Throughout the history of the animation studio DreamWorks, the products they release to the public have been very mixed. We have incredible pioneers in the animation industry such as “The Prince of Egypt,” or classic franchises that have followed the childhood of many generations such as “Shrek.” Though, on the other side, they have produced films that are not critically acclaimed and seem like an insult towards animation and downplay their audience, such as “The Boss Baby” or “Turbo.” When hearing a new film is coming from this studio, it always feels like a gamble towards both sides.
“The Wild Robot,” released on Sept 24, 2024 luckily falls in the positive category, ending up as a love letter to animation and an important lesson about finding family and letting go. This science fiction story focuses on three characters: Ross, Fink, and Brightbill. In the order mentioned previously, they are a robot, a fox, and a goose, which sounds very confusing for most people and not a group of characters that would mix well with each other, but that’s what makes this film so special.
The characters we are shown act as a classical family, even if none are related by blood. Ross is seen as the mother, Fink is seen as the father and Brightbill as the kid. This family occurs because Ross, the robot, appears at the start of the film with some sort of amnesia, unable to remember her mission on this island where she has no idea what to do, apart from trying to obtain a new task. After multiple attempts, she is finally able to obtain a quest: help Brightbill eat, swim, and fly. Fink the fox joins shortly after to help her on this mission, and it all unravels in a fantastic story about how families are not only found tightly by genetics but also by the way in which we care about others and the love we have for them.
Apart from the warming message of this movie, it is accompanied by fantastic animation and dreamy landscapes/backgrounds. This film made me feel like a kid again, making me perplexed and entranced towards the screen of the film theater. It reminded me of this new trend in animation films, where textures are used more “in your face,” and the colors portrayed on screen are a lot more playful and fun for the audience, risking more in a non-realistic coloring style. This works amazingly with the film and allows both kids and adults to immerse themselves in this silly world of robots and talking animals.
The only downside I could find was some jokes in the film felt out of place or were a little bit too much. When the movie got emotional, it did an amazing job with multiple punches to the gut to the audience which ended in more than one person tearing up. With this showcase, I would prefer for the film to have a more relaxed tone or step aside from the comedy aspect a little bit to focus on the raw emotions that were being shown on screen.
But even with this small critique, “The Wild Robot” remains one of the most impressive animation films of this year and shows itself as a creative and charming work of art for everyone to enjoy.
“The Wild Robot” is now available in all film theaters around the world and would highly recommend it to anyone reading.
