Here’s How THE WILD ROBOT Will Capture Viewers
By Movieguide® Contributor
Dream Works is set to release its new animated movie THE WILD ROBOT this fall, bringing to life a #1 New York Times best-selling literary work by Peter Brown.
“The epic adventure follows the journey of a robot—ROZZUM unit 7134, ‘Roz’ for short — that is shipwrecked on an uninhabited island and must learn to adapt to the harsh surroundings, gradually building relationships with the animals on the island and becoming the adoptive parent of an orphaned gosling,” a press release for the movie reads.
It’s a “powerful story about the discovery of self, a thrilling examination of the bridge between technology and nature and a moving exploration of what it means to be alive and connected to all living things.”
The film stars Academy Award® winner Lupita Nyong’o, best known for her role in THE BLACK PANTHER, as robot Roz, along with Pedro Pascal, Catherine O’Hara, Bill Nighy, Kit Connor and Stephanie Hsu.
“Peter Brown’s The Wild Robot, an illustrated middle-grade novel first published in 2016, became a phenomenon, rocketing to #1 on the New York Times bestseller list,” the release reads. “The book has since inspired a trilogy that now includes The Wild Robot Escapes and The Wild Robot Protects. Brown’s work on the Wild Robot series and his other bestselling books have earned him a Caldecott Honor, a Horn Book Award, two E.B. White Awards, two E.B. White Honors, a Children’s Choice Award for Illustrator of the Year, two Irma Black Honors, a Golden Kite Award and a New York Times Best Illustrated Book Award.”
In a video, head of story Heidi Jo Gilbert spoke about the movie’s beautiful and artistic animations.
“Chris boarded the whole thing himself. He was a hero of mine since I was a kid. I grew up looking at his drawings and the art of THE LION KING. And it’s a dream come true in every way.” Gibert said, speaking about Chris Sanders, writer and director of the movie. He’s known for other family-favorite animated flicks including HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON and THE CROODS.
Sanders added, “The artists here have outdone themselves in bringing a book and a story and characters to life that mean so much to me and to them, and hopefully someday, to all of our audience that sees it.” He added, “It’s nothing like I’ve ever seen or experienced before. I cherished every single day.”
Gilbert was named one of Variety’s “10 animators to watch for 2024.” In an Instagram post, she shared, “So honored and moved to be named one of Variety’s 10 Animators to watch for 2024. Thank you so much to the editors @variety. What an honor! I have so many people to thank. Thank you to Margie, Kristin and all the Dreamworks execs.”
THE WILD ROBOT premieres in theaters on Sept. 27.
Movieguide® recently got a sneak peek at THE WILD ROBOT. Check out what Movieguide® publisher Dr. Baehr thought:
Recently, DreamWorks Animation invited a small group of movie influencers to meet with director Chris Sanders and actress Lupita Nyong’o and see clips form their upcoming move WILD ROBOT. Marjorie Cohn, the new president of DreamWorks, said this movie is released in celebration of 30 years of DreamWorks animation. She also said the movie has everything you could want in a movie – humor, pathos, action adventure, beautiful animation, and much more. (By the way, in the 1990s, yours truly was invited by Jeffrey Katzenberg to bring in the Christian theologians who helped Jeffrey with his grand project THE PRINCE OF EGYPT.)
Director Chris Sanders gave a very emotional and powerful insight into WILD ROBOT. Chris had been to the Movieguide® Awards and has made several Movieguide® Award winning movies, such as THE BOSS BABY, HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON, PENGUINS, and many more.
Regarding the third movie he co-wrote and co-directed, THE CROODS, he said on the Movieguide® stage that we were the only reviewers who understood the story was a Christian pilgrimage to Heaven or the Promised Land.
WILD ROBOT semes to be the most overt biblical values movie that Chris has made in a while. It’s a story of a highly advanced robot named Roz who’s lost on an island when a plane carrying shipments of robots was hit by a typhoon. Roz is programmed to serve and complete every task given to her.
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