The epic adventure follows the journey of a robot—ROZZUM unit 7134, “Roz” for short — that is shipwrecked on an uninhabited island and must learn to adapt to the harsh surroundings, gradually building relationships with the animals on the island and becoming the adoptive parent of an orphaned gosling. A powerful story about the discovery of self, a thrilling examination of the bridge between technology and nature and a moving exploration of what it means to be alive and connected to all living things.
What We Thought:
The Wild Robot is absolutely delightful. It has the heart of Wall-E with the comedic elements of Shrek and Ice Age. It features a fantastic voice cast including Lupita Nyong’o and Pedro Pascal and it’s stunning to look at. The film should easily land award nominations and on top of it, the kids will absolutely love it.
Going into the movie I had no idea what it was about. I had never heard of the book it’s based on and after watching the trailer, I didn’t even know if the film had dialogue in it. The trailer has very limited voicework and I thought it might be similar to Disney/Pixar’s Wall-E. I saw there were some big named actors in the credits so I figured there would be some spoken words, but once the robot learns to communicate with the animals it becomes a spoken narrative film with laugh out loud jokes and warm tenderness.
Oscar winner Lupita Nyong’o voices Roz, a robot shipwrecked in the woods. It’s the classic Fish-Out-of-Water storyline with the animals believing she was sent to kill them and her trying to figure out what to do in the situation she finds herself in. When an accident causes her to become the caregiver of a young gosling, she is tasked to teach it to eat, swim and fly. A robot needs a task and Roz is ready to complete it. As the pair adapts to one another, she becomes more animal than robot and like films like The Iron Giant and E.T., once humans and their other robots get involved, stakes are raised when Roz needs to return to where she comes from while making sure her new animal friends and family are protected.
Fish-Out-of-Water works best when the two dynamics are drastically opposite of one another. Here is this robot that’s very stoic thrown into an animal kingdom that doesn’t trust it. It’s looking for a task, but it’s in nature where survival comes from instincts not programming. Roz’s task brings big laughs for both children and adults because what would a robot know about teaching a gosling to fly or swim? Add in Pedro Pascal’s fox character that you never quite trust along with countless other animals all nervous around Roz and there are plenty of jokes and wild predicaments. Kids will love the vibrant coloring of the animation and beautiful natural backdrops. Adults will genuinely laugh and find the moments between Roz and gosling Brightbill charming and heartwarming. I’m an adult man without kids and I totally dug it. I wish I could have brought my young great-niece and great-nephew with me because they would have loved it too.
The Wild Robot is a total charmer that will have you cheering and laughing. It’s the film Migration wishes it could be and it’s one of DreamWorks Animation’s best films in years. If your family enjoys the Shrek movies, the Madagascar movies, the Ice Age flicks or the best Illumination or Pixar films then they will love this. I expect a sequel and awards buzz.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
Starring: Lupita Nyong’o, Pedro Pascal, Catherine O’Hara, Bill Nighy, Kit Connor and Stephanie Hsu, with Mark Hamill, Matt Berry and Ving Rhames
Based on: The Wild Robot novel by Peter Brown
Written and directed by: Chris Sanders
Producer: Jeff Hermann
THE WILD ROBOT – IN THEATERS SEPTEMBER 27
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