Saldanha first developed the story concept in 2006, in which a penguin is washed up in Rio. Saldanha learned of the production of the filmsHappy Feet (2006) andSurf's Up (2007), and changed the concept to involve macaws. He pitched his idea toChris Wedge in 2006, and the project was set up atBlue Sky. During production, the crew visited Rio de Janeiro and also consulted with an expert on macaws at theBronx Zoo to study their movements.
Rio debuted on March 22, 2011, inLeblon, Rio de Janeiro, and was released in the United States on April 15 by20th Century Fox. The film received generally positive reviews from critics and grossed $484 million against a $90M budget. It was nominated forBest Original Song for the song "Real in Rio" at the84th Academy Awards. A sequel,Rio 2, was released in 2014.
Plot
InMoose Lake, Minnesota, a crate containing an orphaned maleSpix's macawhatchling thatwas smuggled out ofBrazil falls from a truck and is found by Linda Gunderson, who names him Blu. Fifteen years later, Blu is highly domesticated, but has never learned to fly. One day,ornithologist Túlio Monteiro invites Blu and Linda toRio de Janeiro for Blu, the last known male of his species, tomate with the last known female. At Túlio'saviary in Rio, Blu meets his prospective mate, the fiercely independent Jewel, who longs to flee back into the wilderness.
Later that night, while Linda and Túlio are at a restaurant, the macaws are captured by an orphaned boy named Fernando and asulphur-crested cockatoo named Nigel, both of whom work for a gang ofbird smugglers led by Marcel, who wants to leave the country to sell Blu and Jewel on theblack market. While Fernando regrets his actions, Nigel tells the macaws of his disdain for "pretty birds" after he was replaced by aparakeet on a television series. Blu's familiarity with cages allows him and Jewel to escape, alerting Nigel and the smugglers to give chase. The macaws are forced to travel on foot; Marcel hadlegcuffs applied to the two of them. Fernando helps Linda and Túlio search for the macaws the next morning, while Blu and Jewel meet thetoco toucan Rafael, whosebulldog friend Luiz will remove their cuffs.
Rafael unsuccessfully tries teaching Blu to fly from the edge of a tall mountain with Jewel. They soon catch up withred-crested cardinal Pedro and hisyellow canary friend Nico, both of whom Blu had met the day before. Elsewhere, Nigel coerces a horde of thievingmarmosets led by Mauro to capture Blu and Jewel. To help Blu and Jewel get along better, Pedro, Nico, and Rafael take the macaws to asamba dance party, where they begin to fall in love. The marmosets arrive, and after a brief fight breaks out, the five escape on atram.
At the smugglers' hideout, Fernando, Linda, and Túlio discover the macaws are gone. Fernando gets Marcel's henchmen, Armando and Tipa, to reveal that they will use theRio Carnival parade to smuggle the birds to the abandoned airport. Blu and the others meet Luiz, whose saliva allows Blu and Jewel to slip out of their cuffs. Once released, Jewel flies happily into the sky with the others while Blu leaves, assuming he would only hold Jewel and the others back.
Nigel captures Jewel, prompting Blu, Rafael, Nico, and Pedro to rush to the parade to rescue her, only to also be captured. Elsewhere, Linda and Túlio pose as dancers in Spix's macaw costumes to access the parade. The smugglers escape and flee to their plane. Using afire extinguisher, Blu breaks out of his cage and quickly frees Jewel and the other birds, but Nigel attacks the macaws and Jewel's wing is badly injured in the process. Blu activates the fire extinguisher, sending Nigel out of the open cargo door and into one of its engines. The smugglers escape the rapidly-descending plane while Jewel falls out of the opencargo hatch. Blu jumps after her, intent on not leaving her behind. After Jewel kisses Blu, he finally gains his flying abilities, and he carries her to Linda and Túlio.
Now a couple, Linda and Túlio adopt Fernando and start a bird sanctuary and a bookstore branch in Rio. Blu and Jewel raise three hatchlings together and celebrate with their friends. Meanwhile, the featherless Nigel survives the plane crash and is ridiculed by Mauro, while the smugglers are jailed.
Voice cast
Anne Hathaway as Jewel, a blue Spix macaw was born in the Amazon Jungle, but taken to Rio de Janeiro.
Jesse Eisenberg as Blu, a blueSpix macaw was born in Rio de Janeiro but raised in Moose Lake, Minnesota, after he was smuggled
Leslie Mann as Linda Gunderson, a woman who discovered Blu after he was taken from Rio de Janeiro to Moose Lake and adopted him for 15 years
Sofia Scarpa Saldanha voices a young Linda Gunderson.
