On September 27th, Chris Sanders’ The Wild Robot, an adaptation of a book by the same name, released in local theaters. The movie’s stunning visuals, combined with an emotional and relatable story of found family and coming of age, makes this a movie that can relate to many audiences.
Without giving away too much about the plot itself, the movie follows a task-assisting ROZZUM robot, referred to as “Roz”, that washes up on the shore of an island in the middle of the ocean. Here, she must learn how to adapt to her unusual surroundings, learning how to survive and interact with the local wildlife in ways no other robot has before.
Roz’s journey of finding her own purpose and learning how to empathize with others add a lot of charm and intrigue into the character. Roz is a great example of some simple human truths: Life is always more fulfilling with friends by your side, and being kind is key to staying alive and afloat.
A lot of the movie’s appeal comes from the breathtaking scenery and artistic expression that the artists at Dreamworks Animation worked tirelessly to create. The use of colors, shapes, and even lighting in the film is able to convey the mood of the characters and scenes in ways words can’t even imagine.
Chris Sanders is a director who’s been a part of the production of popular films such as Lilo & Stitch and How to Train Your Dragon. “[He] is such a joyful artist, he brings that childlike joy into his work,” Nyong’o said in an interview.
And, of course, the vocal performances given by talents such as Lupita Nyong’o (A Quiet Place) and Kit Connor (Heartstopper) are able to bring their characters to life in such authentic ways. The effort and focus that goes into every line delivery illustrates the characters beyond just their appearances, but their emotions and thoughts as well.
Many of the actors involved with this film have stated how special animation truly is. “The beautiful thing about animation is that every single second of it is thought out and added for a reason,” Catherine O’Hara, the voice of Pinktail the Opossum, said.
One thing that I found fascinating about the development for this movie was the fact that everything was developed in parallel with one another. “Simultaneously to me working through the script, we were already beginning to identify different key places in the movie that we wanted to develop visually,” he said.
Personally, I think this movie is one of my all-time favorites! It meant so much to me that Sanders was able to put his past experience into such a beautiful film that tugs at the heartstrings every chance it gets.
As an animation nerd, learning about the production process for this movie was a mind-blowing experience. In a behind-the-scenes video from STREAM WARS, there are a few sections showing each individual layer of a scene towards the end of the movie, and seeing the final product knowing the insane amounts of computer processing that went into even a few seconds of the films.
Sanders has confirmed that after the film’s resounding success (grossing ~$270 million with a production cost of $78 million) that there’s a second film already in production. Hopefully, the love and care put into this film will be able to transfer to the rest of the (potential) trilogy.
