The Media Man Reviews: The Wild Robot

Here we are again with another DreamWorks movie, and THIS one looks very promising. Also, I finally get to review a movie from 2024 that isn't a sequel or related to a big franchise for a change, so that's nice.

The Wild Robot is a unique entry in DreamWorks's library for this is one of their few movies that's based on a book, in this case the 2016 novel of the same name by Peter Brown. It's also another movie directed by animation legend Chris Sanders, the man who gave us movies like Lilo & Stitch and co-directed How To Train Your Dragon with Dean DeBois. So, it really is no surprise that this movie has garnered a lot of attention. It's a DreamWorks movie based on a book, is directed by Chris Sanders and apparently took cues from classic Disney films and Hayao Miyazaki movies for the film's art-style. How could this NOT be an attention grabber?

I know once I saw the trailers, I was like "I need to see this". It looks like another animation masterpiece that's coming our way and really does look like we're in for something special. And considering it's currently a critically acclaimed movie with audiences and critics loving it to bits and is also doing well at the box office, looks like it's living up to the hype.

The movie is also a notorious footnote in DreamWorks history for this is the last movie they're working on to be animated in-house. Essentially, that means all future DreamWorks movies will be animated elsewhere rather than at DreamWorks themselves. So this movie has the potential to be quite the swan song for in-house produced DreamWorks movies.

As is, do I think this Wild Robot is wildly amazing? Or is this a movie that'll make me go wild with disappointment? Let's dive in and see how well The Wild Robot functions in its programming...

Section 1: The Story

The story follows a robot codenamed ROZZUM unit 7134 who ends up abandoned in a forest and has to adapt to her new surroundings. As the titular "wild robot", the robot (who dubs herself "Roz") befriends many forest animals and even becomes a surrogate mother to a gosling she names Brightbill. But unfortunately, Roz's past will come back to haunt her when other robots come into the forest...

Just saying right off the bat that I have NOT read the original novel the book is based on, so this is yet again from the perspective of a newcomer. I'm judging the movie as a movie on its own and not an adaptation. Fans of the book, if any of you are reading this, do let me know how faithful an adaptation this is, if you please. So then, how is this movie and what's the story like?

If I were to sum it up, it's like if you took the plot of Robinson Crusoe and the story-telling and sci-fi setting of WALL.E and tossed it in a blender. The story is your typical cast away plot but with a twist as instead of a human on an island of animals, it's a ROBOT on an island of animals. Already that makes for a pretty interesting set-up as we haven't really had a story like this with the robot as the cast away instead. Thus a lot of the fun and intrigue of watching the movie is just seeing how this robot interacts with all the animals and grows beyond its programming to become a more empathetic and caring machine. Does it sound a little cliche? Eh, a little since we've seen many stories of robots growing beyond their programming, but this is still a neat spin on the concept and an intriguing new way to tell this type of story. Seeing how Roz adapts to life on the island and how she befriends the animals as she lives among them was really sweet stuff to watch and I loved how it played out. Making it so the animals were all scared and hostile towards her at first makes sense as animals are often very hostile to outsiders in their territory, and I like how it took her saving them all from the sheer cold of winter for them to warm up to her in the end. Animals can be very grateful to those who save their lives after all.

I also like how this is one of DreamWorks's more artistic movies when it comes to the plot. Most DreamWorks movies tend to have plots with a lot of fast-paced comedy, pop-culture references and be more dialogue-heavy, but not this one. There's not a single pop-culture reference to be heard in here, there's a lot of visual storytelling with moments of silence and even the humour is more visual based while still having some snappy dialogue here and there. There are moments where the film just lets us take it in and breathe in the atmosphere of the world the characters inhabit and also drink in the gorgeous visuals. It's also refreshing to see slower paced movies that don't feel the need to have dialogue all the time and can just let us truly get immersed in what we're seeing. All this makes the heart of the movie ring true as we get the developing relationships between Roz and the animals on the island she's ended up on. This is a character-driven story first and foremost and luckily, the film's cast are strong enough to carry this plot and make it fascinating to watch. I really loved seeing the relationships with Roz and the animals develop and see Roz slowly but surely win the animals over in spite of a very rough start. It's also a very emotional movie with an emphasis on making you feel something, so expect a lot of feels with this one.

I also like how in spite of the plot sounding pretty cliched on paper, in execution the cliches don't harm the movie much or even cause a problem at all. For starters, we do get a "Liar Revealed" moment, but it thankfully happens pretty early on in the movie, about some time before we get the second act, so we don't have a forced as hell third-act break-up and devote more time to having the characters make up and move on from that moment. That was a good call as having it during the third-act would've been monotonous and predictable.

