50 Fun Facts About Rio

What species of bird are Blu and Jewel in Rio?

Spix's macaw vanished from the wild around 2000, but captive-bred birds were flown home and released in Bahia, Brazil, in June 2022.

Who voices Blu in Rio?

Jesse Eisenberg was cast because the director heard Blu in his awkward, hesitant way of talking, and had him play the part in his own natural voice.

Who voices Jewel in Rio?

Anne Hathaway also sings as Jewel, and admitted that recording in front of the film's famous musicians was intimidating enough to need an extra cup of coffee first.

Who voices the villainous Nigel in Rio?

Jemaine Clement was won over when the animators screened a test of Nigel lip-synced to one of his own speeches from Flight of the Conchords.

What kind of bird is Nigel, the villain of Rio?

A sulphur-crested cockatoo, Nigel is the smugglers' enforcer: he helps snatch the macaws from the aviary, then hunts them across the city.

In Rio, which US state does Blu grow up in?

Minnesota is where his crate fell off a smugglers' truck when he was a chick, so Blu grew up as a pampered indoor pet in a snowy town and never learned to fly.

Who directed Rio?

Carlos Saldanha grew up in Rio de Janeiro, set the story in his home city and took his crew there during production to get its look and rhythm right.

Which company animated Rio for 20th Century Fox?

Blue Sky Studios did not long outlive the Fox takeover: Disney inherited the Connecticut company and closed it in April 2021, affecting about 450 staff.

In Rio's original story concept, what animal was the hero before macaws took over?

A penguin washed up on Ipanema beach in the first outline, but the idea was dropped once two rival penguin cartoons were announced by other studios.

In Rio, what catches Blu and Jewel when they tumble off a cliff during a flying lesson?

A hang glider breaks their fall, and riding on top of it gives Blu his first thrill of flight before they crash-land on a beach full of sunbathers.

Where did Rio's animators go to study how real macaws move?

The Bronx Zoo is where the crew met a macaw expert, to learn how the birds move and how fiercely attached to their owners they become.

Who composed Rio's score?

Sérgio Mendes was brought on as 'music guru', reaching out to will.i.am and Carlinhos Brown.

Which Rio song was nominated for Best Original Song at the 84th Academy Awards?

Real in Rio had only one rival, because just two songs were nominated that year, and it still lost the Oscar to a number from The Muppets.

Which of these 2011 films did Rio out-gross?

Rango took about $245 million worldwide, roughly half of Rio's $484 million, yet it was the film that won that year's Oscar for Best Animated Feature.

In Rio, what kind of shop does Blu's owner Linda run back home?

A bookshop called Blue Macaw Books is Linda's business and Blu's whole world: he lives among the shelves so comfortably that he has never needed to fly.

In Rio, why does Túlio want to bring Blu to Brazil?

To breed with the last female: Blu is thought to be the final male of his kind, so the species' future rests on a pampered pet and a wild bird who wants out.

Who voices Túlio, the ornithologist, in Rio?

Rodrigo Santoro is Brazilian, so he played Túlio twice: once in English for the original and again in Portuguese for the version shown back home.

In Rio, what is the name of the orphan boy who steals the macaws?

Fernando takes the birds for cash, regrets it at once, helps Linda and Túlio track them down, and ends the film adopted by the pair.

In Rio, who leads the gang of bird smugglers?

Marcel owns Nigel and plans to sell the macaws abroad, but his plane goes down and he and his two henchmen finish the film in jail.

In Rio, why does the villain Nigel despise 'pretty birds'?

A parakeet replaced him on TV, ending his days as a screen star, and he has taken out his bitterness on good-looking birds ever since.

What kind of bird is Rafael in Rio?

A toco toucan with a huge orange bill, Rafael leaves his brood of chicks at home to guide the chained macaws to a friend who can set them free.

Who voices Rafael in Rio?

George Lopez plays Rafael as a reformed party animal: once the life of the city's street festival, he now needs his wife's permission to leave their nest of unruly chicks.

What breed of dog is Luiz in Rio?

A bulldog who pounces on the macaws and talks about biting birds' heads off, Luiz is only joking: he is Rafael's friend and wants to help.

Who voices Luiz in Rio?

Tracy Morgan's Luiz finally gets to dress up and dance, in a towering fruit hat in the style of Carmen Miranda.

In Rio, what finally frees Blu and Jewel from their leg cuffs?

Luiz's saliva does what his power saw could not: after the blade nearly slices everyone, his drool lets the cuffs simply slip off.

What kind of bird is Pedro in Rio?

