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Giving a robot some humanity isn’t a new concept. But, the newest Dreamworks Animation film, The Wild Robot, uses it to tell a story about guardians that come in all shapes and sizes. The film was written and directed by Chris Sanders (Lilo & Stitch), based on a book by Peter Brown. It stars Lupita Nyong’o (Black Panther), Pedro Pascal (The Last of Us), Kit Connor (Heartstopper), Bill Nighy (Love Actually), Stephanie Hsu (Everything Everywhere All at Once), and Matt Berry (What We Do in the Shadows). Nyong’o voices a ROZZOM robot – nicknamed Roz – that washes up on a forest island with no hint of humanity.
After failing to find a human, she attempts to offer her services to the local wildlife. She takes some time to pick up their language, but they still don’t trust her. While trying to leave the island she accidentally falls onto a goose nest, destroying all of the eggs except for one, which is quickly stolen by a fox named Fink (Pascal). Once she manages to get the egg back, it hatches. Brightbill – the new gosling – immediately imprints on her, and her new task is to get him ready for his migration by keeping him safe and teaching him how to swim and fly.
The Journey of The Wild Robot
Once Brightbill is grown the story revolves around what happens when he leaves for his migration, and what happens once the company that made Roz comes to the island to pick her up. The Wild Robot is incredibly well-written and is fast-paced. The film begins as Roz wakes up on the island, with no backstory about who she is or how she got there taking up the first 15 minutes. Because she spends so much time trying to help the animals in the beginning, it’s much easier to care about her and Brightbill’s relationship later on.
Because Brightbill isn’t being raised by other geese, the story quickly shifts from Roz being the outsider on the island to Brightbill being the outsider in the eyes of the other geese. Fink is there for comic relief, constantly lounging around, scrounging for food. But, he gets more than a few emotional moments as well, with one of his lines hitting me particularly hard. The story is about a created family, that by the end of the film, truly feels like one. The emotional beats hit hard because The Wild Robot crafts that idea so nicely, and in a way that feels natural.
Lupita Nyong’o’s performance as Roz is brilliant. Not only does she deliver the emotional beats, but does so while sounding robotic. She also changes up her performance for when Roz glitches out, and none of those moments feel unnatural. She sounds like you’d assume Roz would sound. Connor lands Brightbill’s stunted delivery well, both for the more awkward and comedic moments. Pascal doesn’t sound like his usual self, and he also nailed his performance. His delivery is great, allowing for a natural build-up of trust throughout the film.
Fly, Goose, Fly
The supporting voices are all great as well, with Hsu playing the maleficent robot well. Nighy is fantastic, dropping by for a short while but stealing the film with his grandfatherly wisdom as Longneck. Of course, animated films aren’t just great because of performances, we need to talk about how great this film looks. The Wild Robot has a gorgeous painted art style that makes the movie wonderful to look at. The environments and characters all look phenomenal, with colors popping, bringing the story and setting to life.
The characters are also well-designed, with Roz looking like a mix between some of the bots from Robots and Big Hero 6’s Baymax. The animation is smooth, which is much needed because Roz moves quickly in some scenes. Because of her design, she can take different shapes and mimic the animals physically. Every time she would run on all fours like a deer, it didn’t look out of place because of how clean the animation looks in most scenes. In some parts where there were many geese onscreen at once, the animation would take a hit, which seems stylistically intentional but didn’t quite work.
The Wild Robot is funny too, and not just for kids. There’s a mix of humor with puns, dry wit from Roz, physical comedy, and very morbid jokes that will undoubtedly go over the heads of some of the younger audience members. The story is also fairly heartwarming, even if it’s simple. Some areas do feel slightly rushed over, so it can’t be simply fixed by making the story more complicated. It works the way it is, with the film pulling the central ideas of family and belonging as far as it can.
Take Me Back to the Wild
The Wild Robot isn’t just impressive with the visuals, as the score by Kris Bowers (Green Book) is fantastic. At the start, it travels alongside the curiosity of the film, before swelling for the emotional beats. The sound design is good too, especially with the more mechanical noises that come from having a robot as the main character.
An emotionally taxing film, I haven’t had such a viscerally profound cinematic experience in quite a long time. It’s funny and packed with heart, with a story that will make you root for the characters. The Wild Robot takes a few simple ideas and turns them into an exciting film with no human characters but a lot of stakes. Some pacing and animation issues are the only things stopping it from being a perfect film.
It’s not only the best animated film of the year so far, but it’s without a doubt one of the best movies of the year. If you have children and are looking for a good animated film to watch, take them to the theater to see The Wild Robot. If not, go yourself and have a good cry, I know I did.
You can watch The Wild Robot in theaters from September 27, 2024.
The Wild Robot
A heartwarming film, The Wild Robot features terrific animation, stellar performances, and a funny but emotionally robust narrative that is guaranteed to make you feel something.
Pros
- Great voice performances.
- Fantastic character design and art style.
- Wonderful story, full of heart, with a lot of humor.
Cons
- It has some pacing issues towards the middle of the film, rushing through some scenes.
