Director: Chris Sanders
Writer: Chris Sanders, based on the book by Peter Brown
Cast: Lupita Nyong’o, Pedro Pascal, Kit Connor, Bill Nighy, Stephanie Hsu, Matt Berry, Ving Rhames, Mark Hamill, Catherine O’Hara,

“What would an intelligent robot do in the wilderness?” This is what author Peter Brown asked himself before penning his book, The Wild Robot. Pitting man-made technology against mother nature is certainly something humans often consider, especially as technology grows exponentially and at increasingly faster rates. Furthermore, what if said technology could find a way to communicate with nature, specifically animals, and make a genuine difference? Putting all of this deep thought into a kid’s movie could keep things quite simple, or it could overcomplicate things. Is it a suitably entertaining yet thought-provoking animation from DreamWorks studios, or should they have stuck with trolls, dragons and ogres?

When she crash-lands in a forest on an uninhabited island, ROZZUM Unit 7134 (Nyong’o), aka Rozz, a Universal Dynamics robot that is built to assist, is attacked by the wildlife and accidentally destroys a tree and the goose nest in it. The only survivor is a single egg. When the gosling hatches, Rozz comes to understand that she must take responsibility for the orphaned runt of a bird, whom she names Brightbill (Connor). With the reluctant help of a wily and selfish fox named Fink (Pascal), Rozz must help Brightbill learn to find food, swim and fly in time for autumn, when he will have to migrate with the other geese.

On the surface, The Wild Robot appears to be just another kid’s film that is all visuals and no substance, with its typical simple comedy and admittedly strange premise. However, unlike many other kid’s films, this one has a whole lot of heart. The story is indeed strange, but somehow, it works. A robot that learns to communicate with animals and then unintentionally becomes a surrogate mother to a goose sounds bizarre, but it works as a vehicle for its themes regarding the way humanity treats the earth and tech, how our own creations are perhaps not being used to their full potential to actually make the world a more hospitable and stable place, how far a bit of unconditional kindness can go, and parenthood and responsibilty. It’s never explicitly stated in the film, but it’s made quite clear it is set in the future where climate change has caused incredible damage in the world and humans are relying on robots for much of their survival, showing how much robots are relied upon by all manner of organisms.

The design of Rozz feels familiar, with her big round eyes and lack of mouth, her humanoid body and her desperation to be of use. She feels very much influenced by the likes of the titular character of The Iron Giant and Baymax from Big Hero 6. The art style has a particular classic feel to it, harking back to a pre-CGI time that utilised hand-drawn backgrounds. The characters too have a lovely balance of humour and seriousness, underlining a plot that is well-paced if a little jagged in its execution at times. The score by Kris Bowers perfectly gives the more emotional scenes a goosebump-inducing boost, and the lyrics of the songs included express the feeling of the dialogue-less scenes very nicely. It all comes together in a cinematic strength that will get through to even the most hardened of hearts, while also being a terrifically fun and entertaining film for kids.

Nyong’o gives a wonderful performance as Rozz, and as the character is physically mostly emotionless due to being a robot and having no mouth and not much going on with the eyes, Nyong’o had her work very much cut out for her. She somehow managed to convey everything needed through tone, and as Rozz appears to become more relaxed, almost more human than robot, Nyong’o deftly yet subtly adjusts her vocal style accordingly. Pascal’s Fink is emotionless in a different way, yet the fox’s arc follows a similar one to Rozz’s. It allows Pascal to move with a range through Fink’s development, going from an unlikeable animal to something more tolerable, and he also has a fun amount of comedy to play with. Connor’s performance as Brightbill isn’t much to write home about, but young Boone Storm’s vocal performance as young Brightbill is undeniably adorable. Berry’s easily identifiable voice will promote laughter no matter what, and Hamill, Rhames, Nighy and Hsu all provide decent performances. Special shout-out however for O’Hara’s Pinktail, a mother possum who both adores her babies yet isn’t all that put-out should one of them die. Incredible dark humour from all the possums.

I didn’t expect much from this film as DreamWorks is often hit-or-miss for me, but Sanders has created something worthwhile from Brown’s book, something that should undoubtedly get people thinking and perhaps get children talking about the future of the planet and how we should be taking care of each other, no matter what. The visuals are a delight, the story is a little weird but works fine to carry the themes, and the entertainment value is up there, particularly where the humour is concerned. It is sure to give you the *feels*, too.