'The Wild Robot' review: You'll be hooked from 1st scene to last

By Peter Travers

Family audiences rejoice! It's time to party with "The Wild Robot," now in theaters nationwide and aglow with that special magic that only comes for a new animated classic that is spectacular in every sense of the word. You'll be hooked from first scene to last.

So what is this wild thing? Adapted from the first book in Peter Brown's open-ended series, "The Wild Robot" concerns a robot and a gosling? Not Ryan, but a baby goose in the care of a bot that a typhoon blew onto an island with no humans. Animals rule the roost.

That's frustrating for ROZZUM Unit 7134, aka "Roz," a hulking metal biped who's been programmed as a people pleaser. Sublimely rendered by Oscar winner Lupita Nyong'o who makes voicework and art form as Roz desperately looks to be of service to a human.

Roz ends up playing mom to Brightbill (Kit Connor of "Heartstopper"), a newly hatched gosling whose nest Roz accidentally destroyed, along with his family, when she crashed onto the island. What's with animated films killing off parents? I'm still not over losing Bambi's mom.

Dream Works

A scene from the movie "The Wild Robot."

The tale being told here by skilled director Chris Sanders ("How to Train Your Dragon") is about the human instincts growing in Roz and Brightbill, beautifully brought out by the actors and gorgeous animation that underlines this fable with something painterly and profound.

For laughs, we have a hilarious Pedro Pascal as Fink, the proverbial sly fox who denies Roz's offer of help while intuitively recognizing her power against predators and prey alike. The film introduces a parade of iconic animal characters, including the opossum Pinktail (Catherine O'Hara), the grizzly bear Thorn (Mark Hamill), and the beaver Paddler (Matt Berry).

"The Wild Robot" never cheats on showing that nature can be terrifying as well as beautiful. Very young children may need comforting since death is a fact of life on this island. But the film's warm humor and tender feelings mitigate against the most dire of circumstances.

Roz's software allows her to decode the creature sounds around her, enabling her to talk to the animals like a droid Dr. Dolittle. And when Roz's metal leg is destroyed, a beaver gnaws her a new one out of a tree stump and the wild robot is born.

Dream Works

A scene from the movie "The Wild Robot."

The anti-AI crowd may be surprised by the way "The Wild Robot" argues for a truce between the natural world and artificial intelligence. But this gem of a movie makes a persuasive case.

As Brightbill imprints himself on his metallic mom, their bond seems unbreakable until Roz learns from an elder goose (Bill Nighy) that she must loosen the ties that bind so that her adopted son can join a mass migration flight that's essential to the survival of his species.

Listen for Maren Morris' original tune, "Kiss the Sky," it's a heart-song for the ages.

You get the point, right? Roz realizes that her ultimate goal isn't to adhere to her factory settings but to fulfill her responsibilities as a mother. You won't find any movie this year that more movingly captures the emotional connection between parent and child. Bring tissues. The Oscar for Best Animated Feature belongs right here.