The Wild Robot (dir. Chris Sanders)
By: Adam Freed
Rozzum Unit 7134 was never intended to wash up on the craggy shores of the island of animals. The island’s dense olive hued forests and sweeping grassy fields never expected a visitor of any kind. The animal kingdom had instilled on this remote land, a harmonious form of homeostasis. Predators and prey, flora and fauna, a symmetrical and symbiotic stasis, unfettered by human influence. As imperfect as the animal kingdom may seem, it maintains an unquestionable Darwinistic rule of law; the strong survive, the weak do not. What separates mankind from Darwin’s harsh reality is its perpetual desire to intervene, and ultimately alter the course of natural selection. On the artistically gorgeous canvas that is Dreamworks Studios’ The Wild Robot, Rozzum 7134 acts as the great disruptor of the natural order, and in so doing catapults to the forefront of one of the year’s best films, the age-old balance of nature vs. nurture.
Writer and director Chris Sanders (Lilo & Stitch, How to Train Your Dragon) brings to life Peter Brown’s irresistible young adult novel with such calculated grandeur that its domination of the animation landscape feels imminent. The Wild Robot is so emotionally evocative and artistically precise that filmgoers are likely on the precipice of animation's next great franchise. Its gorgeous animation flows like a moving work of art. Still frames of The Wild Robot could easily come to epitomize greatness in the environmental artistic community. In addition to its pronounced visual appeal, Sanders’ film is surprisingly humorous compared to its source material, which is one of many laser-like efficiencies of which the film can boast. Ultimately the strength of Brown’s concept and of Dreamworks’ grand production is the idea that an emotionless being, “Roz” is tasked to summon the willpower to raise an undersized gosling, likely on the wrong side of natural selection’s harsh judgment. Wisely, the kinship of the mismatched duo never cuts corners to reach actualization. The Wild Robot is far braver than most films about parenthood, as Chris Sanders pulls no punches when it comes to the daunting and inescapable feelings that some inexperienced parents may face in the shadow of their newfound role as full time caretaker. Roz’s reluctance and lack of assuredness with the tasks that face her provide the character voiced wonderfully by Academy Award winner Lupita Nyong’o (12 Years a Slave), with a surprisingly human quality. There are no pretenses of perfection within the robot programmed for simple task completion, because parenthood is no simple task.
As its story unfolds, The Wild Robot first cautiously warms itself to audiences, providing hope and hint that perhaps the unconventional relationship at the heart of its story could in fact be heartfelt. Then, with the film’s meticulously created naturalistic environment acting as an astonishing backdrop, The Wild Robot unleashes a precipitously explosive flood of emotion aimed at those fortunate enough to have experienced the overwhelming sensation of unconditional love. The genius of Peter Brown’s novel and of Dreamworks’ film about a robot learning to love is that at its best, it mirrors the greatest that humanity has to offer. Not bad for a robot that was never supposed to be there in the first place.
Target Score: 9/10 The Wild Robot is an undeniable animated triumph. Brilliantly balancing a masterful rendering of the natural world with a thoughtfully representative depiction of child rearing, one is safe to consider The Wild Robot the frontrunner for the year's best animated feature.