A shipwrecked robot adopts an orphaned gosling and learns to be a mother in The Wild Robot, a perky and poignant animation produced by DreamWorks and directed by Chris Sanders of How to Train Your Dragon fame.
The bumf says Miyazaki and old Disney informed the look of the finished product, but the DreamWorks hit Ice Age is the dominant vibe – smart, anthropomorphised animals say the darnedest things, which seems to have been enough for most critics to give it the hearty thumbs up. I liked it a lot less, I have to say, though it does get itself together towards the end, when the quips are given a rest and Sanders and co go instead for the emotional jugular backed up with some strong images.
The voice cast is good, with Lupita Nyong’o a standout as the voice of Rozzum 7134, the robot brimming with corporate positivity who is marooned on a remote island. Here, after various WALL-E-esque encounters, he/she/it/they learns to speak animal before embarking on the Pinocchio-like journey towards something approaching sentience.
Aided by Fink (Pedro Pascal), a wily old fox who initially sees Brightbill the junior goose as little more than sandwich filling, she teaches the motherless bird the basics of eating, swimming and flying, and as she does so learns about the role of emotion and the importance of sometimes just ignoring the programming.
Off to various sides quite a lot of distinctive voice talent is underused. Matt Berry gets a few lines as a beaver trying to take down the biggest tree in the forest. Bill Nighy gets about the same as the wise older goose taking Brightbill under his wing. You may also detect Ving Rhames (spotted!), plus Mark Hamill and Catherine O’Hara (missed them), and Kit Connor does a lot of solid voice work as the adult Brightbill.
Be yourself or fit in? The Wild Robot gets itself all a-tangle over its messaging and also isn’t sure what to do with Fink. Does he have a foxy nature because he’s a fox? Or is his nature the result of childhood neglect? It has it both ways.
DreamWorks says this is their last in-house animation. From now on the company that also gave us Antz, Shrek, Kung Fu Panda and How to Train Your Dragon is going to outsource everything, though they have greenlit a sequel, also to be directed by Sanders, creator of Lilo and Stitch, a DreamWorks stalwart who’s been there since 2007 (with occasional side gigs for other outfits).
Whether that’ll change the animation style is anyone’s guess. Sanders says Miyazaki and Disney but in fact the look is more its own beast – gorgeous backdrops, with skies and water effects sweated over, light and shadow used sensitively. But in one sense it is Miyazaki – the images don’t draw attention to themselves. The animation is in the service of the story, not vice versa.
So any sequel will have a template to work from. What it’ll be about is anyone’s guess, because by the end of The Wild Robot, the story of Roz (as she becomes known) has been well and truly told and there is nowhere else for it to go. I’d not be surprised if the sequel never got made, though the accountants will probably have the last word.
The Wild Robot – Watch it/buy it at Amazon
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© Steve Morrissey 2024
