Sometimes an animated film’s story is so absorbing that you almost forget you’re watching a cartoon. Other times, such films remind you of their artistry every second through the vividly rendered world they create on screen. THE WILD ROBOT does both with its involving narrative about a marooned robot becoming a caretaker to an island of animals, as well as its gorgeous world-building evident in the art direction of every frame. It’s a dazzler and one of the year’s very best films.
THE WILD ROBOT is also a film that couldn’t be more in vogue with today’s concerns over AI and its infiltration into the world. The title character itself is an AI given all kinds of powers and programs to manage thousands of tasks from building shelters to translating languages to working out the (ahem) nuts and bolts of aerodynamics. All this comes in handy when a supply of robots is shipwrecked and washed ashore on an island that feels like one big forest. The sole survivor of the wreckage is an A.I. named Rozzum Unit 7134, a female-voiced robot to help take care of any family’s home. But with no kitchen or garage to clean up or kids to babysit, the A.I. adapts to her new environment and rewrites her programming to help the creatures in her midst.
Lupita Nyong’o provides the voice of Roz, as she comes to call herself, and the AI quickly rewires her circuits to be able to translate every animal’s communication into English. (That’s also for the audience’s benefit so we can understand what they’re saying.) She tries to help the island’s inhabitants but they’re resistant as they regard her as a giant monster traipsing all over their habitat and interfering with all aspects of the ‘circle of life.’ Dejected, and somewhat demoralized, Roz ends up becoming friends with two reluctant creatures – Fink (Pedro Pascal), a red fox she stops from making a goose egg his dinner, and the baby bird that hatches from that egg. The male bird turns out to be the runt of the litter and helping the puny Brightbill (Kit O’Connor) acclimate to his surroundings becomes Roz’s new primary function.
The story, adapted from Peter Brown’s bestselling children’s book, could have worked simply as a fish out of water story concerning both Roz and Brightbill, or as a sensei/teacher riff on THE KARATE KID, but both Brown and director/screenwriter Chris Sanders have bigger themes to weave in as well. Not only does Roz know all the technical aspects that help Brightbill learn to fly properly as a goose, but she starts to develop a ‘human heart’ too as she grows to love Brightbill as a mother figure.
Roz soon discovers that she has similar matriarchal leanings to the rest of the creatures on the island as well. Even as she becomes battered and bruised and loses some of her parts, she wins over all creatures great and small, gaining their trust and friendship through her thoughtful acts. Along the way, the exceedingly clever plot zigs and zags in all sorts of ways that will make you laugh, cry, and gasp in awe at its spectacle.
Nyong’o’s vocalizations are superb, slyly becoming less robotic and more humanistic as the film goes on. Pascal makes the most of each of his zingers and shows lots of sweetness in the part too. Bill Nighy brings both charm and gravitas to his part as the geese leader. Most of the praise, however, needs to be heaped upon Sanders and his many artists for bringing so much art and heart to all the character designs, the backgrounds, and the fluid movement of each scene. The exhilarating, yet quirky score by Kris Bowers manages to underline it all perfectly too. And even though the third act introduces some rather shocking violence, it’s incorporated to drive home the conflicts inherent when technology battles nature. While never being heavy-handed, there is a lovely ecological message to it all, and if THE WILD ROBOT encourages children to ask their parents about such matters, all the better.
Incidentally, this is the final film to be animated entirely in-house at Dreamworks and it’s wonderful to see the department going out with such a bang. THE WILD ROBOT is truly that rare film for the whole family that combines heart, brains, and artistry. See it on the big screen and be dazzled.
