Ted (stylized as ted) is a 2012 American comedy film, directed, co-produced, co-written, and starring Seth MacFarlane alongside Mark Wahlberg and Mila Kunis in leading roles. The supporting cast includes Joel McHale and Giovanni Ribisi.

The film is the feature-length directorial debut of MacFarlane,^[2] produced by Media Rights Capital and distributed by Universal Pictures. It was released on June 29, 2012, to critical and commercial success, becoming the 12th highest-grossing film of the year, the highest-grossing R-rated film of the year, and the highest-grossing original R-rated comedy of all time.^[3][4][5] The film is currently nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song with Seth Macfarlane as the host. On Jimmy Kimmel Live!, it was announced that there are plans for a sequel.

Plot

In 1985, in a suburb south of Boston, John Bennett is a lonely child who wishes for his new Christmas gift, a teddy bear he names Teddy ("Ted"), to come to life to be his best friend. The wish succeeds with a falling star one night and Ted becomes fully alive. The newly sentient toy briefly becomes a minor celebrity, but never loses sight of his friendship with John.

Twenty-seven years later in 2012, John (Mark Wahlberg) and Ted (voiced by Seth MacFarlane), now living in the South End neighborhood of Boston, are still staunch, if immature, friends enjoying a hedonistic life, even while John is pursuing a relationship with an office worker named Lori Collins (Mila Kunis). Lori hopes to marry John, but she feels that he cannot move ahead with his life with Ted around, who is now a complete wastrel. John is resistant to kicking Ted out, but he is finally persuaded one night to act when he and Lori discover Ted at home with four prostitutes.

Soon, John finds Ted his own apartment and a job at a grocery store, where his irresponsible behavior on the job somehow manages to get him both promoted and acquainted with his co-worker Tami-Lynn (Jessica Barth). Ted and John still spend most of their time together, which irritates Lori when she discovers John has been skipping work to do so while using her for his excuses. Meanwhile, an obsessed stalker named Donny (Giovanni Ribisi), who idolized Ted as a kid, shows interest in possessing him for his destructive son Robert (Aedin Mincks). Things start to come to a head when Lori and John are invited to a party put on by Lori's manager Rex (Joel McHale), who has a lust for her. They attend, but Ted lures John away to a party at his apartment with the offer to meet Sam Jones, the star of their favorite movie Flash Gordon. Although John arrives with the intention of spending only a few minutes, he gets caught up in the occasion which gets completely out of control, with Sam persuading John and Ted to snort cocaine with him. Eventually, Lori discovers John there and breaks up with him in tears. At that, John blames Ted for ruining his life and tells him to stay away.

Eventually, Ted and John confront each other about their ruined friendship in John's hotel room and have a brawl after John provokes Ted, but soon manage to reconcile after the TV falls on John's crotch. To repair John's relationship with Lori, Ted arranges through Norah Jones (played by herself) for John to express his love for Lori with a song during a concert, being held at the Hatch Shell. Although John's performance proves an embarrassment, Lori is touched by the attempt while repelled by Rex's sneering. Later, Ted goes to visit Lori and explains that he was responsible for John's lapse: however, he offers to leave them alone forever if she goes to speak with him. Lori is persuaded, but moments after she leaves, Ted is kidnapped by Donny and taken to his house as Robert's unfortunate playmate.

Ted manages to distract Robert and reach a phone to contact John (but not before his ear is ripped off by Robert), but is soon recaptured. Realizing that Ted is in danger, John and Lori find Donny's residence and chase him and Robert to rescue Ted. The chase leads to Fenway Park, where Robert tries to stop John and Lori from getting to Ted first, only to have John knock him out. During the chase, Ted gets himself damaged and just when Donny grabs him on the tower, Ted falls onto the field, torn completely in half. Donny is forced to flee when a police car shows up. As John and Lori gather his stuffing, Ted relays his wish that John be happy with Lori, as his life fades away.

