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The Wild Robot

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The Wild Robot
Theatrical release poster
Directed byChris Sanders
Written byChris Sanders
Based onThe Wild Robot
by Peter Brown
Produced byJeff Hermann
Starring
CinematographyChris Stover
Edited byMary Blee
Music byKris Bowers
Production
company
Distributed byUniversal Pictures
Release dates
  • September 8, 2024 (2024-09-08) (TIFF)
  • September 27, 2024 (2024-09-27) (United States)
Running time
102 minutes[1]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$78 million[2]
Box office$54 million[3][4]

The Wild Robot is a 2024 American animated science fiction survival film based on the book series of the same name by Peter Brown, produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by Universal Pictures. The film was written and directed by Chris Sanders, produced by Jeff Hermann, and executive-produced by Sanders's longtime collaborative partner Dean DeBlois. It stars the voices of Lupita Nyong'o, Pedro Pascal, Kit Connor, Bill Nighy, Stephanie Hsu, Mark Hamill, Catherine O'Hara, Matt Berry, and Ving Rhames. In the film, Roz (Nyong'o), a robot shipwrecked on an uninhabited island, must adapt to her surroundings, build relationships with the local wildlife, and become the adoptive mother of an orphaned goose.

Sanders first encountered the original The Wild Robot book through his daughter and years later was offered an opportunity to direct a film adaptation at DreamWorks. The film uses a hand-painted aesthetic, inspired by classic Disney animated films and the works of Hayao Miyazaki. It would be the final film to be animated entirely in-house at DreamWorks, as the studio would begin relying heavily on outside vendors after 2024. Kris Bowers composed the film's score, marking his first score for an animated film.

The Wild Robot premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 8, 2024, and was theatrically released in the United States on September 27, 2024. The film received critical acclaim and has grossed $54 million against a $78 million budget.

Plot

[edit]

In a futuristic Earth, six Universal Dynamics ROZZUM all-purpose utilitarian robots are lost from a cargo ship during a typhoon, and wash up on an island that has no human life. Only one of the robots survives the crash, Unit 7134, which is accidentally activated by the local wildlife. Calling herself "Roz" for short, she attempts to advertise her services but only succeeds in terrifying the animals and injuring herself. Roz activates a learning safe mode that translates the animals' language over several days but still cannot find anyone who requires her help. She decides to signal her manufacturers to retrieve her but accidentally crushes a goose nest after falling off a cliff, leaving only a single egg. After Roz defends the egg from a hungry fox, it hatches, and the newborn gosling imprints itself onto her and breaks her communication transponder. Pinktail, a mother opossum, drives Roz to accept the task of raising the gosling with three primary requirements – feeding it, teaching it to swim, and ensuring it can fly before the annual winter migration. Roz recruits the fox, Fink, for help finding food and constructing a shelter; as the three begin cohabitating, Roz names the gosling Brightbill.

Once Brightbill has grown, Roz and Fink try teaching him how to swim. He meets the rest of the island’s geese, who belittle him for his smaller size, awkwardness, and his relationship with the "monster" that killed his original family. Brightbill scorns Roz and leaves, angry at having the truth kept from him; she returns to the cargo ship’s crash site to learn more about her intended purpose and replaces her transponder. Longneck, an elder goose, encourages Roz not to give up on Brightbill, and she recruits the falcon Thunderbolt to help with flying lessons and endurance training. Brightbill masters flying just as the geese leave for the migration, and he departs with Longneck; distraught at his departure and unnerved at her newfound sentience, Roz reactivates her transponder but shuts it off again just as the signal reaches Universal Dynamics headquarters.

