The Wild Robot

I have a copy of the book by Peter Brown on which this DreamWorks animated feature is based, and I'm sorry to say, I haven't read it yet. But I went to see the movie anyway, about a week ago, and I love it. It's really just another example of the excellent, creative work Dreamworks Animation can do. A movie that shows you things you didn't expect to see, but better and more memorable and emotionally gripping things, The Wild Robot tells the story of a household servant robot that wakes up after a shipwreck on the shore of a wild, wooded island populated only by various animals. Known by a string of characters that she eventually shortens to Roz, the robot gets off to a rough start, offering to accomplish tasks for the wild creatures but only scaring them away, or ticking them off, or getting picked on, etc. She eventually learns how to communicate with them, just in time to rescue a newly-hatched gosling from the total destrcution of its hest. The runt of a gosling, later known as Brightbill, imprints on Roz, meaning she's the first thing he sees and therefore becomes his mummy. So, with the reluctant aid of a fox named Fink, Roz takes on the task of preparing Brightbill for the geese's fall migration.

It's a found-family story on steroids. By degrees, the whole island – including predators and prey – becomes one big family, united first against a once-in-a-century harsh winter and then against the return of the robots to collect Roz. I don't want to spoil any more of the story except to hint that it has glorious art, terrific animation, silliness, tenderness, thrilling action, and an overall story arc that moved me deeply. Though, at the same time, I was skeptical about how a truce between meat eaters and, um, meat would work, I saw so much beauty in this story that I got a bit teary-eyed.

The voice-acting cast has some notable names in it. Playing Roz is Lupita Nyong'o, who won an Oscar for her supporting role in 12 Years a Slave. Fink is voiced by Pedro Pascal, known for his roles in Game of Thrones, The Mandalorian, The Last of Us and Wonder Woman 1984. Kit Connor, as Brightbill, stars in the TV series based on the Heartstopper books. Catherine O'Hara, Bill Nighy, Stephanie Hsu, Mark Hamill and Ving Rames also contributed their voice talents. You'll know them when you hear them.

Three Scenes That Made It For Me: (1) The momma opossum (O'Hara) tells Roz the unvarnished truth about motherhood in a speech hilariously short on sugar coating, during which she mentions having seven (horrible scream), I mean six kids. The possum family is hysterical all around, though it's funny how the baby possums are still babies after enough time has passed for Brightbill to grow up. (2) Caught in a storm, the goose migration seeks shelter in a gigantic, robot-managed greenhouse. Oops. The sacrifice it will take to get out of there will pierce you to the heart. (3) The animals fight back against a robot apocalypse – and I really have to include in this sequence the bit where Brightbill rescues Roz even after it seems she must be gone forever. Gripping, heart-touching, beautiful stuff.