Guess what, everyone? Our favorite wimp is back once more!
So, in case you haven’t checked my post reviewing the animated film adaptation of Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules, I stated in that post that I decided to write a series of posts covering each of the sequels to the first animated Diary of a Wimpy Kid movie after reviewing that film. I already reviewed the Diary of a Wimpy Kid Christmas: Cabin Fever movie, which brings us to the fourth film in the series, The Last Straw. Now that we’ve returned to adapting the books in order, it’s great to finally get a true adaptation of The Last Straw after its plot was integrated into the live-action Dog Days film. But as a result, it faced the task of upholding that film’s legacy, though not to the same degree as the animated Rodrick Rules movie upholding the legacy of the live-action Rodrick Rules movie. Still, that task is not nothing for this film, so how well did it succeed, exactly?
I don’t know about you, but it’s time to prepare to go where no wimpy kid has gone before!
Development
In December 2022, during the press junket for the animated Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules film, Jeff Kinney confirmed that an animated film adaptation of The Last Straw is in the works and that he was hoping to do “lots and lots” of animated Diary of a Wimpy Kid films over time. However, due to Kinney and Disney coming to an agreement on doing a Christmas-themed film beforehand, The Last Straw film was sidelined for a Cabin Fever adaptation instead.
The film was further prevented from entering production due to the 2023 Writers Guild of America and SAG-AFTRA strikes. This put a hold on any casting and writing being completed at the time, which prevented the film from being released in 2024, making it the first animated film to not be released in chronological year order. There was also a potential renewal order that needed to be put in place for future films to be produced. If this is true, it could’ve been great to see it not get renewed and give the animated film series a break so that Kinney could pivot back to Poptropica, though merely mentioning Poptropica these days feels like beating a dead horse at this point.
Recording began sometime in 2024, and in November, Matt Danner confirmed that he would direct the film. Danner served as the supervising director on the Muppet Babies television series, and he directed the television series Legend of the Three Caballeros and the film Night at the Museum: Kahmunrah Rises Again for Disney+, which received positive reception. He’s also done work for several other children’s animated series that also received positive reception, making him a HUGE step up from both Luke Cormican and even Swinton Scott. Following the announcement of the sequel in July 2025, Danner clarified that the film would be coming out “this Christmas”.
An official film rating document confirmed a PG rating in August 2025, which revealed the film’s title to be Diary of a Wimpy Kid Christmas: The Last Straw. However, the ‘Christmas’ subtitle was ultimately removed before the official announcement of the film at Destination D23 later that month. This was definitely a smart move, as it seemed weird that Disney was suddenly fixed on making the franchise Christmas-themed just because the movies were being released in December. The teaser poster and tie-in cover were revealed in September in a People magazine article, which still had me worried that they’d make the movie too Christmas-themed.
During an online school event to promote Partypooper on October 17th, Kinney premiered an exclusive look at an original 45-second cut of the trailer, which was then shown at every venue of the Partypooper tour from the 19th to the 28th, accompanied with a new short clip. The trailer was released on November 14th, accompanied by a new poster and the film’s synopsis, which was pretty much in line with the synopsis of the original book:
When laid-back Greg finds himself at odds with his dad’s outsized expectations, pressure builds to turn his act around. After a series of hilarious near-disasters, Greg’s dad presents him with an ultimatum that just might challenge Greg’s wimpy ways for good.
The film was released in December and was accompanied by the release of the soundtrack by John Paesano and Adam Hochstatter. But how was the movie, anyway?
It’s Not a Diary, It’s Actually a Pretty Good Movie (Even If the Book Was a Little Better)
Just like I did for The Grinch, Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween and the first three films, I’m only going to give minor spoilers of the movie, as I mainly want to discuss the things about the film that worked and didn’t work, particularly the differences between the film, the original book and the third live action film. Now that the animated film series is adapting the books in order again, it brings us to the awkward fact that this next film is technically remaking yet another film in the live-action film series. And that was naturally going to lead to this film being put up to more scrutiny than the Cabin Fever film, but not as much scrutiny as the animated Rodrick Rules film, since the live-action Dog Days film only partially adapted The Last Straw. The film begins with Disney obnoxiously pointing out they own everything, maybe I should just stop pointing this out and let them win 2D animations of the books’ illustrations with Greg explaining how Frank bothers him during baths, weather, and church. Greg mentioning the taste of his breath is actually taken from the first book, which is actually a recurring thing in this movie that I’ll get more into later. Another thing I noticed was that Aaron D. Harris’s voice is actually slightly higher compared to Wesley Kimmel’s and Brady Noon’s, which actually makes it crazy that he already grew out of the role, though perhaps that’s a consequence of the Hollywood strikes slowing down the production.
