The Wild (2006)

19% of critics liked it
(111 reviews)
53% of users liked it
(201,603 ratings)

A handful of zoo animals leave behind their well-protected environment for the streets of the big city in this computer-animated comedy. Sampson (voice of Kiefer Sutherland) is the king of a make-believe jungle far from the African plains -- he's a lion on display at a zoo in New York City's Central… More A handful of zoo animals leave behind their well-protected environment for the streets of the big city in this computer-animated comedy. Sampson (voice of Kiefer Sutherland) is the king of a make-believe jungle far from the African plains -- he's a lion on display at a zoo in New York City's Central Park, and he lords it over the other animals, including Nigel (voice of Eddie Izzard), a testy koala bear; Larry, a dumb but well-meaning snake; ; Bridget (voice of Janeane Garofalo), a bright but cynical giraffe; and Benny (voice of Jim Belushi), a very New York-ish squirrel who is good friends with Sampson and is trying to romance Bridget without much success. The pride and joy of Sampson's life is his son, Ryan (voice of Greg Cipes), and he's devastated when one day Ryan is crated up and shipped back to Africa. Sampson is desperate to find his boy, and with the help of his pals he escapes the zoo and sets out on a daring mission to rescue Ryan, battling the unfamiliar terrain and Kazar, a wildebeest with a will to power and a passion for choreography (voice of William Shatner) along the way. The Wild was the first directorial credit for animator and special-effects artist Steve "Spaz" Williams. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: G, 1 hr. 22 min.
Directed By: Steve 'Spaz' Williams, Dominic Scott Kay
Genres: Action & Adventure, Animation, Kids & Family, Comedy

In Theaters: Apr 14, 2006 Wide
On DVD: Sep 12, 2006
Studio: Buena Vista

Critic Reviews

Jim Ridley, Village Voice
The animation is exquisitely detailed, down to the lions' individually moving whiskers -- but when's the last time you enjoyed a cartoon for its realism?
Richard Roeper, Ebert & Roeper
Another animated film from 2006 that's right in that average category.
Peter Hartlaub, San Francisco Chronicle
As a movie that kids will enjoy with a few adult-oriented gags to keep parents from going completely insane with boredom, The Wild accomplishes its unambitious mission.
Geoff Pevere, Toronto Star
Technically, The Wild is impressive. Until you realize that the lifelike animated fur is the product of more professional care than the script.
Claudia Puig, USA Today
The Wild may just be the most wildly derivative animated movie in ages.
Carrie Rickey, Philadelphia Inquirer
Kids under 6 will dig it -- though the alligators and wildebeests might scare them. Certainly they scared this groan-up.
Frank Lovece, Film Journal International
For all the rest of the film's unoriginality, The Wild moves along with solidly crafted wit.
Peter T. Chattaway, Christianity Today
The Wild is pretty tame, and in the increasingly crowded, competitive, survival-of-the-fittest world of computer animation, it meows but does not roar
Forrest Hartman, Reno Gazette-Journal
Seems like a dull Madagascar ripoff.
Joseph Proimakis, Movies for the Masses
full review in Greek
Kevin Carr, 7M Pictures
The kids might be better off with a trip to a real zoo, if they haven't had their fill of Madagascar yet.
John Beifuss, Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)
The diverse animals are beautifully rendered, but this cliche-riddled Disney failure represents one too many trips to the CGI non-inkwell.
John J. Puccio, Movie Metropolis
I found a good deal of The Wild visually appealing but even more of it narratively dry.
John J. Puccio, Movie Metropolis
The Wild is not really bad; it's just tired.
Derek Adams, Time Out
The animation here impresses more than in the equally defunct Madagascar, but everything else smacks of an easy money-making exercise of such dimwitted inanity even the youngest kids will see through it.
Todd Jorgenson, Denton Record Chronicle (TX)
A decade ago, this sort of thing would have felt cuter, fresher and funnier than today, when the bar for CGI animation has been raised considerably.
Joe Utichi, FilmFocus
The film is ultimately noise and its story is so overdone at this point that far from being swept up in it, we're only hoping that the next plot point isn't as predictable as the last. But things never do work out that way.
Helen OHara, Empire Magazine
The Wild roars back from a rocky opening act to a storming last reel, just managing to claw its way above comparisons with Madagascar.
Matthew Turner, ViewLondon
Watchable animated adventure with one eye on the cuddly toy market, though you've got to love a film that casts William Shatner as a wildebeest.

