“Migration.”

One definition of migration is “the movement of a person or people from one nation to settle in another nation.”

“Migration,” the feature animation movie, is not about “that” migration.

“Migration” the movie is about mallards.

The only thing controversial about “Migration” the movie is dad mallard’s decision to not migrate south for the winter. He’s no “snowbird.”

Mack (voiced by Kumail Nanjiani) would rather hang out at the picturesque New England Moosehead Lake that he, his wife Pam (Elizabeth Banks) and their two children call home.

One day, the mallard children, Dax (Caspar Jennings) and Gwen (Tresi Gazal), talk to some other ducks at the lake who plan to fly south to Jamaica for their winter vacation.

The duck children excitedly tell dad, in effect, “They’re going to Jam-maker, the place where they make jams.”

That goofy style of humor typifies “Migration,” a movie that can be recommended for the little ones in the family without embarrassing too much the bigger ones in the family.

On the way to “the place where they make jams,” the family takes a wrong turn and ends up in New York City, much to their dismay, and much to the delight of the audience for fast-paced, dizzying and frenetic scenes.

Other scenes also display superb animation.

Depictions of the mallards zooming around, above and through the clouds are thrilling.

A scene inside a shack where the mallards find themselves in trouble presents just the right amount of tension and terror.

The movie’s animation characters include the mallard family’s Uncle Dan (Danny DeVito, who provides many comedic moments); a nefarious great blue heron elderly couple, Erin (Carol Kane) and Harry, who generate feather-raising scenes; a flock of aggressive pigeons led by Chump (Awkwafina), and a Scarlet macaw, Delroy (Keegan-Michael Key).

The colorful animation is vibrant with clever perspectives, lushly-detailed backgrounds and characters that are distinctive and memorable.

The voice talent is terrific, especially Kumail Nanjiani, Elizabeth Banks, Keegan-Michael Key, Awkwafina and Danny DeVito.

Benjamin Renner (director, “Ernest & Celestine,” 2012) directs. Guylo Homsy (layout artist, “The Lorax,” “Despicable Me”) co-directs. The screenplay by Mike White (Daytime Emmy, director, “The White Lotus,” 2022) is from a story by Renner and White.

The symphonic score by John Powell is a classy and soothing soundtrack and includes classical-jazz vocalese reminiscent of the Swingle Singers.

“Migration” is produced by Illumination, the animation studio known for “Despicable Me” (2019), co-directed by Chris Renaud, a Parkland High School graduate, Class of 1985, who attended classes at The Baum School Of Art, Allentown, and who directed Illumination’s “The Secret Life of Pets” (2016).

“Illumination” also produced “Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax” (2012), “Minions” (2015), “Sing” (2016), “The Grinch” (2018) and “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” (2023). Most of its films are animated by Illumination Studios Paris.

Though we already have a gaggle of anthropomorphic animation duck characters, including Donald Duck; Huey, Dewey and Louie; Scrooge McDuck; Daffy Duck, and Howard the Duck, the mallards in “Migration” are memorable.

I’m already looking for duck figurines and plush toys of the characters from the film for my office desk.

You don’t need a pair of Bushnell Prime binoculars or “The Peterson Guide to Birds of North America” to enjoy “Migration,” a fun addition to the feature animation firmament with characters that deserve to give flight to a sequel.

“Migration,”

MPAA rated PG (Parental guidance suggested. Some material may not be suitable for children.) for action, peril and mild rude humor; Genre: Animation, Action, Adventure; Run time: 1 hour, 23 minutes; distributed by Universal Pictures.

Credit Readers Anonymous:

“Migration” includes Mon Laferte singing the Destiny Child song, “Survivor”; Tones and I’s “Cloudy Day” and Taylor Swift’s “Out of The Woods.” The end credits include Polaroid-style snapshots of scenes from the movie.

At The Movies:

“Migration” was seen in the standard format at AMC Center Valley 16. The movie is accompanied by a nine-minute film, “Mooned,” in which Vector (voiced by Jason Segel), a character from “Despicable Me,” must return to the Earth from the Moon.

Theatrical Movie Domestic Weekend Box Office,

Dec. Jan. 19-21:

“Mean Girls” continued at No. 1 two weeks in a row, $11.7 million in 3,826 theaters, $50 million, two weeks.

2. “The Beekeeper” stayed in place at No. 2 with $8.4 million in 3,330 theaters, $31.1 million, two weeks. 3. “Wonka” stayed in place with $6.4 million in 3,136 theaters, $187.1 million, six weeks. 4. “Anyone But You” stayed in place, $5.4 million in 2,928 theaters, $64.2 million, five weeks. 5. “Migration” stayed in place, $5.3 million in 3,094 theaters, $94.6 million, five weeks. 6. “Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom” stayed in place, $3.6 million in 2,423 theaters, $114.1 million, five weeks. 7. “I.S.S,” opening, $3 million in 2,518 theaters. 8. “Night Swim” dropped one place, $2.7 million in 2,708 theaters, $23.7 million, three weeks. 9. “The Boys in the Boat” dropped one place, $2.5 million in 2,012 theaters, $43.8 million, four. 10. “Poor Things” received Golden Globes awards best picture musical or comedy and best female actor (Emma Stone) bounce, moving up three places, $2 million in 1,400 theaters, $20.3 million, seven weeks.

Movie box office information from Box Office Mojo as of Jan. 21 is subject to change.

Unreel,

Jan. 26:

“Miller’s Girl,”

No MPAA Rating: Jade Halley Bartlett directs Martin Freeman, Jenna Ortega, Gideon Adlon and Dagmara Dominczyk in the Drama, Comedy. A creative writing assignment gets a bit too creative.

“Sometimes I Think About Dying,”

PG-13: Rachel Lambert directs Daisy Ridley and Dave Merheje in the Drama, Romance, Comedy. Co-workers date with predictable results.

Movie box office information from Internet Movie Database as of Jan. 21 is subject to change.

Three Popcorn Boxes out of Five Popcorn Boxes