By Bryce Maher
Correspondent
Dreamworks released its newest film, “The Wild Robot,” on Sept. 27 to both critical and audience acclaim. The film is an adaptation of Peter Brown’s No. 1 New York Times bestseller of the same name and is easily the best animated movie of the year.
The film tells the story of a robot named Rozzum 7143, also known as Roz, voiced by Lupita Nyong’o, who crash-lands on a deserted island and has to learn to fend for herself. Along the way, she accidentally crushes a goose’s nest. This results in the death of all of the geese except for a single runt, that she names Brightbill, voiced by Kit Connor, whom she’s now forced to raise.
Roz can’t raise Brightbill on her own, however, so she gets the help of Fink, voiced by Pedro Pascal, a fox that’s rough around the edges but has a good heart. Roz and Fink are given the task of teaching Brightbill to fly by winter, or he won’t be able to migrate to survive. It’s a simple premise, but its emotional stakes are really what elevate it to another level.
One of the biggest draws of this film is how touching it is. You grow to love these characters, and the story takes full advantage of that with moments that will leave you in tears. I know there were multiple times I was brought to tears, and I wouldn’t consider myself one to cry from movies often.
This level of heart is to be expected from writer and director Chris Sanders, however, as he’s best known for directing “Lilo & Stitch” and “How to Train Your Dragon” — two very heartwarming films.
This film, despite being aimed at all audiences, doesn’t shy away from harsh subject matter. Rather, it embraces it. The characters are continuously reminded of the reality that their survival isn’t guaranteed, and that they must work together to survive in this harsh environment.
While that may seem incredibly dark for a movie that many kids will see, the tone is balanced out by the story’s main thesis: Kindness is a survival skill. Every positive action in this movie supports this thesis, and none of the characters ever benefit from a lack of kindness. It’s a beautiful message that resonated so heavily with me.
Another contributing factor to the film’s fantastic quality is its voice acting cast. Every voice actor involved brings their A-game, and even though almost every character is voiced by a celebrity, none of them feel like they were hired because of their celebrity status. All of the great jokes in the film, of which there are many, are made even better by the voice actors' performances.
The best performances easily came from Pedro Pascal as Fink and Lupita Nyong'o as Roz. They’re unrecognizable in their roles, breathing so much life into these characters.
And of course, this film’s visuals are phenomenal. Whether it be Roz watching a swarm of butterflies fly around her or using the lights in her eyes to help an otter family swim to shore on a foggy winter night, every frame of this movie is beautiful. There are so many shots in this movie that still make me tear up when I see them.
So much love and care is poured into every animation, color choice and camera movement. This, coupled with the cinematography of Chris Stover, who worked on “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish,” is a match made in heaven.
The movie isn’t only significant for its quality, but it also marks the end of an era for Dreamworks. It’s the last Dreamworks film ever to be fully animated in-house, according to Cartoon Brew, meaning no scenes of the film were animated by other studios. Every future Dreamworks movie will have scenes animated by different studios to reduce production costs.
With fantastic visuals, an incredibly moving and heartfelt story and phenomenal performances throughout, I strongly recommend that all moviegoers check out Sanders’ animated masterpiece. It’s a film that will make you laugh and cry, but more than anything, it will inspire you to be kind.
