The Oscar-tipped new Dreamworks animation teems with fun characters and stunning visuals
Based on the book of the same name by Peter Brown, this charming and eco-smart new entry to the Dreamworks animation catalogue sees Lupita Nyong'o voice ROZZUM Unit 7134 (Roz for short), a service droid who is shipwrecked on a desert island and must learn to adapt to her new surroundings.
Things start badly when she accidently crushes a nest of goose eggs and becomes the very reluctant mother figure to a gosling, who she eventually names Brightbill.
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Watch our interview with Lupita Nyong'o
Naturally, the local critters are not best pleased with the sudden arrival of a big shiny white robot and Roz is not quite accorded the same greeting as C-3PO received from the Ewoks in Return of The Jedi.
However, faced by numerous challenges, not least of which is teaching Brightbill to fly, the strange interloper develops a bond with the native animals. This is Nyong’o’s show and her `can-do’ voice of studied optimism is a joy but the island teems with great characters, from a bevy of death-obsessed baby pink tails, a pompous old beaver (Matt Berry), a fox called Fink, who actually says "it’s in my nature", and a wise elder Canadian goose voiced by Big Nighy.
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Watch our interview with The Wild Robot director Chris Sanders
Director Chris Sanders (How to Train Your Dragon, Lilo & Stitch) creates a lush, eyepopping world full of explosive colour and movement - comparisons have already been made with Disney classic Bambi and even the paintings of Claude Monet. There’s also no mistaking the debt owed to WALL-E and Up.
The Wild Robot also offers a thought-provoking examination of the relationship between technology and nature - and corporate greed and eco-disaster - and there is something irresistibly evocative about watching Roz thrash her way through jungle undergrowth and scale cliff faces.
It’s sweet, maybe too sweet, but it doesn’t skirt the harsh realities of nature and the fight for survival. There’s a simple and profound message here but your heart strings will be pinged and you’ll be immersed in those landscapes.
The Wild Robot is in cinemas on Friday
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