The Wild Robot

by Mike McGranaghan

The Wild Robot is likely to create a scenario where a lot of kids look over and are bewildered to find their parents getting misty-eyed. The story works on a whole other level if you have children. On one hand, it’s an adventure tale about a robot and some woodland creatures. On the other, it’s about spending your life prepping your child to fly, then having to let go when the time comes for them to soar on their own. To say the film is emotional would be an understatement.

Lupita Nyong’o provides the voice of Roz, a high-tech personal assistant robot that has found herself stranded on an island after an accident during shipping. No humans are around, but there are plenty of animals, including a young gosling named Brightbill (Kit Connor) who imprints on her after hatching. Programmed to always complete a task, Roz attempts to prep the orphaned bird for the coming migration, with the help of Fink the fox (Pedro Pascal). The fact that she hasn’t been designed for such work doesn’t bother her; she simply improvises based on what can be easily observed.

Early scenes in The Wild Robot offer some of the year’s biggest laughs. Watching a sophisticated piece of technology attempt to make sense of nature is endlessly funny. Roz encounters a hostile bear (Mark Hamill), a possum (Catherine O’Hara) trying to teach her babies to play dead, and a beaver (Matt Berry) intent on toppling the forest’s biggest tree. She doesn’t know what to make of them, and they certainly don’t know what to make of her, leading to hilarity.

The middle section focuses on the efforts to teach Brightbill how to eat, swim, and fly. Laughs are plentiful here, too. At the same time, the movie begins to build its heart, as a bond forms between Roz and Brightbill despite their difference in species. The third act is full-on adventure as an exterior threat presents itself a short time after the migration, requiring animals and robot to work together. Action in the movie is every bit as enjoyable as the comedy.

Those things combine to get to The Wild Robot’s true themes. Roz essentially adopts Brightbill, showing him love and working to teach him the skills he’ll need to survive in life. Adapting Peter Brown’s book, director Chris Sanders (The Croods) taps into the combination of pride and sorrow that accompanies watching your children prepare to fly the coop. Even though she’s a robot incapable of feelings, Roz grows to understand the weight of such responsibility. Love, the picture says, transcends everything, including programming.

This touching tale is rendered in gorgeous animation. A large section of the story takes place during the fall, allowing for breathtaking images of foliage. Roz’s design is similarly pleasing, having a suitably robotic appearance that nevertheless conveys a soul. The Wild Robot fires on all cylinders, delivering laughter, excitement, and warmth from beginning to end. It’s an animated masterpiece.

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