Unable to accept Ted's death, John and Lori return to her apartment to try to repair him, but it proves useless. That night, Lori makes a wish on a falling star. The next morning, Ted is magically restored (although he initially pretends to be mentally retarded) and the couple reconcile with Ted, who encourages John and Lori to resume their relationship. With that resolution, John and Lori get married (with Sam Jones as their priest) and Ted accepts having his own life.

The narrator (Patrick Stewart) reveals what happens to the characters after John and Lori are married:

• Ted continues his affair with Tami-Lynn and gets promoted to store manager when his boss catches him eating potato salad off of Tami-Lynn's bare bottom.
• Sam Jones moves back to Hollywood with his goal to restart his film career and shares a studio apartment in Burbank, California with Brandon Routh.
• Rex gives up his pursuit of Lori, goes into a deep depression, and finally dies of Lou Gehrig's disease (this references a scene in which John told Rex that he wished Rex would get Lou Gehrig's disease).
• Donny gets arrested by the Boston Police for kidnapping Ted, but the charges are dropped when everyone realizes how stupid it sounds to kidnap a plush toy.
• Robert gets a trainer, loses a lot of weight, and becomes Taylor Lautner.

Cast

• Mark Wahlberg as John Bennett,^[6] Ted's best friend who wished him to life as a child.
  • Brett Manley as young John Bennett
• Mila Kunis as Lori Collins, John's girlfriend for four years.
• Joel McHale as Rex, Lori's boss who wants her as his own and the secondary antagonist of the film
• Giovanni Ribisi as Donny,^[6] a man who has admired Ted since he was young and later stalks him to the point of kidnapping himself. He is the main antagonist of the film.
• Aedin Mincks as Robert, Donny's destructive son who wants Ted as his own.
• Patrick Warburton as Guy,^[7] John's co-worker.
• Matt Walsh as Thomas, John's boss
• Jessica Barth as Tami-Lynn, Ted's lover
• Bill Smitrovich as Franklin "Frank" Stevens, Ted's boss
• Ralph Garman as Steven "Steve" Bennett, John's dad
• Alex Borstein as Helen Bennett, John's mom
• Laura Vandervoort as Tanya Terry,^[8] John's oddly empathetic co-worker
• Jessica Stroup as Tracy,^[9] another of Lori's co-workers.
• Ginger Gonzaga as Gina, one of Lori's co-workers
• John Viener as Alix, another one of John's co-workers
• Melissa Ordway as Michelle
• Sam J. Jones as Himself
• Norah Jones as Herself
• Tom Skerritt as Himself
• Robert Wu as Asian Man "Ming"
• Mike Henry as Southern Newscaster
• Danny Smith as Waiter
• Ryan Reynolds as Jared (uncredited)

Voices

• Seth MacFarlane as Ted (Voice and motion capture),^[6] John's living teddy bear: the title character
  • Tara Strong as Ted's "I Love You" Function (Uncredited)
  • Zane Cowans as Young Ted (Voice)
• Patrick Stewart as Narrator

Production

Seth MacFarlane's directorial debut is a live-action effort, with computer animation handled by visual effects facilities Tippett Studio and Iloura. MacFarlane wrote the screenplay with his Family Guy colleagues Alec Sulkin and Wellesley Wild.^[10] MacFarlane announced the film in the February 10, 2011, episode of Conan.^{[citation needed]} Filming began in May 2011 in Boston, Norwood and Swampscott, all in Massachusetts.^[11]

The film's North American release was scheduled for July 13, 2012, but it was pushed to June 29, 2012, both to avoid competition with Ice Age: Continental Drift and following the delay of G.I. Joe: Retaliation.^[12] The film was released in Australia on July 5, 2012,^[13] and on August 1, 2012 in the United Kingdom and Ireland.^[14]

Soundtrack

The film's soundtrack was released by Universal Republic Records on June 26, 2012. It features the score by Walter Murphy and songs by various artists such as Norah Jones and Queen. Seth MacFarlane co-wrote the opening theme "Everybody Needs a Best Friend" with Murphy.^[15] The song was later nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song at the 85th Academy Awards

Track listing

All tracks by Walter Murphy except where indicated.

1. "Everybody Needs a Best Friend" by Norah Jones
2. "The Power of Wishes"
3. "Thunder Buddies for Life"
4. "John and Lori at Work" / "A Walk in the Park"
5. "Magical Wish"
6. "Rex's Party (Everybody Needs a Best Friend)"
7. "The Breakup"
8. "Never Be Scared of Thunder Again"
9. "Ted Is Captured" / "Raiders of the Lost Ark"
10. "The Car Chase" / "Fenway Pursuit"
11. "Climbing the Tower" / "She's Your Thunder Buddy Now"
12. "Saving Ted" / "Lori's Wish"
13. "The Proposal" / "The Wedding"
14. "End Titles"
15. "Flash's Theme" by Queen
16. "Sin" by Daphné
17. "Only Wanna Be with You" by Hootie & the Blowfish
18. "Come Away with Me" by Norah Jones
19. "All Time High" by Rita Coolidge
20. "I Think We're Alone Now" by Tiffany
21. "Thunder Buddies [Explicit]" by Mark Wahlberg

Other songs not included in the soundtrack, but used in the film include select tracks from Queen's Flash Gordon soundtrack: "Football Fight", "Battle Theme" and "The Hero", as well as the "Knight Rider Theme" by Stu Phillips and "The Imperial March" by John Williams. The film trailers used the songs "Best Friend" by Harry Nilsson and "How You Like Me Now?" by The Heavy.

Marketing

To promote the film, Universal Pictures teamed up with Axe in a marketing campaign that involved the titular character and the brand's hair care product Axe Hair.^[16] In one commercial, Ted takes a woman on a date to a fancy restaurant, where he brings her to orgasm under the table before handing another man a box of Axe Hair gel.^[17]

In January 2013 star Mark Wahlberg said the titular character would be making an appearance at the 2013 Academy Awards, which Seth MacFarlane is set to host.^[18]

Release

Critical reception

Ted has received generally favorable reviews, with critics praising Seth MacFarlane's comic performance, as well as Mark Wahlberg's portrayal of John Bennett. The film currently has a 69% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 194 reviews, with an average score of 6.4/10, and the site's consensus saying: "Ted's 'romance versus bromance' plot is familiar, but the film's held aloft by the high-concept central premise and a very funny (albeit inconsistent) script."^[19] Based on the "Top Critics", the film holds a 67% "Fresh" rating based on 12 reviews, with an average score of 6.9/10.^[19] At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted mean rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the film received an average score of 62, based on 37 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews".^[20] Roger Ebert gave the film three-and-a-half stars out of four, citing the film as "the best comedy screenplay so far [this year]," also praising the film on the fact that it "doesn't run out of steam."^[21]

Nathan Rabin of The A.V. Club gave the film a "B" grade.^[22] Brent McNight of Beyond Hollywood commented on the jokes: "Some of these jokes hit, some jokes miss."^[23] On the other hand, A. O. Scott of The New York Times called Ted "boring, lazy and wildly unoriginal."^[24]

Box office

Ted earned $508,215,487 of which $218,815,487 came from the United States and Canada and $289,400,000 from foreign territories,^[1] making it Universal's highest grossing film in 2012, ahead of Snow White and the Huntsman and Battleship,^[5] the only one to pass the $400 million mark,^[25] and the 12th highest-grossing film of 2012.

Ted became only the second R-rated comedy to ever gross over $200 million overseas, following in the footsteps of The Hangover Part II. On October 16, 2012, Ted earned $469 million worldwide, overtaking The Hangover to become the highest-grossing original R-rated comedy film of all-time.^[26]

Asia

Ted debuted in first place in Taiwan and got best comedy opening ever there.^[27] It also debuted in Hong Kong, with $1.4 million, and grossed $571,000 in its first week in South Korea,^[28] eventually grossing $8 million, $3.8 million and $1.8 million in the three countries respectively.^[29] It also grossed $2.1 million in both Indonesia and Singapore, and $1.4 million in Thailand.^[29]

Ted opened with $4.5 million in Japan, its final market, in January 2013, the best start ever for an R-rated comedy there. In comparison, it grossed more in its opening weekend than The Hangover Part II made in its entire run.^[30]

Europe

Ted debuted with $14.3 million in the United Kingdom, making it the third-best debut ever for a Universal film behind Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason and King Kong,^[31] eventually grossing over $48.9 million in the country. Ted was released in cinemas across the UK on August 3 ^[29]

The film had a $7.4 million launch in Germany,^[31] holding #1 spot for three-straight weeks,^[32] eventually grossing over $31.4 million.^[29]

In Spain, it opened with $2.3 million, which is the highest ever for an original R-rated comedy there,^[33] eventually grossing over $14.3 million.^[29]

The film also had the best Hollywood comedy debut ever in Russia, grossing $5.5 million,^[31] eventually grossing $17 million.^[29]

Ted spent its first four weeks atop the weekend box office in both the Netherlands,^[34] and Austria,^[35] eventually grossing $8.4 million, and $6.2 million in those countries respectively.^[29] The movie also opened at No. 1 in Belgium, with $587,000, eventually grossing $4.4 million.^[29]

In Italy, Ted had a second place start, grossing $3.3 million in its opening weekend there,^[36] moving up to No. 1 on its second week, with $4.2 million grossed.^[4] It has since grossed $14.1 million there.^[29]

In France, Ted debuted at No. 2, grossing $3 million in 348 theatres during its opening weekend,^[37] eventually grossing $11.5 million in the country.^[29]

North America

Ted earned $2.6 million in midnight showings in the United States and Canada.^[38] For its opening day, Ted scored one of the best R-rated comedy debuts ever since The Hangover with an estimated $20.2 million.^[1][39] The film earned a total of $54.4 million in its opening weekend, well over second-place R-rated Magic Mike's $39.2 million.^[40] Its overall weekend gross set a record for the highest original R-rated comedy opening in history.^[41] It was the first time two R-rated films grossed more than $21 million each during a weekend.^[42]

In Mexico, the film debuted in first place with $2.1 million,^[25] grossing $13.4 million.^[29]

Oceania

It also debuted at #1 in Australia and New Zealand, grossing over $35.5 million and $3.5 million respectively.^[29] Its $13.1 million opening in Australia, of which $4.5 million were from previews, was Universal's biggest opening ever in the country.^[27]

South America

In Brazil, it opened with $1.4 million at 273 sites,^[43] moving up to 1st place in the country on its third week of release.^[44] It has since grossed $8.8 million there.^[29]

Ted also grossed $4.6 million in Argentina, 2 million in Chile, 1.9 million in Peru, and 1.7 million in Colombia.^[29]

Home media

Ted was released on DVD and Blu-ray in the United States on December 11, 2012 by Universal Studios Home Entertainment. Both formats were released in Australia on November 21, 2012, in an "Extended Edition".^[45] It was released on Blu-ray and DVD in the UK on November 26, 2012.

Accolades

The song "Everybody Needs a Best Friend" was nominated for Best Original Song at the 85th Academy Awards.^[46] The film also won a People's Choice Award for Best Comedy Movie.

Sequel

During the 2012 American Dad! Comic-Con panel, Seth MacFarlane stated that he would be open to a sequel to Ted.^[47] In September 2012, chief executive Steve Burke said that the studio would be looking to make a sequel to Ted "as soon as possible".^[48]

On Jimmy Kimmel Live!, MacFarlane explained that there are plans for a sequel.

On Anderson Live, Mark Wahlberg has confirmed that a sequel is in the works and it will be the first in his career, while also revealing that he and Ted (as played by MacFarlane) will appear at the 85th Academy Awards.^[49]

References

External links

• Official website
• Ted at AllRovi
• Ted at Box Office Mojo
• Ted at the Internet Movie Database
• Ted at Rotten Tomatoes