''Mia and the Migoo'' (french: Mia et le Migou, it, Mià e il Migù) is a 2008 French-Italian animated film produced by
Folimage
Folimage is a French animation studio, based in Bourg-lès-Valence, Drôme, France. It was founded in 1981 by Jacques-Rémy Girerd. The studio produces animation films for cinema and TV (short films, TV specials and series, feature films). In 199 ...
and directed by Jacques-Rémy Girerd. The film is about a young girl's search for her father in a tropical paradise, threatened by the construction of a gigantic hotel resort. The English version stars the voices of
Whoopi Goldberg
Caryn Elaine Johnson (born November 13, 1955), known professionally as Whoopi Goldberg (), is an American actor, comedian, author, and television personality.Kuchwara, Michael (AP Drama Writer)"Whoopi Goldberg: A One-Woman Character Parade". ' ...
,
Matthew Modine
Matthew Avery Modine (born March 22, 1959) is an American actor and filmmaker, who rose to prominence through his role as U.S. Marine Private/Sergeant J.T. "Joker" Davis in ''Full Metal Jacket''. His other film roles include the title character ...
,
Wallace Shawn
Wallace Michael Shawn (born November 12, 1943) is an American actor, playwright, and essayist. His film roles include Wally Shawn (a fictionalized version of himself) in '' My Dinner with Andre'' (1981), Vizzini in ''The Princess Bride'' (1987), ...
,
James Woods
James Howard Woods (born April 18, 1947) is an American actor. He is known for his work in various film, stage, and television productions. He started his career in minor roles on and off-Broadway. In 1972, he appeared in '' The Trial of the ...
,
John DiMaggio
John William DiMaggio (; born September 4, 1968) is an American actor. His various voice roles include Bender on ''Futurama'', Jake the Dog on ''Adventure Time'', Marcus Fenix in the '' Gears of War'' series, Dr. Drakken on '' Kim Possible'', ...
, and Amanda Misquez. The film won the European Film Award for Best Animated Feature at the
22nd European Film Awards
The 22nd European Film Awards were presented on 12 December 2009, in Bochum, Germany.
Winners and nominees Best Actor
Tahar Rahim – ''A Prophet'' (''Un prophète'')
*Moritz Bleibtreu – ''The Baader Meinhof Complex'' (''Der Baader Meinhof ...
. The English version of the film was given a limited release in the United States on 27 March 2011 and opened to generally mixed critical reviews.
Synopsis
At a remote construction site in
Latin America
Latin America or
* french: Amérique Latine, link=no
* ht, Amerik Latin, link=no
* pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...
, an American developer named Jekhide attempts to build a resort, however, the site is attacked by a mysterious force, causing several workers to get trapped underground. One of the worker's daughters Mia has a premonition. So after saying a few words of parting at her mother's grave, she sets out on a journey across mountains and jungles to search for her father. She goes to a witch who shows her the way and along the way she meets and befriends a tribe of giant ape-like creatures called the Migoos.
Cast
* Garance Lagraa (French) / Amanda Misquez (English) as Mia, a brave, pretty, kind, and carefree eight-year-old girl who leaves her home to find her father. She has kept her mom's good luck charms that can protect her from any danger. She is the main
protagonist
A protagonist () is the main character of a story. The protagonist makes key decisions that affect the plot, primarily influencing the story and propelling it forward, and is often the character who faces the most significant obstacles. If a st ...
.
*
Laurent Gamelon
Laurent Gamelon (born 19 June 1960) is a French actor.
Filmography
Theater
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gamelon, Laurent
French male film actors
Living people
20th-century French male actors
21st-century Frenc ...
(French) /
John DiMaggio
John William DiMaggio (; born September 4, 1968) is an American actor. His various voice roles include Bender on ''Futurama'', Jake the Dog on ''Adventure Time'', Marcus Fenix in the '' Gears of War'' series, Dr. Drakken on '' Kim Possible'', ...
(English) as Jekhide, a greedy businessman and is Aldrin's father, although, he barely cares about him due to his busy schedule and focusing on his plan. His plan is to take over the tropical island and build a hotel in the middle of the river. He is the film's main
antagonist
An antagonist is a character in a story who is presented as the chief foe of the protagonist.
Etymology
The English word antagonist comes from the Greek ἀνταγωνιστής – ''antagonistēs'', "opponent, competitor, villain, enemy, riv ...
.
* Charlie Girerd (French) / Vincent Angello (English) as Aldrin, a cheery, kind yet lonely boy, who is a son of Jekhide. He misses his mother, who is in an
Antarctica
Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest contine ...
, he wants to spend time with his dad who barely pays attention to him. He is befriended by Mia.
*
Dany Boon
Dany Boon (; born Daniel Farid Hamidou on 26 June 1966) is a French actor, film director, screenwriter and producer.
Starting out as a comedian during the 1990s, he found success in 2008 as an actor and director in the film comedy ''Welcome to ...
(French) /
Wallace Shawn
Wallace Michael Shawn (born November 12, 1943) is an American actor, playwright, and essayist. His film roles include Wally Shawn (a fictionalized version of himself) in '' My Dinner with Andre'' (1981), Vizzini in ''The Princess Bride'' (1987), ...
