Richard the Stork-A Stork's Journey (2017)

After a pair of sparrows are killed, their hatchling is found and adopted by a family of storks. Young Richard grows up unaware of his true heritage, until the time comes that the flock must migrate to Africa. Knowing Richard would never survive the journey, his stern father leaves him behind. But Richard is determined to go to Africa with the others, no matter what. Along the way he encounters new friends to help him, as well as dangerous obstacles. But nothing can stop him from his goal...

Richard the Stork (known as A Stork's Journey in America) is a European animated film. It's a real breath of fresh air. It's by no means an original story, but it's delivered in a fun way. At only 84 minutes, the film is a brisk watch. It starts off quickly, drops us into this world, and introduces it well to its cast.

The story is simple but effective, and we understand exactly how everyone feels. There's heart to it, and genuine emotion.

The film succeeds as a comedy too. It's not a gut-busting classic or anything, but it's consistently amusing, and has some great moments. One of my favourite was the savage honey badger's reaction to Kiki's singing, which is unexpected and kinda adorable!

Something that didn't occur to me right away is the film's resemblance to Finding Nemo. Some people are less generous with their comparisons, but there are definitely a few similarities. There's a happy then crushing prologue with parents being...y'know, a flight across the world, meeting quirky characters who become aware of the journey, and a mentally confused female sidekick. That's where the similarities end though. While the broad strokes might resemble Nemo, there are more than enough differences, big and small, and the movie does stand on its own.

The characters are fairly strong. Richard is a goodhearted lead, with plenty of spunk and determination. My only criticism is that he never seems to come to terms with being a sparrow, and is quite insulting towards them! Giant pygmy owl Olga is a crazy but friendly sidekick, along with her imaginary friend Oleg (who may or may not be real). And Kiki is a self-obsessed budgie with dreams of being a world famous singer. While he may trick the others to get what he wants, he's not without heart, and does soon do the right thing before it's too late.

The storks are a varied bunch. Richard's mother Aurora is compassionate, while father Claudius is a stern figure, not to mention arrogant towards anyone that's not a stork. Richard's adoptive brother Max is immediately accepting, and blames his father for leaving him behind.

The supporting cast are a...hoot. There are mafioso crows (who play a disappointingly small role), and internet obsessed birds, who are simultaneously a help and a hindrance.

The setting is quite neat. Some areas get across a sense of age. Like there was human presence hundreds of years ago, but nature has grown over these old statues. Before you get the impression this is a post apocalyptic film though, there's plenty of modern activity. Bustling cities, WiFi connections, and cruise liners. The film's a little scathing in places, with more than a few of the human characters being grossly obese (in Europe?!), and growing dependency on the internet. Never to such a degree that it's less fun of a setting though.

Another thing I really liked was all the bird trivia. The film's creators must have done their research, because there are lots of little touches, such as storks' adorably weird laugh, owls rotating their heads, and one hilarious scene with a 'scary' scorpion.

The voice cast here does a good job. I saw it in English, not the original German(?). Confusingly there are apparently a couple of English dubs. Not sure which one I watched, but the performers all fit their characters perfectly.

The music here is nice enough. Its biggest highlight is the song We're Coming Home, which I thought was a licensed track, but was created for the film. It's a nice running theme, and even closes the film out. It's a fairly modern sounding song, but is still neat, and has a bit of a classic ring to it.

And lastly there's the visuals. Richard the Stork is your typical 3D animation, and looks good althroughout, never failing to impress. There are a few great visual moments that really stick out. The characters all have their own distinct appearance too, from their bright colours, to sizes, species', etc.

Richard the Stork is a short but charming film, and a more than adequate distraction for kids, as well as good entertainment for the adults too...