| Rio | |
|---|---|
Theatrical release poster |
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| Directed by | Carlos Saldanha |
| Produced by | Bruce Anderson John C. Donkin |
| Screenplay by | Don Rhymer Joshua Sternin Jeffrey Ventimilia Sam Harper |
| Story by | Carlos Saldanha Earl Richey Jones Todd R. Jones |
| Starring | Jesse Eisenberg Anne Hathaway will.i.am Jamie Foxx George Lopez Tracy Morgan Jemaine Clement Leslie Mann Rodrigo Santoro Jake T. Austin |
| Music by | John Powell |
| Cinematography | Renato Falcão |
| Editing by | Harry Hitner |
| Studio | Blue Sky Studios 20th Century Fox Animation |
| Distributed by | 20th Century Fox |
| Release date(s) | March 22, 2011 (World Premiere)[1] April 15, 2011 (North America) |
| Running time | 96 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $90 million[2] |
| Box office | $484,635,760[3] |
Rio, often promoted as Rio: The Movie, is a 2011 American 3D computer-animated musical comedy film produced by Blue Sky Studios and directed by Carlos Saldanha. The title refers to the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro,[4] where the film is set. The film features the voices of Jesse Eisenberg, Anne Hathaway, will.i.am, Jamie Foxx, George Lopez, Tracy Morgan, Jemaine Clement, Leslie Mann, Rodrigo Santoro and Jake T. Austin.[5] It tells the story of Blu (Eisenberg), a male blue macaw who is taken to Rio de Janeiro to mate with a female. He eventually falls in love with Jewel (Hathaway), a free-spirited macaw, and together they have to escape from being smuggled by Nigel (Clement), a cockatoo. The theme song, "Telling the World" was sung by Taio Cruz.
Saldanha developed his first story concept of Rio in 1995, in which a penguin is washed up in Rio. However, Saldanha learned of the production of the films Happy Feet and Surf's Up, and changed the concept to involve macaws and their environments in Rio. He proposed his idea to Chris Wedge in 2006, and the project was set up at Blue Sky. The main voice actors were approached in 2009. During production, the crew visited Rio de Janeiro and also consulted with an expert on macaws at the Bronx Zoo to study their movements.
20th Century Fox released the film on March 22, 2011 in Brazil and April 15, 2011 in the United States. The film received generally positive reviews from film critics. Observers praised the visuals, voice acting, and music. The film was also a box office success, grossing over $484 million worldwide.
Contents |
In Brazil, various exotic birds get smuggled to different countries. In Moose Lake, Minnesota, a crate with a male blue macaw hatchling falls out of a truck into the snow. Linda Gunderson finds and adopts the macaw as her pet, naming him Blu. However, he is unable to fly and is ridiculed by the Canadian Geese that frequent the outside of Linda's bookstore.
One day, ornithologist Túlio Monteiro invites Blu and Linda to Rio de Janeiro, on the condition that Blu mate with a female macaw before his return to Moose Lake, as he is the last male of his species. Linda accepts and the three are flown to Rio, where Blu meets a Red-crested Cardinal named Pedro and his Yellow Canary friend Nico. He is taken to Túlio's aviary, and falls in love with Jewel, a fiercely independent blue macaw longing to flee into the wilderness. The macaws are captured by Fernando, an impoverished boy, and a Sulphur-crested Cockatoo named Nigel, both of whom work for a group of smugglers led by Marcel. Nigel tells the macaws that he vowed to smuggle exotic birds after his role had been replaced on a television program. Blu and Jewel flee into a jungle.
Fernando meets Linda and Túlio, explaining that Marcel forced him to capture birds, before cooperating with the two to find Blu. The macaws meet a Toco toucan named Rafael, who offers to take them to his bulldog friend Luiz to remove a chain connected to their legs. He tries to teach Blu how to fly, before the three meet Pedro and Nico. Nigel hires a horde of thieving marmosets led by Mauro to capture Blu and Jewel. Pedro and Nico take Blu and Jewel to a bird's Rio-style party, where they perform a duet, but are attacked by the marmosets. Their bird friends fight them, then the five flee. Linda and Túlio are taken to the smugglers hideout. Marcel explains that he will use the Rio Carnival to capture Blu and Jewel.
Meanwhile, Blu and the others meet Luiz, who releases the chain holding Blu and Jewel using his drool. The macaws, after a falling out, decide to go their separate ways. When Blu and Rafael learn from Pedro and Nico that Nigel captured Jewel, the four rush to the carnival to rescue her, while Linda and Túlio organize a rescue attempt on the birds.
