Wild Robot

There is something special about the sentient robot genre, and it's very specific. Those that grew up watching Iron Giant grew up to make Wall-E. The kids that grew up watching Wall-E went on to make Big Hero 6. And the kids that grew up on Big Hero 6 made Wild Robot. We are averaging a heartbreaking robot story about every decade. And Wild Robot fits right into this beautiful and gut wrenching genre.

Wild Robot is Dreamworks latest triumph. Dreamworks has brought back the family film. In the truest sense of the term. These are not just “kids movies”. Lately a lot of studios have been hiding behind the genre as a way to get away with truly terribly put together movies that were thrown together cheaply and with little forethought. This is how we ended up with things like Harold and the Purple Crayon. However Dreamworks has brought back timeless family films. There are jokes for the adults, plenty of funny moments for kids of all ages, and more importantly there was so much heart and emotion in this film that gives it that rewatchable quality.

Roz is a robot programmed to help humans with mundane, everyday tasks. So when she finds herself lost in the woods she struggles with finding someone to give her a task. Until an unfortunate incident makes her the caretaker to a little baby goose. This is obviously where the heart and humor ensues. Seeing a little baby goose take on the mannerisms of the robot is inherently funny and adorable. Then we add in the fox that tries to help Roz raise this baby and you have a very unlikely family. Roz’s goal is to get Bright Bill to eat, swim and fly. Eat goes well enough. Swim makes Bright Bill realize that his own kind hates him and is afraid of his mother, and then the true first conflict comes in when some of the other geese tell Bright Bill that Roz is responsible for the death of his real mother. The whole of the forest is very scared of her. He forgives her enough to let her teach him how to fly. His small size makes this task the most difficult one. Everything about this sequence is beautiful and heartbreaking. Watching Roz have to come to terms with the fact that her baby is going to fly away form her, while also being so sure that she needs to finish this task is very upsetting.

My favorite scene-at least the one that made me officially start crying-was when Roz saved all the animals from the exceptionally bad storm and saved all their lives. And then she starts to shut down because the cold and the energy expended was just too much for her. It was such a beautiful moment that led to some incredible scene work with the animals banning together to get rid of the robots that came to the island to take Roz back to the factory.

On top of all of that the animation in the film is absolutely beautiful. You can see the layers of art in all of the scenic shots. The detail done in each close up is gorgeous. And the way the artists played with light in this movie was brilliant.

Wild Robot better get its Oscar nomination for best animated film because it is by far one of the best films of the year. This movie goes beyond animated film, and it goes beyond being marketed at children. Wild Robot is one of the better found family stories released in the last decade. And it also contains a beautiful message about being more than what you were programmed to be. No kind of conditioning is stronger than will. The idea of kindness as a survival skill is also an incredible message for children to hear. This film is a perfect 10/10 and is a must watch.