The Wild Robot

For the trilogy the film is based on, see The Wild Robot (novel).

The Wild Robot is a 2024 American animated science fiction film produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by Universal Pictures. Based on the 2016 novel of the same name by Peter Brown, it was written for the screen and directed by Chris Sanders and features the voices of Lupita Nyong'o, Pedro Pascal, Kit Connor, Bill Nighy, Stephanie Hsu, Mark Hamill, Catherine O'Hara, Matt Berry, and Ving Rhames. The film follows Roz (Nyong'o), a service robot shipwrecked on an uninhabited island who must adapt to her surroundings, build relationships with the local wildlife, and become the adoptive mother of an orphaned goose, Brightbill (Connor).

The Wild Robot
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Chris Sanders
Screenplay by	Chris Sanders
Based on	The Wild Robot by Peter Brown
Produced by	Jeff Hermann
Starring	Lupita Nyong'o Pedro Pascal Kit Connor Bill Nighy Stephanie Hsu Mark Hamill Catherine O'Hara Matt Berry Ving Rhames
Cinematography	Chris Stover
Edited by	Mary Blee
Music by	Kris Bowers
Production company	DreamWorks Animation
Distributed by	Universal Pictures
Release dates	September 8, 2024 (2024-09-08) (TIFF) September 27, 2024 (2024-09-27) (United States)
Running time	102 minutes[1]
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$78 million[2]
Box office	$325 million[3][4]

Sanders first encountered the original book through his daughter and was offered an opportunity to direct a film adaptation at DreamWorks. The film's visuals use a watercolor aesthetic, inspired by classic Disney animated films and the works of Hayao Miyazaki. It was the final film to be animated entirely in-house at DWA Glendale, as the studio will begin relying heavily on outside vendors for future films. Kris Bowers composed the score, marking his first score for a fully animated film.

The Wild Robot premiered at the 49th Toronto International Film Festival on September 8, 2024, and was released in the United States on September 27. The film was a critical and commercial success, grossing $325 million worldwide on a production budget of $78 million and becoming the sixth-highest grossing animated film of 2024. It was nominated for Best Animated Feature Film at the 97th Academy Awards, the 82nd Golden Globe Awards and 78th British Academy Film Awards, among others. A sequel is in development.

Plot

A storm causes a Universal Dynamics cargo ship to lose ROZZUM robots, which wash up on an uninhabited island. Only ROZZUM Unit 7134, nicknamed "Roz", survives and is accidentally activated by wildlife. Roz frightens the animals and injures herself while trying to help them, even after learning their language. Unable to find anyone needing her services, Roz signals for retrieval, but is struck by lightning and attacked by animals: While fleeing an aggressive grizzly bear, she accidentally crushes a goose nest, leaving one egg.

After Roz protects the egg from a hungry fox named Fink, a gosling hatches from it; he imprints on her and breaks her long-range transponder. Following advice from Pinktail, an opossum with several children, Roz cares for the gosling to ensure he can fly before the winter migration. Fink discovers he can benefit from Roz, who builds a shelter and names the gosling Brightbill, and the three cohabit. As Brightbill grows, he learns to swim but is mocked by other geese. When Brightbill discovers Roz killed his family, he has a falling out with her and angrily disowns her before storming off.

Roz reconstructs one ROZZUM unit, who advises her to return to the Universal Dynamics factory. Roz decides instead to finish helping Brightbill learn to fly, enlisting the help of a falcon named Thunderbolt and receiving advice from Longneck, the goose flock's leader, allowing Brightbill to master flying just in time to join the geese's migration. Roz, missing Brightbill and unsure of her continued purpose, reactivates her transponder but shuts it off immediately after Universal Dynamics detects her signal.

During the migration, a thunderstorm forces the geese to shelter inside a Universal Dynamics greenhouse, triggering a contamination alert that sets RECO robots after them. Longneck sacrifices himself so Brightbill can lead the flock to safety. Meanwhile, Roz and Fink save animals during a severe snowstorm, urging them to a truce before Roz powers down. Spring arrives, and Roz reawakens to find the animals still following the peace and Brightbill returning, hailed as a hero.

