Finding Russell is a 2011 American computer-animated adventure comedy film produced by Sony Pictures Animation and released by Columbia Pictures. It was followed by one sequel, Finding Rainbow Dash, in 2022.
Plot[]
A penguin couple, Mumble and Gloria, are admiring their new home in the Antarctica, MA, and their clutch of hundreds of eggs, when a Dag the Coyote attack. Mumble is knocked unconscious, and wakes up to find Gloria and all but one of the eggs gone. He names this last egg Russell, a name that Gloria had chosen.
On the first day of school, the overprotective Mumble embarrasses Russell during a field trip. While Mumble talks to the teacher, Manny, Russell sneaks away from the antarctica toward a police and is captured by a police officers. As the car police, one of the cars accidentally knocks his diving mask overboard. Mumble chases after the police and meets Rainbow Dash, a pegasus who suffers from short-term memory loss. The two encounter Tai Lung, Lord Shen and Kai, three reformed villains who have renounced penguin-eating diet. While at their progress meeting, Mumble discovers the car's police and notices an address written on it. However, Rainbow Dash and Mumble fight over the police, accidentally giving Rainbow Dash a bloody nose. The blood sends Tai Lung into a relapsed feeding frenzy, and he attacks Mumble and Rainbow Dash, who narrowly escape.
Russell is placed in a prison in a dentist’s office, where he meets the "Prison Gang", a group of pet squirrel led by Surly. The gang learn Russell is to be given to the dentist's niece Darla, who has killed previous boy given to her. Surly devises a plan to escape: jam the prison's filter with a pebble so the dentist will have to put the boy in plastic bags to clean the prison, then roll out the window and into the harbor. Russell attempts to jam the filter but fails, nearly dying in the process.
The mask falls into a trench in the snowing, where, while battling an evil falcon named Von Talon, Rainbow Dash reads the address as "42 Wallaby Way, Sydney". To her own disbelief, Rainbow Dash remembers the address despite her short-term memory loss. Rainbow Dash and Mumble receive directions to Sydney from a school of moonfish. On the way, they encounter a bloom of jellyfish that traps and nearly stings them to death. Mumble loses consciousness and awakens on the back of a human named Aaron Eshenbaugh/El Lightning Storm Macho, who shuttles Mumble and Rainbow Dash on the California. Mumble tells the story of his journey to a group of young humans led by Aaron's son Stan Marsh. News of his quest spreads across the ocean. Near the harbor, a puffin named Sven flies to the dentist's office and brings news of Mumble's efforts. Inspired, Russell makes a second attempt to jam the filter. He succeeds, but the dentist installs a new high-tech filter before the Prison Gang can escape.
Mumble and Rainbow Dash exit the California and are engulfed by a blue dragon. Rainbow Dash communicates with the dragon, which carries them to Sydney Harbour and expels them through his blowhole. They meet Sven, who helps the pair escape from a flock of relentless dogs and takes them to the dentist's office. Darla has just arrived, and the dentist is handing Russell to her. Russell plays dead to save himself as Sven arrives, terrifying Darla and throwing the office into chaos. After Sven is violently thrown out by the dentist, Surly helps Russell escape into a drain that leads to the antarctica.
Having mistaken Russell for dead, Mumble thanks Rainbow Dash and starts his return journey. Rainbow Dash meets Russell when he reaches the antarctica, but she has lost her memory. Eventually, Rainbow Dash's memory returns when she reads the word Sydney on a drainpipe. She reunites Russell with Mumble, but she is caught in a penguing net with a school of grouper. Russell enters the net and orders the grouper to run downward to break the net and escape. Later, having returned home, Mumble and Rainbow Dash proudly watch Manny carry Russell and his friends to school.
Cast[]
- Elijah Wood as Mumble
- Ashleigh Ball as Rainbow Dash
- Jordan Nagai as Russell
- Will Arnett as Surly
- Jack Black as Po
- Katherine Heigl as Andie
- Ben Stiller as Alex
- Patton Oswalt as Remy
- Tabitha St. Germain as Princess Luna
- Nicole Oliver as Princess Celestia
- Logan Grove as Gumball
- Hank Azaria as Sven
- Nicolas Cage as Aaron Eshenbaugh/El Lightning Storm Macho
- Brittany Murphy as Gloria
- Trey Parker as Stan Marsh
- Ray Romano as Manny, Russell's schoolteacher
- Ian McShane as Tai Lung
- Gary Oldman as Lord Shen
- J.K. Simmons as Kai
- Bill Hunter as The Dentist
- Grey DeLisle as Darla
- Pierce Gagnon as Tiago
- Tara Strong as Twilight Sparkle
- Jordan Nagai as Kion
- John Ratzenberger as the school of moonfish
- David Koechner as Dag