A thunderstorm forces the geese to halt the migration and take shelter inside an enormous greenhouse, where its ROZZUM robots attack them. Longneck orders Brightbill, the only goose not scared of the robots, to lead the flock to safety while he sacrifices himself. Roz awakens to find Fink hiding in their shelter from a severe snowstorm, and she depletes her batteries rescuing as many animals as she can and bringing them to the shelter. Before Roz fully powers down, she and Fink urge the squabbling prey and predators to stop fighting until spring; once the terrifying grizzly bear Thorn agrees to the truce, the others comply. Roz awakens months later to find the animals still following the peace and the geese returning, who hail Brightbill as a hero. Before she can work up the courage to meet him, a Universal Dynamics dropship suddenly arrives to recover her. The retrieval robot Vontra attempts to lure Roz onto the ship, stating that Universal Dynamics is highly interested in studying her changed programming, but Fink convinces her to flee.

All the animals band together to fend off Vontra’s army of hostile ROZZUM units dubbed RECOs, but she captures Roz and causes a massive forest fire by self-destructing the dead robots. Brightbill leads the island's birds in an attack on the dropship as the other animals work to extinguish the fire, but he finds that Vontra has already cut Roz’s power and wiped her memories. However, Roz’s love for Brightbill reactivates and restores her systems, and the two manage to destroy Vontra and escape the dropship before it explodes. Although the animals celebrate their victory, Roz chooses to leave anyway to protect the island from future attacks. Before Roz summons another dropship to retrieve her, she promises the animals that her manufacturers cannot take away her sentience and that she will find a way to return. Sometime later, Brightbill sneaks into a greenhouse and approaches Roz, who appears to have been reset to factory settings; however, she reveals she still has her memories and emotions, and the two embrace.

Voice cast

[edit]
  • Lupita Nyong'o as ROZZUM unit 7134 ("Roz"), an abandoned robot that was washed onto a forest island and learns to adapt to the new environment, partially by using her processing ability to learn how to communicate with the native animals, and becomes the adoptive mother of Brightbill after accidentally killing his family.[5] The name of her product line, ROZZUM, and her manufacturer, Universal Dynamics, are references to Rossum's Universal Robots, the play that created the term "robot".[6] Along with that, the word "rozum" means "reason" in the original language of that play.[7]
  • Pedro Pascal as Fink, a mischievous red fox who is the first animal that Roz helps and befriends.[5]
  • Kit Connor as Brightbill, an orphaned runt Canada goose who is raised by Roz as her own son after losing his biological family.[5]
    • Boone Storme as Baby Brightbill.[8]
  • Catherine O'Hara as Pinktail, a maternal Virginia opossum who gives Roz some advice on raising Brightbill.[5]
  • Bill Nighy as Longneck, an old Canada goose who helps Roz understand teaching Brightbill how to fly.[5]
  • Stephanie Hsu as Vontra, a robot of Roz's race who has been sent to retrieve Roz and, unlike her, possesses tentacles.[5]
  • Mark Hamill as Thorn, a brown bear.
  • Matt Berry as Paddler, a British-accented beaver.
  • Ving Rhames as Thunderbolt, a peregrine falcon who helps Brightbill learn to fly.[5][9]

Production

[edit]

Development

[edit]
Peter Brown, creator of The Wild Robot book series, pictured in 2014.

On September 28, 2023, DreamWorks Animation announced an animated film adaptation of the book series The Wild Robot by Peter Brown, with Chris Sanders set to write and direct, Jeff Hermann set to produce, and Sanders' longtime creative collaborator Dean DeBlois set to serve as executive producer. Other crew members were announced, including production designer Raymond Zibach, editor Mary Blee, and head of story Heidi Jo Gilbert.[10]

Sanders first encountered Brown's book through his daughter, though he never read it himself. Years later, while looking for his next project at DreamWorks, Sanders was offered an opportunity to direct an adaptation of the book for the studio.[11] Upon reading it, Sanders immediately fell in love with the story and felt he was the right person to adapt it to film. He described the book as "deceptively simple" and "emotionally complex".[12] Sanders had previously considered the idea of a creature bonding with animals for his directorial debut Lilo & Stitch (2002).[13] Sanders contacted Brown and would later describe the phone call as critical to the film's development. Brown told the production team that his intended theme for the book was that kindness could be a survival skill. Sanders sought to weave that theme through the film and felt he achieved that goal.[14] Another theme in the story that Sanders was drawn to was that of motherhood. He felt he had never done a story of this nature before.[14]

Chris Sanders, writer–director of The Wild Robot film, pictured in 2014.

