In Chris Sanders’ film based on Peter Brown’s best-selling books, a robot must raise an abandoned gosling on a deserted island with the help of other animals.
In the opening scenes of The Wild Robot, a robot washes up on the shore of a remote island, bearing the markings and labels of human manufacturers. Rozzum Unit 7134, voiced by Lupita Nyong’o in an impressive performance, is a machine built for service. The phrases after being mobilized by a colony of beavers are an expression of this loyalty: She always gets her work done, just ask. Naturally, the animals of this desolate neighborhood fear this towering metal deposit. When presented with eager gestures of help, they falter.
Premiering at the Toronto Film Festival, The Wild Robot is the story of how Rozzum 7134 becomes Roz and finds his place and purpose in the dynamic ecosystem of an obscure island. Chris Sanders (Lilo & Stitch, How to Train Your Dragon) adapts this exciting DreamWorks feature from Peter Brown’s inspiring trilogy of the same name. When it hits theaters on September 27, The Wild Robot will not only delight its existing fans but also win over new ones.
Part of this tender animation’s appeal comes from its committed and absorbing voice acting. Nyong’o, whose previous voice work includes Disney’s The Jungle Book and an episode of Big Mouth, transforms into her role as a robot who overcomes the rigors of her programming, and more of motherhood. Unexpected areas. Rose initially encounters the creatures on the island with a mechanical curiosity and a squeaky voice to prove it. As a representative of artificial intelligence, the robot begins its journey by scanning the island for data.
In a brisk and well-executed opening sequence, Rose sleeps in on herself, assuming a posture of pseudo-hibernation as she absorbs the sounds and textures of the landscape. After learning, among other things, the language of all animals, the island vibrates with the exciting energy of understanding. Creatures stir around the inert robot as their chatter, screams and growls reveal the strangeness of the machine and what its presence means for the future of the island.
When Rose wakes up, the animals are still afraid of her. Doubly so now that she has learned her ways like her colonial human predecessors. She is weakly offering support to a disinterested constituency. The goal comes in the form of a gosling who imprints on him. Beneath the tiny creature’s gaze, Rose is mother. Portraying the robot’s anxiety and initial denial of this responsibility, Nyong’o infuses her emotions with just the right level of wonder and disbelief. Rose’s programming prevents her from rejecting Gosling outright—remember, she always gets the job done, just ask—despite her narrow understanding of what goes into raising a goose. So, she cheekily agrees to raise Gosling, whom she names Bright Bill (Heartstopper’s Kit Connor).
Some of the more haunted creatures include Funk, a clever fox hilariously voiced by Pedro Pascal, and Pinctail, an overbearing possum mother voiced by Catherine O’Hara, giving Rose her Helps in travel. Their advice ranges from helpful to downright dubious. Still, there’s a sweetness to the community effort that gives Wild Robot some of its most poignant moments.
Rose’s initial approach to raising brightbills involves scientific precision and technological flexibility—she cages goslings and searches databases for information on how to teach them to hunt, swim, and fly. Those methods don’t always work, and much of The Wild Robot’s concern is using the heart rather than the mind to cope with the, in her words, sometimes “crushing responsibility” of parenthood. As Roz leans into her more maternal role, Nyongo’s machine-like voice becomes softer and more fragile, as if holding space for answers to questions she doesn’t even know how to ask.
Rose isn’t the only person who grows up on the island. Bright goes through adolescence as Bill ages, and his own growth. Funk, who begins as a side character, becomes rounded out with a backstory that helps us better understand the fox’s scheming and scheming movements.
Sanders, who wrote the screenplay in addition to directing, creates an on-screen version of the characters that still makes them feel like family. If the characters connect us to the story, it is the animation that initially draws us in. Sanders’ film combines photo-realistic characters with pantry images of the landscape to create captivating and captivating scenes. Island life is vividly portrayed, and the details are appreciated – from the bark of a giant tree to the fine hair of an industrialized beaver (Matt Barry) to the daily cantankerous grizzly bear Throne (Mark Hamill). cuts The remote location represents unsullied beauty, an environment untouched by human contrivances.
A lack of people does not mean there is no human threat. Like Pixar’s own robotic adventure Wall-E, The Wild Robot is about the subtle consequences of unchecked consumerism. When the humans send more machines, including a terrifying drone voiced by Stephanie Hsu, to retrieve Roz, Green is tormented to see their impact on Earth. In addition to Rose’s motherhood journey, there is a wonderful emotional undercurrent that comes from this environmental message. Even as Wild Robot quickly draws to a close in the third act, these threads offer helpful reminders of interdependence and hopeful lessons in community.
‘The Wild Robot’ review: Lupita Nyong’o and Pedro Pascal make unlikely co-parents in heartwarming DreamWorks animated feature.
