Directed by Nicholas Stoller and newcomer Doug Sweetland, Storks is a somewhat charming, family-friendly 3D animated film that offers enough tongue-in-cheek humor to overcome its shortcomings.

It is based on the tale parents used to tell their kids: that babies are born from the sky and are delivered to homes by storks. Of course, in the modern age where children are smarter and know everything even before they turn 10, parents no longer tell such tales. Perhaps this is what was on Stoller’s mind when he wrote the script, for in the world of Storks, they no long deliver babies.

In fact, they haven’t for 18 years at a company called Cornerstone, where a white stork named Hunter (Kelsey Grammer) as the CEO decided that it was more profitable for his enterprise to deliver mail instead. The last baby to be born at Cornerstone was a girl named Tulip (Katie Crown), who was left undelivered. Today, the kind-hearted orphan girl is the only human employee at Cornerstone, and is unfortunately not very good at her job. Hunter orders one of his top young employees, Junior (Adam Samberg) to fire her, and promises him a promotion.


Storks has trouble carrying its baggage, but is worth a watch thanks to the chemistry between some of the characters


Fortunately for the unsuspecting Tulip, Junior doesn’t have the heart for the task and devises a plan to keep her confined and hidden in the mailroom. Meanwhile, a boy named Nate Gardner (Anton Starkman) yearns for a sibling out of loneliness. His parents, Henry (Ty Burrell) and Sarah (Jennifer Aniston) are both workaholics who have little time for their son and are divided on the idea of another child. As luck would have it, Nate learns of Cornerstone through an old pamphlet and sends a letter requesting a baby brother.

There is some interesting subtext in the narrative. For example, I thought Cornerstone was inspired by Amazon.com. I also found the workplace politics and Cornerstone’s adaptation to the changing business climate interesting. What wasn’t well-handled was the relationship of Nate’s parents, which was something of a mess. First of all, it seemed as if the film was confused on whether choice is more important than motherhood for a woman. What’s more, the characterisation of the two was weak, with both being stereotyped in unpleasant ways.

The visuals are a mixed bag. The editing is strangely choppy and the pacing is oddly fast-paced. On the other hand, the quality of the animation is as good as anything you will see from a modern 3D American animated film.

When Nate’s letter reaches a bored Tulip in the mailroom, she bungles by reactivating the baby-making machine. Soon, a cute-as-a-button baby is born, who is named Diamond Destiny. In order to protect this second secret, Junior decides to deliver Diamond Destiny, kicking off an amusing adventure where we are introduced to other interesting characters, including two wolves called Alpha and Beta (played by the famous comedy duo Key and Peele), and an ambitious employee named Pigeon Toady (Stephen Kramer Glickman) who doesn’t like Junior and hopes to land his promotion.

Certainly, Storks has trouble carrying its baggage, but is ultimately worth a watch thanks to the chemistry between some of its characters.

Rated PG for mild action and some thematic elements

Published in Dawn, Sunday Magazine, October 23rd, 2016

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