The Wild

''The Wild'' is a 2006 animated adventure comedy film directed by Steve "Spaz" Williams with a screenplay by Ed Decter, John J. Strauss, Mark Gibson and Philip Halprin, as well as featuring an ensemble cast consisting of Kiefer Sutherland, Eddie Izzard, Jim Belushi, Janeane Garofalo, Richard Kind, William Shatner and Greg Cipes. The film's plot centers around Samson, a male lion who loses his preteen son, Ryan, who wanders off and accidentally gets shipped from the Central Park Zoo to Africa, leading Samson to team up with a group of animals as they embark on a journey to save his lost son.

Produced by Walt Disney Pictures, Hoytyboy Pictures, Sir Zip Studios, Contrafilm, and C.O.R.E. Feature Animation, it was animated by C.O.R.E. Digital Pictures, and released by Buena Vista Pictures Distribution. It was released to theaters in North America on April 14, 2006, and earned $102 million on an $80 million budget. The film was a critical and commercial failure, with criticism for its animation and similarities to films such as ''Madagascar'', ''Finding Nemo'', and ''The Lion King''. It was the only film produced by C.O.R.E before they shut down in 2010.

Plot

In the Central Park Zoo, Samson the lion narrates stories of his adventures in the African savanna to his son Ryan. Ryan dreams of going to the wild to learn how to roar like his father, but Samson dismisses the idea.

During the night, Samson and his friends; Benny the squirrel, Bridget the giraffe, Larry the anaconda, and Nigel the koala, compete in a turtle curling championship. Ryan and his own friends accidentally trigger a stampede, ending the game much to Samson's disappointment. Ryan wanders into a green intermodal container, where he gets accidentally locked inside, loaded onto a freight truck and shipped away.

With the help of a pigeon Hamir, Samson and his friends set out to rescue Ryan, hitching a ride in a garbage disposal truck. Passing through Times Square, they get cornered by a pack of rabid dogs, and manage to escape through the sewage system. The group take directions to the docks from two street-smart sewer alligator brothers, Stan and Carmine. The next morning, they commandeer a tugboat from the New York Harbor. With the help of Benny and Canadian geese, Samson steers the boat towards the direction of Ryan's ship.

After days of sea travel, the boat reaches the shores of Africa. They witness a ship evacuating the animals from a dormant volanco, and Ryan running into the jungle. Unable to stop him on time; Nigel, Bridget, Larry and Benny head back to the ship, while Samson stays to continue searching for his son.

In the jungle, the quartet are attacked by a herd of wildebeests who reside in the volcano, capturing Nigel. Their leader Kazar, pronounces Nigel "The Great Him," based on an "omen" he received when he was young, believing that "The Great Him" will help his kind alter the food chain so that prey become predators. Bridget and Larry are also captured, prepared to be eaten.

Ryan hides up in an old tree, and is attacked by a gang of vultures under Kazar's orders. Samson hears Ryan's cries and runs to save him, scaring off the vultures. Samson reveals the truth about his past: he was born in a circus, and just like Ryan unable to roar during a performance. This led to Samson's cruel father disowning him
before being sent to the zoo, where he lied about his origins to avoid further humiliation. The wildebeests discover them and push Samson over the cliff, while Ryan is captured and taken to the volcano.

Benny finds Samson, and gives him the confidence to be himself. After encountering chameleons, Samson uses their camouflage abilities to sneak into the volcano to rescue his son and friends. During the skirmish, Ryan launches himself at Kazar, finally letting out a roar. With Kazar distracted, Samson easily overpowers him. Seeing the father-son love Samson and Ryan have for each other, the other wildebeests refuse to serve Kazar. Enraged, Kazar charges forward, but is pushed back by Samson's powerful roar. As the volcano erupts, the group and wildebeests flee, leaving Kazar to be killed by falling rocks. Everyone manages to escape on the boat, and travel back to New York celebrating.

Voice cast

Production

In a 2004 presentation by Walt Disney Feature Animation, ''The Wild'' was announced in collaboration with the San Francisco-based Complete Pandemonium and Toronto-based C.O.R.E. Digital Pictures companies. The Walt Disney Studios had invested in C.O.R.E. as an alternative to Pixar Animation Studios, whose initial deal with Disney was ending. This was the first and only film produced by C.O.R.E. via their C.O.R.E. Feature Animation division, prior to their closure in 2010.

Release

''The Wild'' was initially announced with an intended release in 2005, before releasing theatrically in the United States by Buena Vista Pictures Distribution on April 14, 2006. In March 2006, for a month-long "spring break" engagement exclusive to the El Capitan Theatre, theater patrons were treated to a live performance of exotic birds which were accompanied by their keepers from the Los Angeles Zoo and Botanical Gardens before a screening of the film.

The film was released on DVD and VHS on September 12, 2006. The DVD was accompanied with a filmmakers' commentary, five deleted scenes, bloopers, and a music video of Everlife's " Real Wild Child". However, the VHS version was only an exclusive for the Disney Movie Club. On its first weekend, the film debuted at number one selling 787,779 DVD units. At the end of its initial home video release, the film earned $43.2 million. On November 21, 2006, the film was released on Blu-ray.

Reception

Box office

During its opening weekend, the film grossed $9.6 million () at the box office, ranking fourth behind '' Scary Movie 4'', '' Ice Age: The Meltdown'', and ''The Benchwarmers''. ''The Wild'' grossed $37.4 million () in the United States and $64.9 million () in other countries for a worldwide total of $102.3 million ().

