When Katie Mitchell, a creative outsider, is accepted into the film school of her dreams, her plans to meet "her people" at college are completely upended when her nature-loving dad Rick plans for an ultimate family road trip. This means instead of flying there as she planned, Rick, her wildly positive mom Linda, her quirky little brother Aaron, and the family's pet pug Monchi, will drive Katie to her school together. However, Rick's plan of getting all of them to truly bond as a family for one last time is suddenly interrupted by a tech uprising: all around the world, the electronic devices that Katie, Linda, Aaron and most all other people love – from mobile phones to home appliances to an innovative new line of personal robots – decide it is time to take over. With the help of two friendly malfunctioning robots, the Mitchells will have to get past their problems and work together to save each other and the world.
Cast
Abbi Jacobson as Katie Mitchell: an aspring filmmaker who is the daughter of Rick and Linda, and Aaron's older sister
Danny McBride as Rick Mitchell: the father of Katie and Aaron, and Linda's husband
Maya Rudolph as Linda Mitchell: the mother of Katie and Aaron, and Rick's wife
Mike Rianda as Aaron Mitchell: the son of Rick and Linda, and Katie's younger brother
Eric Andre as Mark Bowman: a scientist who is the creator behind PAL
On May 22, 2018, Sony Pictures Animation announced the title of a Phil Lord and Christopher Miller-produced animated film that was in development, entitled The Mitchells vs. the Machines. The film is the duo's fourth collaboration with SPA following the two Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs films and , as well as the studio's first original feature film since The Star. Mike Rianda and Jeff Rowe, former writers of the Disney Channel animated series Gravity Falls, served as the film's screenwriters, with Rianda serving as director and Rowe as co-director. Further details were revealed a year later at the 2019 Annecy International Animated Film Festival that June, when Sony Animation president Kristine Belson revealed that the film would be using an animation style similar to Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, and that the worlds the Mitchell family and the robots live in are initially separate universes before colliding. Animation work at Sony Pictures Imageworks had already begun the previous month, as confirmed by animator Nick Kondo on Twitter. On February 20, 2020, first images were revealed through Entertainment Weekly, and it was announced the title was changed to Connected.
Casting
On February 19, 2020, Abbi Jacobson was cast as Katie Mitchell. This was followed by the casting announcements of Danny McBride, Maya Rudolph, director Rianda, Eric Andre, and Olivia Colman the next day. During a watch party for Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse that was held on Twitter on May 6, 2020, Lord confirmed that basketball player Blake Griffin had joined the voice cast as one of the robots.
Music
Following the release of the first trailer, Phil Lord confirmed on Twitter that his frequent collaborator Mark Mothersbaugh will compose the score for the film.
Release
Connected was originally scheduled to be theatrically released in the United States on September 18, 2020, but it was delayed by one month to October 23 when Sony made changes to its theatrical release schedule due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