Read all 19 critic reviews

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

Featured Audience Ratings

Brad W

Disneys way of trying to keep up with Dreamworks Madagascar. This was a boring a terrible film.
Directors C

It's quite simply a rip off of Dreamworks Madagascar, nothing is interesting and the characters are not at all original making this film one of the worst disney have created.
Jens S

For an animated Disney film is is very disappointing. Maybe kids will get a kick out of the hectic commotion, but there is very little for grown-ups to enjoy here. The characters are flat, some even annoying, and the gags just don't work most of the time. At least the plot is… More
For an animated Disney film is is very disappointing. Maybe kids will get a kick out of the hectic commotion, but there is very little for grown-ups to enjoy here. The characters are flat, some even annoying, and the gags just don't work most of the time. At least the plot is always moving and doesn't stay in one place for very long. Still, there are very few rewarding qualities to find here, even the animation isn't entirely en par with its competition. If anything, this film shows what an outstanding job Pixar does again and again.
Michael E

Meh Its not that good at all and its not disneys best
Richard C

D
Bently L

The animation is unimpressive, story sucks and its not original, there is no memorable scenes or lines, and makes Madagascar look like it never existed. THIS MOVIE SHOULD BE BANNED FROM THE WHOLE WORLD!!!!
KJ P

I mildly can say this movie sucks, even though it has a lot of wasted heart!
Lorenzo v

"A whole new breed of tourist." An adolescent lion is accidentally shipped from the New York Zoo to Africa. Now running free, his zoo pals must put aside their differences to help bring him back. <center>"A whole new breed of tourist." An adolescent lion is accidentally shipped from the New York Zoo to Africa. Now running free, his zoo pals must put aside their differences to help bring him back. <center>REVIEW</center> Interesting animated feature directed by Steve 'Spaz' Williams. An all-star cast lends voice to a diverse group of animals from the New York Zoo. A young lion Ryan (Greg Cipes) is impatient with his coming of age and acquiring a roar like his dad Samson (Kiefer Sutherland). Samson is living on a false reputation that he was once a king in the African wild. Ryan runs away on a ship destined for Africa to rescue animals. Samson and his friends commandeer a tugboat and head to Africa to find Ryan. Other vocal talent provided by Janeane Garofalo, James Belushi, William Shatner, Eddie Izzard, Richard Kind and Miles Marsico. The Wild is interesting enough for adults, but just not as good as some of the other animated features out there at the moment.
Bannan i

I kinda liked it.
Chris G

Rip off of Madagascar and Finding Nemo.
Film C

saw the biginnign and middle and wad god and funny worth watching
Luke B

Almost identical to Madagascar, there is no point even trying to deny the similarities. It stands on its own thanks to simply incredible animation that surpasses Madagascar's. Yes I know Madagascar was about teh comical aspects but still. A bunch of zany characters make this very… More
Almost identical to Madagascar, there is no point even trying to deny the similarities. It stands on its own thanks to simply incredible animation that surpasses Madagascar's. Yes I know Madagascar was about teh comical aspects but still. A bunch of zany characters make this very humorous but not laugh out loud hysterical. Kiefer Sutherland has a strong and powerful voice making him perfect in this film, and there are plenty of quote worthy one-liners. Should be good for the whole family but if you have seen Madagascar or many other animated films this will certainly seem too similar and repetitive.
James A

