The Wild Robot

The Wild Robot, a recent DreamWorks movie adaptation of Peter Brown’s book series, has been released in UK cinemas since 18^th October. Given all the highly acclaimed reviews and rumours about a potential Oscars nomination, this film certainly did not disappoint. The Wild Robot was directed by Chris Sanders, director of How to Train Your Dragon, and is said to be the last in-house production from DreamWorks Animation. While I expected it to be something like WALL-E when I initially walked into theatres, I quickly realised that this movie was truly unique in itself – heartfelt, rich, and deeply human.

The film introduces a robot called Rozzum Unit 7134 (or Roz), voiced by Lupita Nyong’o, who finds herself deserted on a remote island full of wildlife creatures. When she accidentally kills a geese family, she takes care of the only remaining egg and bonds with the hatched gosling, who naturally imprints the robot as his mother. Since Roz was programmed to complete human tasks, she tries to do the same with her new task: helping the gosling grow and adapt in time for migration season. Roz names the gosling Brightbill from his yellow beak, symbolising his bright future, but he grows up isolated from the rest of his species with robot-like qualities embedded from his upbringing. Voiced by Kit Conner, Brightbill embarks on a journey of self-discovery, yearning to belong in a community that rejects him. Another character, Fink, voiced by Pedro Pascal, is introduced in the beginning and plays a significant role in helping Roz raise her Brightbill. As a fox, Fink is cunning and therefore shunned by the rest of the forest, but we see that he is simply lonely and grows to love Brightbill as much as Roz does.

Regardless of several minor rushed climax scenes and the underdeveloped main villain character, the overall quality of this animation was genuinely impressive. The graphics were spectacular, vividly expressing storybook-painted textures with lifelike CGI to blend traditional and creative visual elements. The illustration of dynamic movements and capturing of natural surroundings made the characters and setting relatable yet fantastical, which enhanced the thematic connection between nature and human technology. Generally, the voice actors also did a phenomenal job in integrating their characters into the context of the film. Nyong’o especially adapts her voice well from robotic to emotional as Roz begins to develop human characteristics in the process of constantly rewriting her code to raise Brightbill.

The graphics were spectacular, vividly expressing storybook-painted textures with lifelike CGI

Despite being a children’s animated film, The Wild Robot somehow uses a robot and talking animals to provide something for audiences of any age. It provokes adults to think about the role of generative AI in our future society and its sustainable coexistence with the environment. It teaches children about parental love and sacrifice, respect for nature, and building resilience. It painfully reminds parents about an inevitable aspect of parenting – letting your children go when the time comes. Collectively, it shows us what it is like to be alive.