2024 hasn’t been an especially exciting year for animated movies so far, but the second half of the year looks much more promising. For instance, DreamWorks Animation’s The Wild Robot is coming to theaters on September 27, and after reviews popped up online this week, the feature film is sitting pretty with a 100% score on Rotten Tomatoes.
Based on Peter Brown’s children’s book series of the same name, The Wild Robot stars Lupita Nyong’o as ROZZUM unit 7134 (“Roz”). The robot finds itself stranded on an uninhabited island where it has to learn to adapt to the environment while forming relationships with the wildlife that lives there. The voice cast also features Pedro Pascal, Kit Connor, Catherine O’Hara, Bill Nighy, Stephanie Hsu, Mark Hamill, Matt Berry, and Ving Rhames.
“The nods to Iron Giant and Castle in the Sky are pretty obvious, but even still Wild Robot carves out its own distinct vibe,” said The Verge’s Andrew Webster.
“If the personalities tether us to the story, it’s the animation that initially pulls us in,” reads Lovia Gyarkye’s The Hollywood Reporter review. “Sanders’s film blends photorealistic characters with painterly images of the landscape to create delightful and immersive scenes.
Brian Tallerico also raved about the movie in his review for RogerEbert.com: “One could watch The Wild Robot with the sound off entirely and still have a rewarding experience—turn it on and you have one of the best animated films of the decade.”
DreamWorks hasn’t been nearly as consistent as the likes of Pixar or Sony Pictures Animation over the years, but the studio has released some true gems in recent years. Puss in Boots: The Last Wish was one of the best movies of 2022, Orion and the Dark deserved more attention on Netflix, and Kung Fu Panda 4 somehow didn’t wear out its welcome.
I’ll be first in line to see The Wild Robot when it hits theaters this month.
