Movie Review: The Wild Robot

I don’t know if there is such a thing as being too empathetic, but based on how easy it is for movies, books, shows, or pretty much any form of media to get me teary eyed it sometimes feels like there might be. Especially when encountering a film like The Wild Robot, which feels like it’s been precision-engineered to elicit tears from viewers. Let’s just say I was glad I grabbed some napkins from the concession stand.

After a typhoon washes her crate off of a cargo ship, helper robot ROZZUM Unit 7134 (Lupita Nyong’o), or “Roz” for short, washes up on an uninhabited island and is awakened by the local wildlife. Her programming demands that she find a task to complete, but she is unable to communicate with any of the forest creatures, and so enters “Learning Mode” in order to pick up the animals’ language. Even with that completed, the island’s fauna believe her to be a monster and are too afraid to speak with her, causing her to give up and search for a spot with good reception in order to activate her rescue transponder and be picked up by her manufacturer, Universal Dynamics.

On the way to higher ground, she upsets a bear that chases her through the trees until she falls down a cliff and lands on a goose nest, destroying it and leaving only a lone egg unharmed. She realizes that she must protect it but a fox named Fink (Pedro Pascal) snatches it from her, leading her on another chase to get it back. Shortly after she retrieves it, the egg hatches, and nearby opossum Pinktail (Catherine O’Hara) instructs her that the gosling has now imprinted on her, and as a result it is her task to take care of it while preparing it for the annual migration south for the Winter. Fink realizes that helping will benefit him as well, and so claims to be a goose “expert”, and the pair set about raising the baby bird, which Roz has dubbed Brightbill (Kit Connor).

There are some aspects of the plot that are best not thought about too deeply, like how strange it is for such an advanced robot to initially have no idea what animals are, but they are easily ignored in a movie that is filled with so much beauty. The hand-drawn art style suits the story’s tone perfectly and the natural world of the island is never less than stunning. There are several moments in the first 20 minutes alone that took my breath away.

The story itself, adapted from Peter Brown’s book of the same name by writer & director Chris Sanders, is fairly simple but profoundly effective. Touching on themes of loneliness and confusion over one’s purpose in life, this is a kids’ movie that doesn’t talk down to them while also making sure they (and any adults watching) won’t be bored. It doesn’t shy away from the sometimes-brutal facts of nature either, where death can be lurking in every shadow. Surprisingly, that leads to some of the film’s funniest lines, delivered by Pinktail’s sardonic children.

Ultimately an ode to mothers, found family, and the value of community, it is impossible not to be moved by the film’s end. This is a beautiful story that will appeal to viewers of any age, where the love for the material is evident in every frame. It’s a strong contender for the year’s best animated picture that shouldn’t be missed. Just make sure to bring tissues. ★★★★★