A horrible story with irritating characters that you hope will die during the movie. The Koala is the only ok character and the CG is good. Besides that I hope to never see this limp dicked CG movie again.
Jose Z

Disney did it again. With great animation and a very good story, this is a must see movie for the whole family.
Bradley W

Disneys way of trying to keep up with Dreamworks Madagascar. This was a boring a terrible film.
Dillon L

I already saw Madagascar, and it wasn't total shit. It at least had sporadic laughs and interesting characters, unlike this unoriginal and almost annoying CGI film.
Byron B

Pretty much the same as Madagascar. Pales in comparison.
Steven V

At first, this appears to be a rip-off of Madagascar, with New York City zoo animals leaving the comforts of home for the wilds of Africa. However, it is a totally different story and feel to it, more serious and sentimental than Madagascar. The… More
At first, this appears to be a rip-off of Madagascar, with New York City zoo animals leaving the comforts of home for the wilds of Africa. However, it is a totally different story and feel to it, more serious and sentimental than Madagascar. The first 50 minutes of this movie was spectacular. The jokes were excellent, the characters mostly funny and the animation superb. The dark, rich colors in here are magnificent. The minor characters are the best in here: the snake, koala bear and squirrel. Eddie Izzard, Richard Kind and James Belushi, in particular, are great in their voices of these characters. The two crocodiles that the wandering zoo animals meet in the sewers are hilarious. The major characters: the lion (Kiefer Sutherland), his cub (Greg Cipes) and the giraffe (Janeane Garofalo) were all a little too much on the serious side. Speaking of serious, the last third of this movie totally switched gears. It got too serious, frightening in spots and then the usual corny Disney ending. It's too bad, this could have been super if they had just continued doing what was working the first 50 minutes.
Juan C

it's not wild, it's born in captivity and it's very lame to watch it do something. F
Lee K

of all the cgi features i have seen this is the worst boring boring boring watch madagascar first

Read all 20 featured audience ratings

Cast

            Kiefer Sutherland as Sampson

            Jim Belushi as Benny

            Eddie Izzard as Nigel

            Janeane Garofalo as Bridget

            William Shatner as Kazar

            Richard Kind as Larry

            Greg Cipes as Ryan

            Jason Connery
            
            Jeannie Elias
            
            Patrick Fraley as (Voice)

            Nicholas Guest
            
            Bridget Hoffman
            
            John Kassir
            
            Carolyn Lawrence
            
            Laraine Newman
            
            Paul Pape
            
            Patrick Warburton as Blag

            Jess Harnell
            
            Greg Berg
            
            Colin Hay as Fergus Flamingo

            Mona Marshall
            
            Danny Mann
            
            Joseph Siravo as Carmine

            Bob Bergen
            
            Lenny Venito as Stan

            Steve "Spaz" Williams
            
            Clinton Leupp as Mama Hippo

            Colin Cunningham as Hyrax

            Miles Marsico as Duke

            Debi Derryberry
            
            Eddie Frierson
            
            Bob Joles as Camo

            Keith Anthony Lubow-Bellamy
            
            David Cowgill as Hamir

            Jonathan Kimmel as Scab

            Nolan North
            
            Audrey Wasilewski
            
            Jack DeSena as Eze

            Joshua Keaton
            
            Dominic Scott Kay as Young Samson

            Kevin Michael Richardson as Samson's Father

            Daniel A. Kaz
            
            Fred Tatasciore
            
            Nika Futterman as Dung Beetle #1

            Christian Argueta as Hamir

            Eddie Gossling as Scraw (Voice)

            Julianne Buescher as Dung Beetle #2 (Voice)

            Chris Edgerly as Cloak (Voice)

            Terri Douglas
            
            Jason Harris
            
            Emily Johnson
            
            Peter Pamela Rose as (Voice)

            Hannah Williams
            
            Don Cherry as Penguin MC

            James Belushi
            
See full cast