Why did a high-flying delivery company trade baby bundles for cardboard boxes?
In short: In the 2016 animated film Storks, the legendary bird delivery service has pivoted to corporate package shipping. When a top-tier stork accidentally reactivates a defunct baby-making machine, he must team up with a human outcast to deliver a surprise infant, challenging the company's cold, profit-driven shift away from its roots.
The film, directed by Nicholas Stoller and Doug Sweetland, imagines a world where storks once delivered babies until a mishap involving a stork named Jasper and an orphaned girl named Tulip led to a corporate restructuring. Under the leadership of CEO Hunter, the company Cornerstore.com abandoned its traditional mission in favor of online package delivery to protect its stock prices. This shift creates the central conflict when Junior, a high-achieving stork, accidentally creates a new infant while trying to fire the company's only human employee, Tulip.
The narrative follows Junior and Tulip as they embark on a chaotic journey to deliver the baby, whom they name Diamond Destiny, to the Gardner family. Along the way, they encounter a pack of wolves and face interference from Hunter, who views the baby as a liability that threatens the company's new business model. The film explores themes of corporate coldness versus human connection, culminating in a confrontation at the Storkcon event where the factory's machinery is repurposed to expose the company's true nature.
Released in September 2016, the film earned $182.4 million worldwide against a $70 million budget, marking a commercial success for Warner Animation Group. While critics offered mixed reviews—praising the animation and voice acting but criticizing the frantic pacing and plot—the film was noted for its casual inclusion of same-gender couples. Ultimately, the story serves as a commentary on the tension between workaholic culture and the importance of family, as the protagonists eventually restore the storks' original purpose of delivering babies to families across the globe.
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Sources
- Summary by Intellect · source: Storks (film)
- Also: Storks
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