Review: It’s easy to love ‘The Wild Robot’
‘The Wild Robot’ is a thoughtful and touching animated feature about family, friends and finding home.
For many, a key life goal is finding their place in the world. Sometimes that means family and love, a place to belong and feel accepted, or somewhere they can contribute and be appreciated. Whether in their work or personal life, these things can be major contributors to one’s mental health and overall well-being. Therefore, once found, one may become highly protective of the environment and those within it — not only to safeguard them against harm, but to defend themselves against the inevitable injury they’d also experience. In The Wild Robot, a machine crash lands on an uninhabited island where it develops relationships with the wildlife.
ROZZUM unit 7134 (Lupita Nyong’o), a.k.a. “Roz,” wakes up, shipwrecked on an unfamiliar shore with no one to report to for instructions. Her attempts to speak to the island’s living creatures results in them attacking “the monster” or running away in fear. Lost and seeking a task to complete, she learns their language to better communicate — though the outcome remains the same. During one of their attempts to expunge her from the forest, she happens on an orphaned goose egg. With the urging of her new cunning fox friend, Fink (Pedro Pascal), she accepts the task of protecting and raising the gosling, Brightbill (Kit Connor), until he can fly south for the winter.
This is an endearing tale of parenthood, as well as finding where one belongs in the most unlikely of places. When Brightbill hatches, he immediately imprints on Roz and consequently assigns her the task of rearing him until he can be independent. In spite of all her knowledge about aiding and supporting humans, she knows very little about the natural world and must rely on the advice of other animals to raise him — including an exhausted mother possum (Catherine O’Hara), who offers amusing yet practical suggestions. The learning curve is high, but Roz’s dedication to being an efficient parent is so strong, she becomes the best possible guardian to the gosling. In fact, she overwrites her programming to not only adapt to her environment, but develop feelings for Brightbill, Fink and the forest’s other wildlife.
Roz’s transformation from intruder trouncing through the woods to a member of their delicate ecosystem is a beautiful and enchanting journey, which eventually results in her declaration of being a “wild robot.” The connection she builds with Brightbill and Fink is often awkward, but full of charm and unexpected affection. Moreover, even before the animals’ language is translated, they demonstrate so much personality, allowing for some very entertaining interactions throughout the picture. The characters also benefit from an excellent voice cast that includes Bill Nighy, Stephanie Hsu, Matt Berry, Ving Rhames, Mark Hamill and Dee Bradley Baker.
Writer-director Chris Sanders is the architect behind some of the most enduring animated tales, including Lilo & Stitch and How to Train your Dragon. Here, he creates a narrative that is exceptionally thoughtful, combining stories of a fish-out-of-water with family, friendship and identity. It’s moving without ever feeling like it’s working up to a big “pull on your heartstrings” moment, while still ensuring the viewer is fully engaged in the narrative from beginning to end. It’s undoubtedly one of the — if not the — best animated movies of the year.
Director: Chris Sanders
Starring: Lupita Nyong’o, Pedro Pascal and Kit Connor
