End of 2022 Puss in Boots: the last wish came as a complete surprise. Instead of a tired Shrek spin-off that uses the same over-the-top style as the previous five Shrek-related films, DreamWorks delivered a beautifully animated and gripping story that harkened back to the original’s actual meaningful themes. Shrekbefore the franchise became one big pop culture parody.
The wild robotthe latest film from DreamWorks, proves that the departure in The last wish was not a fluke, but the beginning of a new era. From director Chris Sanders (Lilo & Stitch, How to train your dragon), The wild robot is a lovingly constructed story that pushes computer animation in a wonderful new direction – and is exactly the kind of film that today’s animation landscape so desperately needs.
(Ed. remark: This review contains minor spoilers for The wild robot.)
Based on the middle grade book by Peter Brown, The wild robot follows a robot named Roz (Lupita Nyong’o) who is stranded on a remote island. Roz’s directive is to help people with everyday tasks, but the wild, human-less environment offers little for her programming. After a while, she eventually figures out how to communicate with the wildlife, who react overwhelmingly with hostility until she accidentally adopts a newly hatched gosling, which imprints on her. Roz announces her new directive: help the runty gosling grow up and be ready for its first migration in the fall. With the help of a fast-talking fox named Fink (Pedro Pascal) – who sees the big robot as a ticket to safety – Roz raises the little goose, whom she names Brightbill (Kit Connor). But the trio are the odd ones out in the forest, and they struggle to fit in with the rest of the forest community. The friction that threatens Brightbill’s chances of survival.
The wild robot takes place roughly over the course of a year on the forest island (which seems to be vaguely in the Pacific Northwest), and through all seasons and weather. The visuals are incredibly captivating and the environment is so vibrant and lush. All animations are painterly and stylized, in a similar way Puss in Boots: the last wishbut taken in its own direction. Concept art for animated films is often more stylized, especially in texture and color, than the final products, which for years strive for a photorealistic look, but The wild robot closes that gap and looks as rich as a painting. The trees are not rendered in microscopic detail and the water should not look like hyper-realistic water; instead, Sanders captures the feeling of this wild landscape, both in its beauty and its hardships: swaths of autumn color, a violent thunderstorm that shakes the island to its core, a bitter snowstorm that freezes all creatures, and more .
Beautiful animation is one thing, but The wild robot is built on a damn good story. Robots that go against their programming and unlikely parent-child-like relationships are common tropes, but Sanders isn’t afraid to get to the emotional core, even if that means he doesn’t shy away from sad moments. His script taps into the connection between Roz and Brightbill, with moments like Roz letting the little goose help build a shelter even though the small branches he’s carrying don’t really support her current directive, or Brightbill feeling curls up just below Roz’s neck joint when she’s knocked out and he falls asleep. But it also pulls back to show how their thriving dynamic affects the rest of the forest. For a story that is so intrinsically connected to its environment, this is a necessity.
The emotional power of the film is particularly evocative because Roz’s design contains no facial articulation. It’s all conveyed through her overall body language and the lights flickering on her ‘eyes’. Nyong’o’s voice performance anchors Roz’s character. Many of the formative moments in Roz and Brightbill’s relationship come before Brightbill can even speak, so it’s all fueled by their body language, character designs, and Nyong’o’s acting – a testament to the power of the cartoons.
The mother-son relationship between Roz and Brightbil certainly drives much of the film, especially as it calls into question Roz’s previous programming. But it is part of the larger ecosystem, and the story ripples through the rest of the forest animals, which in turn reflects on the ebb and flow of their special bond. There’s only so much Roz Brightbill can learn about swimming, if she’s a human-made robot drawing from human-centric databases; this puts him at odds with his fellow Geese, and in turn he lashes out at Roz. It’s all tightly woven together, with plenty of room for every emotional beat, be it wonderful, comedic or bittersweet.
Even though it’s a movie full of talking animals, The wild robot never feels cheap or full of jokes, but it is genuinely funny. Catherine O’Hara’s weary mother provides plenty of laughs, as does a determined beaver, voiced by What we do in the shadowsMatt Berry. The giggles reinforce the heart of the film, which is about the complications of parenthood, the importance of kindness and the unlikely bonds we forge with others that reveal hidden sides of ourselves.
DreamWorks released two theatrical films in 2024, and both point to two paths forward, not just for DreamWorks, but for American animation. One was completely fine Kung Fu Panda 4a sequel that basically set up more sequels and didn’t really do anything new. And the other is a masterpiece. The wild robot is exactly the kind of film that the American animation landscape is so full of follow-up and disappointing nostalgia parties – needs. It’s new and not tied to an existing billion-dollar IP address. It’s a good story that tackles big themes, but never in a way that seems too lofty for children or too indulgent for adults. And it looks great, another step forward in a new direction Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse spearhead in 2018. DreamWorks has two paths ahead of it and it is clear which path the studio should take.
The wild robot is now in theaters.