Ryan, a lion cub, worships his father, Sampson (Kiefer Sutherland), the brawny, brave, uncontested king of a New York City zoo. The film opens as Ryan listens adoringly as Sampson recounts yet another tale of roaring wildebeests into submission on the African savannah. While the zoo animals cavort, Ryan slips into a metal crate bound overseas for a chance to see "the wild" for himself. Now Sampson, with the help of his loyal friends Benny the squirrel (James Belushi), Nigel the koala bear (Eddie Izzard), Bridget the giraffe (Janeane Garafalo), and Larry the snake (Richard Kind), must brave the New York City jungle and then the actual jungle to save his son from the clutches of a crazed wildebeest with aspirations to carnivorousness (William Shatner). To make things worse, Sampson confesses that his heroic stories were fabrications; he's completely lost in his wild surroundings, unable to fight off a rabid poodle or eat a sassy hyrax.

Since ANTZ hit the cineplexes in 1993, computer-animated films about chatty animals have proliferated, but THE WILD is perhaps the first that is heavily influenced by its immediate predecessors, taking a little plot from MADAGASCAR, adding healthy doses of the ICE AGE films, and borrowing heavily from the father-son sentiments of THE LION KING (the animals actually pass a Times Square theater playing THE LION KING). However, originality isn't the draw here: it's the world-class voice-acting by Hollywood heavies, and the non-stop slapstick antics that will have children screaming with delight. Amid all the ridiculousness, parents will appreciate the wry asides by Eddie Izzard's koala bear.

Theatrical Release: April 14, 2006

Blu-ray Disc Features:

Keep Case
Widescreen - 1.85
Audio:
Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround - English, French, Spanish
Dolby Digital 5.1 Uncompressed - English
Subtitles - English, French, Spanish - Optional
Additional Release Material:
Deleted Scenes With Optional Commentary By Director Steve "Spaz" Williams and Producer Clint Goldman
Bloopers - Eddie Izzard Unleashed Bloopers And Blunders
Featurette - Meet Colin: The Rock Hyrax
Music Vidoe - Everlife Music Video "Real Wild Child"

Steve "the Spaz" Williams: Director, Animator, THE WILD (2006)

"THE WILD is filled with softness and texture....It allows for inspired voice work for Eddie Izzard as a snooty koala bear and William Shatner as a menacing wildebeest..."
"[I]t has some truly spectacular animation....Williams here creates backdrops so dense you can all but feel them pressing in."
3 stars out of 5 -- "The animation is better, the jokes intended for your children are better, the jokes intended for you and not your children are much better, the songs are better, and it's more fun."