By 
A VISUALLY STUNNING
AND HEARTFELT MASTERPIECE
DreamWorks Animation Studios has had their ups and downs in their releases, finding their cartoon endeavors of a mixed variety from the highest highs to the mediocre lows. The studio has produced some of the finest (and most memorable) animated films such as Shrek, Kung Fu Panda and, How to Train Your Dragon; finding each one to have their own unique personal visual aesthetics between cinematic storytelling and lovable characters. Even some of their own “stand alone” endeavors such as Shark’s Tale, Over the Hedge, and Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie have had celebration of garnishing praise from critics, moviegoers, and box office results. However, DreamWorks has had its fair share of unfavorable releases, with some of the most forgetful features such as Home, Bee Movie, and Turbo. Perhaps the instability of their releases rest upon the decision of this comes down to its overall studio distribution, with DreamWorks Animation being handled by several studios, including DreamWorks Pictures (from inception to 2005), then Paramount Pictures from 2006-2012, then 20th Century Fox from 2013-2017, and now (currently) under Universal Pictures. Regardless, it looks like DreamWorks is struggling to find a proper footing with its “hit or miss” releases. Now, following the box office success (yet mediocre reviews) of Kung Fu Panda 4, DreamWorks Animation Studios and director Chris Sanders present the latest animated feature film with the movie The Wild Robot, which is based on the book of the same name by author Peter Brown. Does the movie soar above its animated competition or does it lost within its illustrated wilderness and heavy-handed themes?
THE STORY
In an undisclosed time in the near future, Universal Dynamics is looking to change the world with their automaton line of helpful robots to help bring comfort and efficiency for all humankind to benefit from. Crash landing on a remote island is one of the models, with ROZZUM Unit 7134 or known as Roz (Lupita Nyong’o), accidentally being activated by the local wildlife. Roz is a helper robot, who is designed to complete tasks, soon turning her attention to the wild animals in the vicinity for any type of assistance or need, but the animals see her as an outsider monster and want nothing to do with her. During her exploration and various confrontations for the wildlife, Roz accidentally kills a mother goose, discovering the lone egg she’s left behind. Taking possession of the egg, Roz carefully as the hatching, who she names Brightbill (Kit Connor) emerges from his shell, immediately imprinting on the robot. Accepting the task as Brightbill’s mother, Roz, giving her limited knowledge of parenting and of her programming function, isn’t sure what’s expected of her, finding guide assistance from the fox Fink (Pedro Pascal) and opossum mom Pinktail (Catherine O’Hara), who advise the metallic visitor to help Brightbill learn how to fly. However, Brightbill is considered a “runt”, smaller and weaker than the other winged birds in the area, with Roz giving the young gosling a fighting chance to join his own kind and reach his migratory potential. Yet, Roz begins to feel a special connection with Brightbill and her other animal friends, learning empathy and compassion for them, which causes her to ponder her own existence and purpose in life.
THE GOOD / THE BAD
Borrowing my lines from my review of Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken, I believe that DreamWorks Animation has been going through a series of ups and downs. When it was first beginning, I believe it to be an animated powerhouse, with the company rivaling Pixar and other Disney movies, especially after the “House of Mouse’s” second renaissance era of the 90s. Movie releases like Shrek, Kung Fu Panda, Shark’s Tale, and How to Train Your Dragon I would deem to be some of the top-tier releases that the studio had to offer from the late 90s to the late 2000s era, with some branching out to deliver solid sequels (i.e. Shrek 2, Kung Fu Panda 2 and How to Train Your Dragon 2). Heck, even some of its non-3D animated cartoon features (more traditional style 2D animation) like The Road to El Dorado and Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas proved to be quite effective endeavors that barred fruit and popularity amongst its viewers. That being said, DreamWorks did start to show signs of decline sometime after early 2010s, with several releases that I found either poorly done and / or mediocre endeavors. Films like Bee Movie, Home, and Turbo (the ones I mention above) are just terrible in my opinion and are just pretty “meh”. As stated, it was probably due to the studio’s distribution handling several times over that caused this influx of popular movies releases. And don’t get me started on all the various spin-off TV shows that were done with such “blech” animation. Yet, despite those ups and downs, DreamWorks still has managed (as of late) delivered some good, animated features in the late 2010s / early 2020s era, with releases like How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World, Abominable, and Croods: A New Age. Then let us not forget their 2022 releases, with The Bad Guys and Puss in Boots: The Last Wish; both films I loved and showcased plenty of new and fresh style from the studio. However, its 2023 releases of Ruby Gilman, Teenage Kraken and Trolls Band Together display a more mediocre level and more of a “cash grab” for box office results. This is in even further examined with 2024’s Kung Fu Panda 4, a movie that has its heart in the right place, but (to me) feels a bit of a “cash grab” on the franchise nostalgia (feeling like an unnecessary installment in the series). To that end, I say that DreamWorks Animation Studios has had a bumpy road through the past two decades, but has endured and produced a good decent number of animated features and doesn’t show to be stopping any time soon.