Shortly after, a Universal Dynamics retrieval robot, Vontra, arrives to recover Roz. Roz flees with Fink, pursued by RECOs dispatched by Vontra. The animals band together to fight off the RECOs, but Vontra captures Roz and starts a forest fire by detonating the damaged RECOs. Brightbill attacks the Universal Dynamics dropship to save Roz as Fink and the others put out the fire. Despite Roz appearing to have been shut down by Vontra, her love for Brightbill restores her systems. Roz and Brightbill destroy Vontra and escape as the dropship explodes.

Roz decides to return to Universal Dynamics to protect the island from future attacks, but promises to return. Months later, the animals continue to live together on the island while Roz works at another Universal Dynamics greenhouse, maintaining her memories. Brightbill visits her and the two embrace.

Voice cast

Lupita Nyong'o voices Roz and Rummage.

• Lupita Nyong'o as:
  • ROZZUM unit 7134 ("Roz"), an abandoned robot from the tech company Universal Dynamics that was washed onto a forest in Oregon and learns to adapt to the new environment.^[5] The name of her product line, ROZZUM, and her manufacturer are references to Rossum's Universal Robots, the play that created the term "robot".^[6]
  • ROZZUM unit 6262 ("Rummage"), a broken robot that was washed onto the same island as Roz, who gives Roz her transponder to return home.
• Pedro Pascal as Fink, a sly but well-meaning red fox who is the first animal that Roz befriends. ^[5]
• Kit Connor as Brightbill, an orphaned runt Canada goose who is raised by Roz as her own son after losing his biological family.^[5]
  • Boone Storme as Baby Brightbill.^[7]
• Catherine O'Hara as Pinktail, a maternal Virginia opossum who gives Roz some advice on raising Brightbill.^[5]
• Bill Nighy as Longneck, an elderly barnacle goose who helps Roz understand teaching Brightbill how to fly.^[5]
• Stephanie Hsu as Vontra (Virtual Observational Neutralizing Troublesome Retrieval Authority), a callous, tentacled robot sent by Universal Dynamics to retrieve Roz.^[5]
• Mark Hamill as Thorn, a grizzly bear and the island's most feared predator.
• Matt Berry as Paddler, a neurotic beaver who spends his days trying to gnaw down a giant tree.
• Ving Rhames as Thunderbolt, a peregrine falcon who helps Brightbill learn to fly.^[5][8]
• Randy Thom as the RECOs, reconnaissance robots designed by Universal Dynamics to serve Vontra.

Production

Development

Peter Brown, creator of The Wild Robot book series, pictured in 2014.

On September 28, 2023, DreamWorks Animation announced an animated film adaptation of the book series The Wild Robot by Peter Brown, with Chris Sanders set to write and direct, Jeff Hermann set to produce, and Sanders' longtime creative collaborator Dean DeBlois set to serve as executive producer. Other crew members were announced, including production designer Raymond Zibach, editor Mary Blee, and head of story Heidi Jo Gilbert.^[9]

Sanders first encountered Brown's book through his daughter, though he never read it himself. Years later, while looking for his next project at DreamWorks, Sanders was offered an opportunity to direct an adaptation of the book for the studio.^[10] Upon reading it, Sanders immediately fell in love with the story and felt he was the right person to adapt it to film. He described the book as "deceptively simple" and "emotionally complex".^[11] Sanders had previously considered the idea of a creature bonding with animals in a forest for his directorial debut Lilo & Stitch (2002).^[12] Sanders contacted Brown and would later describe the phone call as critical to the film's development. Brown told the production team that his intended theme for the book was that kindness could be a survival skill. Sanders sought to weave that theme through the film and felt he achieved that goal.^[13] Another theme in the story that Sanders was drawn to was that of motherhood. He felt he had never done a story of this nature before.^[13]

Chris Sanders, writer–director of The Wild Robot film, pictured in 2014.

