The Planet of Junior Brown | |
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Directed by | Clement Virgo |
Produced by |
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Written by | Clement Virgo Cameron Bailey |
Based on | The Planet of Junior Brown by Virginia Hamilton |
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Release date
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Running time
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91 minutes |
Country | Canada |
Language | English |
The Planet of Junior Brown, retitled Junior's Groove in some releases, is a Canadian drama film released in 1997. Directed by Clement Virgo, the film was written by Virgo and Cameron Bailey as an adaptation of Virginia Hamilton's 1971 novel The Planet of Junior Brown.
The film stars Martin Villafana as the titular Junior Brown, an overweight and schizophrenic child prodigy studying piano from music teacher Miss Peebs (Margot Kidder). The film's cast also includes Rainbow Sun Francks, Clark Johnson, Lynn Whitfield, Sarah Polley, Richard Chevolleau, Denis Akiyama and Dan Lett.
The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 6, 1997, but was distributed primarily as a CBC Television film airing in November of that year. The film aired on Showtime and Fox Family Channel in the United States in 1999, following which Whitfield won the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Performance in a Youth/Children's Series or Special in 2000.