While Linda and Túlio pose as dancers in blue macaw costumes, Marcel uses Nigel to capture the birds. On board Marcel's Short SC.7 Skyvan, the macaws release the captive birds out of the plane, but Nigel crushes Jewel's wing by sending a cage down on her while fighting with Blu. Blu uses a fire extinguisher to send Nigel into the propeller of the plane's engine, and the smugglers flee. Unable to fly, Jewel slips out of the plane and falls towards the ocean. Blu jumps out of the plane to rescue Jewel, and finally discovers that he is able to fly. Later, Linda, Túlio and Fernando heal Jewel's wing and organize a sanctuary to protect the jungle from smugglers. Blu and Jewel raise three chicks together and celebrate with their bird friends, Nigel is ridiculed for his loss of feathers, and the smugglers are sent to jail.
Saldanha first had the idea for the film back in 1995, involving a penguin being washed up on the beaches of Ipanema; it was changed to the current story after he learned of Happy Feet and Surf's Up (two other films involving penguins) being produced. He pitched the idea to Chris Wedge at Blue Sky in 2006.[6] Saldanha showed the animators maps and books with geographic landmarks and measurements, from which they built a digital version of Rio. Later, a group of artists from the company visited Rio to see the various story locations.[7] The animators also met with an expert on macaws at the Bronx Zoo to gain insight into their movement and personalities.[8]
The lead voice actors were approached in 2009.[6] Jemaine Clement was approached to do the film after seeing test shots of his character Nigel doing a speech from Flight of the Conchords,[9] which was done prior to a script being finalized.[10] Eisenberg was asked during the filming of The Social Network if he would do his voice recording on the weekends; he agreed after reading the script, saying "It was the perfect antidote to get out of the mindset of my character in Social Network who was so severe, and in some ways so joyless."[11]
For music, they brought on board Sérgio Mendes to act as music guru and online living library.[8] He in turn was able to reach out to artists such as will.i.am and Carlinhos Brown to provide music for it.[12]
In an interview, Anne Hathaway, who voiced Jewel, said that she didn't see her former Get Real co-star, except for "socially throughout the process. Interestingly, for those of you that are avid IMDb surfers, Jesse and I played brother and sister on a television series, a Fox Television series in 1999 called Get Real. I was his older sister Meghan Green and he was Kenny Green. I’m very happy for all of his success."[13]
On January 27, 2011, Rovio Mobile announced a partnership with 20th Century Fox to promote the film. The game Angry Birds Rio was released in March 2011 on the Android Market and the Apple App Store with 50 levels. Rovio plans to release more levels throughout 2011.[14] A sneak peek for Angry Birds Rio (a golden egg) was available on the original Angry Birds game if the viewers found the secret code in Super Bowl XLV's commercial for Rio which would only be visible upon pausing the commercial and advancing it frame by frame. With the DVD and BluRay Release, Rovio and 20th Century Fox announced that they are going to start selling Rio Plush Toys in the Angry Birds Online Store and the DVD and BluRay comes with a code for 15 Hidden Levels, along with 3 Angry Birds Rio Videos. Also, McDonald's ran a promotion with Rio toys in their Happy Meals.[Rovio Mobile 1]
The world premiere of Rio took place on Tuesday, March 22, 2011, at a Cinépolis theater in Lagoa, Rio de Janeiro.[1][15] The U.S. premiere was on Saturday, April 10, 2011 at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, California and was released throughout the country five days later.[16]
Like African Cats, the film also includes a Regular Show short, Mordecai and Rigby: Ringtoneers, shown in some prints of the film in theaters and the Ice Age short, Scrat's Continental Crack-up.
In April 2011, Oreo announced its special edition Oreo cookies with blue cream in promotion of the film. The promotion included stickers inside each package of cookies. Two types of contests were also announced: first, by completing an album of stickers, consumers could win three movie passes and medium snack bar combos; second, by finding winning stickers in packages with prizes including a trip to Rio de Janeiro, backpacks, cinema passes for a year, and 3D glasses. The promotion ends May 30, 2011, or until stock is exhausted.[17] The promotion is available in Ecuador, Peru, and Colombia.
A video game based on the film was released on April 12, 2011 for the Wii, DS, PS3, and the Xbox 360.[18] It has a Party-genre similar to the Mario Party series. A version of the puzzle game Angry Birds also features the film.