A red-crested cardinal with a rapper's swagger, Pedro co-runs the samba club where Blu and Jewel first dance together and start to fall for each other.

Which musician voices Pedro in Rio?

will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas also sings on the soundtrack, leading the party number at the samba club where Blu and Jewel first dance.

Who voices Nico the canary in Rio?

Jamie Foxx's Nico croons the love song Fly Love to set the mood on the ride across town, until Blu chokes on a petal and ruins the moment.

In Rio, what animals does Nigel recruit to hunt the macaws?

Marmosets who pick tourists' pockets are bullied into the hunt by Nigel, who threatens to drop them from the sky; by the end their leader is bullying him.

In Rio, how do the smugglers plan to get the birds to the airport?

Through the Carnival parade, hidden inside a float, which is why Linda and Túlio end up chasing them disguised as feathered dancers.

In Rio, what does Blu use to break out of his cage on the plane?

A fire extinguisher serves Blu twice: its falling weight pops his cage open, and minutes later he sets it off to blast Nigel out through the cargo door.

In Rio, what finally gives Blu the ability to fly?

A kiss from Jewel in mid-air does it: Blu has jumped from the plane after her even though he cannot fly, and only then do his wings finally work.

What are the names of Blu and Jewel's three chicks at the end of Rio?

Bia, Carla and Tiago are two daughters and a son, glimpsed as hatchlings in the closing scenes before they become main characters in the sequel.

In Rio, what does being blasted from the smugglers' plane cost Nigel?

His feathers: sucked into an engine, Nigel survives plucked almost bare, and the creatures he once bullied get the last laugh.

Which film was Blu's voice actor shooting while recording Rio on weekends?

The Social Network kept him on set all week, and he called voicing the cheerful bird at weekends the perfect antidote to playing such a severe, joyless character.

Before Rio, Blu's and Jewel's voice actors had played what in a 1999 TV drama?

Brother and sister on the short-lived series Get Real, made when both were teenagers, so the film's bickering lovebirds were voiced by former screen siblings.

Which Brazilian musician served as the film's 'music guru'?

He connected the production with will.i.am and Carlinhos Brown for songs.

In Rio 2, Nigel's admirer Gabi believes she is what kind of deadly animal?

A poison dart frog, or so she thinks: Gabi adores Nigel but never dares to touch him, until the ending reveals she has been a harmless tree frog all along.

Which mobile game studio released a Rio crossover in March 2011?

Rovio swapped its usual green pigs for caged exotic birds to set free, and Angry Birds Rio passed 10 million downloads within two weeks of launch.

What did the MPAA initially rate Rio before the producers re-edited it?

PG, for 'mild off-color humor'; unhappy with that, the producers submitted an edited version and came away with the G rating they wanted.

In Rio 2, how do the blue macaws and scarlet macaws settle their fight over territory?

A soccer match played in mid-air decides it, and Blu loses his new flock its feeding ground by accidentally knocking the ball into his own side's goal.

In Rio 2, how does a disguised Nigel get close to Blu's friends?

By winning their talent audition under the name Bob, singing his way into the show the friends are casting.

In Rio, what do Linda and Túlio set up together in Brazil at the end of the film?

A bird sanctuary protects the jungle where Blu and Jewel raise their chicks, and Linda gives up her snowy home town to stay in Brazil with Túlio.

Rio's director was already known for which animated film series?

Ice Age and its first two sequels had kept him among glaciers and mammoths before he swapped the snow for the colours of his home city.

Which pop star voices Roberto in Rio 2?

Bruno Mars plays Jewel's suave childhood friend, who welcomes her home with a song and unknowingly stirs up Blu's jealousy.

Where do Blu, Jewel and the kids go in Rio 2?

The Amazon rainforest is where Linda and Túlio see a blue feather drift down, a hint that Blu and Jewel may not be the last of their kind after all.

Who is Jewel's long-lost father in Rio 2?

Eduardo leads the hidden flock like a drill sergeant, sneers at Blu's fanny pack and drags his new son-in-law through a crash course in jungle survival.

In Rio, what injures Jewel's wing during the fight on the smugglers' plane?

A falling cage lands on her wing during Nigel's attack, so she cannot fly when she slips out of the open hold and Blu has to leap after her.

In Rio, how do the birds get away from the brawl at the samba club?

On a tram, which the five friends hop aboard with a spoonbill's help and ride across the city towards Luiz's garage.

Which 2017 film earned Rio's director an Oscar nomination for Best Animated Feature?

Ferdinand comes from a 1936 children's story about a bull who will not fight, which was not published in Spain until after Franco's death.