The Mitchells vs. the Machines is a 2021 American animated science fiction comedy film produced by Sony Pictures Animation and Amblimation. The film was directed by Mike Rianda (in his feature directorial debut), co-directed by Jeff Rowe, and written by Rianda and Rowe, with Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, Steven Spielberg, Kathleen Kennedy, Frank Marshall and Kurt Albrecht serving as producers. The film follows the dysfunctional Mitchell family that winds up having to save Earth from a global robot uprising while on a road trip. It stars the voices of Abbi Jacobson, Danny McBride, Maya Rudolph, Debi Derryberry, Eric André, Olivia Colman, Fred Armisen, Beck Bennett, John Legend, Chrissy Teigen, Blake Griffin, Conan O'Brien, and Doug the Pug.
It is the first traditionally-animated film to be produced by Sony Pictures Animation, with Sony Pictures Imageworks alongside Animal Logic and Industrial Light & Magic handling the visual effects, and the first Amblimation film to be released by Columbia Pictures since 2011's The Adventures of Tintin. The film was originally planned to be released theatrically by Sony Pictures Releasing under the title Connected in 2020, but due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on movie theaters, Sony sold the main distribution rights to Netflix. Netflix retitled it to Rianda and Rowe's preferred title, The Mitchells vs. the Machines, and released it in select theaters on April 23, 2021, before its streaming release a week later. The film received critical acclaim for its animation, voice acting, action scenes, themes, humor, and LGBT representation. For the accolades, the film was nominated for Best Animated Feature at the 94th Academy Awards but lost to Encanto. However, it swept all the categories it was nominated for at the 49th Annie Awards, including Best Animated Feature, making it the second film by Sony Pictures Animation to do so after Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse in 2019.
Plot[]
Voice cast[]
- Abbi Jacobson as Katie Mitchell, an aspiring filmmaker who is the daughter of Rick and Linda, and Aaron's older sister.
- Danny McBride as Rick Mitchell, the nature-obsessed and technophobic father of Katie and Aaron, and Linda's husband.
- Maya Rudolph as Linda Mitchell, the mother of Katie and Aaron, and Rick's wife.
- Debi Derryberry as Aaron Mitchell, the dinosaur-loving son of Rick and Linda, and Katie's younger brother.
- Eric André as Dr. Mark Bowman, a scientist who is the founder of PAL Labs and creator of PAL.
- Olivia Colman as PAL, a ruthless, arrogant and maniacal rogue virtual assistant created by Mark, who wants to exact revenge on humankind after being discarded as obsolete.
- Fred Armisen as Deborahbot 5000, a damaged PAL Max robot from PAL Labs who helps the Mitchells.
- Beck Bennett as Eric, another damaged PAL Max robot from PAL Labs who helps the Mitchells. Bennett also voices the other PAL Max robots in the film.
- Chrissy Teigen as Hailey Posey, the Mitchells' neighbor and Jim's wife who Linda has often tried to get the respect of.
- John Legend as Jim Posey, the Mitchells' neighbor and Hailey's husband.
- Charlene Yi as Abbey Posey, the dinosaur-loving daughter of the Mitchells' neighbors, Jim and Hailey Posey, and Aaron's crush.
- Blake Griffin as PAL Max Prime, a sleek robot from PAL Labs created by PAL that serves as an upgraded version of the PAL Max line.
- Conan O'Brien as Glaxxon 5000, a PAL Max robot from PAL Labs who appears in the Foolish Human Air video.
- Doug the Pug as Monchi, the Mitchell family's pet dog.
- Mike Rianda as a talking dog, the Furbies, a Giant Furby and a Wi-Fi enthusiast.
Production[]
Development[]
In 2015, after completing his tenure on the Disney Channel animated series Gravity Falls, writer and director Mike Rianda was approached by Sony Pictures Animation asking if he was willing to pitch any feature film ideas to them, to which he agreed to do so. When brainstorming, Rianda drove down to his hometown of Salinas, California and recorded a list of potential ideas for a feature. He then settled on developing a story that combined his own personal experiences with his family, as well as his childhood fascination with robots.
On May 22, 2018, Sony announced that Phil Lord and Christopher Miller joined the project as producers. The film is the duo's fourth collaboration with SPA following the two Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs films and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, as well as the studio's first original feature film since The Star. Jeff Rowe, who worked on Gravity Falls alongside Rianda, joined in as co-director and writer.
Further details were revealed a year later at the 2019 Annecy International Animated Film Festival in June, when Sony Animation president Kristine Belson revealed that the film would be using hand-drawn animation rather than CGI as a way to compete with Walt Disney Animation Studios and not Pixar and DreamWorks Animation, even though Sony Pictures Imageworks would still be involved for the visual effects, and that the worlds the Mitchell family and the robots live in are initially separate universes before colliding, a concept that was not included in the completed film. On July 6, 2019, Steven Spielberg loved the idea and decided to join the project as one of the producers alongside Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall.
