This movie wasn’t on my radar at first because it takes something special to get my ass into the cinema to watch an animated film. Mostly, that something special either must have “Spider-Man” in its title or Pixar producing it. DreamWorks has had some great films, but historically, their catalogue is full of fine-ish movies. But that seems to be slowly turning, and lately, they have been coming out with new, innovative animated movies, and The Wild Robot feels like the most Pixar film DreamWorks has done to date.

Ever since Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018), many animated films have started experimenting with their animation style and incorporating different techniques, making their animation stand out. This movie is no exception. Sure, for the most part, it’s beautifully “conventional” animation, but even here, you can find hints of different styles and frame rates, and I always appreciate those little touches. Needless to say, The Wild Robot looks incredibly beautiful. There were sequences where you just wished you could live in such a vivid and animated world.

I also loved this movie’s dark sense of humour. I think where this movie stands out is that sense of humour, which, many times, gets derived from death or how some animals should be killing others. That is not something you would often see in a mainstream animated movie, but here, it fits. It almost felt like the parody movies of the golden years, where characters say the most outrageous/funniest stuff with this dry, deadpan delivery. The film is aware that death is a very natural and frequent occurrence in the animal world, and it doesn’t shy away from it, and by talking about it and making fun of it, it feels honest.

Whoever decided to cast Lupita Nyong’o in the leading role of Roz deserves a nice, chunky Xmas bonus. Her line readings hit every time, and she puts so much into her performance that you can tell how much that robot evolves throughout this movie. There is a believable growth with Roz’s character, and you will quickly fall in love with her. A special shout-out also goes to Pedro Pascal, as his Fink character plays well off anyone he encounters.

But the main selling point and the reason I absolutely loved this movie was the story and how effortlessly this film talks about so many different things. From parenthood, AI, environment, class system, adoption… You find all these themes in this film and more, but the film meshes them so well with each other that I never felt like it was hitting me over the head with anything in particular. The story flew naturally; the pacing was spot on, and I can’t say I would change anything about this movie. The Wild Robot is one of those rare movies that feels perfect. It’s almost like you have a giant puzzle and put all the pieces together; you can’t just replace one or two pieces, as the entire picture gets ruined.

And this is where my Pixar comparison from earlier comes from. This is how I used to feel watching any of their movies. Sure, they still produce great ones, but lately, they haven’t hit me as much as they used to. You could argue it’s because I have grown, but that argument is rendered mute when I tell you The Wild Robot had me choked up about five times. Yep, it almost made me cry that many times because it understood the emotional peaks and valleys this story had to hit to nail all the emotions, and they did. It bares repeating not once I felt emotionally blackmailed or cheated; all of those emotions felt raw, and the movie earned them. I know this will be a long shot, but I know which animated film I will be rooting for at the 2025 Oscars. And as far as DreamWorks is concerned, I really hope they will produce more movies like The Wild Robot. Especially now, when Pixar won’t be taking many chances with original ideas, we desperately need a big animation studio to step up and take that mantle.

Overall, The Wild Robot is one of the most touching and delightful movies of 2024. Everything from the animation to the voice casting to the story and its themes worked for me beautifully, and I can’t wait to get my 4K copy and rewatch it. It’s one of those “proper” family movies where kids will laugh, and parents might cry just a tiny bit, but the entire family can have an absolutely great time with it. If you haven’t watched it yet, do yourself a favour and check it out.

That’s all for this one! Did you see it? What did you think about it? Let me know!

Until next time,

Luke