The Wild

The Wild is a 2006 American 3D computer-animated comedy film directed by animator Steve “Spaz” Williams, and written by Ed Decter, John J. Strauss, Mark Gibson and Philip Halprin. It features the voices of Kiefer Sutherland, Jim Belushi, Janeane Garofalo, Greg Cipes, Eddie Izzard, Richard Kind, William Shatner and Patrick Warburton.

………………………………………….

In the New York Zoo, a heroic lion named Samson tells his younger son Ryan stories of his adventures in the wild. When the zoo closes at night, all the animals are free to roam. Samson and his crew, consisting of Benny the squirrel, Bridget the giraffe, Larry the anaconda, and Nigel the koala, compete in a turtle curling competition while Ryan hangs out with his friends. However, Ryan accidentally causes a gazelle stampede which head to the game and trash it. Samson and Ryan get into an argument which leads to Ryan walking off in anger before Samson can apologize to him. Later, Ryan wanders into a green container and gets shipped away by a truck, which the legend tells will take him to the wild.

With the help of a pigeon named Hamir, Samson and Benny go after him by sneaking into a garbage disposal truck that was leaving the zoo with Nigel, Larry, and Bridget joining them. However, Benny is accidentally thrown off the truck and accidentally gets killed. After passing through Times Square and nearly being crushed in the garbage disposal, the group are chased and cornered by a pack of ferocious rabid dogs in an alleyway. Somehow, Samson leads his friends through the sewers instead of fighting them. There, they take directions to the docks from two streetwise crocodile brothers named Stan and Carmine.

The next morning, the four friends hijack a tugboat during a hectic escape from New York harbor. With the help from Larry, they drive the boat and reunite with Benny, who had been rescued by a flock of Canada geese and has enlisted them to help lead the crew toward Ryan’s ship. Days later, Nigel goes mad and, under the impression they have hit an iceberg, jumps overboard. The boat runs aground in Africa, where all the animals in the area are being evacuated by the carriers, as a nearby volcano erupts. They witness Ryan escape, but he runs into the jungle. Samson attempts to find him, but it is revealed that he was not actually from the wild after trying to eat a rude and selfish Hyrax. The rest of the group decide to head back to the ship while Samson continues to find his son. While walking, Samson sees plants and rocks change colors. Meanwhile, Nigel is captured by a group of cheerful wildebeests who dwell inside the volcano (which is their lair), and their maniacal and devious leader Kazar, pronounces him as “The Great Him”, based on an “omen” he received when he was young: he was about to be killed by lions until a toy koala fell from a plane and scared the lions away, saving his life. Kazar seeks to change the food chain that he would rather see “prey become predators” and vice versa. For this, he needs to devour a lion. Bridget and Larry are also captured and held prisoner.

Ryan hides up an old tree, but a gang of vultures attack him under orders from Kazar. The branch breaks and traps Ryan’s paw. Samson hears Ryan’s cries and runs to save him, scaring off the birds. The two happily reunite but are interrupted by a herd of wildebeests. Ryan is shocked when Samson tells him to run rather than fighting them. The two retreat to a tree where Samson reveals the truth: he was born in a circus and like Ryan, was unable to roar. Samson’s disappointed father disowned him and allowed him to be sent to the zoo, where he lied to avoid the shame. The wildebeests discover them and, in the scuffle, send the tree over the cliff, with Samson still hanging on. Ryan is captured and taken to the volcano as prisoner.

Benny finds Samson and encourages him to be himself, even if he is not from the wild. They find two chameleons, who were leading Samson to the volcano and are also trying to defeat Kazar’s army of his kind. Samson uses the chameleons’ camouflage to infiltrate the volcano so that he can save Ryan and confront Kazar. Inside the volcano, Nigel tries his best to stop the wildebeests from cooking his friends, and eventually Samson arrives where he fights Kazar, but he is no match for the wildebeest and overwhelmed. Ryan, seeing Samson in danger, climbs onto a catapulting device and launches himself at Kazar, finally letting out a roar. With Kazar distracted, Samson manages to defeat him. Ryan tells Samson that he is happy to have him for a dad. The other wildebeests hear this and redeem themselves as they refuse to serve Kazar anymore. Samson gains the courage he has needed and lets out a powerful roar enough to push back a charging Kazar. The animals, along with the wildebeests flee except Kazar, who is trapped inside the erupting volcano and crushed by debris. The animals manage to escape on the boat where they have a celebration and travel back to New York.