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Kirby is a 2030 Japanese-American machinima science fantasy action-adventure comedy film produced by Universal Pictures and Illumination, in association with Nintendo, and distributed by Universal. It is the third installment in Illumination's Nintendo Cinematic Multiverse. The film is directed by Rebecca Sugar, co-directed by Garth Jennings, and from a screenplay written by John Krasinski. It is based on a video game franchise of the same name created by Nintendo and HAL Laboratory. The film features the voices of Tara Strong, Jay Baruchel, Benedict Cumberbatch, Ricky Gervais, Gerard Butler, Angelina Jolie, Abbi Jacobson, Anna Faris, Jenny Slate, Cecily Strong, Mindy Kaling, and Michelle Yeoh.
Development of a Kirby film started in May 2027, following the critical and commercial success of The Super Mario Bros. Movie 2: Galactic Chaos, with Sugar attached as a director due to her work on Steven Universe. Krasinski was brought on board to write the film along with Sugar during the full cast announcement. Further details were announced a year later when it was revealed that the film would have a visual style similar to The Super Mario Bros. Movie, Roblox, and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. Sugar wanted the film's looks that “juggles stylized hand-painted watercolor animation with cinematic video game style”, and much of the technology used for these films were reused for Kirby to achieve this while new tools were created.
Kirby was theatrically released in the United States on May 6, 2030. The film received positive reviews from critics, with praise for its animation, visual effects, humor, voice acting (particularly Tara Strong), and action sequences. It grossed $558.3 million worldwide against a budget of $935.7 million, becoming the fifth-highest-grossing film of 2030 and the fifth highest-grossing film based on a video game.
Synopsis[]
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Plot[]
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Cast[]
- Tara Strong as Kirby
- Makiko Ohmoto voices Kirby in the Japanese version.
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Production[]
Development[]
In May 2027, it was reported that Nintendo was close to closing a deal with Universal Pictures to form what they call "the very first cinematic multiverse" following the success of The Super Mario Bros. Movie 2: Galactic Chaos earlier that year. Illumination CEO Chris Meledandri confirmed these reports later that month, explaining the concept and that they're gonna start experimenting with different Nintendo franchises starting with Kirby.
Rebecca Sugar was confirmed to be directing due to her work on Steven Universe, with Garth Jennings co-directing the film, and that it was written by Sugar and A Quiet Place writer John Krasinski, with Meledandri and Masahiro Sakurai producing the film. According to Sugar, she received inspiration of Nintendo video games since she was working on the story for Steven Universe. On July 22, 2017, Nintendo announced that Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic joined the project as executive producers.
Casting[]
For the film, they decided to recast the voice actors due to being a new interpretation of the Kirby character without making audiences feel alienated from its short-form vocal performances.
In June 2028, Tara Strong joined to voice Kirby since Sakurai enjoyed her voice acting of Bubbles in The Powerpuff Girls, in which she officially became part of the voice cast. Jay Baruchel, Benedict Cumberbatch, Ricky Gervais, Gerard Butler, Angelina Jolie, Abbi Jacobson, Anna Faris, Jenny Slate, Cecily Strong, Mindy Kaling, Michelle Yeoh, and Jackie Chan have also announced to joined the voice cast.
The announcement was met with a generally positive reception from fans, with most of them calling it an improvement over the casting of The Super Mario Bros. Movie since this was openly stated to be a new interpretation. However, some were worried that they're not gonna use the original voice cast, although it was then stated that they would have some cameo roles. Makiko Ohmoto, the original voice actor for Kirby, announces that she'll be voicing that character in the Japanese version since she doesn't want to cause any misconfusion within the full cast announcement.
Writing[]
When Sugar first joined the project, Nintendo gave her a bible that covered the lore for the entire franchise. Sugar wanted to capture an "epic quality" and grand scale for the film, and used Dream Land games, Kirby: Right Back at Ya!, Kirby Star Allies, and Sailor Moon as points of reference. As this is the third installment in Illumination's Nintendo Cinematic Multiverse, Sugar and the team wanted to make sure that the characters had enough humor and emotion to carry the story on their own.
Visual effects and animation[]
The film's animation was handled by Illumination Studios Paris, who previously animated the majority of Illumination's films, with additional animation handled by Nintendo Pictures, while the visual effects were handled by Industrial Light & Magic. According to Jelenic, Sugar wanted the film's looks that “juggles stylized hand-painted watercolor animation with cinematic video game style”, and much of the technology used for The Super Mario Bros. Movie, Roblox, and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse were reused for Kirby to achieve this while new tools were created. Sugar felt that a grand sense of scale was essential to the Kirby brand. As the movie sets inside its universe, the team looked to that world they designed and aimed to make it feel larger than life.
Former Disney concept artist Shiyoon Kim served as overall character designer, while Craig Kellman designed the exaggerated look for Kirby characters. Guillaume Aretos serves as a production designer of the film. Sugar felt that it would be one of the rare times that audiences actually "need" to watch the film in 3D, due to the immersive nature of the animated world created, and the way that the hand-drawn animation elements designed specifically for the film create a unique experience; She described the experience as a combination of the effects of an old-fashioned hand-drawn multiplane camera and a modern virtual reality environment. Using new technology, the team at Illumination focused more on a painterly style design, to make the film look like a science fantasy world, different than what it was in The Super Mario Bros. Movie.
Music[]
In March 2030, Chris Renaud confirmed that Steve Jablonsky would compose the film's score, with Hirokazu Ado and Jun Ishikawa incorporating the themes from the games. The soundtrack was released alongside the film on September 13, 2019, in both digital and physical formats, along with an original single titled "Galaxies", performed by Selena Gomez and Kid Cudi, which plays during the film's closing credits.
Kirby - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack[]
- Selena Gomez & Kid Cudi - Galaxies
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Kirby - Original Motion Picture Score[]
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Marketing[]
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Promotional tie-ins[]
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Release[]
Kirby was theatrically released in the United States on September 13, 2030.
Home media[]
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Rating[]
In the United States, the film was rated PG by the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) for "sci-fi fantasy violence and rude humor".
Sci-fi fantasy violence[]
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Reception[]
Box office[]
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Critical response[]
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Accolades[]
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Gallery[]
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Trivia[]
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