Migration

“Odd ducks welcome.”

―Tagline

Migration
Directed by	Benjamin Renner
Co-Director(s)	Guylo Homsy
Produced by	Chris Meledandri
Screenplay by	Mike White
Story by	Mike White Benjamin Renner
Starring	Kumail Nanjiani Elizabeth Banks Keegan-Michael Key Awkwafina Danny DeVito
Music by	John Powell
Editing by	Christian Gazal
Production company(s)	Illumination
Distributed by	Universal Pictures
Release date(s)	December 22, 2023
Running time	83 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Rating	PG
Aspect Ratio	2.39:1
Budget	$72 million
Box office	$292.3 million
Preceded by	The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023)
Followed by	Despicable Me 4 (2024)

Migration is a 2023 American computer-animated adventure comedy film produced by Universal Pictures and Illumination, directed by Benjamin Renner from a screenplay written by Mike White and produced by Chris Meledandri.

Renner, a French animator and comic book creator, previously directed the traditionally animated films Ernest & Celestine (2012) and The Big Bad Fox and Other Tales... (2017), with Migration to become his first film as a solo director. Guylo Homsy, a layout artist who previously directed the short film Eddie's Life Coach (2017), is brought on as co-director.

It is Illumination's 14th feature film and was released on December 22, 2023.

Plot

In a New England forest lives a family of mallards consisting of anxious father Mack, adventurous mother Pam, restless son Dax and innocent daughter Gwen. Mack constantly discourages his family to venture beyond the pond they live in, much to the displeasure of Pam.

One day, the family meet a flock of migrating ducks who are en route south to Jamaica, which Pam, Dax and Gwen find interesting, but Mack has no such interest. Angrily, Pam tells Mack that he must open his eyes to the world outside him. That night, Mack talks with his aging uncle Dan, who, like Mack, does not want to leave the pond, although Dan makes Mack second-guess his anti-adventure attitude and decides to have his family migrate, with a reluctant Dan coming along. However, the family end up heading north instead of south.

During a rainstorm, they take up shelter in a swamp underneath a boardwalk, where they encounter a crazed elderly heron named Erin, who brings them to her shack to spend the night with alongside her husband Harry. Despite their frightening disposition, the herons prove their good intentions by saving Dax and Gwen from a catfish. The following day, the family arrive in New York City, where Dan wanders off and ends up getting the ducks in trouble with a flock of pigeons led by the gritty Chump. However, Pam's assertiveness puts them in Chump's good graces.

She leads them to her friend, Delroy, a parrot who is from Jamaica but lives caged by his owner, a cruel human chef. 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 stopping for a bathroom break, Mack soon finds an entrance to a paradise full of ducks. The group begins to enjoy themselves, but Dax soon finds out the whole place is in fact a duck farm, with the chef being one of its clients. The birds escape the farm, but Dax loses most of his feathers after being stepped on by the chef.

The birds stop to rest at a resort, where Mack criticizes Dax for his recklessness, much to his son's sadness. Soon, the chef finds the birds via helicopter and traps them in a net, except for Dax and Gwen. Inside, the chef plans to kill Mack and Pam first, prompting Pam to give into despair, only for Mack to raise her spirits. They manage to push a release button to free the birds, with the chef getting caught in the net instead. Mack and Pam, who are still trapped in their cage, are, in turn, saved by Gwen and Dax, who use some of Delroy's feathers for flight.

The birds eventually arrive in Jamaica, where the Mallards reunite with the duck family from earlier. They end up helping a group of penguins head home to the South Pole the following spring.

Cast

• Kumail Nanjiani as Mack Mallard, the anxious overprotective father of the Mallards
• Elizabeth Banks as Pam Mallard, the daring and quick-witted mother of the Mallards, Mack's wife
• Keegan-Michael Key as Delroy, a homesick Jamaican parrot locked away in a Manhattan restaurant
• Awkwafina as Chump, the leader of the New York City pigeon gang
• Carol Kane as Erin, a heron whom the Mallards befriend in their journey
• David Mitchell as Googoo, the yogic leader of a mysterious duck farm
• Isabela Merced as Kim, Dax's love interest whose family is heading to Jamaica
• Caspar Jennings as Dax Mallard, Mack and Pam's son
• Tresi Gazal as Gwen Mallard, Mack and Pam's daughter
• Danny DeVito as Uncle Dan, Mack's uncle

Production

On February 18, 2022, Illumination announced a new film titled Migration, with French animator and comic book creator Benjamin Renner set to direct with Guylo Homsy as co-director and Mike White set to pen the script. 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 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.

Renner was tasked with adapting his minimalist drawing style from previous films for a computer-animated film, which requires backgrounds to be fully visualized and rendered instead of suggested; he had previously designed the visuals for the 2014 Franco-Belgian computer-animated film about migrating birds titled Yellowbird, which was noted for not strictly adhering to photorealism. For Migration, Renner explained that he took inspiration from naturally impressive animals in the wild in creating characters that have distinctly expressive features in their designs. He also noted that the film's tone would increasingly become more tense as the story progresses.

