Storks: Animation that delivers

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Sean Koepfinger

“Storks,” Warner Bros latest animated endeavor, takes the classic tale of storks delivering babies and crosses it with an epic fun-filled adventure story. Junior (Andy Samberg) is a stork and next in line to become boss of the retail giant, cornerstore.com. But when an orphan employee, Tulip (Katie Crown), accidentally turns on the baby-making machine, it is up to Tulip and Junior to deliver the baby before anyone else finds out.

 

Unfortunately, this story has been told before–two unlikely heroes have to work together to reunite a family (“Ice Age,” “Monsters, Inc.,” etc.); however, “Storks” is full of both top-notch actors and intelligent humor that the whole family will enjoy. From a shape-changing wolf pack (Key and Peele) determined to eat the heroes but uncontrollably in love with the baby to the seemingly psychotic stork, Jasper (Danny Trejo), Junior and Tulip must fight, flee and fly their way through danger. Throughout their journey, the tension is broken by countless funny moments due mostly to Samberg’s superb comedic timing and sarcastic mannerisms.

At the heart of the story is a message about finding family. Although it could be cliche and over-done, the film manages to be heart warming. Whether it is the familial bonds that form between Junior and Tulip, Nate and his parents eagerly awaiting the baby’s arrival, Tulips’s hunt for her long-lost parents or the literal delivery of the baby, every character is looking for a place where they belong and people they can call a family.

The message is uninspired, and the story is unoriginal, but the jokes are clever enough for the whole family to enjoy, and even the most cynical movie-goer will find themselves feeling for the characters. While it may blend in with the other innumerable animal-filled animated films of 2016, Storks has a soul that will carry it far.

Storks lands in theaters on September 23, 2016.