Migration (2023 film)
Migration is a 2023 American animated adventure comedy film produced by Universal Pictures and Illumination, and distributed by Universal. The film was directed by Benjamin Renner, co-directed by Guylo Homsy, and produced by Chris Meledandri, from a screenplay written by Mike White and a story by White and Renner. It stars the voices of Kumail Nanjiani, Elizabeth Banks, Keegan-Michael Key, Awkwafina, and Danny DeVito. The story follows a family of mallards who try to convince their overprotective father to go on a vacation of a lifetime and attempt to migrate from New England, through New York City, to Jamaica.
Migration
- Mike White
- Benjamin Renner
- Kumail Nanjiani
- Elizabeth Banks
- Keegan-Michael Key
- Awkwafina
- Carol Kane
- David Mitchell
- Isabela Merced
- Caspar Jennings
- Tresi Gazal
- Danny DeVito
Christian Gazal
Universal Pictures
- October 19, 2023 (VIEW Conference)
- December 22, 2023 (United States)
83 minutes[1]
United States
English
$72 million[2]
Illumination announced Migration in February 2022, with Renner, Homsy, and White attached as director, co-director, and writer, respectively. Renner, who had previously helmed traditionally animated films, was tasked with adapting his simple drawing style for a computer-animated film. In hiring Renner, studio head and producer Meledandri sought to focus on a filmmaker's vision for the project in comparison with Illumination's recent films. John Powell composed the score, marking his second collaboration with Illumination following The Lorax (2012).
Migration premiered at the VIEW Conference in Turin, Italy, on October 19, 2023, and was theatrically released in the United States on December 22. The film received generally positive reviews from critics and has grossed $295 million worldwide.
Plot[edit]
In Moosehead Pond, somewhere in a New England forest, anxious Mack Mallard prevents his kids, Dax and Gwen, from venturing into the outside world, much to the chagrin of his wife, Pam.
One day, the Mallards meet a flock of migrating ducks who are en route south to Jamaica, which the family finds interesting, but Mack forbids them to join. Pam tells Mack that he must open his eyes to the world outside him. That night, Mack talks with his aging Uncle Dan, who also does not want to leave the pond. However, Uncle Dan makes Mack re-evaluate his stance and he decides to let his family migrate, with Uncle Dan joining them at Gwen's behest.
However, shortly after taking off, they fly into a rainstorm, and take up shelter in a swamp underneath a boardwalk, where they encounter an elderly great blue heron named Erin, who brings them to her shack to spend the night with herself and her husband, Harry. Despite their frightening disposition, Erin proves their good intentions by saving Dax and Gwen from a catfish.
The following day, the Mallards arrive in New York City, where Uncle Dan falls behind and ends up getting the ducks in trouble with a flock of pigeons, led by the pugnacious Chump, but Pam's fiery disposition puts them in Chump's good graces. Chump leads them to her friend, Delroy, a Scarlet macaw who is from Jamaica, but lives caged by a human chef that owns him. Wanting to set Delroy free, Mack and Pam infiltrate the restaurant where the chef works to acquire a key to his cage. After evading the humans, they manage to get the key and free Delroy, who gratefully guides them to Jamaica.
While Gwen stops for a bathroom break, Mack discovers an entrance to a paradise full of pekins. The group begins to enjoy themselves, but Dax soon finds out the whole place is a duck farm, with the chef from earlier being one of its clients. Dax helps the pekins and his family escape the farm, but he loses his wing feathers after being stepped on by the chef, rendering him flightless. The birds stop to rest at a resort, where Mack scolds Dax for his heedless actions.
The chef finds the birds via helicopter and traps them in a net while Dax and Gwen manage to hide. Inside, the chef plans to kill Mack and Pam first as revenge, prompting Pam to give in to despair, only for Mack to raise her spirits. Using a salsa dance they learned at the restaurant, they attempt to push a button to release the birds, but the chef catches them in the act. At this point, Delroy has finally had enough, and he, Uncle Dan and the pekins pelt the chef with fruits and vegetables until he is knocked unconscious, hitting a button that causes the helicopter to drop him out, getting him caught in the net, as well as Pam and Mack, still stuck in their cage. They are saved and freed by their kids, with Dax having fixed his wings using some feathers that were lost when the chef kidnapped the birds. Both father and son silently reconcile.