This brings me back to talking about The Wild Robot, a 2024 animated film and the latest film to be released from DreamWorks Animation Studios. As I mentioned above, the 2023 releases from DreamWorks were a mediocre at best and showed that the studio still has its “hit or miss” ratio, while Kung Fu Panda 4 I did enjoy, yet felt really subpar to the previous installments. So, I felt that DreamWorks was back on the downward spiral once again. I think it was around the time of Kung Fu Panda 4’s release I began to hear about their other 2024 film titled The Wild Robot. I remember seeing the trailer for the upcoming animated feature and loved the visual animation that sort of reminded me of the art style from Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (an animated film that I personally loved). Over the next few months, more and more of The Wild Robot’s marketing campaign began to emerge and entice me more to see the film when it was in Fall 2024. The premise (from what I could gather from the previews) looked to really heartfelt and (presumably) emotionally charged, exploring the possible themes of love, kindness, family, and fundamental question of “can a robot feel empathy”, which certainly has been posed in other animated films. Plus, the acting talent involved in this project (Nyong’o, Pascal, Connor, Hamill, Nighy, and O’Hara) looked to be pretty stacked and got very excited to see how these characters will be represented in the film. So, given all that, I was quite excited to see The Wild Robot when it was set to be released on September 27th, 2024. I did get a chance to see the movie during its opening day and (thankfully) had the weekend off, so I could get my review done as quick as possible for you guys to read it. And what did I think of the film? Well, to be honest, I loved it! Despite some very minor gripes, The Wild Robot is a beautiful and cinematic animated film that is wrapped together with such heart and sincerity within its undertaking and delivers a very moving tale of love and kindness. It’s a movie that Disney wishes its modern releases could be and something that Pixar endeavors once had. Majestically rendered, visually appealing, and touching moments from memorable characters and a very “human” story of emotions gives The Wild Robot a brilliant, animated playground to play and an instant masterpiece classic.
For the record, I did recently find out that the feature was based on a book by the same name by author Peter Brown, but I didn’t get the chance to read the book prior to the film’s release. Thus, my opinions in this review will be solely on the movie itself and not what was added, changed, or omitted from Brown’s book. However, I would like to hear from those who have read the book and what did you think of the animated film in the comments below.
The Wild Robot is directed by Chris Sanders, whose previous directorial works includes such films as Lilo & Stitch, The Croods, and How to Train Your Dragon. Given his background on working on animated films, including as writer and animator, and voice actors (yes, Sanders is the voice behind Stitch from many of the Lilo & Stitch projects), Sanders does seem like a suitable choice to helm such a feature like this, especially considering that the director has worked How to Train Your Dragon, which is widely considered as one of the most beloved and popular films in the DreamWorks animated.. However, while Train Your Dragon takes a bit more precedent than the others (in terms of likeability and popularity), there is no denying the work of his other works on how the themes of his previous works bleeds into this project. Of course, the relationship between Hiccup and Toothless from Train Your Dragon is a classic staple, but looking at Lilo & Stitch, The Croods, and even his iteration of The Call of the Wild showcases narratives that tell of unconventional friendships and how the share differences and how they defy expectations in forging their intangible (and meaningful) connections. Certainly, that speaks to The Wild Robot as Sanders continues the narrative trend within this movie and further envisions a tale of unlikely companions coming together and tackling the odds that work against them.
What makes a good film is (naturally) is a good and engaging story to tell, captivating its viewers with a tale (story and characters) that…to put it bluntly…is something worth telling. However, what makes a good story even better is that it inspires conversation and / or themes around what the tale represents, extrapolating such commentary into something quite meaningful that transcends beyond the written material or what is being displayed on screen. Sanders certainly does with The Wild Robot, with the director delving into some pretty strong and powerful thematic messages that help build upon the narrative and inspire reflections upon the real world. Of course, having a futuristic robot learning what it means to be alive through the usage of discovering empathy, personal self-awareness, and emotional complexities by ways and means of an unusual real-life experience and encountering a wider understand of how the world works through some unlikely friendships might sound a bit too confusing and something a bit complexed to tell within the same animated company that brought us a tubby kung-fu loving panda, a grumpy ogre, and musically inclined trolls. However, Sanders, who wrote the screenplay for the movie, navigates such pitfalls and tropes in a way that’s easy to digest and is presented enough for younger viewers to engage with as well as older viewers can appreciate, which certainly does make for some compelling storytelling.
