The animated film is as good as any we've seen in a long time

As wild and crazy as moving and magical, The wild robota DreamWorks Animation production written and directed by Chris Sanders (who co-directed Lilo & Stitch, How to Train Your Dragon and The Croods) marks the medium's emphatic return to its vibrant and vibrant hand-drawn moorings . Based on Peter Brown's 2016 children's book of the same name, the remarkably accomplished The Wild Robot tells the story of a stranded robot helper and an orphaned gosling whose paths cross under tragic and turbulent circumstances on an island uninhabited by humans.

A deep connection develops between the two: one is a shunned bird without a family, the other a lost machine primed for actions that are inherently emotionless. Their bond creates a moving mother-adoptive daughter story that crosses the line between the instinctive and the mechanical with sublime ease.

The superbly directed animated film brings together technology, nature, the vitality of wildlife and humanity (although the plot is not human) to spark a vivid exploration of motherhood and interspecies solidarity in a forest where predators roam freely and the weak are constantly on the move under the threat of destruction.

Is peace and harmony possible in an environment where strength is right, survival is a matter of chance, and kindness is unheard of? As the robot explores the island and meets people like Pinktail (Catherine O'Hara), a mother possum, Longneck (Bill Nighy), an old Canada goose who helps the lonely gosling grow up, and Thunderbolt (Ving Rhames). , She discovers new possibilities (at first beyond her understanding) that pave the way forward for her and the gosling.

The delicious animation is wonderfully captivating and the quality of the storytelling is top notch. The Wild Robot is full of heart and flair as it weaves a rich tapestry of color, emotion, and drama into a simple yet powerful story about learning, unlearning, and assimilating across the boundaries that separate one species from another.

Rozzum Unit 7134, abbreviated as Roz (voiced by Lupita Nyong'o), is the sole survivor of a shipwreck in which a Universal Dynamics shipment containing half a dozen robots is destroyed. She washes up on an island and intones: “A Rozzum always does its job. Just ask.”

But there is no one on the island to ask. The animals she encounters in an alien environment where there are no buyers or consumers are understandably baffled by her persistent begging for instructions. Roz is also at the end. She toys with the possibility of returning to where she came from, but is thwarted by a damaged transmitter.

She continues to desperately search for something to do and is chased by a grizzly bear (voice of Mark Hamill). On her escape, she smashes a goose nest and kills the mother. Only one egg survives. Roz protects it from a hungry fox, Finch (Pedro Pascal). The egg hatches and a Canada goose is born. Roz finds meaning on the island. She also becomes friends with the fox Fink.

Roz raises Brightbill (Kit Connor) – the name she and Fink came up with for the gosling – and teaches him to swim and fly, but not without having to overcome huge hurdles that make the tasks almost impossible.

Early in the film, as she struggles to assert her raison d'être, Roz pretends that she is “programmed for physical imitation.” Although no one has an immediate use for this attribute, it continues to demonstrate the benefits of adaptability, no matter how difficult it may be. She is making slow but steady progress, learning to respond to feelings rather than just responding to instructions.

The deceptively straightforward story contains themes of great importance, ranging from the benefits of peaceful coexistence to the plight of the marginalized and misunderstood in ecosystems controlled by the power of the majority.

Both Roz and Brightbill find themselves on the edge of the world they have to navigate. The island's creatures keep Roz at a distance, believing her to be a monstrous pariah, encapsulating the classic predicament of the quintessential outsider.

Brightbill is the smallest of the litter, a weakling who doesn't fit in. The struggle to belong to her kind weighs on her, but Roz and Fink, who complains that no one likes or trusts him, join forces with her and form a team on the island where the laws of nature dictate that some Animals are predators and others fall victim to them.

Vontra (Stephanie Hsu) arrives in an airship to bring Roz back to Universal Dynamics. “You don’t belong in the wilderness,” Roz is told curtly. She insists that she does. “I’m a wild robot,” she claims. “You’re in the wrong place and you’re the wrong thing,” Vontra says. “You shouldn’t feel,” she says.

A sustained sense of drama drives The Wild Robot, a film that never lets up, even if some of the ideas it expresses may seem a little trite. It is never a bad idea to repeat truisms that will never or should never become irrelevant and redundant.

Composer Kris Bowers, in his first animated film appearance, delivers a stirring score that floats, dives and floats in the manner of the creatures we see on screen fighting against the odds to survive robberies and other disasters.

If you love animated films, and even if you don't, give the child in you a chance to enjoy the beauty and underlying power of these films The wild robot. It's as good as anything we've seen in a long time.