George Lopez as Rafael, a romantic, wise, and energetictoco toucan who is Eva's carnival loving mate
Tracy Morgan as Luiz, abulldog who is Rafael's friend and asaw expert who has a medical condition of drooling
Jemaine Clement as Nigel, a sadisticsulphur-crested cockatoo who used to be a film and TV star, but was replaced by a parakeet, causing him to develop a strong hatred for "pretty birds"
Saldanha first had the idea for the film in 2006, involving a penguin being washed up on the beaches of Ipanema; it was changed to the current story after he learned ofHappy Feet andSurf'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 theBronx Zoo to gain insight into their movement and personalities.[8] Saldanha himself is a Brazilian from Rio de Janeiro; such elements of Brazilian culture and landmarks were also influenced from Saldanha growing up in Brazil.[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 fromFlight of the Conchords,[9] which was done prior to a script being finalized.[10]Neil Patrick Harris was supposed to voice Blu, but had other commitments outside production;[11] he was later replaced byJesse Eisenberg. Eisenberg was asked during the filming ofThe Social Network if he would do his voice recording on the weekends, and he agreed after reading the script, saying: "It was the perfect antidote to get out of the mindset of my character inSocial Network who was so severe, and in some ways so joyless."[12]
For music, they brought on boardSérgio Mendes to act as music guru and online living library.[8] He in turn was able to reach out to artists such aswill.i.am andCarlinhos Brown to provide music for the film.[13]
Eisenberg and Anne Hathaway, who voiced Jewel, had acted together before when both were still teenagers, when they played siblings in the short-lived 1999 TV showGet Real. Hathaway stated in an interview that she didn't see Eisenberg during production ofRio except "socially throughout the process," but that she was "very happy for all of his success."[14]
Rio (Music from the Motion Picture) was released byInterscope Records on April 5, 2011, fordigital download and followed by aphysical release on April 12, 2011.[15][16] The album was produced by the film's score composerJohn Powell (who regularly worked on most ofBlue Sky's films) and Brazilian musicianSérgio Mendes, and features performances from the film's cast, alongside collaborations from Brazilian and American musicians.[17] On March 18, 2011,Brazilian-English singer-songwriterTaio Cruz released a music video and theme song named "Telling the World" on YouTube for the soundtrack, and was released for digital download, two days later.[18] It was positively received, and debuted at number 60 onBillboard 200 charts.[19] Powell's score for the film was released into a separate album on April 19, 2011, by theVarèse Sarabande label.[20][21]
Release
The world premiere ofRio took place on March 22, 2011, at aCinépolis theater inLagoa, Rio de Janeiro.[1][22] The United States premiere was on April 10, 2011, atGrauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, California, and was released throughout the country five days later.[23] Since May 2009, it had been scheduled to be released in the United States on April 8, 2011, but in December 2010, it was rescheduled a week later to April 15, 2011.[24][25] The film was also dedicated to the memory of Clymene Campos Saldanha, the mother of Carlos Saldanha who died on December 11, 2010, during production.
Marketing
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 contest 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 ended on May 30, 2011.[26] The promotion is available in Ecuador, Peru, and Colombia.[citation needed]
On January 27, 2011,Rovio Mobile announced a partnership with20th Century Fox to promote the film. The gameAngry Birds Rio was released in March 2011 on theAndroid Market and theAppleApp Store with 50 levels. Rovio released more levels throughout 2011.[27] With the DVD and Blu-ray release, Rovio and 20th Century Fox announced that they were going to start selling Rio plush toys in the Angry Birds Online Store and the DVD and Blu-ray 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.[28]
In February 2011, theMPAA gave the film a PG rating for "mild off-color humor". The producers, displeased by this rating, resubmitted an edited version of the film to the ratings board one month later, and the MPAA changed the film to a G rating.[29]
Home media
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 bothDVD andBlu-ray, on July 7, 2011.[30] The North American release date was August 2, 2011,[31] and the Australian release date was September 28, 2011.[32] As of June 2014, 12 million Blu-ray and DVD units had been sold worldwide.[33]
Rio is available in 4 different packages: a 4-disc "Party Edition" combination package (3D Blu-ray, Blu-ray, DVD, and Digital Copy), 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.[31][34] 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 throughiTunes orWindows Media Player software. The 3-disc combination package also comes with an hour of bonus features.[34]
Rio was also made available toDisney+ on April 16, 2021, but has been removed from the service as of December 2, 2021. However, it still remains in certain regions (such as New Zealand) as of December 16, 2022. The film returned to Disney+ on March 3, 2023.
A video game based on the film was released on April 12, 2011, byTHQ, for theWii,Nintendo DS,PlayStation 3, and theXbox 360.[35] Another game, starring the Angry Birds, calledAngry Birds Rio, was released in March 2011 for various mobile and desktop systems.[36]
Reception toRio
The game received mixed reception, with, for lowest to highest, Metacritic at 60 out of 100 based on 16 reviews for the Xbox 360 version,[37] and 65 out of 100 based on 8 reviews for the PlayStation 3 version.[38] And in GameRankings, 40.00% for the Wii version, 58.00% for the Nintendo DS version, 64.73% for the Xbox 360 version, and 71.67% for the PlayStation 3.
Reception
Box office
Rio made $143.6 million in North America, along with $340.2 million in other territories for a total of $483.9 million worldwide, becoming the 13th highest-grossing film of 2011.
