SNAPSHOT
The Mallard family is in a bit of rut. While dad Mack is content to keep his family safe paddling around their New England pond forever, mom Pam is eager to shake things up and show their kids—teen son Dax and duckling daughter Gwen—the whole wide world. After a migrating duck family alights on their pond with thrilling tales of far-flung places, Pam persuades Mack to go on a family trip to tropical Jamaica. As the Mallards make their way South for the winter, their well-laid plans quickly go awry. The experience will inspire them to expand their horizons, open themselves up to new friends and accomplish more than they ever thought possible, while teaching them more about each other—and themselves—than they ever imagined. Migration is directed by French cartoonist / animation filmmaker Benjamin Renner, director of the films Ernest & Celestine and The Big Bad Fox and Other Tales previously. The screenplay is written by Mike White (School of Rock, Nacho Libre, Beatriz at Dinner, The Emoji Movie, Pitch Perfect 3, White Lotus). It’s produced by Christopher Meledandri. (courtesy First Showing)
Who among us hasn’t slumped in a great newness-killing rut at some point or another?
Adventure is fun and who of us doesn’t love the thrill of a new experience but such is the grinding down and responsibilities of the everyday that it’s all too easy to end up stuck in a rut big enough to fit a city.
Or a family of mallards, anyway.
In Illumination’s upcoming movie, Migration, we get to see, in what looks like anarchically funny glory, how leaping, or their case, flying out of rut upsets the applecart for one duck family and how it might be scary and terrifying even but how doing something out of the ordinary can really shake things up for the better! (“There’s a whole world we’ve been missing out on… things we didn’t even know existed!”)
Migrations opens 22 December U.S., 26 December Australia and 2 February 2024 UK.