On April 26, 2023, Kumail Nanjiani, Elizabeth Banks, Keegan-Michael Key, Awkwafina, Danny DeVito, Caspar Jennings, Tresi Gazal, David Mitchell, and Carol Kane were announced to be part of the film's lead voice cast, while some of the film crew such as co-director Guylo Homsy, editor Christian Gazal and production designer Colin Stimpson were also revealed.

Music

On June 18, 2023, it was announced that John Powell will compose the film's score, returning to Illumination since Dr. Seuss' The Lorax (2012), as well as his first animated film score since DreamWorks Animation's How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World (2019).

Release

Theatrical

Migration's world premiere took place on October 19, 2023, as the grand summit matinee of the VIEW Conference expo in Turin, Italy. The film was theatrically released in the United States on December 22, and is the first animated film to be released worldwide in the ScreenX format. It was accompanied in theaters by the Despicable Me short film, Mooned. The film was initially scheduled for release on June 30, 2023, but was postponed to its current release date, with DreamWorks Animation's Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken taking its original June date. 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.

Home media

Migration was released on digital download on January 23, 2024, and was released on DVD, Blu-ray, and 4K Ultra HD on February 27.

As part of Universal's deal with Netflix, the film will stream 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.

Reception

Box office

As of March 1, 2024, Migration has grossed $125.6 million in the United States and Canada, and $157.2 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $282.8 million.

In the United States and Canada, Migration was released alongside Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, Anyone but You, and The Iron Claw, and is projected to gross $10–15 million from 3,761 theaters in its four-day opening weekend. The film made $5.8 million on its first day, including $1.5 million from Thursday night previews.

Critical response

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 72% of 97 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." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 58 out of 100, based on 18 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews. Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale, while PostTrak reported filmgoers gave it an average of 3.5 out of five stars, with 52% saying they would definitely recommend the film.

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. 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. Lovia Gyarkye of The Hollwood 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." 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." 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.

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. 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." 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." 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."

Accolades

Award	Date of ceremony	Category	Recipient(s)	Result	Template:Refh
Hollywood Music in Media Awards	November 15, 2023	Best Original Score — Animated Film	John Powell	Template:Nom

Videos

Migration - Announcement

Migration - Official Trailer

Migration - Official Trailer 2 ft. "Out of the Woods (Taylor's Version)"

Migration - Official Trailer 3

Trivia

• Director Benjamin Renner had previously worked on Yellowbird, a 2014 Franco-Belgian computer animated film about migrating birds, where he designed the film's visuals.
• The third Illumination film to be released in December, after Sing and Sing 2.
  • This is the second Illumination film to be released on December 22, after Sing 2.
• This is the fifth Illumination film to be produced in 2.39:1 aspect ratio, after Despicable Me 3, Dr. Seuss' The Grinch, Minions: The Rise of Gru, and The Super Mario Bros. Movie.
• This is the shortest Illumination film to run at 83 minutes.
• This is the second Illumination film to be composed by John Powell, since Dr. Seuss' The Lorax.
• Keegan-Michael Key's second Illumination film, after The Super Mario Bros. Movie.
• Danny DeVito's second Illumination film, after Dr. Seuss' The Lorax.
• Nick Kroll's fourth Illumination film, after Sing, The Secret Life of Pets 2, and Sing 2.
• This is Tresi Gazal’s first acting debut in the film.
• Humans do not speak in the film.

Navigation

v - e - d
Media Feature Length Films: Migration (2023) Characters Mack Mallard • Pam Mallard • Delroy • Chump • Uncle Dan • Dax Mallard • Gwen Mallard Locations New York City

v - e - d

Theatrical films Despicable Me (2010) • Hop (2011) • Dr. Seuss' The Lorax (2012) • Despicable Me 2 (2013) • Minions (2015) • The Secret Life of Pets (2016) • Sing (2016) • Despicable Me 3 (2017) • Dr. Seuss' The Grinch (2018) • The Secret Life of Pets 2 (2019) • Sing 2 (2021) • Minions: The Rise of Gru (2022) • The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023) • Migration (2023) Upcoming films Despicable Me 4 (2024) - Hop 2 (TBA) Films in Development Big Tree • The Secret Life of Pets 3 - Untitled The Nelson Parents Movie • Sing 3 • Untitled Pharrell Williams film Short films Home Makeover (2010) • Orientation Day (2010) • Banana (2010) • Brad & Gary (2011) • Phil's Dance Party (2012) • Despicable Me: Minion Mayhem (2012) • Wagon Ho! (2012) • Forces of Nature (2012) • Serenade (2012) • Puppy (2013) • Panic in the Mailroom (2013) • Training Wheels (2013) • Cro Minion (2015) • Competition (2015) • Binky Nelson Unpacified (2015) • Mower Minions (2016) • Norman Television (2016) • Weenie (2016) • Gunter Babysits (2017) • Love at First Sight (2017) • Eddie's Life Coach (2017) • The Secret Life of Kyle (2017) • Yellow is the New Black (2018) • The Dog Days of Winter (2018) • Santa's Little Helpers (2019) • Minion Scouts (2019) • Super Gidget (2019) • Minions & Monsters (2021) • For Gunter's Eyes Only (2022) • Animal Attraction (2022) • Post Modern Minions (2022) • Mooned (2023)