The Angry Birds Movie
The Angry Birds Movie is a 2016 animated comedy film based on the Angry Birds video game series. It was directed by Clay Kaytis and Fergal Reilly, and written by Jon Vitti. It features the voices of Jason Sudeikis, Josh Gad, Danny McBride, Maya Rudolph, Kate McKinnon, Sean Penn, Tony Hale, Keegan-Michael Key, Bill Hader, and Peter Dinklage. The film follows Red, an outcast on an island of anthropomorphic flightless birds, as he suspects a newly arrived crew of pigs, led by Leonard, of plotting an evil plan, and attempts to put a stop to them with the help of his newfound friends Chuck and Bomb.
After the success of the Angry Birds Toons animated series, Rovio Entertainment, the developer of the original video game, began work on a film adaptation. The project was announced in December 2012. The first image from the film was revealed in October 2014, with Sudeikis, Gad, McBride, Hader, Rudolph, and Dinklage revealed to be part of its cast at the same time. Rovio and Sony Pictures announced they would spend roughly €100million on the marketing and distribution of The Angry Birds Movie, becoming the most expensive Finnish-produced film up to that point. Sony Pictures Imageworks was responsible for handling animation services for the film.
The Angry Birds Movie was released in the United States on May 20, 2016, by Sony Pictures Releasing. The film received mixed reviews from critics and grossed $352million. A sequel, The Angry Birds Movie 2, was released in 2019, and a third film, The Angry Birds Movie 3, is scheduled for 2026.
Plot
Red, a bird with a short temper, is an outcast on Bird Island, an island containing a village inhabited by anthropomorphic, flightless birds. When he accidentally causes a premature hatching of a bird family's egg, he is sentenced to anger management class. Two of Red's classmates—Chuck, who is hyperactive and can move at supersonic speed, and Bomb, who can cause explosions with his anger and fear—try to befriend him, but he avoids them.One day, a boat docks at the island's shore, damaging Red's house. The birds greet two green-colored pigs, the captain Leonard and his assistant Ross, who claim to be peaceful explorers bringing offerings of friendship. They introduce the birds to various innovations, including a giant slingshot, but Red becomes suspicious of the pigs' motives and sneaks into Leonard's boat. Chuck and Bomb follow Red, and they find more pigs hidden below deck, contradicting Leonard's claim that he and Ross are alone. When Red returns and shows everyone the other pigs, the birds accept Leonard's explanation that he only lied to see if Bird Island was safe for his simple-minded cousins.
Still suspicious of the pigs, Red recruits Chuck and Bomb to find Mighty Eagle, Bird Island's missing protector and the only bird who can fly. They find Mighty Eagle on top of Eagle Mountain, but they discover that he has become an overweight, self-absorbed slacker who has retired from flying. Red discovers the pigs planting dynamite around the island and stealing the eggs while the birds are distracted by a party. Mighty Eagle refuses to help them, and Red admonishes him. Red, Chuck, and Bomb attempt to warn the other birds and stop the pigs, but the pigs destroy the village with the dynamite and escape with the eggs. The other birds apologize to Red for not listening to him. Red rallies the islanders to build a boat from the rubble and follow the pigs to Piggy Island.
The birds discover the pigs living in a walled city ruled by Leonard, known as King Mudbeard. Deducing that the eggs are in the castle at the center of the city, the birds use the pigs' giant slingshot to launch themselves over the walls and into the city's castle. Most of the birds miss the castle but destroy other buildings; Red, Chuck, and Bomb are the only ones successfully shot into the castle. The pigs lower the eggs into a boiling pot, planning to cook and eat them. Mighty Eagle, having had a change of heart, arrives to retrieve Red, Chuck, Bomb, and the eggs. One egg falls out of the net and Red battles Leonard for it. They fall into a room containing the pigs' reserve of dynamite, which Leonard accidentally ignites. The dynamite explodes, destroying the city, but the boiling pot falls on top of Red and shields him and the egg from the blast.
All the families, except for one, reunite with their eggs. Red emerges with the egg, containing three blue hatchlings, and returns them to their parents. Mighty Eagle approaches Red, Chuck, and Bomb, claiming that he merely appeared lazy so that they could lose faith in him and find faith in themselves, and takes credit for saving the eggs. As Bird Island is rebuilt, Red discovers that the other birds have rebuilt his house in the center of the village and welcomes Chuck and Bomb inside. Meanwhile, the pigs survive their home's destruction, and Leonard plots a new plan.