As mentioned, the movie (at first glance) looks to be more modern day spiritual influence of Pixar’s Wall-E and the parallelism are quite clear….taking a futuristic robot, who are specifically design to exist in the service and easement of the human race and gains a better understanding of the world around through the means of several unexpected turns and opening up “their world” through empathy and understanding beyond what they were programmed to be. Moreover, one can see other similarities that overflow into this movie, including The Iron Giant, Fly Away Home, and Princess Mononoke. However, while those parallelisms ring true, Saunders delves a bit deeper into the emotions of “humanity”, with Roz slowly gained her own personality and learning about taking care of another, looking beyond what she was initially programmed to be and gaining an understanding of how the world works. This showcases a multitude of thematic commentary within this presentation, including (but not limited to) thinking outside the box, discovering your individualism, be kind to others, and embracing the differences in others; all of which are highly valuable tools to become a better person. Sanders embraces those ideologies and demonstrates that through Roz’s personal journey of surviving out in the wilderness with other forest creatures and raising a bird as its own. Heck, after seeing this movie, all of humanity should take a page from Roz’s story and “sometimes, to survive, you must become more than you were programmed to be.”
This is coupled with a more prevalent (and at the heart of the story) can be derived from the relationship between Roz and Brightbill, which is (for all tense and purposes) a relationship between a mother and son (or rather an orphaned mother or an orphaned son). It’s a poignant one that delves into their feature’s plot framing and the nurturing effect that Roz (the mother) has on raising an offspring orphan bird (Brightbill) and how both are affected by this situation. With both Roz and Brightbill being seeing as outsiders by most of the forest animal community, their situation and parental relationship is a great crux between the two of them and the intangible feeling that occurs when the love between a parent and child. Sanders knows this and fully embraces that feeling, which does drum up plenty of heartfelt emotions as well as exemplifying his classic themes of unlikely companionship form within his feature films. It’s quite a beautiful story to behold and unfold throughout the course of The Wild Robot, with Sanders walking a fine line and never leans on redundancies or cliches, shaping an animated motion picture that tells a captivating story of learning empathy and complex emotions.
Make no mistake…. The Wild Robot is an emotional rollercoaster, but in a very sincere and delicate way that feels wholesomely earned in every way possible. The usage of emotional moments of various scenes and events has always been a hallmark selling point for an animated feature, especially those coming from Pixar Animation Studios, which has literally built their signature style around such heartfelt sequences. You know what I’m talking about,….Jessie’s backstory from Toy Story 2, the opening sequences of Carl and Ellie’s life together from Up, Andy playing with his toys one last time at the end of Toy Story 3, Bingbong’s farewell in Inside Out, and several others (you get the idea). Yet, besides one or two moments from some of their recent releases, Pixar hasn’t really hit home those “gut-wrenching” emotional moments like they use to and haven’t really “capture” that magic of late. The Wild Robot, despite being a DreamWorks Animation Studio release, does that….in cinematic spades. The movie delivers on gut-wrenching front that will certainly tug at the heartstrings at every one and doesn’t feel manipulative or mechanical like Pixar’s The Good Dinosaur (not to bash on that movie, but it did feel very manufactured in its emotions). For this movie, Sanders and his team (storyboard, writers, and animators) brings a lot of emotional weight and depth into the story, which can be easily visible in the scenes with Roz and Brightbill as well as Fink and the rest of the forest critters that Roz befriends there. As outline above, the thematic reasonings and touching moments are quite strong and profound at the central core of the feature, which does bring about a solid connection with these characters. Thus, when such emotional moments come…. they hit hard. I will tell you straight up…. I did cry when I view this movie. Maybe because of a close relationship with my mother (as well as my dad) and felt the connection that Roz and Brightbill have, which definitely moved me (literally) to tears in several scenes. It felt raw and real, and I found myself finding that “spark” of a connection to characters and situations that dug deep into my inner emotions. Thus, The Wild Robot is rooted within human emotions, despite human characters not taking centerstage in the feature, and comes out on top within his heartfelt and sincere emotional driven attachments, overtures, and thematic values.
