How The Emoji Movie Failed

The Emoji Movie’s production, reception, and a full analysis of the film - from someone who loves the movie.

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This essay was written by CMa Overdensity. Started on Jan 5th, 2025, and published @ cmaoverdensity.neocities.org on May 17th, 2025. Last edited June 3rd, 2025.

The Emoji Movie, and the image above Š Sony Pictures Animation (specific concept art image drawn by Shannon Tindle). This work is a nonprofit educational essay that complies with Subject Matter and Scope of Copyright, 17 U.S.C. § 107 (Limitations on exclusive rights: Fair use).


Table of Contents

  1. Introduction
  2. Production
    1. 2015
    2. 2016
    3. 2017
  3. Analysis
    1. Plot Synopsis
    2. Advertising to Whom?
    3. Misunderstanding Emoji as Language
    4. Alex Loses Connection
    5. Gesturing at Feminism
    6. A Queer Read of the Emoji Movie
    7. The Sincerest Form of Flattery
  4. Conclusion
  5. Citations

Introduction

On Wikipedia’s page for “List of films considered the worst”, between a film used as evidence for why Russian films can’t beat Hollywood even domestically, and a film called “Worse than The Room, in every way.” is the 2017 American animated comedy film The Emoji Movie. The Emoji Movie was hated as soon as it hit theatres for its odd premise, blatant advertising, and derivative plot. It set the internet on fire with hate for the film - likely why it finds itself on a list of worst films ever made.

I have seen The Emoji Movie eight times as of writing this. I have watched this movie alone for eleven hours and twenty eight minutes over eight years. And I did it happily. I did it with the deepest joy in my heart. I have shown this film to friends. To multiple romantic partners. And talked to whoever is interested in what I have to say about this film. But why the hell would I do this? What part of me is so sick, so twisted, so utterly deranged that I would subject both others and myself to the worst animated movie - no, film in general - of all time?

It’s simple. It is so fucking simple. And you know why. You know the contrarian words I’m about to say. It makes you cringe to consider that someone over seven years old could, unironically, enjoy this film to this degree. But it’s true. The Emoji Movie is not my favourite film. I understand it is very flawed. But you do not spend this much time on a film and walk away with a blind hate of everything it tried to do. You do not bash it like a cartoon reviewer trying to scrounge up enough ad-rev for takeout. You love it. Unconditionally.

The Emoji Movie doesn’t deserve to be considered one of the worst films ever made. Born from the reshuffling of Sony Pictures Animation, though the team behind it went into it with evident passion and wonderful messaging to impart unto kids, they failed. They were given two years to make the film and very little time to correct the script. But buried underneath is the glimmer of a story that needed to be told. A story about queerness and technology that, if it was given the right care, could have rivaled The LEGO Movie. It simply wasn’t given that care.

Let me take you through the production and reception of The Emoji Movie and give it the analysis only a true, wholly unironic fan can give. Let me show you how The Emoji Movie failed.


Production

2015

The story of The Emoji Movie’s production does not start with its greenlight, but with the state of Sony Pictures Animation (SPA) in late 2014. Leaked emails, obtained by Variety, showed SPA in a bind. SPA chief Hannah Minghella wrote a list to Sony Pictures chief Amy Pascal that SPA suffered low morale, bad reputation, a lack of competitive edge, limited financial success, and a lack of active franchises. Furthermore, visual effect studio Sony Pictures Imageworks (SPI), which helped with SPA’s projects, was also contributing to creatives looking elsewhere. Originally a popular fourth option outside of Disney, Dreamworks, and Pixar, SPI’s location in Los Angeles gave Sony access to local talent. However, SPI was moving from Los Angeles to Vancouver, and the employees pressured to move there found out they were out of a job. With SPA underperforming, and SPI not working on many projects, something had to change.1

To remedy this, Pascal, along with Sony CEO Michael Lynton, wanted to form a “brain trust” of filmmakers at SPA, with the intention to make The LEGO Movie directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller SPA’s “[J]ohn [L]assiter.” While Lord and Miller were excited about the offer, Lord wrote to Minghella that “it’s too hard to do great work [at SPA].” Lynton blamed Sony Pictures Digital president Bob Osher, who oversaw both SPA and SPI, for the failings of both and wanted him fired,1 which would happen in early 2015. SPA stopped being under Sony Pictures Digital, instead being ran independently by new hire Kristine Belson, who would also replace SPA president Michelle Raimo Kouyate.2 Belson, who worked as executive producer on How to Train Your Dragon, was seen as a way to raise SPA from the ashes, Pascal saying that “[Belson] is a visionary who will make our animation studio a home where the animation industry’s best talent can come and make the films they want to make”.3

Belson’s first large move as SPA president came in mid-2015, where SPA closed in on a bidding war between two other studios, speculated to be Warner Bros. and Paramount. In a nearly seven-figure deal, SPA won a pitch written by Eric Siegel and Anthony “Tony” Leondis, for an animated film about Emoji. Former SPA president Kouyate, who previously produced Puss in Boots (2011) and Silver Linings Playbook (2012), was brought on to produce this film as well.4 Deadline, who reported this deal, said that Belson was told by Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group chairman Tom Rothman to move aggressively to acquire the pitch. Such an aggressive bid was speculated to be because Emoji have no rights to purchase. Another Emoji script was reportedly being pitched to studios at this time.5

This would not be Leondis’ first time in an animated movie, though this would be Siegel’s, who produced well-received episodes of Traffic Light (2011) and Men at Work (2012).6 Leondis’ start in the animation industry began as an intern-turned-storyboarder on The Prince of Egypt (1999).7 While his projects had mixed reception, he was nominated for Best Director and Best Screenplay in the DVD Exclusive Awards for Lilo and Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch (2005), as well as a nomination for an Annie Award for Best Writing in an Animated Feature Production for Kronk’s New Groove (2006).8 Amid Amidi of Cartoon Brew speculated Leondis’ involvement in a new production by Belson was “as much about [Belson’s] personal redemption [...] as it is about anything else” as Leondis directed shelved DreamWorks film B.O.O.: Bureau Of Otherworldly Operations. “If the film is a success,” Amidi writes, “then [DreamWorks CEO Jeffery] Katzenberg will have been wrong to can their earlier project…or so goes Belson’s internal monologue.”9 With a release date of August 11th 2017, Sony’s Emoji movie laid dormant until 2016.10

2016

Belson announced the Emoji movie at CinemaCon in April 2016. The film’s plot was described to have a “secret world” inside of the phone, Emoji living in “Emoji Valley” that leave their home to enter the home screen and go into the worlds of different apps. These would be apps that exist outside of the movie, such as Spotify, which was confirmed to appear in the film, and Facebook, unconfirmed but appeared in concept art.11 The film received the title of Emojimovie: Express Yourself later in June.12