In February 2011, the MPAA gave the film a PG rating for "mild off-color humor". After hearing this, it was reported that some of the producers of the film and Fox executives were apparently unhappy with this rating. Fox resubmitted an edited version of the film to the ratings board one month later, and the MPAA changed the film to a G rating.[19]
Rio received positive reviews from film critics. As of June 2011[update], review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes has scored a 72% rating, with an average rating of 6.4 out of 10, based on 136 reviews. The website's consensus is "This straightforward movie hits great heights thanks to its colorful visual palette, catchy music, and perfect vocal performances."[20] On Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the film has an average score of 63 out of 100, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[21]
Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly gave the movie a "mixed" C rating. Gleiberman praised the animation in Rio and its music, and later went on to say that the film is "less a Pixar-level pleasure than a busy, frantic, and overstuffed dessert of a movie."[22] Betsy Sharkey of the Los Angeles Times gave a positive review of the film. Sharkey said that the storyline is an "eco-sensitive variation of 101 Dalmatians with birds as prey," and praised the film for its comic action and the voices, as well as the visuals.[23]
Rio made $143,619,809 in North America, along with $341,015,951 in other territories for a total of $484,635,760 worldwide, becoming the seventh-highest grossing film of 2011. It was the first film of 2011 to pass the $400-million mark.[3]
Rio debuted with $39,225,962 during its opening weekend on approximately 6,400 screens at 3,826 theaters. It ranked number one at the box office surpassing the other new wide release, Scream 4, which ranked second.[24] This was the highest-grossing opening weekend for a 2011 film at the time but now ranks 7th.[25] It also scored the largest opening weekend in April for an animated feature, and the sixth largest in April overall.[26] On its second weekend (Easter weekend) it retained first place at the box office, dropping only 33% to $26.3 million, therefore surpassing that weekend's releases, Tyler Perry's Madea's Big Happy Family ($25.1 million), Water for Elephants ($16.8 million) and African Cats ($6.0 million), which ranked second, third and sixth respectively.[27]
On its first weekend overseas (the weekend before its release in North America) it topped the box office with $54.9 million from 11,714 screens in 72 countries.[28] On its second weekend it earned $55.4 million, still on top of the overseas box office[29] and on its third weekend it remained at the summit of the box office, grossing an estimated $44.3 million. It therefore marked the second movie that succeeded in topping the overseas box office three times in 2011, joining Tangled, although it is the only one that did it on three consecutive weekends.[30]
In Russia and the CIS, it topped the box office with $11,305,530 during its opening weekend (including weekday previews), surpassing Tangled for the largest all-time opening of a non-sequel animated movie. It earned $24,793,285 in total, marking the fourth largest animated movie of all time.[31] In Brazil, it opened with $8,349,383, the largest opening weekend of all time in the territory, though it was then out-grossed by Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides ($8,400,359).[32] On its second weekend it earned $7.2 million, falling just 14% from its opening. It then delivered the highest-grossing third weekend in history with $6,356,031 (a 12% decline)[33] and as of June 5, 2011 it has earned $42,946,161, marking the second-largest animated festure of all time behind Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs ($45,373,371).[34] In Venezuela, it has earned $8,092,261, marking the second-highest-grossing film of all time behind Ice Age 3 ($11,644,527).[35] In Uruguay, it is the fourth highest-grossing film of all time with $754,820 after Titanic ($2,137,938), Avatar ($1,195,413) and Ice Age 3 ($1,001,818).[36] In Peru, grossing $3,854,491, it is the third-largest animated feature behind Ice Age 3 and Shrek Forever After and the fourth highest-grossing film of all time behind these two and Avatar.[37] In India, it grossed 10,000,000 in three weeks making the biggest animated opener ever.[38]
| Awards | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Award | Category | Name | Outcome |
| 2011 Teen Choice Awards[39] | Favorite Movie Animated Voice | Anne Hathaway | Nominated |
| 2012 People's Choice Awards[40] | Pending | ||
| Annie Awards | Annie Award for Best Animated Feature | Bruce Anderson John C. Donkin Carlos Saldanha |
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| Annie Award for Best Character Animation in an Animated Production | Jeff Gabor | ||
| Patrik Puhala | |||
| Annie Award for Best Character Design in a Feature Production | Sergios Pablos | ||
| Annie Award for Directing in an Animated Feature Production | Carlos Saldanha | ||
| Annie Award for Best Music in an Animated Feature Production | Mikael Mutti Siedah Garrett Carlinhos Brown Sergio Mendes John Powell |
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| Annie Award for Production Design in an Animated Feature Production | Thomas Cardone Kyle MacNaughton Peter Chan |
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| Annie Award for Best Voice Acting in an Animated Feature Production | Jemaine Clement | ||
As a tribute to the country where most of the story is set and where the director was born, Rio was first released for home video in Brazil, on both Blu-Ray and DVD, on July 7, 2011.[41] The North American release date was August 2, 2011,[42] and the Australian release date was September 28, 2011.
