Remember last year when I was hoped when Dreamworks are going to giving us a promise, before they were tripped when they gave us Ruby Gillman? Yeah, last year was like a roller coaster ride, they gave us promising with The Bad Guys and Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, but then they went down to facing their own punishment when Ruby Gillman’s box-office got flopped. That is until when we have the next movie to giving us a hope for their return.
“The Wild Robot” is a 2024 animated sci-fi survival film that was written/directed by Chris Sanders and produced by Jeff Hermann.
If the name Chris Sanders sounds familiar to you all, its because he had been worked with classic movies, he started working at Disney as visual works and even character designs, he worked on a classic renaissance films like Beauty and The Beast, The Lion King and Mulan. Then in 2002, while Disney was in bad shape, he gave one his best work, Lilo and Stitch. But after the negotiation of American Dog didn’t go well, Sanders left Disney to Dreamworks for his passion project of The Croods (though with mixed result), he also gave us another one of his best, How To Train Your Dragon. Sanders’s next movie wouldn’t be until we have here today. Back in September 2023, they were announced to adapting from the book series with the same name by Peter Brown with Sanders brought in as both writer and director. Though this film’s idea came from Sanders’s curiosity when he found the book, he wasn’t sure at first, until he think that this will be the opportunity make a movie with Dreamworks, it wasn’t just a survival movie with a lone robot, but also feel that this will be fitting to have a heart to connect between robot and nature.
So, with all that said, will the robot lives in nature in peace, or is it unwelcoming to the wild life?
Well, lets find out.
The Story
While this movie is gonna be similar to Cast Away, but with a robot, but the story of this movie is actually both fun and actually heartwarming.
Taking place in a fictional future, we introduce the main robot named ROZZM unit 7134 who’s washed ashore to an island of wildlife from a typhoon (while unfortunately, the other ROZZUMs are broken in pieces), but after got activated by one otter out of nowhere, ROZZUM wakes up that, before discovering island, she’s pretty much in full on assistant mode with advertising services and asking for task to wild animals, which she unfortunately scaring them off and getting herself at risk from obstacles, getting attacked by a predator and worse, accidentally crushed a nest with a mother goose with one egg left. After it cracked open in birth, she’s curiously meets a baby goose as “Brightbill”, at first, she wasn’t so sure to figuring out how she’s being called a mother, until she meets a fox name Fink (despite she saw him before) to helping her for being adoptive mother to Brightbill for three task, eating, swimming and flying. However, due to bring a robot, its not easy to start to first meeting the other animals, especially for her chemistry with her and the wild animals, while at the same time, she wants to found out who she is. Its up to Roz to discovering nature to connect them and asking herself whether or not if she lives with nature or going back to the futuristic company called “Universal Dynamics”.
I find the story of this movie, again, while its similar many survival films like say, Cast Away, but the execution is actually pretty impressive and of course, well written. The movie goes to focus of Roz trying to connect with nature for her both curiosity and befriend with them without putting herself as risk, even if she’s a robot from greeting in advertising and assistant mode from the start. But the longer she stay to hanging out and helping the more emotion she’s developing that she’s interested live with, especially for her chemistry with herself, Brightbill and Fink, especially to have a mix of humor and heart. Especially with the latter, while I do have a chuckling moments, but the heart is the key to this movie, and I will say, they did a pretty good job how we can relate to her for both both outcast and castaway, along with a subplot that she needs to know who she’s supposed to be when her relationship with wild animals goes pretty difficult when they treating her as a monster, despite she’s meant to helping them without putting a harm, even if she didn’t even meant to kill Brightbill’s mother, even if without telling the terrible truth to him. Its easy to feel sorry for her that she just wants to be friend rather than being badly treated, even if when she found that she’s meant to be part of “Universal Dynamics”, leaving her an uneasy decision if she stays or got back where she belongs. Especially where she wants to be an adoptive mother to helping Brightbill for how to be like geese to eat, swimming and flying. However, if there’s a downside I have of this movie, is that the movie started pretty short when she’s quickly washed ashore of the island, which its been heard about a cargo ship was caught in a dangerous typhoon that left her, along with 5 others (but broken into pieces) left to the island, which find the opening is rather a rushed start, even if I understand that the movie’s length is less than 2 hours, but again, the opening is kinda rushed.
Aside of botched opening, the story and its writing are both outstanding for adventure to survive, a chemistry with wild animals and difficulty life with ROZZUM, especially for her developing her feeling towards animals for both helping and friendship.
