Raccoon (Liam Neeson) gathers the Liberty Park animals and tells them they don’t have enough food to get them through the Winter. He sends squirrels Grayson (Brendan Fraser) and Andie (Katherine Heigl) on a mission to gather nuts from a nut cart. However, when they arrive, they find the selfish Surly (Will Arnett) and his silent rat friend Buddy are already hatching a plan of their own. Things quickly go wrong, and Surly ends up destroying the little food the animals had already collected, causing the rest of the animals to vote to banish him from the park. As Surly roams the city streets, he comes across a nut store and comes up with a plan to rob it, but he may need the help of some of the other animals. What he doesn’t realize is that some escaped crooks are using the nut store as their headquarters as they are plan their own heist—digging a tunnel into the bank next door.
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The Nut Job gets a bit predictable at times, and the characters are a bit clichéd, but overall it is a fun blend of action and comedy. There are some really hilarious lines and scenes, and lot of this humor stems from the relationships between these animals. It was always amusing seeing Surly interpret the responses of his silent partner, Andie rejecting the advances from dumb jock Grayson, and Precious’ (Maya Rudolph) reactions to Surly’s dog whistle. The relationship between Precious and Surly was actually one of the highlights of the film for me. The film also contains a lot of exciting action sequences—the squirrels racing around on runaway nut cart, an attack by a gang of rats, and a high-speed car chase are just some of the exciting things these animals go through on their quest for nuts.

I really liked the dual-stories aspect of the film, where the nut shop heist being planned by the animals parallels the bank heist being planned by the humans. I especially enjoyed how the creators intercut the scenes of the two groups plotting and excuting their heists. They did a great job of writing/editing these scenes where the two discussions flow seamlessly into the other.

The voice cast does a great job bringing their characters to life and giving them personality. Will Arnett pretty much plays the same self-obsessed character he plays so well in live-action shows and movies, and Liam Neeson’s deep voice is perfect to give you the sense that Raccoon may not be totally honest about what’s going on. The all-star cast also includes Jeff Dunham (Mole) and Gabriel Iglesias (Jimmy).

The Nut Job looks great on this Blu-ray. The animation is crisp and clean, and the characters are fun, lively and colorful. There are some scenes you can tell were designed specifically for a 3D release of the film, but those still pop in 2D. The soundtrack is also great, capturing all the humorous dialog and exciting action.

As for bonus features, the disc contains about five minutes of deleted scenes, two brief storyboard sequences, a brief behind-the-scenes featurettes and a pair of animated shorts. The animated shorts are interesting as they are likely the early proof-of-concept drafts/pitches for the film, and it was interesting to see how those are both similar and differ from the final film.

What’s Included:

Film: (1:25:54)

Blu-ray:
• 1080p / Widescreen 1.85:1
• Audio: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
• Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish, French

DVD:

• 480p / Widescreen 1.85:1
• Audio: English Dolby Digital 5.1
• Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish, French

Digital Copy:

• Digital Copy redeemable via iTunes or Windows Media
• UltraViolet DigitalHD Copy redeemable via Universal, Flixster or Vudu

Extras (Blu-ray only, unless marked with *):

• Deleted Scenes (5:20)
  A collection of 7 deleted and extended scenes. Most of the deleted material centers around the crooks.
• Storyboards (2:42)
  Silent storyboard versions of some of the film’s final action sequences. The frames move very quickly and don’t allow enough time to read the accompanying dialogue.
• The Great Nut Heist (2:06)
  Star Will Arnett (“Surly”) talks about the characters and the plot of the film. Also includes footage of Arnett and other cast members—Liam Neeson (“Raccoon”), Katherine Heigl (“Andie”), and Brendon Fraser (“Grayson”)—recording their lines in the studio.
• Animated Shorts*
  These shorts are likely the inspiration or part of the original pitches or animation tests for the film. Play All or select between:
  • Surly Squirrel (10:52)
    A squirrel and a mouse plot to steal a pizza from a trash bin while avoiding the other animals in the park—a raccoon and pigeons. Meanwhile, there is bank heist happening across the park. The 3D animation looks a bit rough when compared to the film, but it’s interesting to see the similarities and differences between this and the final film.
  • Nuts & Robbers (4:22)
    A masked getaway driver idles outside the bank in a nut van. A squirrel and a mouse show up looking for handouts, but after the man torments the animals, they get their own revenge.
• End Credits Sequence (3:45)
  The “Gangnam Style” end credits sequence—still includes all the credits, but makes it easier to access for fun repeat viewing.

Final Thoughts:

The Nut Job is an entertaining animated heist film, with fun characters and voice performances, quality animation and a nice blend of humor and exciting action sequences. The Blu-ray is a little slim on bonus material, but what has been included is entertaining. The film has some sequences that appeared to be designed specifically for 3D, so those with 3D Blu-ray viewing capabilities may want to seek out that version of this release.