Now led by Dax, the birds arrive in Jamaica, where Delroy reunites with his family and the Mallards catch up with the duck family who visited their pond earlier. The following spring, the family is about to head for home when Mack shows them a group of lost penguins that need to get to the South Pole, agreeing to help them get there.
Release[edit]
Theatrical[edit]
Migration's world premiere took place on October 19, 2023, as the grand summit matinee of the VIEW Conference expo in Turin, Italy.[20] The film was theatrically released in the United States on December 22,[21] and is the first animated film to be released worldwide in the ScreenX format.[22] It was released in stereoscopic 3D,[23] accompanied in theaters by the Despicable Me short film, Mooned.[24] The film was initially scheduled for release on June 30, 2023,[5] but was postponed to its current release date, with DreamWorks Animation's Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken taking its original date.[21] On June 14, 2023, Illumination gave a special 25-minute preview of Migration at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival, with Renner and Meledandri attending the event.[9]
Home media[edit]
Migration was released on digital download on January 23, 2024,[25] and on DVD, Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD on February 27. It includes three short films: Fly Hard, Mooned, and Midnight Mission.[26]
The film was made available to stream on NBCUniversal's Peacock streaming service on April 19, 2024.[27] As part of their 18-month deal with Netflix, the film is streaming on Peacock for the first four months of the pay-TV window, then will move to Netflix for the next ten, and then will return to Peacock for the remaining four.[28][29]
Reception[edit]
Box office[edit]
As of April 18, 2024, Migration has grossed $127.3 million in the United States and Canada, and $168.3 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $295.6 million.[3][4]
In the United States and Canada, Migration was released alongside Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, Anyone but You and The Iron Claw, and was projected to gross $10–15 million from 3,761 theaters in its four-day opening weekend.[30] The film made $5.8 million on its first day, including $1.5 million from Thursday night previews. It went on to debut with $12.5 million, finishing third at the box office, and marked Illumination's lowest-grossing opening weekend.[31][32] In its second weekend, the film made $17.2 million, finishing second.[33] Migration then made $10 million in its third weekend of release, finishing in fourth place.[34][35]
Critical response[edit]
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 73% of 99 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6.3/10. The website's consensus reads: "Beautiful animation and entertaining work from a talented voice cast help Migration take flight in spite of a story that doesn't quite stand out from the flock."[36] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 56 out of 100, based on 25 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.[37] Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale, while PostTrak reported 79% of filmgoers gave it a positive score, with 52% saying they would definitely recommend the film.[31]
A positive review for the French newspaper La Croix, although finding the plot rather predictable, gave the film 3 stars out of 5 and praised its sense of burlesque.[38] Michael Ordoña of the Los Angeles Times similarly critiqued the plot's predictability. They, however, praised the film for differing from Illumination's previous filmography, particularly in the animation, humor, and voice performances.[39] Lovia Gyarkye of The Hollywood Reporter praised the film's direction, humor, and emotional core and concluded that its "considerable appeal perhaps lies in the simplicity of its premise: The hardest part of embarking on any new journey is taking off."[40] Writing for the San Francisco Chronicle, Zaki Hassan compared Migration favorably to Illumination's other 2023 film, The Super Mario Bros. Movie, saying, "While that film found success thanks to multigenerational nostalgia, this one soars higher by creating an original world and making the audience feel invested in the characters’ journeys."[41] Aparita Bhandari of The Globe and Mail felt that the film retained a balance between appealing to younger and older audiences and directed particular praise to Tresi Gazal's voice performance.[13]
Soren Andersen of The Seattle Times gave the film a 2 out of 4 star rating and, in contrast, felt the film lacked appeal for older audiences, criticizing its lack of subtlety in its themes.[42] Jake Coyle of the Associated Press commended the animation for its "warm cartoon tones" and "lush sense of color," but felt that the story was unoriginal, writing that "it never quite spreads its wings."[43] Kristen Page-Kirby of The Washington Post also directed praise at the animation, but felt the story lacked memorability and concluded, "Migration will be remembered as neither great nor terrible. It will simply fade into the cinematic ether like so many ducks in the wind."[44] Ryan Gaur of IGN gave the film a 5 out of 10 and felt that Migration was a step above Illumination's previous filmography with its animation and character dynamics, but was still weighed down by a tedious story and the occasional "typical brand of Illumination humor."[45]