The Croods 2 finds DreamWorks Animation’s knuckle-dragging first family back and facing a new challenge in the shape of the fancy (and more evolved) Bettermans.
Are the Croods hopelessly behind the (prehistoric) times? There’s only one way to find out… Da da daaaa!
The Croods release date: 16 July 2021
Back in the mists of time (2013 CE to be precise) Dreamworks Animation introduced the world to The Croods – a prehistoric family of cave dwellers led by the cautious and overly protective patriarch, Grug (Nicolas Cage), during the fictitious and fantastical creature-filled Croodaceous Period. (Seriously, flying Pirahnakeets are NO joke!)
When the Earth’s shifting continents forced the Croods to abandon the safety of their cave, Grug, matriarch Ugga (Katherine Keener), teenage daughter and son, Eep (Emma Stone) and Thunk (Clark Duke), ferocious five-year-old Sandy (Randy Thom), and the hilariously tough-as-old-mammoth-hide Gran (Cloris Leachman) set out into a new and perilous world, bumping into Guy (Ryan Reynolds) along the way – an early modern (young) man with a knack for inventing things and a pet sloth for a belt called, well, Belt.
With the risk (and evolution) adverse Grug struggling to cope with life beyond the cave, and increasingly antsy about the growing affection between inventive Guy and adventurous Eep, the stage was set for a battle of wills that ultimately led to protective and well-meaning Grug embracing change and the orphaned Guy as a member of the Croods.
The Croods 2 finds the family continuing their search for a new home, only to find themselves the guests of the Bettermans, a family of evolved humans living an apparently idyllic life behind a protective wall.
They’re welcoming to the close-knit Croods, sure, but a little condescending too. With his family creating new connections with the Bettermans and Eep and Guy getting ever closer, Grug begins to suspect this walled paradise isn’t quite what it seems. But is he correct, or is just jealous of the Bettermans’ fancy ‘modern’ ways?
Grug's oldest daughter and a cave person (born and raised), teenager Eep has an enquiring mind and an adventurous spirit. She (along with now-boyfriend Guy) have done a lot to drag her risk-averse dad into a more evolved mindset.
Orphaned as a small child when his parents perished in a tar pit, Guy has not only survived but, thanks to his modern ideas and inventions, thrived. He introduced the Croods to fire and also set a spark in Eep’s heart. He’s hunting for a place his parents called ‘tomorrow’. Could the Bettermans hold the key?
Surviving as a caveman is a full-time occupation and Grug takes his responsibility to protect his family very seriously. But while he’s brave and resourceful, he’s massively resistant to any change that might jeopardise his family’s safety.
The Crood matriarch and Grug's partner, Ugga understands her husband’s fear of new things but is more open to the positive aspects of change. As such, she’s often a bridge between Grug and their headstrong and adventurous daughter, Eep.
Grug's son isn’t the sharpest (flint) tool in the pile, but he’s fiercely loyal to his fam, very funny, and has a special bond with the family’s two pets, a Crocopup called Douglas, and a sabre-toothed Macawnivore called Chunky.
Previously voiced by Randy Thom, five-year-old Sandy is a force of nature – surprisingly fast and packing a powerful chomp that’d put most Piranhakeets to shame.
Ugga’s mother, Gran, has seen it all. She’s very tough and not easily thrown by whatever life throws at her, resulting in her catchphrase ‘still alive’. She also takes every opportunity she can to poke fun at Grug.
The patriarch of the evolved farmers, the Bettermans (and Hope’s husband), Phil may just have known Guy's parents. But what will that mean for Guy’s relationship with the Croods?
Hope is the matriarch of the Bettermans, and Phil's wife. She’s as welcoming to the Croods as Phil, but clearly thinks the Croods are a little primitive.
Phil and Hope's daughter, Dawn, knew Guy when they were much younger. Like him, she accessorises with a sloth – hers is pink, smells of raspberries and is called Sash – and she’s super excited to have her first bestie in Eep.