The Wild Robot, 2024.
Written and Directed by Chris Sanders.
Featuring the voice talents of Lupita Nyong’o, Pedro Pascal, Kit Connor, Bill Nighy, Stephanie Hsu, Mark Hamill, Catherine O’Hara, Ving Rhames, Matt Berry, Boone Storm, Alexandra Novelle, Raphael Alejandro, Paul-Mikél Williams, and Eddie Park.
SYNOPSIS:
After a shipwreck, an intelligent robot called Roz is stranded on an uninhabited island. To survive the harsh environment, Roz bonds with the island’s animals and cares for an orphaned baby goose.
Shipwrecked and wandering an island of animals, Universal Dynamics robot ROZZUM unit 7134 (voiced by Lupita Nyong’o) repeatedly asks if anyone needs assistance or tasks to be completed. All of them are frightened of the robot and have amusing ways of escaping or avoiding contact, but there is also a profound sense of loneliness within that search. As the circle of life has taught us, these animals also don’t even get along, merely tolerating one another, adding to that uneasy feeling of disconnection and sadness underneath the rapid-fire jokes.
Written and directed by How to Train Your Dragon co-director Chris Sanders (and based on the acclaimed children’s book by Peter Brown), The Wild Robot uses that dynamic as a springboard to tell a breathtakingly animated and powerful story of parenting, acceptance, belonging, togetherness, differences, and the importance of kindness that succeeds at balancing elements of cleverly traditional animated humor with its serious themes. Typically, if an animated feature is a winner, that’s usually because it has something to offer kids and adults; this movie delivers both often simultaneously, with scenes and jokes taking on multiple meanings.
Soon after downloading a knowledge database to understand what the animals are saying to the robot (and about it), ROZZUM unit 7134 continues to have no luck connecting with other species but does accidentally stumble into a baby gosling (voiced by Kit Connor), inadvertently accumulating three tasks that position the robot as a mother. Aside from the brilliant idea of tapping into parenthood as an anxiety-laced checklist of things to do right and the perception that there is a “programming” to parenting right, it also makes for a child-friendly take on the familiar trope of robots becoming less analytical and more emotionally driven. As such, the robot begins using the shorthand name Roz.
Programmed to help humans live a more leisurely life, Roz naturally does not know the first thing about teaching a baby gosling how to eat, swim, or fly in preparation for migration, but fortuitously befriends a sly fox named Fink (voiced by Pedro Pascal) who sets aside his craving to eat the gosling seemingly sensing that the lonely and abandoned creature might be able to find a pair of friends in them. Together, they become glorified co-parents imparting wisdom in unique ways tailored to them; Roz is more clinical and naïve if gradually getting in touch with a human side, whereas Fink doles out some darkly funny tough love rooted in his abused past.
None of the lecturing comes easy since the baby gosling, eventually named Brightbill during a silly and sweet sequence where Fink explains to Roz what makes a name sound more personal and alive rather than a manufactured numbered object, was the runt of the litter and is the only surviving member of his family. This also means that several other animals, including geese, bully him for being defective and different. Again, throughout the admittedly funny banter between these creatures, no one seems to like each other, which Roz aims to change with kindness while encouraging Brightbill to behave similarly even in the face of antagonized, cruel bullying.
During this, The Wild Robot also sets up a source of conflict that one presumes will arise during the third act. However, this is no ordinary film, disinterested in traditional story structure and more than willing to dive headfirst into devastating realities threatening to tear this makeshift family apart. Even the three tasks are completed relatively early, leaving Roz contemplating her sentience and where she belongs. This story is packed with ideas that don’t just move fast but ensure it maximizes the drama and comedy of each segment while sometimes tucking away powerful words of advice in short scenes.
At a certain point (and it’s not long into the film), The Wild Robot starts to feel like more than standard animation fare and an extraordinary audiovisual experience with heart, humor, and overwhelming emotion. Elevated by a tremendous score from Kris Bowers, a migration scene here is utterly spellbinding and lusciously animated. Yes, technically, animated films don’t have cinematography, but there is a team of animators working through how a scene should be shot and at what angle or with what color shadings, with every creative choice here coming out remarkably gorgeous. It’s the rare film that is so stunningly conceived and executed (taking advantage of multiple animation styles) that it’s hard to blame anyone for missing a piece of dialogue here and there from becoming so immersed and absorbed into the world.
For as appropriately wild as the film is structurally, Chris Sanders also knows how to harness and leverage individual ideas and themes into a satisfying whole. There is no denying that these themes are familiar, but here, the story is told with refreshing originality and a deep ensemble of voice performances, with quite a few of them demonstrating once again how silly it is that most major awards bodies and critics organizations deem them exempt from consideration, as if it’s not real acting. Lupita Nyong’o is putting out a range of emotions and breathing life into Roz as a fully-fledged character with hope, optimism, insecurities, a developing concept of love, and existential pondering. Every line delivery here reminds viewers how and why she is already an Oscar-winning talent. That’s not to say Kit Connor and Pedro Pascal don’t have heartstring-tugging moments revealing something deeper within performance and character; they are also exceptional.
From a base-level analysis of the story, it makes sense that The Wild Robot, published in 2016, has become an instant hit with children and adults alike. However, this isn’t just a great adaptation; it is an arresting piece of art that does the book justice and then some. Every image is overflowing with beauty, and emotion is bursting across every scene, including the funniest ones. Despite being lifted from a book, this is also wild and free, imaginative filmmaking that is unquestionably the work of true artists.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★ ★
Robert Kojder is a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association and the Critics Choice Association. He is also the Flickering Myth Reviews Editor. Check here for new reviews, follow my Twitter or Letterboxd, or email me at MetalGearSolid719@gmail.com
