Migration (2023)

Movies made for children can often fall into one of two camps. They can be absolute masterpieces that teach children how to care for other human beings, or they can be instruments of media that pacify a child for one or two hours. I’m glad to report that the latest effort from Illumination Animation Studios Migration is in the former camp. Migration focuses on a family of mallards that need to migrate for the winter. Pam and Mack lead the Mallards as mother and father Malard. Their children are called Dax and Gwen. Together, the family embarks on a journey across the country and the globe to try and get to a new location for the winter, specifically somewhere close to the island of Jamaica.

The voice cast for this particular film is excellent. Kumail Nanjiani and Elizabeth Banks do a fantastic job as the Mallard parents. For some reason, it always surprises me when comedians who are very physical actors do such a tremendous job in voice acting. My favorite vocal performance in the movie is Keegan Michael Key, who plays a Jamaican bird trapped in a fancy restaurant. All of those scenes are phenomenal to view. The real heart of this film is that the parents and the children have to learn different forms of togetherness and support one another rather than judge each other’s decisions. The parents have to learn to trust the kids, and the kids have to learn to value the wisdom of their parents, as well as the parents learning that they can be independent of their children. These are heavy but essential themes that must be a part of all children’s films. Such lessons teach children they will grow and change, but their families can always support them.

The best part of the movie for me, however, was the stunning animation on the ground when the mallards were discovering New York City and when all the birds were in flight, making their journey across the country. I can only honestly say that I deeply respect the animators on this project because they had to render flight and beautiful scenery for those birds to move around as fluidly as humanly possible. This is no easy task; asking a team of animators to constantly provide different levels of detail as these birds are exploring the city, sky, and islands is beyond impressive. Benjamin Renner, The same director behind The Lorax, directed this film. I have not seen The Lorax film, but I can say that Benjamin did bring a surprising amount of life and buoyancy to the story that parents often teach their children about birds that fly away for the winter.

Migration is not a sweet holiday movie but an excellent family movie. The best thing I can say about a film like Migration is that it helps children process change at a young age, as scary as that may be, whether that’s moving to a new place or just trying something new outright. It’s ultimately a movie with a message of togetherness and hope and valuing each other. So, it may not be a Christmas movie, but it has every theme related to that holiday for families to enjoy. It comes highly recommended by me.