What's The Work?
Rio is a 2011 American animated musical adventure romantic comedy film produced by Blue Sky Studios and 20th Century Fox Animation. The film was directed by Carlos Saldanha from a screenplay by Don Rhymer, Joshua Sternin, Jeffrey Ventimiglia, and Sam Harper, based on a story by Saldanha and the writing team of Earl Richie Jones and Todd Jones. The title refers to the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro, where the film is set.
Who Is He? What Has He Done?
In Brazil, smuggling exotic birds is a lucrative business. One of its victims is a baby blue macaw, smuggled from a tropical forest. Near Moose Lake, Minnesota, a cargo trailer door accidentally opened, trapping the parrot in the snow. A girl named Linda finds him and takes him home, naming him "Blu." Over the 15 years he spends with Linda, the parrot adapts to the comfortable conditions of her shop, but he never learns to fly. This makes him a target for Canada geese, who even try to pelt him with snowballs through the glass.
One day, a distracted and eccentric Brazilian ornithologist named Tulio Monteiro comes to Linda and informs her that she is the owner of the last remaining male blue macaw, and that he has the last female of the breed in Brazil. If they fail to produce offspring, the species will become extinct. Faced with a desperate situation and the ornithologist's persuasion, Linda agrees, and they fly to Rio de Janeiro. There, Tulio runs an ornithological center and nursery where he rescues abandoned birds. On the way to the nursery, Blu is greeted by a cardinal bunting named Pedro and a canary named Nico. At the nursery, Blu spots a large yellow-crested cockatoo, but receives only a stern look in response to his wishes for a speedy recovery. In the aviary, Blu meets a female of his own species named Jewel, but due to their differences (Blu can't fly and doesn't understand life in the wild, while Jewel doesn't understand captivity), their relationship doesn't go well. Although Blu falls in love with Jewel at first sight, she doesn't reciprocate his feelings and even attacks him.
That night, a cockatoo feigning illness knocks a guard unconscious and opens the aviary door to an accomplice who kidnaps the parrots. The kidnapper, an orphan boy named Fernando, brings the parrots to Marcel, the leader of a gang of poachers. Jewel and Blu feign death in order to escape at the right moment, but Jewel is caught by Nigel, a cockatoo, and Blu is simply unable to fly out of the cage. As a result, they are chained and taken to a warehouse where many birds already captured by the gang are being held. But thanks to their combined efforts and Blu's skill in opening cages, the birds escape from captivity. After a lengthy chase through the streets and rooftops of Rio, complicated by the chains that bind them and Blu's inability to fly, they escape pursuit and finally find themselves in the jungle, where they spend the night. Meanwhile, Linda and Tulio unsuccessfully try to find the parrots, posting photographs and asking passersby.
In the morning, after an unsuccessful attempt to break the chain with a rock, the parrots encounter a large toucan named Rafael, an enthusiastic romantic singer with a large family. He agrees to help them after receiving permission from his wife, Eva, although he is not thrilled at the prospect of walking. The chained birds' attempt to fly off the cliff nearly ends in disaster, but they eventually reach the ground safely on a hang glider. On their way to Luis, they are met by Rafael's friends, Pedro and Nico, already familiar to Blu, who take the group to a dance at the "bird club," where the parrots dance joyfully with the others. Meanwhile, Nigel enlists a flock of marmosets led by Mauro to track the parrots. They succeed, but a fight ensues, and together with the birds from the club, the friends defeat the monkeys, after which they continue on by tram. Meanwhile, Linda, Tulio, and Fernando, who has decided to help them, arrive at the poachers' house. They find no birds there, but accidentally learn from Marcel's accomplices, Armando, and Tip, that the birds are going to be smuggled out of the city to the airport under the guise of a carnival. To avoid betraying his older comrades, Fernando is forced to leave with the poachers.
Rafael brings the parrots to Luis the bulldog's garage, where they attempt to cut the chain with a circular saw. Fortunately, the attempt fails, and they manage to escape thanks to Luis's drool. Afterward, a quarrel ensues between Blu and Jewel. Jewel flies away, but Nigel intercepts her again, takes her to the carnival, and locks her in a cage. Rafael, Pedro, Nico, and Blu, riding Luis, rush to the rescue, accompanied by Linda and Tulio, who infiltrate the carnival disguised as performers. Despite their best efforts, the birds end up in the cages, and the poachers' car leaves the carnival. Linda and Tulio, riding a carnival float, catch up with the gang at the airport, but fail to prevent the plane carrying the birds from taking off.
During the flight, the resourceful Blu escapes from the cage again, this time with the help of a fire extinguisher. Together with Jewel, they free the remaining birds, but are prevented from leaving the plane by Nigel, with whom Jewel injures her wing in a fight. Nigel grabs Blu, but Blu attaches a fire extinguisher to the cockatoo and throws it out of the plane, causing Nigel to be caught in the propeller and damaging the engine. At that moment, Jewel falls from the plane, and Blu rushes after her, remembering his first attempt at flight. During the flight, Jewel kisses him, allowing Blu to spread his wings and soar over the ocean with his friend.
Jewel is nursed back to health at a sanctuary. Realizing that an uncontrolled wild life is causing more harm than good (especially with such a tame husband), she decides to remain under human care—at a sanctuary. There, she and Blu raise chicks, giving the blue macaw a chance to survive. Linda, having moved the bookstore from Minnesota, remains to live in Rio with her husband, Tulio, and adopted brother, Fernando.
