This holiday season, blockbuster animation studio Illumination (Minions, Despicable Me, Sing, The Secret Life of Pets) invites audiences to take flight into the unknown on a feathered family vacation in the new original comedy, Migration.
Directed by Oscar-nominated filmmaker Benjamin Renner (Ernest & Celestine, The Big Bad Fox and Other Tales) from a screenplay by Mike White, the Emmy winning creator of The White Lotus and screenwriter of School of Rock, the film features a top-flight comedic cast and is due to land in theaters on December 22 through Universal Pictures.
Synopsis: 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 embark on a family trip, via New York City, 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.
The voice cast is led by Oscar and Emmy nominee Kumail Nanjiani (The Big Sick, Eternals) as anxious Mallard dad Mack and Emmy nominee Elizabeth Banks (Hunger Games and Pitch Perfect franchises) as Pam, the Mallards’ daring, quick-witted matriarch. Caspar Jennings plays Dax, the Mallards’ confident and restless son, and, in her feature film debut, Tresi Gazal plays Gwen, the family’s innocent and lovable daughter.
Golden Globe winner Awkwafina (Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings) voices the scrappy leader of a New York City pigeon gang; Emmy winner and Oscar nominee Carol Kane (The Princess Bride) plays Erin the heron, the first friend that the Mallards make on their journey; Emmy winner Keegan-Michael Key (The Super Mario Bros. Movie, The Lion King) voices a homesick Jamaican parrot locked away in a Manhattan restaurant; and BAFTA winner David Mitchell (Peep Show) plays the yogic leader of a mysterious duck farm. Emmy winner and Oscar nominee Danny DeVito (It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia) co-stars as Mack’s curmudgeonly, adventure-averse Uncle Dan.
Produced by Illumination founder and CEO Chris Meledandri, Migration is co-directed by Guylo Homsy (head of layout and cinematography for Sing and Sing 2), edited by Christian Gazal (Happy Feet, Peter Rabbit) and the production designer is Colin Stimpson (The Secret Life of Pets 2).
