The Wild Robot (Collector’s Edition) [4K Ultra HD]

Director: Chris Sanders

Cast: Lupita Nyong’o, Pedro Pascal, Kit Connor (VOICES)

Release Date: December 3, 2024

A Review By: Kevin Lovell

Film Rating: 10/10
Disc Rating: 8.5/10

Synopsis:

From DreamWorks Animation comes an adaptation of Peter Brown’s award-winning, #1 New York Times bestseller, The Wild Robot. The epic adventure stars Academy Award® winner Lupita Nyong’o (Us, the Black Panther franchise) as Roz, a robot that is shipwrecked on an uninhabited island and must adapt to the harsh surroundings. Gradually Roz starts building relationships with the animals on the island, including a clever fox voiced by Pedro Pascal (The Last of Us, The Mandalorian), and becomes the adoptive parent of an orphaned gosling named Brightbill. The Wild Robot is a powerful story about self-discovery, a thrilling examination of the bridge between technology and nature, and a moving exploration of what it means to be alive and connected to all living things.

‘The Wild Robot’ tells the tale of a robot named Roz built for human assistance that ends up stranded on a mysterious uninhabited island and unable to locate her intended destination or purpose. After initially wandering for some time asking the local inhabitants whether they need assistance, she ends up incidentally becoming the adoptive parent of a gosling as well as befriending a shady, yet clever fox. As her new role allows her some purpose and an acceptable task, Roz settles into her new life while trying to fix her return to factory function, but will she truly be able to leave if and when the opportunity arises?

Directed by Chris Sanders (Lilo & Stitch, How To Train Your Dragon) who also wrote the screenplay, Based on the Book by Peter Brown, Sanders does a magnificent job at the helm of ‘The Wild Robot’ guiding along the moving animated tale with heart, wonder and excitement. The film’s talented voice cast includes Lupita Nyong’o (A Quiet Place: Day One), Pedro Pascal (TV’s The Mandalorian), Kit Connor (TV’s His Dark Materials), Bill Nighy (Pokémon: Detective Pikachu), Stephanie Hsu (Leo), Matt Berry (TV’s What We Do in the Shadows), Ving Rhames (The Garfield Movie), with Mark Hamill (TV’s Masters of the Universe: Revolution), and Catherine O’Hara (Elemental) who each offer solid performances in their respective voice roles.

‘The Wild Robot’ is nothing short of marvelous and a true animated masterpiece from DreamWorks that’s not to be missed. It’s a gem of an animated feature that takes viewers on a beautiful, heartfelt and emotional journey that’s rich with heart, humor and hope, not to mention gorgeously animated at every turn. It takes a robot and throws her into a fish out of water situation with little purpose and no knowledge of the environment and inhabitants that she’s confronted with, allowing her an opportunity to discover the wonder and beauty of the world from a unique perspective. Slowly befriending the various animals that call the area home, the robot finds an accidental purpose that not only enriches her robotic life, but allows her to evolve to a degree once she must adapt to this strange place.

There’s an abundance of beauty in nearly every aspect of the animated tale and it explores the wonder and development that’s possible even for a robot like Roz when you’re allowed to discover and determine your own path, complete with caring for another like family and the lengths one is willing to go in order to protect and care for those that they hold most dear. There’s promising and useful messages within, but never in a way that forces it on you and the evolution of the robot and her new friends and family are filled with love and beauty throughout, helping to allow ‘The Wild Robot’ to evolve into a beloved gem of a story that has something to offer everyone, regardless of age, with even a handful of thrilling moments featuring a bit of action thrown into the mix, yet never without a rhyme or reason to back it up.

Overall, ‘The Wild Robot’ is one of the best DreamWorks films in ages and packed with laughs, heart and emotion, as well as a powerful story that is sure to tug on the heartstrings of even the most hardened adult audiences. ‘The Wild Robot’ is definitely highly recommended for viewers of all ages. It’s a moving and beautifully gem that manages to elicit a wide array of emotions throughout and is liable to stick with you long after the credits roll. If you’re a fan of animated features that offer something for audiences of all ages, or if you just enjoy a powerful and beloved tale filled with heart, humor and wonder, then ‘The Wild Robot’ should easily be well worth your time and the price of a rental at the absolute least, and it should also make a perfect candidate for a family movie night at home.

VIDEO:

The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray release of ‘The Wild Robot’ features a full 2160p Ultra High Definition presentation with Dolby Vision and HDR-10, presented in its original 2.39:1 Aspect Ratio. The video presentation looks marvelous altogether and delivers a clean, sharp and richly detailed presentation from start to finish that’s absent of any notable issues or faults to be uncovered along the way. Detail is splendid, with everything from character specifics to the expansive forest locations and more looking gorgeous, while the Dolby Vision HDR enhances much of it by contributing more vibrant and realistic coloring noticeable on animal fur, trees and other settings, and black levels are deep, clean and problem free. Overall, this is a wonderful Ultra High Definition presentation that dazzles at every turn and should easily excite newcomers and fans alike.

AUDIO:

The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray release features a Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 channel compatible) soundtrack. Please note that this review pertains solely to the Dolby TrueHD 7.1 audio presentation. This multichannel soundtrack is quite stellar and serves up a clean, crisp and hard hitting audio presentation throughout. It constantly takes advantage of all seven available channels from the onset with a look at the robot hurtling through space toward earth, and regularly utilizing them thereafter to send music, action and nature effects, plus plenty more zipping throughout the various speakers whenever appropriate, and never negatively affecting any simultaneously occurring dialogue or other audio elements. Overall, this is a great Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 compatible) soundtrack that impresses throughout and should easily please viewers.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray release of ‘The Wild Robot’ features a nice selection of extras for the entire family to enjoy. Included on the release is an ‘Audio Commentary with Writer/Director Chris Sanders, Producer Jeff Hermann, Editor Mary Blee, Production Designer Raymond Zibach, Head of Story Heidi Jo Gilbert and Head of Character Animation Jakob Hjort Jensen’, in addition to the ‘Alternate Opening – Commercial For Rozom with Introduction by Sanders’ (running approximately 4  minutes in length), a ‘Deleted Storyboard Sequence – The Overprotective Mother with an Intro by Sanders’ (running approximately 3 minutes), along with various Featurettes, fun videos and more including ‘Moments from the Mic’ (approximately 2 minutes), ‘Meet the Cast’ (6 minutes), ‘Assembly Required: Animating The Wild Robot’ (10 minutes), ‘Feeling Alive’ (9 minutes), and ‘Wild Sounds’ (6 minutes). Also included are ‘How to Draw’ guides for various characters in the film including Roz, Fink and more (approximately 22 minutes altogether) and instructions on how to ‘Fly Your Own Brightbill’ (10 minutes).

*Please note that the above images are taken from the Blu-Ray disc included in the 4K UHD Combo Pack and resized. They do not represent the quality of the 4K Ultra HD disc itself and will additionally suffer quality loss as a result of .jpg compression. Larger versions of each image can be viewed by clicking on the image. All images and content included on the 4K UHD & Blu-Ray release are the property of their respective owners.

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Film Rating: 10/10
Disc Rating: 8.5/10

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‘The Wild Robot: Collector’s Edition’ is Now Available to Own on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, DVD & Digital from DreamWorks Animation & Universal Pictures Home Entertainment

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You can purchase ‘The Wild Robot’ on 4K UHD at Amazon HERE!

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