The Wild

The Wild
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Steve "Spaz" Williams
Produced by	Clint Goldman Beau Flynn Will Vinton (executive producer)
Screenplay by	Ed Decter John J. Strauss Mark Gibson Philip Halprin
Story by	Mark Gibson Philip Halprin
Starring	Kiefer Sutherland Jim Belushi Janeane Garofalo Greg Cipes Eddie Izzard Richard Kind William Shatner Patrick Warburton
Music by	Alan Silvestri
Edited by	Scott Balcerek Steven L. Wagner
Production company	Walt Disney Pictures C.O.R.E. Feature Animation
Distributed by	Buena Vista Pictures
Release dates	April 14, 2006 (2006-04-14)
Running time	82 minutes[1]
Country	United States Canada
Language	English
Budget	$80 million
Box office	$102,338,515[2]

The Wild is a 2006 Canadian-American computer animated adventure comedy film directed by animator Steve "Spaz" Williams, written by Ed Decter, John J. Strauss, Mark Gibson and Philip Halprin, features the voices of Kiefer Sutherland, Jim Belushi, Janeane Garofalo, Greg Cipes, Eddie Izzard, Richard Kind, William Shatner and Patrick Warburton and produced by Clint Goldman, Will Vinton and Beau Flynn. The film was a C.O.R.E. Feature Animation and Walt Disney Pictures production, and it was distributed by Buena Vista Pictures. It was released to theaters on April 14, 2006 in North America.

Plot

In Central Park Zoo, Samson the Lion tells his son Ryan stories of his adventures in the wild. That night, when the zoo closes, all the animals are free to roam. Samson, Benny, Bridget, Larry, and Nigel were in a turtle curling championship while Ryan was with his friends. Ryan accidentally alerts the Thompson Gazelles which head to the game. Samson and Ryan have a falling-out about the fact that Ryan can't roar and Ryan storms off, even though his father was sorry for what he said. Benny insists that Samson tells the truth to Ryan or he will lose his son. When Samson goes to talk to him, he is not home. Ryan has actually walked into a green box and accidentally gets shipped, which the legend tells will take him to the wild. With the help of a pigeon, Hamir, Samson and Benny go after him, sneaking into a garbage disposal truck with Nigel, Bridget, and Larry coming as well, accidentally throwing Benny off the truck. After passing through Times Square and nearly being crushed in the garbage disposal, the group encounters a pack of rabid stray dogs. Samson leads them through the sewer rather than scaring them off. There, they take directions to the docks from two street wise alligator brothers, Stan and Carmine.

The next morning, the four friends steal a tugboat during a hectic escape from several bulk carriers entering and departing New York harbor. With a little help from Larry, they drive the boat and reunite with Benny, who has enlisted a flock of Canada geese to help lead the crew in the right direction of Ryan's ship. Days later, Nigel goes mad with the heat and thirst, and under the impression they have hit an iceberg, jumps overboard. The boat has run aground in Africa. The group quickly discovers that all the animals in the area are being evacuated by the carriers, as a nearby volcano erupts. They witness Ryan escaping, but he runs into the jungle. Samson attempts to find him, but it is quickly revealed that he has in fact never been in the wild before after trying to eat a rude Hyrax. The rest of the group head back to the ship, but Samson decides to keep trying to find his son. While walking Samson starts seeing plants and rocks changing colors. Nigel is captured by a group of wildebeests who dwell in the volcano, and their leader Kazar, pronounces him 'The Great Him', based on an 'omen' he received when he was young: about to be devoured by lions, a toy koala fell from the sky (actually from a plane) and scared the lions away, saving his life. Kazar wants to change the food chain; he would rather see "prey become predators" and vice versa. For this, he needs to eat a lion. Bridget and Larry are also captured and held prisoner.

Ryan is sheltering in a branch of an old tree, but he is attacked by a gang of vultures led by Scraw and Scab acting under orders from Kazar. The branch breaks and traps his paw. Ryan attempts another failed roar. Samson hears Ryan's cries and runs to save him, scaring off the birds. The two reunite, but are interrupted by a herd of wildebeests. Ryan is shocked when Samson tells him to run. The two retreat to a tree where Samson reveals the truth. He was born in the circus and like Ryan, couldn't roar. Samson's mean, selfish and possibly abusive father was bitterly disappointed and claimed that he would've known how to roar if he had been born in the wild before allowing his son to be sent to the zoo, where Samson became an orphan and lied to avoid the shame. The wildebeests discover them and, in the scuffle, send the tree over the cliff, with Samson still hanging on. Ryan is taken to the volcano.

