The instinct in humans tells us to act a certain way. However, we must aspire to be more than a blank slate, because beyond that is something unique and beautiful.
This message is taught in the animated movie, “The Wild Robot,” an adaptation of a middle-grade #1 Best Selling New York Times novel. Within this adaptation it expands upon the idea of becoming more than just the norm.
From book to movie, the film beautifully translates and expands upon the words of the novel. The animation style and voice acting provide an additional layer of emotion to the story.
In the movie, a robot emerges from one of six boxes that fall overboard a ship and float ashore on an island in a futuristic, flooded version of Earth. The robot experiences nature, learns to speak to animals, and gains their trust eventually becoming a guardian of a newborn gosling. The robot learns to disobey its programming and develop an artificial personality. The robot is hunted down and has to return home to avoid the animals being continuously harmed. However, this plot diverges from the source material.
In the novel, characters that have a minimal role are expanded upon to make the movie more stimulating and appealing, with some characters being expanded upon for comedic effect and memorability: most likely for marketing purposes. The largest change from the novel, however, comes with the ending where the robot experiences a differing fate in both iterations. While these changes may be large, they do not innately ruin the story.
For animated films, both stories don’t avoid the concept of death and loss. While the book may be more blunt with death’s representation, the film lets the characters feel like individuals rather than afterthoughts and lets the idea of death breathe rather than be passed by.
The story and concepts of both iterations of “The Wild Robot” bring a reminiscent feeling of purpose back to animated films rather than sidelining the story for the sake of corporational cash grab. With the effort put into this film, viewers who see it may gain an insight into their lives that can impact them immensely.