Changes were made to the book's story for the film. In the book, Roz is in constant search of a task but also in the wrong place and with no one to give her tasks.^[13] Sanders felt that she risked becoming monotonous at points in the story, so he strived to make Roz constantly interesting and compelling throughout.^[13] Some character roles from the book were reduced in order to give others more substantial screen time and impact. The changes to the characters and their roles were also made to prevent the film from becoming too crowded.^[13]

Casting

Cast members Lupita Nyong'o, Pedro Pascal, Catherine O'Hara, Bill Nighy, Kit Connor, Mark Hamill, Matt Berry and Ving Rhames were revealed on March 5, 2024, with the release of the film's first trailer.^[5][14]

Sanders wanted Roz to be a compelling character and felt an extraordinary voice performance was necessary to achieve this. He wanted to avoid a two-dimensional fictional take on a robot, where they go straight from being emotionless to emotional.^[13] Nyong'o was tasked with finding a voice for the character and evolving it as the story progressed. The actress's role was particularly important as Roz did not possess facial articulation. This meant Nyong'o's voice was the main way of signifying Roz's emotions.^[13]

According to Hamill, who voiced Thorn, he learned about the film after reading the book The Wild Robot. Hamill says that The Wild Robot reminded him of his first feelings about Star Wars (1977), in which he originated the role of Luke Skywalker.^[15]

Animation and design

The Wild Robot would be the final film to be animated entirely in-house at DreamWorks, as Cartoon Brew reported on October 6, 2023, that the studio would be shifting away from producing films in-house in their Glendale campus to relying more heavily on outside studios after 2024.^[16] Additional character rigging was done by French studio Stim Studio.^[17]

After reading the book, Sanders felt the story's innocent tone and natural setting required a look that strayed away from the standard CGI photorealism in many modern animated films.^[11] He and production designer Raymond Zibach wanted the film in its finished state to still resemble the concept paintings.^[11] To achieve this, the production team built upon the technologies used in two of DreamWorks' earlier films, Puss in Boots: The Last Wish and The Bad Guys (both 2022).^[11] While the characters were made up of CGI geometrical shapes, their surfaces possess a hand-painted look. This painterly style philosophy was carried onto every visual element in the film, including the sky and environments.^[13]

Sanders took inspiration from classic Disney animated movies and the works of Hayao Miyazaki, resulting in a stylized CG visual style that he described as "a Monet painting in a Miyazaki forest".^[18][19] He considered Bambi (1942) and My Neighbour Totoro (1988) as the biggest influences on the visuals.^[13] The works of Syd Mead served as inspiration for the futuristic parts of the film.^[13]

Sanders wanted Roz's design to be memorable, and one that would take its place among fiction's most famous robots. Taking inspiration from C-3PO and R2-D2 from Star Wars and Robby the Robot from Forbidden Planet (1956), he wanted Roz to have little facial articulation.^[13] Sanders and the rest of the design team made several prototype designs during production. One of the designers, Hyun Huh presented his Roz design to the crew, which became the basis for the one seen in the film. The crew immediately fell in love with Huh's design, with Sanders describing it as simple and appealing.^[13] Brown's original book described Roz with great detail, so Sanders and the team knew they had to leave some design elements out. Although on behalf of Brown's description of what a ROZZUM unit's purpose was to humans, they aimed for Roz's design to be humanoid.^[13]

Music

Main article: The Wild Robot (soundtrack)

In March 2024, Kris Bowers was revealed to be composing the score, his first score for a fully animated film.^[20] Additionally, two original songs were announced to be made for the film, performed and co-written by Maren Morris. The first, "Kiss the Sky", was released on August 28; the second, "Even When I'm Not", along with the full soundtrack album, was released on September 27.^[21] Morris and her team of co-writers were inspired to write a second song for the film, "Even When I'm Not", which is featured in the film's end credits, when they screened the finished film.^[21]

