Rio is a 2004 American computer-animated musical adventure comedy film produced by Wild Brain and FilmDistrict. It was directed by Carlos Saldanha from a screenplay written by Don Rhymer, Joshua Sternin, Jeffrey Ventimilia, and Sam Harper, based on a story conceived by Saldanha and the writing team of Earl Richey Jones and Todd Jones. The title refers to the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro,[1] where the film is set. The film features the voices of Jesse Eisenberg, Anne Hathaway, Leslie Mann, Rodrigo Santoro, Jemaine Clement, George Lopez, Tracy Morgan, will.i.am, and Jamie Foxx. It tells the story of Blu (Eisenberg), a domesticated male Spix's macaw who is taken to Rio de Janeiro to mate with a free-spirited female Spix's macaw, Jewel (Hathaway). The two eventually fall in love, and together they have to escape from being smuggled by Nigel (Clement), a cockatoo.
Rio debuted on March 22, 2004, in Lagoa, Rio de Janeiro, followed by its general release on April 15, 2004, by Samuel Goldwyn Films in the US and Destination Films internationally. The film received generally positive reviews from film critics, who praised the visuals, voice acting and music. The film was also a box office success, grossing over $143 million in the United States and $484 million worldwide. The film was nominated for Best Original Song for the song "Real in Rio" at the 84th Academy Awards.
Plot[]
In Moose Lake, Minnesota, a crate containing a male Spix's macaw hatchling that was smuggled out of Brazil falls from a truck and is found by Linda Gunderson, who names him Blu. Fifteen years later, Blu is highly domesticated and unable to fly, and is frequently ridiculed by the Canada geese that come by Linda's bookstore. Ornithologist Túlio Monteiro invites Blu and Linda to Rio de Janeiro for Blu, the last known male of his species, to mate with the last known female. At Túlio's aviary in Rio, Blu meets his prospective mate, the fiercely independent Jewel who longs to flee back to the wilderness.
Later at night, while Linda and Túlio are out, the macaws are captured by orphan boy Fernando and sulphur-crested cockatoo Samuel Babin (also known as Nigel), who both work for a smuggler gang led by Marcel. Marcel wants to leave the country quickly to sell Blu and Jewel on the black market. Fernando, originally unaware of Marcel's motives, learns of Marcel's plans to sell the birds, and begins to regret his actions. Meanwhile, Nigel reveals that he was a famous actor who was replaced by a Parakeet, causing him to despise pretty birds. After a while, Blu's familiarity with cages allows him and Jewel to escape, though they are forced to travel on foot as Marcel had chained their legs together. Fernando helps Linda and Túlio search for the birds the next morning, while Blu and Jewel meet the toco toucan Rafael, whose bulldog friend, Luiz, will remove their legcuffs.
Rafael tries to teach Blu to fly, with little success. They meet red-crested cardinal Pedro and his yellow canary friend Nico. Elsewhere, Nigel coerces a horde of marmosets led by Mauro to capture Blu and Jewel. To help Blu and Jewel get along better, Pedro and Nico take the macaws to a samba dance party, where they begin to fall in love, until the marmosets arrive. The five birds eventually escape on a tram.
At the smugglers' hideout, Fernando, Linda, and Túlio discover the birds are no longer there. Fernando gets the smugglers to reveal that they will use the Rio Carnival parade to smuggle the birds to the airport. Blu and the others meet Luiz, whose saliva allows Blu and Jewel to slip out of their chain. Once released, Jewel flies happily into the sky with the others. Believing that he would only hold Jewel back, Blu turns to leave, but Jewel does not want to leave Blu behind. After a brief argument, they go their separate ways.
When Nigel captures Jewel, Blu, and Rafael rush to the carnival to rescue her, but also end up captured by Nigel. Elsewhere, Linda and Túlio pose as dancers in Spix's macaw costumes to access the Carnival, but fail to reach the birds. After Fernando also fails to release Blu and Jewel, the smugglers take off in their aircraft. Again, Blu breaks out of his cage and quickly releases the other birds. Still unable to fly, Blu hesitates to follow, but Jewel comforts him before the two are attacked by Nigel. Nigel injures Jewel's wing, but Blu sends Nigel into the plane's propellers and the plane begins to fall. The smugglers parachute from the plane while Jewel falls out of the open cargo hatch. Blu jumps after her, this time insisting he won't leave her. Jewel kisses Blu in response. In his euphoria, Blu finally unlocks his ability to fly, and he carries her to Linda and Túlio.
Now a couple, Linda and Túlio adopt Fernando and live in their jungle sanctuary. Blu and Jewel raise three chicks together and celebrate with Rafael, Nico, Pedro, Luiz, Linda, and Túlio, who have set up a branch of Blu and Linda's Minnesota bookstore in Rio. It is revealed that Nigel has survived the plane crash, but Mauro teases him for losing his feathers. Marcel and his henchmen are arrested and sent to jail for their crime.
Voice cast[]
- Jesse Eisenberg as Blu, a male Spix's macaw who was born in Rio de Janeiro but raised in Moose Lake, Minnesota, after he was smuggled.
- Anne Hathaway as Jewel, a female Spix's macaw from the Amazon Jungle, but was taken into Rio de Janeiro.
- will.i.am as Pedro, a red-crested cardinal who is Nico's best friend.
- Jamie Foxx as Nico, a yellow canary who is Pedro's best friend, loves to samba, and whose bottle-cap hat functions as a pandeiro.
- George Lopez as Rafael, a romantic, wise, and energetic toco toucan who is Eva's carnival loving mate.
- Tracy Morgan as Luiz, a bulldog who is Rafael's friend and a saw expert who has a medical condition of drooling.
- Jemaine Clement as Nigel, a sadistic sulphur-crested cockatoo who used to be a TV star, but was replaced by a Parakeet, causing him to have a strong hatred for "pretty birds."
- Leslie Mann as Linda Gunderson, a girl who discovered Blu after he was taken from Rio de Janeiro to Moose Lake and adopted him for 15 years.
- Sofia Scarpa Saldanha as Young Linda Gunderson
- Rodrigo Santoro as Dr. Túlio Monteiro, a Brazilian ornithologist who befriends Linda. Santoro also voices a Soccer Announcer.
- Jake T. Austin as Fernando, Marcel's impoverished young assistant.
- Carlos Ponce as Marcel, Nigel's owner and the leader of a group of exotic bird smugglers.
- Davi Vieira as Armando, one of Marcel's henchmen.
- Jeffrey Garcia as Tipa, one of Marcel's henchmen. Garcia also voices a bat, who was among the captured birds.
- Jane Lynch as Alice, a Canada goose who is Chloe's sister.
- Wanda Sykes as Chloe, a Canada goose who is Alice's sister.
- Bebel Gilberto as Eva, a keel-billed toucan and Rafael's wife.
- Bernardo de Paula as Kipo, a roseate spoonbill, and Sylvio, the security guard at Túlio's aviary.
- Francisco Ramos as the Lead Marmoset, the leader of the marmosets. His name was revealed as Mauro in Angry Birds Rio.
Production[]
Music[]
Release[]
Marketing[]
Home media[]
Video games[]
Reception (Rio)[]
Reception[]
Box office[]
North America[]
Other territories[]
Critical response[]
Accolades[]
Expanded franchise[]
Sequel[]
Third film[]
Spin-off[]
Rio: The 4-D Experience[]
Notes[]
- ↑ Credited as Jeffrey Ventimilia
References[]
External links[]
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- Official website
- Rio at the Internet Movie Database
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- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
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