Ms. Anne Parducci reports

SEE MADEA LIKE NEVER BEFORE IN TYLER PERRY'S FIRST ANIMATED FAMILY FILM, "TYLER PERRY'S MADEA'S TOUGH LOVE"

Writer/director/producer Tyler Perry makes his first foray into family animation with the release of Tyler Perry's Madea's Tough Love arriving on DVD (plus digital) and on demand Jan. 20, 2015, from Lionsgate Entertainment Corp. The film will be available on digital HD one week earlier on Jan. 13.

Having conquered stage and screen, Mr. Perry has now turned his attention to creating entertaining programs specifically for families to enjoy together. In Mr. Perry's first animated film, fans of Madea can now watch all of their favourite characters including Madea, Uncle Joe and Aunt Bam in a whole new way. The larger than life Madea gets herself into even more over-the-top and outrageous situations -- all in the name of helping children save their youth centre.

The comic adventure features the voice talent of Mr. Perry as Madea and Uncle Joe, among others, and Cassi Davis (television's House Of Payne) as Aunt Bam, along with Rolonda Watts (television's Curious George), Avery Kidd Waddell (Road Trip), William (Bootsy) Collins (Night at the Museum) and Cree Summer (television's WordGirl). Tyler Perry's Madea's Tough Love is based on Madea, created by Mr. Perry from a story by Ben Chambers, screenplay by Matt Fleckenstein, supervising director is Frank Marino and produced for Tyler Perry Studios by Mr. Perry, Ozzie Areu and Matt Moore.

"We are thrilled to partner with Tyler Perry on the launch of Madea's Tough Love," said Anne Parducci, Lionsgate's executive vice-president of marketing and family entertainment. "Given the tremendous success and appeal of his beloved character Madea across screen and plays for the past 15 years, we know fans and families will love to watch and laugh with Madea in her first animated movie."

After a hilarious run-in with the law, Madea is sentenced to community service. Determined to do good for the hood, Madea enlists Aunt Bam and Uncle Joe to try and save the Moms Mabley Youth Centre from being shut down. With her irresistible sass and wisdom, Madea rallies the local kids to make a stand, and proves that behind her tough exterior is a whole lot of love.

Including a behind the scenes look at the making of the film and a sketch to screen storyboard comparison that show Mr. Perry in the recording studio voicing his characters, the Tyler Perry's Madea's Tough Love DVD will be available for the suggested retail price of $19.98. Madea fans can get a sneak peek of the movie starting Nov. 25 when Introducing Tyler Perry's Madea's Tough Love debuts as a special feature on Mr. Perry's Madea Christmas Blu-ray, DVD and digital HD.

DVD special features (subject to change):

• Madea gets animated featurette;
• Madea's storyboard comparison featurette.

Program information

Year of production:  2014

Title copyright:  Tyler Perry's Madea's Tough Love, copyright Very Perry Films. All rights reserved. Artwork and supplementary materials copyright 2014 Lions Gate Entertainment. All rights reserved.

Type:  Home entertainment release

Rating:  PG for some rude humour and brief scary images

Genre:  Family, animation, kids

DVD closed captioned:  Not available

Subtitles:  English and Spanish

Feature run time:  64 minutes

DVD format:  16 by nine widescreen (1.78:1)

DVD audio status:  English and Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital

About Tyler Perry

Mr. Perry is an established American actor, director, screenwriter, producer, playwright and author. Born into poverty and raised in a household scarred by abuse, Mr. Perry fought from a young age to find the strength, faith and perseverance that would later form the foundations of his work. Mr. Perry started his career writing plays, many of which later became the inspiration for his film projects and included the introduction of the now-legendary Madea character, played by Mr. Perry himself.

Mr. Perry's first feature film, Diary of a Mad Black Woman, debuted at No. 1 nationwide in 2005. His ensuing films, Madea's Family Reunion, Daddy's Little Girls, Why Did I Get Married, Meet The Browns, The Family That Preys, I Can Do Bad All by Myself, Why Did I Get Married Too, For Colored Girls, Madea's Big, Happy Family, Good Deeds and Madea's Witness Protection, have all been met with massive commercial success, delighting audiences across America and around the world.

He also starred in the Rob Cohen-directed Alex Cross, helped release Academy Award-nominated Precious and has a role opposite Ben Affleck in David Fincher's film Gone Girl. Mr. Perry has also made his mark in the television space, with the TBS series House of Payne and Meet the Browns, in addition to his collaborations with Oprah Winfrey on her cable network, OWN.

Mr. Perry was most recently seen in his 34th Street Film's production, which he also directed, Single Mom's Club. A new show for OWN entitled If Loving You Is Wrong, based on the film, will premiere later in the year.