The Mitchells vs. The Machines (2021)

The Mitchells vs. the Machines is a 2021 American animated science fiction road comedy film produced by Columbia Pictures, Sony Pictures Animation, and One Cool Films. It was written and directed by Mike Rianda (in his feature directorial debut) and Jeff Rowe, and produced by Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, and Kurt Albrecht. The film stars the voices of Danny McBride, Abbi Jacobson, Maya Rudolph, Rianda, Eric André, and Olivia Colman, with Fred Armisen, Beck Bennett, John Legend, Chrissy Teigen, Charlyne Yi, Blake Griffin, Conan O'Brien, and Doug the Pug in supporting roles. The story follows the dysfunctional Mitchell family, who must save Earth from a global uprising of robots. Rianda conceived the film after completing work on the animated series Gravity Falls in 2015. The project was announced in May 2018. To achieve a "hand-painted watercolor" style, technology was reused from the previous Sony Picture Animation film, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018). Lord and Miller's frequent collaborator Mark Mothersbaugh composed the score. The Mitchells vs. the Machines was planned for theatrical release by Sony Pictures Releasing under the title Connected in 2020. Due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on theaters, Sony sold the distribution rights to Netflix outside of China. Netflix retitled it to Rianda and Rowe's original title, and limit-released it in theaters on April 23, 2021 before its streaming release a week later on April 30. The film received 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.