Swallow Falls is a tiny island town and the main setting of the Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs films. It is based off the town of Chewandswallow from the original book.
Geography
The official map of the island, complete with advertisements.
Swallow Falls is a tiny island, obscured by the "A” in "Atlantic Ocean" on standard maps. It is about ten miles off the coast of what is presumably North Carolina.
Bird's eye view of Swallow Falls.
The town of Swallow Falls is nestled in the heart of Swallow Bay. The cannery that provided the economic boom that created the town lies on the western coast. The town itself is 14 blocks long from east to west and 22 blocks long from north to south, with eight buildings on each block.[1]
A coastal highway snakes around the southern part of the island, around Crab Mountains to reach farmland in the center of the island, where Mayor Shelbourne's sister Missy grows thistles. Northwest of the farmland lies a grassy overlook, a perfect secluded area for a date. Northeast of this overlook lies Haddock Hills. A dirt road circles the eastern coast of the island, curling around Mount Mackerel to reach Swallow Cove on the northern shore. Swallow Falls also has a small island off its southeastern coast, which houses a lighthouse to warn hapless travelers of the islands' shores during times of low visibility.
During the month of food rain, Mayor Shelbourne constructed the man-made Mount Leftovers, a mountain made of leftover food the was contained by a "presumably indestructable" dam.
The transformed Swallow Falls.
Over the next year, when the residents were evacuated and flora and fauna were allowed to naturally flourish, the FLDSMDFR created a multitude of biomes as Foodimal habitats. The southern part of the island, the original location of the town, became an overgrown jungle. The town's center square, Sardine Circle, became a watering hole for Foodimals, fed by the Coconut River Rapids, which flowed through the jungle providing clean and nutritious water to support a wide variety of Foodimals. Just northeast of the jungle lies the Salsa River, an arid landscape near the location of Flint's house and laboratory. North of the Salsa River is a spaghetti swamp with lasagna foot bridges and a vast Mashed Potato prairie complete with gravy watering holes. To the northwest, Tacodiles roam the former Haddock Hills. The nearby Swallow Cove became the syrupy Breakfast Bog, which leads to Big Rock Candy Mountain, a candy-coated repurposing of Mackerel Mountain.
History
Swallow Falls has always been a location lush in local fish life, particularly sardines. Little is known about its early history, and many residents have their own stories about the origins of the island. It is most likely that the earliest settlers were part of the Spanish treasure fleet in 1492.[2]
In the early 1980's, a small canning company began to ship hand-packed sardines around the world. Its mascot was an infant who was the namesake of the company, Baby Brent, who was depicted on cans and marketing material with a tipped-over wagon of sardines, saying his catchphrase "Uh-Oh!"
They were respected and renowned for their sardine-based economy, with rival island Halibut Hills gifting the island a large statue of a sardine named Sal, who stood in Swallow Bay[3] until he was repurposed for use in Sardine Land.
In its heyday, every business in Swallow Falls was themed around sardines. The town enjoys many rich and storied traditions, including celebrating the birthday of its oldest sardine, Johnny, who was rumored to be able to grant wishes.[4] The town hosted an annual Sardine Fest with rides, attractions, and a sardine race.[5] In addition to its sardine-themed entertainment, the town also held an annual lottery,[6] ran a zoo (partially filled with creatures of Flint's invention),[7] and a Dessert Barge arrived at the docks every seven years.[8]
When "everyone in the world realized that sardines are super gross," the cannery was forced to shut its doors and the town lost its primary source of revenue. Unable to import foods due to the stagnating economy, and with a supply of product that could no longer be exported, the town was forced to eat the excess sardines, and found new and innovative ways to cook the sardines to tolerate such a bland meal.
The town fell into neglect and disrepair, its appearance as gray and uninspired as their diet. Its townspeople value functionality over aesthetic, with square, simple buildings and harshly-pruned trees. The town was stuck in the past, unable to move on from its sardine-canning history. The mayor, in a bid to revitalize the town, spent the entire town budget on a simple series of attractions collectively known as Sardine Land. Unfortunately, shortly after its grand opening, it was destroyed by inventor Flint Lockwood's wayward FLDSMDFR.