But not all was well for Emojimovie, as Sony’s rights to make it were now in dispute. Marco Husges, founder of The Emoji Company, claimed he owned the merchandise trademarks for Emoji. While Husges did not invent Emoji, he created 3,000 Emoji icons, along with trademarking the terms “emojiplanet” and “emojitown.” Husges also planned for future Emoji entertainment - including movies - of his own, under his own brand, but did not say what actions he would take if Emojimovie was released. Despite Sony’s own trademarks for Emojimovie being rejected in February, they weren’t concerned about Husges, as a spokesperson said they had “full confidence” in their right to make the film.13

In July, Deadpool and Silicon Valley actor T.J. Miller was confirmed to be voicing Gene, the protagonist of Emojimovie, followed by James Corden (The Late Late Show with James Corden) as his best friend Hi-5 and Ilana Glazer (Broad City) as hackette Jailbreak in October. On these choices, Leondis said that Miller has “proven himself to be one of the most genuinely inventive comedic actors around, uniquely capable of connecting and who can convey just about any expression.” The “brilliantly versatile, ebullient and always lovable” Corden fit Hi-5 “like a glove”. He considered Glazer a “free-spirited, fearless and funny actress to make girls really feel the empowered 'nobody's gonna keep me in a cage' attitude this character exudes.”14 The film’s plot was also expanded on: determined to be a normal Emoji, Gene joins Hi-5 and Jailbreak on an “app-venture” to find the code to fix Gene, but when threatened by a greater danger, they must save their world from being deleted.15 Sony released a teaser trailer for the newly-titled The Emoji Movie in December, starring Steven Wright as Gene’s father Mel Meh, and aimed for a worldwide release of August 4 2017,16 and a domestic release of July 28.17

2017

Parasailing into the Cannes Film Festival, Miller, clad in a yellow tuxedo, brought Emoji with him. Miller later cited this stunt to be a “middle finger, uh, emoji” to the “pretension” of Cannes,18 which was then experiencing controversy around if Netflix films were allowed to be shown during the festival.19 2017, being the year of release, had many interviews that illuminated the efforts and intentions of The Emoji Movie crew.

Inspiration and Animation

The Emoji Movie took two years to produce, an extremely short time for an animated movie. Leondis credits this to needing to strike the technological iron when it’s hot: “we can’t take five, six years because everything will be outdated.” The film changed little between pitch and release, being a “singular vision” of Leondis and Siegel, and the “too quick” test screenings resulted in only minor changes. However, Miller contributed to the script by making jokes, Conrad Vernon (Shrek 2, Sausage Party) helped with some of the animated sequences, and Mike White (School of Rock, Nacho Libre) pitched in for three weeks.20 Leondis referred to help from an “emoji expert” from UC Berkeley and people working at Sony manufacturing for a better understanding of Emoji and phones.21 New Emoji releases caused no problems for its production, as time constraints restricted the amount of Emoji in the movie to a clean 250.22

Carlos Zaragoza, production designer, took inspiration from 1930s animated shorts where “everything was animated; objects had life.”23 Zaragosa reported that Leondis established a rule that Emoji should be “plastic-y”, “graphic” representations of what they symbolise to keep the feel of being icons.24 Texopolis, he said, “looks like a city, but it’s surreal, absurd” as “everything looks like an object.” It’s “fun and beautiful [...] but a trap for someone who is different; the city looks like a golden cage.”23 Sacha Kapijimpanga, animation supervisor, found it challenging to pose Emoji in emotive ways due to the Emoji lacking a body. To fix this, the shoulders and hips of the Emoji model could move around independently from the body to help convey certain poses. For Hi-5 in specific, animators had to “embrace the idea that [they] had to break his joints” to pose him at all. Only the main characters had fully 3D face rigs, while background characters were given 2D rigs, due to time constraints. Kapijimpanga reported that Leondis also gave animators a rule: Emoji connected to an emotion must always stay within 10-15% of that emotion, causing issues for characters like Smiler, whom they had to go off-model when lip synching her because of that.24

Leondis reported that Sony was “very against” making a “long commercial,” saying that they tried to make the apps integrated in the film a part of Gene’s journey, though they also needed to be “widely known, interesting app[s]” that kids would recognise. If an app didn’t fit that journey, it wouldn’t be included in the film.25 Candy Crush was included to show Gene facing his fears of being deleted. Just Dance Now had Gene realise it’s okay to express himself. YouTube playing “Pineapple Apple Pen” was considered thematically appropriate as Leondis thought Pikotaro looked like he was expressing himself.26

Characters

Miller approached the role of Gene with some anxiety as it was his first time playing a protagonist, though Leondis chose him due to him being “irrepressible” and having a “surprising ability to break your heart.” He enjoyed working with Faris, the replacement for Glazer as Jailbreak, saying they mutually adored each other. He didn’t have the same chemistry with Glazer as he did with Faris because he knew Faris better.27

The film’s B-plot, centering on the teenager Alex, was based on research on how teenagers interpret text messages. Leondis said that his plot focused on Alex having difficulty expressing himself to a girl he has a crush on through texting, feeling the pressure to reach out to her, all while the Emoji cause embarrassing trouble on his phone. Alex’s voice actor, Jake T. Austin (Go, Diego Go; Wizards of Waverly Place), was told to play Alex as “unlike [himself] as possible”, as Alex is “shy and nervous.” Austin also called Alex “selfish” and “too dependent on his phone” as he can’t connect to others without it. Austin said that Alex’s journey in the film is choosing between fixing his phone to erase the Emoji, or working with them to find a “personality he never knew existed.”28

Leondis said that the antagonist Smiler’s inspiration was Los Angeles: “everyone smiles, but then they’ll cut you [...] they smile to your face and then they cut you right in the [back].” She’s a “really friendly sorority girl who’s really popular all the time and she’s going to cut you down.”29 Maya Rudolph, Smiler’s voice actor, called her a “stickler and team player to the highest, most intense degree.”30 Rudolph enjoyed voicing her, but would be repeatedly told to deliver all her lines with a smile. “It’s certainly not a human response to anything,” she said, “it would make you a crazy person – and that’s why she comes off as so maniacal.”31

“[P]oop’s gotta be in the movie,” Leondis said, “Everyone wants the poop in the movie.”32 To play Poop, he wanted the “classiest guy [he] knew”, an “upper crust classy guy.” Kouyate elaborated that they didn’t want to be “scatological” and that they wanted Poop to be “not in on the joke.”33 Sir Patrick Stewart was the name that came to mind immediately.31 Stewart had no reservations about the role, and reportedly responded “within seconds” with a “big capital letter, ‘Yes’.”34

Themes

Leondis valued the use of allegory in film: “I think what animated movies do now, which is lost in a lot of films, is metaphor. People are very literal now in filmmaking. There isn't a lot of metaphor except in animation.”35 Gene’s journey, therefore, is an allegory for being different, drawn on Leondis’ experiences growing up gay in a religious household.36 “I realised everyone feels ‘other’,” Leondis said, ”even if you’re Black or Muslim or Mexican or Jewish or Christian. [...] And then you realize – hopefully you grow up and realize you’re okay just as you are.”22 The Emoji Movie is about celebrating differences. “The fear of who’s different is only getting worse around the world right now,” Leondis said.37 Celebrating differences is “very threatening” in a society that fears differences, but was “really important, even more today than ever.”38 According to Miller, The Emoji Movie has no agenda outside of being funny, progressive, and inclusive.39