Rio is available in 3 different packages: a 3-disc "Party Edition" combination package (Blu-ray, DVD, and Digital Copy), a 2-disc "Party Edition" combination package (DVD and Digital Copy), and a single disc DVD.[42][43] The "Digital Copy" included with the 3-disc combination package is a separate disc that allows users to download a copy of the film to a computer through iTunes or Windows Media Player software. The 3-disc combination package also comes with an hour of bonus features.[43][44]
| Rio: Music from the Motion Picture | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Soundtrack album by Various Artists | ||||
| Released | March 29, 2011 (Digital download) April 5, 2011 (Audio CD) |
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| Genre | Pop, Latin, Alternative hip hop | |||
| Length | 38:11 | |||
| Label | Interscope | |||
| Producer | Sérgio Mendes, John Powell | |||
| Blue Sky Studios film soundtrack chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Rio: Music from the Motion Picture | ||||
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On March 18, 2011, English singer-songwriter Taio Cruz released a music video and theme song named "Telling the World" on YouTube for the soundtrack.[45]
Rio: Music from the Motion Picture was released in the US by Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation on March 29, 2011 for digital download[46] and by Interscope Records on April 5, 2011 in Audio CD format.[47]
In the Brazilian edition some songs gained a Portuguese version performed by famous Brazilian artists such as Bahia performer Ivete Sangalo (replacing Ester Dean in "Take You to Rio (Remix)") and Carlinhos Brown (replacing Jamie Foxx in "Fly Love"). "Real in Rio" became "Favo de Mel" (Honeycomb) but it was performed by the same artists as the English version (though only the first half of the song was translated, while the second remained in English).[48]
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Performer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Real in Rio" | Sérgio Mendes, John Powell, Carlinhos Brown, Mikael Mutti, Siedah Garrett | Jesse Eisenberg, Jamie Foxx, Anne Hathaway, George Lopez, will.i.am, and The Rio Singers with Hollywood | 3:48 |
| 2. | "Let Me Take You to Rio (Blu's Arrival)" | Ester Dean, Brown, Mutti | Ester Dean, Carlinhos Brown | 1:54 |
| 3. | "Mas que Nada" (2011 Rio Version) | Jorge Ben Jor | Sérgio Mendes featuring Gracinha Leporace | 2:44 |
| 4. | "Hot Wings (I Wanna Party)" | will.i.am | will.i.am, Jamie Foxx, Anne Hathaway | 2:16 |
| 5. | "Pretty Bird" | Jemaine Clement, Powell, Yoni Brenner, Mike Reiss | Jemaine Clement | 2:04 |
| 6. | "Fly Love" | Brown, Garrett | Jamie Foxx | 2:39 |
| 7. | "Telling the World" | Taio Cruz, Alan Kasirye | Taio Cruz | 3:33 |
| 8. | "Funky Monkey" | Garrett, Brown, Mutti | Siedah Garrett, Carlinhos Brown, Mikael Mutti, Davi Vieira | 2:24 |
| 9. | "Take You to Rio" (Remix) | Dean, Mikkel Storleer Eriksen, Tor Erik Hermansen | Ester Dean | 3:26 |
| 10. | "Balanço Carioca" | Mutti | Mikael Mutti | 3:01 |
| 11. | "Sapo Cai" | Brown, Mutti, Mendes | Carlinhos Brown, Mikael Mutti | 2:46 |
| 12. | "Samba de Orly" | Toquinho, Chico Buarque de Hollanda | Bebel Gilberto | 2:49 |
| 13. | "Valsa Carioca" | Mendes | Sérgio Mendes | 2:35 |
| 14. | "Forró da Fruta" (Bonus Track) | Brown, Mutti | Carlinhos Brown, Mikael Mutti | 2:12 |
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Total length:
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38:11 | |||
| Track listing | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Performer(s) | Length | |||||
