The Wild Robot

DreamWorks Animation's emotional techno-fable is one of their finest films to date.

It’s safe to say that DreamWorks Animation has been on the upswing as of late. 

Sure, within the last two years, they have produced forgettable franchise fodder like “Kung Fu Panda 4” and “Trolls Band Together,” but their other recent movies such as “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish” and “The Bad Guys,” prove that they’re willing more than willing to be more ambitious.

When I first saw the trailer for “The Wild Robot,” I was frankly blown away. After Disney tried and failed last year to deliver watercolor-inspired animation with “Wish,” it looked like their biggest competitor may have gotten the upper hand. I can’t remember the last time I’ve had people who generally aren’t big into animation, express interest in an animated movie. But that’s exactly what “The Wild Robot” did. 

Pair that with the fact that animation legend Chris Sanders was behind the movie; how could I not be excited?

Based on the book series by Peter Brown, “The Wild Robot” is set sometime in the future, when most of the major cities have been flooded and humanity has now built floating cities, powered by a tech company known as Universal Dynamics.

After a monsoon strikes a cargo ship, helper robot Roz (Lupita Nyong/o) finds herself stuck in the wilderness, surrounded by wildlife who decry her as a monster and want nothing to do with her. After a freak accident, Roz finds herself looking after an orphaned gosling whom she names Brightbill (Kit Connor) and is aided by the lonely fox Fink (Pedro Pascal).

As Brightbill grows older, Roz realizes that in order to accomplish her mission of helping him, she needs to teach him how to fly. Which should be simple, but Brightbill was also the runt of his litter, even with his family, nobody expected him to survive.

Roz seeks advice from many of the other wildlife critters and begins bonding with all of them, helping to teach them how to put aside their differences and stop killing and eating others.

Make no mistake, “The Wild Robot” is a tearjerker. The story has shades of “Bambi,” “Princess Mononoke,” and “Wall-E.” In simple terms, it's a movie with the heart and depth of a classic Pixar film and the humor of “Shrek.” Pair that with the whimsical animation style, and not only do you have the best animated movies of 2024, but also one of the very best movies.

The cutesy character designs will surely delight the younger viewers, Sanders and his team know not to just stop there. We don’t just love Rozz, Brightbill, and Fink because we want to jump onto the screen and give them a bear hug, it’s also because they’re written in ways that feel deeply relatable and human. Even if they are animals and robots, having animal and robot problems.

While Pixar has become almost notorious for being able to have both adults and children alike tearing up, DreamWorks is trying to rise to that challenge in “The Wild Robot” and they succeed. Nothing feels too manipulative or hokey, every emotional beat feels earned and effective.

Oscar-winner Lupita Nyong’o is perfectly cast as the voice of Roz. While at the start of the film, she behaves much like you’d expect a helper robot to act, Nyong’o brings more and more personality and emotion to the character as the movie progresses. 

At first glance, it might be easy to brush off Pedro Pascal’s first voice-acting role in an animated movie as cashing in on his heightened popularity. After all, like many other American animated studios, DreamWorks loves casting big names. That isn’t the case here, with Pascal showing his sweeter and more soft-spoken side as the voice of Fink. Much like Jason Bateman’s casting in “Zootopia,” Pascal proves that he was born to voice a fox.

Since the release of “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” in 2018, we’ve seen animation studios up their game in terms of making mainstream animated films more stylized, and “The Wild Robot” feels like the perfect next step for DreamWorks after “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish.” There is never a dull frame onscreen, from the lush forest to the futuristic cities and the post-apocalyptic landscapes we only get glimpses of. Sanders and his team create a painting you’d want to hang on your wall in each shot of the flick.

“The Wild Robot” is without question one of DreamWorks Animation’s finest films to date, one audiences of all ages will be able to enjoy. You won’t want to miss seeing this one on the big screen.