But it’s when we get to the 3D animated parts that I noticed something else right away: slight improvements to the animation! The characters now have more varied facial expressions, and the frame rate was even slightly sped up, which brought a bit more life into the cast. This is without a doubt the result of bringing in Danner as director, but it could also be due to the delay caused by the Hollywood strikes that gave them more time to experiment. I still wouldn’t put it on the same level as the art style and animation of the Big Nate television series or the Max & the Midknights television series, but it’s still an improvement that these films really needed, and I hope the sequels retain this change even if a new director is brought in. Concept art was even released for the film which we haven’t gotten since the first movie, which is perhaps a testament to their commitment to improving the look of these films.
The Heffleys get ready to go to church, and in a sequence involving Greg destroying Christmas decorations, Mrs. Canfield is shown watching the actual live-action archival footage of Home Alone, which was a hilarious suspension of disbelief. The church scene itself adapts the scene with the chocolate stain on Greg’s pants. This was already adapted in the live-action Rodrick Rules film, though it’s nice to see the scene in a film adapting the book it was actually in. They get intercepted by the Warrens, who were interestingly race-swapped from white to black. If I had a nickel for every time this happened in animation, I’d have two nickels, which isn’t a lot, but it’s weird that it happened twice. The Warrens are even more minor characters than Mumblin in the Max & the Midknights television series though, so I’m not knocking it. Ultimately, the movie isn’t as Christmas-themed as I feared it would be. Although the church incident takes place on Easter in the book, that’s about it. And although the book began on New Year’s Day, it does mention some elements on Christmas Day anyway.
Susan talks to Frank about a snow removal business Greg and Rowley started called the V.I.P Snow Removal, adapting the V.I.P Lawn Service arc from Dog Days. Although the Dog Days film didn’t adapt the V.I.P Lawn Service arc, it’s a bit wary to see this movie adapt scenes from Dog Days in the same way the Dog Days film adapted scenes from The Last Straw. In a sequence in which Greg loses control of the lawn mower and wrecks Mrs. Canfield’s lawn, he gets bit by her dog, which gives us a moment I had been asking from these movies for a long time now: widened eyes! This is without a doubt a result of the improved animation, though they look like they’re literally bulging out of Greg’s eye sockets. I still would prefer the way the Max & the Midknights television series handled it, but I’ll take this over no widened eyes at all. Lenwood Heath then offers to help clean Greg’s mess, who was also race-swapped from white to black. Three nickels still aren’t a lot, but my only real complaint is that his design was a bit more different from Mr. Warren’s, as I actually didn’t realize that they were supposed to be different characters during the first watch. It also doesn’t help that Lenwood had a different hairstyle in the book.
Greg decides to join the Woodchippers, who are renamed from the Boy Scouts in the book, which the Dog Days film also did by renaming the Boy Scouts the Wilderness Explorers, a small but notable repeat of the Dog Days film. Troopmaster Barrett requests Frank to get Greg ready for the Woodchipper Elite role, who was also race-swapped from white to black, so it looks like I’ll be a rich man after all. Greg and Frank start off with the Physical Fitness badge at the gym, where Greg tries to help someone by trying to remove the weight on the barbell. This actually adapts a scene from Big Shot, which isn’t bad since the previous animated movies also adapted scenes from the post-Old School books, and the gym scene was actually one of the funniest scenes in Big Shot. Greg decides to pivot by participating in an election for Treasurer, when we see none other than Patty Farrell. Patty mostly appears in the first book, so it’s weird that we’re only now seeing her, and she looks shorter than I expected her to be. However, Greg mentions the moment in The Last Straw in which she doesn’t let anyone go to the bathroom, which justifies her longer role in the movie well enough. Also, Patty running for treasurer is adapted from Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Musical, a pretty left-field reference that’s actually a pretty cool change.
Still, it’s weird to see Greg mention the Wizard of Oz arc from the first book, which would have been much better to actually depict in the first animated movie. But that’s hardly as striking as the inclusion of the Safety Patrol arc, which played an even more important role in the first book. This would have been SO much better to place in the first animated movie and use that time to adapt more scenes from The Last Straw, though I guess it’s nice to see the Safety Patrol arc get adapted at all. Mr. Winsky was not only also race-swapped from white to black, but he was also gender-swapped to a woman, so it looks like we’re drowning in nickels in this movie. I know I keep emphasizing all these little changes to the minor characters, but it’s such an oddly interesting thing about this movie that the previous films didn’t do. Despite all this attention on the first book, I did appreciate the inclusion of the soccer arc, which wasn’t in the Dog Days film and was critical to Frank sending Greg to Spag Union, even if it was partly rushed by the 2D animations. Patty is also on the team, which gives her a good enough amount of screen time comparable to her roles in the live-action films.