The world-building is also appropriately mysterious too. We don't see much of the world outside the island, but what little we DO see does raise up some interesting questions: why is some of the world under the sea now and how are humans coping in this current status quo with Universal Dynamics providing these robots to care for them? This is why I get WALL.E vibes from this plot. Replace Universal Dynamics with Buy N Large and replaced the flooded world with a garbage covered one and you've got the same thing really. Still, keeping most of the world unexplored and any screentime on the humans to a minimum strengthens this movie as it would've been juggling too much if it tried to tell us about life on the island AND what life is like for the human race these days. Should the movie get a sequel, we may get more insight into this world...

So yeah, the story is very touching and heartfelt, mostly visual in its presentation and sweet to watch. Are there any issues with it? Not major ones from what I can see. I do feel like the first half of the movie was a little too mean-spirited with too many scenes of the animals being jerks to Roz. They really didn't need to be so excessive with that, they could've had a few nice ones to balance it out more. Also I feel Longneck's death was extremely unnecessary. It didn't add anything to the plot and it's brushed over with so quickly that I question why it even happened at all. It's like they had a character death because...the movie seems more nuanced and mature that way? I don't know. It was unnecessary and should've been dropped in my eyes.

Still, these tiny flaws are barely a dent on this movie's impressive armour. It's a well-constructed machine that operates perfectly without any glitches in its programming at all. I wish DreamWorks could tell stories like this more often, because their movies are SO damn good when they're more like this and less like Ruby Gillman or Kung Fu Panda 4. If any movie can be shown as an example of DreamWorks at their best, this ranks up there easily with how beautifully it crafted its story...

Section 2: The Characters

This movie has one of the most interesting cast of characters ever put in a movie. When's the last time we had a movie starring a robot AND a bunch of animals for example?

Let's start with the titular wild robot herself, ROZZUM Unit 7134, or "Roz" for short (voiced by Lupita Nyong'o). Roz is programmed to serve humans and complete tasks by any means necessary. Unfortunately for her, she's on an island full of animals with no humans in sight, so she ends up performing tasks for them instead. Roz has a very hard time fitting in on the island for...obvious reasons, but she remains steadfastly focused on her tasks at hand regardless of how she's treated. Honestly, I think some of us could do with looking up to her for that. We should show kindness to others and do good things because they're good things and not let people's opinions of us take us down. Roz grows beyond her programming and becomes fond of the animals, especially her adopted son that she names Brightbill, and is so dedicated to providing for them that she braves a blizzard just to give every animal in the forest shelter. That's so admirable and shows how she's just as, if not more, human than many of us out there.

Her closest friends include a gosling she names Brightbill (voiced by Boone Storme as a baby and Kit Connor as a teenager) and a wisecracking fox named Fink (voiced by Pedro Pascal). Brightbill is a sympathetic character as someone who is shunned for his upbringing and his status as a "runt" who learns to overcome his shortcomings and become a brave flier who is able to lead his fellow geese to safety in a crisis, thus earning their respect as a hero among the flock. I also imagine his status as a runt and how Roz makes a remark about "having a defective child" might be a metaphor for a child with a disability of some kind, like say autism or having deformed limbs or something like that. Whether it's intended or not, I can see disabled people, be they mentally or physically disabled, relating to Brightbill and his struggles here.

As for Fink, he's the typical sly and cunning fox who mostly uses Roz just to get easy meals and shelter, but he grows to genuinely care for him and Brightbill as they all spend time together. The fact he goes from trying to eat Brightbill to defending him from bullies and showing genuinely joy when he comes back from his migration really shows how far he comes. He's also a deeper character than what he seems with him voicing his insecurities about his upbringing and how he's hated by just about everybody. It does explain his jerky nature so well and also adds a layer of sympathy to him. It also makes the bond with him and Roz so meaningful as she's the first genuine friend he's EVER had, hence why he grows so close to her. It's pretty sweet and I love it.

The rest aren't quite as important as the main three, but do have their roles to play here and there. You get Pinktail the Possum (voiced by Catherine O' Hara), Paddler the Beaver (voiced by Matt Perry), Thorn the Grizzly Bear (voiced by Mark Hamill), Thunderbolt the Falcon (voiced by Ving Rhames) and Longneck the Goose (voiced by Bill Nighy). Pinktail, Paddler and Thorn are mostly animals that interact with Roz in some way and Pinktail is even the one who suggests she take care of Brightbill in the first place. Thunderbolt helps to mentor Brightbill in learning to fly and Longneck leads the flock on the geese's migration. As I mentioned earlier, Longneck is killed off and it really felt unnecessary. I really didn't get why they did that and what point it served. He should've been spared or his death should've been more impactful.

And then we have the closest thing we have to an actual villain in the movie, Vontra (voiced by Stephanie Hsu). Vontra pretty much serves as a last-minute conflict for the climax of the movie, but damn it all if she leaves a memorable impression! Being this overly cheerful sounding robot who's carrying out cruel actions and displaying a level of sadism made her pretty creepy and it also makes you wonder what her behaviour says about her creators. She's like AUTO from WALL.E, only she seems to enjoy her job a little too much and has more of a personality. If she's programmed the way she is, then is mankind all that good or are they up to anything heinous? That's pretty freaky to think about...

The cast in this movie are a memorable bunch with a loving robot, a forest full of animals and a memorably creepy villain that will make this movie an experience you won't forget anytime soon...

Section 3: The Animation

DreamWorks movies may be VERY inconsistent in terms of writing quality, but their animation is one of the things that tends to be consistently good, and this movie is NO exception.

As mentioned above, this is their last movie they're animating in-house and from here on out, DreamWorks are outsourcing their animation to other companies like Sony. Needless to see, DreamWorks really went out with a major bang with this movie for these visuals are absolutely gorgeous. Chris Sanders stated he took cues from classic Disney films and Hayao Miyazaki movies for the art-style of this movie, and it's easy to see what he means. The film has a huge emphasis on nature like what you'd get in movies like Bambi or a Studio Ghibli film in where a lot of scenes just show you how beautiful nature can be and how it's both a peaceful force and a dangerous force. We see the forest depicted in bright sunshine, rainfalls and a snowstorm and the weather used here is usually an indicator of what kind of scene we're in for. Also the brief time we see the environment outside of the island, we get to see some familiar landmarks like the Golden Gate Bridge, but it's flooded, which as mentioned before does pose some sinister questions about what happened in this world...

It's also notable how the movie goes for a less realistic approach and instead follows in the footsteps of Puss in Boots: The Last Wish by having a more painterly art-style and textures to the film. I'm not saying there's no realism to the animation at all, you still get some real-looking textures like the metal on the robots, the water, the rocks and the bark on the tree, but most of the time the textures have this look to them that makes them look painted. It's like looking at living illustrations, and this is in-spite of it being computer animated. It wouldn't surprise me if some people watching this end up forgetting it's computer animated for how it emulates a more 2-D art style very beautifully. Also, consider that this is based on a book, so why not have the animation look like illustrations from a book? Only makes sense in my eyes.

As for the character designs and animation, the animals have a more cartoonish look to them with slightly exaggerated proportions, but otherwise look close to the real animal. They all have their own distinct colour palette like the red and white on Fink's fur and his green eyes, Brightbill's white and brown feathers and more. But the biggest praise goes to the design and animation of Roz herself. She has a relatively simple design that's quite shapely with a lot of round parts on her, and yet the animators get so much mileage out of it with Roz displaying so much emotion in her body language and her camera-like eyes or even how parts of her body light up with different colours to express certain moods like red for surprise and shock, pink for warmth and love and such. I also love how she has a lot of detachable parts or extra limbs hidden away with her to provide a multitude of different tasks and the animators are able to use them creatively, especially for a good gag or two. It goes to show how even simple character designs can go a long way and Roz is easily a feat in character animation, hands down. DreamWorks's entire animation team deserve a round of applause for their work on Roz alone.

I also love the colour palette in this movie. The film really uses colour in a way that makes the visuals look amazing and beautiful with scenes at sunset especially looking absolutely gorgeous. And as mentioned earlier, they use colour in a way to make Roz more expressive and they can also use it to emphasize the mood of a scene. Examples include the goose migration scene in where it's bright and colourful with beautiful sunset colours to signify how this is a bright new chapter in Brightbill's life and how the sun is setting on his time with Roz. Also we have the blizzard scene in where it's mostly dull and grey with the white snow everywhere to show how bad the winter is and that the island's become murky and cold as a result. It's always impressive to me how much colour can add to the mood of a scene in films.

I don't even know what else to say here other than it's DreamWorks at their best. Their movies may have inconsistent quality when it comes to writing, but they never skimp on the animation. This film is a treat for the eyes and an example of animation at its finest. How they'll top this, I have no idea...

Overall

The Wild Robot is one of DreamWorks's best movies they've ever made, easily up there with Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, Shrek 2, Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron and Kung Fu Panda 2. The story is wholesome and heartfelt, the visuals are spellbinding, the emotional core is very strong, the characters are memorable and full of personality and it leaves opportunities for further installments to dive deeper into this world. It's a shame this has to be the last movie DreamWorks will be animating in-house and they'll be outsourcing their animation to other companies from now on for they showed they can still produce something incredible. I may hate how inconsistent DreamWorks's content can be, but movies like this are why I keep checking them out when I can, because when DreamWorks cooks, they COOK! And they really cooked with this one, so don't miss it. You're in for quite a movie...

And that's it for this review. I hope you enjoyed it and feel free to share your thoughts below. Do you like The Wild Robot? Do you not like it? Do tell me.

Next week, I'm celebrating Halloween by counting down my Top 10 Favourite Villains in media. See you then media fans!