The latest from Universal and Illumination (the latter mostly known for the DESPICABLE ME movies), MIGRATION snuck up on me in its holiday release and eventually won over audiences with a respectable theatrical release. I remember watching the movie in theatres at the end of a busy moviegoing day and having a lot of fun with the simple story of the Mallard family (lead voice by Kumail Nanjiani) who embark on a big southern flying adventure down to Jamaica but get in a lot of mishap along the way, especially in New York City. It’s fun and lighthearted (and also quite short at just under 85 minutes) with a nice message.
MIGRATION comes from filmmaker Benjamin Renner, who wowed me many years ago with ERNEST ET CELESTINE and THE BIG BAD FOX & OTHER TALES (where we met at the 2017 edition of the Toronto Internaional Film Festival), two hand drawn animated movies that had such a character to them that you couldn’t help but be wrapped up in its charm. In this new computer animated movie, he is also helped by screenwriter Mike White, who is more known in the indie circles for movies like THE GOOD GIRL, CHUCK & BUCK and even ORANGE COUNTY.
About the 4k Blu Ray:
To no surprise, Universal has once again knocked it out of the park with an absolutely gorgeous 4k Blu Ray disc that absolutely represents the theatrical experience and in some cases, even improves on it. If you were able to see this in a Dolby Cinema or 4k presentation in cinemas, you would have come pretty close to what is here on disc. Give your system a good tuning before sitting down for this one, as the bright, colorful animation absolutely shines on screen. The sound is more plain in its DTS Master Audio format. There is not a hit song that plays over the credits either, which was a little disappointing.
In the theatrical version, the short film MOONED played and it is also included here on the Blu Ray bonus features, along with two other mini-shorts. I always love these playing before the movie as short films are a great part of the moviegoing experience. There are a few additional ones presented here along with a nice addition of bonus features, mostly on the included Blu Ray disc.
The entire list of Bonus Features:
- FLY HARD (MINI-MOVIE) – Chump sheds her tough-as-nails attitude, risking her life to fly through a blizzard and the harrowing streets of New York to return a prized possession to a kind woman from the park.
- MOONED (MINI-MOVIE) – Following the events of DESPICABLE ME, Vector and a lost Minion are stranded on the moon, and struggle to get back to Earth.
- MIDNIGHT MISSION (MINI-MOVIE) – The Minions will try anything to help Agnes overcome her fear of the dark, even if it involves going into outer space.
- MICROPHONE MADNESS – A fun look behind-the-scenes as the cast record some of their silliest lines.
- MEET THE CAST – In this series of behind-the-scenes pieces, we learn more about our favorite characters and the legendary comedic voices behind them.
- KUMAIL NANJIANI: MACK
- ELIZABETH BANKS: PAM
- KEEGAN-MICHAEL KEY: DELROY
- AWKWAFINA: CHUMP
- DANNY DEVITO: UNCLE DAN
- CAROL KANE: ERIN
- CASPAR JENNINGS: DAX & TRESI GAZAL: GWEN
- TAKING FLIGHT: THE MAKING OF – MIGRATION is an original script so brand-new characters and locations had to be developed, designed, and animated from scratch! Here, filmmakers and crew break down their process to show us what gives this film an entirely new look and feel.
- THE ART OF FLIGHT – Using a series of production phases from storyboards to pre-viz, we peel back the feathers and reveal just what goes into creating the avian heroes of the film.
- THE SOUND OF FLIGHT – Take a closer look at the music of MIGRATION as Composer John Powell walks us through his scoring journey.
- HOW TO DRAW
- MACK
- DELROY
- CHUMP
- GWEN
- BUILD YOUR OWN POP-UP BOOK – Daddy duck, Mack, likes to tell his two little ducklings some…overly imaginative bedtime stories. In this fun “How To” we’ll show you how to create a pop-up book so you can tell your very own bedtime stories!
- CALLING ALL BIRDS – They may not have cell phones, but you can call your web-footed friends anytime you want! In this fun How To, we’ll teach you how to create and customize your very own set of colorful bird whistles.
- THE MACK QUACK
- THE HERON HONK
- THE CHUMP CHIRP
- BEST NESTS – You don’t have to fly south –or anywhere –to find a perfect paradise for your feathered friends. Here we’ll teach you how to make the best nest for your pet ducks, or anyone flying by, including a water feeder to keep them hydrated!
- NESTS
- WATER FEEDER
Overall this is a terrific home video release for the people who are still collecting physical media, especially for family viewing. The A/V on this release over-performs and I only wish there was a provided Apple TV Digital Copy here, which would also contain all of these features. Still, a great disc for the shelf.