Release

The Wild Robot had its world premiere as the opening front runner of the Toronto International Film Festival Grand Opening celebration on September 8, 2024.^[22][23] It was initially scheduled for release on September 20,^[24] but was postponed to September 27. This shift was reportedly made to avoid competition with Transformers One.^[25]

On December 29, 2024, it was announced that The Wild Robot would be re-released in theaters in the United States on January 17, 2025.^[26]

Marketing

The first trailer for the film, featuring a rendition of Louis Armstrong's "What a Wonderful World", plus a poster, were released on March 5, 2024.^[27] The trailer debuted in theaters three days later in front of screenings of DreamWorks' other new film Kung Fu Panda 4.^[28] Writing for Polygon, Tasha Robinson compared the design of Roz to familiar film robots such as BB-8 (the Star Wars sequel trilogy), WALL-E (in his titular film), Baymax (from Big Hero 6), and The Iron Giant (in his titular film), and noted that the only words spoken in the trailer - "Sometimes, to survive, we must become more than we were programmed to be" - evoked the message of The Iron Giant (1999).^[29]

Home media

The Wild Robot was released to rent on digital streaming on October 15, 2024,^[30] and on Blu-ray and DVD on December 3.^[31]

The film was made available to stream on NBCUniversal's Peacock streaming service in the US on January 24, 2025.^[32] As part of Universal's long-term deal with Netflix, the film will stream on Peacock for the first four months of the pay-TV window, before moving to Netflix for the next ten, and returning to Peacock for the remaining four.^[33][34]

Reception

Box office

As of January 25, 2025^[update], The Wild Robot has grossed $143.9 million in the United States and Canada, and $181.1 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $325 million.^[3][4]

In the United States and Canada, The Wild Robot was released alongside Megalopolis, and was projected to gross $24–30 million from 3,962 theaters in its opening weekend.^[2][35] The film made $11.2 million on its first day,^[36] including an estimated $1.9 million from Thursday previews.^[37] The film went on to debut to $35.8 million,^[38] slightly above predictions and topping the box office.^[39] In its second weekend, the film made $18.9 million (a drop of 47% from its first weekend), finishing in second behind newcomer Joker: Folie à Deux.^[40][41] In its third weekend the film made $14 million (dropping just 25.9%), finishing in second behind newcomer Terrifier 3. According to The Hollywood Reporter, theater chains treated the unrated Terrifier 3 as an R-rated film, turning down attendees 17 or younger if unaccompanied by a parent or guardian. Distribution sources speculated that more people saw the film than reported, theorizing that a "noticeable bump" in the earnings for The Wild Robot's third weekend was the result of teenagers buying tickets to the film and then sneaking into screenings of Terrifier 3.^[42][43] The film then made $10.1 million and $6.8 million in its fourth and fifth weekends, respectively.^[44][45]

Critical response

The Wild Robot received critical acclaim.^[46] On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 97% of 241 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 8.4/10. The website's consensus reads: "A simple tale told with great sophistication, The Wild Robot is wondrous entertainment that dazzles the eye while filling your heart to the brim."^[47] It is DreamWorks Animation's second highest-rated film on the site, behind Sanders' How to Train Your Dragon (2010).^[48] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 85 out of 100, based on 46 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".^[49] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale, while those surveyed by PostTrak gave it a 96% overall positive score, with 62% saying they would definitely recommend it.^[39]

Natalia Winkelman of The New York Times called the film "a dazzling triumph of animation" and wrote "this is a work that cares most about two things: big feelings and great beauty."^[50] Pete Hammond of Deadline Hollywood said, "If Spielberg's E.T. had been an animated film instead, it might resemble what writer-director Chris Sanders has created here. However, Wild Robot weaves its own magic and for that we can all cry tears of joy."^[51] Adrian Horton, writing for The Guardian said: "Clever, heartfelt and frequently stunning, The Wild Robot offers the type of all-ages-welcome animated entertainment that will delight kids and leave a lump in one's throat."^[52] Robbie Collin of The Daily Telegraph gave the film a five out of five scoring, saying, "DreamWorks was founded 30 years ago this month, and this well-timed anniversary release is their richest, most moving film since 1998's reputation-making The Prince of Egypt."^[53] In his review for Vulture, Bilge Ebiri praised Nyong'o's performance and found that it "turn[ed] this heartwarming family film into an unforgettable one."^[54]

