The Wild

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The Wild

New York, Samson, and his friends are going to The Wild to find Ryan, Samson's son
Directed by Steve 'Spaz' Williams
Produced by Clint Goldman
Written by Ed Decter
Starring Kiefer Sutherland
Jim Belushi
Greg Cipes
Eddie Izzard
Janeane Garofalo
Richard Kind
William Shatner
Patrick Warburton
Bob Joles
Chris Edgerly
Don Cherry
Distributed by Walt Disney Pictures
Buena Vista Pictures
Release date(s) April 14, 2006 (USA)
Running time 89 Minutes
Language English
Budget $80,000,000
IMDb profile

The Wild is a computer-animated film directed by Steve 'Spaz' Williams, produced by Clint Goldman, assistant produced by John Burton and C.O.R.E. Feature Animation, and was released by Walt Disney Pictures on April 14, 2006 (May 26, 2006 in UK). The story was written by Ed Decter.

Contents

[edit] Story

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Samson the lion, known as "Samson the Wild", is the star of the New York City zoo. (Though the zoo's best-selling merchandise is a talking doll which looks like Nigel the koala, another resident.) Samson continually recounts to his adolescent son Ryan tales of his adventures in the wild. Ryan's sense of inadequacy is heightened by the fact that his 'roar' is little more than a squeaky wail. His father's stories fill him with a desire to escape, but Samson is perfectly content to remain in the zoo. Later, however, Ryan sneaks into a shipping container bound for Africa. Samson's conversation with his friend Benny, a squirrel, hints at a dark secret in the lion's past.

After the zoo closes, some animals play a game of turtle-curling, including five of the protagonists: Samson, Benny, Bridget the giraffe (whom Benny has a crush on), Larry the anaconda, and Nigel who is the co-captain. As they are about to begin, Nigel is annoyed by a group of heckling monkeys armed with one of the dolls in his likeness (which says "I'm so cuddly, I like you!"), humiliating both him and the team. During the game, Ryan accidentally causes a herd of gazelles to stampede, which wreaks havoc on the stadium. After lecturing Ryan, Samson tells Benny his feelings and tries to find Ryan to apologize. Instead, Samson is horrified to witness Ryan being shipped off to Africa. The lion decides to leave with Benny, leaving the rest of his team behind. Just as Benny is giving directions through New York, Bridget accidentally pushes him from their vehicle with her tail. The four -- without Benny -- must use their instincts to survive in the city.

As the animals pass awestruck through Times Square, Samson sees a poster featuring his son and him, and becomes more anxious to find him. Meanwhile Bridget falls in love with Geoffrey the Giraffe from the Toys R Us ads. Soon they wind up on the streets, and Samson tries to keep the gang calm and collected. However, three fierce dogs force them to flee (a move Samson calls "The Serengeti Slip"), retreating into the sewers. There, they meet two alligators, Stan and Carmine, abandoned pets who live in the sewer system. The alligators decide, rather than eating the group, to help them get to the harbor. As soon as they get out of the sewer, Nigel sighs with relief and Samson knows they're getting closer to his son.

Shortly after, Samson spots the ship where Ryan now is and approaches it. It leaves before they can board, and they find themselves upon a tugboat. After scaring off the captain and taking control, they find that they have lost track of Ryan's ship. Meanwhile, Benny is riding on a Canadian goose over the Atlantic Ocean and spies both Samson's and Ryan's ships. He then lands on Bridget's neck and reveals that he saw Ryan's ship and introduces Samson to the goose, Nelson, who leads them to the ship. After some length of time without food, Nigel starts to become delirious and says he'll jump ship. He proceeds to do so, but lands in sand. Benny realizes they have arrived at The Wild. Bridget tells Samson it must feel like a lifetime since he had been here. Samson nervously agrees.

