Kumail Nanjiani, Elizabeth Banks Lead Illumination’s ‘Migration’ Voice Cast

Minions studio Illumination Entertainment and Universal announced the flock of voice actors that star in its Dec. 22 release Migration, an animated adventure that follows a family of talking ducks as they set off on a journey.

The voice cast is led by Kumail Nanjiani as anxious Mallard dad Mack and Elizabeth Banks as Pam, the Mallards’ daring, quick-witted matriarch. Caspar Jennings plays Dax, their confident and restless son, and, in her feature film debut, Tresi Gazal plays innocent daughter Gwen. Danny DeVito co-stars as Mack’s curmudgeonly, adventure-averse uncle Dan.

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Awkwafina voices the scrappy leader of a New York pigeon gang; Carol Kane plays Erin the heron, the first friend that the Mallards make on their journey; Keegan-Michael Key voices a homesick Jamaican parrot locked away in a Manhattan restaurant; and David Mitchell plays the yogic leader of a mysterious duck farm.

“I find ducks so irresistible,” said Illumination founder and CEO Chris Meledandri, who is producing Migration and introduced the film at CinemaCon. Commenting that ducks bring the “quirks of a modern day family” he added that the movie — directed by Benjamin Renner (Oscar-nominated helmer of Ernest & Celestine) from a screenplay by The White Lotus creator Mike White — features “Illumination’s signature subversive humor and authentic heart.”

He introduced a clip during which the kids are in a pond at home when they see others migrating, and the risk-averse Mack finally leads his family into the skies. After a sequence featuring beautiful scenery in flight, a wrong turn lands them in New York City.

Opening the presentation, Meledandri thanked the theater owners for Illumination’s Super Mario Bros Movie, which has already crossed the $900 million mark and is expected to reach $1 billion this coming week. “It’s a test image to the support you have given Illumination and its films.”

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