Collider thought it was one of Sanders' best films yet,^[55] while Screen Rant called it the best animated film of the year.^[56]

Accolades

Accolades received by The Wild Robot

Award	Date of ceremony	Category	Recipient(s)	Result	Ref.
Academy Awards	March 2, 2025	Best Animated Feature	Chris Sanders and Jeff Hermann	Pending	[57]
		Best Original Score	Kris Bowers	Pending
		Best Sound	Randy Thom, Brian Chumney, Gary A. Rizzo and Leff Lefferts	Pending
African-American Film Critics Association	December 13, 2024	Best Original Score	Kris Bowers	Won	[58]
		Best Animated Feature	The Wild Robot	Won
Alliance of Women Film Journalists	January 7, 2025	Best Animated Film		Won[a]	[59]
		Best Adapted Screenplay	Chris Sanders & Peter Brown	Nominated
		Best Animated/Voice Performance	Lupita Nyong'o	Won
American Cinema Editors Awards	TBA 2025	Best Edited Animated Feature Film (Theatrical or Non-Theatrical)	Mary Blee	Pending	[60]
Annie Awards	February 8, 2025	Best Animated Feature	The Wild Robot	Pending	[61]
		Outstanding Achievement for Animated Effects in an Animated Production	Derek Cheung, Michael Losure, David Chow, Nyoung Kim, Steve Avoujageli	Pending
		Outstanding Achievement for Character Animation in an Animated Feature Production	Fabio Lignini	Pending
		Outstanding Achievement for Character Design in an Animated Feature Production	Genevieve Tsai	Pending
		Outstanding Achievement for Directing in an Animated Feature Production	Chris Sanders	Pending
		Outstanding Achievement for Editorial in an Animated Feature Production	Mary Blee, Collin Erker, Orlando Duenas, Lucie Lyon, Brian Parker	Pending
		Outstanding Achievement for Music in an Animated Feature Production	Kris Bowers	Pending
		Outstanding Achievement for Production Design in an Animated Feature Production	Raymond Zibach, Ritchie Sacilioc	Pending
		Outstanding Achievement for Voice Acting in an Animated Feature Production	Lupita Nyong'o	Pending
			Kit Connor	Pending
Art Directors Guild Awards	February 15, 2025	Excellence in Production Design for an Animated Film	Raymond Zibach	Pending	[62]
Artios Awards	February 12, 2025	Outstanding Achievement in Casting – Feature Animation	Christi Soper Hilt	Pending	[63]
Astra Film and Creative Arts Awards	December 8, 2024	Best Animated Feature	The Wild Robot	Won	[64]
		Best Voice Over Performance	Lupita Nyong'o	Won
			Pedro Pascal	Nominated
	December 8, 2024	Best Original Score	Kris Bowers	Nominated
		Best Original Song	"Kiss the Sky" – Maren Morris, Ali Tamposi, Michael Pollack, Delacey, Jordan Johnson & Stefan Johnson	Nominated
Austin Film Critics Association	January 6, 2025	Best Animated Film	The Wild Robot	Won	[65]
		Best Original Score	Kris Bowers	Nominated
		Best Voice Acting/Animated/Digital Performance	Lupita Nyong'o	Won
BAFTA Awards	February 16, 2025	Best Animated Film	The Wild Robot	Pending	[66]
		Best Children’s and Family Film		Pending
		Best Original Music	Kris Bowers	Pending
Black Reel Awards	February 10, 2025	Outstanding Voice Performance	Lupita Nyong'o	Pending	[67]
		Outstanding Score	Kris Bowers	Pending
		Outstanding Soundtrack	The Wild Robot (Original Soundtrack)	Pending
Celebration of Cinema and Television	December 9, 2024	Composer Award	Kris Bowers	Won	[68]
Chicago Film Critics Association	December 12, 2024	Best Animated Film	The Wild Robot	Nominated	[69]
		Best Original Score	Kris Bowers	Nominated
Cinema Audio Society Awards	February 22, 2025	Outstanding Achievement in Sound Mixing for Motion Picture – Animated	Ken Gombos, Leff Lefferts, Gary A. Rizzo, Alan Meyerson, Richard Duarte	Pending	[70] [71]
Critics' Choice Movie Awards	February 7, 2025	Best Animated Feature Film	The Wild Robot	Pending	[72]
		Best Song	"Kiss the Sky" – Maren Morris, Ali Tamposi, Michael Pollack, Delacey, Jordan Johnson & Stefan Johnson	Pending
		Best Score	Kris Bowers	Pending
Dallas–Fort Worth Film Critics Association	December 18, 2024	Best Animated Film	The Wild Robot	Won	[73]
		Best Musical Score	Kris Bowers	Won
Dublin Film Critics Circle	December 19, 2024	Best Film	The Wild Robot	5th Place	[74]
Florida Film Critics Circle	December 20, 2024	Best Animated Film		Nominated	[75]
