Storks

For years, when children asked where babies came from, parents answered: “The stork delivered them.” But as the bundle-of-joy business became less profitable, hard-working storks shifted to delivering packages from Cornerstone.com, an Amazon-like online retailer. Plus, there was a hushed-up scandal about a stork (voiced by Danny Trejo) who became so attached to a baby girl that he kept her. That's why now 18-year-old Tulip (Katie Crown) grew up as the only human on Stork Mountain. While yearning to find her intended family, she's become Cornerstone's clumsiest, most accident-prone employee. The boss, Hunter (Kelsey Grammer), wants to get rid of her before he retires, dispatching amiable, ambitious Junior (Andy Samberg) to perform that task. Meanwhile, in suburbia, lonely Nate Gardner (Anton Starkman) yearns for companionship since his parents (Jennifer Aniston, Ty Burrell) are work-obsessed realtors. So he writes a letter to the baby-makers on Stork Mountain, begging for a baby brother with ninja skills. When Tulip gets his letter, she inadvertently re-activates the assembly line of the long-dormant infant factory, resulting in an adorably diapered tyke, who she and Junior are determined to deliver. The pair encounter plenty of obstacles, including Hunter's henchman, Pidgeon Toady (Stephen Kramer Glickman), and a ravenous pack of shape-shifting wolves (Keegan-Michael Key, Jordan Peele). Frantically directed by Nicholas Stoller and Doug Sweetland, the animated Storks captures some of the wryly comedic aspects of nurturing and parenting (much of which will go over the heads of kids). A strong optional purchase. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include “The Master: A LEGO Ninjago Short” (5 min.), the music video for “Kiss the Sky” by Jason Derulo, and trailers. Exclusive to the Blu-ray release is audio commentary by directors Douglas Sweetland and Nicholas Stoller, editor John Venzon, and storyboard artist Matt Flynn, deleted scenes (10 min.), a “Guide to Your New Baby” (2 min.), outtakes (2 min.), and bonus DVD, digital, and UltraViolet copies of the film. Bottom line: a solid extras package for a reasonably entertaining family film.] (S. Granger)