The Animation
The movie’s budget is $78M, and by looks of this film’s animation, my god, its beautifully well done.
For the background design, they look pretty amazing for a movie taking place in an island of wildlife, though as I know, the forest and the landscape is done via inspiration from Claude Monet’s painting with all the nature with forest, river, a shore and others for concept background, making the background looking like painting comes to life, its beautifully amazing what they pulled with all the textures and even the effects.
Speaking of the animation and the effects, its no stranger that by looking at it, they took the same technique from previous films like The Bad Guys and Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, based on a CG with 2D-like animation that they took inspiration from Sony’s Spider-Verse, and out of the same technique they pulled, this is probably the strongest one they ever pulled. The effects of this movie is pretty good with the water effect its much more of a natural in 3D to even some lighting action like lightning and laser gun blast are like in 2D.
For animation, it goes like two roles, on one side is the full futuristic 3D with some robots, the future town, the vehicles to maybe even some humans, they’re looking pretty nice, especially with ROZZUM design. Though I know I kept saying “im not gonna do a comparison between the book and the film, cause I didn’t own a book”, but this might be an exception. If you look at the book version’s design, it looks way too simple and robotic, which I find this one to be… Too simple and kinda boring. The movie’s ROZZUM design is completely different, sure it has a same ling arms and legs, but they made her a round design and also made it simple, but also giving Roz a special ability like detachable limb and even developing her emotion, which I find Roz’s movie design look, while simple, but also giving innocent looking, which I find her pretty cute as a robot.
On the other side, there the nature and the wildlife are done in 3D with 2D concept comes to life, sure there are some may look like if they’re from other movies outside of Dreamworks, but il give a credit that they did this as an inspiration from classic Disney films to even Hayao Miyazaki films. Specically while Chris Sanders said, its an inspiration from both Bambi and My Neighbor Totoro. And I gotta say, for inspiration of the animals design and the animation, they look pretty good for the deisgn and even cute looking. Sure some action scenes with geese are done with 2D, but I can’t help but enjoy how the animation of the animals are pretty good, kinda like a Disney inspired concept arts comes to life.
Sadly, despite they did the best work and effort for the animation process and the same technique, this will be the last film when Dreamworks made their animation on their own, meaning that because of the flop from Ruby Gillman, they won’t be able to make another movie from scratch with laying off employees, which means Dreamworks need a helping hands for the outsiders for their future projects. Like I said in my list of worst movies in 2023, its pretty sad for what could’ve been their redemption, but because they’re losing money and their employees, gotta shifting away to making animated movies on outside studios at the end of 2024. Back then, Dreamworks used to be great for making best movies on their own hands, but for now on at the end of 2024, they gotta work with the outsiders for their helping hands for their future projects. Thanks a lot, Ruby Gillman…!
Despite this will be the last film that Dreamworks made an animated movies on their own, but they still did their best job for beautifully well crafted animation from the background and their inspired animation technique.
The Characters
In typical Dreamworks fashion, it has an all-star cast with past and modern names on, but based on a beautifully, fun and emotional writing, it makes the characters actually enjoy to hear and heartfelt.
Lets starts off with the wild robot herself, ROZZUM Unit 7134, or Roz for short (voiced by Lupita Nyong’o, aka Maz Kanata, aka Raksha, aka Nakia), the main robot who’s washed ashore to the wildlife island to discovering the environment to hanging out with wild animals to befriending to becoming adoptable mother, even if she may have a hard time to either live with wildlife or going back to futuristic city. While I find her design look simple, but cute, I find her pretty fascinating for her character driven, she started out as an unwelcoming outcast that they’ve name-calling her as a monster that left her difficult to get along from the start, especially when she wants to finding out who and what is she supposed to be, leaving her, again, questioning herself to either stay or go. But of course once she learns further, along with developing her emotion in her robotic mind, the more emotional and believable she’s become. That’s what makes her memorable for all of fun and tragic reason, she’s alone and being the only robot in a wildlife that she just wants to be welcomed and looking for friends or being a mother to the animals, but isn’t easy from the start in her Assistant mode, but the longer she stays, the more more character driven she’s become, and that makes her memorable and yet we feel sorry for being an outsider, and Lupita did a great job for her voice acting. Plus, this is Lupita’s first voice acting in animated film, so good for her.
