Loosely inspired by the 2009 animated short Pigeon: Impossible by Lucas Martell, the film is directed by Troy Quane and Nick Bruno from a screenplay by Brad Copeland and Lloyd Taylor, and a story by Cindy Davis.
It stars the voices of Will Smith and Tom Holland, alongside Rashida Jones, Ben Mendelsohn, Reba McEntire, Rachel Brosnahan, Karen Gillan, DJ Khaled, and Masi Oka in supporting roles.
It received generally positive reviews from critics, with praise for the animation, music, humor, and vocal performances (particularly Smith and Holland).
(Honor, Trust, Unity and Valor), is sent to recover an attack drone from Japanese arms dealer Katsu Kimura in Japan.
headquarters to confront Walter Beckett, a socially inept MIT graduate and outcast young scientist, for equipping nonlethal weapons into his suit.
While searching Walter's home for his invention, Sterling ingests the concoction and transforms into a pigeon by undergoing "chromothripsis".
Whilst underwater in a submarine, Walter reveals he planted a tracking device on Killian and locates him at the weapons facility.
Walter risks his life by trapping Killian in the inflatable hug and deactivates the villain's arm as Walter himself falls, but Sterling, who has turned himself back into a pigeon, successfully flies for the first time and carries him to safety with help from other pigeons, while Killian is found and arrested.
Olly Murs appears as a Junior Agent,[14] while Mark Ronson voices an Agency Control Room Technician.
On October 9, 2017, it was announced that development was underway on a film based on the animated short Pigeon: Impossible (2009), with Will Smith and Tom Holland set to voice the lead characters.
[15] On October 29, 2018, new additions to the voice cast included Ben Mendelsohn, Karen Gillan, Rashida Jones, DJ Khaled and Masi Oka.
[20] Two days later, an extended play album titled Mark Ronson Presents the Music of Spies in Disguise was announced, featuring five new songs written for the film as well as Rob Base & DJ E-Z Rock's "It Takes Two".
[5][27][28] In the United States and Canada, the film was released on Wednesday, December 25, alongside Little Women, 1917, and Just Mercy as well as the wide expansion of Uncut Gems, and was projected to gross $19–23 million from 3,502 theatres over its five-day opening weekend.
The website's consensus reads: "A cheerfully undemanding animated adventure that's elevated by its voice cast, Spies in Disguise is funny, fast-paced, and family-friendly enough to satisfy.
[31] Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian gave the film three out of five stars, calling it an "entertaining family adventure", and praising the vocal work of Smith and Holland.
[37] Kwak Yeon-soo, a reporter at The Korea Times, wrote that the film failed to convey its message because of its "lackluster narrative".
Kwak also pointed out that the film tried to attract audiences there by putting references to the South Korean popular culture, and that it ended up exemplifying Walter Beckett's "weird" personality.