Storks

It’s incredibly hard to give substance to what many people have dubbed ‘’fluff movies’’. Fluff movies are films that are focused solely on being the most adorable thing in the world which often means that not a lot of thought is put into elements like the story or the characters as they aren’t elements that people are really looking for in these kind of films. However, when one comes out that is able to bring both cuteness and substance, it’ll definitely leave an impression and Warner Brothers was able to do just that by creating a very likeable, vibrant, energetic, funny, and of course, cutesy movie that will surprise the entire family, that being the 2016 CG-animated film Storks. In a world where babies are actually delivered by storks like how the myth states they do, the way in which storks have delivered babies has been switched from the more hands-on approach and they are now instead relying on technology to do their jobs for them. One stork named Junior (voiced by Andy Samberg) is told by the head CEO stork of the company, Hunter (voiced by Kelsey Grammer) that he will become the boss of the company and all he needs to do is fire Tulip (voiced by Katie Crown), an orphaned human who was never delivered to the family due to a previous delivery stork named Jasper (voiced by Danny Trejo) imprinting on the child which resulted in her tracker being destroyed which forced the company to adopt her and Jasper into exile. Proving to be exceptionally clumsy with crazy ideas that do more harm to the company than good, Junior prepares to give her the bad news but its stopped when both soon discover that a baby has been ordered by a young boy named Nate (voiced by Anton Starkman) in order to have someone to play with while his workaholic parents, Henry and Sarah (voiced by Ty Burrell and Jennifer Aniston). Needing each other’s help and with Junior not being willing to let Hunter know that he let Tulip off the hook, both decide to personally delivery the baby to its new family before it’s found and Junior’s plans all flow down the drain. Storks despite all odds, is a great comedy; it has some great writing, a very charming cast, beautiful animation, and a simple but very adorable story that isn’t anything grand or amazing but works on a pure emotional level and still remains engaging. Because of its silly energy and labeling as a cutesy movie, it wasn’t given as much of a chance as other animated features as has mostly gone unrecognized by many despite its fairly successful box office and moderately positive reviews. While not perfect, it has some truly memorable moments both funny and even heartfelt that will satisfy the young and surprise the old.

Even though it doesn’t seem it at first glance, the premise is a fun idea and has room for a lot of comedic potential. A movie about storks hasn’t really been done before, and the idea of taking it in a direction where it can be modernized yet still retain its original absurd purpose surprisingly works better than expected and feels on brand with a company like Warner Brothers who thrived on creating comedic situations where anthropomorphic creatures handle something mundane in a very goofy (or more fittingly ”loony”) manner. While it is a very modern film from its style of comedy, choice of dialogue and even form of animation, nothing every feels dated or even too in-your-face and forceful, its wonderfully timeless in its comedy, characters and premise, everything seems to flow right into place, and it feels like its leads very effectively into great comedy but also a great feeling of heart as well. The directors for this movie, Nicholas Stoller and Doug Sweetland, are the main reasons this film was able to come together as well as it did, with both talents being able to combine their unique filmmaking experiences to create something refreshingly new yet still familiar, as Stoller has been attached to projects like Forgetting Sarah Marshall, The Five-Year Engagement, Neighbors and the recent Muppet revival (which also has a very campy and slightly corny, but very likeable and self-aware atmosphere to it) and Doug Sweetland worked as an animator on several Pixar films like Monster’s Inc, The Incredibles, Finding Nemo and the first two Toy Story films. The movie has the simple emotional engagement of a Pixar property, yet the surreal and fast-paced tone of a comedy, coming together to produce a film that above all else, is very funny and likeable. It has the obvious cutesy elements, but the focus is on making the story and character enjoyable first and that results in people finding it cute. The story and script (also written by Stoller), though very simple, is not only full of charm and light-hearted joy, but it’s also very well put together with good pacing and a good mix between telling the story and telling the jokes, even some of the softer moments are done pretty good. The main drive seems very minimal, but what holds it together is the charm of the characters, the speed and sometimes surreal nature of the humor, and just how downright cute it really is. However, an issue the film runs into is a problem that many fluff movies face, which not always fleshing out many of its ideas quite enough to the point that they leave as strong as a reaction as they truly could. Due to its comedic stance, it may leave some things feeling a little shallow by nature, but because this film has a surprisingly strong heart and had the set up for a lot of effective emotional moments, when something doesn’t reach quite as high as it could’ve, it will be noticeable like Tulip’s backstory, the character of Jasper and even the entire sub-plot regarding the human family. Certain elements like that keep the story from being perfect, but it still has a lot of heart and energy packed within.

