The Wild Robot Review

Chris Sanders returns to Dreamworks Animation for the first time since 2013’s The Croods. This time he adapts Peter Brown’s award-winning children’s novel The Wild Robot.

A Universal Dynamics robot, ROZZUM Unit 7134, (Lupita Nyong’o), or Roz for short, washes up on a remote island with no human inhabitants. The robot sets out to find its purpose and finds it when a gosling imprints on her. Roz must care for the young goose and prepare him for the autumn migration.

The Wild Robot has received near-universal praise. It has been considered one of the best-animated films of 2024 and one of Dreamworks’ best films. It has a top-quality filmmaker behind it since Sanders’ previous credits include Lilo and Stitch and the first How to Train Your Dragon movie. Sanders has experience adapting children’s novels like How to Train Your Dragon and Call of the Wild.

Dreamworks has an interesting filmography. They got their stable franchises, as shown with their recent releases of Trolls World Tour and Kung Fu Panda 4, highly stylised fair with The Bad Guys, and Puss in Boots: The Last Wish was emotional, action-packed, and hilarious in equal measure. The Wild Robot was one of Dreamworks’ most emotionally charged films and comfortably in the pantheon of Dreamworks’ best films.

The Wild Robot explores some big themes. Roz was looking for a purpose, a reason for being, and finds through a series of accidents. It’s a film that asks whether artificial intelligence can learn to love and develop emotions. Roz asks the question is she capable of being a parent, something every expecting parent would ask themselves. Roz, Fink the Fox (Pedro Pascal), and Brightbill (Kit Connor) ended up forming an unconventional family. They were unconventional because they were so different and they were discriminated in some way.

Despite the discrimination Roz was good-natured. She was programmed to help out others and when she gained self-awareness she kept her selflessness. Even when she was discriminated against, Roz did everything she could to help the animals on the island. Her story was similar to The Iron Giant and Wall-E, all being about robots who form a relationship and show more humanity than most people. The Wild Robot had a story about the strength of community and like Paddington Bear, Roz was a character who brought out the best in others.

The Wild Robot mixed its sci-fi story with themes about nature and the environment. This was obvious because of the title and being about a robot interacting with animal critters. The Wild Robot was not always a cute affair, the film was willing to show that nature could be harsh and survival can be difficult. The film showed this in a clean matter, making it feel more like Finding Nemo than Watership Down, but death was implied. The environmental theme extends to the effects humanity has on nature. The film was set in the future and the effects of climate change were shown with the Golden Gate Bridge being underwater. When humanity did come into contact with wildlife and the natural world the effects were disastrous. The natural setting did lead to some dark jokes.

Whilst The Wild Robot explored big themes, it made sure it could cater to a broad audience. There was a lot of humour and slapstick shenanigans, especially in the first half of the film. There were also survival and action sequences that could excite viewers.

The Wild Robot was a genuinely heartfelt film. It works on a personal level due to the character relationships and simple story, and exploring wider themes about the family, community, and the natural world. It was an emotional, tender, and thrilling experience for the whole family.