Richard the Stork

Richard the Stork (Released in North America as A Stork's Journey, German: Überflieger — Kleine Vögel, großes Geklapper^[2] and also known as Little Bird's Big Adventure) is a 2017 animated adventure film. It was directed by Toby Genkel [de] and Reza Memari.^[3] Richard the Stork premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival in Germany on February 12, 2017.^[4][5][6] Animated movie was released for a limited time on Google Play on June 1, 2017.^[7][8] It premiered in theaters in the United States on June 30, 2017.^[9][10]

A sequel, Richard the Stork and the Mystery of the Great Jewel was released in April 2023.^[11]

Richard, an orphaned sparrow, is adopted by a family of storks who raise him as one of their own. As the flock's annual winter migration nears, Claudius, his adoptive father and the leader of the flock, informs him that, as a sparrow, he is unable to migrate with them, despite the protests of Richard's adoptive brother, Max, and his adoptive mother, Aurora. When the flock leaves for Africa the following morning, Richard attempts to follow but is knocked unconscious by a storm. He then meets Olga, a quirky, oversized, but good-hearted Pygmy owl, who often talks to her unseen "friend", Oleg. After saving Richard from a group of bats, he decides to stay with her.

The duo learn from a group of internet pigeons that the stork flock is headed to Gibraltar, and decide to head there themselves. They encounter Kiki, a manipulative, disco-loving parakeet being forced to perform in a karaoke bar. Kiki claims to know where Gibraltar is and how to get there, and Olga and Richard help free him from his cage. They then board a train which Kiki says is headed to Gibraltar (though it is really headed to the city of Sanremo, Italy). During the ride, Olga opens up about her past and explains that, due to her large size, she was ostracized by her own family. Richard comforts her, and they fall asleep.

The next morning, Kiki abandons the duo and heads to the Sanremo Music Festival for birds, but is denied the chance to perform and is crushed to see another parakeet performing his song. Richard and Olga discover Kiki's deception, and have a falling out after Olga firmly tells Richard that he isn't a stork, and Richard tells her that Oleg isn't real. Richard then vows to fly across the sea to make it to Gibraltar.

Kiki meets up with Olga, who, although still angry over having been tricked, agrees to help stop Richard from attempting to make the dangerous flight. As Richard is about to dive off a cliff, Kiki and Olga arrive and try to persuade him not to jump but are unsuccessful, and jump down after Richard. They narrowly avoid falling into the sea below when they join wings and glide in the air together. However, they are nearly killed in an encounter with a jumbo jet, and fall into the swimming pool of an ocean liner, where Olga is knocked unconscious. However, Kiki helps save her by performing CPR.

The storks arrive in Africa, but discover that the watering hole has dried up. After an argument with his father, Max wanders off, and ends up falling into the cave of a honey badger. When the trio arrives in Africa, they learn of the situation from a pigeon couple. After entering the cave, they are able to fend off the honey badger long enough to get Max to safety. Richard is able to collapse the cave, which kills the honey badger but seemingly buries him as well. His friends and the storks initially begin mourning, but when Richard reveals that he is still alive, the storks are able to dig him out. Aurora and Max are overjoyed, and Claudius apologizes to Richard for not believing in him, and he is finally accepted into the flock, along with his new friends.

• Cooper Kramer (original dub) and Drake Bell (Lionsgate dub) as Richard, an orphan tween house sparrow main protagonist,
• Shannon Conley (original dub) and Jane Lynch (Lionsgate dub) as Olga, a pygmy owl that was disliked by her family because of her large size.
• Marc Thompson as Kiki, a budgerigar who lives in an karaoke bar
• Erica Schroeder as Aurora, a female white stork, the adoptive mother of Richard.
• Jonathan Todd Ross as Claudius, a male white stork, Max's father
• Jason Griffith as Max, a young white stork, Claudius's son
• Michele Knotz (original dub) and Justine Ezarik (Lionsgate dub) as Social Media Pigeons

Studio Rakete in Hamburg, Germany and Studio 352 in Luxembourg created the storyboard. Studio Rakete was also responsible for the design of the main characters; Studio 352 designed the supporting characters. Most of the character animation was done by Bug AS in Norway. Lighting/shading, FX simulations and compositing of the final pictures was done by Walking the Dog from Belgium and Rise FX in Berlin. The movie was animated and rendered using Houdini with over 500 shots to be finished.^[12][13]

Wikiquote has quotations related to A Stork’s Journey.

• Richard the Stork at IMDb
• Ulysses Filmproduktion

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