Golden Reel Awards	February 23, 2025	Outstanding Achievement in Sound Editing – Feature Animation	Brian Chumney, Leff Lefferts, Randy Thom, David Farmer, David Hughes, Jamey Scott, Rich Quinn, Malcolm Fife, Dee Selby, Ronni Brown, Jana Vance	Pending	[76]
Golden Globe Awards	January 5, 2025	Best Animated Feature Film	The Wild Robot	Nominated	[77]
		Cinematic and Box Office Achievement		Nominated	[78]
		Best Original Song	"Kiss the Sky" – Maren Morris, Ali Tamposi, Michael Pollack, Delacey, Jordan Johnson & Stefan Johnson	Nominated
		Best Original Score	Kris Bowers	Nominated
Heartland Film Festival	2024	Truly Moving Picture Award	The Wild Robot	Won	[79]
Hollywood Music in Media Awards	November 20, 2024	Best Original Score – Animated Film	Kris Bowers	Won	[80]
		Best Original Song – Animated Film	"Kiss the Sky" – Maren Morris, Ali Tamposi, Michael Pollack, Delacey, Jordan Johnson & Stefan Johnson	Won
Houston Film Critics Society Awards	January 14, 2025	Best Animated Feature	The Wild Robot	Won	[81] [82]
		Best Original Score	Kris Bowers	Nominated
		Best Original Song	"Kiss the Sky"	Won
Kansas City Film Critics Circle	January 4, 2025	Best Animated Feature	The Wild Robot	Won	[83]
		Best Adapted Screenplay		Nominated
		Best Original Score	Kris Bowers	Nominated
London Film Critics' Circle	February 2, 2025	Best Animated Feature	The Wild Robot	Pending	[84]
New York Film Critics Online	December 16, 2024	Best Animation		Runner up	[85]
NAACP Image Awards	February 22, 2025	Outstanding Animated Motion Picture		Pending	[86]
		Outstanding Character Voice Performance – Motion Picture	Lupita Nyong'o	Pending
Online Film Critics Society Awards	January 27, 2025	Best Animated Feature	The Wild Robot	Nominated	[87]
		Best Original Score	Kris Bowers	Nominated
Producers Guild of America Awards	February 8, 2025	Outstanding Producer of Animated Theatrical Motion Pictures	The Wild Robot	Pending	[88]
Saturn Awards	February 2, 2025	Best Animated Film		Pending	[89]
San Diego Film Critics Society	December 9, 2024	Best Adapted Screenplay	Chris Sanders	Nominated	[90]
		Best Animated Film	The Wild Robot	Runner-up
Satellite Awards	January 26, 2025	Best Motion Picture – Animated or Mixed Media		Nominated	[91]
		Best Original Score	Kris Bowers	Nominated
		Best Original Song	"Kiss the Sky" – Delacey, Jordan Johnson, Stefan Johnson, Maren Morris, Michael Pollack, and Ali Tamposi	Nominated
San Sebastián International Film Festival	September 28, 2024	Lurra - Greenpeace Award	The Wild Robot	Won	[92]
San Francisco Bay Area Film Critics Circle	December 15, 2024	Best Animated Feature		Nominated	[93]
		Best Original Score	Kris Bowers	Nominated
SCAD Savannah Film Festival	November 2, 2024	Virtuoso Award	Lupita Nyong'o	Won	[94]
Seattle Film Critics Society	December 16, 2024	Best Original Score	Kris Bowers	Nominated	[95]
		Best Animated Film	The Wild Robot	Won
Society of Composers & Lyricists	February 12, 2025	Outstanding Original Score for a Studio Film	Kris Bowers	Pending	[96]
St. Louis Film Critics Association	December 15, 2024	Best Animated Feature	The Wild Robot	Won	[97]
		Best Score	Kris Bowers	Nominated
		Best Voice Performance	Lupita Nyong'o	Won
			Pedro Pascal	Nominated
USC Scripter Awards	February 22, 2025	Best Adapted Screenplay	Chris Sanders and Peter Brown	Pending	[98]
Visual Effects Society Awards	February 11, 2025	Outstanding Visual Effects in an Animated Feature	Chris Sanders, Jeff Hermann, Jeff Budsberg and Jacob Hjort Jensen	Pending	[99]
		Outstanding Animated Character in an Animated Feature	"Roz" – Fabio Lignini, Yukinori Inagaki, Owen Demers and Hyun Huh	Pending
		Outstanding Created Environment in an Animated Feature	"The Forest" – John Wake, He Jung Park, Woojin Choi and Shane Glading	Pending
		Outstanding Effects Simulations in an Animated Feature	Derek Cheung, Michael Losure, David Chow and Nyoung Kim	Pending
		Outstanding Compositing and Lighting in a Feature	Sondra L. Verlander, Baptiste Van Opstal, Eszter Offertaler and Austin Casale	Pending
Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association	December 8, 2024	Best Animated Feature	The Wild Robot	Won	[100]
		Best Original Score	Kris Bowers	Nominated
		Best Voice Performance	Lupita Nyong'o	Won
Winter IndieWire Honors	December 5, 2024	Spark Award	Chris Sanders	Won	[101]

