The Stream: The story is pretty basic, and you see where it’s going early on.

The Big Screen: Surprisingly emotional with some thrilling animated action sequences.

The Final Bill: A movie for the entire family that will tug on your heartstrings and dazzle your eyes.

– Trip Fontaine
Director: Chris Sanders
Writers: Chris Sanders based on a book by Peter Brown
Stars: Lupita Nyong’o, Pedro Pascal, Kit Connor, Bill Nighy, Stephanie Hsu, Ving Rhames
Genre: Animation, Adventure, Sci-Fi
Rating: PG for action/peril and thematic elements
Runtime: 1 hour 33 minutes
Production Companies: DreamWorks Animation, Universal Pictures
Platform: In theaters on September 27, 2024
Notable Trailers: The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, Red One, Wicked, Dog Man

Hey, Streamers! There seems to be a new animated movie every few months that takes over the zeitgeist and fill the hole in the family movie market. The Wild Robot is the highly-anticipated offering for the fall. It is an animated, sci-fi adventure movie based on a popular book series of the same name. In The Wild Robot, Roz (Lupita Nyong’o) is a helper robot, ROZZUM Unit 7143, who has been abandoned on an island uninhabited by humans. When the local wildlife activate Roz, she attempts to communicate with the creatures in order to complete an assigned task and fulfill her purpose. As Roz flounders in each interaction, she eventually takes on the task of caring for an orphaned gosling, Brightbill (Kit Connor) with the help of a sly fox, Fink (Pedro Pascal). Growing pains and heartwarming hijinks ensue.

At first glance, The Wild Robot seems to have a very basic plot, and the audience knows exactly where it’s going. Well, this movie has some very interesting tricks up its sleeve. First, the animation style is dazzling and beautiful. The landscapes that are depicted are so gorgeous and vast. The design of Roz and the details of the creatures are a feast for the eyes. The animation choices enhance the story. Second, the vocal performances are very fun, but Lupita Nyong’o is excellent. Her voice beautifully conveys both the emotionless robot and the comforting warmth that develops over the course of the movie. She’s also very funny and has a great vocal rapport with the other performances. Lastly, the emotion in this movie creeps up on you. The story leans on themes of parenting, purpose and togetherness and pulls on your heartstrings.

Side note: While the children will like the creatures, the colors and the action in this movie, the adults will get so those elements and so much more out of this truly lovely movie.

Ultimately, The Wild Robot is really lovely movie. It is heartwarming and moving. It is also entertaining and exciting with great animation. The story of found-family and fulfilling your purpose hits hard. It’s great fun for the entire family. Grab a big box of popcorn, your family and some tissues and fly to the theater.