Soon after the group disembarks, Larry spies a burning volcano and finds out that all the animals are being put into crates to rescue them and ship them to zoos. Samson spies Ryan in the crowd and runs after him. Soon, he is face-to-face with a sarcastic hyrax. He tries to eat it to show he can hunt, but can't bear to. The rest of the group finds out why he didn't fight the dogs or eat the hyrax: Because... Samson isn't really from the wild. All his stories of African adventure have been just that -- stories. He tells them to go to the boat because he has to find his son and cannot protect them. The group realizes they are being protected by Benny. Benny tells them that Samson needs their help and then discovers Nigel has disappeared. Almost immediately afterward, they meet a herd of wildebeest. Benny tries to fight them, but they knock him unconscious. They proceed to take Bridget and Larry hostage. Meanwhile, Nigel is returning to consciousness and finds himself captured by wildebeest. They enter the volcano and the wildebeest do a dance for Nigel -- they worship him.

Another wildebeest enters the room. He reveals his name is Kazar and says that with the help of Nigel, they'll all become carnivores. They bow down to Nigel.

Meanwhile, Samson is still looking for Ryan. He starts to see strange colors appearing on ordinary objects, accompanied by whispering voices telling him to follow his instincts, which he does. Not too far off, two vultures named Scab and Scraw find Ryan and decide to tell Kazar about their discovery. Scab comments that the volcano where the wildebeest live will blow that afternoon. Kazar then tells Nigel that they want to become carnivores because they are tired of being at the bottom of the food chain. They believe that Nigel's coming was foretold by the omen, an "I'm so cuddly, I like you" stuffed toy. They call Nigel 'The Great Him'. Scab and Scraw then tell Kazar about Ryan. The wildebeest believe Nigel brought that lion and another, bigger one. Kazar gives the order to catch them. In the meantime, Nigel is beginning to like being the wildebeests' god. In another part of the cave, Bridget and Larry are being held prisoner.

Outside the volcano, the vultures spot Ryan, who tries to fight them off but becomes trapped by a branch. Samson hears his cries for help and comes to his rescue, but then tells him to run when the wildebeest show up. When Samson and Ryan climb into a tree, Samson tells Ryan the truth about his childhood, that he was a circus cub whose cowardice caused him to be rejected by his cruel father. After the story, Ryan is furious, but the wildebeest start to knock down the tree and pin Ryan to the ground, while Samson falls off a cliff. Benny soon finds the unconscious Samson [(after an encounter with some (inaccurate) dung beetles)]. Ryan is taken to the volcano and left with Bridget and Larry. Larry hugs Ryan, and then Ryan tells the awful truth of what (he thinks) happened to Samson and then apologizes for getting them into this. Outside Samson tells Benny how he lost to the wildebeest and how he won't be able to save his son. Benny coaxes him to go find Ryan and soon, they follow Samson's 'instincts' again. Samson and Benny make it to the volcano. Samson and Benny then realize that the voices (and colors) pretending to be Samson's instincts were in fact chameleons, two of which are named Cloak and Camo, who need Samson's help to defeat Kazar. Cloak tells Samson that the wildebeest have his son and worship a koala.

In the volcano, Bridget, Larry, and Ryan are taken to Nigel, and are told that they're going to be eaten. Nigel tries to distract the wildebeest from eating his friends, but to no avail. Suddenly, Samson appears out of nowhere -- by clinging to his body and changing color, the chameleons had rendered him temporarily invisible -- and Kazar is thrilled to see another lion. Ryan tells his dad to show the wildebeest who's really at the top of the food chain. Kazar decides to eat Ryan first. While Samson is protecting his son, Larry says they should use the plan they used to win the turtle-curling championship -- the secret play. Larry and Bridget use the tactic to hit Kazar on the nose with a rock, allowing Samson to escape, but it only distracts him for a moment. When Samson is almost knocked into the volcano, Ryan has them launch him at Kazar instead, discovering his roar in the process. Together, Samson and Ryan defeat Kazar, with Samson letting loose with an enormous roar, which shakes the mountain. Kazar tries to get the herd to attack Samson and Ryan, but instead they oust him from the herd. Samson's roar causes an avalanche and the volcano begins to erupt.

Everyone but Kazar leaves the volcano, with the animals (including the wildebeest and chameleons) making it to the tugboat just in time. Bridget kisses Benny, having warmed to him during their adventures. The group proceeds to dance (badly, in Samson's case). Benny sighs, muttering that it is going to be a long ride home, but smiles as the boat rocks through the Atlantic Ocean.

Spoilers end here.

[edit] Criticism

The Wild received some harsh responses even before the trailer premiered. Movies.com [1] described it as "Madagascar meets Finding Nemo with The Lion King thrown in for effect."