Environmental themes

The Wild Robot incorporates environmental themes throughout its narrative, including a reference to climate change in a sequence depicting a futuristic San Francisco with a partially submerged Golden Gate Bridge.^[102] DreamWorks Animation developed the film in collaboration with both Universal's GreenerLight Program and the Natural Resources Defense Council's Rewrite the Future initiative, with environmental experts consulting on the ecological elements and a sustainability-focused PSA featuring Lupita Nyong'o.^[103] The film's environmental themes were showcased at Climate Week NYC 2024, where it received a special screening at the inaugural Climate Film Festival.^[104]

Sequel

On September 7, 2024, when asked about a potential sequel, Sanders stated, "I would very much like to. This was a labor of love on the part of everybody at the studio, and yes, I think I'd love to go and stay here for a while."^[105] On October 12, 2024, he confirmed that a sequel is in development.^[106]

See also

• Robot Dreams, a 2023 animated feature adaptation of another graphic novel also featuring robots and animals

Notes

1. Tied with Flow

References

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12. Ebiri, Bilge (September 26, 2024). "'When CG Came Along, We Couldn't Escape' How The Wild Robot's director, Chris Sanders, found a sweet spot between hand-drawn and CG animation". Vulture. Archived from the original on September 27, 2024. Retrieved September 28, 2024.
13. Radulovic, Petrana (August 31, 2024). "With The Wild Robot, Chris Sanders finally set computer animation free". Polygon. Archived from the original on September 26, 2024. Retrieved September 26, 2024.
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External links

• Official website
• The Wild Robot at IMDb
• The Wild Robot at Rotten Tomatoes
• Official screenplay
• A video on the film's unique animation style on YouTube