Richard - Missione Africa

Sparrow "Richard" has been brought up by a family of storks firmly believing that he is one of them, just a bit different. When his family plan to migrate, though, they don't intend on taking him with them and so the poor wee critter awakens one morning to find mum, dad and brother "Max" have set off and left him behind. Desolate, he sets off after them towards Africa. It's going to be a tough challenge on his own, but luckily he has his scatty friend "Olga/Oleg" - an owl with a pretend friend, and the self-adoring parakeet "Kiki" who thinks he's really Donna Summer. Their journey is riddled with dangers but also with opportunities to meet new friends and do some self-discovering along the way. Can he catch up with his family though? Well no, this isn't really very original nor is there an whole heap of jeopardy as the film progresses, but there are still some fun characters and the disco-bird has a few good lines as it builds to a denouement with a fearsome honey badger. It's a story about not judging a book by it's cover and though a bit long and maybe just a bit prone to some (negative) male stereotypes, it's still quite an enjoyable animation that moves along fine.

I had the opportunity to watch it at the Anima Festival (Brussels) before it gets released in the theaters in my country. Very nice surprise!

The main character is a bit stubborn like children can be, while the supportive characters are mostly crazy, fun, kind and emotional, which makes an interesting cocktail.

As the film is centered on birds, it's kind of a (sky)road movie with enriching encounters, discoveries about yourself for the main character and interesting places.

Some very funny scenes for both kids and adults, it's been a pleasure! Go and watch it... and bring your kids / godchildren / little cousins, etc.!

An excellent story of unexpected friendships, the true meaning of family, and fellowship overcoming differences. Compassion, humor, and determination highlight this wonderful family movie.

What a cute and sad drawing, the pobi already loses his family in the beginning and then the adoptive family abandons him without mercy, sad, he gets a little lighter with the comical side when the little owl and the other little bird enter.... The graphic it's beautiful, but the strong point of the film is the story, a perfect script development, in a mix of heavy drama involved by a light comic vein, in addition to the captivating characters...

I have not written a review for a long time, but after seeing "Richard the Stork" today, I felt obligated to warn others off this appalling film. The story line about an animal trying to fit in with a different species is overused and cliché. None of the different bird characters Richard hooks up with are funny, interesting, or believable.

The simple plot of the story is that Richard, in trying to stay with his adoptive Stork family, follows them on a haphazard route to Africa. His entanglements are absurd, emotionally uninteresting, and chaotic. There is no real drama in this film or heartfelt relationships alá "Beauty and the Beast", "Toy Story", or even "Bambi". The writing was hardly clever and the dialogue for most of the film was utter nonsense. Even the conflict between mama and papa Stork on whether or not Richard could be a member of the family was mind-boggling simplistic and cliché. I give it a 3, but only for the animation.