January 22, 2024
I watched these two animated films almost one after one another, and they certainly had a lot in common. They both had a family of fowl as its lead characters. In both films, the parents were very protective of their children, such that they would rather not set foot outside the idyllic homes. They both had a spirited eldest child whose reckless impulsiveness put their whole family into danger. Of course, in the end, family and friends get together to fight the bad guys, who are invariably humans who eat them.
Directed by Sam Fell
Since they escaped from the oppressive conditions in the farm of Mrs. Tweedy (Miranda Richardson), Ginger (Thandiwe Newton), Rocky (Zachary Levi) and all of their chicken friends set up a community on an island in the center of a lake. Because of their past trauma, Ginger and Rocky were very protective about 11 year-old daughter Molly (Bella Ramsey), but she was a headstrong and very curious sort. One day, Molly snuck out of their island.
This is the second "Chicken Run" film, the sequel of the 2000 original hit acclaimed stop-motion animated film. Grossing almost US$230M, this first film set, and still holds, the record for the highest-grossing stop-motion films of all time, earning more than "Wallace and Grommit: Curse of the Were-Rabbit" (2005) and "Coraline" (2009), which ranked #2 and #3, earning US$198M and US$132M respectively.
Stop-motion clay animation is the signature style of Aardman Studios since they started in 1972. Aardman actually won Academy Awards for 3 shorts and one feature film with Wallace and Grommit,.This style of animation may not immediately appeal to younger kids, who may not also fully understand the dry British humor. For adults however, this sequel still had much of the visual charm and wry wit they enjoyed in the first "Chicken Run." 7/10.
Directed by Benjamin Renner
Living in a tranquil pond in New England were a family of mallard ducks led by Mack (Kumail Nanjiani) and Pam (Elizabeth Banks). They had two young children -- Dax (Caspar Jennings) and Gwen (Treci Gazal), who were both very fond of their eccentric uncle Dan (Danny de Vito). Mack was very protective of his family, and turned down an invitation to go migrate to Jamaica for the winter. However, after giving it much thought, he changed his mind.
"Migration" is the latest film of Illumination Studios, which is still best known for the "Despicable Me" franchise. "Minions" and "Despicable Me 3" both grossed over $1B, and the Minions, the Illumination company mascot, actually hums the Universal Pictures theme here. However its biggest box office hit was "The Super Mario Brothers Movie" which grossed nearly $1.4B.
The animation style of this one looked more old-school and traditional. The Mallards go through a series of adventures with a creepy heron Erin (Carol Kane), a hotshot pigeon Chump (Awkwafina) and a scarlet macaw Delroy (Keegan-Michael Key) in NYC, and finally in a flock of spoiled white ducks led by their yoga teacher GooGoo (David Mitchell) in a farm designed like an amusement park.
By coincidence, this last stopover of the Mallards family was practically similar to the concept of Funland Farms where Molly and her family were trapped in "Chicken Run Dawn of the Nugget." These farms were so generous with the food and the fun activities so that the fowl become lazy and complacent until they are fattened enough ready for slaughter. So this was yet another common aspect between the two films. 7/10.
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