‘The Wild Robot’ review: Who knew a robot and goose could make me sob so much?
The trailer for The Wild Robot has reduced me to tears every time I’ve seen it. What can I say? The idea of a robot finding community in the wilderness was just too much for my heart to handle, even in a three-minute package.
It’s great news, then, that The Wild Robot delivers on its trailer’s promise a thousandfold. Director Chris Sanders, known for Lilo & Stitch and How to Train Your Dragon, has crafted a sweet (and yes, tear-jerking) tale of motherhood and connection, all backed up with some of DreamWorks’ most stunning animation to date.
What’s The Wild Robot about?
Based on the novel by Peter Brown, The Wild Robot strands us on a deserted island alongside ROZZUM unit 7134 (voiced by Lupita Nyong’o). Unable to complete tasks for her human owners as her programming demands, ROZZUM — or “Roz” for short — looks to the island’s many wild animals to try to fulfill her function.
It quickly turns out that these animals don’t love a robot barreling down on them with a cheerful cry of, “Do you need assistance?” No matter that Roz can mimic their movements or understand their language; to the inhabitants of this island, she’s a frightening intruder, and is treated as such. Without any understanding of the island’s ecosystem, Roz winds up in dust-ups with everyone from thieving raccoons to frightening bears, leaving her dinged up and all alone.
Roz’s initial isolation opens the floodgates on the first of The Wild Robot many sob-worthy moments. I dare you not to hear her confused plea, “Did anyone order me?” without your heart breaking. Someone help this robot find her purpose, please!
That purpose comes to Roz in the form of an unhatched goose egg, the last survivor of its nest. Once the gosling, named Brightbill (voiced by Heartstopper‘s Kit Connor), hatches and imprints on Roz, it’s up to her to teach him how to swim, eat, and fly in time for migration. But the parenting process proves to be more than just any old menial task, and Roz soon finds herself experiencing thoughts and feelings beyond her programming.
The Wild Robot is a precious exploration of motherhood and community.
Sanders is no stranger to crafting films that meld the classic fish-out-of-water trope with unlikely friendships. Lilo & Stitch‘s eponymous human-alien pairing is one of the greats, along with the dragon-rider dynamic between How to Train Your Dragon‘s Hiccup and Toothless. With Roz and Brightbill inThe Wild Robot, Sanders hits the jackpot once again.
Brightbill and Roz may be a goose and a robot, but so many of their interactions feel true to those between human parents and children. Roz is constantly concerned about doing right by Brightbill — something a wry mother possum named Pinktail (voiced by Catherine O’Hara) tells her is par for the course of parenting. Meanwhile, Brightbill walks the line between wanting independence and worrying about what will happen if he migrates away from Roz. Sure, he and Roz fight in the way that only mothers and teenagers do, but it’s clear that they know they’re each other’s whole world.
That sense of closeness is made all the stronger by the fact that both Roz and Brightbill are viewed as “defective” by members of their own kind. When Roz encounters the occasional other robot, they are confused by her ability to feel at all. For his part, Brightbill takes after his mother, developing a near-robotic voice and punctuating his every move with a whir or beep in order to mimic her, a habit that other geese find off-putting. Of course, in the end, these differences end up being Roz and Brightbill’s greatest strengths, a message that, while nothing revolutionary, always bears repeating.
The Wild Robot also widens its scope beyond Roz and Brightbill, showing how Roz relates to the island’s other critters. In another one of the film’s most touching relationships, Roz relies on conniving fox Fink (voiced by Pedro Pascal) for help with Brightbill. His philosophy, like that of many other animals on the island, is that there’s one rule to life: Eat, or be eaten. Roz sees things differently, proposing that kindness can be its own survival mechanism. Over the course of the film, Fink and the other animals’ outlooks shift from the former to the latter, a testament to Roz’s impact on those around her. She’s changing the island as much as it is changing her.
Roz is the next great movie robot.
Roz’s ability to bring misfits and entire communities together places her in conversation with other great animated robots in film, like Wall-E and the Iron Giant. So does her individual transformation, which The Wild Robot crafts with tremendous care.
Nyong’o’s voice acting is impeccable here, and vital to Roz’s journey. At the start of the film, she voices Roz as relentlessly chipper, with a hard robotic edge that mirrors how Roz stands out in an otherwise all-natural environment. As The Wild Robot continues, Nyong’o adds more emotions to Roz’s vocal toolbox, letting her get mad, uncertain, and exasperated. The end result is a voice that’s full of feeling yet still carries traces of the robotic; it’s the culmination of a breathtaking tightrope of a vocal performance.
Nyong’o’s work goes hand in hand with Roz’s extraordinary design and animation. Her dynamism and versatility as a character — she can be a crab! A lighthouse! A builder! — is matched only by that of the artists who brought her to life. Every scene gives you something new to notice about Roz, whether it’s the ever-flickering displays in her eyes or how the light strips along her body convey emotion. Like Nyong’o’s performance, Roz’s design also charts her arc on the island, with each mechanical injury or occasional plant growth acting as exquisite visual storytelling.
The Wild Robot is a visual marvel.
Speaking of exquisite, it’s impossible to talk about The Wild Robot without highlighting its gorgeous animation. DreamWorks has shifted away from the 3D CGI look somewhat in past years, with a more illustrative style on display in films like The Bad Guys and Puss in Boots: The Last Wish. For The Wild Robot, Sanders opts for a watercolor-inspired aesthetic, with the film looking like something out of a fairy-tale storybook.
Pristine forests and tidal pools bloom to life on screen, their blue and green hues a sharp contrast to Roz’s metal-gray plating and blinking lights. Flocks of geese take flight in a dazzling airborne montage. Roz’s bright lights slash through a driving snowstorm. Each image is a marvelous snapshot on its own. But together, they create something wholly incredible, making The Wild Robot an unforgettable viewing experience and a perfect capstone to celebrate DreamWorks’ 30th anniversary.
The Wild Robot was reviewed out of its premiere at Fantastic Fest. It hits theaters Sept. 27.
