Rio 2011

Rio is a 2011 American animated musical adventure comedy film directed by Carlos Saldanha and written by Don Rhymer, Joshua Sternin, Jennifer Ventimilia, and Sam Harper. The title refers to the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro, where the film is set. Produced by 20th Century Fox Animation and Blue Sky Studios, the film features the voices of Anne Hathaway, Jesse Eisenberg, Jemaine Clement, Leslie Mann, George Lopez, Jamie Foxx and Tracy Morgan. It follows Blu (Eisenberg), a domesticated male Spix's macaw, who is taken back to Rio de Janeiro to mate with Jewel (Hathaway), a free-spirited female macaw. They fall in love whilst escaping from bird smugglers and Nigel (Clement), a cockatoo. Saldanha first developed the story concept, in which a penguin is washed up in Rio, in 2006. Learning of the production of the penguin-themed films Happy Feet (2006) and Surf's Up (2007), he changed the concept to involve macaws. He pitched his idea to Chris Wedge, and the project was set up at Blue Sky Studios. During production, the crew visited Rio de Janeiro and also consulted an expert on macaws at the Bronx Zoo to study their movements.