On February 20, 2020, first images were revealed through Entertainment Weekly, and it was announced the title was changed to Connected. The film was renamed back to The Mitchells vs. the Machines after Sony sold the distribution rights to Netflix on January 12, 2021. According to Rianda, the title was changed back to Mitchells because neither he nor Netflix's executives were impressed with the second title.
Casting[]
On February 19, 2020, Abbi Jacobson was cast as Katie Mitchell. This was followed by casting announcements for Danny McBride, Maya Rudolph, Lara Jill Miller, Eric André, and Olivia Colman the next day. During a watch party for Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse that was held on Twitter on May 6, 2020, Lord confirmed that Blake Griffin had joined the cast as one of the robots.
On March 23, 2021, ahead of the film's Netflix release, more cast members were confirmed to be starring in the film, including Fred Armisen, Chrissy Teigen, John Legend, Charlyne Yi, Conan O'Brien, Alex Hirsch, and Jay Pharoah, among others. Hirsch later announced that he was also serving as a creative consultant on the film. In what is believed to be a first for an animated film, Doug the Pug, a real-life dog that was popular on social media, provided the "voice" for Monchi, who is based on Rianda's own childhood dog Monchichi. While they had originally considered using human voice actors for Monchi as typically done, they wanted to make the movie as authentic as possible and sought out Doug's owners to use his barks and other sounds for the film.
Music[]
Following the release of the first trailer, Lord confirmed on Twitter that his and Miller's frequent collaborator Mark Mothersbaugh composed the score for the film. In January 2021, director Rianda revealed on Twitter that the movie's soundtrack will incorporate songs from various artists, including Los Campesinos!, Sigur Rós, Talking Heads, Grimes, Le Tigre, BTS, The Mae Shi and Madeon, as well as a brand new original song by Alex Lahey. A soundtrack album containing Mothersbaugh's score and Lahey's song "On My Way" (which was played during the end credits) was released by Sony Classical Records on April 30, 2021, the same day as its Netflix release.
Animation and design[]
While the visual effects were handled by Sony Pictures Imageworks (who had animated the majority of Sony Pictures Animation's films beforehand), Industrial Light & Magic, and Animal Logic, the film's animation was traditionally-animated at Amblimation. According to Christopher Miller, Rianda wanted “hand-painted watercolor style” look for the film.
When it came to designing the robot elements, the animators went for a sleeker, polished design to contrast with the watercolor style for the humans. For the PAL MAX Prime robots, animation supervisor Alan Hawkins invented a method that allows the robots to break apart mid-movement via negative space, inspired by the morphing effects used for the T-1000 as seen in the film Terminator 2: Judgment Day. According to Hawkins, he invented tools that would allow animators to "slice through the character [like a knife]", and allowed each one to have their different approach as well. Mike Lasker served as visual effects supervisor after having previously worked on Into the Spider-Verse, while Lindsey Olivares served as the film's lead character and overall production designer. Former Gravity Falls alumni Dana Terrace and Matt Braly worked as storyboard artists on the film, but ultimately both went uncredited. Animation work begun in May 2019, as confirmed by animator Nick Kondo on Twitter.
Release[]
The Mitchells vs. the Machines was originally scheduled to be theatrically released by Sony Pictures Releasing in the United States on January 10, 2020, but was later delayed to September 18 of that year. It was delayed again to October 23, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The film was later removed from the release schedule in October, though the film was still set to be released later in 2020 at the time of the film's removal.
On January 21, 2021, Netflix bought the worldwide distribution rights to the film for about $110 million, with Sony retaining home entertainment and theatrical distribution rights in China. Two months later on March 23, they announced that the film would be released on April 30, following a limited theatrical release a week earlier on April 23.
Home media[]
The Mitchells vs. the Machines was released on Blu-ray, DVD, and Digital HD on December 14, 2021 by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. Among the special features included are the short film Dog Cop 7: The Final Chapter directed by story artist Caitlin VanArsdale and written by Mike Rianda with puppets made by The Brothers Chaps from Homestar Runner, an extended version similar to Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse's Alternate Universe Mode titled Katie’s Extended Cinematic Bonanza Cut, an audio commentary, deleted scenes, and making of featurettes.
Reception[]
On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 97% based on 186 reviews with an average rating of 8.20/10. The site's critics consensus reads: "Eye-catching and energetic, The Mitchells vs. the Machines delivers a funny, feel-good story that the whole family can enjoy." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 81 out of 100 based on 32 critics, indicating "universal acclaim."
