Migration is a 2023 American animated adventure comedy film directed by Benjamin Renner and written by Mike White, from a story they developed. Produced by Illumination and Universal Pictures, the film 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.
Illumination announced Migration in February 2022, with Renner and White attached as director and writer, respectively. Renner, who had previously helmed traditionally animated films, including Ernest & Celestine (2012) and The Big Bad Fox and Other Tales... (2017), was tasked with adapting his simple drawing style for a computer-animated film. In hiring Renner, studio head and producer Chris 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 by Universal Pictures. The film received generally positive reviews from critics and grossed $301.2 million worldwide.
Plot
In New England, anxious Mack Mallard discourages his children Dax and Gwen from venturing beyond their home Moosehead Pond, to the displeasure of his wife Pam. One day, the pond is visited by a flock of ducks who are migrating south to Jamaica. After Mack initially refuses to migrate, a disappointed Pam tells Mack that he must open his eyes to the world before he misses the opportunity. That night, Mack decides to let his family migrate after being persuaded by Uncle Dan, who also joins them. As they begin their journey, the Mallards discover that they are flying in the opposite direction.
During a thunderstorm, they take shelter in a swamp underneath a boardwalk where they encounter elderly great blue heron Erin, who invites them to spend the night with her and her husband Harry in their shack. Despite the herons' frightening countenances, Erin proves their good intentions by saving Dax and Gwen from a catfish that almost swallows them whole. The next day after leaving the swamp, the Mallards arrive in New York City where Uncle Dan gets them in trouble with a flock of pigeons, led by the pugnacious Chump. Pam defuses the situation, and Chump introduces them to her friend Delroy, a homesick scarlet macaw from Jamaica who is caged by a cruel human chef that kidnapped him from his home. Despite Dax's plea to help get the key, Mack and Pam infiltrate the restaurant where the chef works to acquire the key to Delroy's cage and manage to free him; he guides them to Jamaica in return.
While Gwen stops for a bathroom break, the group finds an entrance to a resort inhabited by pekins. They enjoy the resort until Dax discovers it is a duck farm, with the chef from the restaurant earlier being its current client to purchase the pekins for food. Mack tells Dax to go back to Pam, but he instead alerts the pekins in order to help save them. However, he loses his wing feathers after being stepped on by the chef, rendering him flightless while Mack saves him. The family, Delroy, and the pekins narrowly escape the farm. They stop at a seaside motel to rest, where Mack sternly scolds Dax for disobeying him and putting his life at risk, upsetting Dax.
Later after the sun sets, the chef catches up and finds the birds via helicopter, capturing them all except for Dax and Gwen, who hide. Inside the helicopter, the chef intends to kill Mack and Pam first as revenge, putting them both in a smaller, separate cage. Feeling hopeless and fearing the kids are lost, Pam begins regretting their migration until Mack bolsters her confidence, knowing she never gave up on anything, especially on him. Using a salsa dance they did back at the restaurant, and with Delroy and Uncle Dan's assistance, Mack and Pam try to reach a button to open the larger cage the others are trapped in, but the chef catches them in the act. A vengeful Delroy, aided by Uncle Dan and the pekins, pelts the chef with food as payback until he is knocked unconscious, hitting the trapdoor button as he, along with Mack and Pam, fall out. The chef gets caught in the cargo net, while the caged Mack and Pam continue to fall until Dax and Gwen save them, after Dax had used Delroy's discarded feathers to repair his wings. Mack and Dax reconcile while Delroy, Uncle Dan, and the pekins escape by breaking through their cage.
Now led by Dax, the birds arrive in Jamaica, where Delroy reunites with his family and friends while the Mallards catch up with the duck family who visited their pond earlier. Mack thanks Pam for helping him open his eyes to the world, and the birds soon dance in celebration. The following spring, the Mallards meet a group of Emperor penguins, whom they help bring back to the South Pole as the Mallards set off on another adventure.
Voice cast
Kumail Nanjiani as Mack Mallard, the patriach of his family Elizabeth Banks as Pam Mallard, the daring and quick-witted wife of Mack Caspar Jennings as Dax Mallard, Mack and Pam's confident and restless older son Tresi Gazal as Gwen Mallard, Mack and Pam's innocent younger daughter Danny DeVito as Uncle Dan, Mack's curmudgeonly, adventure-averse uncle, Dax and Gwen's great-uncle Keegan-Michael Key as Delroy, a homesick Jamaican-accented scarlet macaw locked away in a restaurant in New York Awkwafina as Chump, the gruff, one-footed leader of a New York pigeon gang Carol Kane as Erin, an elderly great blue heron whom the Mallards befriend on their journey David Mitchell as GooGoo, the yogic leader of an American Pekin flock who join the Mallards and Delroy on their journey after escaping their farm Isabela Merced as Kim, a duck whose family is heading to Jamaica
, who previously voiced the Wolf in the French dub of Benjamin Renner's previous animated film The Big Bad Fox and Other Tales..., voices the unnamed chef who hunts down Mack and his family, though he has no speaking lines since the character only yells and growls. In the UK edition, musician Tom Fletcher and his wife, actress Giovanna Fletcher, cameo as the ducks Joe and Ellie.