The movie has many similarities to Madagascar including its setting in New York, similar animals as characters, and the primary plot of introducing zoo animals to the wild. The name of the film and the tag line, "Start spreading the newspaper", a play on the opening line from the "Theme from New York, New York", were both used as integral plot points in Madagascar. The koala's line "Sprechen sie koala?" mirrors Madagascar's: "You. quadraped. Sprechen sie Englisch?" Because of this, some people believe that the movie is a possible plagiarism of Madagascar, a Jack Bauer-meets-Madagascar film. [2] [3] Rotten Tomatoes describes the critics' consensus on The Wild as "With a rehashed plot and unimpressive animation, there's nothing wild about The Wild". [4] As of July 13, 2006, only 19% of reviews from critics there were positive; the negative reviews frequently compared The Wild with Madagascar. [5] The similarities to Finding Nemo are having a kid being kidnapped somewhere else, and his parent goes out to find him.

However, there is strong evidence that The Wild was in production first. Director Steve Williams said that he received the script in 2001. His contract with Disney stated that C.O.R.E would animate, and this contract was green-lit in 2003. The Wild has reportedly been in some form of production for a decade, first being called The Big Break, then Wildlife, and finally The Wild. Animators from the film have come forward on internet communities such as IMDb and stated openly that they had been working on The Wild already when they first saw the trailer for Madagascar. Several even believe that Marty's line "I wish I could go to The Wild!" from Madagascar is a direct mocking of their own efforts. It should also be mentioned that when it came out in 2005, Madagascar was panned by critics for its underwhelming story and relatively poor animation, further suspecting many to believe that the film had been rushed into production and released. Despite that, Madagascar was better received by the public than The Wild. Also there has also been evidence that Madagascar has been in production for 20 years, and was originally going to be a traditional animated film, but frequent procrastination by the animators tended to increase its time length for production, including transferring the script to different studios, such as from Disney to Fox Animation Studios, and then to DreamWorks where Madagascar got a head start into full production.

The very few things it has in common (the tag line "Start Spreading The Newspaper", the lion and giraffe, dancing animals etc.) have been pointed out by others, although it has been noted that other movies did this before 'The Wild. However, in the Reuters review, their film critic wrote that the movie was "lacking distinctive personality or humor and unfortunately coming across as an all-too-soon remake [of Madagascar]." [6]. On the other hand, Michael Wilmington of the Los Angeles Times preferred the Disney film, writing it was better "mostly because it has some truly spectacular animation and because the cast is just as likable — even, in some cases, preferable."

This would not be the first time for Disney and Dreamworks that two films with a similar theme were released in close proximity. In the fall of 1998, Dreamworks released its talking bug film "Antz" mere weeks before Disney/Pixar released "A Bug's Life". Later on in 2004, Dreamworks released Shark Tale, which had an underwater theme resembling that of Pixar's Finding Nemo (2003), and the new film Ratatouille has a rodent themed world like Flushed Away(although Flushed Away was helped by Dreamworks).

Both The Wild and Madagascar shared the exact same tag line for the films. "They're going from the zoo, to a place that's totally new!"

Even though it had bad reviews, it was however ranked #1 of the top DVD sales twice in Entertainment Weekly (The first time for October 6-12, 2006, the second time for October 13-19, 2006).

