The Story Behind em The Mitchells vs. the Machines /em ' Killer Furbies

The arrival of The Mitchells vs. the Machines on Netflix feels like the detonation of a confetti bomb--it's a colorful, inventive, and all-around delightful movie. In fact, as my colleague Sam Adams wrote for Slate, it's the first great animated movie of 2021. Directed by Mike Rianda and co-directed by Jeff Rowe, the movie stars Abbi Jacobson as Katie, a girl about to head to college, and Danny McBride, Maya Rudolph, and Rianda respectively as her father, mother, and younger brother Aaron, all of whom join her on a road trip in an attempt at a last hurrah before she flies the coop. That trip hits a bit of a road bump, however, when a robot uprising threatens the entire human race. One of the biggest--and funniest--set pieces of the film involves the Mitchell family having to fight a horde of Furby dolls.