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| General | Trivia | Gallery | Soundtrack | Quotes | Transcript | Trailer transcripts | Credits | Release dates | Home media | Tropes | Box Office Mojo |
| “ | He may be cute, but he is very powerful. | „ |
| ~ Tagline |
Kirby (Japanese: 星のカービィ, Hepburn: Hoshi no Kābī - Kirby of the Stars) is a 2030 Japanese-American machinima science fantasy action-adventure comedy film produced by Universal Pictures, Illumination, and Nintendo Stars, in association with Sora Ltd., and distributed by Universal. It is the third film in Illumination's Nintendo Cinematic Multiverse (NCM). The film is directed by Genndy Tartakovsky and Rebecca Sugar, co-directed by Garth Jennings, and written by Tartakovsky and Michael McCullers. It is based on a video game franchise of the same name created by Nintendo and HAL Laboratory. The film features the voices of Makiko Ohmoto, Antonio Banderas, Kumail Nanjiani, Mark Wahlberg, Benedict Cumberbatch, Ted Lewis, Abbi Jacobson, Tara Strong, Anna Faris, Jenny Slate, Laurence Fishburne, and Mindy Kaling.
Development of a Kirby film started in May 2027, following the critical and commercial success of The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, with Tartakovsky and Sugar attached as directors due to their work on Samurai Jack and Steven Universe. McCullers was brought on board to write the film along with Tartakovsky 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. The directors wanted the film's look 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. Animation and visual effects services were provided by Illumination Studios Paris, Nintendo Pictures, and Industrial Light & Magic, with additional animation provided by DNEG Animation, and that the designs were primarily influenced by Kirby's Return to Dream Land Deluxe, Super Smash Bros., and Neo-Baroque.
Kirby was theatrically released in the United States on May 6, 2030 as part of Level One: The Master Arc of the NCM. It was then released in Japan on May 13. The film received positive reviews from critics, with praise for effectively capturing the thrilling and whimsical elements of the games while developing a rich and emotional narrative to resonate with contemporary audiences. It grossed $935.7 million worldwide against a budget of $175 - 200 million, becoming the fifth-highest-grossing film of 2030 and the fifth highest-grossing film based on a video game. A sequel, Kirby: Between Worlds, is in development.
Synopsis[]
- A being born among the stars known as Kirby crash landed on the peaceful Planet Popstar. As he finds out about his own extraordinary power, they are threatened alongside another planet Ripple Star by a horde of sentient extraterrestrial substance Dark Matter led by Zero. With the galaxy at a stake, Kirby decides to embark on a journey with his new friends to save both planets.
- -Universal Pictures, Illumination, and Nintendo Stars
Plot[]
Coming soon.
Cast[]
- Makiko Ohmoto as Kirby, a pink, spherical cosmic entity of unknown origin whose ability to inhale objects and enemies, and copy its powers.
- Antonio Banderas as Meta Knight, a masked swordsman and the captain of a battleship Halberd who searches for opponents to hone his strength.
- Kumali Nanjiani as King Dedede, a hammer-wielding penguin who is the king of Dream Land.
- Mark Wahlberg as Bandana Waddle Dee, a high-rank Waddle Dee of King Dedede's army who joins with Kirby to defeat the horde of Dark Matter.
- Benedict Cumberbatch as Zero, the leader and mastermind of a sentient, parasitic, extraterrestrial substance race Dark Matter whose goal is to shroud the entire universe in darkness.
- Ted Lewis as Escargoon, the right-hand man of King Dedede who goes with his schemes.
- Abbi Jacobson as Adeleine, a young human painter that joins forces with Kirby against the Dark Matter horde.
- Tara Strong as Ribbon, a small fairy originating from her home planet Ripple Star. She serves under her queen and watches over the Crystal Shard, an object with the power to wipe out the Dark Matter race.
More coming soon.
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 critical and commercial success of The Super Mario Galaxy Movie earlier last year. Illumination CEO Chris Meledandri explains the concept with new types of interconnectivity, genres, styles, and tones, saying that they're now gonna start experimenting with different Nintendo franchises for it, starting with Kirby.