Leondis said the film has a feminist tone to it, especially with how Jailbreak is written. Jailbreak is a character that discusses “a woman’s role in the world [...] and what it must feel like to be a woman with very limited options. [...] In the end, she literally breaks a glass ceiling, metaphorical you’ll see it happen, but she literally breaks a glass ceiling.”22 Miller supported this read, that “[i]n [the Trump] administration, in this climate, we want women to feel like just because of what’s happening temporarily, it doesn’t change your potential; you still have that freedom”18 and that the film “reinforces to their daughters that you’re not just an object, you’re not something to be taken for granted.”39 However, the film also discusses the emotions of men and boys. “Kids, especially boys, grow up naturally not being able to express themselves,” Leondis said, “[Alex] needed Gene to help him do that, but Gene needed to go through the journey to be able to do that. [...] For Mel and Mary, who are the older Mehs, it was about how men sometimes can’t express themselves.40 Miller said that the film told men and boys that they can “admit to being sad.”39

The Emoji Movie intends to discuss identity and authenticity. “Right off the bat, I knew this was a story about identity,” Leondis said, “So for Gene, it’s about embracing his differences and his identity. For Hi-5, it’s about not using popularity to define you. It’s about what’s true in this world to identify with.”40 Miller stated plainly that “The best you that you can be is the authentic you.” is one of the themes of the film.18 Both Rudolph and Austin supported this, saying the film was about “being honest with yourself about who you are and embracing it.” and “You don’t have to fit in. It’s okay to be original and different.” respectively.41

“When I get a heart-eyes emoji from my mom, it actually means something – it makes me smile,” Leondis said, “In this world of technology, the human heart has found a way to connect.”38 However, “putting your phone down and really connecting with people” is when connections grow.35 Kouyate and Austin said similar, that while phones bring people together, people also need to have real, human connections through face-to-face interaction.42


Reception

For a movie emphasising a connection outside of screens, The Emoji Movie has a tall order in attempting to reach through the screen to connect with its audience. But did it succeed in making that tenuous connection?

When people heard that an Emoji movie was being made, they couldn’t believe it was actually happening.1 It was a “punchline to a questionable joke”2 that made people wonder if a coherent script could be made out of such a concept.3 Online writers criticised Sony for being out of touch.4 The Jimmy Kimmel Show parodied what the script could look like, consisting of Jimmy Kimmel and Brie Larson saying the names of Emoji as lines during an emotional scene.5 When Sony revealed concept art at CinemaCon in 2016, it “didn’t look too promising”,6 and the presentation itself got backlash for how Sony representatives spent more time discussing brand integrations in the movie over its plot.7

Some, however, remained hopeful, at least at first, due to comparisons to The LEGO Movie (2014), an animated film slammed when it was announced due to its concept but was critically acclaimed upon release,8 as well as Pirates of the Caribbean (2003), a movie based on a Disneyland ride which was similarly well-received after release despite initial backlash.9 However, the movie was also compared to The LEGO Movie, Inside Out (2015), and Toy Story (1995) to critique the movie’s lack of originality.10 It was even compared to Foodfight! (2012), widely considered to be one of the worst animated films of all time, due to both films’ use of product placement.7 Though Leondis said that The Emoji Movie was “certainly not a ‘LEGO’ clone,”11 Miller compared it positively to both The LEGO Movie and Inside Out.12

The release of both trailers crushed all hopes for a repeat of The LEGO Movie’s surprise quality, as writers criticised the concept’s derivative execution.13 With the official Twitter account posting an image parodying The Handmaid’s Tale to promote the movie, widely agreed to be tasteless and inappropriate for a children’s movie, opinions soured further.14 However, YouTuber Jacksfilms ironically promoted The Emoji Movie through videos such as a frame-by-frame analysis of the second trailer, which had 4.3m views by April 2025.15 He was invited to the premiere of the film on July 28 by Sony,16 and his review of it received 7.7m views by April 2025.17

This film, upon release, was called “completely devoid of wit, style, intelligence or basic entertainment value,” “a film that has literally nothing to offer viewers,”18 and “one of the darkest, most dismaying films [...] ostensibly made for children”.19 While the animation was damningly praised as “acceptable”20 and “far from terrible,” though not particularly memorable,21 the biggest criticism of the movie was its overuse of product placement. A brazenly cynical piece of corporate propaganda,22 the movie was disparaged for being little more than a “series of mini-ads” to get audiences to buy certain apps,18 such as the explicitly promoted Dropbox.23

The film’s plot “isn’t completely broken” and follows a generic yet functional structure, but The Emoji Movie does the plots of better movies such as The LEGO Movie, Wreck It Ralph (2012), and Inside Out “much worse”.20 It’s a “prototypical road movie”24 with a “laboriously literal” plot19 which could have worked if it had more satire and edge regarding phone culture,25 but which instead “trample[s]” over its themes by its conventional plotting.24 It’s messaging is “confusing”,21 “hollow”,18 and “vague”,26 undercut by its advertising that suggests that using phones and apps - rather than kids just being themselves - will make them cool and happy.26 Any social commentary intended by Leondis is “stymied by the execution”, its nods to feminism “ring[ing] false.”27 Scott Mendelson, writing for Forbes, noted that the film feels “afraid of going where it wants to go,” that the “rather upfront metaphor for young gay kids coming out of the closet” hints at a “more poignant movie”, but the “needless heterosexual romantic subplot” and “conventional plotting” bury this subtext.24

Characters “literally just tell us who they are over and over and over again”22 while the main characters’ motivations suffer due to the product placement.24 These characters aren’t salvaged by good voice acting either. Miller doesn’t stand out nor does he bring much personality to Gene, Corden can be overbearing and isn’t given much material to make funny, Faris was surprisingly unremarkable, and Austin speaks like a “dusty oldster,” though Wright couldn’t have been “more perfect” casting for Mel Meh.26 While the movie can be “occasionally clever” and is “relatively harmless,”24 its jokes, revolving around apps, social media, and “dead memes”, are “cringe inducing”,20 and its gags are “very painful”.22 The humour is only subversive enough to poke fun at Facebook (despite glorifying Instagram) and the “forced sentimentality” is more funny than any of the jokes.24

While critics disliked The Emoji Movie, children seemed to enjoy it. They reportedly cheered at the ending21 and gleefully exclaimed when Instagram was on-screen.19 But in comparison to when Kiki’s Delivery’s Service was played on the big screen again, where children were immersed in the story, children in The Emoji Movie shifted in their seats and didn’t respond to the jokes in the film.18 Despite this, with a budget of $50 million, the film made half of its budget on its opening weekend alone.29 Some suspected this to be due to Sony’s meddling, as reviews were not allowed to be posted until midday on the film’s release date.30 When the film left theatres, it grossed $217.7 million worldwide, quadruple its budget.29

