The Ace Ventura franchise includes two theatrical feature films, an animated TV series, and a made-for-TV movie released between 1994 and 2009.The series centers on a quirky private investigator who specializes in finding missing animals.Jim Carrey originated the role of the eccentric pet detective.<\/p>\n
Jim Carrey<\/a> rose to fame on the sketch comedy series In Living Color, but it was the 1994 comedy Ace Ventura: Pet Detective<\/a> that made the manic scene-stealer a household name.\n<\/p>\n The hit comedy spawned a sequel, an animated TV series, a made-for-TV movie, and even a few video games.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n With the Ace Ventura films now available to stream on Netflix, there’s never been a better time to relive the laughs (or experience the chaos for the first time). Here’s how to watch every Ace Ventura movie and TV show in order.\n<\/p>\n Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994) <\/p>\n Jim Carrey as Ace Ventura in ‘Ace Ventura: Pet Detective’.<\/p>\n Warner Brothers\/Courtesy Everett\u00a0<\/p>\n Directed by Tom Shadyac<\/a>, who penned the script with Carrey and Jack Bernstein, Ace Ventura: Pet Detective stars Carrey as an animal sleuth in search of Snowflake, the kidnapped mascot of the Miami Dolphins.\n<\/p>\n When it hit theaters on Feb. 4, 1994, Ace Ventura: Pet Detective was a critical dud. Many panned the movie, particularly for its childish humor. Entertainment Weekly<\/a> wrote, “The film’s humor is pitched at that part of the brain that’s 5 years old and still gets off on li’l fuzzy animals, fart jokes, and braying, rubber-faced clowns.”\n<\/p>\n EW recognized Carrey as the movie’s saving grace, but said “the star runs out of things to do, and the movie runs out of helium like the B-level matinee it was meant to be all along.”\n<\/p>\n Despite the poor reception, the movie crushed it at the box office, earning more than $100 million worldwide on a $15 million budget. Not only did it spawn a franchise, but it served as the launching pad for Carrey’s meteoric rise to stardom.\n<\/p>\n Where to watch Ace Ventura: Pet Detective: Netflix<\/a>\n<\/p>\n Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls (1995) <\/p>\n Jim Carrey and a monkey in ‘Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls’.<\/p>\n Warner Brothers\/Getty<\/p>\n Written and directed by Steve Oedekerk, a friend of Carrey’s, Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls sends Ace to Africa to track down an endangered white bat.\n<\/p>\n Released roughly a year and a half after the original, the sequel was panned just as viciously by critics, though it managed to surpass its predecessor at the box office, raking in more than $200 million worldwide on a $30 million budget.\n<\/p>\n Still, it’s interesting to consider what the sequel might have looked like if Oscar-winning filmmaker Spike Jonze<\/a> had helmed it. He was among those vying for the job, and Carrey’s rising profile meant the star had a say in choosing the director. But Carrey passed on Jonze, as he had no experience directing feature films at the time.\n<\/p>\n In 2017, Carrey admitted he regretted the decision during a chat at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival. “I’ve been wanting to do something with Spike forever,” Carrey said (via ScreenCrush<\/a>). “I was stupid enough to turn him down to direct Ace [Ventura] 2, ’cause I had no idea who he was. \u2026 And I’ve been kicking myself ever since.”\u00a0\n<\/p>\n Where to watch Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls: Netflix<\/a>\n<\/p>\n Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1995\u20132000) <\/p>\n Ace Ventura (Michael Hall) in the animated series ‘Ace Ventura: Pet Detective’.<\/p>\n Roughly a month after When Nature Calls’ theatrical release, CBS debuted the animated series Ace Ventura: Pet Detective. The show ran for two seasons from 1995 to 1997, then moved to Nickelodeon for a third and final season from 1999 to 2000.\n<\/p>\n Set after the events of the movies, the series expands on the premise but sticks to the formula: Ace takes on cases involving lost or kidnapped animals. Along with his monkey sidekick, Spike, Ace embarks on fantastical missions that include rescuing Santa’s reindeer before Christmas and saving a dragon from an evil sorcerer.\n<\/p>\n Since Carrey did not return to voice Ace, Canadian voice actor Michael Hall stepped in.\n<\/p>\n Where to watch Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (animated series): Amazon Prime Video<\/a>\n<\/p>\n Ace Ventura Jr.: Pet Detective (2009) <\/p>\n Josh Flitter as Ace Ventura Jr. in ‘Ace Ventura Jr.: Pet Detective’.<\/p>\n Morgan Creek Productions<\/p>\n The third film in the Ace Ventura franchise arrived more than 15 years after the original. Ace Ventura Jr.: Pet Detective centers on Ace’s son, Ace Ventura Jr. (Josh Flitter), as he tries to live up to his father’s formidable legacy.\n<\/p>\n What starts as an investigation into missing pets at his school intensifies when Ace Jr. must step up to clear his mom’s (Ann Cusack) name after she’s wrongly accused of stealing a baby panda from the Miami Zoo.\n<\/p>\n Unlike the earlier films, this standalone sequel doesn’t involve Carrey. Critics were unimpressed; EW dismissed it as one of “the most random sequels.”<\/a>\n<\/p>\n