Recently I was lucky enough to attend a sneak peek at Sony Pictures Animation's Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs 2, complete with a walk through the film's world by directors Cody Cameron and Kris Pearn!
Cody and Kris explained the story of Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs 2, and the process behind creating the film. In the movie, we meet Filnt Lockwood and his friends immediately after the close of the first film, as Flint's idol Chester V arrives on the scene to propose a clean-up of Swallow Falls and offer Flint a job at his company, Live Corp. Flint accepts, moving away from Swallow Falls, but soon he is sent back to the city by a nervous Chester V, who has discovered something awful there-- Flint's machine has created food-animal hybrids, dubbed "foodimals." Flint assembles a team of his closest friends to accompany him on his journey back to Swallow Falls, and together they embark on a quest to get the town back to normal once and for all.
We were treated to a glimpse of some concept art for the various "foodimals" that will appear in Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2, including such creatures as the SaSquash, CheeSpider, Wild Scallions, and BananOstrich (pictured at right), as well as others like the Meatbalrus, Apple Piethon, and Tacodile. The real star of the show for this new movie, though, is a little strawberry by the name of Barry.
Voiced by director Cody Cameron himself, Barry is a mischievous strawberry foodimal that the gang meets up with shortly after returning to Swallow Falls. At first, Flint wants nothing to do with Barry (despite his girlfriend Sam's attachment to the cute fruit) but his mind quickly changes when Barry eats the device Flint needs to fix his machine. Quickly, Barry becomes a guide to the new world of the foodimals for the group, as they chase him through the diverse environments of the newly-overrun city, encountering all kinds of creatures as they go.
We too had the opportunity to check out some crazy creatures (and sample some as well) when Kris and Cody showed everyone some real life foodimals that could be made at home. There were some foodimals to eat (like the Apple Piethon, pictured to the right) and some to play with (like the cherry foodimal pictured below). Cody and Kris even got in on the action, helping kids and parents alike to make their very own foodimals with carved mouths and map tack eyes! 
Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs 2, which hits theaters on September 27, looks like it's going to be a great time for the whole family, with something for everyone to love! From a stellar voice cast that includes Bill Hader, Anna Faris, Neil Patrick Harris, Andy Samberg, and James Caan to superb animation and some extra-silly food puns, Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs 2 is not a movie to miss!
(Pictured at right: The cast of Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs 2)