The story of how two college kids grew up to become the godfathers of modern bobbleheads begins in the cafeteria at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. There, Jim Novak and Mike Sklar began hanging out with Michael Poll (voiced by Bruce Pearl), a 27-year-old intellectually disabled man who worked as a cafeteria employee and wouldn’t stop talking to students about sports. Over the years, they started to play tennis and other sports with Poll, eventually bringing him into their professional ranks as well. As their careers advanced, they traveled extensively and noticed that many cities were giving away bobbleheads at their baseball stadiums.
After all, who doesn’t want a one-of-a-kind bobblehead of their favorite ballplayer? So in 2012, Novak and Sklar, then co-owners of a Chicago-based advertising agency, decided to make their own bobbleheads and started distributing them online. They also made custom bobbleheads for their clients, which led to a successful side business for the pair.
They then took on the task of creating a larger-scale production line. The result was a highly profitable company called Heads of State, whose products can be seen in stores around the world. As they grew, Novak and Sklar became more involved with the non-profit aspect of their business and saw how their creations could help with charitable causes.
But they’re not a charity, and they don’t want to be. Instead, they feel that their mission is to bring joy and happiness to others. Their creations are meant to remind people of important people and events in their lives and bring them together.
And so they do. Their bobbleheads are designed to look like the people and events they’re based off of, so each has the same face as the person or event. But they also have the ability to move their heads and torsos, making them more lifelike and helping them connect with fans on an emotional level.
Unfortunately, this is also what makes them so obnoxious. The heroes – Earl and Binky – are both annoying assholes and the villains -Jennifer Coolidge, Khary Peyton, Karen Fukuhara and Julian Sands – are just plain dumb and empty. Their character designs are stale, too.
The movie was directed by Kirk Wise, who has done a bunch of stuff for Disney over the years. He’s responsible for Oliver & Company, The Hunchback of Notre Dame and ATLANTIS: THE LOST EMPIRE, among other films.
The voice cast isn’t the worst part of the movie – that would be its dull plot. The characters are a mix of stereotypes and the animation isn’t great, either. And, let’s be honest, Cher’s cameo is pretty much the only thing that saves this movie from being a complete and total disaster. It’s not even the kind of film that you’d put on for your toddler to watch, although I suppose that it might keep them occupied for an hour or so.