The Mitchells vs. The Machines

The Mitchells vs. the Machines is a 2021 animated science fiction comedy film produced by Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animation. The film was directed by Mike Rianda (in his feature directorial debut) and co-directed by Jeff Rowe, from a screenplay written by both of them. Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, and Kurt Albrecht served as producers. The film stars an ensemble voice cast that includes Danny McBride, Abbi Jacobson, Maya Rudolph, Rianda, Eric André, and Olivia Colman, with Fred Armisen, Beck Bennett, John Legend, Chrissy Teigen, Blake Griffin, Conan O'Brien, and Doug the Pug in supporting roles. It follows the dysfunctional Mitchell family that must save Earth from a global uprising of robots while on a road trip. Rianda first came up with the film's concept following his completed work on the Disney Channel/Disney XD animated series Gravity Falls in 2015. The project was announced in May 2018, with Lord and Miller attached as producers alongside Rianda and Rowe as directors. Further details were announced a year later when it was revealed that the film would use an animation style similar to Sony Pictures Animation's previous film Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018). The voice cast was announced between 2020 and 2021. Rianda wanted a “hand-painted watercolor style” look for the film, and much of the technology used for Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse was reused for The Mitchells vs. the Machines to achieve this, while new tools were also created. Lord and Miller's frequent collaborator Mark Mothersbaugh composed the film's score. The Mitchells vs. the Machines was originally planned to be released theatrically by Sony Pictures Releasing under the title Connected in 2020, but due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on movie theaters, Sony sold the distribution rights to Netflix outside of China. Netflix retitled it to Rianda and Rowe's original preferred title, The Mitchells vs. the Machines, and limited released it in theaters on April 23, 2021 before its streaming release a week later on April 30. The film received critical acclaim for its animation, voice acting, action sequences, themes, humor, visual effects, and LGBT representation. It was nominated for Best Animated Feature at the 33rd Producers Guild of America Awards, the 75th British Academy Film Awards & the 94th Academy Awards and won the category at the 27th Critics Choice Awards. It swept all the categories it was nominated for at the 49th Annie Awards, including Best Animated Feature, making it the second film by Sony Pictures Animation to do so after Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse in 2019.