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The Mitchells vs. the Machines

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The Mitchells vs the Machines
Official release poster
Directed by
  • Mike Rianda
  • Jeff Rowe (Co-director)
Written by
  • Mike Rianda
  • Jeff Rowe
Produced by
Starring
Edited byGreg Levitan
Music byMark Mothersbaugh
Production
companies
Distributed by
Release date
  • April 23, 2021 (2021-04-23) (United States)
Running time
113 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$50–100 million[1]

The Mitchells vs the Machines is a 2021 American computer-animated adventure science fiction comedy film produced by Sony Pictures Animation. The film is directed by Mike Rianda (in his feature directorial debut), and written by Rianda and Jeff Rowe (who also serves as co-director), with Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, and Kurt Albrecht serving as producers.[2][3][4] The film follows a dysfunctional family that winds up having to save Earth from a robot uprising while on a road trip. It stars the voices of Abbi Jacobson, Danny McBride, Maya Rudolph, Eric Andre, Fred Armisen, Beck Bennett, Conan O'Brien, Charlyne Yi, Sasheer Zamata, Rianda, and Olivia Colman.

The Mitchells vs the Machines was released in select theaters on April 23, 2021,[5] and began streaming digitally on Netflix on April 30.[6] The film was lauded by critics and audiences.

Plot

Katie Mitchell is a quirky aspiring filmmaker who often clashes with her nature-obssessed father Rick and has recently been accepted into college. The evening before Katie leaves, Rick accidentally breaks her laptop, disappointing her as they drift apart. Together with her mother Linda and younger brother Aaron, Rick takes them on a road trip the next morning for one last bonding experience before Katie goes off to college.

Meanwhile, a highly intelligent AI named PAL turns on her creator Mark Bowman after he declares her obsolete and plans to unveil a new line of home robots in her place. She orders all the robots to capture humans worldwide, but the Mitchells manage to avoid capture at a dinosaur-themed roadstop cafe. After Rick decides that his family have to stay put in the cafe for their own safety, they eventually bond with two defective robots, Eric and Deborahbot, who tell the Mitchells to use a kill code to shut down PAL and all the robots.

The Mitchells make it to a mall where all the PAL appliances try to kill them once PAL learns that the Mitchells have evaded capture. Katie tries to upload the kill code but is stopped after a giant Furby pursues and traps the family, and uses a laser to destroy the PAL router before the Furby can shoot them, shutting it and all the appliances down but also stopping the kill code upload. On the way to Silicon Valley afterwards, Linda reveals to Katie that she and Rick had originally wanted to live in a cabin in the mountains years ago that he had built and had given up, as it was his longtime dream to live in the wilderness.

Arriving in Silicon Valley, the Mitchells disguise themselves and head to PAL Labs HQ to shut it down, but PAL manipulates them by revealing surveillance footage from the roadstop cafe of Katie telling Aaron in secret that she was pretending to have faith in Rick just so he could hear what he wanted to hear. Heartbroken, the Mitchells fail to reach PAL's lair and Rick and Linda are captured after PAL creates stronger and smarter robots known as Stealthbots and reprogramms Eric and Deborahbot into obeying her, leaving Katie and Aaron alone.

Katie and Aaron escape the headquarters and hide from the robots, but the two eventually discover recordings of her past childhood memories on her camera, also realizing that Rick had given up his cabin for the care of his daughter. After Katie realizes what she needs to do, she and Aaron infiltrate PAL Labs HQ again and use their dog Monchi to cause the robots to malfunction since their programming cannot recognize Monchi as a dog, while Rick and Linda free themselves and plan to upload a home movie of Katie's with Monchi in it to short-circuit the robots. However, Rick is outnumbered by the robots (including Eric and Deborahbot) when he is about to upload the video, while Linda furiously fights the Stealthbots after seeing Aaron get captured.

Katie is confronted by PAL after the robots get her, she realizes that no matter how hard her family struggles, they will always stay connected despite how different they are. As Katie falls from PAL's lair, Eric and Deborahbot go back to malfunctioning and upload Katie's home movie, saving her and helping the rest of the Mitchells. The family bands together to fight the rest of the Stealthbots, and Katie shuts PAL down by dropping her into water, freeing all the humans and disabling all the robots except for Eric and Deborahbot. The Mitchells are seen as heroes, but Rick, Linda and Aaron find Katie seemingly dying after the battle. However, she pranks them by having Monchi lick Rick, which she did at one point during the road trip.

A few months after the uprising, Katie and her family arrive at her college as she and Rick share one last heartfelt goodbye before she officially goes to college. She later joins them on another road trip with Eric and Deborahbot to Washington, D.C. to accept the Congressional Medal of Honor.

