Migration

• Directed by Benjamin Renner / Co-Directed by Guylo Homsy
• October 19, 2023 (VIEW Conference) / December 22, 2023 (US)

Voice Cast

• Mack Mallard-Kumail Nanjiani
• Pam Mallard-Elizabeth Banks
• Dax Mallard-Caspar Jennings
• Gwen Mallard-Tresi Gazal
• Uncle Dan-Danny DeVito
• Delroy-Keegan-Michael Key
• Chump-Awkwafina
• Erin-Carol Kane
• GooGoo-David Mitchell
• Kim-Isabela Merced

A family of mallards convince their overprotective patriarch to migrate from New England through New York City and finally to Jamaica.

Migration is one of those stories common in entertainment where an individual (or in this case a duck) steps out of their comfort zone. They or someone else have decided their humdrum life needs some pizzazz and off they go to do whatever was suggested close to the opening of the movie. The film starts off with all sorts of fears that the father duck Mack has and those fears start coming true pretty quickly on a comedic level once the journey starts. Though a well-trod path it gets quite funny.

The humor is often dark but in a kid friendly way. I found it reminiscent of the more mature Warner Bros. outings that do not get circulated as much anymore because, well, they’re so old and nobody runs anything for kids in the mornings these days. Maybe a little macabre but also just silly and funny like the discussion of Duck a l’Orange.

Migration takes a few obvious shots. We get a swipe taken at celebrity chefs with the chief villain whom I think is never named. He looks a lot like Guy Fieri but in slightly better shape. I took the duck farm we encounter as those superficial self-help groups or even destructive cults. This movie even manages to have a nod to the scary strangers that most comedic travel films contain. The story is a series of random misadventures as the characters stumble their way towards Jamaica while migrating for the first time. Along away they meet Delroy a Jamaican accented parrot owned by the chef.

I am not sure who the main character of this movie is. Mack is holding back the family from migrating and choosing instead to keep them at the safety of the pond year-round. He is afraid of the outside world and does everything in his power to frighten his children and the rest of his family from leaving the safety of the pond. By the end Mack has done a complete 180 and not only embraces adventure and change but is even willing to help a group of penguins get back south.

Then there is his son that goes through some growth. Mack’s son Dax is chafing under his father but not enough to do anything until he meets a female duck whose existence is largely unimportant to the story. She gets Dax to want change and generally act up but we do not see or hear about her again until the end. I honestly forgot she was in the movie until they were reunited with all the other characters!

We have two significant character journeys going on here. That is generally reserved for the main. I’m kind of glad it didn’t have a distinct main character. Certainly helped stretch things out along with making this film a little less preachy. Two characters came into their own and that was it. Too often kids’ movies try for some big message. Sometimes it’s best to focus on entertaining which this does. At around 90 minutes it doesn’t have much time to turn into a lecture.

As a story Migration can be consumed in small bites or all at once. As I said before this is a series of misadventures. They meet the crazy old people. They get lost in the city and meet the parrot who can guide them to Jamaica. Things like that. Or you can watch it all in one bite. Everything flows from one to the other to the other neatly yet manages to also be separate. 

The family dynamics come off as believable. Uncle Dan may have shown up out of nowhere (and I think was inserted late in development for a little bit more comedy) but even he works well with the others. More importantly they cast actors who could perform well in the situation. In live action an actor has a much easier time when it comes to creating a character. With voice acting it’s all about selling the character with your words. You could give Shaggy a completely different voice using the same footage and he wouldn’t work as well without the efforts of Casey Kasem and the voice he used. 

I enjoyed Migration. I smiled and laughed and just had a good time. It’s nothing edgy or groundbreaking but I could see myself easily watching it again.