Critical response

On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 18% based on 112 reviews and an average rating of 4.50/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "With a rehashed plot and unimpressive animation, there's nothing wild about ''The Wild''." On Metacritic, the film has a score of 47 out of 100 based on 24 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.

Jonathan Rosenbaum of the ''Chicago Reader'' wrote that "The CGI characters seem less like artwork than humans wearing animal suits, but despite the overall ugliness and sitcom timing, this has enough action, violence, and invention to keep kids amused." Roger Ebert of the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' gave the film three stars out of four. He praised the film's animation, but acknowledged the film's realism ventured towards the uncanny valley. He remarked that the "framing of some of the characters is too close; they hog the foreground and obscure the background. And the fur, hair and feathers on the creatures look so detailed, thanks to the wonders of CGI, that once again we're wandering toward the Uncanny Valley."

Marc Savlov, reviewing for ''The Austin Chronicle'', wrote "The animation is top-notch, and the film sports some of the most realistic and colorful fur, feathers, and hair this side of Fashion Week in Milan. However, ''The Wild'' feels as though much of its backstory, along with most of the good jokes, have been cut out along the circuitous path to your neighborhood cineplex, resulting in a finished film that will probably delight the under-10 set, while leaving everyone else marveling at how bored they are." Carrie Rickey of ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' gave the film two stars out of four writing: "Though dull, there are three reasons one might want to see the film: The computer animators' ability to realistically represent animal fur is nothing short of dazzling. So detailed are the lion's mane and squirrel's tail that younger viewers could mistake it for a petting zoo."

Comparisons to ''Madagascar''

Critics considered ''The Wild'' to be heavily derivative of the 2005 DreamWorks film ''Madagascar''. Claudia Puig, reviewing for ''USA Today'', suggested that ''The Wild'' was "the most wildly derivative animated movie in ages. It borrows its theme from ''Finding Nemo'' and ''Cats & Dogs'', copies elements of ''The Jungle Book'', ''Monsters, Inc.,'' ''The Lion King'' and ''All Dogs Go To Heaven'' and has a shockingly similar plot to ''Madagascar''." Similarly, Justin Chang of ''Variety'' felt "Samson's rescue mission directly channels the father-son Sturm und Drang of both ''The Lion King'' and ''Finding Nemo,'' though absent the former's powerhouse dramatics or the latter's eye-popping visual splendor." In summary, he wrote that "Uninspired character animation and obnoxious banter aside, ''The Wild'' is ultimately done in by the persistent stench of been-there-seen-that."

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''.

A few critics defended ''The Wild'' as the superior film. Michael Wilmington of the ''Chicago Tribune'' wrote "''The Wild'' is better, mostly because it has some truly spectacular animation and because the cast is just as likable—even, in some cases, preferable." Mike Sage of the ''Peterborough This Week'' wrote "don't be mistaking this for a ''Madagascar'' rip off, when it was that sloppy DreamWorks - that only managed to make it to theaters first because of corporate espionage". 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."

Accolades

Jen Rudin and Corbin Bronson won the Artios Award for Best Animated Voice-Over Feature Casting 2006. The film was nominated for the 2006 Stinkers Bad Movie Award for Worst Animated Film.

Soundtrack

The musical score is composed by Alan Silvestri who also composed ''Lilo & Stitch''.
* " Real Wild Child" is performed by Everlife; a music video of the song is included on the DVD release of 2006. It was also included in the trailer of '' Wild Child''.
* "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 Boppin' (Go Man Go)" is performed by Big Bad Voodoo Daddy
* "Lovin' You" is performed by Minnie Riperton.

The scores "Tales from the Wild", "You Can't Roar", "Lost in the City", "To the Wild", "Alien Shores", "The Legend in Action", "The Mythology of Nigel", "The Ritual", and "Found Our Roar" are among the nine score tracks on the soundtrack. The soundtrack is available from Buena Vista Records. " Free Ride" by The Edgar Winter Group & "Come Sail Away" by Styx is featured in the trailers.

The image song for the Japanese version is called "Prisoner of Love" by the Gospellers.

Video game

A video game for Game Boy Advance based on the film was released to coincide with the film, with Climax Studios developing the game and Buena Vista Games publishing. 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 "E" rated (for "Everyone") by the ESRB, with a note for Mild Cartoon Violence.

Literature

* 2006: Irene Trimble: ''Disney the Wild Novelisation'', Parragon,

Notes

Distributed by Buena Vista Pictures Distribution through the Walt Disney Pictures banner.

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Wild, The
2006 films
2006 American animated films
2006 children's films
2006 computer-animated films
2000s adventure comedy films
2000s children's comedy films
2000s English-language films
American adventure comedy films
American children's animated adventure films
American children's animated comedy films
American computer-animated films
Animated films about lions
Animated films about squirrels
Animated films about koalas
Films scored by Alan Silvestri
Films produced by Beau Flynn
Films about animals
Films about lying
Animated films set in Africa
Animated films set in New York City
Animated films set in zoos
Walt Disney Pictures animated films
2006 directorial debut films
2006 comedy films
Canadian animated feature films
Canadian computer-animated films
Canadian adventure comedy films
Canadian children's comedy films
Animated films about father–son relationships
Animated films about talking animals
English-language adventure comedy films