The fall months are upon us, and it won’t be long before the scary movies inundating the 2024 movie calendar turn into holiday fare. Fortunately for those who don’t plan their moviegoing ventures around any specific season — and particularly those with children — there’s also plenty of upcoming family friendly films hitting the big screen. One of those is The Wild Robot, a book-to-screen adaptation starring Lupita Nyong’o and Pedro Pascal. Critics have screened the animated offering, and it sounds like audiences are in for a pretty emotional experience.
DreamWorks’ The Wild Robot centers around the shipwrecked robot ROZZUM unit 7134, or Roz for short, voiced by Lupita Nyong’o. Roz eventually takes in the orphaned gosling Brightbill (Kit Connor), teaming up with a fox (Pedro Pascal) and Catherine O’Hara’s opossum to protect the orphan and prepare him for migration. CinemaBlend’s Eric Eisenberg caught a screening at the Toronto International Film Festival, and he says The Wild Robot might be the best animated movie of 2024. He writes:
It’s a film that is as hilarious as it is both heartfelt and beautiful. There’s a bluntness to its comedic sensibilities that is laugh-out-loud funny, the journeys of the characters are wonderful, and the animation is striking and inventive. It rockets you across the emotional spectrum while wowing with its style.
If your expectations for The Wild Robot were already high, Ryan Scott of SlashFilm is trying to raise them even higher, without fear that he’s overselling it. The critic rates the movie 10 out of 10, warning that it will likely make you cry. Bring tissues and plan accordingly, Scott says, writing:
Not a frame of this film is worth criticizing. Filmmaking is often painted as the art of aiming for perfection and having to settle for what can be accomplished come time for the release date. Here, it feels like Sanders and DreamWorks somehow stitched together something as close to perfect as the medium will afford. It’s one of those situations where about 20 minutes in you’re like, ‘Oh god it can’t possibly be this good can it?’ And it answers with a confident, assuring, motherly ‘Yes.’
Chalice Williams of Black Girl Nerds says that writer/director Chris Sanders — the man behind Lilo & Stitch and How to Train Your Dragon — has done it again, creating a classic film for a new generation. Williams continues:
There is a strong message of staying true to yourself and believing that no one thing defines who you are. While the voice cast is solid all the way through, it’s Nyong’o’s soft and sincere performance that’ll draw smiles and tears from you throughout the entire movie. Pascal delivers witty dialogue one minute but will demand sympathy from you the next as he details the truth about his tragic past. It’s without question this project will clean up at future award shows, as it’s cinematically a win in every form of the word.
Siddhant Adlakha of IGN rates the movie a “Great” 8 out of 10, marveling at how human a film can be with no human characters. Every moment is thoughtful, Adlakha says, resulting in a tear-jerking triumph. In the critic’s words:
The Wild Robot finds humanity in unexpected places, via its story of adoption and veering off the path others have laid for us. Lupita Nyong’o’s Roz is a wonderfully imagined machine, who expresses herself through “tasks” like motherhood and protection, as she raises an orphaned gosling (Kit Connor) to spread his wings and leave the nest. Despite feeling rushed at times, its dazzling, tear-jerking moments put it metallic-shoulder-to-metallic-shoulder with classics like WALL-E and The Iron Giant.
Belen Edwards of Mashable says the beautiful animation is complemented by an amazing performance from Lupita Nyong’o and sob-worthy storytelling to create DreamWorks’ most stunning animation to date. Edwards continues:
Pristine forests and tidal pools bloom to life on screen, their blue and green hues a sharp contrast to Roz’s metal-gray plating and blinking lights. Flocks of geese take flight in a dazzling airborne montage. Roz’s bright lights slash through a driving snowstorm. Each image is a marvelous snapshot on its own. But together, they create something wholly incredible, making The Wild Robot an unforgettable viewing experience and a perfect capstone to celebrate DreamWorks’ 30th anniversary.
The critics make this sound like a beautiful and emotional journey, and CinemaBlend’s Sarah El-Mahmoud echoed that excitement after watching exclusive footage of The Wild Robot. It has earned an impressive 98% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes ahead of its premiere, so if this Chris Sanders film sounds like one that you need to check out in theaters, you can do so starting Friday, September 27.