The Wild Robot

The Wild Robot
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Chris Sanders
Written by	Chris Sanders
Based on	The Wild Robot by Peter Brown
Produced by	Jeff Hermann
Starring	Lupita Nyong'o Pedro Pascal Kit Connor Bill Nighy Stephanie Hsu Mark Hamill Catherine O'Hara Matt Berry Ving Rhames
Edited by	Mary Blee
Music by	Kris Bowers
Production company	DreamWorks Animation
Distributed by	Universal Pictures
Release dates	September 8, 2024 (2024-09-08) (TIFF) September 27, 2024 (2024-09-27) (United States)
Running time	102 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Box office	$6.5 million

The Wild Robot is a 2024 American animated science fiction survival film based on the book series of the same name by Peter Brown, produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by Universal Pictures. The film was written and directed by Chris Sanders, produced by Jeff Hermann, and executive-produced by Sanders' longtime collaborative partner Dean DeBlois. It stars Lupita Nyong'o as Roz, the title character, alongside an ensemble voice cast including Pedro Pascal, Kit Connor, Bill Nighy, Stephanie Hsu, Mark Hamill, Catherine O'Hara, Matt Berry, and Ving Rhames.

DreamWorks announced an animated film adaptation of the book series The Wild Robot in September 2023, with Sanders, Hermann, and DeBlois attached. Sanders took inspiration from Disney animated classic films and the works of Hayao Miyazaki. It would be the final film to be animated entirely in-house at DreamWorks, as it was reported in October 2023 that the studio would be shifting away from producing films in-house to relying more heavily on outside studios after 2024. Kris Bowers composed the film's score, marking his first score for an animated film. 

The Wild Robot premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 8, 2024, and is scheduled to be theatrically released in the United States on September 27, 2024. The film received critical acclaim.

Plot

In a future Earth, a Universal Dynamics cargo ship runs aground on an uninhabited island. The only one of the ROZZUM utilitarian robots still whole, unit 7134, who calls herself "Roz" for short, is activated by the local wildlife, and after repeated misunderstandings between it and her, Roz decides to enter a learning safe mode observing nature, emerging days later fluent in all animal language. Roz decides to leave for having no assignment, but after a failed attempt to contact her manufacturer, Roz accidentally destroys a goose nest, aside from a single egg. Roz stops a fox from eating the egg and it then hatches, and the gosling imprints itself onto Roz, eventually breaking the robot's communication module. A discussion with Pinktail, a mother opossum, ends up setting up a mission on Roz regarding raising the gosling before it needs to leave the island for its winter migration. Roz asks the help of the fox, Fink, and a conversation between them while building a shelter leads the bird to be named Brightbill.

Once Brightbill has grown, Roz tries teaching him to swim, and Brightbill meets other geese, being bullied for his short stature and awkward social manners. Once Brightbill discovers Roz caused the death of his family, making him grow alone and unadjusted, he gets resentful and decides to get away from her. After learning more about her purpose and getting another communication module from the wreckage containing the destroyed ROZZUM robots, the elder goose Longneck encourages Roz to make Brightbill learn to fly. Once he is capable and flies away with the other geese, Roz is unnerved at how she challenged her programming, became attached to the bird and is sad that he left. She activates her communication module, but as soon as the beacon shows up at the Universal Dynamics headquarters Roz shuts it off again.

A thunderstorm makes the geese hide in a futuristic greenhouse, where ROZZUM robots mistake the birds for pests and attack. Longneck notices that Brightbill's familiarity with Roz makes him the only goose not panicking and asks him to lead the flock away from the greenhouse, sacrificing himself in the process. Roz awakens in her shelter and finds Fink, who tells her he is hiding from a severe snowstorm. Roz decides to rescue all the animals and bring them to the shelter, depleting her batteries as a result. Putting predators and prey together creates a chaotic environment before Fink reminds them that they would be dead from the cold if not for Roz's efforts, and Roz asks for a truce before she shuts down, to which the animals comply.

Roz reawakens months later, watching from a distance the geese return, hailing Brightbill as a hero. She then sees a Universal Dynamics dropship arrive, out of which comes the robot Vontra, who says that Roz has been highly sought ever since the shortened beacon, and the headquarters wants to bring her back so the changes in her programming can be studied. Roz reluctantly goes along before Fink arrives and says Brightbill wants to see Roz, making her leave. Adamant in bringing Roz back, Vontra sets an army of robots after her, which the animals proceed to attack. Vontra makes the destroyed robots self-destruct to distract the animals, igniting a massive forest fire, while she drags Roz onto the ship with a tractor beam. While Brightbill leads the geese into attacking the ship to destroy Vontra and rescue Roz, the other animals band together to put out the fire. Seeing all the damage and knowing Universal Dynamics would keep sending robots after her, Roz decides it is better if she leaves. Sometime later, Roz is working at the greenhouse and seemingly restored to factory settings but shows her emotional side again as Brightbill visits.

