I was never familiar with the original source material of The Wild Robot, but ever since I saw the first trailer, I was instantaneously on board; I will absolutely fold for any animated film that looks as unique and stunning as this. While I can’t say the film’s narrative is remotely original and it moves a little too quickly for my liking a lot of the time, The Wild Robot still manages to hit all the emotional beats it needs to deliver a really lovely portrayal of finding your purpose and family when you weren’t even programmed to experience them in the first place. Chris Sanders, who directed How to Train Your Dragon and Lilo & Stitch, certainly understands how to present a familiar narrative with all the right components to make it stand out and succeed in its own right. What really caught me off guard was how successful the film was at portraying and joking about death in ways that weren’t only quite funny, but gave the film a subtle edge that let the film’s humor and personality breathe and feel more genuine than something that is too squeaky clean for its own good. After all, all the cartoons we grew up with had death being used as punchlines all the time. Also great are the performances, who bring such an overwhelming sense of emotional catharsis to the narrative, especially in its final few sequences. Pedro Pascal, Kit Connor, Bill Nighy, Stephanie Hsu, Matt Berry, and Catherine O’Hara are all quite exceptional and thoroughly engaging, but it’s Lupita Nyong’o who easily steals the show here. Her voice isn’t only quite soothing and motherly in ways that aid to the character, but the emotional weight she brings to someone as emotionless as a robot is deeply absorbing. 

Should be no surprise that the film is absolutely stunning and seeing Dreamworks branch out and incorporate a more 2D/3D animation style in some of their recent films gives them such a unique and approachable aesthetic while also flexing their ability to be truly vibrant and expressive when need be. As stated, I do feel that the film is perhaps a bit too fast paced throughout and maybe an additional 10-15 minutes would really do this film wonders to me, but outside of that, The Wild Robot delivers exactly on what I’d hope for with modern, big budget animated films. As far as I’m concerned, there are multiple books in this series and I would be there day one if they choose to continue.