Voice cast
- Jason Sudeikis as Red, a hot-tempered bird with anger issues who lives on the outskirts of Bird Island
- Josh Gad as Chuck, a hyperactive yellow bird possessing supersonic speed who befriends Red
- Danny McBride as Bomb, a large, gentle black bird who explodes when surprised or stressed
- Maya Rudolph as Matilda, a calm hen who runs the anger management class that Red, Chuck, and Bomb attend
- Kate McKinnon as Stella, a friendly and knowledgeable pink bird who serves as a tour guide for Bird Island
- Sean Penn as Terence, a large, silent red bird who communicates only through intimidating grunts and growls
- Tony Hale as Ross, the loyal but clumsy pig assistant to Leonard
- Keegan-Michael Key as Judge Peckinpah, the formal judge of Bird Island who initially dismisses Red's warnings about the pigs
- Bill Hader as Leonard, the charismatic leader of the green pigs from Piggy Island who arrives with a secret plot to steal the birds' eggs
- Peter Dinklage as Mighty Eagle, a legendary protector in bird lore and the only bird on the island capable of flight, who resides in a secluded cave atop Eagle Mountain
- Blake Shelton as Earl, a cowboy-themed pig and country musician. Shelton also performed the original song "Friends" during the film's soundtrack and closing sequences.
- Charli XCX as Willow, a blue bird wearing a striped knit cap
- Anthony Padilla as Hal, a green boomerang bird
- Ian Hecox as Bubbles, an orange inflatable bird
- Tituss Burgess as Photog, a photographer pig who documents the pigs' arrival on Bird Island
- Billy Eichner as Chef Pig, Leonard's head chef
- Fergal Reilly as Foreman Pig, the construction foreman behind the pig's contraptions
Production
The first image from the film was revealed in October 2014, with Jason Sudeikis, Josh Gad, Danny McBride, Bill Hader, Maya Rudolph, and Peter Dinklage revealed to be part of its cast. Gad at first refused to star in the movie, feeling that it was too similar to his role as Olaf in Frozen but the directors eventually convinced him to sign through a 30-minute "visual pitch".
The film's budget is estimated at $80million. Rovio and Sony Pictures announced that they would spend roughly €100million for the marketing and distribution of the film, giving it the largest budget in the film industry in Finland, outvaluing Big Game €8.5million. Despite the massive budget, Rovio CEO Mikael Hed stated that "it is the one that I don't ever lose any sleep over", calling it "tremendously strong as a story". During August 2015, Rovio announced that they were expecting to cut 250 jobs equaling 40% of the company, the only sector spared being personnel working on the movie.
When multiple major studios approached Rovio to discuss the production of the film adaptation in 2010, Hed eventually decided to have Rovio establish its own in-house animation studio and have it work on the film, rather than risk losing creative control in allowing a third-party studio to produce it. David Maisel, the founding chairman of Marvel Studios, offered to help Hed and Rovio produce the film, as well as John Cohen from Illumination Entertainment and Catherine Winder from Lucasfilm, who later served as the film's producers. Animation services were handled by Sony Pictures Imageworks in Vancouver, while Skywalker Sound handled audio post-production services.
The Angry Birds characters were not depicted in their anthropomorphized cinematic designs until the film's announcement so as to avoid spoiling it for audiences.
Marketing
The film's marketing budget was an estimated $400million, which, along with its production budget of $73million, was the biggest budget at the time for an animated Sony Pictures film. Tie-ins with McDonald's, Citroën, Ziploc, Panasonic, and a series of six Lego sets were used to promote the film. A balloon themed after Red debuted at the 2015 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. The mobile game Angry Birds Action! was released during the lead-up to the The Angry Birds Movie release. In-game features could be unlocked by seeing the film in theatres on its opening weekend or scanning "BirdCodes" found on tie-in products.Music
The film's soundtrack, titled The Angry Birds Movie: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack, was released on May 6, 2016.While not featured in the film, Michael Jackson's "Bad" was featured in multiple trailers.