The Emoji Movie won no awards after its release outside of winning four of ten Razzies during the 38th Golden Raspberry Awards in 2018. It won Worst Picture, Worst Screenplay, Worst Director, and Worst Screen Combo, winning out over The Mummy, Fifty Shades Darker, and Transformers: The Last Knight.31 At the Oscars, Jordan Peele (Get Out) blamed being offered to play Poop as the reason why he quit acting, and Judd Apatow, that year’s host, said that “When you have women directors, you get Lady Bird, Mudbound, and Wonder Woman. When you have male directors, you get The Emoji Movie… with a character who is a literal piece of shit.”32 Reviewers in the following years echoed the criticisms of 2017: The Emoji Movie is a confusing, not-quite-so-bad-it's-good advertisement that does the plot of better films much worse,33 if the reviewer doesn’t sarcastically attempt to convince their readers that it’s an ignored masterpiece.34

The film fell into obscurity until 2022, as after the death of Queen Elizabeth, Channel 5 was the only public service broadcaster in Britain to not cover anything related to her death, instead playing The Emoji Movie. Some online found this to be a humorous if tasteless decision, while others defended the choice by saying that it allowed children without paid TV or streaming services to have something entertaining to watch for a few hours.35 However, in 2024, when The Emoji Movie debuted on Netflix, it immediately jumped to being the top most watched movie, falling to the fourth a week after. Though Netflix doesn’t report demographics with their lists of most viewed movies/TV, The Emoji Movie’s inoffensive nature may have made parents prefer it over other films, resulting in its popularity.36


Analysis

The Emoji Movie is clearly not well-liked by anyone who isn’t a child, but what exactly makes this movie so bad? Were reviewers too harsh on a mediocre movie, or did the filmmakers talk big game only to fail virally?

Plot Synopsis

Inside the phone there is a texting app city called Texopolis, where all the Emoji live. Their behaviour is strictly controlled, as Emoji have expectations for what kinds of expression - emotional and behavioural - they can have. Gene is a Meh Emoji with more than one emotion, and his dream is to fit in. Gene masks his emotions before leaving his apartment to go to work at the Cube, where Emojis are selected to be sent in messages. However, Gene's emotions, which he struggles to suppress, cause him to be ostracised by other Emoji. Meanwhile, the phone’s owner, the high schooler Alex, wants to talk to his crush, Addie, but can’t find the nerve to do so.

In the Cube, his parents, Mel and Mary Meh, try to stop him from going to work due to his emotions, but Gene pushes back, as working in the Cube is an Emoji's purpose. They allow him to go only when he demonstrates a good enough Meh face. Outside, Gene meets Smiler, the first Emoji and their leader. She introduces how Emoji are scanned and sent in messages, as well as the Favourites’ Section, an exclusive party for only Alex’s favourite Emoji. Gene meets Hi-5, a has-been trying to worm his way back into the Favourites' section. Gene is excited to work in the Cube, but he makes the wrong face when scanned, and him freaking out over that causes him to destroy the Cube. When Addie receives Alex's text, she is confused. Alex, seeing the Emoji he sent her, is also confused. He didn't choose that Emoji. “Are you even a Meh at all?” Smiler asks Gene afterwards, calling him a malfunction to the shock of everyone around.

Gene broods on the roof of the Cubes. Everyone knows that he’s a malfunction. His parents try to comfort him, but Gene is upset by their desire to hide him in their apartment for his own safety. Gene runs off, saying that even if he doesn't know what Emoji he is, he must have some purpose on the phone. When he meets Smiler again, after she and other Emoji have discussed how to handle him, she explains that mistakes on the phone mean Alex may wipe the phone. To prevent that, she is going to delete him with antivirus (AV) bots.

Gene runs away, bumping into Hi-5, who is still trying to get into the Favourites’ Section. Hi-5 hides Gene in the Loser Lounge, where rarely used Emoji live. When Gene explains that all he wants to be is a working Emoji, Hi-5 says that he can be fixed by a hacker, which he can find in the Piracy app. Gene is afraid to leave Textopolis, but Hi-5 tells him that not only has he himself left the app, but a Princess Emoji left the phone entirely from the help of a hacker named Jailbreak. Gene begs Hi-5 to help him find the hacker, saying that if the hacker can program himself to be Meh, the hacker could also get Hi-5 into the Favourites’ Section. They leave Textopolis, Mel and Mary trailing behind as they realise that Gene must have left the app.

Every app is its own world, such as WeChat being full of cute text balloon animals, and Facebook being a place where people shower you with attention. Hi-5 explains that all these people don’t really know Alex, but they like him: it’s popularity, which matters more than friends. Hi-5 doesn’t want friends, he wants fans, who support you so long as you’re on top. Gene says he’d rather have one real friend. Hi-5 brings Gene to the Dictionary app, but it’s not a real Dictionary - it's a skin over the Piracy app. The Piracy app is a dingy bar, with viruses, spam, and trolls. Hi-5 asks around for Jailbreak, but learns that Jailbreak isn’t a hacker, but a hackette. Jailbreak is cold to them until the AV bots enter the app, and Gene’s face changes. Seeing an opportunity, she herds them into an escape route leading into Candy Crush.

Gene falls into the Candy Crush board, treated by the game as a special piece. They're afraid to match Gene with other yellow pieces as they don't know if it will hurt him, but when they do, he's transported to a special jar. Jailbreak explains why she wanted to help Gene: she is trying to get to the Cloud through Dropbox, but is locked out by the Firewall protecting it. She figures that, with Gene’s multiple faces, he can trick the Firewall into believing he’s multiple people, and thus can guess more than one password. Gene finishes this thought before Jailbreak does, which upsets her, her saying that men always take the credit of what women come up with. While the Emoji are in Candy Crush, Alex is trying to ask Addie if she’s free, but the app embarrasses him. Upset, he makes an appointment with a phone store to format the phone. Mel and Mary, followed by AV bots, distract the bots with YouTube, but believe they should go their separate ways due to Mary letting Gene go into the Cube.

As they make their way to Just Dance Now, which is next to Dropbox, Jailbreak explains that she wants to leave the phone because there are no rules on the Cloud. Gene says he doesn’t remember there being a hacker emoji, which makes Jailbreak agitated. Hi-5 implies this agitation means she’s romantically into Gene. In Just Dance Now, they have to keep a low profile to not activate the app, but Hi-5, being a large hand, hits a big red button to activate the app. They have to dance to progress, with Jailbreak having trouble until Gene helps her. When she gets into her dancing, her hat falls off, revealing her crown. Jailbreak is the princess Emoji. But when the AV bots arrive, and Alex deletes the app after the phone embarrasses him again, the Emoji have to dance for their lives to escape. Hi-5 is too distracted to escape in time, and gets sent to the trash.

