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The Wild Robot is a 2024 American animated science fiction survival film based on the book series of the same name by Peter Brown, produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by Universal Pictures. The film was written for the screen and directed by Chris Sanders, produced by Jeff Hermann, and executive-produced by Sanders's longtime collaborative partner Dean DeBlois. It stars the voices of Lupita Nyong'o, Pedro Pascal, Kit Connor, Bill Nighy, Stephanie Hsu, Mark Hamill, Catherine O'Hara, Matt Berry, and Ving Rhames. In the film, Roz (Nyong'o), a robot shipwrecked on an uninhabited island, must adapt to her surroundings, build relationships with the local wildlife, and become the adoptive mother of an orphaned goose (Connor).
Sanders first encountered the original The Wild Robot book through his daughter and years later was offered an opportunity to direct a film adaptation at DreamWorks. The film uses a hand-painted aesthetic, inspired by classic Disney animated films and the works of Hayao Miyazaki. It will be the final film to be animated entirely in-house at DreamWorks, as the studio will begin relying heavily on outside vendors after 2024. Kris Bowers composed the film's score, marking his first score for an animated film.
The Wild Robot premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 8, 2024, and was theatrically released in the United States on September 27, 2024. The film received critical acclaim and has grossed $59.9 million against a $78 million budget.
Plot
[edit]A Universal Dynamics cargo ship loses six robots during a typhoon, which wash up on an island uninhabited by humans. Only one of the robots survives the crash and is activated by the wildlife. ROZZOM Unit 7134, nicknamed "Roz", attempts to advertise her services to the animals but only succeeds in terrifying them. Roz spends several days translating the animals' language, but still cannot find anyone who requires her help. She decides to signal her manufacturers to retrieve her but is chased by the bear Thorn and accidentally crushes a goose nest, leaving only a single egg. After Roz defends the egg from a hungry fox, it hatches, and the gosling imprints itself onto her and breaks her long-range transponder. Pinktail, a possum, instructs Roz to raise the gosling until he can leave to migrate. The fox, Fink, realizes he can benefit from Roz and helps her find food and construct a shelter. Roz names the gosling Brightbill.
Once Brightbill grows, Roz and Fink try to teach him how to swim. He meets the island’s other geese, who mock him for his size and his relationship with the "monster" that killed his family. Angry at having the truth kept from him, Brightbill scorns Roz and leaves. She returns to the ship’s crash site to learn more about her purpose and replaces her transponder with one from another ROZZUM. The leader of the geese flock, Longneck, encourages Roz to not give up on Brightbill, and she recruits the falcon Thunderbolt to help Brightbill learn to fly. Brightbill masters flying just as the geese leave for the migration.
Roz, distraught at Brightbill's departure and unsure of her purpose, reactivates her transponder but shuts it off just as the signal reaches Universal Dynamics headquarters. A thunderstorm forces the geese to halt the migration and take shelter inside a Universal Dynamics greenhouse, where hostile RECO robots attack them. Longneck orders Brightbill to lead the flock to safety before sacrificing himself. Roz awakens in her shelter to find Fink hiding from a severe snowstorm. She rescues as many animals as she can and brings them to the shelter, depleting her batteries. Before Roz powers down, she and Fink urge the prey and predators to stop fighting until spring.
Roz awakens months later to find the animals still following the peace and the geese returning, who hail Brightbill as a hero. Before she can meet him, a Universal Dynamics dropship arrives to recover her. Vontra, a retrieval robot, attempts to lure Roz onto the ship, but Roz flees. Vontra sends an army of RECOs to retrieve her. All the animals band together to fend off the RECOs, but Vontra captures Roz and causes a forest fire by commanding the RECOs to self-destruct. Brightbill leads the island's birds in an attack on the dropship as the other animals work to extinguish the fire, but he finds that Vontra has already cut Roz’s power and wiped her memories. However, Roz’s systems are reactivated and restored by her love for Brightbill, and the two destroy Vontra and escape the dropship before it explodes.
Although victorious, Roz c