The Pebble and the Penguin

The Pebble and the Penguin
Theatrical release poster
Directed byDon Bluth (uncredited)
Gary Goldman (uncredited)
Screenplay byRachel Koretsky
Steven Whitestone
Produced byRussell Boland
Don Bluth (uncredited)
Gary Goldman (uncredited)
John Pomeroy (uncredited)
Starring
Narrated byShani Wallis
Edited byFiona Trayler
Aran O'Reilly
Music byMark Watters
Production
companies
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures
Don Bluth Entertainment
Distributed byMGM/UA Distribution Co. (United States and Canada)
Warner Bros. (International)
Release date
  • April 12, 1995 (1995-04-12) (United States)[1]
Running time
74 minutes[2]
CountryUnited States[1]
LanguageEnglish
Budget$28 million
Box office$3.9 million[3]

The Pebble and the Penguin is a 1995 American independent animated musical romance comedy-adventure film[4] directed by Don Bluth and Gary Goldman. The film stars the voices of Martin Short, Jim Belushi, Tim Curry, and Annie Golden. Based on the true life mating rituals of the Adélie penguins in Antarctica, the film focuses on a timid, stuttering penguin named Hubie who tries to impress a beautiful penguin named Marina by giving her a pebble that fell from the sky and keep her from the clutches of an evil penguin named Drake who wants Marina for himself, causing Hubie to team up with a cantankerous yet good-hearted rockhopper penguin named Rocko.

Towards the end of production, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures significantly changed the film, resulting in Bluth and Goldman leaving the film and asking to have their names taken off of it. The two would later start working at Fox Animation Studios.

The film was released in the United States on April 12, 1995, by MGM/UA Distribution Co.,[1] was panned by critics and became a box office failure, grossing $3.9 million against a $28 million budget. It is the final film to be produced by Don Bluth Limited before the studio went bankrupt and ceased operations.

  1. ^ a b c "The Pebble and the Penguin". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. Retrieved October 8, 2019.
  2. ^ "The Pebble And The Penguin (U)". British Board of Film Classification. September 18, 1995. Retrieved April 21, 2025.
  3. ^ "The Pebble and the Penguin (1995)". Box Office Mojo.
  4. ^ "How the Secret of Nimh Proved Don Bluth Could Beat Disney". Nerdist. June 3, 2022.