The Wild Robot
A shipwrecked survivor at the foot of a sheer cliff of columnar basalt, the crashing waves reflected and distorted in their ocular lenses as are the curious otters who investigate the slowly activating ROZZUM service unit 7134, they are only the first lifeforms the robot will encounter on the island, climbing to the plateau to find birds of iridescent plumage, cats of twitching ears and wide eyes, a whirlwind of colourful butterflies, and the bear who attacks the strange intruder, causing an accident in which a nest and all but one egg are destroyed.
The robot seeking purpose and directive, it finds one thrust upon beyond its conventional programming, hatching the tiny gosling and teaching it to feed, to swim, to fly, observing the families of the forest in order to learn their languages in hopes of building a network of support for orphaned Brightbill, guided by the dubious advice of the wily fox Fink, always on the lookout for advantage but seeing the service droid as the best opportunity for now.
Based on the first of writer and illustrator Peter Brown’s three books to feature the titular character and with clear indications that the plan is to create an animated trilogy, The Wild Robot is directed by Chris Sanders, the creator of Lilo and Stitch who also adapted How to Train Your Dragon, starring Lupita Nyong’o as Roz, her programming self-modifying as she takes on the role of mother, Pedro Pascal as Fink and Kit Connor as Brightbill.
An outsider who is regarded as a freak and a monster who keeps company with an opportunistic predator, most of the animals are conditioned to reject Roz and Brightbill but there are a few who, like Roz, act beyond their instincts; Catherine O’Hara’s opossum Pinktail, a mother herself, struggling with her demanding brood, and Bill Nighy’s Longneck, responsible not only for his family but the entire goose population of the island which by extension includes Brightbill despite his unconventional upbringing.
The world beyond obscured by thick cloud, there are indications that this is a future in which global warming has melted the ice caps, the waters of San Francisco Bay now high above the deck of the Golden Gate Bridge, the story not only of a malfunctioning robot and a dysfunctional goose trying to survive but also an unexpected science fiction adventure of a world abandoned to its own devices as humanity retreats to engineered enclaves and artificial lifeforms are given free reign to make decisions of logic rather than feeling.
Roz cautioned that kindness is not a survival skill, experience has taught her otherwise, and even as her own systems decay she leads the other animals to trust each other as the amplified winter storms come in, even Mark Hamill’s grouchy grizzly Thorn, the different species of the island a squabbling community who are stronger together and faced with another threat more dangerous than the impact of climate change on their fragile habitat, one brought upon them by the presence of Roz, The Wild Robot a dazzling and emotional tale of family, sacrifice and power of solidarity and collective action.
The Wild Robot is currently on general release and also screening in IMAX