However, the FLDSMDFR rained food from the sky, creating a unique and wondrous weather phenomenon that the mayor quickly capitalized on. He used the success of Flint's invention to revamp the town, upgrading storefronts, renovating the Sardiner into the sleek, modern Roofless restaurant, and renaming the town Chewandswallow. To take care of the increasing amount of leftover food that miraculously didn't spoil, the mayor constructed a dam to create the manmade Mount Leftovers, which was built by catapulting food with the Outtasighter.
Unfortunately, the increasing number and ferocity of food storms wrecked the dam and created a food-alanche, which buried the town and left residents homeless. Fortunately, famous inventor Chester V graciously relocated the townspeople, promising to clean up the remaining food and debris.
However, the FLDSMDFR was still running, and so despite the Thinquanaut's best efforts, the food environment grew and evolved into a host of distinct and vibrant biomes, home to sentient food animals known as Foodimals. The plant life in the jungle is bioluminescent and colorful, reflecting Flint's technology-driven yet imaginative approach to inventing. At Chester's behest, Flint returned to the island to shut off the FLDSMDFR, but learned to appreciate the new diversity of life and decided instead to support the island and its Foodimal residents.
After the events of Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2, Flint and Sam turned the entire island into a Foodimal Reserve. Sam, Flint, and friends build a base of operations they name Sparkswood, where Sam regularly broadcasts breaking news from the island.[9] As seen from news banners at the bottom of the screen, the Foodimals have developed culturally, creating bands, sharing myths like "Wereloaf Barley," and filming food-themed shows. They also have a legal system and a system of government, with a President Benedict who issues "eggexutive orders" and declares national holidays, implying that Swallow Falls considers itself a sovereign nation.[9]
Notable Locations
The Town of Swallow Falls
- Sardine Circle
- Sardine Land (defunct)
- Marshmallow Warehouse
- International House of Cumin
- Chewandswallow Amusement Park
- Flint Lockwood's Laboratory
- Baby Brent Sardine Cannery
- Waterfront Street (home to Tim and Son's Sardine Bait and Tackle)
- Sardiner (later The Roofless)
- Swallow Falls Elementary
- Swallow Lighthouse
- Giant Jell-O Mold
- Power Plant
- Ice Cream Tundra
- Stadium
- Cheesewedge Way
- Food Falls Freeway
Natural Landmarks
- Foodimal Jungle (Swallow Bay)
- Mount Leftovers (man-made)
- Salsa River
- Spaghetti Swamp
- Mashed Potato Prairie
- Strawberry Village
- Haddock Hills
- Grassy Overlook
- Crab Mountains
- Thistle Farms
- Swallow Cove (a.k.a. Breakfast Bog)
- Mount Mackerel (a.k.a. Big Rock Candy Mountain)
Trivia
- Sardy Nan's Rug Store was the first building designed for the town.[10]
- The Sardiner hosted a mermaid mural down the street from Sony Animation Studio that was "so bad it was good."
- The design of buildings and vehicles was heavily inspired by Flint, Michigan during the 1980's recession.
- There are at least 31 colors in the revitalized Chewandswallow, a reference to ice cream shop Baskin-Robbin's 31 original flavors.
- The palette of the food jungle is heavily inspired by artist Mary Blair.
- A large focus of the jungle design was focused on highlighting the 3D/stereoscopic effects of the film.
- Instead of celebrating Santa Claus, Swallow Falls has its own Christmas icon known as Lobster Claus.
- Swallow Falls was modeled four times: the regular town, the Chewandswallow renovation, Chewandswallow with a layer of food, and the destroyed town.[1]
Gallery
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- ↑ 1.0 1.1 https://www.cgw.com/Publications/CGW/2009/Volume-32-Issue-9-Sep-2009-/Food-for-Laughs.aspx
- ↑ Totally Tall Tales
- ↑ That's Sal, Folks!
- ↑ The Ballad of Johnny Sardine
- ↑ Sardinefest
- ↑ Millionaire Monkey
- ↑ Monkey Me, Monkey You
- ↑ Earl or Pearl?
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs River Expedition
- ↑ The Art and Making of Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs