Review: ‘The Wild Robot’ Finds a Home in Our Hearts
'The Wild Robot' (2024)
In a year riddled with anxiety—a splendid mixture of political stress and the recovery period after the two 100-plus-day strikes—it seems like audiences are ready to take a deep breath and feel the world around them. And what better way to appreciate life than through animation? Yet, what we got this fall season was something more than just a family-friendly animated feature from DreamWorks.
The Wild Robot might seem like any other animated movie that promises to tug on your heartstrings, making you cry as something artificial learns the value of life, but the results are far more whimsical and detailed.
In a not-so-distant future, where rising ocean levels have swallowed the Golden Gate Bridge, and futuristic vertical farming reminiscent of The Jetsons has taken over, artificial intelligence has become more humanoid and less sinister compared to ChatGPT or Sora. There is no fear between the creator and the ROZZUM, and the result is a sentient robot who just wants to help, even if there are no humans around to give them tasks. It seems simple, even docile, but it’s still an all-knowing tool that can adapt to the world around it by watching and listening. And without human intervention, it learns the foundations of life.
After being one of seven robots to land on an island accidentally, ROZZUM 7134 (voiced by Lupita Nyong’o), or Roz for short, has no one to assign her a task. The animals fear this thing that looks and acts so out of place. They can’t kill Roz, but they can’t live with her either. Without a purpose, Roz’s programming demands she return to where she came from—that is until she is assigned the task of caring for a gosling after she accidentally crushes his entire family.
Based on Peter Brown’s novel, Roz’s binary logic to execute tasks and return to her manufacturer is played for laughs and sympathy as she is forced to learn how to parent a creature she doesn’t understand. While the parenting wisdom from Pinktail (voiced by Catherine O’Hara), an opossum exhausted from raising many litters of joeys who fail to play dead around her, and the survival knowledge from Fink (voiced by Pedro Pascal), a deeply emotionally scarred fox, help guide Roz on her new journey, her programming starts to evolve as the weight of the unknown presses upon her.
Her programming changes into something more complex than finishing a simple task. As the makeshift robot Roz builds from the ruins of the other ROZZUMs points out, Roz has transformed from something deemed perfect to something new. Her kindness and curiosity kick off the evolution of a wild robot who just wants to help.
The animation style reflects Roz’s transformation, as she shifts from a fully CGI character into a hand-painted robot that blends with the island’s aesthetic. This style allows the photorealism of Roz’s programming to shine and evolve, giving way to a surrealist style that captures a swelling emotion, underscored by Kris Bowers’s stunning score.
The path forward is clear, and the stakes are never too overwhelming for young viewers, mostly because The Wild Robot’s emotional landing relies on hope. We hope Roz reunites with Brightbill (voiced by Kit Connor) to reconcile. We hope the animals come together to save the burning island. And we hope Roz stays with her chosen family. While not all of these hopes come true, there is understanding, acceptance, and kindness in each decision made by the animals and Roz. Even though the ending isn’t exactly what we might root for, there is something profoundly real about Roz’s decision to leave the island and protect it. Though she is gone, the animals have changed and learned to survive together.
We’ve seen kindness as a character’s greatest weapon before in animated films, but Roz’s optimism can’t always save the day. She can malfunction, drain her battery, and can’t stop death. Yet, there is perseverance in learning and moving forward.
Much of this is sold by Nyong’o’s performance, which starts off delightfully bright before turning into something more soulful. You can hear the contemplation and honesty in each line as she finds the balance between truth and empathy. It makes sense since ROZZUMs were programmed to be accepted with open arms by humans on delivery, but maintaining that level of humanity—whether artificial or genuine—when facing constant adversity is a strength many of us wish we had. Roz becomes most relatable when she rejects her kindness, secretly wishing she could be selfish and want something more. More time. More knowledge. More life.
The Wild Robot promises an adventure into the unknown, but what it delivers is something much bigger than itself.
It expresses universal truths through the lens of a robot trying to understand the world around them, something all ages can relate to. Whether children watch and grow with Roz as they begin to understand the world or adults watch Roz navigate the emotional weight of parenthood, there is something for everyone in this film. The Wild Robot delivers something profoundly human that defies logic but feels just right.
'The Wild Robot' (2024)
The Wild Robot is slim and sleek. There are few films these days that know exactly what they are and how to execute that vision perfectly. Much of this praise belongs to co-writer and co-director Chris Sanders, whose years in the business have shaped him into one of the best storytellers working in Hollywood.
It is likely that The Wild Robot is one of the best films of the year, if not the best animated film. Never have I experienced a film that balances the concepts of death, the cycle of life, and parenthood through a lighthearted romp about a robot teaching a goose how to fly, and yet there I was, crying.
Simple concepts have the power to move audiences when the emotional impact is there. The Wild Robot does this masterfully—sure, one less pop song would have been nice, but capitalism still wins at the end of the day (sorry, kids). But the moments of pure beauty and the joy you feel when Brightbill soars are enough to keep hoping that tomorrow will be a little brighter.