Genndy Tartakovsky and Rebecca Sugar are confirmed to be directing due to their work on Samurai Jack and Steven Universe, with Garth Jennings co-directing the film, and that it will be written by Tartakovsky and DreamWorks Animation writer Michael McCullers, with Meledandri, Masahiro Sakurai, and Shinya Kumazaki producing the film. According to Sugar, she received inspirations from many Nintendo games when she was working on the story for Steven Universe. On July 22, 2027, 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 characters without making audiences feel alienated from its short-form vocal performances. Despite that, Makiko Ohmoto and Ted Lewis reprised their roles as the main character Kirby, and Escargoon from the anime series Kirby: Right Back at Ya!. The cast was revealed on December 12, 2028, with Antonio Banderas, Kumail Nanjiani, Mark Wahlberg, and Benedict Cumberbatch joining to voice act Meta Knight, King Dedede, Bandana Waddle Dee, and Zero, along with Abbi Jacobson, Tara Strong, Anna Faris, Jenny Slate, Cecily Strong, and Mindy Kaling.
The announcement was met with a generally positive reception from fans, with most of them calling it an improvement over the casting choices of The Super Mario Bros. Movie since this was openly stated to be a new interpretation, as well as praising Ohmoto and Lewis's reprising roles. It was then stated that the rest of the original voice cast would return to have some cameo roles.
Writing[]
When the directors first joined the project, Nintendo gave them a bible that covered the lore for the entire franchise. They wanted to capture an "epic quality" and grand scale for the film, and used Kirby Star Allies, Star Wars, and Puella Magi Madoka Magica as points of reference. As the third film of Level One: The Master Arc of the NCM, the directors and both teams aimed to "inject more humanity" into the Kirby characters themselves. They wanted to make sure that the characters have enough humor and emotion to carry the story on their own. The perfect opportunity is to have the film's story draw elements from Kirby games within the Dream Land era as the movie depicts how Kirby defended Planet Popstar and Ripple Star from the horde of Dark Matter, an idea they found appealing. They felt that there was fun in seeing the characters adapt to their powers.
- The plan with the movie is that it will combine the stylization of 2D, the realism of 3D, and some video game-style visuals known as machinima. We think it's going to be something that audiences haven't seen before. In all the years of animation-wise and filmmaking-wise, we don't think that the image of a small, pink cosmic being battling villains has ever been captured on screen before. We also wanted to make a film that gets back to the sense of wonder that Hollywood has lost over the years. It will have those Spielberg-ian moments where it centers on a childlike alien through extraordinary circumstances and you would feel like he's ten years old, even if he's not. That's the kind of energy me and Rebecca Sugar wanted to go for.
- —Genndy Tartakovsky on the production of the film
The conflict between Kirby and the Dark Matter horde is the main core of the film. For Sugar, it was important to show that King Dedede wasn't just a villain. She wanted the newcomers to come into the film and not be able to pick who was going to be bad. They took inspirations from several famous chosen one stories across pop culture when crafting the arc without making it feel cliched at the same time. Detailed storyboards were created to plan each act, with particular attention given to action sequences and comedic moments. Both teams have worked closely to ensure fidelity to the Kirby universe.
More coming soon.
Visual effects and animation[]
The film's animation were handled by Illumination Studios Paris and Nintendo Pictures, with additional animation handled by DNEG Animation, while the visual effects were handled by Industrial Light & Magic. Frazier Churchill served as VFX supervisor. According to Jelenic, the directors wanted the film's look 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 are reused for Kirby to achieve this while new tools were created. Unlike the past films' visual styles and techniques, Kirby predominantly used 2D/3D-style effects to mimic the look of live-action animated films, including the development of its new technology "hybrid shading", and the use of watercolor brush strokes for elements such as trees and bushes.
Former Disney concept artist Shiyoon Kim served as overall character designer, while Craig Kellman designed the exaggerated look for Kirby characters, with the designs being heavily influenced from Kirby's Return to Dream Land Deluxe and Super Smash Bros.. Sugar said, "They're really clear and have those great silhouettes. It was important to hit that." Both teams began by looking at the original works for a reference. Neo-Baroque was also a big influence on the film's production design, with Tartakovsky describing the style as being all about the sense of awe. They felt that the design style would be relevant to the film as it shows the elegance of both Planet Popstar's kingdom Dream Land and the planet Ripple Star. They also felt that a grand sense of scale was essential to the Kirby brand. As the movie sets in a different universe than Mario, both teams looked to that world they designed to use as a scale reference and aimed to make it feel larger-than-life.
