Peter Brown’s 2020 novel comes to life in the animated film adaptation of The Wild Robot, a humorous yet evocative tale of trust, friendship and sacrifice in the wilderness.
This article contains spoilers for the movie The Wild Robot.
Directed by Chris Sanders (Lilo & Stitch, How to Train Your Dragon, The Croods), the film is far from the average animated children’s comedy. Through the extraordinarily vibrant scenery to the impactful delivery of both a hysterical and heartwarming storyline, The Wild Robot proves itself to be a narrative enjoyable for all ages.
Lupita Nyong’o lends her voice to the lead character, an eccentric robot named ROZZUM unit 7134 – or, Roz, for short. Shipwrecked after a crashing storm, Roz finds herself among beasts on an uninhabited forested island. As curious otters come close to access the disturbance, the initially stunned robot quickly perks up, telling them that she’s ready to receive her first task.
Coming from a line of helper robots curated to serve humans (which she only later discovers), Roz attempts to do what she’s programmed to do: assist her customers with tasks. She seeks clientele in the forest animals, who often cruelly brush her off. After multiple bouts of being kicked by deer and sprayed by skunks, Roz recognizes an evident language barrier between her and the rambunctious beasts, and instead, chooses to sit while observing them in a system setting called “learning mode.”
Finally being able to communicate with the others, she learns they believe she is a monster trying to kill them. A series of attacks from the frightened animals leads to a literal life-or-death battle, and a bird’s nest unfortunately gets caught in the brutal crossfire. Unintentionally destroying the nest and most of the life in it, one lucky egg is saved. Once hatched, awe-inspiring oohs and ahhs ripped through the audience as the gosling and Roz seem to have a tender bonding experience… until Roz unemotionally asks the newborn to complete a customer satisfaction rating for her.
The star-studded cast of The Wild Robot ceases to take away from the grandeur of the film, but instead, weaves seamlessly into the story.
Toronto’s own Catherine O’Hara earnestly takes on the voice of Pinktail, an intelligent and witty opossum who offers motherly advice to Roz after she unsuccessfully attempts to rehome her baby bird into the marsupial family.
“I don’t have the programming to be a mother!” Roz complained frustratingly.
“No one does,” Pinktail replied emphatically.
To Roz’s delight, Pinktail gives her the ultimate task: the gosling must learn how to eat, swim, and fly on its own by fall’s migration season.
In comes the stellar Pedro Pascal as the sneaky and generally disliked foe-turned-friend fox, Fink, to help out Roz on her new mission. Though proposing to eat the bird at a few points, he encourages her to give the gosling a name. After several nonsensical, numerical variations, Roz lands on the name Brightbill. Together, Roz and Fink work on getting him ready to fly south for the winter.
Brightbill, played by rising British actor Kit Connor, is raised to be just like Roz – robotic and extremely analytical. When he eventually meets fellow geese like him, they don’t accept him, especially with Roz as his adoptive mother.
The embarrassing interaction leads Brightbill through the motions of feeling like an outcast, a lack of belongingness, and resentment, growing pains that many children and adults know all too well.
Eventually, Brightbill, with the assistance of Roz and falcon Thunderbolt, played by Ving Rhames, learns to soar the skies, persevering in the air from dusk until dawn even when his wings became tired. He quickly earns the respect of Long Neck, an elder leader of the migration, who also commends Roz on her efforts in teaching Brightbill how to be a goose.
Hesitantly getting ready to take off for the season into the unknown, Fink gives Brightbill an important piece of advice, a confidence boost that can resonate with many, “Fly like you, not them,” Fink said encouragingly.
As the geese depart, Roz feels something unexplainable, a process she had never received the coding to read before: love. Unfortunately, it’s too late before she gets a chance to tell Brightbill how she feels.
However, with this newfound affection, Roz saves the animals in the forest, protecting them from a bitterly cold frost during hibernation season. To their surprise, even when they had been so opposed to her presence, she chose benevolence.
As springtime rolls in, the geese return and Brightbill has become a hero amongst his community. His wish to reconnect with Roz is nearly cut short as a ship with robots is deployed to bring her back to corporate headquarters.
“I am a wild robot!” Roz exclaims to the mothership, resisting their force while the animals band together with her on the frontlines.
The technological interference unfortunately burns down the forest, but it doesn’t sway the faith of the animals. The beasts, now friendly with Roz and each other, learn that the symbolic circle of life is less about the survival between predator and prey, but instead a constant loop depending on their connectedness and trust.
Roz and Brightbill eventually exchange the ever-anticipated “I love you” to each other, a mother-and-son encounter so touching that even the backdrop of vivid destruction could not hinder.
In a run time of 101 minutes, The Wild Robot effortlessly succeeds in reeling the audience into a tear-jerking and relatable story of parental love, hope and believing in yourself. The lead character Roz shows a growth of emotions, from her initial cold calculatedness to her eventual warm tenderness. The movie has replayability, where viewers could tirelessly watch it over again several times and still certainly find themselves connecting with multiple characters – through Pinktail’s motherly instincts, Fink’s supportive friendship, and Brightbill’s coming-of-age journey.
This film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival, and will open in theatres worldwide on September 27.