Changes were made to the book's story for the film. In the book, Roz is in constant search of a task but also in the wrong place and with no one to give her tasks.[14] Sanders felt that she risked becoming monotonous at points in the story, so made strives to make Roz constantly interesting and compelling throughout.[14] Some character's roles from the book were reduced in order to give others more substantial screen time and impact. The changes to the characters and their roles were also made to avoid the film from becoming too crowded.[14]

Casting

[edit]

Cast members, Lupita Nyong'o, Pedro Pascal, Catherine O'Hara, Bill Nighy, Kit Connor, Stephanie Hsu, Mark Hamill, Matt Berry, and Ving Rhames, were revealed on March 5, 2024, with the release of the film's first trailer.[5][15]

Sanders wanted Roz to be a compelling character and felt an extraordinary voice performance was necessary to achieve this. He wanted to avoid a two-dimensional fictional take on a robot, where they go straight from being emotionless to emotional.[14] Nyong'o was tasked with finding a voice for the character and evolving it as the story progressed. The actress's role was particularly important as Roz did not possess facial articulation. This meant Nyong'o's voice was the main way of signifying Roz's emotions.[14]

According to Hamill, who voiced Thorn, he learned about the film after reading the book The Wild Robot. Hamill says that The Wild Robot reminded him of his first feelings about Star Wars (1977), in which he originated the role of Luke Skywalker.[16]

Animation and design

[edit]

The Wild Robot would be the final film to be animated entirely in-house at DreamWorks, as Cartoon Brew reported on October 6, 2023, that the studio would be shifting away from producing films in-house in their Glendale campus to relying more heavily on outside studios after 2024.[17]

After reading the book, Sanders felt the story's innocent tone and nature setting required a look that strayed away from the standard CGI photorealism in many modern animated films.[12] He and production designer Raymond Zibach wanted the film in its finished state to still resemble the concept paintings.[12] To achieve this, the production team built upon the technologies used in two of DreamWorks' earlier films, Puss in Boots: The Last Wish and The Bad Guys (both 2022).[12] While the characters were made up of CGI geometrical shapes, their surfaces possess a hand-painted look. This painterly style philosophy was carried onto every visual element in the film, including the sky and environments.[14]

Sanders took inspiration from Disney classic animated movies and the works of Hayao Miyazaki, resulting in a stylized CG visual style that he described as "a Monet painting in a Miyazaki forest".[18][19] He considered Bambi (1942) and My Neighbour Totoro (1988) as the biggest influences on the visuals.[14] The works of Syd Mead served as inspiration for the futuristic parts of the film.[14]

Sanders wanted Roz's design to be iconic and memorable and one that would take its place among fiction's most famous robots. Taking inspiration from C-3PO and R2-D2 from Star Wars and Robby the Robot from Forbidden Planet (1965), he wanted Roz to have little facial articulation.[14] Sanders and the rest of the design team made several prototype designs during production. One of the designers, Hyun Huh presented his Roz design to the crew, which became the basis for the one seen in the film. The crew immediately fell in love with Huh's design, with Sanders describing it as simple and appealing.[14] Brown's original book described Roz with great detail, so Sanders and the team knew they had to leave some design elements out. However, on behalf of Brown's description of what a ROZZUM unit's purpose was to humans, they aimed for Roz's design to be humanoid.[14]

Music

[edit]
Main article: The Wild Robot (soundtrack)

