Spawned from the New York Times No. 1 bestseller by Peter Brown that managed to speak to multiple generations, not just kids, DreamWorks Animation’s The Wild Robot proves to be a real gem in the genre that likely will become a classic, and no doubt bring sequels just as Brown’s book is now a literary series. With beautiful animation, a smart script that has equal humor, action, heart and lessons to be learned for any age, this movie transcends the boundaries of just animation and will enchant audiences.
If Spielberg’s E.T. had been an animated film instead, it might resemble what writer/director Chris Sanders ( How To Train Your Dragon, The Croods, Lilo & Stitch) has created here.
However, The Wild Robot weaves its own magic and for that we can all cry tears of joy. The story is ingenious, with Rozzum 7134 aka Roz (Lupita Nyong’o), a robot who gets shipwrecked with a group of robots during a typhoon on an island only populated with animals but no humans and who has no idea how to interact with them, never having seen any of these creatures before. Still, with robotic tendencies remarkably in sync with the rote behavior of many creatures, this is as it turns out kind of an ideal situation for Roz to thrive, at first with comical results and then the discovery of an unhatched egg (which she nurtures into life) of a little gosling who will be named Brightbill (voiced by Kit Connor).
Unbeknownst to the new arrival, Roz was inadvertently responsible for his family’s deat.