Greg and Frank go on the Icy Pines Campout mentioned earlier in the movie, similarly to Greg and Frank going on the Wilderness Weekend in the Dog Days film. As far as being more faithful to the book than to its live-action movie, this is probably where the movie is weakest, which is a shame because it’s also the climax of the story. In the book, Greg proves to Frank that he doesn’t need to go to Spag Union when he tries to retrieve a blanket that Manny threw up a tree which the Heffleys gifted to Seth Snella for his half-birthday party, which Frank is convinced Greg did to keep him from performing in front of people. This moment was such an excellent payoff of multiple earlier plot threads in the book. But in the Dog Days film, Greg, Rowley, Fregley, and Chirag discover that Mr. Warren was a phony camper before they expose him, while in this film, Mr. Warren ends up going down a river and towards a waterfall before Greg leads the effort in rescuing him. The padded Boy Scouts arc in both films isn’t bad by any means, but neither version is as narratively clever, and the Dog Days film version is slightly better.
By the way, Chirag actually appears in this movie, going on the Icy Pines Campout with his father. This is bizarre considering that Chirag didn’t appear in the animated Rodrick Rules movie despite having a much larger role in that book. Abhiram Gulati takes over for Veda Maharaj, though he’s barely given much to work with, being reduced to a background character. They could’ve at least adapted the scene in which Greg and the other kids talk quietly around him to make him think he’s losing his hearing as an excuse to adapt the Invisible Chirag joke arc in this movie instead, similarly to what they did with Patty, but at least it’s nice to see him again at all. And also like the Dog Days film, Frank takes Greg to a motel where he tells him he won’t send him to Spag Union, unlike the book in which he tells this to Greg at home. He wakes up long after Frank was supposed to send him to Spag Union, which was a great segway into the reveal. Though there is one fun difference from the Dog Days film: they end up at the Sleep Tite Motel from The Long Haul, which was a nice final reference to a different book.
As far as omissions are concerned, this movie actually had remarkably little that bothered me compared to previous films. But there is one very obvious and disappointing elephant in the room: Holly Hills. I actually didn’t realize this until I did the research for this post, but Holly actually appears on the poster of the first animated film, and she does in fact cameo in the animated Rodrick Rules film, and her design looks fine from what we see of her. And she does technically get a name appearance in this movie. But that’s still criminal compared to her role in both the book and the live-action films. It would have been so easy to swap out the Safety Patrol arc or other scenes from other books for Holly’s arc in The Last Straw, which would’ve made the film SO much richer. But then again, any attempt to rival what Peyton List did is almost as comparable to Hunter Dillon’s attempt at filling in Devon Bostick’s shoes in the animated Rodrick Rules film, as much as I would have loved to see them try. But given how they handled Patty, perhaps we’re bound to see Holly in a future film anyway. Heck, I wouldn’t have even minded seeing Trista at the end, who remains full of untapped potential.
Ultimately, Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw is a pretty good movie that does a really good job at improving what came before, even compared to its predecessors. It understood that these movies were far from perfect, and sought to do a better job at not just being more faithful to its source material, but also being more aesthetically pleasing. Newer fans will absolutely like it, and while seasoned fans might still wonder what else could have been adapted from the book, they will definitely appreciate the improvements to the animation as well.
Overall, the film was easily the best animated Diary of a Wimpy Kid film so far, which I also said for the Cabin Fever film, while declaring the animated Rodrick Rules film to be slightly better than the first animated movie. This upward trend in quality is only a good sign for the animated film series, and it will be interesting to see in what ways Kinney and Disney can continue to improve these films, especially now that Dog Days and The Long Haul are the last two books in the series to adapt that have the legacy of the live-action film series to contend with, which could easily be sidelined for other books. And that’s what they seem to be doing by tackling The Getaway next. Sure, we might be bouncing between books in the series again, but like I said before, covering the post-Old School books present excellent opportunities to tell those stories better. And what’s interesting about the choice to adapt The Getaway next specifically is the fact that a live-action sequel adaptation to The Getaway was teased at the end of The Long Haul film, so we’re definitely going down the better timeline here.
One other thing: when looking at the social media reaction for the announcement of The Getaway film, I saw some people expressing surprise that there were already four animated movies. That’s probably due to the fact that these films are barely marketed compared to other movies, so anyone who hadn’t been keeping track of the animated film series was in for a shock when they decided to look it up again. And while it’s a negative perception of the films, it also seems to be more of an indicator of the quantity rather than the quality. With this latest movie, both the live-action and the animated film series have become quadrilogies, but The Getaway film will make the animated film series surpass the live-action film series in the number of entries. Which is why continuing to make these movies better is so important since Kinney chose to abandon Poptropica in favor of the animated film series. If we can’t get new islands or a Poptropica adaptation, then Kinney and Disney are going to have to do their best to justify their vision to give a film to every book in the series, especially a series that’s still ongoing. I’ll always love Diary of a Wimpy Kid, though, so it will be interesting to see how well they succeed.
Until we open up our diaries journals again, folks.