Gene insists that they need to save Hi-5, despite being so close to Dropbox. Jailbreak, prioritising herself over others, says that they should just go to Dropbox, but Gene asks her “What good is being number one if there aren’t any other numbers?” Gene backpedals afterwards, saying that this is his malfunction, but Jailbreak calls his malfunction cool. She says she knows a shortcut through Spotify to get to the trash on the other side of the phone. In Spotify, Gene asks her if, as a princess, she can summon birds, which upsets Jailbreak. She explains that women could only be brides or princesses in the first Emoji set, which is why she wants to go to the Cloud: she can be whoever she wants. Gene finds it funny that she wants out of the system, while he wants in, but Jailbreak asks him what the point of being in the system is if he can’t be himself. She likes him exactly how he is. They save Hi-5 from being stuck in the trash with trolls and viruses after he mopes over a letter he found with his Emoji in it. Meanwhile, Smiler, knowing time is ticking down, upgrades the AV bots with an illegal upgrade, and the Emoji’s travels through Spotify embarrass Alex again. Mary finds Mel in Instagram, who takes the blame for Gene being a malfunction - as he himself has more emotions than just Meh. They get back together to find Gene.

While walking through the wallpaper, the Emoji are attacked by the upgraded AV bot, Smiler accidentally revealing she plans to delete Gene in front of everyone. They make it to Dropbox and are protected from the bot, as “it’s illegal malware, and this app is secure.” When they get to the Firewall, Jailbreak feeds Gene passwords in a montage while he is comedically incinerated. But Hi-5 reveals the real password, as the email he was moping over in the trash was meant to be sent to Addie.

In the Cloud, Jailbreak works on making Gene a Meh, but Gene doesn’t want to be Meh anymore. He confesses his love for her and is rejected. She’s happy that he doesn’t want to be Meh, but she’s sticking to her plan. This makes Gene Meh, and he leaves, uncaring as to the danger he’s putting himself in. Jailbreak and Hi-5 need to get to him before it’s too late, Jailbreak summoning the Twitter bird with a princess song and Hi-5 saying he’d rather have one real friend than be a favourite.

Gene is captured and taken back into Textopolis, Smiler saying that if they delete him before Alex gets to his appointment, he won’t format the phone. Mel and Mary arrive, and Mel outs himself as having more than one emotion, but Smiler says that she’ll delete them both. The other Emoji think she's going too far, but Smiler is intent on deleting anyone who goes against her. Hi-5 and Jailbreak break through a glass ceiling, slamming onto the AV bot and deactivating it. Gene is confused on why Jailbreak came back for him, and she tells him what he told her: being number one doesn’t matter if there aren’t any other numbers.

While the phone is being deleted, Jailbreak can send one text to save the phone. Gene steps back into the Cube and expresses his emotions in a text directed at Addie. When she receives the text, she thinks the Emoji Alex sent is cool - a lot of feelings in one. She likes that he’s one of those guys who can express himself. When Alex asks her if she’d like to go to prom, she says yes, and he stops the formatting of his phone. The Emoji world is restored from the brink of total deletion, and they have a celebratory dance party, where the Favourites’ Section is abolished.

Advertising to Whom?

The Emoji Movie is rightfully criticised for its poor product placement, some drawing similarities to Foodfight! which was criticised for the same reason. However, Leondis was insistent that The Emoji Movie’s product placement should not only support Gene’s journey, but also be apps recognisable to kids. Not only is Foodfight! a poor comparison, as Ralph Breaks the Internet (2018) advertises more like The Emoji Movie, but the film fails to not come off as a commercial for debatably relevant apps.

Foodfight! is a hidden world film like The Emoji Movie, focusing instead on the secret world of supermarket brands. Because this is a film in a supermarket, brands such as Mr. Clean, California Raisins, Vlassic, and Twinkies make sense to include and personify. Despite their prominence on the film’s poster, these brands are unimportant to the plot and take up very little screen time, relegated to gags, background references, puns in dialogue, and speaking minimal dialogue themselves. The main plot focuses on brands made specifically for the film. The real brands could be removed from the movie and nothing would be lost.

Ralph Breaks the Internet, however, entwines brands with the plot to an extent that the film would be different if removed. The film it follows, Wreck It Ralph, is no stranger to product placement, being a film celebrating video games, but its product placement is like Foodfight!: background references and gags. While Ralph Breaks the Internet does more of the same with internet-centric brands, Ralph and Vannelope relying on eBay to solve the plot is similar to how Dropbox is the goal of the Emoji. The film’s plot halts entirely so Disney can promote its own brands, such as Disney Princesses, which takes up seven minutes of the film. The only purpose of this scene is to advertise.

WeChat and YouTube are entirely superfluous to the plot. Hi-5 explaining WeChat, while it serves a purpose in explaining to Gene that every app is its own world, is unnecessary. Immediately after this scene, Gene goes to look inside Facebook, whose inclusion illustrates not only the concept of each app being its own world, but also the difference between Gene and Hi-5. Gene would rather have one real friend, while Hi-5 wants fans - people who give him fame. YouTube is only useful to distract the AV bots from Mel and Mary, explicitly promoted by Mel to the audience as “Wow. What a visual treat. And I don't even need a remote.” It setting up Mel and Mary’s eventual split could have been done in any other app. Pikotaro’s “Pen Pineapple Apple Pen” had fallen out of public consciousness by August 2017, far from its peak in late November 2016,1 and its relevance to the film’s themes, while spelled out (“That guy is so expressive.”), is tenuous at best.

Both games in the film, Candy Crush and Just Dance Now, suffer similar promotional issues. While Just Dance Now uses dancing as an outlet for self-expression, which was Leondis’ intent, it is also expository in how to play the game. Candy Crush also teaches you how to play, but lacks the intention that Leondis wanted it to have. I have watched this film eight times. Even knowing Leondis’ intent with this scene I still can’t see it. Gene overcoming his fear of deletion is not communicated through Candy Crush like him learning to express himself in Just Dance Now is. Furthermore, both of these games were hardly popular by the time of the film’s release. Candy Crush was steadily tapering off from its peak in July 20132 and is an app that children don’t play. Candy Crush is an app targeted at women aged 25-45, not children.3 Just Dance Now’s peak of popularity was in late September 2014, tapering into nothing far before the film was released.4 The inclusion of these games did little to bring new players, as neither of them were searched more after the film’s release.

Dropbox, while essential to the plot, is so promoted that the film feels made to promote it. Dropbox is where you can access the freedom of the Cloud. Dropbox is where Gene and Hi-5 wish to be reprogrammed at. Dropbox has an impenetrable firewall that even Jailbreak can’t get past. Dropbox is also said in-dialogue to be secure enough to not allow illegal malware in it. Dropbox too had no uptick in searches after the film,5 though as the film is clearly meant for children under 13, the minimum age to make a Dropbox account, their target demographic was limited to parents who know better than to trust the blatant advertising in the film.

The best use of apps in the film comes at the expense of promotion. There is no reason to use Spotify or Instagram over something more generic. Literal sound waves could be in any music streaming app. Photos and filters come with the default camera and photo app in most phones. The Instagram scene is one of the best in the film, both visually and story-wise, but it did not need to be Instagram. Again, promoting an app to children too young to even sign up for it is poor form. At least a parent can stream songs over Spotify.