Voice cast

Production

Development

On May 22, 2018, Sony Pictures Animation announced the title of a Phil Lord and Christopher Miller-produced animated film that was in development, entitled The Mitchells vs the Machines. The film is the duo's fourth collaboration with SPA following the two Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs films and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, as well as the studio's first original feature film since The Star. Mike Rianda and Jeff Rowe, former writers of the Disney Channel animated series Gravity Falls, served as the film's screenwriters, with Rianda serving as director and Rowe as co-director.[12]

Further details were revealed a year later at the 2019 Annecy International Animated Film Festival that June, when Sony Animation president Kristine Belson revealed that the film would be using an animation style similar to Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, and that the worlds the Mitchell family and the robots live in are initially separate universes before colliding.[13]

On February 20, 2020, first images were revealed through Entertainment Weekly, and it was announced the title was changed to Connected.[8] The film was renamed back to The Mitchells vs the Machines after Sony sold the distribution rights to Netflix on January 12, 2021.[1] Rianda said of the title change: "I love The Mitchells vs the Machines. Connected is good... but I think it just doesn't stick to your ribs as much. The movie is an original movie, and I wanted the title to reflect that. The exciting thing was Netflix was like, "Hey, we like the old title." And I was like, "We like the old title! Let's do that." I was always strongly for that title and I'm really glad to have it back."[14]

Casting

On February 19, 2020, Abbi Jacobson was cast as Katie Mitchell.[15] This was followed by the casting announcements of Danny McBride, Maya Rudolph, Rianda, Eric Andre, and Olivia Colman the next day.[8] During a watch party for Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse that was held on Twitter on May 6, 2020, Lord confirmed that Blake Griffin had joined the cast as one of the robots.[16]

On March 23, 2021, ahead of the film's Netflix release, more cast members were confirmed to be starring in the film, including Fred Armisen, Chrissy Teigen, John Legend, Charlyne Yi, Conan O'Brien, Alex Hirsch and Jay Pharoah, among others.[6] Hirsch later announced that he was also serving as a creative consultant on the film.[17]

Music

Following the release of the first trailer, Lord confirmed on Twitter that his frequent collaborator Mark Mothersbaugh will compose the score for the film.[18] In January 2021, director Rianda revealed on Twitter that the movie's soundtrack will incorporate songs from various artists, including Los Campesinos!, Sigur Rós, Talking Heads, Grimes, Le Tigre, The Mae Shi and Madeon, as well as a brand new original song by Alex Lahey.[19]

Animation

Animation work at Sony Pictures Imageworks had already begun by May 2019, as confirmed by animator Nick Kondo on Twitter.[20] Former Gravity Falls alumni Dana Terrace and Matt Braly worked as storyboard artists in the film.[21]

Release

The Mitchells vs the Machines was originally scheduled to be theatrically released by Sony Pictures Releasing in the United States on January 10, 2020,[22] but was later delayed to September 18 of that year.[8] It was delayed again to October 23, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[23] The film was later removed from the release schedule in October, though the film was still set to be released later in 2020 at the time of the film's removal.[24]

On January 21, 2021, Netflix bought the worldwide distribution rights to the film for about $110 million, with Sony retaining distribution rights in China.[1][25] Two months later on March 23, they announced that the film would be released on April 30,[6] following a limited theatrical release a week earlier on April 23.[26]

Reception

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 97% based on 85 reviews, with an average rating of 8.30/10. The site's critics consensus reads: "Eye-catching and energetic, The Mitchells vs. the Machines delivers a funny, feel-good story that the whole family can enjoy."[27] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 81 out of 100 based on 25 critics, indicating "universal acclaim."[28]

