(left: Caroline Sunshine in MARMADUKE /
right: Selena Gomez and JoeyKing in RAMONA & BEEZUS)
Up and coming youngsters Caroline Sunshine and Joey King lend an organic mesh of endearment to upcoming family movies “Marmaduke” and “Ramona and Beezus.”
Caroline Sunshine is Barbara Winslow in the bigger-than-life family adventure “Marmaduke.” The world’s most lovable Great Dane, Marmaduke leaps from the comic strip and continues to live the good life with the Winslows. The Winslows are about to move out from their old neighborhood because of Phil’s (Lee Pace) work location. Beleaguered wife Debbie (Judy Greer) along with their children and Marmaduke (voiced by Owen Wilson) suddenly find their life turned upside down. For Marmaduke, he must navigate the canine turf wars and find himself a place among his new set of acquaintances.
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Now 14, Sunshine started out as a commercial model for dog food when she was 11 and “Marmaduke” is her first movie project. Asked in a recent interview in The Rob Redstone Show about her new movie, Sunshine excitedly related that “I really enjoyed playing Barbara because it wasn’t that much of a stretch, I guess since I’m a teenager. But when her family gets uprooted from one place to another, it’s her going through different emotions, as a teenager, and then on top of that, with the big move. And I think Barbara is a character that a lot of people can relate to, she’s a big texter, she’s very social. And before the movie I didn’t have a phone…I got my first phone this year.”
Playing a highly-imaginative child in “Ramona and Beezus” from the pages of classic kids’ book series “Ramona” by Beverly Cleary is chaste young talent Joey King. King stars as Ramona alongside Disney’s teen star Selena Gomez who plays Beezus. The movie follows the adventures of the young Ramona Quimby and her big sister Beezus. Ramona being young and imaginative always ends up a pest to almost everybody in the neighborhood especially to her sister Beezus. With her vivid imagination, boundless energy, and accident-prone antics, Ramona keeps everyone she meets on their toes. But her irrepressible sense of fun, adventure and mischief come in handy when she puts her mind to helping save her family's home.
King’s portrayal of Ramona resonates a deeply endearing child who finds herself in awkward situations most of the time. Also starring are John Corbett and Bridget Moynahan as Bob and Dorothy Quimby as the dedicated parents of Ramona and Beezus. Josh Duhamel and Ginnifer Goodwin also star in the movie.
Earning nominations at an early age in the Young Artist Awards for her voice performance in “Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs” and for her Guest Starring Performance in “CSI,” King proves she’s no neophyte when bringing characters on reel. She has also appeared in the thriller “Quarantine” and as voice talent in “Horton Hears A Who.”
“Marmaduke” opens June 4 and “Ramona & Beezus” comes in later on August 18 in theaters across the Philippines from 20th Century Fox to be distributed by Warner Bros.
