In the wildly lucrative world of family animation, a new breed of hero emerged in 2011, in the form of a neurotic rare bird named Blu. Voiced by Jesse Eisenberg, Blu was the star of Rio, a surprise hit with audiences and critics alike.
Now Eisenberg, co-star Anne Hathaway and a host of other voices bring the characters back to life in Rio 2, where Blu and the gang are relocated to the Amazon.
Returning to the director's chair is Carlos Saldanha, who helmed the first film. Making his name with the blockbuster Ice Age movies, Saldanha's films have generated over US$2 billion (Dh7bn) in box office revenue.
With this new film, he knew exactly the balance he needed to strike.
“We wanted to make something with a good message, something that talks about family in a positive way,” says the 49-year-old filmmaker. “But what we wanted to do was mix it in with the energy and fun that made the first film so special.”
The first movie was noted for its attention to detail, remarkably capturing Rio's unique landscape – and the director admits the animators had to work hard to bring the same level of detail to the dense Amazon rainforest. "Our animators have developed new techniques to create this world, because they had to," he says. "There's so much wildlife, the trees, the plants, the new characters we introduce – all of it had to be right and that requires a lot of attention to detail."
The film has a litany of big name stars: Eisenberg, Hathaway, Leslie Mann, Bruno Mars, Kristen Chenoweth, Andy Garcia, George Lopez, Jamie Foxx, will.i.am and Tracy Morgan.
Hathaway returns as Jewell, the partner of Eisenberg’s character Blu. Although most actors find the voice-over booth a strange experience, the actress took it in her stride. “Well, it was such a relief not to strap on feathers and learn how to fly. I think only Meryl Streep could pull that one off!” she joked at a press conference for the film earlier this year. “It’s just different. Every project’s different … the particulars of every job are different, but the approach is the same in that you’re there to play.”
For the director, the voice cast was the vital link. “Top to bottom, we have a wonderful cast that brought the movie to life,” Saldanha says. “When you’re working with such talented actors, it becomes easy to get to where you want to go with the story, and I’m very thankful they agreed to make the movie with us.”
While it is still to open in most major markets (including the United States), foreign openings of Rio 2 have already garnered great success – as at the time of going to press the film had made $55 million in just a handful of countries. Such success indicates the sequel could well be on the way to matching the first film's gigantic haul – but will there be a Rio 3?
Saldanha remains coy about the proposition: “At the moment, we just want people to have as much fun watching this film as we did making it.”
• Rio 2 is out today in UAE cinemas
artslife@thenational.ae