[edit] Characters

[edit] Main characters

Samson the Lion
Samson is a male lion whose son Ryan is lost after lecturing him for inadvertently putting the others in danger. While he has been always known to be wild, he is really a circus lion cub, and mature zoo lion at heart! Even though he brags about knowing a lot about the wild, his secret is that he's never really been, and is making all of the stories up. Samson is a good lion though, and doesn't mean to fool his friends. Voiced by Kiefer Sutherland.
Benny the Squirrel
Benny is a street-smart squirrel with great knowledge. Of all the animals who help save Ryan, Benny is Samson's favorite. He also has a crush on Bridget, and is not afraid to admit it. Voiced by Jim Belushi.
Bridget the Giraffe
Insecure and easily pampered, Bridget is the only female in the group. Benny considers her the most beautiful and exotic animal in all of the Big Apple. She is perfect of being physical. Voiced by Janeane Garofalo.
Nigel the Koala
Nigel is a koala who's tired of being "cute". His life is somewhat changed, however, when he's worshipped by the wildebeests. He is worshipped because of a talking plush that says "I'm so cuddly, I like you," only when you tug on its pull string. Which is responsible for scaring the pack of lions away when it falls off a biplane, into the savannah plains, scaring the lions who scream like sissies. The toy later appears charred with its voice distorted, at the end of the film, when it is rocketed out of a volcanic crater. Voiced by Eddie Izzard.
Larry the Snake
A dim-witted boa constrictor who tries to keep up with Samson and the gang, despite his lack of hands or legs. Though he does help, being the stretchiest animal in the U.S., he can be many things, such as a turtle shooter at turtle curling. Some noted a resemblance to Kaa the python, from The Jungle Book. Voiced by Richard Kind.
Ryan the Lion Cub
After accidentally provoking a gazelle stampede and invoking Samson's anger over losing the curling championship, Ryan sneaks into a green transport box and winds up getting shipped to Africa.
Kazar the Wildebeest
A wicked wildebeest, who no longer wants to dwell at the bottom of the food chain he has a British accent Voiced by William Shatner.
Blag the Wildebeest
Kazar's poor assistant is always in trouble for the tiniest things, though during Kazar's combat, he gets his sweet revenge he has always desired. Voiced by Patrick Warburton.

[edit] Additional Characters

Cloak and Camo the Chameleons
Covert agents or not, they were caught by Benny and shown to Samson, since they might know a thing or two about where Ryan is, but they turn out to be on Samson's side and help in rescuing Ryan. Cloak gets carried away easily; for instance, he revealed his and Camo's names.
Stan and Carmine the Alligators
Looking ferocious, they might be deadly, but when settled, they can help. And so they do, while helping Samson and the gang get out of the sewers.
Scraw and Scab the Vultures
Two vultures who make quick cameos while finding Ryan out in the jungle, however, disappear, during Samson's mini combat.
The Dogs
These vicious mutts chase Samson and his companions through the city in hot pursuit. During this sequence, Samson has his chance to show courage, but fails - but he and his pals manage to escape from the dogs.
Donald the Turtle
The turtle used for turtle shelling at the zoo.
Team Penguin
The competition team for turtle shelling in New York. The team's captain is a wise-guy penguin named Victor.
The Pigeons
They play a major part in telling where Ryan is headed, to the lady with the spikes. This flock of birds includes a crazy molting pigeon named Hamir.
The Canadian Geese
New friends of Benny that help at sea to find the ship that's holding Ryan. These geese are lead by a spunky goose named Nelson (whose speech inpedement bares a striking resemblance to that of Rutt and Tuke's in Brother Bear).
Eze the Hippopotamus and Duke the Kangaroo
Ryan's friends at the zoo who try to make him go "wild". They coax Ryan to come along with them to stalk a herd of gazelles, a prank that winds up backfiring.
Colin the Hyrax
Samson meets one and tries to eat it, but can't, blowing his cover -- he's not from the wild.
The Monkeys
A group of hecklers who harassed Nigel with a doll that looks like him.
Dung Beetles
These absent-minded incects with German accents mistake Benny for a ball of po...dung.
Fergus Flamingo
One of the flamingo bullies that go rough on Nigel.
Rhinoceros
A rhino at the zoo with a foam hand on his horn who is Samson's "number one fan".
Samson's Father
Samson's brutal father appears in a flashback in the scene where Samson tells Ryan the truth.
Mama Hippo and Baby Hippo
When Ryan meets a cute little baby hippopotamus, the infant's screaming mother throws her weight around (literally) which frightens Ryan and he runs off deeper into the jungle.
Elephant
After the green box carrying Ryan has landed, the young cub escapes from it and encounters an oncoming elephant, who is absolutely terrified of him.

[edit] Box office, promotion, and merchandise

The Wild opened in 2,854 theatres. According to BoxOfficeMojo.com, the film earned 9.5 million dollars in its first weekend at the box office, ranking #4.

Its promotion was small, with only the following promoters: Kraft, McDonalds, Amazon (selling the products and mini promotions on its site), Buena Vista Games, Walt Disney Records and Walt Disney Book Publishing Worldwide.

