Ace Ventura (franchise)

The Ace Ventura franchise, originally created by Jack Bernstein, consists of American detective-comedies, with two theatrical films, one made-for-television film, and one animated television series. The overall story follows the criminal investigations of the titular and comedic pet detective.

Ace Ventura
Official franchise logo
Created byJack Bernstein
Original workAce Ventura: Pet Detective (1994)
OwnerMorgan Creek Productions
Warner Bros.
Years1994-present
Films and television
Film(s)Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994)
Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls (1995)
Untitled Ace Ventura film (TBA)
Animated seriesAce Ventura: Pet Detective (1995–2000)
Television film(s)Ace Ventura Jr.: Pet Detective (2009)

The first and second films were met with mixed reviews, were exceptionally successful financially, and were credited with launching the career of Jim Carrey. The two films have earned the status of cult classics.[1][2][3][4]

Background

Ace Ventura
Main article: Ace Ventura

Bernstein later acknowledged that the concept for the character of Ace Ventura came from wanting to do a comedic version of Sherlock Holmes and watching the Stupid Pet Tricks segment on Late Night with David Letterman.[5]

Films
Film U.S. release date Director(s) Screenwriter(s) Story by Producer(s)
Ace Ventura: Pet Detective February 4, 1994 (1994-02-04) Tom Shadyac Jack Bernstein, Tom Shadyac & Jim Carrey Jack Bernstein James G. Robinson
Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls November 10, 1995 (1995-11-10) Steve Oedekerk
Ace Ventura Jr.: Pet Detective March 1, 2009 (2009-03-01) David Mickey Evans Jason Heimberg, Justin Heimberg, Jeffery Sank & David Mickey Evans Jason Heimberg, Justin Heimberg & Jeffery Sank James G. Robinson & David Robinson
Untitled Ace Ventura film TBA TBA Pat Casey & Josh Miller TBA

Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994)
Main article: Ace Ventura: Pet Detective

Ace Ventura is hired to rescue Snowflake, the bottlenose dolphin mascot of the Miami Dolphins. Despite his best efforts to save Dan Marino, Ace is also kidnapped. When Ace finds out a murder is connected, he soon begins to suspect that disgraced football player Ray Finkle is behind it all. However, Ace can't find Finkle, until Ace discovers that Finkle has been masquerading as Lt. Lois Einhorn.

Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls (1995)
Main article: Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls

Ace is dispatched to Africa to investigate the disappearance of a sacred white bat battling his fear of bats along the way.

Ace Ventura Jr.: Pet Detective (2009)
Main article: Ace Ventura Jr.: Pet Detective

Ace Ventura, Jr. follows in his father's footsteps in being a pet detective. Years ago his father has disappeared, after voyage through the Bermuda Triangle. Now a number of animals go missing, and his mother is placed in jail after suspicion of guilt is ordered. Ace works with a number of friends to uncover the true culprit, and rescue his mother from conviction.

Possible sequel

In December 2019, a third Ace Ventura film starring Jim Carrey was revealed to be in early development.[6] By March 2021, the film was officially announced to be in development with Pat Casey and Josh Miller signed on as co-screenwriters. The project will be a joint-venture production within Warner Bros. Pictures, Morgan Creek Entertainment, Amazon Studios, and Prime Video Original Films, with plans to be released simultaneously theatrically and via streaming as an Amazon Prime Video exclusive.[7][8] In August of the same year, Carrey confirmed his involvement and stated that he was "more than ready for the next chapter".[9] By April 2022 however, Carrey revealed that he was considering to retire from acting. The actor stated that "[he] might continue down the road, but [he's] taking a break from acting", while elaborating that if a script is presented to him that he feels like is needed to be created he may reconsider.[10] Carrey later stated that while there are no official plans for the film, he joked that he would star in the film if Christopher Nolan was to direct.[11]

Television
Series Season Episodes Originally released Network Showrunner
First released Last released
Ace Ventura: Pet Detective 1 13 December 9, 1995 (1995-12-09) April 27, 1996 (1996-04-27) CBS Duane Capizzi
2 13 November 7, 1996 (1996-11-07) August 30, 1997 (1997-08-30)
3 15 October 29, 1999 (1999-10-29) February 4, 2000 (2000-02-04) Nickelodeon

Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1995–2000)
Main article: Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (TV series)

