Directed by John Schultz from a screenplay by McDonald and Kathy Waugh, it introduces Australian actress Jordana Beatty as the titular girl in a contest for the best summer with friends Amy Namey (Taylar Hender), who is off to Borneo; and Rockford "Rocky" Zang (Garrett Ryan), who is going to circus camp.

Since her parents (Janet Varney and Kristoffer Winters) are off to California, Judy is stuck with her younger brother Stink (Parris Mosteller) and her free-spirited aunt Opal (Heather Graham).

Judy Moody and the Not Bummer Summer was the second project of couple and Smokewood Entertainment owners Sara Siegel-Magness and Gary Magness, following the commercially and critically well-received film festival hit Precious (2009).

The adaptation's two-month shooting, which started in late August 2010; tracking of the score; and production of the animated sequences took place in and around Los Angeles, in order for Schultz to attend the birth of his child.

Couple Sarah Siegel-Magness and Gary Magness of Smokewood Entertainment, after finishing Precious (2009),[5] planned their next project to be an adaptation of a Judy Moody novel after their daughter read one.

[6] On February 1, 2011, Relativity Media, a distributor with thrillers and adult comedy films in most of its line-up, acquired rights to domestically distribute Judy Moody and the Not Bummer Summer.

"[8] Despite auditioning several actresses for the role of Judy, the studio failed to find a suitable one; a producer instructed Megan McDonald to look for one, and after some online research, the author found an image of Jordana Beatty: "I saw this wild, crazy red hair and this big smile and said, 'That's IT!

'"[10] McDonald had little expectations the producers would have her join;[10] however, following a Skype audition,[11] she was cast on July 21, 2010, for her "natural enthusiasm, humor and charismatic charm," reasoned Sarah Siegel-Magness.

[17]: 46  The UN Zone set was built on an empty San Pedro space next to a river,[17]: 48  and the day of filming it was 113 degrees Fahrenheit, breaking the Los Angeles thermometer.

[14] To have the score sound like comedy films such as Home Alone (1990) and Back to the Future (1985), Schultz decided to have the music performed by a total of 80 union members and musicians local to Los Angeles; this was unusual in a film industry becoming more reliant on sampled instruments, synthesizers, nonunion musicians, and tax credits to cut budgets, and recordings of scores taking place more often in London than in Los Angeles.

[20][21] The previous decade depicted poor box office numbers of book adaptations following female tween leads, such as Ella Enchanted (2004), Nancy Drew (2007), and Ramona and Beezus (2010).

[22] Ray Subers of Box Office Mojo predicted lame results with the Judy Moody film, citing the poor performance of Ramona and Beezus and movies based on non-fantasy books in general (excluding Diary of a Wimpy Kid).

Strowbridge for his predictions, as well as another Schultz-directed family film Aliens in the Attic (2009); feeling the Relativity-distributed feature would be a moderate hit at best, he forecasted Judy Moody's chances being harmed by its cast devoid of actors its demographic were familiar with.

[27] Strowbridge diagnosed the film's second-week staying power as low for a children's flick, and suggested it may have been due to competition of the newly entered Mr. Popper's Penguins.

[1] It grossed a total of $15,013,650 throughout its United States run; while the 132nd highest domestic-grossing film of 2011,[29] it failed to make up its $20 million budget and, ranked The Hollywood Reporter, was the seventh-biggest box office bomb that summer.

[36] Generally, critics claimed that while children may enjoy the film, adults will be turned off[37][38] by its loudness,[39][40][41][42][43] overly-quick pace,[44] lack of charm,[44] and a disjointed story.

"[47] Brent Simon of Screen Daily called it inferior to films like Shorts (2009) and Matilda (1996), "exaggerated tales of adolescent adventure that this tiresome effort fitfully seems to want to emulate.

"[48] One of the few critics who felt the film would appeal to all ages was Movies.com journalist Grae Drake, exclaiming that it had "lots of fun computer animation, snappy dialogue, and an occasional shot of Heather Graham running.

"[49] Sandie Angulo Chen of Common Sense Media gave the film a rate two stars out of five, describing as a "popular book heroine gets a bummer adaptation.

"[50] Reviews frequently noted how the plot felt like a series of non-related skits instead of a single movie;[39][44][46][51] and how its comedy wouldn't appeal to anyone over five years old,[44] with particular criticism of its emphasis on bodily functions.

"[58] However, Peter Bradshaw admitted that while Judy Moody and the Not Bummer Summer may appeal only to kids, it was "oddly amiable some of the time, and better done than our recent British equivalent Horrid Henry.

[60] Whitty wrote the characters consisted of "two utterly idiotic and mostly off-screen parents, a smart-mouthed star who gets away with everything," "a supporting cast of junior weirdos who exist only to get roped into her schemes," and an aunt that looks "slightly insane, her eyes two huge blue pools of desperation.

[51][61] Sight & Sound's Vadim Rizov categorized the trajectory as "a case of steadily diminishing returns on zero to begin with," citing Judy's constant need to have things go her way which Rizov considered to "lower the bar" of kid's media: "From the opening scenes of Judy petulantly freaking out about her parents' inability to pay for a summer vacation in Borneo, then retreating to sulk in her room for the rest of the season, it's hard to work up any empathy for her.

"[51] The Boston Globe's Wesley Morris explained that she was so committed to having "quantifying and commodifying fun" during the summer, and that "Anything that deviates from Judy's wishes is a buzz kill and warrants a retaliatory tantrum.

[61] The Austin Chronicle claimed "Beatty's exuberance and uncombed mop of red hair are deliciously appealing" but disliked Graham's acting as "too anemic to be anything but a bubbly, post-porn Rollergirl gone artsy" instead of an aunt character.

[43] Simon more harshly critiqued the performances as over-acted and unsuitable with the "more naturalistic backdrop," considering it "ironic that had it been a bit more fanciful and outlandish in its construction, Judy Moody could have arguably met with more success in capturing the urgent, heightened stakes of prepubescent playtime.