A shipwreck leaves a clever robot named Roz (voiced by Lupita Nyong’o) stuck on a deserted island and must learn to adapt to its harsh conditions—and its wildlife–to survive. My biggest draw is that it’s from Chris Sanders, the writer/director of How To Train Your Dragon, one of my favorite animated films ever. Sanders wisely refrains from bogging viewers down with over-exposition. The opening scene shows that a big storm causes the cargo ship from Universal Dynamics to crash. Roz somehow ‘wakes up’ when wildlife accidentally triggers her activation. With her robotic language skills, she can understand what the animals are saying. Naturally, the animals aren’t too keen on this odd metal creature at first. While trying to escape from a grizzly bear, Roz accidentally steps on a goose nest, but one egg makes it through.

I really enjoy the adorable moments between Roz and the little gosling she names Brightbill (Boone Storme); it takes me back to when my kitten thought my Pekingese dog was her mom. Roz got some assistance in raising Brightbill (voiced by Kit Connor as an adult). One of them is a foe-turned-bestie Fink the sly fox and Pinktail (Catherine O’Hara), a maternal Virginia opossum with endless parenting tips as she’s caring for half a dozen joeys (baby opossums).

The voice casting is spot on. I always think Nyong’o’s natural voice sounds nice, calming, and smart. She nailed that ‘programmed optimism’ sound that you hear from robotic voices like Siri. Pedro Pascal perfectly embodies the mischievous yet surprisingly empathic fox, while O’Hara has that reassuring but matter-of-fact motherly tone. Having just rewatched Home Alone over Christmas I kept picturing Kate McCallister whenever Pinktail shows up. As the tale unfolds, we meet some cool wildlife characters: Matt Berry voices Paddler, a quirky beaver obsessed with chewing down a massive tree, and Mark Hamill plays the grizzly bear that tried to maul Roz earlier. But my favorite has to be Bill Nighy as Longneck, an old goose who teaches Roz just how crucial it is for Brightbill to migrate during the winter.

As expected, The Wild Robot boasts stunning animation and breathtaking visuals that really made the children’s book story by writer/illustrator Peter Brown come alive. I love the stunning visuals as they embrace a beautiful watercolor style reminiscent of classic Disney animations and the enchanting creations of Hayao Miyazaki. I came across this interesting tidbit that Brown got the idea for the story from a drawing he made of a robot sitting in a tree. That led him to wonder, “What would a smart robot do out in the wild?”

There’s a deeper message in this animation as it highlights the importance of found family, the strength of community, and how we can unite during tough times. While I think it tries a bit too hard to tug the heartstrings, it did a fine job of getting us invested in the unlikely mother-child story and the entire forest community. The scene with the brutal winter storm is absolutely breathtaking, especially when you see all the animals snuggled up together in the little hut that Roz built. The finale involving Universal Dynamics’ retrieval robot (Stephanie Hsu), with its scary tentacles, gets a bit too bombastic but thankfully it didn’t go on too long.

As award season is in full swing, I think The Wild Robot is a worthy contender for best-animated movies of the year. I personally think Flow deserves that distinction though, it makes more impact without a single dialogue spoken. It’s certainly a top-tier Dreamworks Animation movie, right up there with Sanders’ previous creation, How To Train Your Dragon.

Have you seen The Wild Robot? I’d love to hear what you think!

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