[NOTE: This review is partially adapted from my reaction to The Wild Robot following its premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival]
Crafting stakes is complicated territory for a film targeted at audiences of all ages. They are obviously a key component in getting movie-goers invested in the characters and story, but that’s paired with an effort to not scare or traumatize younger viewers. An over-swing can see a work develop a walking-on-eggshells air that makes everything feel hollow. Chris Sanders’ The Wild Robot doesn’t fall into that particular trap. Instead, it’s an all-ages feature that takes an extremely blunt approach to the realities of life and death, and matched with humor, heart, and remarkable beauty, it’s a tremendous big screen delight.
The Wild Robot
Release Date: September 27, 2024
Directed By: Chris Sanders
Written By: Chris Sanders
Starring: Lupita Nyong’o, Pedro Pascal, Kit Connor, Bill Nighy, Stephanie Hsu, Mark Hamill, Catherine O’Hara, Matt Berry, and Ving Rhames
Rating: Rated PG for action/peril and thematic elements
Runtime: 102 minutes
The Wild Robot is based on the series of books of the same name by author Peter Brown, and it rockets you across the emotional spectrum while wowing with its style. The sharp wit mixed with dark sensibilities results in big laughs that come sprinkled with light shock, and while that draws you in, the poignant parenting story is what will have you keeping the film deep in your heart. The character’s journeys are wonderful, and the animation is striking and inventive.
The brilliantly talented Lupita Nyong’o voices ROZZUM Unit 7134, eventually known simply as “Rozz,” who is introduced washing up on an island. After turning on, the robot is quick to follow its main program: find a task, and complete it. It takes no time at all for Rozz to alienate the entire population of animals with its aggressiveness, and learning how to translate their languages doesn’t immediately help. But things ironically start to change when the titular protagonist does something terrible: following a tussle, it lands in a nest, killing a goose and breaking a number of eggs.
One of the eggs ends up being undamaged, and Rozz becomes dedicated to protecting it. When the gosling, a runt named Brightbill (Kit Connor), hatches, a helpful opossum named Pinktail (Catherine O’Hara) explains that the robot must feed the bird and teach it to both fly and swim so that he can migrate before the winter. Partnering with Fink (Pedro Pascal), a fox who initially teams with the naïve automaton with exploitation in mind, Rozz works to raise Brightbill so that he can survive his first trip off the island.
The Wild Robot takes a blunt approach to life, death, family and community, and it’s phenomenal.
Life on the island among the animals is kill or be killed, and Brightbill not being able to fly away for the winter with the other birds will mean that he will freeze to death. These are harsh realities, but The Wild Robot doesn’t shy away from them; on the contrary, it embraces them both comically and emotionally. Instead of tap dancing around mortality and the dangers of the world, there’s a point during Pinktails introduction where she identifies herself as a mother of seven… but then quickly changes that number to six after an off-screen chomping sound.
It’s about more than just being comedically morbid, however. The Wild Robot has jokes about death, but the audience is laughing while simultaneously understanding the high stakes of the story. If Rozz can’t help Brightbill overcome his genetic shortcomings and not only learn to fly but have the endurance to travel long distances, nature will not spare him. Given the incredible sweetness in the relationship between the parent and child, you become invested in not seeing that happen.
Lupita Nyong’o leads a special cast in The Wild Robot, all of whom add special charm and humor.
That core bond in the film is magnificent, with Lupita Nyong’o and Kit Connor delivering performances that will render and break your heart, but you also end up caring about all the fauna they have as neighbors – the voice cast not only including the great talents of Pedro Pascal and Catherine O’Hara (both lending outstanding comedic timing), but also Bill Nighy as the leader of the goose migration, Matt Berry as a beaver tirelessly trying to gnaw through the largest tree on the island, Ving Rhames as falcon enlisted as Brightbill’s flying instructor, and Mark Hamill as the least friendly creature on the island: a massive grizzly bear. All of the actors lend a special spark that adds even more color to a gorgeously colorful world.
The Wild Robot is jaw-droppingly beautiful and one of the most stunning to be produced by DreamWorks Animation.
With an aesthetic reminiscent of a painting come to life, fur and feathers having the texture of brushstrokes, The Wild Robot is enrapturing from the start as a couple of otters find Rozz in a broken crate that has washed up on the island’s shore. In addition to the style making you want to reach out and pet every wild fuzzy creature (regardless of temperament), the physicality of the titular character is outstanding. Rozz’s construction is constantly whirling and spinning with a combination of quick reflexes and her body instantly adjusting to her surroundings, and it’s a wonder (the environment visually taking its toll over the course of the story is also a powerful tool in cultivating affection for the protagonist, adding further to the stakes in illustrating that the eponymous hero is also mortal in their own way and making a sacrifice).
While there are still three full months left in 2024, it’s hard to imagine that time will see the release of a better animated feature than The Wild Robot; it unquestionably already stands as one of the greatest films to be made by DreamWorks Animation. With its maturity, humor, and heart, it feels destined for a long legacy, as anyone can enjoy, embrace and empathize with everything it has to say.
