||
| Rebecca Wilson | Rowan Blanchard | |||||
| Cecil Wilson | Mason Cook | |||||
| Marissa Wilson (née Cortez) | Jessica Alba | |||||
| Wilbur Wilson | Joel McHale | |||||
| Maria Wilson | Belle and Genny Solorzano | |||||
| Argonaut | Elmo Ricky Gervais (voice) |
|||||
| Danger D'Amo The Timekeeper |
Jeremy Piven Jett Good (young) |
|||||
| Tick Tock | Jeremy Piven | |||||
| Glitch | Caitlyn Bairstow (voice) | |||||
| Gablet | ||||||
| Ace | Nicholas Coombe (voice) | |||||
| Claudia "Scorpion" Floop | Nesta Cooper (voice) | |||||
| Sir Awesome | Richard Ian Cox (voice) | |||||
| Peter St. Ignatius | Travis Turner (voice) | |||||
| Vida Immortata | Candi Milo (voice) | |||||
| Malware | ||||||
| Mauly the Sparkle Scout | ||||||
| Glendora Chatting-Botham | ||||||
| Golden Brain | Tom Kenny (voice) | |||||
| Spurious Visage | ||||||
| Professor Küpkakke | ||||||
| DJ Otto Tune
Heavy Meddle |
Christian Lanz (voice) | |||||
| Bradley Feinstein
Mint Condition |
Patton Oswalt (voice) | |||||
| Desmond "Dez" Vasquez | Yuri Lowenthal (voice) | |||||
| Zedmond "Zed" Vasquez | ||||||
| Talon | ||||||
| Jason Pietranthony
Improvisario | ||||||
| Barracuda | Ashley Bornancin (voice) | |||||
| Therese | Kate Micucci (voice) | |||||
| Dr. Chad Jericho | Thomas Lennon (voice) | |||||
| JT
The Worm |
Bobcat Goldthwait (voice) | |||||
| Agent No-One | Terrence Stone (voice)
Robert Englund (voice) |
|||||
| Patricia "Patty" Tango-Torrez | Everly Carganilla | |||||
| Antonio "Tony" Tango-Torrez | Connor Esterson | |||||
| Nora Torrez | Gina Rodriguez | |||||
| Terrence Tango | Zachary Levi | |||||
| Rey "The King" Kingston | Billy Magnussen | |||||
| Heck Knight | Joe Schilling (voice) | |||||
Trivia[]
- After the release of Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over, there were plans of an animated, straight-to-DVD sequel, but never made it past pre-production and was simply an idea.[20][21][22]
Videos[]
References[]
- ↑ https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2001/apr/11/artsfeatures1
- ↑ https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0233/6235/products/10149911-1-spy_kids__complete_collection_all_4_spy_kids_movies_boxset-dvd_f_41e838fd-cb25-42f3-a0ed-9e3fd3b31161_grande.jpg?v=1410829671
- ↑ http://gulfnews.com/arts-entertainment/celebrity/machete-director-robert-rodriguez-doesn-t-see-oscar-future-1.1246087
- ↑ "Skydance Media To Reimagine The ‘Spy Kids’ Franchise With Spyglass Media And Series Creator Robert Rodriguez", Deadline, January 26, 2021.
- ↑ "Production Weekly – Issue 1300 – Thursday, May 26, 2022 / 17 Listings – 38 Pages"
- ↑ https://twitter.com/netflix/status/1509228970243362820
- ↑ https://variety.com/2022/film/news/spy-kids-franchise-netflix-1235218936/
- ↑ https://www.valleycentral.com/entertainment-news/netflix-announces-spy-kids-reboot/
- ↑ https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/spy-kids-movie-netflix-1235122439/
- ↑ https://www.nerdsandbeyond.com/2022/03/31/netflix-announces-upcoming-spy-kids-reboot/
- ↑ https://twitter.com/Rodriguez/status/1565051810901069824
- ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/Ch71CW9OCrg/
- ↑ https://collider.com/spy-kids-armageddon-release-window-robert-rodriguez-comments/
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/spy-kids-james-bond-comparisons-robert-rodriguez-interview-part-5-armageddon-netflix-173037983.html
- ↑ https://variety.com/2016/digital/news/netflix-kids-show-programming-schedule-1201796795
- ↑ https://deadline.com/2015/05/spy-kids-david-the-gnome-reboot-weinstein-company-animated-tv-series-1201421512/
- ↑ http://playbackonline.ca/2017/03/24/wow-unlimited-inks-deal-with-weinstein-co-netflix/
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20081005124503/http://www.webcomicsnation.com/marionvitus/profile/index.php
- ↑ https://collider.com/we-can-be-heroes-2-robert-rodriguez-comments/
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20051123013033/http://www.latinoreview.com/interviews/rr-sincitydvd.html
- ↑ http://web.archive.org/web/20051211180553/http://www.foreveralexaonline.com/readarticle.php?article_id=70
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20060822094146/http://news.softpedia.com/news/Robert-Rodriguez-Plans-Spy-Kids-4-6043.shtml