An animated series, titled Ace Ventura: Pet Detective – The Animated Series, aired from December 1995 to February 2000. Created by Duane Capizzi for Warner Bros. Television, the first two seasons aired on CBS. In 1999, when reruns debuted on Nickelodeon, a third season was developed and aired. Many of the characters from the movie were retained, though voiced by a new cast. While the original movies had a strongly cartoon-style comedic aesthetic, the animated series is characterized by slapstick and children-friendly cartoon humor. Seth MacFarlane was among the writers over the course of the show's run, displaying similar humor to his later series.[12]

The titular character, voiced by Canadian actor Michael Hall, continues his goofy antics as a private investigator for animals of all species.[13] Despite running in a time slot after another popular Jim Carrey movie-based cartoon, The Mask: Animated Series, and debuting a crossover episode between the two series (with "The Aceman Cometh"), the series failed to garner enough views to be renewed. Ultimately, both The Mask and Ace Ventura were cancelled. A third season followed the cancellation, before once again being cancelled.[14]

Main cast and characters
  • A U indicates an actor or actress was uncredited for their role.
  • A V indicates the actor or actress lent only his or her voice for his or her film character.
  • A dark gray cell indicates the character was not in the film.
Character Films Animated series
Ace Ventura:
Pet Detective		 Ace Ventura:
When Nature Calls		 Ace Ventura Jr.:
Pet Detective		 Ace Ventura:
Pet Detective
Principal cast
Ace Ventura Jim Carrey Michael HallV
Spike BinksU Richard BinsleyV
Melissa Robinson-Ventura Courteney Cox Ann Cusack
Ray Finkle
Lt. Lois Einhorn		 Sean Young
Uwe von Schamann
Fulton Greenwall Ian McNeice
The Grand Abbot Arsenio "Sonny" Trinidad
Prince Ouda Maynard Eziashi
Vincent Cadby Simon Callow
Ace Ventura Jr. Josh Flitter
Laura Emma Lockhart
Arnold "A-Plus" Plushinsky Austin Rogers
Quenton Pennington, Sr. Brian Patrick Clarke
Quenton Pennington, Jr. Reed Alexander
Supporting cast
Sgt. Aguado John Capodice Al WaxmanV
Mr. Shickadance Mark Margolis Vince CorazzaV
Ofc. Emilio Tone Loc Bruce TubbeV
Woodstock Raynor Scheine D.G. BeattyV
Dan Marino Himself
Ronald Camp Udo Kier
Roger Podacter Troy Evans
Burton Quinn   Bob Gunton
Hitu Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje
Wachati Princess Sophie Okonedo
Wachati Chief Damon Standifer
Rex Ventura Ralph Waite
Dr. Sickinger   Cullen Douglas

Additional crew and production details
Film Crew/Detail
Composer Cinematographer Editor Production companies Distributing companies Running time
Ace Ventura:
Pet Detective		 Ira Newborn Julio Macat Don Zimmerman Morgan Creek Entertainment Warner Bros. Pictures 86 minutes
Ace Ventura:
When Nature Calls		 Robert Folk Donald E. Thorin Malcolm Campbell Morgan Creek Entertainment,
O Entertainment		 94 minutes
Ace Ventura Jr.:
Pet Detective		 Laura Karpman Mark Irwin Danny Saphire Four Aces Productions,
Morgan Creek Entertainment		 Cartoon Network,
Warner Home Video		 93 minutes

Reception

Box office performance
Film Box office gross Box office ranking Home video
sales		 Budget Worldwide
Net income		 Ref.
North America Other territories Worldwide All time
North America		 All time
worldwide
Ace Ventura: Pet Detective $72,217,396 $35,000,000 $107,217,396 #1,127 #2,213 information not available $12,000,000 $95,217,396 [15]
Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls $108,360,063 $104,039,937 $212,400,000 #651 #907 information not available $30,000,000 $182,400,000 [16]
Ace Ventura Jr.: Pet Detective — — — — — $117,421 $7,500,000 $109,000,000 [17][18]

Critical and public response
Film Rotten Tomatoes Metacritic CinemaScore
Ace Ventura: Pet Detective 48% (60 reviews)[19] 37/100 (14 reviews)[20] A−[21]
Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls 31% (26 reviews)[22] 45/100 (17 reviews)[23] B+[21]
Ace Ventura: Pet Detective —[24] —[25] —
Ace Ventura Jr.: Pet Detective —[26] — —

Music

Soundtracks

Video games

Various licensed video games for various arcade and home console systems were released:

Ace Ventura: Pet Detective – a handheld LCD video game released in 1995, to coincide with the release of Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls.

Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls – a handheld LCD video game released in 1995, to coincide with the titular film.

Ace Ventura: The CD-Rom Game – developed by 7th Level, the game was released on PC CD-ROM in 1996. Based on the animated series Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, the gameplay was an example of the point-and-click adventure genre. The game was met with mixed reception, including a 6.6 out of 10 from GameSpot,[27] while Gamezilla gave it 58 out of 100.[28]

Ace Ventura: Pet Detective - The Case of the Serial Shaver – developed by Brilliant Digital Entertainment, the game was released on PC CD-ROM in 2000. The gameplay involved a choose your own adventure mechanic.[29] Jack Feldstein was the writer/developer of this interactive story.

References
  1. Greene, Andy (19 November 2014). "Readers' Poll: The 10 Best Jim Carrey Movies". Rolling Stone.
  2. "The Stars of 'Ace Ventura: Pet Detective': Where Are They Now?". The Hollywood Reporter.
  3. "Jim Carrey Really Regrets Turning Down One Director For Ace Ventura 2". CINEMABLEND. September 13, 2017.
  4. "Jim Carrey's best lines". The Telegraph.
  5. ""What's Your Story?"". nomeanerplace.com.
  6. Bone, Christian (December 9, 2019). "Evidence Mounts That Ace Ventura 3 Is Definitely In The Works".
  7. Gillespie, Daniel (March 19, 2021). "Ace Ventura 3 In The Works From Sonic the Hedgehog Writers". Screen Rant. Retrieved March 19, 2021.
  8. Knoop, Joseph (March 19, 2021). "Ace Ventura 3 in Development From Sonic the Hedgehog Writers". IGN. Retrieved March 19, 2021.
  9. "Jim Carrey Ready for Ace Ventura 3". August 8, 2021. Archived from the original on August 8, 2021. Retrieved August 8, 2021.
  10. Sharf, Zack (April 1, 2022). "Jim Carrey 'Fairly Serious' About Retiring From Acting: 'I Have Enough. I've Done Enough'". Variety. Retrieved May 24, 2022.
  11. Will Lavin (April 9, 2022). "Jim Carrey would consider doing 'Ace Ventura 3' if Christopher Nolan Directed it". NME. Retrieved May 9, 2022.
  12. Lenburg, Jeff (2006). Who's Who in Animated Cartoons: An International Guide to Film & Television's Award-winning and Legendary Animators. Applause Theatre & Cinema Books. p. 221. ISBN 9781557836717. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
  13. Hyatt, Wesley (1997). The Encyclopedia of Daytime Television. Watson-Guptill Publications. p. 5. ISBN 978-0823083152. Retrieved 19 March 2020.
  14. Erickson, Hal (2005). Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003 (2nd ed.). McFarland & Co. pp. 56–57. ISBN 978-1476665993.
  15. "Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994) - Financial Information". The Numbers.
  16. "Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls (1995) - Financial Information". The Numbers.
  17. "Ace Ventura: Pet Detective Jr". Box Office Mojo.
  18. "Ace Ventura: Pet Detective Jr". March 3, 2009 – via IMDb.
  19. "Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994)" – via www.rottentomatoes.com.
  20. "Ace Ventura: Pet Detective" – via www.metacritic.com.
  21. "CinemaScore". CinemaScore. Archived from the original on 2018-12-20. Retrieved April 15, 2022.
  22. "Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls (1995)" – via www.rottentomatoes.com.
  23. "Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls" – via www.metacritic.com.
  24. "Ace Ventura" – via www.rottentomatoes.com.
  25. "Ace Ventura: Pet Detective" – via www.metacritic.com.
  26. "Ace Ventura Jr.: Pet Detective (2009)" – via www.rottentomatoes.com.
  27. "Ace Ventura Review". GameSpot. December 23, 1996. Retrieved August 27, 2017.
  28. Yarbrough, Ethan. "Ace Ventura review". Gamezilla. Archived from the original on February 8, 2002. Retrieved August 27, 2017.
  29. "Ace Ventura Pet Detective: The Case of the Serial Shaver". GameSpot.
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