Story
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Samson the lion, known as "Samson R. the Wild", is the star of the New York City zoo. (Though the zoo's best-selling merchandise is a talking doll which looks like Nigel the koala, another resident.) Samson continually recounts tales of his adventures in the wild to his 11-year-old son Ryan, whose sense of inadequacy is heightened by the fact that his 'roar' is little more than a squeak. His father's stories fill him with a desire to escape, but Samson is perfectly content to remain in the zoo. (Later, however, Ryan sneaks into a shipping container bound for Africa.) Samson's conversation with his friend Benny, a squirrel, hints at a dark secret in the lion's past.
After the zoo closes, some animals play a game of turtle-curling, including five of the protagonists: Samson, Benny, Bridget the giraffe (whom Benny has a crush on), Larry the anaconda, and Nigel who is the co-captain. During the game, Ryan accidentally causes a herd of gazelles to stampede, which wreaks havoc on the stadium. After lecturing Ryan, Samson tells Benny his feelings and tries to find Ryan to apologize. Instead, Samson is horrified to witness his son being shipped off to Africa. The lion decides to follow in the back of another vehicle, but just as Benny is giving directions through New York, Bridget accidentally pushes him out with her tail.
The remaining four animals pass awestruck through Times Square. Soon they wind up on the streets, and Samson tries to keep the gang calm and collected. However, three fierce dogs force them to flee (a move Samson calls "The Serengeti Slip"), retreating into the sewers. There, they meet two alligators, Stan and Carmine, abandoned pets who live in the sewer system. The alligators decide, rather than eating the group, to direct them to the harbor.
Shortly after, Samson spots the ship where Ryan now is, but it leaves before they can board. After scaring off the captain of a tugboat and taking control, they realise that they have lost track of Ryan's ship. Meanwhile, Benny is riding on a Canadian goose over the Atlantic Ocean and spies both Samson's and Ryan's ships. He then lands on Bridget's neck and reveals that he saw Ryan's ship and introduces Samson to the goose, Nelson, who leads them there. After some length of time without food, Nigel starts to become delirious and says he'll jump ship. He proceeds to do so, but lands in sand. Benny realizes they have arrived at 'The Wild'. Bridget tells Samson it must feel like a lifetime since he had been here. Samson nervously agrees.
Soon after the group disembarks, Larry spies a burning volcano and finds out that all the animals are being put into crates to rescue them and ship them to zoos. Samson spies Ryan in the crowd and runs after him. Soon, he is face-to-face with a sarcastic hyrax. He tries to eat it to show he can hunt, but can't bear to. The rest of the group finds out why he didn't fight the dogs or eat the hyrax: Because... Samson isn't really from the wild. All his stories of African adventure have been just that -- stories. He tells them to go to the boat because he has to find his son and cannot protect them. Benny tells the group that Samson needs their help and then discovers Nigel has disappeared. Almost immediately afterward, they meet a herd of wildebeest. Benny tries to fight them, but they knock him unconscious. They proceed to take Bridget and Larry hostage. Meanwhile, Nigel regains consciousness and finds himself captured by wildebeest. They enter the volcano and the wildebeest do a dance for Nigel -- they worship him.
Another wildebeest enters the room. His name is Kazar and he says that with the help of Nigel, they'll all become carnivores. They bow down to Nigel, who they call 'The Great Him'.
Meanwhile, Samson is still looking for Ryan. He starts to see strange colors appearing on ordinary objects, accompanied by whispering voices telling him to follow his instincts, which he does. Not too far off, two vultures named Scab and Scraw find Ryan and decide to tell Kazar about their discovery. Scab comments that the volcano where the wildebeest live will blow that afternoon. Kazar then tells Nigel that they want to become carnivores because they are tired of being at the bottom of the food chain. They believe that Nigel's coming was foretold by an omen, one of the Nigel dolls. Scab and Scraw then tell Kazar about Ryan. The wildebeest believe Nigel brought that lion and another, bigger one. Kazar gives the order to catch them. In the meantime, Nigel is beginning to like being the wildebeests' god. In another part of the cave, Bridget and Larry are being held prisoner.
Outside the volcano, the vultures spot Ryan, who tries to fight them off but becomes trapped by a branch. Samson hears his cries for help and comes to his rescue, but then tells him to run when the wildebeest show up. When Samson and Ryan climb into a tree, Samson tells Ryan the truth about his childhood, that he was a circus cub whose cowardice caused him to be rejected by his cruel father. After the story, Ryan is furious, but the wildebeest start to knock down the tree and pin Ryan to the ground, while Samson falls off a cliff. Benny soon finds the unconscious Samson. Ryan is taken to the volcano and left with Bridget and Larry, telling them the awful truth of what (he thinks) happened to Samson. Outside Samson tells Benny how he lost to the wildebeest and how he won't be able to save his son. Benny coaxes him to go find Ryan and soon, they follow Samson's 'instincts' again. Samson and Benny make it to the volcano. Samson and Benny then realize that the voices (and colors) pretending to be Samson's instincts were in fact chameleons, two of which are named Cloak and Camo, who need Samson's help to defeat Kazar.