Yet, despite all those dramatic meanings and gut-wrenching moments of emotions, The Wild Robot is still a kid’s movie, with Sanders still making time for some comedic reliefs and / or moments that can resonate more with its intended target audience viewers. That’s not to say that everything goes slapstick or goofy antics, but the movie is given a healthy dose of humorous relief throughout the feature, which is surprisingly fun and engaging to have in a movie like this. Some moments are bit dark or rather a bit of dark humor, which older viewers can appreciate from the 80s / 90s movie releases, including animated ones, but a lot of the jokes and gags and natural dialogue quips or slapstick comedy antics, which do provide plenty of good laughs that I did enjoy (most landed on their intended targets) and does create some wholesome funny moments in this animated tales. Coupled with other cartoon nuances, Sanders makes The Wild Robot an incredibly solid animated outing, which provides that DreamWorks isn’t out of the fight for cartoon motion picture releases…. not by a long shot.
For its presentation, The Wild Robot is absolutely breath-taking to behold and is truly a visual animated masterpiece for the eyes. DreamWorks has certainly pushed the boundaries of animation style and visual flair within several of their cartoon features, with most notable recent endeavor being 2022’s Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, a film that “broke the mold” of traditional animation and embraces a more artistic art style direction to tell its picture therein. DreamWorks seems to have “springboarded” what was done with The Last Wish and deliver yet another beautiful and gorgeous animated project within The Wild Robot’s visual presentation. There is no doubt about it that the movie’s visual direction speaks volumes throughout the entire picture, with such vivid and detailed coloring displayed on almost every scene. The movie has touches, flourishes, and inspiration from impressionism (clearly notable to Monet’s artwork), with lush painted strokes that is framed within the design art style of Hayao Miyazaki. From the forest landscape (and all of its various terrains) to a few futuristic designs and motifs that are scattered throughout the story, everything about the film is quite amazing to behold. Even the character designs are adorable and cute and are filled with different personalities and facial expressions, which does make them very distinct from the classic CGI rendering animal creatures from modern day animated features. All of this culminates in something (and I can not stress this enough) incredible to see throughout the movie, blending such artistic nuances and new animated computer-generated technology to create such jaw-dropping beautiful cartoon motion picture. Basically, if you loved the visual animation from The Last Wish, then you’ll love what The Wild Robot presents…..no question about it.
As a sidenote, The Wild Robot is a sort of “bittersweet” presentation, with this release being the final film to be animated entirely in-house from this animated studio, as DreamWorks would begin relying heavily on outsider vendors after 2024. Thus, if this to be a swansong and a culmination of the in-house animators and artistry from the company….then The Wild Robot is a perfect animated motion picture send-off.
Thus, several of the main players in the film’s “behind the scenes” group, including Raymond Zibach (production design) and Ritchie Sacilioc (art direction) as well as all of the movie’s artists and animators should be highly praised for their efforts in on The Wild Robot and how such visual wizardry (from concept to rendering) can be assembled and presented within this animated movie. What definitely aids in this endeavor is the cinematography work by Chris Stover, who worked on Puss in Boots: The Last Wish as well as several other DreamWorks releases and delivers yet another fantastic body of work within this picture. Given the art style of the feature, Stover’s work helps improve (or better yet enhance) such richness of the visual flair of the movie, with unique camera angles and usage of shadowing and lighting to help generate plenty of cinematic moments that feels reminiscent to The Last Wish (obviously) as well as the Kung Fu Panda movies or the How to Train Your Dragon installments. Overall, such some great visual cinematic work from Stover and should also be praised for his work on this cartoon motion picture project. Lastly, the film’s score, which was composed by Kris Bowers, should be another big highlight of the movie’s presentation, with such a beautiful musical composition that speaks to the story’s identity and visual style. Flourishes of sentimental melodies and rousing and bombastic suites can be felt throughout the entire feature and lend a part of The Wild Robot’s visual appeal. Bower’s work is beautiful and definitely tugs on the heartstrings during those said “emotional” moments that I mentioned above. Overall, a great soundtrack that is filled with fantastic melodies and a great listen to those film soundtrack buffs out there.