In March 2024, Kris Bowers was revealed to be composing the score, his first score for an animated film.[20] Additionally, two original songs were announced to be made for the film, performed by Maren Morris and written by Morris, Ali Tamposi, Michael Pollack, Delacey, Jordan Johnson and Stefan Johnson. The first, "Kiss the Sky", was released on August 28; the second, "Even When I'm Not", along with the full soundtrack album, was released on September 27.[21] Morris and her team of co-writers were inspired to write a second song for the film, "Even When I'm Not", which is featured in the film's end credits, when they screened the finished film.[21]

Release

[edit]

The Wild Robot had its world premiere as the opening front runner of the Toronto International Film Festival Grand Opening celebration on September 8, 2024.[22][23] It was released in theaters in the United States on September 27, 2024,[24] and in the United Kingdom on October 18.[25] The film was originally scheduled for September 20, 2024,[26] but was pushed back a week to avoid competition with Transformers One.[24]

As part of Universal's long-term deal with Netflix, the film will stream on Peacock for the first four months of the pay-TV window, before moving to Netflix for the next ten, and returning to Peacock for the remaining four.[27][28]

Marketing

[edit]

The first trailer for the film, featuring a rendition of Louis Armstrong's cover of "What a Wonderful World", plus a poster, were released on March 5, 2024.[29] The trailer debuted in theaters three days later in front of screenings of DreamWorks' other new film Kung Fu Panda 4.[30] Writing for Polygon, Tasha Robinson compared the design of Roz to familiar film robots such as BB-8, WALL•E, Baymax, and The Iron Giant, and noted that the only words spoken in the trailer - "Sometimes, to survive, we must become more than we were programmed to be" - evoked the message of The Iron Giant (1999).[31]

Reception

[edit]

Box office

[edit]

As of September 30, 2024, The Wild Robot has grossed $35.8 million in the United States and Canada, and $18.2 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $54 million.[3][4]

In the United States and Canada, The Wild Robot was released alongside Megalopolis, and was projected to gross $24–30 million from 3,962 theaters in its opening weekend.[2][32] The film made $11.2 million on its first day,[33] including an estimated $1.9 million from Thursday previews.[34] The film made in its debut $35.8 million,[35] slightly above predictions, topping the box office, and becoming the third biggest opening for a September animated film, behind Hotel Transylvania (2012) and its successor Hotel Transylvania 2 (2015).[36]

Critical response

[edit]

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 98% of 136 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 8.5/10. The website's consensus reads: "A simple tale told with great sophistication, The Wild Robot is wondrous entertainment that dazzles the eye while filling your heart to the brim."[37] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 85 out of 100, based on 36 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".[38] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale, while those surveyed by PostTrak gave it a 96% overall positive score, with 62% saying they would definitely recommend it.[36]

Natalia Winkelman of The New York Times called the film "a dazzling triumph of animation" and wrote "this is a work that cares most about two things: big feelings and great beauty."[39] Adrian Horton, writing for The Guardian said: "Clever, heartfelt and frequently stunning, The Wild Robot offers the type of all-ages-welcome animated entertainment that will delight kids and leave a lump in one's throat."[40]

