The Wild Robot by Peter Brown was initially a novel meant for younger audiences. However, seeing it come alive in theaters could capture the hearts of adults and teens alike, especially with the soul-stirring found family dynamic. When I watched this movie, I had no prior knowledge of what this film was about or how much it would impact me, and when I did I was pleasantly surprised at the animation and the whole idea itself.
This movie is about a robot that is washed up on the shore and wakes up on a deserted island with no human life. This conflicts with the robot’s programming because its whole job is to carry out tasks effectively by humans, not wildlife. However, as the robot learned that it could not understand any of the animals, it became more determined to find a way to help.
Although the robot, named Roz, did everything in her power to carry out a task, it seemed like no animal on the island could trust the metal being, making Roz feel like she had failed. So she tries to return home, but as she does so she captures some unwanted attention and goes on an exciting chase with several critters foiling her plans. While this occurs, she stumbles onto a cliff where a small nest of geese lies. In the nest is only one egg. This is where she will find her first task, one that doesn’t come with many instructions: raising a baby gosling.
Besides the heartwarming tale, both the novel and movie are inspiring to me as an artist. The author both wrote the story and made illustrations for it, which is something I wish to accomplish in the future. In an article about the process of making The Wild Robot, Peter Brown said, “I spent a year mapping all the possible directions for the story. There was so much to consider! How might a robot become wild? Do robots have anything in common with wildlife? What kinds of lessons could Roz learn from a tree, or a storm, or an opossum?”
Another detail I liked was how Brown said, “Most authors have very little control over the appearance of their books. But as an author and illustrator, I worked on every aspect of my book’s appearance.” The author did not want this to be a typical sci-fi story or a story of a robot that has no emotions, rather he wanted to tell a better tale. “I wanted to tell a different kind of robot story. I wanted to tell the story of a robot who finds harmony in the last place you’d expect. I wanted to tell a robot nature story,” he said.
In conclusion, this novel is so much more than a simple robot story as there was so much thought behind this and love put into this story. Even though the adventure was long, it was necessary to make such a lovely piece of art. Peter Brown says it perfectly: “It took eight years, but I finally found an answer to the question that led me down this path. What would an intelligent robot do in the wilderness? She’d make the wilderness her home.”