Production Development and writing
In February 2022, Illumination announced a new film titled Migration, with French animator and comic book creator Benjamin Renner set to direct and Mike White set to pen the script. In April 2023, more film crew such as co-director Guylo Homsy, editor Christian Gazal, and production designer Colin Stimpson were revealed. Renner previously directed the traditionally animated films Ernest & Celestine (2012) and The Big Bad Fox and Other Tales... (2017), and was already a household name among the staff of Illumination Studios Paris prior to his involvement with the company. Illumination head and film producer Chris Meledandri hired Renner to direct the studio's first original project since 2016 for his filmmaking sensibility, stating that during his visit to the Annecy International Animation Film Festival that there is a "filmmaker attention" for Migration in comparison with Illumination's recent releases up to The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023). Overall, the budget was $72 million at minimum.
Renner described Migration as Little Miss Sunshine (2006), but with ducks. The film's tone becomes more tense as the story progresses. Renner drew influences from his childhood experiences and dynamics with his family when making humorous situations for the Mallard family. Gwen and the situations surrounding her character are inspired by his experiences as the youngest sibling in his family. When shaping the film's humor, Renner wanted to avoid "lazy jokes", which he felt were common in family films. He aimed for a sense of humor that could appeal to both children and adults. For example, he made sure that any slapstick humor in the film was both thought through and had an extra dimension to it. Additionally, a general rule he made for himself was for there to be no fart jokes. The filmmakers sought to treat the humans in the film in the way they believed ducks perceived them. Renner said, "The humans are treated like animals in the movie, in that only the birds understand each other."
White described the film as using a "comedic fantasy landscape" to explore its central themes. He said that the film has more depth than a standard children's film and a lot of Illumination's output, but still retains a zaniness that appeals to children. Renner described the main theme in the film as "getting out of your comfort zone, facing life, and accepting that fear is part of life."
Casting In April 2023, Kumail Nanjiani, Elizabeth Banks, Keegan-Michael Key, Awkwafina, Danny DeVito, Caspar Jennings, Tresi Gazal (in her film debut), David Mitchell, and Carol Kane were announced to be part of the film's lead voice cast. Renner made sure that the cast members connected with their respective characters. For example, Nanjiani's love for routine and his stand-up comedy sketches of him complaining about things made him connect with Mack, while Banks is open to trying new things and new experiences, making her connect with Pam. Tresi is the daughter of the film's editor, Christian Gazal, and was brought in to provide scratch vocals for Gwen. She would end up voicing the character in the finished film.
Animation and design The film's animation was handled by Illumination Studios Paris. Renner was tasked with adapting his minimalist drawing style from previous films for a computer-animated film, which requires more extensive detail; he had previously designed the visuals for the French-Belgian computer-animated film about migrating birds titled Yellowbird (2014), which was noted for not strictly adhering to photorealism. Renner described the difference between traditional animation and computer animation as being that the former is additive while the latter is subtractive. Working with computer animation, the director found that there were many elements he felt did not belong, such as texture, lighting and shading. For the opening scene, Renner wanted to do something that was visually different from the rest of the film. He said that it is "a story before we get to the real story of the film." The scene is not actually traditional animation, but rather computer animation that looks traditional. Renner first did the scene using traditional animation, and then the team recreated it using computer animation, keeping as close to the reference as possible.
For Migration, Renner explained that he took inspiration from naturally expressive animals in the wild in creating characters that have distinctly expressive features in their designs. He described the ducks as challenging to design by the team. He recalled a team of 50 animators studying a real duck at Illumination. Stimpson said, "Ducks are strange, complex-looking creatures and they all look alike!" As a result, designing the characters to both look appealing and distinct from one another was difficult. Nature was the main inspiration for the color palette of the film; it contrasted with the more heightened color palettes of previous Illumination films. A trip Stimpson took to New York City helped in forming the location in the film. According to Stimpson, great care was taken in portraying Jamaica. The setting in which the Mallards arrive is inspired by the country's Blue Mountains. The visuals in the scene with the heron couple were inspired by The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920). That scene is followed by one with the Mallards flying through the clouds. Renner's view of the clouds during his plane trips to Illumination Studios Paris inspired the scene.
Music