Last month, we got our first look at
Connected, the next project from Sony Pictures Animation and producers Phil Lord and Chris Miller, the dynamic duo behind the Oscar-winning feature
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. The images and synopsis teased an intriguing premise about a family struggling to relate to each other in a world where technology dominates everyone's attention -- and soon, humanity itself.
The trailer introduces us to the Mitchell household where Rick (voiced by Danny McBride) has difficulty connected with his family, more specifically his tech-obsessed children. When his daughter Katie (voiced by Abbi Jacobson) gets accepted into the film school of her dreams, Rick decides to make one last attempt at family bonding and decides to take the family on a road trip to bring her to school. His plans are soon interrupted when technology uprises.
Connected looks to be a good mix of comedic and heartwarming moments as the Mitchells -- with the help of two malfunctioning robots -- will have to get past their problems and work together to save each other and the world.
Connected is directed by Mike Rianda, who also co-wrote it alongside Jeff Rowe. It's produced by Academy Award-winning duo Phil Lord and Christopher Miller with Kurt Albrecht.
“I tried to think about the two things that I loved the most,” Rianda told EW, “which was my crazy family… and also killer robots.”
Given the studio and team behind Connected, it's not at all surprising to see it very closely resembles the style and tone of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. Connected uses the same animation technology to achieve a hybrid art style that mixes glossy 3D and messier, hand-drawn 2D elements.
“It’s sort of a love letter to our imperfect human world, where it’s lovingly done but everything is kind of rumbly and a little bit wobbly,” Rianda said. “We wanted to show those imperfections, and we wanted to show them lovingly.”
Sony Pictures Animation’s CONNECTED is an original animated comedy from director Mike Rianda (Gravity Falls) and producers Phil Lord and Christopher Miller (Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, The Lego Movie), about an everyday family's struggle to relate while technology rises up around the world! When Katie Mitchell (voiced by Abbi Jacobson), a creative outsider, is accepted into the film school of her dreams, her plans to meet “her people” at college are upended when her nature-loving dad Rick (voiced by Danny McBride) determines the whole family should drive Katie to school together and bond as a family one last time. Katie and Rick are joined by the rest of the family, including Katie’s wildly positive mom Linda (voiced by Maya Rudolph), her quirky little brother Aaron (voiced by Mike Rianda), and the family’s delightfully chubby pug Monchi for the ultimate family road trip. Suddenly, the Mitchells’ plans are interrupted by a tech uprising: all around the world, the electronic devices people love – from phones, to appliances, to an innovative new line of personal robots – decide it’s time to take over. With the help of two friendly malfunctioning robots, the Mitchells will have to get past their problems and work together to save each other and the world!
The road trip and subsequent tech uprising begins when
Connected hits theaters on September 18.