A local scientist is often regarded as a failure until he invents a machine that can make food fall from the sky. But little does he know that things are about to take a turn for the worst.
Flint Lockwood thinks he's a genius. But none of the things he invented are things that make sense or are useful. However, he has the support of his mother but when she dies, he's left alone with his father who thinks he should give it up. When the community that he lives in is in an economic crisis because their primary source of income, a sardine cannery, was shut down, Flint decides to try his latest invention, a machine that can turn water into food. But something goes wrong and the machine ends up in the atmosphere. Later it starts raining food. The shifty mayor tries to use this as a way to help their community, but when Flint senses something wrong with the machine, the mayor convinces him to ignore it. However, as Flint predicts, chaos ensues.—[email protected]
Flint Lockwood has always wanted to make the world a better place. But all of his inventions are not useful. Until he creates a machine that can turn water into food. And when he tests it in front of his hometown, Swallow Falls, he accidentally launches it into the sky. And makes food rain from the sky. But when Flint thinks he's helped his town, disasters start occurring when people ask for more food.
A local scientist, Flint Lockwood (Bill Hader), has always been a failure, but when his town is stuck eating gross sardines, Flint wants to help the town so that they don't have to eat sardines anymore. So he invents a machine called The FLDSMDFR, (Flint Lockwood Diatomic Super Mutating Dynamic Food Replicator), a machine that can turn water into food. And he sends it up into the atmosphere and makes food rain from the sky. But suddenly, things get out of hand when The FLDSMDFR creates dangerous food storms. It's up to Flint to stop The FLDSMDFR before it turns the world into a monstrous Foodtopia.
An inventor named Flint Lockwood, who is often regarded as a failure, suddenly invents a machine that can turn water into food. When he accidentally shoots it into the sky, it rains food everywhere in Swallow Falls. But when the machine has a mind of its own and creates a food hurricane, Flint finds he may have bitten off more than he can chew.
At a young age, Flint Lockwood has always wanted to invent something interesting; however, his inventions malfunctioned, such as the Remote-Control Television, Hair Un-Balder, The Flying Car, Rat-bird hybrids, and a Spray-On formula (labeled "Spray-On Shoes") that have permanently trapped his feet in a solid sealant. He grew up misunderstood by his father, Tim (James Caan). His mother, Fran (Lauren Graham), always believed he could succeed; however, she died almost 10 years before the story, leaving Flint with his father. They live in Swallow Falls, a town located on an island under the "A" in "Atlantic" as printed on a map. Since the Baby Brent Sardine cannery closed down, the economy fell and left Swallow Falls with sardines as their one and only source of food.
About a decade later, Flint (Bill Hader), along with the assistance of his pet monkey, Steve (Neil Patrick Harris), who speaks through a thought translator (the Monkey Thought Translator), invents a machine that uses microwave radiation to mutate water into food, called the FLDSMDFR (The Flint Lockwood Diatonic Super Mutating Dynamic Food Replicator). The machine requires a lot of electricity to work, so Flint sneaks out of his father's fishing tackle shop while he is watching Mayor Shelbourne (Bruce Campbell) and "Baby" Brent McHale (Andy Samberg) unveiling a new tourist attraction, Sardine Land. Flint is stopped by police officer Earl Devereaux (Mr. T) but gets away.
Flint then goes to the power plant and hooks up the machine. The machine absorbs millions of megawatts of electricity and ends up rocketing through town and shooting up into the stratosphere, destroying Sardine Land. Flint, a failure, runs away and goes under one of the docks. While recuperating from his failure, he meets Samantha "Sam" Sparks (Anna Faris), a weather intern for the Weather News Network in New York whose big break was foiled by Flint's actions while reporting the events about Sardine Land. The two witness violet clouds floating over the town that rain cheeseburgers, much to everyone's surprise and joy.
Realizing his achievement, Flint invents a communication device to send orders to the FLDSMDFR which is resting in the stratosphere. He starts working for Mayor Shelbourne, and Sam broadcasts Swallow Falls (now renamed Chewandswallow) attracting tourists. He also did an ice-cream snow day for the birthday of Earl's only son, Calvin "Cal" Devereaux (Bobbie J. Thompson). Everyone is going well until Tim fails to show appreciation for his son, and worst of all, more and more people (including the Mayor) start greedily requesting food for Flint to rain.
The more food that is ordered will require more clouds for the machine to collect and make the food. Flint notices that the food is beginning to rain in massive quantities, but the Mayor (now morbidly obese) sees it as a better outcome for him and the city, and Flint is forced to agree. He orders spaghetti and meatballs at the mayor's direction for the grand re-opening ceremony.
The next day, citizens and worldly tourists crowd Chewandswallow and cheer on Flint who cuts the ribbon. Suddenly, a large destructive tornado formed of spaghetti and meatballs threatens the town. Flint rushes to the lab to turn the FLDSMDFR off but finds the Mayor ordering dinner. Flint attempts to send a 'kill code' to stop the machine. However, the Mayor accidentally destroys the communication device while trying to stop Flint from turning off the machine. Flint asks the Mayor what he exactly ordered, and the Mayor timidly replies to Flint that he ordered a Vegas-style all-you-can-eat buffet.
A massive food storm threatens the world and Flint loses hope. However, his father encourages him to fix the mess and hands him his lab coat that he lost in the recent disaster. Flint gains confidence and places the kill code in a USB flash drive and invents the Flying Car 2, but is then met by the angry townspeople, who, told by the Mayor, want to get back at him for dooming their world. Fortunately, Earl comes to the rescue, stating that the townspeople themselves are to blame since they have been pushing Flint into making so many orders in the first place.
Realizing this, the townspeople agree and spare Flint, allowing him, Sam, her cameraman, Manny (Benjamin Bratt), Steve, and Brent to set out to destroy the FLDSMDFR and save the world while they work together with the remaining tourists to escape Chewandswallow. Entering the stratosphere, they find that the machine is the sole core of a giant meatball - a Meateroid - and that it is aware of the heroes so it sends sentient food to attack them (starting with a pizza). In the chaos, Flint loses the kill code when the flash drive flies out of the Flying Car 2. Flint calls his father who instructs him to enter his lab and send the kill code to his cell phone. Flint, Sam, and Brent enter the Meateroid but Flint is forced to carry on to the machine solo since Brent must fight off sentient roast chicken while inside one and Sam cuts herself on peanut brittle, to which she is allergic and therefore must get access to an Epi-pen.
Meanwhile in Chewandswallow, the citizens and tourists, with the help of Earl, escape on boats made of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches under Earl's orders, while the Mayor escapes on the first one (and soon begins to eat it). Mt. Leftovers collapses, causing an avalanche of food - a Foodalanche - to destroy Chewandswallow. The Foodalanche covers Flint's Lab with Tim still trying to send Flint the kill code. However, he survives, and he successfully clicks send. Flint encounters the machine and jams the phone into the USB port. However, Tim had sent him the wrong document, but Flint destroys the machine by using his Spray-On formula into the food extraction hole. Sam and Brent escape the Meateroid before it explodes. They return to the aftermath of Chewandswallow. Flint returns safe and alive carried by his Ratbirds. Tim finally shows his appreciation for Flint and Flint and Sam celebrate and they kiss.
The end credits show that everyone is now using a new machine to change the world into a food paradise, while the Mayor (having eaten his peanut-butter-and-jelly-sandwich boat and is lost at sea - literally) is deflated back to his normal size and arrested for his greedy actions.