North America
Rio debuted with $39.2 million during its opening weekend, ranking first at the box office.[39] This was the highest-grossing opening weekend of 2011 that far, finishing the year at sixteenth.[40] It also scored the largest opening weekend in April for an animated feature, and the sixth largest in April overall.[41] 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'sMadea's Big Happy Family ($25.1 million),Water for Elephants ($16.8 million), andAfrican Cats ($6 million), which ranked second, third, and sixth, respectively.[42]Rio's income of $200.6 million made it one of the Blue Sky's lowest box office results at the time, surpassing onlyIce Age andRobots,[43] and the 18th highest-grossing film of the year in North America.[44]
Other territories
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.[45] On its second weekend it earned $55.4 million, still on top of the overseas box office[46] 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 film that succeeded in topping the overseas box office three times in 2011, joiningTangled, although it is the only one that did it on three consecutive weekends.[47]
In Brazil, the film's main setting and Saldanha's homeland,Rio was the largest release ever with over 1,000 screens.[48] Its opening weekend gross of $8.4 million was the biggest ever for an American film[49] (surpassed one year later byMadagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted). 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 $6.3 million (a 12% decline).[50]Rio finished 2011 with a final gross of $36.8 million (R$68.7 million), the second highest income of the year afterThe Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1.[51]
InRussia and theCIS, it topped the box office with $11.3 million during its opening weekend (including weekday previews), surpassingTangled for the largest all-time opening of a non-sequel animated feature. It earned $24.7 million in total, marking the fourth largest animated film of all time.[52] InVenezuela, it has earned $8 million, marking the second-highest-grossing film of all time behindIce Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs ($11.6 million).[53] InUruguay, it is the fourth highest-grossing film of all time with $754,820 afterTitanic ($2.1 million),Avatar ($1.1 million), andIce Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs ($1 million).[54] InPeru, grossing $3.8 million, it is the third-largest animated feature behindIce Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs andShrek Forever After, and the fourth highest-grossing film of all time behind these two andAvatar.[55] InIndia, it grossed₹10,000,000 in three weeks making the biggest animated opener ever.[56]
Critical response
The review aggregatorRotten Tomatoes gives the film a 72% approval rating based on 152 reviews, with an average score of 6.4/10. The website's consensus is: "This straightforward movie hits great heights thanks to its colorful visual palette, catchy music, and funny vocal performances."[57] OnMetacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to 29 reviews from mainstream critics, the film has an average score of 63 out of 100, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.[58] Audiences polled byCinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.[59]
Owen Gleiberman ofEntertainment Weekly gave the film a mixed "C" rating; he praised the animation inRio and its music, but later went on to say that the film is "less aPixar-level pleasure than a busy, frantic, and overstuffed dessert of a movie."[60] Betsy Sharkey of theLos Angeles Times gave the film a positive review, praising its comic action, voices and visuals.[61]
A sequel, titledRio 2, was released on April 11, 2014. Carlos Saldanha, the creator and director of the first film, returned as director. All the main cast, including Anne Hathaway, Jesse Eisenberg, Jemaine Clement, Jamie Foxx, will.i.am, Tracy Morgan, George Lopez, Jake T. Austin, Leslie Mann, and Rodrigo Santoro, reprised their roles. New cast includesAndy García,Bruno Mars,Kristin Chenoweth,Rita Moreno,Amandla Stenberg,Rachel Crow,Pierce Gagnon, andNatalie Morales. The sequel follows Blu, Jewel and their three kids on a venture into theAmazon where they try to live like real birds. Eventually, they find Jewel's long-lost father Eduardo, who is in hiding with a tribe of otherSpix's macaw. At first everything seems perfect, but Blu is having trouble adapting to the wild. Eventually, they discover that the Amazon is under threat, and that Blu and Jewel's old nemesis, Nigel the cockatoo, is back for revenge.[65]
Director Carlos Saldanha had kept the possibility for a thirdRio film open. In an April 2014 interview, he stated, "Of course, I have a lot of stories to tell, so we're [starting to] prepare for it."[66] In apress kit released by Disney for the 2022 filmThe Ice Age Adventures of Buck Wild, it is mentioned that "the next installment in theRio franchise" is in development, with Ray DeLaurentis writing the screenplay.[67]
Spin-off
In October 2019, after theacquisition of 21st Century Fox by Disney, various sources reported that a spin-off centered on Nico and Pedro was in early development forDisney+, however this has never been publicly confirmed by Disney.[68] The shut down of Blue Sky Studios in 2021 left the fate of this spin-off uncertain ever since.[69]
Rio: The 4-D Experience
Rio: The 4-D Experience is a 12-minute4D film shown at various 4-D theatres over the world. Produced bySimEx-Iwerks, it premiered on September 27, 2013, at theSan Diego Zoo 4-D Theater.[70] Since May 24, 2014, it is being shown at the 5D Cinema at the revivedKentucky Kingdom. Since July 2014, it is being shown at the 4D Special FX Theater atMoody Gardens.[71] And since October 25, 2014, it is being shown at theRoxy Theatre atWarner Bros. Movie World.[72]
The film is composed of the major scenes fromRio with added 4-D effects.
^Warne, Alex (January 29, 2011)."Angry Birds Going Big Time".Daily News Pulse.Archived from the original on August 22, 2011. RetrievedSeptember 16, 2011.