(English) as The Migoos, a group of friendly ape-like monsters who befriends with Mia, where they save her from falling off the cliff without her mom's good luck charms. They sometimes say Mia's name wrong whenever they hear a noun. They sometimes get into a fight and don't get along very well. The Migoos also tried their best to protect their tree from any harm, otherwise, they would get harmed as well.
*
Yolande Moreau
Yolande Moreau (born 27 February 1953) is a Belgian comedian, actress, film director and screenwriter. She has won three César Awards from four nominations.
Career
She made her cinematic debut with director Agnès Varda in two movies: Sept pià ...
(French) /
Whoopi Goldberg
Caryn Elaine Johnson (born November 13, 1955), known professionally as Whoopi Goldberg (), is an American actor, comedian, author, and television personality.Kuchwara, Michael (AP Drama Writer)"Whoopi Goldberg: A One-Woman Character Parade". ' ...
(English) as the Sorceress. She cuts off most of Mia's hair for her fire to help Mia find her father.
*
Pierre Richard
Pierre Richard (born Pierre-Richard Maurice Charles Léopold Defays; 16 August 1934) is a French actor, film director and screenwriter, best known for the roles of a clumsy daydreamer in comedy films. Pierre Richard is considered by many, such as ...
(French) /
Jesse Corti
Jesse Corti (born July 3, 1955) is an American actor and theater director best known for playing Courfeyrac in the original Broadway show ''Les Misérables'' and for voicing LeFou in ''Beauty and the Beast''.
Career
Corti also voiced the Span ...
(English) as Pedro, Mia's father and worker at the construction site where Jekhide's building the hotel. Corti also voices Wilford in the English dub.
*
Matthew Modine
Matthew Avery Modine (born March 22, 1959) is an American actor and filmmaker, who rose to prominence through his role as U.S. Marine Private/Sergeant J.T. "Joker" Davis in ''Full Metal Jacket''. His other film roles include the title character ...
as Mr. Houston / Godfrey
*
James Woods
James Howard Woods (born April 18, 1947) is an American actor. He is known for his work in various film, stage, and television productions. He started his career in minor roles on and off-Broadway. In 1972, he appeared in '' The Trial of the ...
as Jojo-la-Frite
*
Miou-Miou
Sylvette Herry (born 22 February 1950), known professionally as Miou-Miou (), is a French actress. A ten-time César Award nominee, she won the César Award for Best Actress for the 1979 film ''Memoirs of a French Whore''. Her other films inclu ...
(French) /
Veronica Taylor
Kathleen Charlotte McInerney, also known by her stage name Veronica Taylor is an American voice actress known for her dubbing work in English-language adaptations of Japanese anime, in particular for voicing Ash Ketchum and his mother Delia in ...
(English) as Juliette
Release
This film opened in France on 10 December 2008. It later premiered at the
New York International Children's Film Festival New York International Children's Film Festival (NYICFF) Established in 1997, NYICFF’s mission is rooted in the belief of film as a path for young people to understand themselves and others. All programs are designed to celebrate the beauty and po ...
on 27 February 2009 and the U.S. premiere was held in New York City on 25 March 2011.
The film was released on DVD by
Entertainment One
Entertainment One Ltd., trading as eOne, is an American-owned Canadian multinational entertainment company. Based in Toronto, Ontario, the company is primarily involved in the acquisition, distribution, and production of films and television se ...
in North America on 7 August 2012.
Box office
The English-language version of the film had a limited release on 22 April 2011, only earning $16,975.
Reception
While the French release was received favorably, the U.S. version received generally mixed reviews, with criticism focused on the film's
crude humor
Off-color humor (also known as vulgar humor, crude humor, or shock humor) is humor that deals with topics that may be considered to be in poor taste or vulgar. Many comedic genres (including jokes, prose, poems, black comedy, blue comedy, insult ...
and dark elements, while some praise was focused on the animation. This film has a 38% rating on the film critics aggregate site
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
, based on 16 reviews, with an average rating of 5.1/10.
Kyle Smith of the ''
New York Post
The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com.
It was established ...
'' gave this film 1 out of 4 stars and said that ''Mia and the Migoo'' is far too childish to intrigue adults yet too slow and dull for kids.
Shawn Levy of ''
The Oregonian
''The Oregonian'' is a daily newspaper based in Portland, Oregon, United States, owned by Advance Publications. It is the oldest continuously published newspaper on the U.S. west coast, founded as a weekly by Thomas J. Dryer on December 4, 185 ...
'' gave this film a C− and wrote, "It's lovely, truly, but so heavy-handed and slipshod that it's probably best enjoyed with the sound off—an option they're not likely to offer at the movie theater".
On the positive side, Manohla Dargis of ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' gave this film 3 of 5 stars and said that "trying to parse meaning in ''Mia'' is secondary to its main point, which is its look, created with 500,000 hand-drawn frames".
References
External links
Official US Website*
{{European Film Award for Best Animated Feature Film
2008 animated films
2008 films
European Film Awards winners (films)
French animated films
2000s French animated films
2000s French-language films
Italian animated films
2000s Italian-language films
Folimage films
Films directed by Jacques-Rémy Girerd