While I did great enjoy the movie (immensely), there were a few minor criticisms that I had with The Wild Robot that, while not derailing the project, only make a few small blemishes on its artfully crafted presentation. How so? Well, for starters, I would have to say that the movie could benefited with a bit longer length in its runtime and fleshing out some of the world building moments and various characters. With having a runtime of only 101 minutes (one hour and forty-one minutes), the movie itself fits the standards of a kid’s animated film, but I did feel like the feature could’ve been easily extended in a few scenes here and there. This includes a further examination into Roz’s assimilation into the forest (as well with the other forest creatures there), more time with Brightbill’s upbringing (his earlier days), a bit more struggles in Brightbill’s differences with the other geese, a slightly better understanding of the human world (i.e. Universal Dynamics and the state of the world at large), and a few more scenes with some of the other woodland creatures and characters. I would say that the movie could’ve added a bit more time to delve a bit deeper into these various aspects, adding maybe five or ten minutes to film easily to help fully understand the world that Roz was integrated into and the situation that she finds herself in.
Additionally, while the movie is quite capable of melting the coldest heart within its emotional beats, the film does (in a few pocket areas) undercut some of the feature’s moments of reflection. Given the rushed nature of several scenes, Sanders does seem to sort of miss out of some of the sequences that, while not diminishing the impact it has on the overall film, does seem take away some opportunities that could’ve enrich some of those reflective moments throughout the movie in its entirety. It does get a little bit lost towards the end with a heavier focus on sweeping action scenes, which don’t quite hit as meaningful and / or poignant as some of the more heartfelt scenes in the middle act, but it does still bring it all back around to dramatic conclusion. I just think that Saunders needed to slow some things down (without rushing the narrative) and fleshed out some of the corners and edges of his feature with a bit more details. Again, not so much a “deal breaker”, but only a somewhat minor missed opportunity.
The voice cast in The Wild Robot is top notch with all of the selected acting talent involved (both primary and secondary characters) get their moment to shine in the spotlight and definitely gives them vocal performances enough “oomph” in giving the characters a very distinct personality. Leading the charge (and headlining) the movie is actress Lupita Nyong’o, who provides the voice of the story’s main protagonist character of ROZZUM Unit 7134 or shortened nicknamed to Roz. Known for her roles in 12 Years a Slave, Us, and Black Panther, Nyong’o has certainly been making a name for herself over the past several years by appearing more and more mainstream releases and being casted in more prominent roles. Personally, I like Nyong’o has an actress and love almost any roles that she’s in. So, to see her voice the lead character in a DreamWorks film was definitely something quite interesting and Nyong’o absolutely blast it out of the park with her performance of Roz. From beginning to end, Nyong’o gives Roz imbues the character with such tremendous optimism and hope, showcasing an infectious kindness of helping others and caring for them in a time of need. It’s definitely something that everyone should take a lesson from, especially in today’s world where mistreatment, jealous, and fearmongering are more commonplace in the public eye and that an act of kindness goes a long way.
As for her story, Roz’s overall journey, while been done before in other similar projects outlined previous, is still quite compelling, with the movie showing the transformation of how a robot can go outside her programming to learn more about the world around her, demonstrating the roles of single parent (Roz’s case…motherhood) and showing empathy and compassion for others; something designated outside her intended field of work. It’s compelling, heartfelt, and feels genuinely earned from start to finish, completing a wholesome character arc that will easily resonate with everyone who views it. In the end, the character of Roz is so adorably endearing and sincere that it makes the character feel so raw and real, despite being animated fictitious robot, and that Nyong’o gives such endearing vocal performances that wholesomely embodies that appealing and likeable attributes that makes Roz utterly loveable from beginning to end.
Behind Nyong’o, actor Pedro Pascal (Game of Thrones and The Mandalorian), who has also been making a name for himself in the last decade of his career, plays the character of Fink, a sly and mischievous fox who becomes one of Roz and Brightbill’s closest animal friends. The character is presented with a traditional manner of the overall plot (i.e. the first character that the main character befriends and “show them” the ropes of how everything works). It’s a conventional for storytelling, but the character easily becomes a fan-favorite amongst many, including myself, especially with Pascal’s infectious sound carefree voice that is always talking and wisecracking, but also is given a few small nugget-like moments compassion and understanding as a “loner who is looking for friendship”. Overall, Pascal was a such a delight and animated treat to play such a character like Fink that makes him stand out in the movie…. in a very good way.
