This month's animated feature The Wild Robot is a vibrant and deeply affecting adventure that explores manifest themes from the sentience of artificial intelligence to the vulnerable properties of the natural world. It's directed by How to Train Your Dragon and Lilo & Stitch's Chris Sanders and adapted from the first in a series of bestselling books by Peter Brown.
Oscar winner Lupita Nyong'o (12 Years a Slave) voices 'Roz', an android who finds herself washed up on a lush and remote tropical island. There, she becomes a surrogate parent to an adorable orphaned gosling who soon matures into a fledgling (voiced by Heartstopper's Kit Connor) who is preparing to fly the nest. It's time to line up the hankies for an all-ages, family-friendly odyssey that takes a heartfelt look at the transient, fleeting nature of organic existence.
With an all-star supporting cast including Pedro Pascal, Catherine O'Hara, Stephanie Hsu, Ving Rhames and Mark Hamill, The Wild Robot promises to blend its insights with warm humour and beautiful visuals. Don't take our word for it – we've rounded up several of the film's laudatory reviews that have declared the film as a new animated classic (it currently stands at an impressive 97% on Rotten Tomatoes).
Could we be looking at the new Toy Story? Read the following snippets and judge for yourself.
The animation is truly stunning
"From its opening frames, the artistry of “The Wild Robot” bursts through every image," writes Brian Tallerico for RogerEbert.com. "It’s a welcome break from the blandness we’ve come to expect from American CG-animated efforts; where they seem to barely consider the visuals, Sanders and his team remind us how hollow most of the competition is.
"Their approach isn’t the cold, sterile feel that you get from so many modern cartoons. It’s more like moving art; you can almost see the brushstrokes on a living painting. One could watch The Wild Robot with the sound off entirely and still have a rewarding experience—turn it on and you have one of the best animated films of the decade."
It has everything you want from a family film
Indiewire's Kate Erbland writes: "The result is all the good, big words we want to hear about cinema aimed at our youngest audience members: it’s heartening and true and a little sad and incredibly inspiring with a big, ol’ message about the power of community and coming together in the face of major adversity.
"That it looks so gorgeous and homespun adds to its appeal, a warm little gem of a film that’s both a throwback and a push forward. Too early to ask for two more?"
The film honours the uplifting spirit of its classic animated predecessors
"To different degrees, animated films such as Finding Nemo and The Iron Giant have explored the power of family and friendship, and The Wild Robot is part of that tradition," writes Screen International critic Tim Grierson, "while also paying homage to Wall-E, which was similarly about a loyal robot who finds a higher purpose.
"Nyong’o gives a lovely performance as Roz, who realises something many parents come to understand – the better job she does teaching Brightbill independence, the less her child will need her. Connor is affecting without being cutesy in voicing this impressionable gosling, while Pascal unearths Fink’s tender side."
It's a fantastical story that communicates profound human truths
"This story is, of course, set in the future, but resonates against the backdrop of our present reality, where technological advances and a growing reliance on A.I. threatens to disconnect us from the world we live in," writes Observer's Emily Zemler. "Sanders presents a meaningful reminder of what’s at stake when we forget about that connection and allow technology to prevail over nature.
"Some of the film’s most memorable images come when Roz’s metal body transforms the longer she lives in the forest, her appearance changing with her surroundings and the animals helping rebuild the parts of her that break. We are useless without a community, the film acknowledges repeatedly, and it’s something every viewer would do well to remember. Although The Wild Robot arrives in the guise of a family film, it is ultimately for everyone."
It's worthy of serious awards attention
The Guardian journalist Adrian Horton raves: "The Wild Robot, written and directed by Chris Sanders... performs a sly, absorbing and extremely effective sleight of hand: the more time we spend with the robot – the more its programming trains on new input, to use the parlance of generative AI – the more it underscores the deep, inarticulable and sacred wells of human feelings, the exact things that cannot be programmed or manufactured.
"That this film, based on the book series by Peter Brown, does so while also being a highly enjoyable and lusciously detailed story about a misfit, amid a community of charismatic woodland creatures, makes it one of the best animated films of the year, rightfully considered the frontrunner for an Oscar."
Have these reviews incentivised you to make an October half-term trip to Cineworld? Click the link below to book your tickets for The Wild Robot, releasing on October 18th. Be sure to scroll down beneath the trailer and discover the rest of 2024's family films.
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