Migration (Collector’s Edition) (4K UHD Review)

Estimated reading time: 9 minutes

The latest 3D animated film from Illumination, Migration, follows a family of mallard ducks who are finally going to migrate south for the winter to the mythical wonderland of Jamaica. Overprotective father Mack (voiced by Kumail Nanjiani) has never wanted his family to leave the safety of their little pond in New England, feeling it was too risky, but when his kids Dax (voiced by Caspar Jennings) and Gwen (Tresi Gazal) meet a youngster from another flock heading to Jamaica, they and Mack’s wife Pam (voiced by Elizabeth Banks) finally convince him to make the journey. With slothful Uncle Dan (voiced by Danny DeVito) along for the flight, the family head off and make the eventful journey. They find themselves having to make their way through the dangers of Manhattan, tangling with some tough pigeons, rescuing a caged parrot from Jamaica, and running from a chef whose specialty is Duck à l’orange.

Directors Benjamin Renner and Guylo Homsy working from a screenplay by Renner and Mike White offer up a fun, quick-paced, and family-friendly adventure that never sinks to bathroom humor to keep adults interested and never gets too dull that it loses the youngsters. Every parent will be able to understand the frustration of Pam thinking her daughter Gwen should be old enough to “make number two” in the sky, while also understanding the absurdity of a bird having to land to go into the bushes to do it and the implications of it doing it from the sky. The film always keeps it clever like this, while not being so “inside joke” that it goes over kids’ heads and has them trailing off. The colorful animation and pace of the set pieces has the brisk 83 minutes zipping by.

Purchase Migration (Collector’s Edition) 4K Ultra HD Combo on Amazon.com

The Video

Migration is from a Digital 3D source and used a 2K digital intermediate with Dolby Vision. The 4K disc is upscaled to the higher resolution, showing very little – if any – significant different in detail over the Blu-ray. Where the 4K disc, presented in 2.35:1 HEVC 2160p (4K UHD) Dolby Vision steps up is in a subtly more vibrant color palette with a bit more ‘pop’ in the highlights.

The Audio

Migration gets a very competent and well-balanced English Dolby Atmos mix. The height awareness in this mix is subtle, however, with little discrete sound effects moving above, which is disappointing given this is a film about birds migrating. They do not take the opportunity to give us distinct sounds of birds flying overhead or even when there is a scene of a helicopter arriving, we just get a heavy sound of rotors filling the speakers. Still, this mix works, with good extension into the lower frequencies when it needs it, like that helicopter scene, and lots of clarity and easy sounding higher frequencies. There is a lot of directional panning through the front and surround speakers and some height added to the score for a spacious sound.

The Supplements

Universal packs this with over 60 minutes of bonus features that include three new animated mini movies, several featurettes, and a selection of featurettes directed at kids, like instructions on how to draw a few of the characters and how to make your own pop-up book.

Bonus Features:

• Movies Anywhere Digital Code
• Blu-ray with Feature Film in HD and Bonus Features
• Three All-New Mini Movies:
  • Fly Hard (4K; DV; 00:04:01)
  • Mooned (4K; DV; 00:08:40)
  • Midnight Mission (4K; DV; 00:04:52)
• Microphone Madness (4K; 00:03:11)
• Meet the Cast (4K; 00:15:37)
• Taking Flight: The Making Of (1080p; 00:05:29)
• The Art of Flight (4K; 00:01:58)
• The Sound of Flight (4K; 00:02:57)
• How to Draw (4K; 00:10:33)
• Build Your Own Pop-Up Book (4K; 00:11:07)
• Calling All Birds (4K; 00:05:34)
• Best Nests (4K; 00:05:47)

The Final Assessment

Fun, colorful, and well-paced animated adventure that is wholesome entertainment for the whole family that looks and sounds great on 4K.

Migration (Collector’s Edition) is out on 4K Ultra HD Combo February 27, 2024 from Universal Pictures Home Entertainment

Purchase Migration (Collector’s Edition) 4K Ultra HD Combo on Amazon.com

• Rating Certificate: PG (for action/peril and mild rude humor.)
• Studios & Distributors: Universal Pictures | Illumination Entertainment | Universal Pictures Home Entertainment
• Directors: Benjamin Renner | Guylo Homsy
• Written By: Mike White | Benjamin Renner
• Run Time: 83 Mins.
• Street Date: 27 February 2024
• Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
• Video Format: HEVC 2160p (4K UHD)
• HDR Format: Dolby Vision (HDR10 Compatible)
  • MaxLL: 1000 nits
  • MaxFALL: 693 nits
  • Max. Luminance: 4000 nits Min. Luminance: 0.0050 nits
• Primary Audio: English Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 Compatible)
• Secondary Audio: Spanish DD+ 7.1 | French DD 5.1
• Subtitles: English SDH | Spanish | French