June 29, 2012
Ted (stylized in all lowercase) is a 2012 American fantasy buddy comedy film directed and co-produced by Seth MacFarlane and written by MacFarlane, Alec Sulkin, and Wellesley Wild based on a story written by MacFarlane. The first installment in the Tedfranchise, the film stars Mark Wahlberg and Mila Kunis, with Joel McHale and Giovanni Ribisi in supporting roles, and MacFarlane providing the voice and motion capture of the title character. The film tells the story of John Bennett, a Boston native whose childhood wish brings his teddy bear friend Ted to life. However, in adulthood, Ted and John's friendship begins to interfere with the progression of John's relationship with his girlfriend, Lori Collins.
MacFarlane's feature-length directorial debut, the film was produced by Media Rights Capitaland distributed by Universal Pictures. It was released in theaters in the United States on June 29, 2012, and was a box office hit, grossing $549.4 million against a $50–65 million budget. Ted was the highest-grossing comedy film of the year and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song. It received generally positive reviews and successfully launched a franchise, with a sequel released in 2015 and a prequel television series in 2024.
Storyline
In 1985, 8-year-old John Bennett is a friendless only child living in Norwood, Massachusetts. On Christmas Day, he wishes for his new gift, a jumbo teddy bear named Ted, to come to life and become his friend. The wish coincides with a shooting star and comes true; word spreads, and Ted briefly becomes a celebrity.
In 2012, John, now 35, and Ted are still living together in an apartment in Boston with John's girlfriend, Lori Collins, and are staunch companions enjoying a hedonistic life. As John and Lori's fourth anniversary approaches, Lori hopes to marry John, but feels he cannot move forward in life with Ted around. John is hesitant about making Ted leave, but he is persuaded to act when they find Ted at home with a group of prostitutes, including one who defecated on the floor, after their anniversary dinner.
John finds Ted his own apartment and a job at a grocery store, where Ted begins dating his co-worker, Tami-Lynn. Lori learns that John has been skipping work, using her as an excuse, to spend most of his time with Ted. John and Lori are invited to a party put on by Lori's womanizing manager Rex, but Ted lures John away to a party at his apartment with the offer to meet Sam J. Jones, the star of their favorite film, Flash Gordon.
John intends to stay only for a few minutes, but gets caught up in the occasion. Lori finds John there and kicks him out of the apartment, breaking up with him. Devastated and furious, he blames Ted for ruining his life and ends their friendship.
Ted then goes to John's hotel room to inform him that Lori and Rex are attending a Norah Jones concert on a date together. Their conversation becomes an argument and then a violent brawl, but they reconcile. To repair John's relationship with Lori, Ted arranges for Norah Jones, an old lover of his, to help by having John express his love for Lori with a song during Norah's concert. John does an off-key rendition of "All Time High", the theme song of Octopussy, which he and Lori watched on their first date. John is booed offstage, though the attempt touches Lori and she returns to her apartment, where Ted confesses to his role in John's relapse and offers to leave them alone forever if she talks to John, to which Lori agrees.
After Lori leaves, however, Ted is kidnapped by Donny, an obsessive stalker who idolized him as a child. Donny plans to make Ted into his son Robert's new toy. Ted obtains a phone to contact John, but is recaptured. Realizing Ted is in danger, John and Lori locate Donny's residence and track him. They chase them to Fenway Park, where Donny rips Ted in half. Two police cars arrive, forcing Donny to flee the scene. John and Lori gather Ted's stuffing, and Ted relays his wish for John to be happy with Lori before the magic in Ted fades away, making him a normal teddy bear again.
Unable to accept the death, John and Lori unsuccessfully attempt to repair Ted. Feeling saddened about the incident, Lori makes a wish upon a shooting star. The following day, Ted is magically restored due to the wish and reunites with John and Lori. John finally proposes to her, and she accepts. Sometime later, John and Lori get married (with Sam Jones as the presiding minister).
In the film's epilogue, the narrator says that Ted comfortably accepted having a life of his own, as he and Tami-Lynn continued their love affair; Sam Jones attempts to restart his film career and moves into a studio apartment with Brandon Routh; Rex gives up his pursuit of Lori, goes into a deep depression, and dies of Lou Gehrig's disease; Donny gets arrested by the Boston Police Department for kidnapping Ted, but the charges are dropped, due to the situation sounding ridiculous. Robert hires a personal trainer, loses a significant amount of weight, and goes on to become Taylor Lautner.
Also See
Movie Trailer
- Ted (2012) (Trailers)
Sound Effects Used
- Hollywoodedge, Bubbles Gurgling Up PE052701
- Hollywoodedge, Fart Slow Low Tone TE036101
- Hollywoodedge, Lincoln Town Car In Sk PE073501
- Hollywoodedge, Medium Exterior Crow PE140401
- Hollywoodedge, Thunder Crack Impac PE1006401
- Sound Ideas, ALARM, CAR - DISARM CAR ALARM, AUTO
- Sound Ideas, CHIMES - DOORBELL, MUSIC, PERCUSSION 01
- Sound Ideas, RICOCHET - SLICK RICCO 02 (Heard once in a flashback scene in the style of "Airplane!".)
- Sound Ideas, SIREN - 'WAIL' SIREN, POLICE, AMBULANCE, FIRE TRUCK 01
- Sound Ideas, ZIP, CARTOON - BIG WHISTLE ZING OUT (Heard twice in a flashback scene in the style of "Airplane!".)