| Director: | Luke Cormican |
| Screenplay: | Jeff Kinney |
| Producer: | Jeff Kinney |
| Music: | John Paesano |
| Distributor: | Disney+ |
| Runtime: | 62 minutes |
| Language: | English |
Diary of a Wimpy Kid Christmas: Cabin Fever is a 2023 animated Christmas comedy film directed by Luke Cormican. It is the seventh installment in the Diary of a Wimpy Kid film series, the third animated feature, and the first adaptation of by Jeff Kinney. Wesley Kimmel replaced Brady Noon as Greg Heffley, while Hunter Dillion, Erica Cerra and Chris Diamantopoulos reprised their roles as Rodrick, Susan and Frank respectively. Ethan William Childress is replaced by Spencer Howell in the role of Rowley.
Diary of a Wimpy Kid Christmas: Cabin Fever was produced by Walt Disney Pictures and Bardel Entertainment, with the latter providing animation services, and it was released on Disney+, as a Disney+ original film, on December 8, 2023. It received mixed reviews from critics.
It's Christmas time, and Greg is trying to remain good so that he can get the new video game console, the Mega Station 9000. He has two weeks left as his mother, Susan, attempts to put the family in the holiday spirit. She introduces them to Elfrendo, a creepy stuffed elf doll that her grandmother made when she was a kid, and who supposedly watches their every move for Santa and becomes a source of annoyance for Greg.
To remain good, Greg gets Rowley to build a snowman with him, but create a snowball that is so large that it rips up the lawn. Down the street, a snowplow woman is accosted by children. Greg and Rowley accidentally knock their large snowball down the street that damages the snowplow's blade. The two of them run from the woman and lose her. Knowing they will be identified by their clothing items, they drop them off in a dumpster. When they return home, Susan forces the family into a Christmas drive through town where Greg learns that the dumpster was actually a toy donation bin. The next day, wanted posters of the "assailants" are posted everywhere and Greg and Rowley plan to get their things back.
The next day, a snowstorm has snowed everyone in, just as Greg's dad Frank was worrying about it. The family is forced to remain indoors until the storm passes which could take days; this is made all the more difficult when the power goes out. Greg feels better when he finds that his family did get him his game console, but starts to succumb to family tension. Susan tries to invigorate everyone's holiday spirit, Frank attempts to keep inventory, though he notices things are suddenly missing, and Rodrick tries to power the doorbell camera in an attempt to find the snowball culprits, after falsely assuming that two high schoolers stole Greg and Rowley's things and caused the snowplow damage. The family begins to suffer from cabin fever and start arguing with one another, made worse when their water pipes burst. When Manny goes missing, the family search for him and find that he has been hoarding much of their supplies.
The Heffleys finally calm down and seeing as how it is Christmas Eve decide to open one present early, making everyone feel better. Greg expects his early present to be the video game console, though finds it to be clothing items from his grandmother instead. They notice that it has stopped snowing and Greg sneaks out to enact his plan. He recruits Rowley and they make their way to the donation bin, though they have to dig firmly for it due to the storm burying it. They finds their things, but Rowley abandons Greg when the snowplow lady from earlier arrives. She is impressed with Greg having shoveled all the snow and offers him a ride back to his house. Greg learns that she is a single mother who only does snow plowing as a side job to support her and her son, Tyler. She wanted to get him a Mega Station but cannot afford it. Greg leaves on good terms with her, even though she spots the clothing items he retrieved, she forgives him and they part.
Greg returns just as the power returns to the neighborhood and the family celebrate. They see a police officer vehicle pull up and realize that Greg is the snowball culprit. The Heffleys instead decide to hide the evidence, but Greg decides to turn himself in. It turns out that the police were simply looking for donations and Greg decides to give up his Mega Station to the snowplow woman and Tyler. Greg now appreciates his family even more, but promises himself that he will get the video game console that comes out next year instead. He throws Elfrendo away in the bin, though he returns, continuously watching over Greg.
An animated adaption of Cabin Fever originally began production in December 2012, being intended to serve as an animated Cabin Fever holiday special for Fox. In August 2013, Kinney disclosed it would be a half-hour television special, and would air on Fox sometime in late 2014. This special never released, and overtime work on it eventually morphed into the original Diary of a Wimpy Kid animated film. Later, on October 23, 2021, ahead of the first animated film's release, Jeff Kinney revealed that sequels are already in development.[1] [2] The project was announced to be an adaptation of Cabin Fever in an interview with Kinney in January 2023.[3] [4] [5]
On September 8, 2023, Jeff Kinney revealed the release date is December 8, 2023.[6] John Paesano was announced to compose the film's score, after doing so for the previous two films.[7] The official trailer for the film appeared online on November 14, 2023.
The film was released on Disney+ as a Disney+ original film on December 8, 2023.
On the review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a 67% approval rating based on reviews from 9 critics, with an average rating of 6.40/10.[8]
Roger Moore gave the film a 1.5 out of 4, calling the film's message "loud and clear," its comedy "paper thin", and the animation "adequate."[9]