As of November 5, 2006, the film has grossed a total of $37,384,046 in the United States box office & $94,092,046 worldwide. Its production budget, in contrast, was $80 million. [4]

In the Netherlands, the film grossed a total of €538.336.[7]

[edit] Soundtrack

The musical score is by Alan Silvestri. The song "Real Wild Child" is performed by Everlife. The song "Good Enough" is performed by Lifehouse; "Really Nice Day" is performed by Eric Idle and John Du Prez; and "Big Time Boopin'" is performed by Big Bad Voodoo Daddy. The scores "Tales From The Wild", "You Can't Roar", and "Lost In The City" are only a few of the scores on the soundtrack, and "Come Sail Away" is performed by Styx. The soundtrack is available from Walt Disney Records. For more, go to The Wild soundtrack website here.

[edit] Video games

A video game for Game Boy Advance based on "The Wild" was released to coincide with the film. Players get to play as Benny the Squirrel and Samson the lion as they go through New York, the sea, and Africa to find Ryan, while battling the wicked wildebeest Kazar. The video game was rated E for Cartoon Violence.

The games on the official website are [8] Alliagator Alley, Turtle Toss, and Benny's Lunk Dunk.]

[edit] Release dates

The Wild, uniquely enough, first debuted on screens in Israel (6 April 2006) and Colombia (7 April), though only in limited release in the latter country.

[edit] Cast

Actor Role
Kiefer Sutherland Samson the Lion
Dominic Scott Kay Young Samson
Jim Belushi Benny the Squirrel
Greg Cipes Samson's son, Ryan
Janeane Garofalo Bridget the Giraffe
Richard Kind Larry the Snake
Eddie Izzard Nigel the Koala
William Shatner Kazar the Wildebeest
Bob Joles Cloak The Chameleon Covert Agent
Chris Edgerly Camo The Chameleon Covert Agent
Patrick Warburton Blag The Wildebeest
Don Cherry Turtle Curling Penguin MC
Lenny Venito Carmine The Sewer Alligator
Joseph Siravo Stan, Carmine's Pal and Sewer Alligator
Miles Marsico Duke, Ryan's friend, a kangaroo
Jack De Sena Eze, A hippo, another one of Ryan's friends
Colin Hay Fergus Flamingo
Eddie Gossling Scraw The Vulture
Jonathan Kimmel Scab The Vulture
David Cowgill Hamir the pigeon
Colin Cunningham Colin the Rock Hyrax
Pat Fraley Additional Voices

[edit] Crew

[edit] Animals featured

[edit] Real products seen in the movie

[edit] Inaccuracies

  • The notion that there are alligators in sewers is an urban legend.
  • Chameleons' color-changing abilities are not so sophisticated.
  • Elephants are not afraid of lions.
  • Lion cubs do not roar like leopards or cougars (the lions in Kazar's flashback in the film).
  • The dung beetles in the film are greatly inaccurate to the real insect.
  • The koala has a British accent and the kangaroo has an American accent. Both species are actually native to Australia.
  • In the part where Samson says"He's 11 but he roars like a 9 year old" to Ryan is very inaccurate because at 11 and 9 a lion is expected to be at least fully grown and Ryan's still a kid but it might be a script blooper Samson probably meant months

[edit] Trivia

  • A poster for the theatre version of The Lion King is clearly visible while the group is running from the dogs.
  • Cloak and Camo the chameleons seem to have vocal styles based off Hunter S. Thompson, perhaps inspired by the similarity of their rapidly changing colors to Thompson's flowered shirts.
  • In the closing scene in which our heroes are returning home on the boat, there is a wildebeest doing the "I'm flying" pose on the bow from the film Titanic.
  • The name of the boat that Samson and his friends travel on is the Hannah W.
  • In the U.K. and Sweden, this film is listed as being number 46 in the Disney Animated Features Canon, yet elsewhere, including the U.S, it is not considered part of the official list.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Movies.com
  2. ^ [1]
  3. ^ [2]
  4. ^ http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_wild/about.php#consensus
  5. ^ http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_wild/
  6. ^ [3]
  7. ^ Boxoffice NL
  8. ^ Disney.com

[edit] External links

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