The other third main lead in The Wild Robot (in order of screen time) would have to be Brightbill, an orphaned Canda goose who is raised by Roz as her own son after losing his biological family, and who is voiced by actor Kit Connor (His Dark Materials and Heartstoppers). Like Roz, Brightbill is the second half of the core fundamentals of the main narrative, acting as off-spring spouse to the parental figure, which Connor does exceptionally well within his vocal range. He gives Brightbill plenty of youthful energy and sincerity in his voice that he makes the character endearing and, while not as much as Roz does in the movie, showcases a wide range of emotions throughout the course of the story’s journey. Connor was definitely right fit for the character of Brightbill and it shows that whenever he’s on-screen.
The other voice talents, including actress Catherine O’Hara (Home Alone and Beetlejuice) as a mother opossum who gives Roz advice on raising Brightbill named Pinktail, actor Bill Nighy (Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest and Love Actually) as a wise elder goose who helps Roz understand teaching Brightbill how to fly named Longneck, actor Mark Hamill (Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope and The Boy and the Heron) as a grizzly and burly bear named Thorn, actor Matt Berry (Toast of London and Krapopolis) as a recluse and wacky beaver named Paddler, actor Ving Rhames (Mission Impossible and Pulp Fiction) as a falcon who helps Brightbill learn to fly named Thunderbolt, and actress Stephanie Hsu (Joy Ride and Everything Everywhere all at Once) as a robot sent by Universal Dynamics who has been sent to retrieve Roz named Vontra, fill out the rest of the characters in the movie, who are designated to more secondary / minor characters in the story. While all the voice talents in this grouping are solid across the board and give a great “voice” to these characters, most of these actual characters themselves could’ve benefited from a little bit longer screen time to help flesh them out a bit more. Don’t get me wrong…. what’s presented definitely works, but certain characters like Longneck, Thorn, and Thunderbolt could’ve been easily fleshed out more with one or two more scenes with them in them. Again, just a minor criticism to an otherwise great voice cast collection for this animated story.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Stranded on a remote island where only wildlife dwells, a helpful robot goes beyond her internal programming and cares for a baby goose hatching, raising it as her own and learns to show empathy and compassion as a parental figure her orphaned son in the movie The Wild Robot. Director Chris Sander’s latest film takes the premise of Peter Brown’s novel and uses it as the basis for an animated motion picture, equipped with a heavy themes of love and family, colorful cartoon characters, and a rousing presentation within a rather simple premise. While the feature does have a few minor blemishes that could’ve been ironed out a little bit better, a great majority of the film radiance with a warm light, especially thanks to Saunder’s direction, the sharp writing, thematic commentary and messages, a visually stunning animation style, a powerful score, incredible emotional beats, very touching and moving characters, and a solid voice talent cast across the board. Personally, I really loved this movie. Yes, I’ve always been a big fan of animated movies and was certainly looking forward to this feature, but I was unexpecting the emotional connection I felt for this picture. From onset to conclusion, the movie is filled with a hopeful outpouring of charm and heart within its animated tale, which is absolutely gorgeous to behold (again, visually stunning) and is wrapped together with a spot on voice talents assembled and touching and moving tale that explores many complexed themes. It definitely took me by surprise, and I felt a personal connection with this feature and (as I said) the emotional elements felt totally earned. It’s that good. It’s a movie that both Disney and Pixar have strived to achieve in some of their recent endeavors, but has never fully able to grasp. Even with some of DreamWorks latest films, including Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken, Trolls Band Together, and Kung Fu Panda 4, The Wild Robot simply outshines them all as its one of the finest films that the studio has ever produced. I dare even say that it was a better than Puss in Boots: The Last Wish…and I loved that movie and is right up there with How to Train Your Dragon, my personal favorite DreamWorks movie. Thus, it comes at no surprise that my recommendation for this film is an incredible and immensely satisfying “highly recommended” as it offers something for everyone to enjoy from. It’s funny, visually stunning, and just downright a heart-warming story about finding your purpose beyond the normal trajectory and enduring love and the kindness of family (those that we are born into and those who we are welcomed into). Will there be a sequel to this movie? It’s unclear, but I think that might ruin the palpable taste of what made this feature that so special. Still, regardless of if one doesn’t materialize or not, The Wild Robot stands tall and proud as a powerfully moving and heartfelt animated triumph and invokes some truly emotional and sincere messages about living life, finding yourself, and above all else…… showing kindness to others.
4.7 Out of 5 (Highly Recommended)
The Official The Wild Robot Website Link: HERE
Released On: September 27th, 2024
Reviewed On: September 29th, 2024
The Wild Robot is 101 minutes long and is rated PG for action / peril and thematic elements
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