Rio (2011)

When Blu, a domesticated macaw from small-town Minnesota, meets the fiercely independent Jewel, he takes off on an adventure to Rio de Janeiro with the bird of his dreams.

Director:

Carlos Saldanha

Writers:

Carlos Saldanha (story), Earl Richey Jones (story)

Stars:

Jesse Eisenberg, Anne Hathaway, George Lopez

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 3 wins & 30 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Karen Disher	...	Mother Bird (voice)
Jason Fricchione	...	Truck Driver (voice)
Sofia Scarpa Saldanha	...	Young Linda (voice)
Leslie Mann	...	Linda (voice)
Kelly Keaton	...	Bookstore Customer / Lady Tourist (voice)
Jesse Eisenberg	...	Blu (voice)
Wanda Sykes	...	Chloe (The Goose) (voice)
Jane Lynch	...	Alice (The Other Goose) (voice)
Rodrigo Santoro	...	Tulio / Soccer Announcer (voice)
Gracinha Leporace	...	Dr. Barbosa (voice)
Jamie Foxx	...	Nico (voice)
Will.i.am	...	Pedro (voice) (as will.i.am)
Phil Miler	...	Aviary Intern / Waiter (voice)
Anne Hathaway	...	Jewel (voice)
Bernardo De Paula	...	Sylvio / Kipo (voice) (as Bernardo de Paula)

Storyline

In Rio de Janeiro, baby macaw, Blu, is captured by dealers and smuggled to the USA. While driving through Moose Lake, Minnesota, the truck that is transporting Blu accidentally drops Blu's box on the road. A girl, Linda, finds the bird and raises him with love. Fifteen years later, Blu is a domesticated and intelligent bird that does not fly and lives a comfortable life with bookshop owner Linda. Out of the blue, clumsy Brazilian ornithologist, Tulio, visits Linda and explains that Blu is the last male of his species, and he has a female called Jewel in Rio de Janeiro. He invites Linda to bring Blu to Rio so that he and Jewel can save their species. Linda travels with Blu and Tulio to Rio de Janeiro and they leave Blu and Jewel in a large cage in the institute where Tulio works. While they are having dinner, smugglers break into the institute and steal Blu and Jewel to sell them. Linda and Tulio look everywhere for Blu, who is chained to Jewel and hidden in a slum. Meanwhile, Jewel ...

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Plot Keywords:

bird | macaw | ornithologist | brazil | minnesota | 

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Taglines:

He's going to the wildest, most magical place on earth ... home.

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Genres:

Animation | Adventure | Comedy | Family | Musical

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Certificate:

G

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

USA Brazil

Language:

English Portuguese

Release Date:

15 April 2011 (USA)

Also Known As:

Rio: The Movie

Box Office

Budget:

$90,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$39,225,962, 17 April 2011, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$143,619,809

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$487,519,809

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox Animation, Blue Sky Studios

Technical Specs

Runtime:

96 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Datasat SDDS Dolby Surround 7.1

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

During production, Jesse Eisenberg was still working on The Social Network (2010). To compensate for time, he agreed to provide Blu's dialogue on weekends, admitting that it diverted him away from the mindset of his nearly-joyless Social Network character.

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Goofs

Flight is instinctive to a macaw, and a macaw is going to take off in fear if it sees one of the commonplace predators of Minnesota, feline or canine, likely to make a meal of such a bird should one ever find its way into the bookstore.

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Quotes

Pedro: [as they watch Nigel take Jewel by force] Hey! Get back here! Ain't nobody mess with a friend of Pedro! I ain't havin' it! It's on!
[he starts punching the air]
Nico: What are you on? Did you see the talons on that guy?
Pedro: Talons? Maybe it's on next time.
[they turn and fly away]
Nico: Ralfieeee!
Pedro: Blu! Help!
Nico: Help!

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Crazy Credits

The initial set of credits is accompanied by a reprise of "Real in Rio" from the main cast. It is then followed by a scene of a featherless Nigel being photographed by Mauro.

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Alternate Versions

Also released in a 3D version.

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Connections

Referenced in Mad: Lukewarm Bodies/Does Someone Have to GOa? (2013)

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Soundtracks

Real In Rio
Music by Sergio Mendes, Carlinhos Brown, Mikael Mutti, and John Powell
Lyrics by Siedah Garrett
Performed by The Rio Singers
Produced by Sergio Mendes, John Powell, Carlinhos Brown and Mikael Mutti

User Reviews

Predictable but well done

We saw this in 2D, on a digital projection system. While the movie is an hour and 36 minutes, it felt longer to me. I guess it's because there was nothing new about this, it was all pretty predictable. I even dozed off for a few minutes part way through.

Now, on the positive side, the movie's colors are rich and vibrant. The animation quality is simply amazing; some of the wide scenic shots looked almost real. The music is a lot of fun and there are some good laughs, especially in the latter half of the film. My 10-year old son was glued to the screen; even asked us when it was over which was our favorite scene(s). Overall, it's a good film. I'd say take the kids and go have some fun.