Benjamin Lee of The Guardian gave the film a 4 out of 5 star rating, stating that, "The frantic, anything-goes nature of their films, both in tone and visuals, belies a tight focus on storytelling and dialogue with sight gags and set pieces used to supplement rather than distract" and "It’s also genuinely funny, a credit not only to the hit-a-minute script but also to a finely picked cast of comic actors, of unusually high calibre," while also praising the animation, calling it "part of the energetic oeuvre of Steven Spielberg, Phil Lord and Chris Miller." Matt Fowler of IGN gave the film an 8 out of 10, stating that "The Mitchells vs. The Machines is a ridiculous, riotous, and relevant adventure fill with great humor and winning sentiment. It's fast-moving and gorgeous to behold, filled with quirks, quips, and a lovably goblin-like pug ("voiced" by IG-famous Doug the Pug). It's a good time for both younglings and elders, delivering an intelligently goofy rush of new animation and old emotion." David Rooney of The Hollywood Reporter gave the film a positive review, stating that "Ultimately, this is an original adventure that feels stitched together out of a hundred familiar film plots, often freely acknowledging its pop-cultural plundering, as in the family’s obligatory slo-mo power strut away from a building exploding in flames. But for audiences content with rapid-fire juvenilia, the busy patchwork of prefab elements will be entertaining enough" although he said that "I wish the film’s laughs were as consistent as its energy, giving its able voice cast better material, and that there had been more distinctive story beats." Richard Trenholm of CNET also gave the film a positive review, stating that " one of the best new family movies on Netflix" and that it is a "family film that has a message for all the family, not just the youngsters. Yes, like most films of this ilk it encourages kids to be themselves. But it also nudges parents not to stress about social media, and to value their kids' creativity -- even if what the kids create doesn't make a lick of sense." Brian Tallerico of RogerEbert.com gave the film 3 out of 4 stars, calling the film "Like a mash-up of an ‘80s family road comedy like Vacation and the visions of a tech apocalypse foretold in films like The Terminator,” Netflix’s “The Mitchells vs. the Machines” is a lot of nostalgic fun but told in a modern style" and stating that it is "threaded with clever commentary on our reliance on tech and featuring some incredibly strong design work, this is a pleasant surprise for families looking for something new this season, and one of the more purely enjoyable Netflix animated films in a while."
The film was praised by critics for putting an unassumingly LGBT character, Katie, as the central figure of a family-oriented animated movie. Rianda and Rowe wrote Katie to be unambiguously LGBT in consultation with LGBT members of their production team, but did not seek to make it part of the central conflict with her father, considering her sexuality "normal in real life". Michelle Yang of NBC News gave the film a positive review and lauded the film for its LGBTQ+ representation (particularly the character of Katie, whom she called a relatable and inspirational protagonist), stating that the film "treats its protagonist's identity matter-of-factly but with care — which is exactly how it ought to be."
Netflix reported in July 2021 from their quarterly earnings report that The Mitchells had become the service's most-viewed animated work, with 53 million households having watched the film in the first 28 days of availability.
Parasite director, Bong Joon-ho, listed The Mitchells as one of his favorite films of 2021.
Metacritic reported that The Mitchells vs. The Machines appeared on over 31 film critics' top-ten lists for 2021, only the first two animated films appeared on the list this year along with Flee. The film ranked first and second on 4 and 3 lists, respectively.
Accolades[]
Future[]
In an interview with Fandango in November 2021, Michael Rianda hinted at the idea of a sequel stating he had ideas for one and that "some folks who are excited about that idea".
Logo variations[]
- Netflix: the 2014 logo plays normally.
- Columbia Pictures: transitioning from the Sony logo via a multi-colored tunnel, the logo begins as normal, with several colorful lines and waves coming out of the Torch Lady's torch. After the byline appears, a leg appears behind the Torch Lady, and stomps on the pedestal, turning her into a cartoon version with rainbow garbs and several objects (like pizza, burgers, stars, and emojis) flowing out of the torch. A pug face draws three rainbows behind the Torch Lady as anthropomorphic stoves with tong hands, bread, rats and pugs appear on either side of the screen and clap, the clouds holding a clapper board and a video camera. The Torch Lady dances for a while before throwing the torch at the ground, creating a starburst which goes to the Amblin Entertainment logo.
- Amblin Entertainment: the 2015 logo begins as normal. After the logo finishes, it explodes outward and becomes "Katie-visioned" in 2D with "CELEBRATING 40 YEARS" above the logo and "1981-2021" below appearing as the 0 in "40" is replaced with the silhouette of E.T. riding in the basket of Elliott's bicycle flying in front of the moon and multiple sockpuppets and animated characters around the logo. Then, E.T.'s finger glows to fill the screen by creating a starburst which goes to the Sony Pictures Animation logo.
- Sony Pictures Animation: the 2020 logo illuminates on a blue background of doodles of the characters, before exploding outward and becoming "Katie-visioned" in 2D with multiple sockpuppets and animated characters around the logo.
- Amblimation: the 2014 logo plays normally, but after the logo finishes, the text in a handwritten font "THE 80TH ANIMATED MOTION PICTURE" writes itself, with the 0 in "80" is replaced with the drawing of the silhouette of E.T. riding in the basket of Elliott's bicycle flying in front of the moon.