On Screen: “The Wild Robot”
The Wild Robot
In “The Wild Robot,” when a storm at sea dislodges a shipping container from a cargo ship, a large box washes ashore on a faraway island inhabited only by animals.
Battered and bruised but incredibly resilient, the sole occupant of the box is a Rozzum 7134 android assistant (voiced by Lupita Nyong’o) that can walk, talk, assimilate information and help around the house. She’s designed to serve.
Confused about her kindly nature, the animals (beavers, possums, porcupines, deer, bears) view Roz as a monster and try to kill her — until by accident she crushes all but one goose egg in a nest.
When the abandoned gosling hatches, the baby bird imprints on dutiful Roz as she evolves into a maternal role although, as she admits, “I do not have the programming to be a mother.”
Calling him Brightbill, Roz searches her database to try to teach him basic skills — like how to hunt, swim and fly — aided by Fink (Pedro Pascal), a conniving fox, and Pinktail (Catherine O’Hara), a harried possum mother.
As Brightbill (Kit Connor) grows, Roz realizes that the time is coming for the local gaggle of geese to migrate and, although Brightbill resists parting from his home and family, he, fortunately, has a Canadian goose mentor, Longneck (voiced by Bill Nighy) as he tries to follow the feathered flock heading south for the winter.
There’s a meaningful lesson here: If Roz properly does her job as a mother, her child will eventually leave.
Written and directed by Chris Sanders (“Lilo & Stitch,” “How to Train Your Dragon”), this futuristic story of survival, parenting and community is based on 2016 best-selling books by Peter Brown and is Oscar-nominated for Best Animation, Sound and Original Score.
As for a sequel, it’s inevitable, since “The Wild Robot” encompasses only part one of a trilogy of YA novels.
On the Granger Gauge of 1 to 10, “The Wild Robot” is a tender-hearted 10, the best family film of last year, now streaming on Peacock.
Susan Granger is a product of Hollywood. Her natural father, S. Sylvan Simon, was a director and producer at M.G.M. and Columbia Pictures. Her adoptive father, Armand Deutsch, produced movies at M.G.M.
As a child, Susan appeared in movies with Abbott & Costello, Red Skelton, Lucille Ball, Margaret O’Brien, and Lassie. She attended Mills College in California, studying journalism with Pierre Salinger, and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with highest honors in journalism.