It stars Richard, an orphaned sparrow raised by a family of storks. When the storks migrate to Africanote , Richard, thinking he is a stork, desperately tries to follow his family on the dangerous journey. On the way from Europe to Africa, he meets new friends, such as Olga the Pygmy Owl and Kiki the Parakeet, and some perils.
The film premiered at the Berlin Film Festival on February 12, 2017 and was released in Germany on May 5, 2017. It then made its way to United States on June 30, 2017.
See the trailer here
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The sequel, Richard the Stork and the Mystery of the Great Jewel, was released in April, 2023.
Not to be confused with Storks, another animated film also featuring storks on a dangerous trip, but with a different purpose.
Richard the Stork provides examples of:
- Acrophobic Bird: Kiki exhibits a fear of heights at first, but wears it off later.
- All-CGI Cartoon
- All of the Other Reindeer: Olga was disliked by her family and other birds, because of her large size.
- Animals Not to Scale: Olga is very large for a pygmy owl, causing her to be disliked by others.
- Art Shift: Olga's backstory is done is traditional watercolor animations, rather than CGI.
- Conveniently an Orphan/Death by Origin Story: Richard's parents were eaten by a wolverine at the beginning of the film, leaving Richard to be found by Aurora.
- Disco Dan: Kiki is still attached to disco music, despite of it being outdated.
- Disney Death: Olga appears to have been killed off by the airplane's drag, but wakes up from her unconsciousness.
- Richard, who seemed to be stuck in the honey badger's burrow, makes out alive.
- Goth: Olga seems to be this trope, thanks to her dark colors and a skull pattern on the front of her torso.
- Harmless Electrocution: When birds sit on electric lines, they receive some electric shock and then behave as if they're on The Internet, spitting out Internet jargon and making computer sounds.
- Imaginary Friend: Olgey is this to Olga. Due to Olga's All of the Other Reindeer nature, she finds it hard to believe that he doesn't exist.
- Interspecies Adoption: Richard was adopted by a family of storks.
- Interspecies Friendship: Richard makes friends with Olga, a pygmy owl, and Kiki, a parakeet, on the way.
- Oblivious Adoption: Richard, thanks to being raised by storks, thinks he's a stork.
- Partially Civilized Animal: Some of the birds, such as Kiki, have some sort of this trope, such as hosting their event for a music festival.
- Talking Animal: All of the birds can talk. The bats can, although the honey badger cannot.