In the volcano, Bridget, Larry, and Ryan are taken to Nigel, and are told that they're going to be eaten. Nigel tries to distract the wildebeest from eating his friends, but to no avail. Suddenly, Samson appears out of nowhere -- by clinging to his body and changing color, the chameleons had rendered him temporarily invisible -- and Kazar is thrilled to see another lion. Ryan tells his dad to show the wildebeest who's really at the top of the food chain. Kazar decides to eat Ryan first. While Samson is protecting his son, Larry and Bridget use the tactic they used to win the turtle-curling championship, hitting Kazar on the nose with a rock and allowing Samson to escape, but it only distracts him for a moment. When Samson is almost knocked into the volcano, Ryan has them launch him at Kazar instead, discovering his roar in the process. Together, Samson and Ryan defeat Kazar, with Samson letting loose with an enormous roar, which shakes the mountain. Kazar tries to get the wildebeest to attack Samson and Ryan, but instead they oust him from the herd. Samson's roar causes an avalanche and the volcano begins to erupt.
Everyone but Kazar leaves the volcano, and Kazar apparently dies in the blast, with the animals (including the wildebeest and chameleons) making it to the tugboat just in time. Bridget kisses Benny, having warmed to him during their adventures. The group proceeds to dance (badly, in Samson's case) to the song Real Wild Child. Benny sighs, muttering that it is going to be a long ride home.
[edit] Madagascar criticism
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The Wild received some harsh responses even before the trailer premiered. Movies.com [1] described it as "Madagascar meets Finding Nemo with The Lion King thrown in for effect."
The movie has many similarities to Madagascar including its setting in New York, similar animals as characters, and the primary plot of introducing zoo animals to the wild. The name of the film and the tag line, "Start spreading the newspaper", a play on the opening line from the "Theme from New York, New York", were both used as integral plot points in Madagascar. The koala's line "Sprechen Sie Koala?" mirrors Madagascar's: "You. quadraped. Sprechen Sie Englisch?" Because of this, some people believe that the movie is a possible plagiarism of Madagascar, a Jack Bauer-meets-Madagascar film. [2] [3] Rotten Tomatoes describes the critics' consensus on The Wild as "With a rehashed plot and unimpressive animation, there's nothing wild about The Wild". [4] The similarities to Finding Nemo are having a young animal being kidnapped somewhere else, and his parent goes out to find him.
There is evidence that The Wild was in production for a decade. The director, Steve Williams, said that he received the script in 2001. His contract with Disney stated that C.O.R.E would animate, and this contract was green-lit in 2003. The Wild has reportedly been in some form of production for a decade, first being called The Big Break, then Wildlife, and finally The Wild. Animators from the film have come forward on internet communities such as IMDb and stated openly that they had been working on The Wild already when they first saw the trailer for Madagascar. Several even believe that Marty's line "I wish I could go to The Wild!" from Madagascar is a direct mocking of their own efforts.
It is the belief of some that Madagascar was rushed into production to "beat" The Wild into theaters. Many supporters of this theory cite their personal opinons on the story and animation quality of Madagascar as being poor. [citation needed] Despite that, Madagascar was more successful financially than The Wild.
This would not be the first time for Disney and Dreamworks that two films with a similar theme were released in close proximity. In the fall of 1998, Dreamworks released its talking bug film "Antz" mere weeks before Disney/Pixar released "A Bug's Life". A similar scheduling occurred in 2000 when Dreamworks released The Road to El Dorado against Disney's The Emperor's New Groove, both set in Peru, using similar animation styles. Later on in 2004, Dreamworks released Shark Tale, which had an underwater theme resembling that of Pixar's Finding Nemo (2003), and the new film Ratatouille has a rodent themed world like Flushed Away(although Flushed Away was merely helped by Dreamworks). It has also been suggested that Disney's rebranding of Rapunzel: Unbraided as Rapunzel was due to its original similarity to Shrek's parodying of fairy tale worlds.
[edit] Characters
[edit] Main characters
- Samson the Lion
- Samson is a male lion whose son Ryan is lost after lecturing him for inadvertently putting the others in danger. While he has been always known to be wild, he is really a circus lion cub, and mature zoo lion at heart! Even though he brags about knowing a lot about the wild, his secret is that he's never really been, and is making all of the stories up. Samson is a good lion though, and doesn't mean to fool his friends. Voiced by Kiefer Sutherland.
- Benny the Squirrel
- Benny is a street-smart squirrel with great knowledge. Of all the animals who help save Ryan, Benny is Samson's favorite. He also has a crush on Bridget, and is not afraid to admit it. Voiced by Jim Belushi.
- Bridget the Giraffe
- Insecure and easily pampered, Bridget is the only female in the group. Benny considers her the most beautiful and exotic animal in all of the Big Apple. She is perfect of being physical. Voiced by Janeane Garofalo.
- Nigel the Koala
- Nigel is a koala who's tired of being "cute". His life is somewhat changed, however, when he's worshipped by the wildebeests. He is worshipped because of a talking plush that says "I'm so cuddly, I like you," only when you tug on its pull string. Which is responsible for scaring the pack of lions away when it falls off a biplane, into the savannah plains, scaring the lions who scream like sissies. The toy later appears charred with its voice distorted, at the end of the film, when it is rocketed out of a volcanic crater. Voiced by Eddie Izzard.