Voice cast

• Lupita Nyong'o as ROZZUM unit 7134 ("Roz"), an abandoned robot that was washed onto a forest island and learns to adapt to the new environment, partially by using her processing ability to learn how to communicate with the native animals, and becomes the adoptive mother of Brightbill. The name of her product line, ROZZUM, and her manufacturer, Universal Dynamics, are references to Rossum's Universal Robots, the play that created the term "robot".
• Pedro Pascal as Fink, a mischievous red fox who is the first animal that Roz helps and befriends.
• Kit Connor as Brightbill, an orphaned runt Barnacle goose who is raised by Roz as her own son.
  • Boone Storme as Baby Brightbill.
• Catherine O'Hara as Pinktail, a mother opossum who gives Roz some advice on raising Brightbill.
• Bill Nighy as Longneck, a wise elder goose who helps Roz understand teaching Brightbill how to fly.
• Stephanie Hsu as Vontra, an evil robot of Roz's race who has been sent to retrieve Roz.
• Mark Hamill as Thorn, a grizzly bear.
• Matt Berry as Paddler, a beaver.
• Ving Rhames as Thunderbolt, a falcon who helps Brightbill learn to fly.

Production

On September 28, 2023, DreamWorks Animation announced an animated film adaptation of the book series The Wild Robot by Peter Brown, with Chris Sanders set to write and direct, Jeff Hermann set to produce, and Sanders' longtime creative collaborator Dean DeBlois set to serve as executive producer. Other crew members were announced, including production designer Raymond Zibach, editor Mary Blee, and head of story Heidi Jo Gilbert.

Casting

Cast members, Lupita Nyong'o, Pedro Pascal, Catherine O'Hara, Bill Nighy, Kit Connor, Stephanie Hsu, Mark Hamill, Matt Berry, and Ving Rhames, were revealed on March 5, 2024, with the release of the film's first trailer.

According to Hamill, who voiced Thorn, he learned about the film after reading the book The Wild Robot. Hamill says that The Wild Robot reminded him of his first feelings about Star Wars (1977), in which he originated the role of Luke Skywalker.

Animation and design

At CinemaCon 2024 in April, Sanders said he took inspiration from Disney classic animated movies and the works of Hayao Miyazaki, resulting in a stylized CG visual style that he described as "a Monet painting in a Miyazaki forest". The Wild Robot would be the final film to be animated entirely in-house at DreamWorks, as Cartoon Brew reported on October 6, 2023, that the studio would be shifting away from producing films in-house in their Glendale campus to relying more heavily on outside studios after 2024.

Music

In March 2024, Kris Bowers was revealed to be composing the score, marking his first score for an animated film. Additionally, two original songs were announced to be made for the film performed by Maren Morris and written by Morris, Ali Tamposi, Michael Pollack, Delacey, Jordan Johnson and Stefan Johnson: "Kiss the Sky" and "Even When I'm Not", with the former being released on August 28, while the latter, along with the full soundtrack album, would be released on September 27. Morris and her team of co-writers were inspired to write a second song for the film, "Even When I'm Not", which is featured in the film's end credits, when they screened the finished film.

Marketing

The first trailer for the film, featuring a rendition of Louis Armstrong's cover of "What a Wonderful World", and poster, were released on March 5, 2024. The trailer would debut in theaters three days later in front of screenings of DreamWorks' other new film Kung Fu Panda 4. Writing for Polygon, Tasha Robinson compared the design of Roz to familiar film robots such as BB-8, WALL•E, Baymax, and The Iron Giant, and notes that the only words spoken in the trailer - "Sometimes, to survive, we must become more than we were programmed to be" - evoked the message of The Iron Giant (1999).

A second trailer and a new poster were released on June 11, 2024.

Release

The Wild Robot had its world premiere as the opening front runner of the Toronto International Film Festival Grand Opening celebration on September 8, 2024. It is scheduled to be released in theaters in the United States on September 27, 2024, and in the United Kingdom on October 18. The film was originally scheduled for September 20, 2024, but was pushed back a week later to avoid competition with Transformers One.

As part of Universal's long-term deal with Netflix, the film will stream on Peacock for the first four months of the pay-TV window, before moving to Netflix for the next ten, and returning to Peacock for the remaining four.

Reception

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 98% of 44 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 8.4/10. Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 84 out of 100, based on 14 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".

External links

• Official website
• The Wild Robot at IMDb