REVIEW: “The Wild Robot” (2024)

WRITER’S NOTE: The following was originally posted on my Facebook page on September 30, 2024. 

When I first saw the trailers for DreamWorks’ latest animated feature, The Wild Robot, I could tell it was going to be an amazing experience. (At least, I was under the impression that it would.) In fact, critics are already giving director Chris Sanders’ adaptation of Peter Brown’s children’s book series positive word-of-mouth, calling it one of the year’s best, as well as the greatest DreamWorks project to date. Only time will tell, but there’s no denying how truly amazing The Wild Robot is. 

Showcasing new animation techniques that combine 3-D characters with lush, painterly backdrops and designs, the story gives new life to the age-old clash of nature and technology, complacency and compassion. It’s a step further from what the studio did two years ago with The Bad Guys and Puss in Boots: The Last Wish. The result is a unique visual style and language that is thoroughly immersive, entertaining, and heart-tugging. 

The story opens with a bang and gets right into action, as a task robot accidentally lands on an island where several forest creatures dwell and clash to stay alive. Looking for a task to fulfill in a place where most of the population despises her, the determined ROZZUM-7134 (or, Roz, for short) finds an egg that eventually hatches a baby gosling, whom she names Brightbill, and whom she needs to teach how to eat, swim, and fly before the next fall. 

Seeing this movie with an audience of kids, young adults, and adults, was an added bonus. However, parents of younger children should be aware of some intense moments, including a few sudden deaths (the island is “wild,” after all), violent clashes, and predatory instincts. The same goes for subtle references to global warming (sights of cities under water may be a bit much for some viewers) and the passage of time (recalling Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes and its moss-covered buildings and structures). Even so, this is not another passive kids' movie. The filmmakers and artists fill the screen with genuine laughs and heart, with Kris Bowers’ score (and songs by Maren Morris) that make even this grown writer well up with tears.

The voice cast is terrific, including Pedro Pascal as a sly fox and Catherine O’Hara as a mother opossum. But it’s Lupita Nyong’o who carries the story as the titular Roz, with an amazing, maturing arc, and hardly any facial expressions apart from her eyes. She may be the most creatively designed and endearing animated robot since The Iron Giant, WALL-E, and Robot Dreams. I couldn’t help but notice a few subtle inside jokes about the artistic process (“The process is the art,” one character says, while another proclaims, “I never thought I’d live to see this,” possibly alluding to something that Sanders said in a recent interview). 

The story is not only universal and relatable, but also timeless, with visual nods to Tyrus Wong’s art direction for Disney’s Bambi, as well as story beats from The Ugly Duckling (which Sanders also used in Lilo & Stitch). Themes of needs, home, friendships, family, and community, are powerful, as are themes of being more than what we are perceived as or capable of. In other words, going above and beyond “programming,” and doing more than just completing a task. The Wild Robot reminds us of what it means to be alive, empowered, and enduring, even against a harsh or apathetic environment. 

But this is really a profound story about motherhood, specifically adoptive mothers who do everything they can to help their children succeed and to remind their children that they, against all odds, do matter. What an amazing film. It just may be the best of 2024, live-action or animated. 

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