Benny finds Samson and encourages him to be himself, even if he's not from the wild. They find two chameleons, who were leading Samson to the volcano and are also trying to defeat Kazar's army of his kind. Samson uses the chameleon camouflage to slip into Kazar's lair. 'The Great Him' tries his best to stall the wildebeests from cooking his friends, and eventually Samson appears to fight Kazar and protect them, but Kazar overwhelms him. Ryan, seeing Samson in danger, climbs onto a catapulting device and launches himself. Ryan finally finds his roar while in midair. Ryan lands on Kazar's back, but is quickly thrown off. Samson attacks Kazar and manages to defeat him. Ryan tells Samson that he is happy to have him for a dad. The other wildebeests are touched by this and refuse to serve Kazar any further. Samson gains the courage he has needed, and roars powerfully enough to push back a charging Kazar. After Kazar was defeated, the volcano starts to erupt. Samson, Ryan, Nigel, Benny, Bridget, Larry and every single wildebeest flee except Kazar who is caught by the eruption and likely to be killed. The animals managed to escape on the boat and travel back to the New York Zoo.

Voice cast

Release

The Wild opened in 2,854 theaters. The film earned $9.5 million in its first weekend at the box office, ranking #4.^[2] Its promotion was small, with only the following promoters: Kraft, McDonald's, Amazon (selling the products and mini promotions on its site), Buena Vista Games, Buena Vista Records, and Buena Vista Book Publishing Worldwide. As of November 5, 2006, the movie grossed a total of $37,384,046 in the United States box office and $139,722,455 worldwide including DVD sales. Its production budget, in contrast, was $80 million.^[2] The Wild was 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.

In the UK and Sweden, The Wild is listed as being part of the Walt Disney Animated Classics series, although Disney's official canonical listing excludes the film. The original DVDs released in these countries label the film as a 'Disney Classic' with the Swedish listing placing The Wild in the list in place of Dinosaur.

Critical reception

The Wild received very negative reviews. It had harsh reviews even before the trailer premiered. Rotten Tomatoes reports that 20% of critics gave the film a positive review with an average score of 4.5/10, based on 111 reviews. The consensus says, "With a rehashed plot and unimpressive animation, there's nothing wild about The Wild."^[3]

Madagascar similarities

Critics considered The Wild to be heavily derivative of the 2005 film, Madagascar. USA Today suggested that it was "the most wildly derivative animated movie in ages",^[4] while Variety described it as "ultimately done in by the persistent stench of been-there-seen-that".^[5] Similarities include its setting in New York's Central Park Zoo, 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.

Despite this, a few critics defended The Wild as the superior film. Critic Mike Sage wrote "don't be mistaking this for a Madagascar rip-off, when it was that sloppy DreamWorks turd that only managed to make it to theaters first because of corporate espionage".^[6] Without addressing which film was the original concept, Tim Cogshell of Boxoffice Magazine simply wrote "for the adult who may very well have to experience this film, and who may have experienced Madagascar, The Wild is better. The animation is better, the jokes intended for your children are better, the jokes intended for you and not your children are much better, the songs are better, and it's more fun." ^[7]

Awards

Casting Society of America, USA 2006

• Artios - Best Animated Voice-Over Feature Casting - Jen Rudin and Corbin Bronson - Nominated

Soundtrack

The musical score is composed and conducted by Alan Silvestri.

• "Real Wild Child" is performed by Everlife; a music video of the song is included on the 2006 DVD release.
• "Good Enough" is performed by Lifehouse
• "Clocks" is performed by Coldplay
• "Really Nice Day" is performed by Eric Idle and John Du Prez
• "Big Time Boopin'" is performed by Big Bad Voodoo Daddy
• "Come Sail Away" is performed by Styx.

The scores "Tales from the Wild", "You Can't Roar", and "Lost in the City" are only a few of the score tracks on the soundtrack. The soundtrack is available from Buena Vista Records.

Video game

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 blue wildebeest Kazar. The video game is rated "E" (for "Everyone") by the ESRB, with a note for Cartoon Sexual and Cartoon Violence.

References

External links

Wikiquote has quotations related to: The Wild (film)

• Official website
• The Wild at the Internet Movie Database
• The Wild at the Big Cartoon DataBase
• The Wild at Box Office Mojo
• The Wild at Rotten Tomatoes
• The Wild at Metacritic