The Wild Robot, one of the most talked about animated movies of 2024, is stirring up Oscar buzz after earning nominations from the Scripter Awards and Golden Globes. The hit film is also returning to theaters before awards season, so those who didn’tdidn’t get a chance to bawl their eyes out in public can score tickets to the beautifully animated feature film.
Despite the premise – a futuristic robot becomes stranded on a remote island in the Pacific Northwest – the film packs a tremendous amount of heart and a strong message about motherhood into a movie with no human characters.
The film starts with a helper robot, Rozzum 7134, played by Lupita Nyong’oNyong’o, washed ashore at a remote island location. After scaring most animals around her, the bot slowly understands its place in the ecosystem. The story picks up after Roz understands the animal language, crushes a mother goose and her nest to death, and rescues the last remaining egg. Instructed by a local possum that she is now the newly hatched gosling’s mother, Roz uses her programming and the help of a lonely fox, played by Pedro Pascal, to raise the young bird.
Throughout the film, Roz slowly becomes more “wild” as she rejects her initial programming to care for her adopted goose son and later the rest of the island’s animals. With a strong message about the sacrifices mothers make, the audience watches as Roz’sRoz’s gosling, Brightbeak, played by Kit Connor, grows up, rejects his mother, and ultimately understands her sacrifice for his good.
The Wild Robot shows that motherhood can transcend blood, birth, and, in some cases, species. Mothers are willing to do whatever it takes to see their children thrive. When contrasted to the instinctual “programming” of the animal mothers around her, who often appear callus when it comes to the reality of death in the wild, Roz feels more human, exuding a natural kindness and connection to her young charge, even as her robotic nature adds an air of aloofness. The film reminds viewers that deep inside, everyone has an instinct to care and an inclination toward kindness that can only be accessed when we’re willing to embrace the call of the wild.
