Storks Information

Storks is a 2016 American 3D computer-animated adventure buddy comedy film produced by Warner Animation Group, RatPac-Dune Entertainment and Stoller Global Solutions. It is directed by Nicholas Stoller and Doug Sweetland (in his feature debut), written by Stoller and stars the voices of Andy Samberg, Katie Crown, Kelsey Grammer, Keegan-Michael Key, Jordan Peele, Jennifer Aniston, Ty Burrell, Danny Trejo and Stephen Kramer Glickman.

The film premiered in Los Angeles on September 17, 2016 and was released by Warner Bros. Pictures on September 23, 2016 in 3D, IMAX and conventional formats. It received mixed-to-positive reviews from critics and has grossed over $40 million.

Synopsis

Cornerstore is a place known for delivering babies and its employees are storks, along with other birds. The current CEO of Cornerstore, a stork named Hunter, discontinues the baby delivering business, seeing more profit by converting the company to a postal service. However, the last baby that was made before the baby production shut down is taken in by the company and they name her Tulip.

Eighteen years later, Junior, Cornerstore's top delivery stork, is about to be given his much coveted position as boss of Cornerstore while Hunter is about to be promoted as Chairman. Tulip, now a teenager, is working to promote new ideas for Cornerstore, like jet packs for flightless birds, but they always backfire. In order to be promoted, Hunter demands that Junior discharge Tulip from the company. Despite wanting his promotion very badly, Junior cannot find the heart to fire Tulip due to her kindness and hard work. Instead, he misleads her into believing that she is being transferred to the mail business and sends her to the mail room, ordering her to never leave it.

Meanwhile, a young boy named Nate Gardner feels lonely because his parents, Henry and Sarah, are too busy to spend time with him. He yearns for a younger brother, but his parents scoff at the idea. When he learns about Cornerstore and their baby-making reputation (but is unaware that the baby-making operation has been shut down), he writes a letter asking for a baby brother and sends it to Cornerstore. The letter makes its way to Tulip, who disobeys Junior's orders and puts the letter in a slot just outside the room. The room happens to be the shut down baby factory. Junior tries to intervene and stop the machine, but injures his wing in the process. A baby girl is created inside a metal container, whom they later name Diamond Destiny.

Knowing that Hunter will have his hide for creating an unauthorized infant and for not firing Tulip as he was supposed to do, Junior agrees to secretly help deliver Diamond Destiny. As Junior's wing is broken, they steal a flying machine for transportation. When Tulip asks Junior why he wants to become boss, he becomes angry and they crash into a frozen tundra. After a brief argument, Junior takes Diamond Destiny in the hopes of getting back to Cornerstore but is ambushed by two wolf leaders named Alpha and Beta and their pack and taken to their cave, where Tulip was also captured. The two manage to save Diamond Destiny, whom the wolves have fallen in love with, and escape.

Back at Cornerstore, an employee named Pigeon Toady learns of Diamond Destiny's existence. He goes after Junior and Tulip to get Diamond Destiny, in the hope that Hunter will fire Junior and he will get the promotion instead. Upon reporting back to Hunter, Toady and Hunter scramble the coordinates Junior and Tulip have been following to mislead them to a different location. After another brief encounter with the wolves, Junior and Tulip run into Jasper, another stork that was responsible for Tulip being orphaned and the shut down of baby delivery. Jasper reveals that he had attempted to fix the broken beacon that would show Tulip's home and that he needed the final piece which Tulip had on her the whole time. At this point, Junior reveals that he was supposed to fire Tulip, but now that she knows where her family is, Jasper decides to take her to be reunited with them while Junior continues to deliver Diamond Destiny.

Junior is captured and tied up by Hunter and his cronies at the false location and kidnap Diamond Destiny. Tulip comes to rescue Junior without having met her family and the two resend themselves back to Cornerstore. After fighting an army of penguins, Junior and Tulip are chased into the abandoned baby making room and start up the machine as a distraction. As numerous babies are being made, Hunter comes at Junior and Tulip with a large body armor. He is defeated by Diamond Destiny, who was playing with the controls, and the birds that were tortured by Hunter. The Cornerstore package factory falls taking Hunter with it and Hunter is presumed dead.

Junior rallies the storks, as well as the other birds, to help deliver the babies to the families who wanted them including the Gardners. At first, Nate is upset that he got a sister, not a brother. But changes his mind when he sees ninja skills she performs to Junior and Tulip earlier. The storks, including the reformed Pigeon Toady and the wolf pack, reunite Tulip with her large family and Junior and Tulip continue their job of delivering babies as co-bosses of Cornerstore.