Misunderstanding Emoji as Language

Emoji were understudied in linguistics when the film was released, but emoticons were studied to some extent by 2014. Emoticons serve a pragmatic function - they modify the social context in which a message is said, which in turn modifies the meaning of the message. Emoticons are never redundant or irrelevant to a message, as they can clarify emotional intent, enhance an understood emotional intent, emphasise or diminish the impact of a demand, and communicate irony and sarcasm.6 Considering the film’s theme of self-expression, the research that would have been available to production supports that emoticons serve a purpose in language that words do not.

Emoji were better understood past the film’s release. Like emoticons, Emoji also serve a pragmatic role. They establish tone, clear up ambiguity, intensify or weaken speech, greet, maintain social relationships, and even deceive. Facial Emoji, despite depicting one emotion, can express multiple emotional intents. Emoji use is highly individual, yet groups follow certain trends: men use more unique Emoji while women use more Emoji, Chinese people use Emoji more than Spanish people and prefer them when expressing negative emotions, and Twitter users use Emoji more often than Facebook users. Linguists are divided on if Emoji are a separate language, but they do agree that Emoji are used to enhance language - to convey a message words alone cannot.7

Emoji are meaningful for how I communicate online. My most frequently used Emoji on Discord are 😔, 👀, ‼️, ⭐, 🫂, 🤷, 🤝, 👁️, and 🥺. 🫂, 🤷, and 🤝 are all gestural: my intent is that I am literally doing this action with the emotional intent that action brings. I am hugging the recipient in sympathy, I am shrugging my shoulders in ambivalence, and I am handshaking to symbolise partnership or agreement. 👀, ‼️, ⭐, and 👁️, with the exception of 👁️, are more used as reactions rather than parts of messages, but they all communicate that I see the message or recipient and that I am either listening to what they say or am goading them to say more. ‼️ is also used to show agreement much in the same way someone else would use 🗣️ to communicate that someone is speaking truth. ⭐ is unique on Discord in that multiple bots use a “starboard” feature, where messages that achieve a certain number of ⭐ reactions are pinned in a special channel. “Starring” a message has many linguistic functions, from the simple acknowledgement that a post is good, or even to humorously shame the poster by isolating their message for people to see out of context. 👀 and 👁️ (typically doubled as 👁️👁️) do serve different functions despite both being eyes: 👀 means I am looking at you, while 👁️👁️ means I am staring you down. 👀 shows simple interest; 👁️👁️ means I am begging you to say more. 😔 and 🥺, the only two facial Emojis I use frequently, communicate disappointment and pleading, and I use them because there are no good emoticon equivalents. I prefer emoticons to express facial emotions over Emoji; I never use 😀 over :) and demonstrate a mixed preference between <3 and 💜 (and specifically 💜).

This being said, the film refuses to give Emojis their respect as a form of communication. “As the pace of life gets faster and faster,” Gene says at the beginning of the film, ”and attention spans get shorter and shorter - you’re probably not even listening to me right now - who has the time to type out actual words?” That is where Emoji come in. They are connected to hieroglyphics, but written text is immediately dismissed as not cool by one of Alex’s friends. The purpose of Emoji, in the text of the film, are to replace words because kids these days are both too inattentive to use real words, and dismiss the value of real words. Since Alex is in high school in 2017, this would make him Generation Z. I was also in high school when the film was released, and I can say no one of my generation used or uses Emoji exclusively. Sure, we can use 💀, for example, to replace “that’s cringe”, but we’re just as likely to say “that’s cringe” or even “that’s cringe💀”. All of these have different pragmatic outcomes despite seemingly being the same message. And considering that 🍆 is stuck in the Loser Lounge on a high school boy’s phone, it is hard to believe the filmmakers understood the use of Emoji enough to make a film about them.

Alex Loses Connection

While the film wants to discuss how technology brings people together and the importance of non-technological connection, the film’s failure to develop Alex as a character prevents this from having its intended effect.

There is a YouTube video called “Inside Out Without Emotions.” It is a 13-minute cut of Inside Out that recontextualises the film by only focusing on Riley. Even without the adventures of Joy and Sadness, it is still clear that Riley is suppressing her emotions because she wants to be the “happy girl” her parents want her to be, despite her move from Minnesota to San Francisco. Riley still has a complete arc, and we learn a lot about who she is. She’s silly, but honest and cares about her family and friends. All that is upset by the move, but she still comes clean and tells her parents about how much she misses home.

We don’t know a lot about Alex. Sure, we know about him. He was born on October 11th, 2002, and is a high school freshman during the film. He likes chimichangas, the self-defense style of Krav Maga, the musician Major Lazer, his abuela Dora, the game Skate or Die, and has an unnamed favourite pet. He’s got Snapchat, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Twitch apps, along with Sony-owned Crackle for some reason. He has a crush on a girl named Addie and a letter to her quoting a Rihanna song that he trashed. Lots of discrete, disconnected, meaningless information, but surely he’s characterised elsewhere in the film, right?

We can’t glean anything from his particular choice in Emoji. Most Emoji in his Favourites Section are chosen not because Alex would actually use them. It is concerning that a high school freshman would use 🍾 and 🍺 to the extent that they are his favourite Emoji. These Emoji are chosen to serve the party vibe of the Favourites’ Section more than to characterise him. The additions of 💩, 😭, and 😂 also don’t show any remarkable personality traits. Nor does his Loser Lounge say anything about his personality either: what typical teen boy is using 🪩, 👵, 🍥, red wagon (which isn’t an Emoji, even now), 🧳, and 📉? But then again, what teen boy wouldn’t be frequently pairing 🍆 with 🍑 or 💦, despite the eggplant Emoji’s banishment to the Loser Lounge? The only character details that could be revealed about Alex through his Emoji use are tenuous speculations on ☕, 🚀, 🏹, and 📷. It is entirely possible that Alex likes coffee, is interested in space or engineering, and practices archery. Alex may also be into photography considering his Instagram album with pictures of Paris.

But not only are these interests not shown elsewhere in the movie, even if they were, it wouldn’t make Alex a more realised character. All of Alex’s traits are given as they are to the audience for the audience to construct a complete character out of. He suffers from “OC character sheet syndrome,” where a creator presents a list of traits their character has without context, and thus, without relevance or interest. Does Alex use photography to express himself? Has he hidden his Soundcloud account from his friends because he’s afraid they’ll think his EDM is bad? Does he secretly like Rihanna but is afraid to out himself as liking “girly” pop music? Did abuela Dora make such good chimichangas that he refuses to eat his favourite food again because he knows he’ll cry when he remembers her? All of these interests could have given him more character, but they remain detached space-fillers.

