‘The Wild Robot’ Review: Gorgeous And Touching Animation

Dreamworks Animation is back for their third movie of the year, the touching sci-fi epic The Wild Robot.  

Starting the year on a good note with Netflix’s Orion and the Dark and Jack Black’s Kung-Fu Panda 4, Dreamworks Animation’s year is only about to get better with the upcoming release of The Wild Robot. The movie has already garnered critical praise from the press and festival screenings it’s had thus far, and ahead of the movie’s US wide release on September 27th, I managed to grab a showing of the film. 

The Wild Robot follows a helpful robot, Roz, as it is tasked with raising an orphaned gosling. Roz must overcome obstacles, and eventually it’s programming, to understand the nuance of what a person desires. The story also grapples with themes of identity, environmentalism, and more.

To get straight to the point, I loved it. The movie is as imaginative as it can be, and is complete with stunning animation and genius writing. From the very get go, the film is set up by exploring the learning capabilities of the eponymous Wild Robot, Roz (Lupita Nyong’o). The story begins with the ROZZUM unit washing ashore on an island, and Roz soon has to learn how to “survive” and complete its task.

Roz overcomes verbal barriers, learning to speak the dialects of the species that inhabit the island. This was a clever way to avoid animal personification in a traditional sense. The writing is very emotional, with a couple of emotional peaks throughout. Clever moments like these make the movie shine. The way the script handles some of its themes, especially themes of identity, community, and belonging, is excellent and directly contributes to the emotional resonation that the audience will DEFINITELY feel after watching. 

The animation itself is just shockingly beautiful, with endless moments of serenity looking almost real. There are moments, particularly with the water where you can almost not tell that it is animated. The movie plays with lighting a lot and, visually, it pays off. The animation is realistic, fluid, and all the more immersive. 

The character designs are really diverse too! Each animal looks very different from the other’s animation styles, making the characters stand out. Pedro Pascal’s Fink the Fox looks fluffy, while Catherine O’Hara’s Pinktail looks dirty and slick. When all thrown together, it creates a visual pleasure on par with other great animated pieces, such as Puss in Boots: The Last Wish and the Spider-Verse films.

The voice work in the film is just all around fantastic too. The star-studded cast features leads Lupita Nyong’o, Pedro Pascal, and Kit Connor down to a supporting cast of Bill Nighy, Mark Hamill, and Matt Berry! This, coupled with the animation, makes for an unbeatable experience. 

The movie does feel ever so slightly rushed in the way it handles the villains of the movie, a corporation that aims to take Roz back from her newfound home. Even though it certainly works for the film, the conflict could have been built up better. Besides that, I have no other qualms about the movie and found director Chris Sanders to do an astonishingly good job. 

Sanders is no stranger to making absolute bangers in the animation field, as he has previously co-directed Lilo & Stitch, How To Train Your Dragon, and The Croods. He made his solo debut with 2020’s Call of the Wild adaptation starring Harrison Ford, a movie that’s quite divisive, but I personally did enjoy that one. Sanders continues a strong career, and I very much look forward to what he embarks on next.

The Wild Robot excels in many areas and brings together a stunning time that is sure to be fun for the whole family. It’s a movie I can definitely see becoming an instant classic with many, and to me is one of the best Dreamworks films to date. 

The Wild Robot stars Lupita Nyong’o, Pedro Pascal, Kit Connor, Bill Nighy, Catherine O’Hara, Matt Berry, Ving Rhames, Mark Hamill, Stephanie Hsu and more. The film releases in US theatres on September 27th, 2024.

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