The Wild Robot — You’re a Dead Robot

One of us cried watching The Wild Robot on a plane. Another didn’t cry at all, and got a text from the next room calling him a dead fucking robot. Pacco picked this one. It’s Chris Sanders’ 2024 DreamWorks adaptation of Peter Brown’s book: a service robot called Roz washes up on an island full of animals, accidentally orphans a gosling, and has to work out how to raise him. Lupita Nyong’o voices Roz, and Pedro Pascal is the fox, which some of us only clocked when the credits rolled. Along the way there’s a possum mum who loses track of her own kids, the Australian animal that throws its young at predators to get away, Roz ticking “feed” off her list once and apparently never again, the Golden Gate Bridge sitting underwater, and a robot who decides she doesn’t need a vital part because she has love. Plug in the goose. We also get into what the film says about parenting when nobody knows what they’re doing, why it plays like chapters of a book, and how Chris Sanders still voices Stitch. Nobody hated it, but one of us never wants to watch it again. Next week: Snow Dogs, Corey’s pick. Cuba Gooding Jr, 2002, huskies. Get ready for mush hour. Chapters: 00:00 You dead fucking robot 00:55 Why Pacco picked it 02:49 First impressions and that art style 06:20 Pretty dark for a kids’ film 07:05 Which Aussie animal throws its kids? 08:31 A blended family and a big warm hug 10:11 Nobody knows what they’re doing as a parent 13:07 Fink, and guessing the voice 16:38 The feeding plot hole 18:16 Learning to fly 21:18 Pacco’s wife fell asleep 22:34 The Golden Gate Bridge is underwater 24:02 Winter on the island 26:55 The final battle 30:18 The ending 34:39 Can a robot have a soul? 35:48 Who cried and who didn’t 39:39 Chris Sanders, Stitch and How to Train Your Dragon 44:34 What didn’t work 46:53 Ratings 48:26 Sequels and trilogies 50:45 Next week’s pick Follow us on Letterboxd to see what else we’re watching Sam: https://letterboxd.com/Delorenzo6/ Corey: https://letterboxd.com/coreymid/ Pacco: https://letterboxd.com/paccothegoose/