The Wild Robot

It truly is incredible the evolution in mainstream American animation since 2018's Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. While plenty of interesting, even experimental work was happening elsewhere¹, US audiences had almost exclusively been fed a diet of 3D computer animation over the prior decade or so. Not only that, much of it was either made by Pixar, or emulating their style. Sure, you could do worse than aping one of the most beloved contemporary movie studios. But it resulted in films which felt very interchangeable. Every now and then you'd get an Isle of Dogs or The Peanuts Movie or even The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water, which mixed up the formula. But none were different enough or successful enough to have a lasting impact.

But the wild success of Into the Spider-Verse vibrantly integrating completely distinct visual styles, and audience's enthusiastic reception of it (culminating in an Oscar for Best Animated Feature) changed everything. In the years since, the range of styles the studios will accept has greatly increased, including a lot more experimentation and mixing of disparate approaches and mediums. Sure, they won't go as far as Interface or even Mad God. But consider Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem: its intentionally messy, rough, sketchbook style, designed to look like the refined crayon drawings of a child while telling a compelling story, would never have gotten the green light even five years prior. Audiences responded in kind, turning out to the tune of nearly $200 million worldwide.

It's into this environment that The Wild Robot lands. So when I tell you it's one of the most stunning pieces of animation since Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, and that it absolutely rivals (although doesn't quite surpass) last year's Oscar winner The Boy and the Heron, I hope that conveys the magnitude of its achievement. The character animation and design is all quite good, highlighted by the nuance and textured way that ROZZUM-7134 aka Roz (Lupita Nyong’o) gets more and more banged up as she attempts to acquire a task in the unfamiliar wilds in which she's crash-landed. But where the animation really shines is in the background, landscapes, and wide shots. As the frame becomes more and more full of life, the Impressionist, painterly aesthetic really shines, the "brush strokes" still visible, lending every figure a warmth and tactility that is hard to truly capture in words. From the varied micro-environments of the forest to the later views we get of human civilization to the detail applied to the future-tech, it's all marvelous and unique. The sight of a huge flock of geese taking flight, surrounding Roz on all sides, is particularly arresting, and probably my favorite single image.

Of course, without a solid story, it would be hard to make audiences care. Based on a book series by Peter Brown, the narrative is fairly simple on its surface, but executed incredibly well. On screen is the the tale of a lost robot on whom an orphaned gosling (Brightbill, voiced by Kit Connor) imprints, thus tasking her with raising the runt of the nest, teaching him to feed himself, swim, and fly in time to migrate with the rest of the island's geese before winter. It expands into a tale of found family as a fox named Fink (Pedro Pascal) provides guidance in exchange for shelter and Roz's aid in gathering (non-goose) food.

Ultimately, it's about the way in which none of us really know what we're doing in this world, nor do we ever feel ready to take on greater responsibilities. But we do the best we can, making mistakes along the way, sometimes taking advice and other times ignoring it, eventually rising to the occasion for those we love. Along the way, it wonderfully demonstrates the benefits of a society in which everyone pitches in and helps each other, regardless of personal misgivings. Writer/director Chris Sanders has said Brown explains his series as exploring kindness as a survival skill, and Sanders has done an excellent job of capturing that in his adaptation. A message which could have landed as naive (at least amongst jaded adults such as yours truly) instead successfully portrayed the damage selfishness inflicts upon yourself.

This is the rare occasion where I feel confident commenting on a voice-only performance. Nyong’o is incredible. Having just seen her earlier this year in A Quiet Place: Day One, her voice was fresh in my mind. While it is somewhat recognizable, she still manages to make it feel other-worldly and stilted and uneven in exactly the way we experience digital voices in our everyday lives. She imbues Roz's voice with curiosity and wonder and uncertainty and general humanity while still sounding inhuman. Not just her words, but her tone also becomes warmer and more comforting as time goes on and she settles more into the role of parent. To say nothing of the pain she brings later in the narrative as things start to go wrong.

Focusing on Nyong’o isn't to disparage any of the other voice actors. I'm generally not very attuned to voice-only performances, so that her's jumps out at me is a testament to how special it is. None of the others take me out of the movie, so it's safe to say no one is bad here.

The result is the best kind family film, one which imparts important lessons on children, while dazzling adults with the visuals and attempting to sand the edges off their cynicism. Most importantly, the story is made engaging for both populations, and the humor hits that right balance of slapstick and deeper that most everyone will find themselves laughing quite frequently. It doesn't shy away from some of the darker implications of life in the wild, nor from the impacts of climate change on its near-future setting. But in both cases, it refrains from lingering or lecturing you, preventing it from feeling heavy-handed, while being important enough to the themes and story to avoid appearing tossed off. This ensures it's a story which will endure, and which has many layers for children to unpack as they watch it on repeat in the years to come. With any luck, that will prevent it from fading over the coming months, remaining fresh in minds of industry insiders as Oscars voting rolls around.