Grim Fandango (1998) (VG)

User Rating:

9.6/10   

Director:

Tim Schafer

Writers:

Eric Ingerson (co-writer)
Bret Mogilefsky (co-writer)
(more)

Genre:

Adventure | Comedy | Crime | Drama | Fantasy | Mystery

Tagline:

Something's Rotten In The Land Of The Dead... And You're Being Played For A Sucker

Plot:

Manuel Calavera is a travel agent in The Land of the Dead who has stumbled across a ring of corruption.

Plot Keywords:

Skeleton | Mexican Music | Murder | Black Comedy | Flower

Cast

Tony Plana	...	Manuel 'Manny' Calavera (voice)
Maria Canals-Barrera	...	Mercedes 'Meche' Colomar (voice) (as Maria Canals)
Alan Blumenfeld	...	Glottis (voice)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Pamela Adlon	...	Pugsy / Carla (voice) (as Pamela Segall)
Jack Angel	...	Bruno Martinez / Chepito / Large Hitman / Seaman Naranja (voice)
Richard Barnes	...	Membrillo / Skinny Hitman (voice) (as Milton James)
Bill Capizzi	...	Maximino (voice)
Barry Dennen	...	Chief Bogen / 1st Thunder Boy / Blue Casket's Waiter (voice)
Patrick Dollaghan	...	Domino Hurley (voice)
Barbara Goodson	...	Lola (voice)
Morgan Hunter	...	Toto Santos (voice)
Teri Ivens	...	Lupe (voice)
David Jeremiah	...	Aitor / Alexi / 2nd Thunder Boy (voice)
Tom Kane	...	Raoul / 2nd Mayan Mechanic / Gate Keeper / Cat Track Announcer (voice)
Paula Killen	...	Olivia Ofrenda (voice)
Kay E. Kuter	...	Dockmaster Velasco / Croupier (voice)
Katie Leigh	...	Bibi / Makeup Woman (voice)
Sal Lopez	...	Salvador Limones (voice)
Peter Lurie	...	Celso Flores / Slisko (voice)
Joe Nipote	...	Clown / Chowchilla Charlie (voice)
Daragh O'Malley	...	Nick Virago (voice)
Rachel Reenstra	...	Eva (voice)
Raphael Sbarge	...	Terry Malloy / 1st Mayan Mechanic / Ensign Arnold (voice)
Michael Sorich	...	Don Copal / Tube-Switch Repairman (later Hector's Elevator Guard) (voice)
Keith Szarabajka	...	Bowlsley / Unicycle Man (voice)
Jim Ward	...	Hector LeMans / Gunnar / Doug (voice)

Directed by
Tim Schafer

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Eric Ingerson		co-writer
Bret Mogilefsky		co-writer
Tim Schafer		writer
Peter Tsacle		co-writer

Original Music by
Peter McConnell

Production Management
Casey Donahue Ackley	....	pre-production manager
Lleslle Aclaro	....	production manager

Art Department
Peter Chan	....	concept artist
Rebecca Perez	....	3-D art technician

Sound Department
Elliot Anders	....	voiceover recording engineer
Khris Brown	....	supervising
Sylvain Brunet	....	sound post-production
Jeff Kliment	....	supervising sound editor
Andy Martin	....	sound designer

Visual Effects by
Greg Gladstone	....	additional modeller
Eric Ingerson	....	lead character animator

Animation Department
Vamberto Maduro	....	character animator
Chris Miles	....	character animator

Other crew
Khris Brown	....	voice director
Brad A. Grantham	....	support
Theresa O'Connor	....	lead tester

Production Companies

• LucasArts Entertainment Company

Distributors

• LucasArts Entertainment Company (worldwide)

Also Known As:

Deeds of the Dead (UK) (working title)

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Spanish | Hungarian

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

UK:12 | Iceland:12 | Austria:12 | France:-12 | Finland:K-11 | Germany:12 | USA:T

Company:

LucasArts Entertainment Company

Trivia:

The only time "grim fandango" is ever mentioned is in Olivia's poem, about two star-struck lovers who are lost in the world, and their search for each other is a four year trial (a "grim fandango").

Quotes:

[Manny is at Bowlsley the Florist's shop]
Manuel Calavera: It's amazing how a little touch of human remains can brighten up a place.

Movie Connections:

References Dick Tracy (1990)

One of the last great adventure-games

Ah, the golden days of yore, when you could find adventure games of this quality often. Unfortunately this is no longer the case. The golden age is over, but every once in a while a game appears out of the dusk that blast through to the mainstream. This game blew my mind (and that of many others), it was voted game of the year by many sites (totally unheard of for an adventure game). The graphics are very impressive, I am not usually a fan of 3D-graphics, but the jagged, iconographic style suits the theme (which is a curious mix of film noir and a south American folklore). Of course, the greatest thing about this game is the story; it is an epic tale of a man's redemption after his death, delightfully free of usual American sentimentality and with numerous references to film noir. The narrative style is highly cinematic and the excellent voice action, along with great music, helps convey the atmosphere beautifully. This is as close to an interactive movie as you can get. That, however, does not mean that the game is too easy, you will easily spend hours on this game. This game represents everything that makes this genre great, I can't recommend it enough. By the way, if you want more of the same, I can also recommend The Longest Journey from Norwegian developer Funcom.