Accolades

[edit]
Award Date of ceremony Category Recipient(s) Result Ref.
San Sebastian International Film Festival September 28, 2024 Lurra - Greenpeace Award The Wild Robot Won [41]
SCAD Savannah Film Festival November 2, 2024 Virtuoso Award Lupita Nyong’o Won [42]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "The Wild Robot (U)". British Board of Film Classification. September 2, 2024. Archived from the original on September 2, 2024. Retrieved September 2, 2024.
  2. ^ a b Rubin, Rebecca (September 25, 2024). "Francis Ford Coppola's $120 Million-Budgeted 'Megalopolis' Could Open to Disappointing $5 Million". Variety. Retrieved September 26, 2024.
  3. ^ a b "The Wild Robot – Financial Information". The Numbers. Archived from the original on September 29, 2024. Retrieved September 30, 2024.
  4. ^ a b "The Wild Robot". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on September 1, 2024. Retrieved September 30, 2024.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h Reul, Katie (March 5, 2024). "The Wild Robot, Animated Film Starring Lupita Nyong'o and Pedro Pascal, Gets Gorgeous First Trailer". IGN. Archived from the original on March 6, 2024. Retrieved March 6, 2024.
  6. ^ "The Wild Robot lives!". Peter Brown Studios. March 24, 2016. Archived from the original on September 10, 2024. Retrieved September 13, 2024.
  7. ^ "rozum". Wikimedia Foundation. Archived from the original on May 14, 2024. Retrieved September 30, 2024.
  8. ^ "Instagram". www.instagram.com. Archived from the original on September 21, 2024. Retrieved September 21, 2024.
  9. ^ Taylor, Drew (June 11, 2024). "Annecy: 'The Wild Robot' Footage Debuts to Thunderous Applause, Standing Ovation". TheWrap. Retrieved August 24, 2024.
  10. ^ Taylor, Drew (September 28, 2023). "Director Chris Sanders Returns to DreamWorks Animation With 'The Wild Robot' (Exclusive)". TheWrap. Archived from the original on September 28, 2023. Retrieved September 28, 2023.
  11. ^ "In conversation with Writer/Director of Dreamworks' The Wild Robot, Chris Sanders". IMAX. September 23, 2024. Archived from the original on September 27, 2024. Retrieved September 26, 2024.
  12. ^ a b c d Zahed, Ramin (June 13, 2024). "Soul of the Machine: 'The Wild Robot' Director Chris Sanders Unboxes DreamWorks' Emotive Automaton". Animation Magazine. Archived from the original on June 15, 2024. Retrieved September 26, 2024.
  13. ^ Ebiri, Bilge (September 26, 2024). "'When CG Came Along, We Couldn't Escape' How The Wild Robot's director, Chris Sanders, found a sweet spot between hand-drawn and CG animation". Vulture. Archived from the original on September 27, 2024. Retrieved September 28, 2024.
  14. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Radulovic, Petrana (August 31, 2024). "With The Wild Robot, Chris Sanders finally set computer animation free". Polygon. Retrieved September 26, 2024.
  15. ^ Franklin, Garth (March 5, 2024). "First Trailer: The Wild "Robot"". Dark Horizons. Archived from the original on March 7, 2024. Retrieved March 5, 2024.
  16. ^ Little, Anita (July 31, 2024). "Mark Hamill Explains Why His New Film Wild Robot Brings Back First Star Wars Feelings". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved August 9, 2024.
  17. ^ Amidi, Amid (October 6, 2023). "Dreamworks Shifting Away From In-House Production In Los Angeles; Sony Imageworks Is A New Production Partner". Cartoon Brew. Archived from the original on November 20, 2023. Retrieved October 8, 2023.
  18. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (April 10, 2024). "DreamWorks Previews 'The Wild Robot' Unfinished Footage: 'A Monet Painting in a Miyazaki Forest'". Variety. Archived from the original on August 16, 2024. Retrieved June 9, 2024.
  19. ^ "CinemaCon: Universal Reveals Unfinished The Wild Robot Footage from DreamWorks, Sneak Peek at Despicable Me 4". Animation Magazine. April 10, 2024. Archived from the original on August 16, 2024. Retrieved June 9, 2024.
  20. ^ Music Reporter, Film (March 5, 2024). "Kris Bowers to Score Chris Sanders' The Wild Robot". Film Music Reporter. Archived from the original on March 7, 2024. Retrieved March 5, 2024.