References

  1. ^ a b c Rubin, Rebecca (January 21, 2021). "Netflix Buys Lord and Miller Animated Film 'The Mitchells vs. The Machines' From Sony". Variety. Retrieved January 21, 2021.
  2. ^ "The Mitchells Vs. The Machines': Chris Miller & Phil Lord To Produce AI-Gone-Wild Toon For Sony". Retrieved 22 May 2018.
  3. ^ "Sony Pictures Animation". Archived from the original on 27 March 2019. Retrieved 15 April 2017.
  4. ^ "Michael Rianda". tumblr.com. Retrieved 15 April 2017.
  5. ^ Debruge, Peter (April 21, 2021). "New Movies to Watch This Week: 'Mortal Kombat,' 'Together Together,' 'Stowaway,' 'Street Gang'". Variety. Retrieved April 22, 2021.
  6. ^ a b c Vito Oddo, Marco (March 23, 2021). "Highly Anticipated Animated Film 'The Mitchells vs. The Machines' Gets a Netflix Release Date, New Cast Announcements". Collider. Retrieved March 23, 2021.
  7. ^ Coming to Netflix: 'The Mitchells vs. the Machines,' from the Makers of 'Gravity Falls'
  8. ^ a b c d Coggan, Devan (February 20, 2020). "First look: A family battles a robot uprising in Phil Lord and Chris Miller's 'Connected'". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved February 20, 2020.
  9. ^ a b c d e f Rooney, David (April 21, 2021). "'The Mitchells vs. the Machines': Film Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved April 21, 2021.
  10. ^ Phil Lord [@philiplord] (May 6, 2020). "So @blakegriffin23 plays baseball in Miles' universe. Fun Fact: he plays an indestructible robot in our next animated production @ConnectedMovie #BreakingNews #SpiderVerse #QuarantineWatchParty" (Tweet). Retrieved May 7, 2020 – via Twitter.
  11. ^ Bender, Kelli (August 5, 2020). "Doug the Pug Will Voice 'Every Bark, Every Snore' for Animated Dog in First Major Movie Role". People. Retrieved March 23, 2021.
  12. ^ Galuppo, Mia (May 22, 2018). "Phil Lord, Chris Miller to Produce Animated Feature 'The Mitchells vs. the Machines'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved June 15, 2019.
  13. ^ Hopewell, John (June 12, 2019). "Sony Pictures Animation Links to Tencent, Sets New 'Boondocks,' Tartakovsky Duo". Variety. Retrieved June 15, 2019.
  14. ^ Beck, Jerry (April 26, 2021). "Interview: Mike Rianda Gears-Up For Debut Of "The Mitchells Vs. The Machines"". Animation Scoop. Retrieved April 26, 2021.
  15. ^ N'Duka, Amanda (February 19, 2020). "Abbi Jacobson To Star In Sony Animated Film 'The Mitchells Vs The Machines' From Producers Chris Miller & Phil Lord". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved February 19, 2020.
  16. ^ Phil Lord [@philiplord] (May 6, 2020). "So @blakegriffin23 plays baseball in Miles' universe. Fun Fact: he plays an indestructible robot in our next animated production @ConnectedMovie #BreakingNews #SpiderVerse #QuarantineWatchParty" (Tweet). Retrieved May 7, 2020 – via Twitter.
  17. ^ https://twitter.com/_alexhirsch/status/1374525835403612166?s=21
  18. ^ Phil Lord [@philiplord] (March 3, 2020). "AND a gorgeous score by the great Mark Mothersbaugh and his team at @MutMuz" (Tweet). Archived from the original on March 3, 2020 – via Twitter.
  19. ^ Michael Rianda [@michaelrianda] (January 22, 2021). "I LOVE the soundtrack to our movie!" (Tweet). Retrieved January 29, 2021 – via Twitter.
  20. ^ @NickTyson (May 27, 2019). "Super excited to start working on a new movie at Sony this week called The Mitchells Vs. The Machines!" (Tweet). Archived from the original on April 8, 2020 – via Twitter.
  21. ^ Fun fact: I paid genius storyboard artists and showrunners Dana Terrace and @Radrappy out of my own pocket. (I paid @radrappy with a PS4!) to help sell the movie and this is one of Dana's shots that made it into the final movie! Jenny Li and Patrick Mueller animated this shot
  22. ^ McLean, Tom (May 22, 2018). "Sony Dates 'The Mitchells Vs. The Machines' for 2020". Animation World Network. Retrieved January 21, 2021.
  23. ^ Bean, Travis (April 24, 2020). "'Spider-Man 3' And 'Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse 2' Get New Release Dates". Forbes. Retrieved April 24, 2020.
  24. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (17 September 2020). "Sony Pictures Animation's 'Connected' Also Moves Out Of The Immediate Fall Schedule". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 17 September 2020.
  25. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (January 21, 2021). "Sony Sells Lord & Miller Film 'The Mitchells vs. The Machines' To Netflix". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved January 21, 2021.
  26. ^ Debruge, Peter (April 21, 2021). "New Movies to Watch This Week: 'Mortal Kombat,' 'Together Together,' 'Stowaway,' 'Street Gang'". Variety. Retrieved April 22, 2021.
  27. ^ "The Mitchells vs. the Machines (2021)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved April 30, 2021.
  28. ^ "The Mitchells vs. the Machines". Metacritic. Fandom, Inc. Retrieved April 30, 2021.
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