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Late to the party as usual (though fashionably, I hope), I finally watched The Wild Robot.

There’s been a lot of talk about this movie, with it being praised as one of the best movies of 2024, and certainly one of the best animated movies of all time, being heaped with awards and nominations. But is it really that good?

Based on the novel by Peter Brown, the plot follows Roz, a robot that get lost in a shipment and washes up on a desert island. With no one to tell her what to do, she wanders the island looking for her mission. When she accidentally kills its parents, she takes in a gosling and raises it, making it her sole purpose. But is there more to this than just her programming?

I’ve mentioned it before, but the very best of children’s movies, as this is, are the ones which both children and adults can watch and enjoy, both finding something unique and worthwhile in the story. Whether they are parents sitting in the theatre alongside their kids, or else coming back to the movie when they are grown up and realising what it was really trying to tell them. In short, movies you can never grow out of.

Well, this is definitely one of them. It doesn’t pull its punches. In the tradition of the best Disney movies, like Bambi, there’s something brutal about it under all the furry creatures and funny moments. This is especially the case as it’s set in the wild and, at least early on, it doesn’t try and shy away from this, and the fact that every animal on the island is either trying to eat the others, or trying not to get eaten. But much as is the case in the real world, this is shrugged off as just the way things are, with no sentimentality. It’s not like movies such as Madagascar, where lions and zebras get along just fine. There’s more realism to it. The animals don’t even speak with human voices, and the only reason we can understand them is because Roz translates what they say.

I really don’t want to reveal too much of the plot, for those who haven’t seen it. I know it’s been several months, but even so, it’s never too late to experience this movie for the first time. In fact, even if the plot has been spoiled for you, I’d still urge you to see it, there are things in here that hit hard, no matter whether you expect them or not.

It’s the kind of story that will have you tearful at times, as all good childrens’ movies should. There’s real heart here, heart that’s missing from other recent animated movies. It’s not just about flashy but forgettable scenes, or fast-paced action. There’s some maturity here, which makes it far more timeless. Yes, it manages to be funny, and it’s not overbearingly self-serious, but it’s still very substantial. There’s that word “heartwarming” that you’ll hear a lot concerning The Wild Robot, but it’s an apt word. It will warm your heart, right after it’s ripped it out, and leave you feeling satisfied, with plenty to think on.

Naturally, it’s a wonderfully animated film, but visuals are only half a movie (and the less important half, in my opinion). The art style’s distinctive, with a painted look to it, that reminded me for some reason of pointilist art. I don’t know if that was intentional, but it certainly cuts its own path, away from the Pixar/Dreamworks-esque style. There’s a solid voice cast, too, who all do great work, led by Lupita Nyong’o, Pedro Pascal, and Kit Connor.

The movie does have some points to make about robots, something we might have to deal with in the near future, and takes a more positive approach to them, though the points raised have all been dealt with before, in movies like Spielberg’s A.I.: Artificial Intelligence. There are also some themes about the environment, woven in in a smooth way. The shot of the Golden Gate Bridge being submerged underwater is a striking one, and makes me wonder if the “island” where this movie takes place is really an island, or a more famous location, now surrounded by the rising sea water.

So, is this movie worthy of the hype? For what it’s worth, I’d say it’s slightly oversold, with a current Rotten Tomatoes score in the high 90s. It’s an excellent movie, no doubt about that, but it doesn’t quite reach the height of the very best classic Disney movies. And it does have a few problems, not least why the fox helps them, and the ending, which has a similar inconsistency I won’t spoil.

Maybe it’s because it’s such an unusual product today that it gets such high praise (I really want to see how it compares to Flow), a flower in a desert is a remarkable thing, and while I often complain of a lack of originality with modern movies, The Wild Robot manages to tale well-worn ideas and make them fresh. I do think it will be remembered in future when other, more successful films have been forgotten. Partly because it’s a timeless story; partly because it’s a good story, and a good story can always be appreciated.

The Wild Robot is available to buy on Amazon here (affiliate link).

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