- Larry the Snake
- A dim-witted boa constrictor who tries to keep up with Samson and the gang, despite his lack of hands or legs. Though he does help, being the stretchiest animal in the U.S., he can be many things, such as a turtle shooter at turtle curling. Some noted a resemblance to Kaa the python, from The Jungle Book. Voiced by Richard Kind.
- Ryan the Lion Cub
- Ryan is Samson's 11-year-old son. After accidentally provoking a gazelle stampede and invoking Samson's anger over losing the curling championship, Ryan sneaks into a green transport box and winds up getting shipped to Africa.
- Kazar the Wildebeest
- A wicked wildebeest, who no longer wants to dwell at the bottom of the food chain. Voiced by William Shatner.
- Blag the Wildebeest
- Kazar's poor assistant is always in trouble for the tiniest things, though during Kazar's combat, he gets his sweet revenge he has always desired. Voiced by Patrick Warburton.
[edit] Additional characters
- Cloak and Camo the Chameleons
- Covert agents or not, they were caught by Benny and shown to Samson, since they might know a thing or two about where Ryan is, but they turn out to be on Samson's side and help in rescuing Ryan. Cloak gets carried away easily; for instance, he revealed his and Camo's names. Camo is more serious than his partner, and sticks to covert agent rules, in contrast to Cloak's "revealing" nature.
- Stan and Carmine the Alligators
- Looking ferocious, they might be deadly, but when settled, they can help. And so they do, while helping Samson and the gang get out of the sewers.
- Scraw and Scab the Vultures
- Two vultures who make quick cameos while finding Ryan out in the jungle, however, disappear, during Samson's mini combat.
- The Dogs
- These vicious mutts chase Samson and his companions through the city in hot pursuit. During this sequence, Samson has his chance to show courage, but fails - but he and his pals manage to escape from the dogs.
- Donald the Turtle
- The turtle used for turtle shelling at the zoo.
- Team Penguin
- The competition team for turtle shelling in New York. The team's captain is a wise-guy penguin named Victor.
- The Pigeons
- They play a major part in telling where Ryan is headed, to the lady with the spikes. This flock of birds includes a crazy molting pigeon named Hamir.
- The Canadian Geese
- New friends of Benny that help at sea to find the ship that's holding Ryan. These geese are lead by a spunky goose named Nelson (whose speech inpedement bares a striking resemblance to that of Rutt and Tuke's in Brother Bear).
- Eze the Hippopotamus and Duke the Kangaroo
- Ryan's friends at the zoo who try to make him go "wild". They coax Ryan to come along with them to stalk a herd of gazelles, a prank that winds up backfiring.
- Colin the Hyrax
- Samson meets one and tries to eat it, but can't, blowing his cover -- he's not from the wild.
- The Monkeys
- A group of hecklers who harassed Nigel with a doll that looks like him.
- Dung Beetles
- These absent-minded incects with German accents mistake Benny for a ball of po...dung.
- Fergus Flamingo
- One of the flamingo bullies that go rough on Nigel. He also sells fish heads at the turtle curling game.
- Rhinoceros
- A rhino at the zoo with a foam hand on his horn who is Samson's "number one fan".
- Samson's Father
- Samson's brutal father appears in a flashback in the scene where Samson tells Ryan the truth.
- Mama Hippo and Baby Hippo
- When Ryan meets a cute little baby hippopotamus, the infant's screaming mother throws her weight around (literally) which frightens Ryan and he runs off deeper into the jungle.
- Elephant
- After the green box carrying Ryan has landed, the young cub escapes from it and encounters an oncoming elephant, who is absolutely terrified of him.
[edit] Box office, promotion, and merchandise
The Wild opened in 2,854 theatres. According to BoxOfficeMojo.com, the film earned 9.5 million dollars in its first weekend at the box office, ranking #4.
Its promotion was small, with only the following promoters: Kraft, McDonalds, Amazon (selling the products and mini promotions on its site), Buena Vista Games, Walt Disney Records and Walt Disney Book Publishing Worldwide.
As of November 5, 2006, the film has grossed a total of $37,384,046 in the United States box office & $102,338,399 worldwide. Its production budget, in contrast, was $80 million. [3]
The Wild was ranked #1 of the top DVD sales twice in Entertainment Weekly (The first time for October 6-12, 2006, the second time for October 13-19, 2006).
[edit] Soundtrack
The musical score is composed and conducted by Alan Silvestri. The song "Real Wild Child" is performed by Everlife. The song "Good Enough" is performed by Lifehouse; "Really Nice Day" is performed by Eric Idle and John Du Prez; and "Big Time Boopin'" is performed by Big Bad Voodoo Daddy. The scores "Tales From The Wild", "You Can't Roar", and "Lost In The City" are only a few of the scores on the soundtrack, and "Come Sail Away" is performed by Styx. The soundtrack is available from Walt Disney Records.
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