Do we learn anything about Alex by seeing him interact with others? No. He has at least one friend and seems content with that. He doesn’t seem to have issues talking face-to-face with Addie as he approaches her by himself when she’s with her friends. Alex’s issues with socialising come not from his own shyness or engrossment in his phone, but from his phone, in his eyes, glitching. Alex doesn’t even get to participate in his “arc”’s climax. Jailbreak sends Gene for Alex. Alex never sends Addie the Emoji she compliments him over. Alex never expresses his feelings for her at all, and yet, still ends up with the girl. If Alex is meant to be discovering a personality he never had and getting the confidence to talk to Addie face-to-face, why is this not shown? Alex discovered no personality. Unlike Riley, whose journey is clear even when we can’t see her personified emotions, the Emoji can’t even make Alex into a character.

Gesturing at Feminism

The film’s portrayal of feminism reeks of a male-dominated boardroom. Despite Leondis’ attempt in making a feminist movie, it falls short due to how Jailbreak is treated in the film.

Princesses in the film are introduced by Gene as only needing to care about wearing their crowns and keeping their hair combed. They exit a store, preening over how pretty they are in Valley Girl accents while followed by an attendant carrying a stack of bought goods for them. Jailbreak clearly rebels against this. She dresses androgynously and has a masculine interest in hacking. She calls herself Gene’s “knight in shining armor” and rejects Gene’s want to stay with her forever “like in the fairy tales” by saying she’s not “some princess waiting for [her] prince”. Jailbreak is hostile when she’s asked if she can do stereotypical princess tasks, like summoning birds with song, as though she’s being microaggressed.

It is easy to assume that Jailbreak’s hate of rules and want for freedom stems from her interests chafing underneath the strict system of Textopolis. This is the case both in concept art and in the children’s spin-off book Emoji Movie: Break Out. In concept art by Lindsey Olivares, a princess Jailbreak is surrounded by hyperfeminine royalty. She looks down into her makeup palette, torn, unhappy, while her contrasting black and green hacking tablet sits abandoned to the side.8 In Emoji Movie: Break Out, Jailbreak says being a princess means having to look pretty and wear shiny crowns, and that not only did she not like being told what to do, but she wanted to look “the way [she] wanted to look” and insists that she’s not a “pretty princess”. When she showed up dressed how she wanted to look, Smiler told her that she would be deleted if she didn’t change back.9

Despite the setup being perfect for a character exploring how society views and controls gender, Jailbreak is not a feminist character. She gets mad at Gene for being a man taking her ideas, when Gene was demonstrating that he was listening to her. He was not attempting to take credit for her idea that she could use him to get past the Firewall, only finish her sentence. This scene makes her come off as a whiny feminist, seeing oppression where there isn't. Furthermore, Jailbreak is not allowed to complete her goal of getting onto the Cloud because of Gene. When she rejects Gene’s romantic advances, she has to save him from danger he put himself into because of that, making her leave the Cloud. At the conclusion of the film, Jailbreak is not only happy to stay in Textopolis with Gene, but is missing her beanie and blue hair - her individuality and her explicit breakage from princessdom. The film doesn’t show that Jailbreak has even accepted herself as a princess, as she’s resigned in having to use her princess powers to summon the Twitter bird. Why has Jailbreak forsaken her dream to be with a man, even if they don’t end up getting together romantically by the end? Even if Jailbreak breaks through a literal glass ceiling (something that is extremely easy to miss), she breaks no barriers as a character.

A Queer Read of The Emoji Movie

I’ve had it argued to me that The Emoji Movie cannot be a queer film, because “be yourself” is an inherently queer message, which would mean that every other kids’ movie with that message is also queer. I do agree that “be yourself” is a message that can easily become queer; taking pride in who you are is where “pride” as a term likely comes from. However, there is a clear queer angle to the film’s tackling of this theme.

Wreck It Ralph, for example, takes the angle of disability through Vanellope, who says she has “pixlexia” and whose glitch is treated as something that both bars her from doing things others can and something she is stigmatised for. Riley being herself in Inside Out is through the lens of toxic positivity. Riley can’t be herself, which includes being sad, because her family expects her to be happy, shown by Joy trying to suppress Sadness. Only when Joy lets Sadness touch Riley’s core memories, and Riley allows herself to be upset over having to move to San Francisco, does she regret trying to run away and seek comfort in her family. Something like Mulan is more explicitly queer, as it deals with misogyny circumvented through crossdressing. Mulan is not allowed to be herself - which includes fighting in her father’s place - because she is a woman, necessitating her to become the male Ping. Gene and Jailbreak are more similar to Mulan than they are to Vanellope or Riley.

Before Gene leaves Texopolis, the film reads as a queer allegory, undoubtedly drawing on Leondis’ life as a gay man. Emotions in men have been historically associated with improper masculinity, including homosexuality. Gene attempts to hide his emotions from others, preparing to go to work by practicing an unemotional mask. When he leaves and shows his true colours, he is met with revulsion and called a freak. After he accidentally outs himself at work, Smiler asks him if he’s even a Meh at all before calling him a “malfunction” like it's a slur. While he mopes on the roof, Mary tells him that, for his safety, he has to be “locked up” and hidden in their apartment, forcibly closeting him due to his unseemly emotions. The film employs noose imagery while Smiler is interrogating him, metaphorically lynching him before getting her AV bots to do the job for her.

When we meet Jailbreak, she is also depicted as queer. Hi-5 mistakes a burly virus as Jailbreak, but is corrected that Jailbreak is the girl behind him. This is our introduction to the character. As discussed before, Jailbreak does not want to fit into the feminine mold assigned to her at birth. She rejects princessdom to the extent of hiding that she ever was a princess, and gets touchy when asked if she can do certain princess cliches. Jailbreak is allegorically transgender: she is uncomfortable in her assigned sex and has transitioned into the opposite gender role. Her chosen appearance and name are androgynous-to-masculine. She even gets deadnamed at the end of the film by her mother, who calls her “Linda”.

However, the queer allegory is left incomplete. When Gene leaves Texopolis, the queerness is forgotten in favour of kid’s-movie-typical hijinks and plot beats, including a forced heterosexual romance between Gene and Jailbreak. The film does nothing to capitalise on Jailbreak’s potential coding as transgender, likely because this coding was not as intentional as Gene being gay. Jailbreak is as queer as Gene: they don’t fit into the system and can never fit into a system that expects them to be someone they’re not.

The film also doesn’t want to grapple with the systemic roots behind Gene’s oppression or Jailbreak’s expulsion, and seems to be content in implying that when Smiler is removed from power, all will be well. But will it truly? Will Emoji not still fight instinctive revulsion at a Meh being anything but a Meh considering how poorly they treated him at the beginning of the film? Will Emoji accept that Jailbreak is now a hacker Emoji rather than the princess she was born as? The film implies that it will, while Jailbreak is seemingly detransitioned back into princessdom.

The Sincerest Form of Flattery

Inspiration is inevitable, but The Emoji Movie feels like the store-brand version of better kids’ films released prior. It splices Inside Out into DNA taken wholesale from The LEGO Movie.

The second half of the film is similar to Inside Out. Our protagonists are forced out of their typical environment (Textopolis, away from the control console) and into the wild world beyond (the wallpaper, Riley’s mind). They weave through winding metaphorical halls (the wallpaper, Riley’s personality islands and long-term memory) to get back home. They also visit self-contained areas (apps, Riley’s personality islands) that are destroyed as the film progresses, as the outer world starts to interfere with the inner world (Alex deleting apps, Riley becoming depressed).