| 1. | "Favo de Mel (Real in Rio)" | Sérgio Mendes, John Powell, Carlinhos Brown, Mikael Mutti, Siedah Garrett | Jesse Eisenberg, Jamie Foxx, Anne Hathaway, George Lopez, will.i.am, and The Rio Singers | 3:48 | |||||
| 2. | "Let Me Take You to Rio (Blu's Arrival)" | Ester Dean, Brown, Mutti | Ester Dean, Justin Bieber | 1:54 | |||||
| 3. | "Mas que Nada" (2011 Rio Version) | Jorge Ben Jor | Sérgio Mendes featuring Gracinha Leporace | 2:44 | |||||
| 4. | "Hot Wings (I Wanna Party)" | will.i.am | will.i.am, Jamie Foxx, Anne Hathaway | 2:16 | |||||
| 5. | "Pretty Bird" | Jemaine Clement, Powell, Yoni Brenner, Mike Reiss | Jemaine Clement | 2:04 | |||||
| 6. | "Ararinha (Fly Love)" | Brown, Garrett | Carlinhos Brown | 2:39 | |||||
| 7. | "Telling the World" | Taio Cruz, Alan Kasirye | Taio Cruz | 3:33 | |||||
| 8. | "Funky Monkey" | Garrett, Brown, Mutti | Siedah Garrett, Carlinhos Brown, Mikael Mutti, Davi Vieira | 2:24 | |||||
| 9. | "Eu Vou te Levar Pro Rio (Take You to Rio)" (Remix) | Dean, Mikkel Storleer Eriksen, Tor Erik Hermansen | Ivete Sangalo | 3:26 | |||||
| 10. | "Balanço Carioca" | Mutti | Mikael Mutti | 3:01 | |||||
| 11. | "Sapo Cai" | Brown, Mutti, Mendes | Carlinhos Brown, Mikael Mutti | 2:46 | |||||
| 12. | "Samba de Orly" | Toquinho, Chico Buarque de Hollanda | Bebel Gilberto | 2:49 | |||||
| 13. | "Valsa Carioca" | Mendes | Sérgio Mendes | 2:35 | |||||
| 14. | "Copacabana Dreams" (Bonus Track) | Mendes, Powell | Sérgio Mendes | 2:20 | |||||
| 15. | "Advice for the Young at Heart" (Bonus Track) | Roland Orzabal, Nicky Holland | will.i.am, Jesse Eisenberg, Jamie Foxx, George Lopez, Anne Hathaway and Tears for Fears | 4:55 | |||||
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Total length:
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43:14 | ||||||||
| Chart (2011) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| US Billboard 200[50] | 60 |
| US Digital Albums | 10 |
| US Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums | 6 |
| US Billboard Top Rap Albums | 2 |
| US Kid Albums | 8 |
| US Soundtracks | 4 |
| Rio | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Film score by John Powell | ||||
| Released | April 19, 2011 | |||
| Genre | Score | |||
| Length | 47:04 | |||
| Label | Varèse Sarabande | |||
| John Powell film scores chronology | ||||
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The film score of Rio was composed by John Powell and was released on April 19, 2011 by Varèse Sarabande Records.[51][52]
| No. | Title | Music | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Morning Routine" | John Powell | 2:23 |
| 2. | "Meet Tulio" | Powell | 2:55 |
| 3. | "Great Big Momma Bird" | Powell | 2:47 |
| 4. | "Paradise Concern" | Powell | 1:59 |
| 5. | "Bagged and Missing" | Powell | 2:09 |
| 6. | "Locked Up" | Powell | 2:10 |
| 7. | "Chained Chase" | Powell | 2:35 |
| 8. | "Bedtime Flyers" | Powell | 2:58 |
| 9. | "Idiot Glider" | Powell | 1:56 |
| 10. | "Juicy Little Mango" | Powell | 2:27 |
| 11. | "Umbrellas of Rio" | Powell | 2:27 |
| 12. | "Motorbike" | Powell | 1:23 |
| 13. | "Bird Fight" | Powell | 1:03 |
| 14. | "Birds Moved" | Powell | 2:33 |
| 15. | "Heimlich" | Powell | 2:31 |
| 16. | "Birdnapped" | Powell | 3:37 |
| 17. | "Rio Airport" | Powell | 4:24 |
| 18. | "Flying" | Powell | 2:43 |
| 19. | "Market Forro" | Carlinhos Brown, Mikael Mutti | 2:11 |
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Total length:
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47:04 | ||
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