Recess: School's Out

Recess: School's Out (also known as Recess: The Movie - School's Out and Recess: The Ultimate Summer Vacation or Summer Vacation: The Ultimate Recess in the working titles) is a 2001 American animated comedy film based on the Disney television series Recess.

It was produced by Walt Disney Pictures, Walt Disney Television Animation and Walt Disney Television Animation Digital Production with animation done by Sunwoo Animation and Sunwoo Digital International. The film was distributed by Buena Vista Pictures Distribution, premiered on February 10, 2001 and released theatrically in the United States on February 16, 2001. The film also serves as the show's season five finale.

Plot
An unknown group steals a top secret project from a U.S Army base in the Nevada Desert, whereupon they make their way to secure Third Street Elementary School as base of operations per their leader's instructions. Prior to their arrival, T.J. Detweiler and his friends pull off one last big prank at their school before they break off for summer vacation. T.J. is shocked that his friends are heading to summer camps, leaving him bored at home.

While heading for a play date with the school's snitch Randall, he comes across something strange involving a tractor beam being used within the school, but no one wants to believe his story. Left with no choice, T.J. attempts to convince the school's principal Peter Prickly to abandon his time at a golf club to check things out, only to witness him dematerialize when he tries entering the school.

Out of options, T.J. blackmails his sister Becky into driving him to each of his friends' summer camps to bring them back and help him investigate more. Although they initially accuse him of inventing a plot to drag them back, the group witnessed the tractor beam being used from the school and agreed to help him investigate.

The next day, the kids find Prickly's golf pants in a dumpster with a note requesting help, leading them to infiltrate the school that night. In doing so, they find the auditorium converted into a base housing the tractor beam, but are caught spying and chased by guards, who capture T.J. in the process and lock him up in the stock room where Prickly is held prisoner.

Both T.J. and Prickly learn that the school has been taken over by an anti-recess group led by Dr. Phillium Benedict, a former friend of Prickly's from their early teaching years. Prickly explains to T.J. how Benedict attempted to abolish recess to improve test grades when he was appointed as the school's principal in the spring of 1968, much to the protest of teachers and parents alike.

After Prickly ended his plans by informing the superintendent of the situation, Benedict was forced to step down as principal and he furiously ended his relationship with Prickly in retaliation. This action also caused Benedict's girlfriend Muriel P. Finster (the school's current groundskeeper) to dump him in disgust for his anti recess beliefs.

Prickly later explained that Benedict later entered politics, becoming Secretary of Education, until the president fired him for attempting to abolish recess again on a nationwide scale.

Both T.J. and Prickly soon learn that Benedict plans to abolish summer vacation by altering the moon's orbit with the tractor beam, thus putting Earth into a permanent ice age. T.J.'s friends have Becky help them bring back all the children from the school to stop Benedict's group from succeeding in their plans.

Through a plan by Gus Griswald, the kids manage to incapacitate his guards, gaining access to the auditorium. As Benedict prepares to have the kids subdued by summoning more guards, Finster arrives to the rescue, bringing the school's staff with her to help Prickly and the kids in stopping Benedict and his men for good.

Although Benedict manages to trigger the tractor beam, T.J. tosses a baseball to Vince LaSalle, who uses the ball to destroy the beam's power core, foiling Benedict's plot for good. Benedict and his men are arrested for their crimes, and T.J. and his friends find themselves commemorated as heroes, alongside the other kids and staff.

T.J.'s friends then decide to spend the rest of the summer with him instead of going back to camp, but before they left, T.J. meets with Prickly, who thanks him for reminding him of his true motivation to help kids at school. As they both mutually respect each other with their nicknames, Prickly advises T.J. at what he can expect when he returns to school in September, prompting T.J. to reply that his return is a long way off, before heading to a pond with his friends.

Voice cast

 * Andrew Lawrence as Theodore Jasper "T.J." Detweiler
 * Randy Crenshaw as T.J.'s singing voice
 * Rickey D'Shon Collins as Vince LaSalle
 * Jason Davis as Mikey Blumberg
 * Robert Goulet as Mikey's singing voice
 * Ashley Johnson as Gretchen Grundler
 * Courtland Mead as Gus Griswald
 * Blake McIver Ewing as Gus' singing voice
 * Pamela Segall as Ashley Spinelli
 * Dabney Coleman as Principal Peter Prickly
 * Melissa Joan Hart as Becky Detweiler
 * April Winchell as Muriel Finster / Mrs. Detweiler / Lunch Lady #3
 * James Woods as Dr. Phillium Benedict
 * Clancy Brown as Bald Man
 * Peter MacNicol as Professor Fenwick
 * Tony Jay as Dr. Rosenthal
 * Andrea Martin as Lunchlady Harriet
 * Tress MacNeille as Lunchlady Irma / Ms. Lemon / Opera Director / Dr. Steinheimer
 * Elizabeth Daily as Captain Sticky
 * R. Lee Ermey as Col. O'Malley
 * Katey Sagal as Mrs. Flo Spinelli
 * Paul Willson as Mr. Detweiler
 * Allyce Beasley as Ms. Grotke
 * Clyde Kusatsu as Mr. Yamashiro
 * Nicholas Turturro as Cop #1
 * Kevin Michael Richardson as Cop #2
 * Dan Castellaneta as Guard #1
 * Diedrich Bader as Guard #2
 * Robert Stack as Superintendent
 * Charles Kimbrough as Mort Chalk
 * Erik von Detten as Erwin Lawson / Captain Brad
 * Lane Toran as King Bob / King Fred
 * Ron Glass as Dr. Lazenby / Tech #2
 * Michael Shulman as Francis the Hustler kid
 * Anndi McAfee as Ashley A.
 * Gregg Berger as Tech #1
 * Jack Riley as Golfer #1
 * Philip Proctor as Golfer #2 / Scientist #2
 * Kath Soucie as Director / Hector / Butch
 * Ken Swofford as Coach
 * Justin Shenkarow as Soldier kid / Wrestler kid
 * Patrick Renna as Jerome
 * Nancy Cartwright as Gordy

Reception
On Rotten Tomatoes, a review aggregator, the film has an approval rating of 61% based on 69 reviews, with an average rating is 5.8/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Though basically a television cartoon stretched out to movie length, Recess has enough successful jokes and smart writing to make it a worthwhile view."

On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 43 out of 100, based on 20 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A–" on an A+ to F scale.

Box office
The film earned $36.7 million in North America and another $7.8 million from other countries. The worldwide gross was $44.5 million, against a $23 million budget. The film was released in the United Kingdom on July 27, 2001, and opened on #7.

Home media
Recess: School's Out, was released on VHS and DVD on August 7, 2001.