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Culture > Entertainment

The Wild Robot: Another Animated Movie That’ll Make You Cry

Rodayna Eissa
The opinions expressed in this article are the writer’s own and do not reflect the views of Her Campus.
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at CU Boulder chapter.

Here I am bawling my eyes out over another “kids movie.”

Broken Down Ratings: 

  • Characters: 1000/5 stars 
  • Acting: 1000/5 stars 
  • Visuals: infinity/5 stars
  • Score: 6/5 stars
  • Story: 5/5 stars 

The Wild Robot is the newest installment in DreamWorks Animation’s arsenal of incredible films. Based on the bestselling book of the same name by author Peter Brown, this movie is worthy of every bit of praise it has received since release and has Oscar-nomination potential. The movie follows a robot named Roz, who wakes on an island with nothing but the knowledge that she must find a task and see it through to completion in order to fulfill her purpose. Unexpectedly, she is left with the ultimate task: motherhood to a young, orphaned gosling. What follows is a heartfelt, laugh-out-loud story that will have you crying like a newborn baby (I haven’t heard an entire theater cry together like that since Infinity War and Endgame). This is an incredible story about love, found-family, and discovering your true purpose outside the expectations of others. 

@dreamworks

Get Tickets to experience #TheWildRobotMovie in theaters on September 27. Watch the final trailer now!

♬ original sound – DreamWorks Animation

Though the movie is not a perfect page to screen translation, the heart of the book remains intact and shines through every second of the movie, making it a great adaptation. I would personally love to see books two and three in the series adapted as well. Directed and adapted for the screen by Chris Sanders, who worked on the unforgettable How to Train Your Dragon movies, this movie features a script that with every line and every camera movement makes it clear the movie was a labor of love. Lupita Nyong’o, Kit Connor and Pedro Pascal shine in their respective roles (I think I emotionally bonded with Fink) and as does the rest of the cast. The characters all felt incredibly real and raw, leaving me hanging onto every word they said. The cast did a wonderful job bringing out the emotion in every scene, and made it impossible for the audience not to connect with the characters as they navigated the challenges of surviving on the island. 

With stunning visuals, as is to be expected from the incredibly talented team of animators at DreamWorks, an emotional and unforgettable score by composer Kris Bowers, and a star-studded cast, this movie is one that will be spoken of for years to come. If you get a chance to meander on down to your local movie theater, I promise you won’t regret going to see The Wild Robot. 

@dreamworks

The Wild Voices behind TheWildRobotMovie. See Lupita Nyong’o, Kit Connor, Catherine O’Hara, Matt Berry & Stephanie Hsu in theaters on September 27.

♬ original sound – DreamWorks Animation – DreamWorks Animation
Rodayna Eissa

CU Boulder '26

Rodayna is a new member with HCCU this year. She is a student at the University of Colorado Boulder where she is majoring in International Relations with a focus on the region of the Middle East and Africa and minoring in Arabic. She has been working as a bookseller for 2 years and has always had a passion for both reading and writing. Her areas of interest as a writer include entertainment and media, creative writing and politics as it pertains to her perspective as an immigrant who grew up in the United States. Away from writing, Rodayna can usually be found indulging in one too many cups of coffee while hiding with a book, hiking, spending time with her family and friends, or rewatching Star Wars or Lord of the Rings for the millionth time.