The Wild Robot Review

“They want me to come with them.”

“Tell them you’re already home.”

The Wild Robot is a very good movie. It tells the story of a robot seemingly delivered by providence, not to where it was supposed to be but where it was needed to be. A robot that found itself on a forested island in the middle of nowhere, who thought that kindness was a survival skill. It is a multifaceted gem of a film, a bold and beautiful picture that has more than enough cutesy to hold a child’s interests. At the same time, to keep adults amused, The Wild Robot comes with a barrel full of existential dread in just the right moments with some sarcastic dialogue to die for. Concepts like choice, childrearing, identity, feelings of inadequacy, the expectations of life, the cruel finality of death, learning to love and learning to let go are explored in a masterful fashion. The animation style is realistic enough without sacrificing a sense of whimsy and possesses an attention to detail along with a Ghibli-esque, naturalistic quality that evokes Miyazaki.

The term “robot” was first used in a 1921 Czech play by Karel Čapek called R.U.R., which stands for Rossum’s Universal Robots. From another local story of an automaton run amok, Rabbi Loew and the Golem of Prague, he borrowed what would become one of the most tired tropes in science fiction, the robot revolution, where the oppressed mechanical majority rises up to destroy all humans. The Wild Robot subverts the trope neatly by presenting a benevolent, beatific automaton that is almost too eager to help.

Directed by Chris Sanders and based on the popular series of novels by Peter Brown who co-wrote the movie with Sanders, The Wild Robot is a 2024 DreamWorks Animation film distributed by Universal Pictures. As the titular robot, Lupita Nyong’o leads an ensemble cast featuring Pedro Pascal, Bill Nighy, Kit Connor, Mark Hamill, Catherine O’Hara, Stephanie Hsu, Ving Rhames and Matt Berry.

“Death’s cold proximity makes life burn brighter.”

In the future, the industrial powerhouse Universal Dynamics has lost track of some of its products. A container of its popular ROZZUM robots is lost at sea. Cast away on a green island teeming with wildlife, the only surviving unit, #7134 (Nyong’o), who calls herself “Roz” finds that she can’t speak animal with the locals, entering a safe mode to study the world around her. Shortly, she emerges, fluent in various animal forms of communication. This doesn’t assuage the wildlife around her, who freak out when they find what they consider a mechanical monster clanging through their community. Driven by her programming to be of assistance to anyone, Roz just wants to help the animals do anything but is completely rebuffed.

Unable to complete her assignment, Roz decides it’s time to return home, but before she can contact the Universal Dynamics factory, she comes afoul of Thorn the grizzly (Hamill) and is pursued by a horde of raccoons. In her flight from her attackers, she accidentally stomps on a goose nest, killing a bird and crushing several eggs. In this moment, staring at the sightless, flightless goose and its flopping wing, Roz discovers death. In the wreckage of the nest, Roz spots a surviving, intact egg and decides that protecting the egg is her new program.

Nature’s law, red in tooth and claw, has a firm hold on the animal inhabitants of the island; they live and die in an endless Darwinian dance. Fink the fox (Pascal) is facing some personal problems. No one likes him. He is either trying to eat their offspring or is looked at as lunch by the larger predators. One morning he discovers a giant, metal monster wandering through the woods, practically offering him a goose egg. Who is he to refuse?

Roz offers Fink a fine chase, catching the fox before he’s able to devour the egg. The egg hatches and the baby, a gosling they later name Brightbill (Connor), imprints on the first thing he sees, the ROZZUM unit. The tiny gosling decides that Roz is his mom. Taking advantage of the situation and Roz’ desire to please, Fink suggests shelter is called for but convinces Roz to build one larger than necessary for just a robot and a bird so the fox would have a much finer place to stay.

Uncertain as to how to proceed, the robot is educated as to Brightbill’s needs by Pinktail the opossum (O’Hara), a mother many times over. She explains to Roz that Geese are migratory birds. To get Brightbill ready for the winter, Roz will have to teach the gosling how to eat, swim and fly by the fall. With Fink’s help, Roz doesn’t anticipate that eating or swimming will prove to be too difficult to figure out and then teach, but flying’s going to be a different story.  Led by Longneck (Nighy), the island’s uneasy flock of geese are terrified of Roz and want nothing to do with Brightbill, who they consider to be an addled, incompetent runt.

Will Roz be able to get Brightbill airborne in time? Will Fink leave the path of selfishness and learn to put others first? Will Brightbill learn that Roz stepped on his family? Will Longneck take Brightbill under his wing? Will Universal Dynamics ever come looking for their wayward unit? Please see The Wild Robot and find out.

“Fly like you, not like them.”

There are few minor issues with The Wild Robot. A few logical inconsistencies exist. There is a lot of slapstick humor and the film flips between silly and serious at the drop of a hat. The plot is almost overstuffed, with a whole lot happening to Roz and company over the course of the film. Characters get very emotional. Tissues are a requirement.

This movieis a rare delight, a satisfying and gorgeous film dealing with universal themes. A touching tearjerker, The Wild Robot is full of heartfelt moments and heart-stopping action. The depiction of Roz’ world has a bold aesthetic and an impressive, intense color palette. The names of the company, Universal Dynamics and the ROZZUM units are homages to Čapek’s work. There are many parallels, in both certain characters and plot, to the 1964 Rankin-Bass stop-motion movie, Rudolph the Red Nosed-Reindeer, especially in the way the other geese interact with and ostracize Brightbill. It was pointed out to this reviewer that Roz the robot is spectacularly Christ-like in her generosity, desire to help others and in the way she becomes a force of life for the inhabitants of the island, bringing together predators and prey in peace. This is a magnificent movie for parents, children, teachers, students, lovers of animals, art and animation.

The Wild Robot is in theatres 9/27/24.

The Wild Robot and all characters therein were created by Peter Brown.