The Wild Robot is a wild entry in the DreamWorks space. Not only is this movie stunning to look at, but it also diverts from the typically cheerful themes of movies for children, making it an incredible viewing experience for both kids and adults. I don’t remember the last time I watched an animated movie this effective. The Wild Robot runs with the themes of death, mortality, climate change, and other morbid ideas in a seamless manner that never feels overwhelmingly sad, just perfectly balanced. No, you won’t end up weeping while watching this film, but you’ll go back and think about it for days on end. The Wild Robot is a lot of things; it’s about a fish out of water, it’s about intuition, it’s about changing oneself for others, and most importantly, it’s about taking a step back and learning to simply be kind. The film tells the story of Roz, a robot in a dystopian future where the only human survivors live in a greenhouse. Roz accidentally drops off in the wild, where she must learn to adapt to her surroundings before returning to Universal Dynamics, i.e., home, or the place where she was made. Roz is then tasked with looking after a baby gosling by a fox, and she can only return after the completion of her “tasks.” What follows is an adventure of a lifetime that will leave you in awe and wonder.
Spoiler Alert
What Happened to Brightbill’s Parents?
The primary theme of the first half of The Wild Robot is actually parenting, if you’d believe it. In the film, Roz’s accident ends up killing Brightbill’s parents, and she’s able to save the single egg. When the last remaining egg hatches, the baby goose (later named Brightbill) immediately assumes Roz as his mother. In the meantime, Roz is considered a monster by the rest of the animal kingdom. Roz also finds a friend in a fox named Fink who guides her in her tasks. Fink obviously doesn’t know anything about geese except for how they taste, but the trio becomes a force to reckon with once Roz teaches Fink to stop trying to eat Brightbill. Roz is a robot, and as you can imagine, that means processing data and working accordingly. However, being with the animals, Roz learns quickly to adapt to the natural order of the world, forgoing her programming and changing herself to become more animal-like in order to give Brightbill the nurturing he needs. When Brightbill is older, teenager-like, he learns that he has to migrate with the rest of the geese once a year. Because of the accident, Brightbill’s smaller than the rest of his clan, kind of like the ugly duckling. Plus, he’s grown up with the “monster,” so he’s shunned by his own kind. All this while, Brightbill thought Roz was actually his mother, but this is when he learns that Roz actually killed his parents and never told him the truth. There’s a simple lesson here: to protect someone else’s feelings, you can’t hide the truth from them. I suppose adults are always stuck on protecting their kids and, in the process, don’t tell them some harsh truths that end up affecting them later on in life.
What Lesson Does Pinktail Teach Roz?
Ironically, the only other friend Roz makes on the island is an opossum with 6, sorry, 7 kids named Pinktail. Pinktail teaches Roz that being a mother isn’t a task but a feeling that comes from within and never ends. Roz’s formula is simple: collect data and complete the task, but with Pinktail, she learns how to be instinctive, something even we as humans struggle with. Roz’s emotional intelligence develops over time; it’s not as if she presses a button within her and knows how to be a perfect mother. Motherhood is a slow and never-ending process, and Roz is willing to stick it through.
What Happens in the Winter?
The next big lesson in The Wild Robot is perseverance. When winter comes, Brightbill has to fly off with his “family.” Or should we say leaving his family behind? There’s an elderly goose named Longneck who tells Roz that all she needs to do is make sure the Brightbill can endure long flights. In a week’s time, Brightbill is trained by Fink and Roz (despite being mad at them) to fly for long hours in harsh conditions. It’s a scary world out there, so all you can do is teach them how to spread their wings and take off. At the end of the week, Brightbill flies off with the rest of the geese after Roz and he apologize to each other.
Now comes the time for Roz to go back to where she came from, but something in her stops her from leaving. When Roz returns, Fink is overjoyed to see her because she’s the only friend he’s ever had. Fink the fox is sad too. He’s never experienced love before because he never had a family, and all the animals hate him because they either want to eat him or will be eaten by him. It’s a vicious cycle, you know? Anyway, with Roz and Brightbill, Fink doesn’t even realize that he’s experiencing the power of true love. Now, when Roz returns, Fink tells her that it’s the harshest winter they’ve ever seen and most of the animals aren’t going to survive. That climate change issue has risen again. Roz works day and night to get all the animals to take shelter in the home that she built for Fink, Brightbill, and herself. It’s sturdy, massive, and can withstand the harsh conditions. But having all the animals in one “room” means having predators and prey in the same space.
But it’s Fink who makes sure the animals understand why Roz worked so hard to bring them all together. It is kindness and empathy that they must all learn together and stick it out until the winter’s gone. Of course, this is not an easy feat; this entire situation teaches the animals to think from the heart rather than their brains, or, should I say, from their stomachs. Kindness comes easy, but letting go of your instincts is a much harder task. But as we know, teamwork makes the dream work, and so Roz and the animals survive the winter to come out glorious in the springtime. I know it’s easy to say, or rather show, as this movie has done, if we all come together, we might be able to survive this climate crisis.
Why Does Roz Remove A Part Of Herself For Brightbill?
During The Wild Robot’s ending, a robot named Vontra finds Roz and plans on taking her back to headquarters in order to study the data in her. However, Vontra plans on deleting all of Roz’s memories. This is when Brightbill returns and plans on telling Roz that he loves her, but before he can do so, Roz has already decided to leave, because she believes Brightbill’s found his family. It’s a shame we had to see old man Longneck go in such a tragic way for the kid to shine, but it’s because Brightbill is different from the rest of the pack; he’s able to get them out of a crisis and bring them back home safely. Anyway, Birghtbill decides to get on the ship where Roz is and tells her to stay, but by then she’s already been plugged in. Brightbill tells her that what happened wasn’t her fault, but what she did to fix her mistake was everything he could ever wish for. It’s a beautiful moment of bonding, and he tells his mom how much he cares for her. This wakes Roz up, and she tells him she loves him too! A robot who is able to love!
At the same time, all the other animals work together to help bring Roz back. There’s also a massive forest fire at the same time, and together the animals are able to douse the fire. It’s a beautiful moment; again, it’s all about working together for the better. Anyway, Roz takes Brightbill and tells him not to worry as she jumps off the ship and directly into the fire. She removes a part of her central system and places Brightbill there to protect him from the fall. He’s hurt his wing, so he can’t fly. I suppose at this point Roz is making a sacrifice for her child, and she’s got everything she needs in the animals of the forest. She has her memories; she has her emotions and her instincts that can keep her “whole.” I guess Brightbill was her heart.
What Can We Expect From Part 2?
Seeing the devastation in the forest from the robots that came to take Roz, she realizes that they’ll never stop until they get her. She decides to go back to headquarters and give them everything they need. Roz has overwritten her program before, so by now we can imagine she’s stowed away her memories in such a way that they can’t be taken away from her, at least not easily. This is probably why, when Brightbill comes back to visit during the next year of migration, Roz recognizes him. This is, of course, a beautiful moment. I guess what we can imagine from part 2 is that Roz might’ve taught the other robots to develop instincts, and what would’ve previously been assumed to be a “faulty” robot is now the norm. We can imagine that just like animals, humans will learn to work together, and maybe they’ll be in the greenhouse too. Maybe we’ll see everybody live in prosperity and survive a crisis together.
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