The Wild Robot
Director: Chris Sanders
Writer: Chris Sanders
Based on: Peter Brown’s book
Cast: Lupita Nyong’o, Pedro Pascal, Kit Connor, Bill Nighy, Stephanie Hsu, Matt Berry, Ving Rhames, Mark Hamill, Catherine O’Hara
Seen on: 7.2.2025

Plot:
In a storm the robot Rozzum unit 7134 (Lupita Nyong’o) is stranded on a small island. Built to help, Roz looks for anybody that can it give it any tasks. But the animals on the island are both unwilling and unable to do that. Roz starts to learn and to observe until it feels ready to communicate with the animals. But still, nobody wants its service. Determined to get home if it can’t help, Roz tries to call for help itself. But instead chaos ensues, and Roz finds itself handling a parentless gosling – Brightbill (Kit Connor) – who wouldn’t survive without it. Finally with a project, Roz goes all in.

I had heard good things about The Wild Robot, but I was not prepared for how much I loved it. It’s a beautiful film that tells a wonderful story in a very entertaining way.

The Wild Robot is a visual marvel, one that shows that there are still other animation styles available than the usual Disney big eyes, small nose shininess that has dominated pretty much everything from the USA in recent years, animation-wise. It is absolutely breathtakingly stunning in pretty much every frame, underscored by the equally wonderful soundtrack.

That alone should be enough to make it well worth seeing, but the film doesn’t stop there. The story is touching – I am not ashamed to say that tears were shed – with lively characters that it is easy to care for. I didn’t know that this was based on a book (trilogy) but the depth a book can bring to a movie feels present here, even though most of the plot was built from familiar tropes. With the emotional connection, that familiarity didn’t matter one iota.

The emotional connection naturally also comes from the pitch-perfect performances by everybody, particularly Nyong’o. Is there anything this woman can’t do? Apparently not. But of course, she isn’t alone in the film, and everybody brings their A-game. A game that comes with a great sense of humor (Catherine O’Hara killed me more than once).

I think what sets The Wild Robot apart the most, though, is that it feels like a labor of love. It feels like the people who made it really cared about it. All too often, we get films where that isn’t the case. And here we get one that reminds us that animation movies can be art, not profit machines.

Summarizing: Wonderfully beautiful.