Next we have Fink (voiced by Pedro Pascal, aka Mando from The Mandalorian), the red fox that, at first, when Roz tries to saving the egg, he wants to eat the newborn goose, since he’s a carnivorous like any foxes (for the most part), but he eventually get along with her to helping her for learning about the wildlife and kinda even teaching her to be an adoptive mother when she protects Brightbill. At first, we thought he could be a hostile fox from the start, but after seeing her adopting Brightbill, he chooses for not only being bad to good, but also helping her to discover the environment, which is actually pretty nice to help her as a robot. Though its also funny that he sounds almost like Nick Wylde from Zootopia, they’re both mischievous and well, they’re both red fox, though whereas Nick is being a small-time con-artist for her quick money goal before Judy Hopps shows up, while Fink is a typical carnivorous to teacher show Roz a whole new world in the island of wildlife. Which I find Fink being another memorable, he’s both funny and helpful to Roz to discover the world outside of future city. And of course, Pedro did a fun work of his voice acting.
Then there’s Brightbill (voiced by Kit Connor) a young goose who’s adopted by Roz follow her incident of her bumping and crushing ride on her discovering the land. At first, we may have a cute and sad start when Roz made a fatal accident of killing a mother goose (even though she didn’t even meant to) which Roz have not choice to be his mother to taking care of. At first, I find him to be a passable orphan that Roz teaches him with three tasks, but like Roz, he has a character driven for his build up finishing task to unfortunate revealing the dark truth for why he lost his original mother. At first with the truth revealed, it feels like he has no hope with Roz, which at least once he learns about flight and even migration, he has a motivation to live like geese with the help of Thunderbolt and even Longneck. He may have a typical cute and kinda boring starts, but once he’s developed, he eventually got motivated once he’s able to finishing the tasks from Roz to understand to be like geese and migration, which is actually nice, even I gave a pass, but again, still nice for his character driven from the execution, and Kit did a nice work of his voice role that we can rooting for and feel sorry for him for being an orphan.
As for the rest of the characters, even though they’re not much else to say, but at least they have a nice character developments to giving advice to our main wild robot as well with some surprising developments and even fun voice acting.
There’s Pinktail (voiced by Catherine O’Hara, aka Kate McCallister from Home Alone, and aka Delia Deetz from Beetlejuice) she’s the mother of her own Virginia opossum family to giving Roz an advice for how to be a mother of Brightbill and jeez, how many times Catherine plays a mother role in movies? Longneck (voiced by Bill Nighy, aka Davy Jones from Pirates of the Caribbean), an elder goose to gives an advice to Roz for teaching Brightbill to fly by having Thunderbolt (voiced by Ving Rhames) to be a strong coach to teaching Brightbill to flying (pretty interesting to having an advice given from freakin’ Davy Jones than finding souls), Thorn (voiced by Luke Skywalker himself, Mark Hamill) who’s at first, a menacing grizzly bear before, like a teddy bear, changed his heart for Roz (despite he slashed her…), Paddler (voiced by Matt Berry) who’s a busy beaver for the river (like any beavers) and finally, there’s Vontra (voiced by Stephanie Hsu, aka Alma Milan from The Fall Guy) is a robot who’s looking after Roz to bring her back where she’s belong, she sounds pretty friendly, despite being strictly menace against nature.
While some have a minor appearances, but these guys are both good and well-written with humors, plot development and even characters driven for how we’re rooting and our sympathy. Along with great voice acting.
And now for my final opinion of this film.
Overall, The Wild Robot is probably the best Dreamworks’ film they’ve ever made and this film is probably my new favorite next to Shrek and even Kung Fu Panda.
Despite it has a minor flaw, but this film is impressive from its beautiful animation, a very good and emotional story based on writing’s execution, memorable characters, the voice acting is great, its has its humor and its also rather emotional for our heart to a main character and rooting for one of the geese.
While its a damn shame that this is the last film that Dreamworks worked the animation on their own hands before working with the outsiders, I mean, I think those people did the best job of this while they sacrifice their business before the end of 2024. I know its sad for their changing, they did their best work for this film.
This is no stranger that its a Must-Watch film for everyone and the fans of Dreamworks. So if you guys wanna see it, get your friends and family together to watching, im sure some of you guys will love it if you eventually watching it, cause this one is probably the biggest animated film of the year. Again, highly recommend to watch it, my friends.
Because of all of good reasons that I enjoyed of watching this for fun and heartwarming it is, im gonna give this one a PERFECT 10/10, along with earning the Trophy of Success.
So this ends of my movie review, if you guys have your opinion or any suggestions, let me know at comment bellow and support me on KO-FI.com/blackevil.
Thanks for reading, and im Anthony, signing out.
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