Cast

• Andy Samberg as Junior, a white stork working at Cornerstore as the company's top delivery stork.
• Katie Crown as Tulip, the only human worker at Cornerstore.
• Kelsey Grammer as Hunter, a white stork and the executive CEO of Cornerstore.
• Keegan-Michael Key & Jordan Peele as Alpha and Beta, the leaders of the Wolf Pack, a tribe consisting of 100 wolves.
• Anton Starkman as Nate Gardner, a boy whose parents are busy and is surrounded by brotherhoods leaving him lonely.
• Jennifer Aniston as Sarah Gardner, Nate's mother who opposes the idea of a brother for work reasons.
• Ty Burrell as Henry Gardner, Nate's father who supports the idea of a brother for family reasons.
• Stephen Kramer Glickman as Pigeon Toady, a vicious pigeon working at Cornerstore, going after Junior and Tulip to stop the delivery of the baby.
• Danny Trejo as Jasper, a giant stork working at Cornerstore.

Production

The project was first announced in January 2013, when Warner Bros. formed its animation "think tank" with some directors and writers to develop animated films, Nicholas Stoller was hired by the studio to create and write Storks, while Doug Sweetland was attached to direct the film. On April 20, 2015, Andy Samberg and Kelsey Grammer were added to the voice cast of the film, and it was announced that Stoller and Sweetland would co-direct the 3D film, while Stoller would produce the film along with Brad Lewis. The original idea film was developed under Warner Bros. Animation. Sony Pictures Imageworks will be the film's animation service. Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele were also announced in the cast who provided their voices for the film. On June 15, 2016, Jennifer Aniston was announced in the cast.

Music

Soundtrack

The film"?s score was composed by Mychael and Jeff Danna. The soundtrack was released on September 16, 2016 by WaterTower Music.

Track listing

Release

Storks was originally going to be released on February 10, 2017, which Warner Bros. had reset for The Lego Batman Movie. The film was released on September 23, 2016, which was previously set for The Lego Ninjago Movie, which has now moved to a year later. Storks is proceeded by The Master, a five-minute short film based on the Lego Ninjago line of sets.

Reception

Box office

, Storks has grossed $21.8 million in North America and $18.3 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $40.1 million, against a budget of $70 million.

In the United States and Canada, Storks opened alongside The Magnificent Seven was originally projected to gross around $30 million from 3,922 theaters in its opening weekend, with some estimates reaching $36 million. The Hollywood Reporter noted that in recent decades, Warner Bros. hasn't been able to produce very successful and lucrative animated films except for The Lego Movie in 2014 and that the studio is hoping Storks would duplicate that success. It grossed $435,000 from its Thursday previews and just $5.7 million on its first day, lowering weekend projections to $20 million. It ended up opening to $21.8 million, finishing second at the box office behind The Magnificent Seven's $35 million debut.

Internationally, the film will open in conjuncture with its North American debut across 34 foreign territories, including the likes of Russia, China, India and Japan.

Critical response

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 64%, based on 74 reviews, with an average rating of 6.3/10. The site's concensus reads, "Colorful animation and a charming cast help Storks achieve a limited liftoff, but scattershot gags and a confused, hyperactively unspooled plot keep it from truly soaring". On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 55 out of 100, based on 28 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences rated the film an average "A-" grade on CinemaScore.

Michael Rechtshaffen of The Hollywood Reporter gave the film a positive review and said: "There's a nice, snappy playfulness in the rapport between Samberg and engaging newcomer Crown. That lively, back-and-forth vibe also extends to the Aniston/Burrell and Key/Peele dynamic." Peter Hartlaub of San Francisco Chronicle wrote: "Whoever is running Warner Animation Group appears to be allowing the lunatics to run the asylum. And that is a wonderful thing." Tom Russo of The Boston Globe gave the film 3 stars out of 4 and said "Storks are known for delivering bundles that are irresistible, exhaustingly active at times, and frequently pretty darn messy. How completely appropriate, then, that Warner Bros.' 3-D animated feature Storks delivers the same."

Owen Gleiberman of Variety gave the film a mixed review and called it "a strenuously unfunny animated comedy." Samantha Ladwig of IGN gave the film 4.5/10 and said "Storks starts off well enough and delivers a few laughs, but ultimately it isn"?t quite sure of what it is." Jesse Hassenger of The A.V. Club noted the "filmmakers"? assumption...that if lines are said very fast and in silly voices, they will become funny," and criticized Warner Bros. for putting out a generic animation along the same, safe lines of what "other second-tier animation houses" are producing: "The Lego Movie brought with it the hope that the studio might reclaim some of the animation territory it has long ceded to other studios. Storks, though, is just another okay cartoon."

Joe Morgenstern of Wall Street Journal gave the film a negative review, saying "The whole movie seems to be on fast-forward, with crushingly brainless dialogue, hollow imagery and no way of slowing down the febrile action or making sense of the chaotic plot." Barbara VanDenburgh of The Arizona Republic said, "Storks is charmless with rote obligation. This is a kid"?s film for hire, with none of the creativity, emotion and design that elevate the genre to art, or even simply a fun time at the movies."