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Film Review — The Wild Robot
Chris Sanders’s animated adaptation of Peter Brown’s book proves an absolute delight, possibly even more for adults than children
The Wild Robot is a U certificate film. For non-UK readers, “U” is the lowest classification level issued by the British Board of Film Classification, indicating suitability for all audiences. Yet although writer-director Chris Sanders’s animated adaptation of Peter Brown’s book will certainly appeal to children, I think adults will get the most out of the many nuances in this beautiful, poignant tale of motherhood.
Set some way into the future (as is evident by fleeting images of the Golden Gate Bridge underwater, sci-fi-ish biodomes, and whatnot), the plot concerns Universal Dynamics ROZZUM Unit 7134; a robot nicknamed “Roz” (Lupita Nyong’o). A typhoon results in the cargo ship that carried her washing up on an island bereft of humans. Responding to her programming, Roz attempts to perform tasks for the local wildlife, to amusingly comic effect. She becomes ostracised and feared, lamenting her uncertainty of purpose, until she winds up adopting a gooseling (Kit Connor) after it hatches and imprints on her.
Roz is assisted by a friendless fox named Fink (Pedro Pascal), who decides to help her raise the gooseling after being prevented from eating him. Roz names the gooseling Brightbill, and is told she must feed him, teach him to swim, and help him to fly in time for migration; a tall order, since Brightbill is considered a runt, bullied, and shunned by his fellow geese. Nonetheless, with a little help from woodland creatures who gradually stop fearing her, Roz sets herself to this task, even though she lacks the programming or experience.
The major motherhood themes of the story are deftly and amusingly explored, often amid a surplus of darkly hilarious jokes about death that cut through any undue sentimentality. Any mother (and indeed father) will doubtless relate to uncertainty about what to do with babies, a sense of making it up as they go, and worries about how much freedom should be given. For instance, there’s a “helicopter parenting” moment when Roz’s robot hand detaches and covertly pursues Brightbill as he learns to swim.
