Daddy Day Care (known in Japan as: Charlie and 14 kids) is a 2003 American comedy film, starring Eddie Murphy. It was written by Geoff Rodkey and was directed by Steve Carr. It was released in theaters on May 9, 2003. It was produced by Revolution Studios and released by Columbia Pictures. Although the film was financially successful, grossing $164 million worldwide on a budget of $60 million plus prints and advertising, its 2007 sequel Daddy Day Camp, starring Cuba Gooding Jr., was almost universally panned by critics and bombed in the box office.

Charles "Charlie" Hinton (Eddie Murphy) is a busy working father and his wife, Kim (Regina King) has just gone back to work as a lawyer. They enroll their child, Ben (Khamani Griffin), in Chapman Academy, a very academic pre-school headed by Miss Harridan (Anjelica Huston). Soon after, Charlie is laid off. In need of money, he opens up a day care center, "Daddy Day Care" with the help of his best friend Phil Ryerson (Jeff Garlin). At first, the local moms are suspicious of men wanting to work with children (mainly because they think they are homosexual or child molesters). But as "Daddy Day Care" is cheaper and more child-centered than the academy, the latter begins to lose popularity. Miss Harridan attempts to shut down Daddy Day Care by notifying child services that Charlie and Phil are not following the regulations.

Edward Regan "Eddie" Murphy (born April 3, 1961) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, singer, director, and musician.

Box office takes from Murphy's films make him the second-highest grossing actor in the United States. He was a regular cast member on Saturday Night Live from 1980 to 1984 and has worked as a stand-up comedian. He was ranked #10 on Comedy Central's list of the 100 Greatest Stand-ups of All Time.

He has received Golden Globe Award nominations for his performances in 48 Hrs, Beverly Hills Cop series, Trading Places, and The Nutty Professor. In 2007, he won the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor and received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of soul singer James "Thunder" Early in Dreamgirls.

Eddie Murphy's work as a voice actor includes Thurgood Stubbs in The PJs, Donkey in the Shrek series and the dragon Mushu in Disney's Mulan. In some of his films, he plays multiple roles in addition to his main character, intended as a tribute to one of his idols Peter Sellers, who played multiple roles in Dr. Strangelove and elsewhere. Murphy has played multiple roles in Coming to America, Wes Craven's Vampire In Brooklyn, the Nutty Professor films (where he played the title role in two incarnations, plus his father, brother, mother, and grandmother), Bowfinger, Norbit, and Meet Dave.

Jeffrey "Jeff" Garlin (born June 5, 1962) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, producer, voice artist, director, writer and author, best known for his role as Jeff Greene on the HBO show Curb Your Enthusiasm. He is also a producer on the show.

Garlin was born in Chicago, Illinois on June 5, 1962 and grew up in Morton Grove, Illinois where his father had a plumbing supply business and his mother was active in community theater. Garlin is Jewish and attended Hebrew school. He graduated from Fort Lauderdale's Nova High School in 1980. He attended Broward Community College followed by a stint at the University of Miami, but eventually dropped out. He began performing stand-up comedy there.

In 1984, at the age of 22, Garlin moved back to Chicago, to perform with the comedy troupe The Second City, into which he had been accepted, as well as to pursue a stand-up comedy career there. Several years later, he was roommates with Conan O'Brien, who was then a comedy writer. (He remains close to O'Brien, and after O'Brien was removed as host of The Tonight Show in 2010 so that Jay Leno could return, Garlin stated that he would not be a guest on the show again.)