  21. ^ a b Sharpe, Josh (August 8, 2024). "Maren Morris Writing Two Original Tracks for DreamWorks' The Wild Robot". Archived from the original on August 8, 2024. Retrieved August 9, 2024.
  22. ^ "The Wild Robot". Toronto International Film Festival. Archived from the original on August 15, 2024. Retrieved August 15, 2024.
  23. ^ Kay, Jeremy (June 18, 2024). "Toronto film festival world premieres to include 'Nightbitch', Elton John doc, 'The Wild Robot'". Screen Daily. Archived from the original on September 4, 2024. Retrieved August 15, 2024.
  24. ^ a b D'Alessandro, Anthony (April 23, 2024). "DreamWorks Animation's 'The Wild Robot' Will Go One Week Later In The Fall". Deadline. Archived from the original on July 4, 2024. Retrieved April 23, 2024.
  25. ^ Warner, Sam (August 9, 2024). "Lupita Nyong'o and Pedro Pascal's new movie confirms UK release date". Digital Spy. Archived from the original on August 9, 2024. Retrieved August 9, 2024.
  26. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (December 19, 2023). "DreamWorks Animation's 'The Wild Robot' To Bring Life To Early Fall 2024 Box Office". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on December 19, 2023. Retrieved December 19, 2023.
  27. ^ Hayes, Dade (December 9, 2021). "NBCUniversal's New Theatrical Window Scheme To Bring Films To Peacock After As Few As 45 Days Of Release". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on December 9, 2021. Retrieved December 20, 2023.
  28. ^ Moon, Mariella (July 14, 2021). "Netflix extends exclusive rights to Universal's animated films in the US". Engadget. Archived from the original on July 10, 2022. Retrieved December 20, 2023.
  29. ^ Lang, Jamie (March 5, 2024). "Watch The First Trailer For Chris Sanders' Upcoming Dreamworks Feature 'The Wild Robot'". Cartoon Brew. Archived from the original on March 7, 2024. Retrieved March 5, 2024.
  30. ^ "Watch the beautiful trailer for The Wild Robot". Archived from the original on August 16, 2024. Retrieved April 11, 2024.
  31. ^ Robinson, Tasha (March 5, 2024). "DreamWorks' new movie The Wild Robot blends Star Wars, The Iron Giant, and more". Polygon. Archived from the original on August 16, 2024. Retrieved March 5, 2024.
  32. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (September 24, 2024). "The Wild Robot Set To Walk Through Weekend With $20M+ Opening; Megalopolis Finally Happens – Box Office Preview". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on September 24, 2024. Retrieved September 24, 2024.
  33. ^ "Domestic Box Office For Sep 27, 2024". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved October 1, 2024.
  34. ^ Jeremy Fuster (September 27, 2024). "'The Wild Robot' Opens Up Box Office Run With $1.95 Million in Previews". TheWrap. Archived from the original on September 28, 2024. Retrieved September 27, 2024.
  35. ^ "Domestic 2024 Weekend 39". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved October 1, 2024.
  36. ^ a b D'Alessandro, Anthony (September 29, 2024). "Wild Robot Powers To Third Best September Animated Pic Debut With $35M; Megalopolis Collapses With $4M & D+ CinemaScore; Saturday Night Alive In Limited Release – Box Office Update". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on September 29, 2024. Retrieved September 29, 2024.
  37. ^ "The Wild Robot". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved October 1, 2024.
  38. ^ "The Wild Robot". Metacritic. Fandom, Inc. Retrieved October 1, 2024.
  39. ^ Winkelman, Natalia (September 26, 2024). "'The Wild Robot' Review: Wonder and Whimsy That Does Compute". The New York Times. Retrieved September 29, 2024.
  40. ^ Horton, Adrian (September 26, 2024). "The Wild Robot review – heartfelt animated adventure is a soaring success". The Guardian. Retrieved September 29, 2024.
  41. ^ "Festival de San Sebastián". sansebastianfestival (in Spanish). Archived from the original on September 29, 2024. Retrieved September 28, 2024.
  42. ^ "SCAD Savannah Film Fest: 'Blitz' to Open, 'Emilia Pérez' and 'Anora' Stars Among 11 Honorees". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on September 26, 2024. Retrieved September 26, 2024.
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