THE WILD ROBOT (2024)

Dreamworks Animation’s latest computer animation feature length film The Wild Robot (2024) is a wonderfully messaged educational and entertaining film for children as much as it is for adults or mature audiences.

The story follows Rozzum ‘Roz’ 7134 (voiced by Lupita Nyong’o), a Universal Dynamics robot originally programmed to be a task completing helper robot for humans, who never reaches their intended delivery point and instead activates after washing up on the shoreline of the deep wilderness.

To adapt to their predicament, Roz has to quickly undergo some situational forced learning and how to communicate with the local wildlife – who consider them a monster due to being robotic in appearance and behaviour.

Fear of Roz’s differences takes over for the animals and a protective display of aggression by Thorn the Bear (Mark Hamill) results in Roz accidentally causing the death of a mother goose, including crushing all but one of her eggs in the process – inciting the story for the rest of the film.

This is Dreamworks` first foray into introducing a genderless character which attracted some negative attention from select groups even with the use of female pronouns and the mother-character archetype – but this doesn’t dispel the concepts and messaging that you can be free from the societal constraints of what everyone else thinks or wants you to be or achieve – even if it’s your programming.

★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

Note:
The Wild Robot (2024) celebrated its world premiere during TIFF 2024 (September 5th – 15th, 2024).

Canadian actor Catherine O’Hara (Pinktail) arriving to the red carpet for the world premiere of The Wild Robot (2024) during the 49th Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) in Toronto, Canada (September 5th – 15th, 2024).
Photo Credit: Cecilia Clark for SERIAL SEAN