The final scenes show a surviving but plucked Nigel, who becomes the butt of ridicule for the monkeys who had previously been deathly afraid of him.
Three years after the events of the first film, the residents of Rio de Janeiro are celebrating New Year's. During the festive dances, Blu and Jewel spot Rafael the toucan, who was supposed to be watching their children. He explains that he asked Luis to cover for him while he danced with Eva, but he broke his promise and left them with Tiny. The couple returns to the children, where they are preparing to launch Tiny on a fireworks display. Blu explains that they are the only members of their species and must not be exposed to danger. But suddenly, his tail begins to burn. Trying to put it out, he accidentally sets off the fireworks and, barely managing to free Tiny, finds himself tied to one himself. Falling onto the statue of Christ the Redeemer, the parrot begins to watch the fireworks with his family. Meanwhile, Tulio and Linda are on an expedition in the Amazon, where they find a blue macaw feather, confirming that Blu's family isn't the only representative of this species.
Blu, Jewel, and their three children—Carla, Smarty, and Tiago—live in a nature reserve. Jewel tells her husband that children are very dependent on human civilization and should at least once experience what it's like to be "real wild birds." At that moment, the news comes on TV, announcing that evidence of other blue macaws has been discovered in the Amazon. Jewel believes that a trip to visit her relatives in the Amazon will be a great opportunity to show the children the world. Blu reluctantly agrees to the proposal. The family, along with Rafael, Pedro, and Nico, sets off on their journey. During their flight, they arrive at a market in Manaus, where Nigel, a bird-fortune teller, is working there. Upon seeing his sworn enemy, he wreaks havoc on the market, freeing Gabi, the poisonous frog who's in love with him, and Charlie, the mute anteater. Blu, Jewel, and the children decide to continue their journey by ferry. That night, Nigel tried to kill Blu, but Charlie accidentally set off the alarm and woke everyone up, thwarting his plan. The parrots successfully reached the Amazon, where Jewel met her father, Eduardo, the tribe's leader, and her childhood friend, Roberto.
The next day, Eduardo teaches Blu how to survive in the wild. During the training, they learn that humans want to cut down all the trees in the Amazon. The old leader is shocked that his son-in-law is connected to the human world and loses his goodwill towards him.
Linda and Tulio saw a lumberjack cutting down trees in the forest and tried to stop him, but he and his friends caught them and tied them to a tree.
Knowing that Jewel really liked Brazil nuts, Blu decided to find them, but during his search, he accidentally ended up in the territory of hostile red macaws led by Felipe, who had challenged their rivals to a soccer match for the entire nut grove. Eduardo acted as the captain of the blue macaw team. During the game, Blu accidentally scored a goal against his teammates, causing them to lose their portion of the territory, leaving his father-in-law furious.
Blu flies to Tulio and Linda's camp to say goodbye, but he's nowhere to be found. Roberto attacks him, considering him a "traitor," but a bulldozer runs them over. Blu barely saves his friend and sends him to tell Eduardo everything. A little later he finds the Monteiro couple and frees them.
Tulio and Linda, along with the macaws, try to stop the logging. This time, the scarlet macaws join them, and together they attack the loggers. Blu pulls dynamite out of a tree, but is suddenly attacked by Nigel. Gabi launches a poison dart at Blu, but accidentally hits her own lover. He thinks he's dying, though Smarty proves Gabi isn't a poison dart frog. The happy frog embraces Nigel, preventing him from finishing off his enemy.
Mitigating Factors.
His insecurities?
While it's something that technically drives him to do what he does, he harms completely innocent creatures who have nothing to do with his tragedy, so I don't think it's much genuine. For example, Blu and Jewel never replaced him on the TV-show he was popular at, but what he does to them is nothing but brutal.
His love to Gabi?
Completely faux. He treats her well as he needs her.
Care about minions/accomplices?
Once again, no. For example, he abuses Mauro and his troops, even threatening to give them "flying lessons" if they don't find Blu and Jewel by the end of the day. At least, Big Boss cares about his pet monkey.
Other redeeming qualities?
None.
Heinous Standard.
Sure, he passes the baseline with his attempts to kill the main protagonist Blu and his wife Jewel in various brutal ways (both of whom, as we previously dedicated, have nothing to do with what he calls insecurities and tragedy). But does he pass the in-story standards? Sure, there are many characters whom he should compete with. I'll evade all of his minions since I think THEY FAIL THE IN-STORY STANDARDS TO NIGEL, and not him to them (as he has personal villainy against Blu and Jewel they haven't and they are just following his orders with little to nothing unique). The only villain, who technically does more than Nigel is Big Boss. He commits eco-terrorism and kills/harms many animals (I think it doesn't matter how sapient he knows they are since his actions are terrible), so I think he stands out too (however, Big Boss has a genuine redeeming quality as he cares about his pet monkey, so he can't be Pure Evil; Nigel, however, lacks something I'd call a genuine redeeming qualities). However, Big Boss has huger resources, as Nigel isn't even a flying bird, while Big Boss has lots of machinery Nigel clearly lacks. Also, while both Big Boss and Nigel have minions, the amount of Big Boss's minions is huger. Okay, he has many offscreen villainy, which can make him even more heinous, but is seen as too vague ... but I don't really think it is. What he tries to do with other characters onscreen is nothing but brutal, so personally I assume he did so with his offscreen victims too.
Is She Silly Enough?
He has mady comedic moments, such as his humiliating defeat. He has especially many of them in the second intallment. However, he is taken extremely seriously by other characters.
Final Verdict?
Yes.