However, the most similar movie to The Emoji Movie is The LEGO Movie, a comparison drawn when the film was greenlit in 2014 and a comparison that continues long after the film’s release. To be charitable, the arcs of both films’ protagonists are inverted: Gene is special and wants to become normal, while Emmet is normal but wants to become special. But The Emoji Movie takes so much from The LEGO Movie, starting with the format of its title, and going downhill from there.

The films are set up in a similar manner. The protagonist, voiced by a Hollywood actor not known for voice acting (TJ Miller, Chris Pratt), introduces their city (Textopolis, Bricksburg) in narration before getting ready for work in a manner that introduces the main themes of the film (Gene suppresses his emotions excitedly, Emmet follows instructions for a “correct” morning). The protagonists have a positive view of the businesslike antagonist (Smiler, Lord Business) who runs their city with an iron fist, stamping out anyone who doesn’t conform. While the inciting incidents are different (Gene’s anxiety destroying the Cube, Emmet accidentally finding the Piece of Resistance), both of them have to leave their city as a result of the inciting incident, to be pursued by robots controlled by the antagonist. They both have to rely on an abrasive yet skilled woman (Jailbreak, Wyldstyle) who they are romantically interested in, but who isn’t interested in them. They have to travel through a medium (the wallpaper, brick tunnels) to get through different dimensions (apps, LEGO sets), all with their own unique aesthetic and purpose, to evade being captured. There is a timer going down until a specific bad event takes place (Alex’s appointment at the phone store, TAKOS Tuesday) which the protagonist has to stop before it’s too late. The protagonist learns to believe in himself, which helps him save the day.

Jailbreak is clearly meant to be Wyldstyle. She is an independent, abrasive woman dressed in all black androgyny with brightly coloured hair tied in a ponytail, who hides her true self behind a cooler name. Both are highly skilled in a technical craft (hacking/building) and end up romantically involved with the protagonist. What is particularly egregious in this inspiration is that they not only both hide behind a two-syllable, gender-neutral nickname (Jailbreak, Wyldstyle), but their true names are both two-syllable feminine names starting with L (Linda, Lucy). Unlike Wyldstyle and Emmet, the romance between Jailbreak and Gene is unconvincing. Emmet, once he gets over the shock of a pretty girl talking to him, cares about Wyldstyle as more than just Wyldstyle - he cares about her as Lucy too. Gene, meanwhile, isn’t allowed to have a heart-to-heart about still respecting Jailbreak as Jailbreak when he discovers her as a princess, instead asking her about the identity she desperately wants to hide. Emmet respects the person underneath the mask, while Gene seemingly doesn’t understand that the hacker Jailbreak isn’t the mask over the princess Linda - it's who she truly is. Emmet also handles being rejected by Wyldstyle much better than Gene, respecting that Batman is her boyfriend, while Gene can’t keep it together enough to allow Jailbreak to be happy that she’s finally met her goal. This would be acceptable as a genuine character flaw if Jailbreak didn’t capitulate and stay in Textopolis after saving Gene.

Both films do involve advertising and brands, but their methods of advertising are different. You know that when you sit down to watch The LEGO Movie, you are going to watch an hour and a half of LEGO products being advertised to you. When you sit down to watch The Emoji Movie, you don’t expect WeChat, Facebook, Candy Crush, Just Dance Now, Spotify, and Dropbox to be advertised to you. The LEGO Movie also plays more with its branded characters than The Emoji Movie plays with its apps. Batman is a major character, but he’s shown to care more about being brooding than being a good boyfriend. The Green Lantern is shown to be too clingy for Superman to like. Han Solo and co. are played off as jokes in a Foodfight!-esque fashion, much like Dumbledore and Gandalf are. The apps in The Emoji Movie are played entirely straight, with the exception of commentary anyone could make about Facebook friends not being real friends.

Both films also attempt bathos - anticlimaxes to make drama comedic - but The LEGO Movie uses it with more skill. Knowing that the Kragle is superglue doesn’t undercut the drama of the LEGOs being glued into perfection. Vitruvius coming down as a ghost on a string doesn’t undercut that Emmet didn’t need to be the Special to be special, as the prophecy was fake all along. Even the climax of the film, where the LEGOs are shown to be literal objects being played with by a little boy, is heartfelt, as it becomes clear that Lord Business is meant to be the boy’s perfectionistic father, and leads into the boy changing his father’s view on his LEGO collection. In The Emoji Movie, scenes like Gene’s “You know, the first time you said it, it sounded genuine, but then you repeated it, and then, that was weird.” feel like a “He’s right behind me, isn’t he?” - and go over just as well. The Emoji Movie has nothing as shocking as the reveal that everything in The LEGO Movie was being done by a child playing with LEGOs, nor does it have any of the surprising commentary - such as adults taking the fun out of children’s toys by treating them like collector items - that came along with it.

I will admit, I’ve seen The Emoji Movie more than The LEGO Movie, and it took an embarrassingly long time for me to even see the latter. Considering my love of The Emoji Movie, The LEGO Movie shocked me not only by how much The Emoji Movie took from it, but also how much better it was. I texted my friends after I had watched it to say that it felt like drinking water after a lifetime of drinking pop. That’s how good it is.


Conclusion

I do not believe for a second that this film was destined to be this way. I have invested too much time, effort, and passion into every facet of this film’s existence to say that it was dead the moment it was greenlit. I believe that The Emoji Movie, if given more than two years to develop, put into production when we understood both Emoji and technology better, given to writers who understood their target demographic, removed of all its product placement, and its themes explored more in depth, this could have been another sleeper hit like The LEGO Movie.

There is nothing objectionable about this film’s plot, characters, world, or intended messaging - outside of its tone-deaf advertising and failures to be feminist. There is a good story buried underneath the capitalism of it all, an allegory about a gay man accepting himself, a woman who learns that she can be herself without preemptively pushing others away, and a fallen influencer learning to value friends over followers. What I wouldn’t give to look into the universe where The Emoji Movie was praised for being a heartfelt coming-out movie. What I wouldn’t give to see reviewers calling it The Lego Movie’s long-lost sequel. And what I wouldn’t give to have seen it become a cult classic.

But that was not the film put into theatres. We got a film that, even with its advertising filler and a flashback sequence, barely cracks an hour and a half. A film that reuses plots and tropes and themes from much better movies before it. A film that can’t even get its politics straight despite intending to promote feminism, progressivism, and diversity.

The rage around the movie was overblown. The Emoji Movie didn’t kill kids’ cinema. It didn’t kill normal cinema either. It sure didn’t kill SPA, who released the critically-acclaimed Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse the year after. Without the advertising, you are left with the world’s blandest kids’ film, too uneducated to say anything of value, not funny enough to be entertaining, and too rote to be compelling. The film isn’t bad, but it’s something even worse, something more damning than being the worst animated film ever made.

The Emoji Movie is mediocre.


Citations