The Wild Robot movie review. One of the best animated films of 2024 about technology, nature and eternal love

DreamWorks Animation has been delighting audiences with high-quality animated films for many years. However, unlike Pixar, which has focused on key franchises and ideas, the DreamWorks creative team is not afraid to experiment and look for new characters, situations and sources for adaptation. Yes, it doesn’t always work out well, but such courage in the harsh conditions of the modern film industry, which does not forgive mistakes, deserves at least respect.

Moreover, sometimes experiments turn out to be extremely successful. This is the case with The Wild Robot, which is based on the 2016 children’s book of the same name by Peter Brown. Because this is the most beautiful cartoon in the world, which speaks to the audience in an accessible language about complex and important topics. And it will definitely touch you.

The ROZZUM smart robot with serial number 7134 turns on in the middle of the wilderness. The main task of such robots is to help people with various tasks, but there is not a single living soul around. Instead, the island where the robot found itself is full of wild animals that are not at all happy to see a stranger. ROZZUM 7134 tries to find a task for itself with sincere naivety that corresponds to the program, but the inhabitants of the forest are in no hurry to give it to him and are generally hostile. As a result of an accident, ROZZUM crushes a nest of geese, leaving only one egg intact. A little gosling appears from it. Now, the main task of ROZZUM, who has been given the simple name Roz in the forest, is to raise the child and prepare it for the winter flight. Schneer the fox will help Roz with this, but the other animals are not in a hurry to take the duckling raised by the robot as something serious.

The Wild Robot attracts attention from the very first frames thanks to its visuals. The experience of Puss in Boots: The Last Wish has definitely benefited artists and animators and allowed them to master the stylization of three-dimensional cartoons at an almost perfect level. That’s why The Wild Robot can look almost photorealistic and true in some scenes, and in others it can use colors and techniques that are very similar to impressionist paintings. This is a very beautiful cartoon, the beauty of which also helps us to feel the feelings of the main characters and see the world through their eyes.

The Wild Robot’s overall handling of the audience’s emotions is almost standardized and can definitely become a model for other studios and independent animators. Thus, it is easy to track the general structure of Hollywood films, and many moments are based on a somewhat naive view of the world. This is especially true of the artificial intelligence of Roz herself, who gradually learns to deviate from the given directives and strives for self-knowledge through love for another being, which may not even be reciprocated. However, it is the sincerity of such moments and their presentation that can move even the harshest viewers.

The authors of The Wild Robot didn’t try to overwhelm you with unnecessary concepts, so the whole plot is centered around the small ecosystem of the island and its wild inhabitants. However, while watching the movie, you naturally feel for almost every animal, which DreamWorks Animation created with a tangible level of responsibility and love. Even if some of the characters don’t have any lines at all, they still get a fair amount of personality through animation, artistic features, or clear scripted moments. For all its superficial simplicity, Wild Robot is actually thought out to the smallest detail, and a lot of work was done during production.

The script tells the audience about the bizarre but important essence of love, about the conflict between technology and nature, about the inability of people to understand the forces that reign in the wild world, about the environmental dangers that uncontrolled progress poses. There are even some hints of a post-apocalyptic setting due to global warming in The Wild Robot. That is, everything in the cartoon is far from as simple as it might seem, and it is interesting and important to notice small details when watching it, because they add depth to the story.

However, no one is forcing you to do so, and the main advantages of The Wild Robot will be clear even to young and completely inexperienced viewers. However, the age restriction of the story is somewhat surprising, or rather, its complete absence. This is at a time when the plot has enough rather harsh moments of depicting wild life, as well as jokes about death. Probably, the authors thought that such scenes would pass children’s understanding. But some parents will definitely have to explain complex and almost philosophical concepts of survival in simple language after watching the movie.

After watching Wild Robot, I don’t want to criticize it at all. Although, frankly speaking, critical thoughts will be born without much effort. Because the authors did not manage to say anything new about the topics raised by the cartoon. However, it is their combination in the right proportions, complemented by a story about the eternal values of love and acceptance of each other, that makes DreamWorks Animation’s new work one of the main premieres of 2024, which is definitely worth seeing in the cinema. Almost full houses during any screening are further evidence of this.