The characters in this movie are very endearing, wholesome, and likeable to be around. This comes from the manner in which they interact off each other, how much energy they exude almost to a child-like manner, and the manner in which they say their lines. Warner Brothers animated movies have always excelled at relationship between its characters and that is also shown here, with two very likeable leads portrayed very well by Andy Samberg and Katie Crown. They have very good comedic timing that perfectly matches their characters expression and lively animation, the way in which they relate to each in how both are outcasts in completely different ways, and while some of the character motivation could have been better established on characters like Junior (whose purpose and goal for the movie is a little cliched and goes down a very obvious path), it doesn’t distract from anything and elements like Tulip’s story are actually quite sweet and result in a very heart-warming ending, if also a little underdeveloped. The villain is okay (if a little expected for this kind of movie) and Kelsey Grammer’s dignified and slightly condescending voice is always a treat to listen too. There’s this little bird called Toady voiced by Stephen Kramer Glickman who has the strangest delivery and a comically small design, and he gets some good laughs, and even this angry pack of wolfs voiced by people like Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele gets some bizarre chuckles, mainly coming from how many things they can create out of themselves to an absurd degree. The character of Jasper has a really good backstory to him, and he appears to be chasing the leads as a villain throughout the movie, yet the resolution to this build up isn’t given a good enough pay-off and passes off what should be a touching scene as a joke. The human family waiting for the storks are well acted and have their moments of being cute and wholesome, but they also go a little underdeveloped and maybe could have used a bit more time to flesh them out more as people and not just as a final reaching point for the baby. Even if the characters are fluff, they have effort put into them, so you care for them as well as laugh at how adorable they act as well.

Warner Brothers has also been great at showing physical comedy, and that works well with this movie’s gorgeous animation provided by Sony Pictures Imageworks, who have been responsible for animated movies like Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, Hotel Transylvania, and Arthur Christmas. It’s not only incredibly vibrant with some great pastel babyish colors and memorable character designs, but it’s also more importantly, highly expressive, and emotive. This makes the physical comedy so much funnier with how quick and lively it can be, as the expressions, the movement, the timing, everything is at a great fast pace and it’s a great contrast to the actual dilemma in the movie being quite literally very small, yet the film is smart enough to know when to slow down and let these moments be soft and quiet. The writing of this movie is surprisingly good with some well written and well delivered jokes, with enough of a deviation from the more off-the-walls physical humor and the more sarcastic, but childish written humor to create a perfect bundle. At times some jokes can last a bit too long and scenes can feel a bit repetitive when the actors continue harping on the other (which is a specific form of American humor that doesn’t really work for everybody), but for every joke that doesn’t work, it’s more than likely to be followed up by one that works really well and the variety in which they deliver the humor can be very memorable and insanely entertaining (a specific fight scene where everyone involved can’t make a sound is legitimately hilarious and perfectly done).  For a fluff movie to balance its narrative with its humor is something special for its type and it makes the movie feel even more unique.

Storks is a simple movie that is simply wonderful to sit through. Even if it doesn’t change anything for comedic movies or animated movies overall, it shouldn’t be forgotten about or looked down upon simply because of that. The story is full of charm and cuteness, but also features enough substance to keep people engaged, the characters are very likeable and have great voice talent backing them up, the animation is incredibly expressive as well as incredibly colorful, and the writing is very good at matching the fast-paced animation with some great lines and visuals. Even if it has some typical fluff movie issues and it could have used more time to flesh out its ideas better, it’s a surprise at how well this movie turned out considering. Warner Brothers Pictures Animation hasn’t been around that long (with this one being only the second released after The Lego Movie), and this movie seems to have fallen under the radar unjustly. It’s a great comedy and mostly importantly of all, a great fluff movie. A sure-fire humorous and cute-iful picture that offers up more than people would think it would deliver.