Guillaume Aretos serves as a production designer of the film. Tartakovsky and Sugar both 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; They described the experience as a combination of effects like an old-fashioned hand-drawn multiplane camera and a modern virtual reality environment. Using new technology, both teams at Illumination and Nintendo 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.
Post-production[]
Coming soon.
Music[]
In March 2030, Chris Renaud confirmed that Tartakovsky's frequent collaborator Tyler Bates would compose the film's score, with Hirokazu Ando incorporating the themes from the games. Bates have created two contrasting themes between positive and negative energies. For Kirby, he utilized a combination of "John Williams-style orchestration, space ambient music, and 8-bit sounds" to reflect the character's "cosmic yet childlike innocence". He had cited E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial and Star Wars as an inspiration for Kirby's theme. For the Dark Matter horde, he used dark psytrance and techno sounds for its parasitic substance nature.
The soundtrack was released alongside the film on May 6, 2030, in both digital and physical formats, alongside Bates' Vocaloid-style remix of Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites by an American DJ Skrillex, which plays particularly during the film's closing credits to pay homage to the Japanese pop culture.
Kirby: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack[]
- Snail's House - Among the Stars
- Skrillex - Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites (Tyler Bates' Vocaloid Remix)
More coming soon.
Kirby: Original Motion Picture Score[]
- Tyler Bates - Warp Star
- Tyler Bates - Green Greens
- Tyler Bates - Average Day in Dream Land
More coming soon.
Marketing[]
Coming soon.
Promotional tie-ins[]
Coming soon.
Release[]
Kirby was theatrically released in the United States on May 6, 2030 as part of Level One: The Master Arc of the NCM. It was then released in Japan on May 13.
Home media[]
Coming soon.
Rating[]
In the United States, the film was rated PG by the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) for "sci-fi fantasy action and cartoon violence".
Sci-fi fantasy action[]
Level: TBA
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Cartoon violence[]
Level: TBA
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Reception[]
Box office[]
Coming soon.
Critical response[]
Coming soon.
Accolades[]
Coming soon.
Copyright[]
Universal Pictures and Illumination have accepted the rights of all characters and elements from Kirby, which was owned by Nintendo and HAL Laboratory.
©2030 Universal Pictures, Illumination, Nintendo Films, and Sora Ltd.
All rights reserved.
Gallery[]
Characters[]
More coming soon.
Concept arts[]
More coming soon.
Movie screenshots[]
More coming soon.
Trivia[]
- During the final battle against Zero, he doesn't spew blood from his body but rather instead use different kinds of attacks against Kirby. The reason for this change is to prevent this movie from getting a PG-13 rating as Moonlight doesn't want to deal with something that wouldn't fit their brand.
More coming soon.
Connections to the Kirby series[]
- The part where Kirby crashes down to Planet Popstar was a reference to the anime introduction of Kirby: Right Back at Ya!.
- Just like the anime, Kirby's powers are more multipurpose and stronger than the ones in the games. This part of change was done to make it inclusive for Kirby's infinite power.
- Tiff and Tuff also appears in the movie as cameos.
More coming soon.
Rejected or scrapped ideas[]
- The film's credits were originally going to be done in 3D, but Tartakovsky and Sugar wanted it to be pixel animated in the style of Kirby Mass Attack, which was provided by Toei Animation, and unlike the game, the pixel animated footage was sent to ILM for compositing, where technicians would animate three lighting layers: shadows, highlights, and tone mattes separately, in order to make the characters and backgrounds look like voxels and give the illusion of being affected by the lighting. Then, the lighting effects were optically composited onto characters and backgrounds, and were in turn, rendered in autostereoscopic 3D.
More coming soon.
Deleted scenes[]
Coming soon.
Sequel[]
Coming soon.