Wild Robot, The (4K UHD Review)
- Review Date: Dec 09, 2024
- Format: 4K Ultra HD
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Director
Chris SandersRelease Date(s)
2024 (December 3, 2024)Studio(s)
DreamWorks Animation/Universal Pictures (SDS/Universal Pictures Home Entertainment)- Film/Program Grade: A
- Video Grade: A+
- Audio Grade: A+
- Extras Grade: C+
Review
Based on Peter Brown’s 2016 young adult illustrated novel of the same name, Chris Sanders’ The Wild Robot tells the story of Universal Dynamics ROZZUM Unit 7134, otherwise known as Roz (voiced by Lupita Nyong’o), a futuristic robot that washes up on a remote island after a hurricane. Roz exists for the sole purpose of serving human beings, but finds no humans to serve there. So she inadvertently terrorizes the island’s animal inhabitants, gradually learning to translate their “speech” all the while, until she finally understands them and finds her purpose: Raising an orphaned Canada goose hatchling that’s imprinted on her.
Roz eventually calls the gosling Brightbill (Kit Connor) and, with the help of a lonely and well-meaning fox named Fink (Pedro Pascal), she sets out to teach her young charge how to survive, swim, and fly like others of his kind. But Roz and Fink will have to accomplish this difficult task in time for Brightbill to join his species’ annual migration south for the winter. And not only are the other geese disinclined to accept him as one of their own, every other creature on the island thinks this unlikely trio is unnatural. But ROZZUM robots always finish their tasks. As this unlikely family unit works to overcome the many obstacles stacked against them, Roz repeatedly overwrites her programming and discovers her own soul in the process. And as the island’s many animals struggle to survive, they’ll learn that kindness is the best survival skill of all.
The most important thing that needs to be said about The Wild Robot is that—hands down—it’s the most beautiful American animated film since Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. And in terms of pure style, I’d put it in the realm of the average Studio Ghibli production and the recent Arcane: League of Legends series as well. This animation is just gorgeous, so much in fact that it’s almost spellbinding. What’s so remarkable here is that while this is certainly a CG-animated film, all of the characters and backgrounds have been digitally hand-painted. In other words, exquisite and recognizably human artistry elevates every single frame.
The ensemble voice cast is good across the board; in addition to the leads, listen for performances by the likes of Catherine O’Hara (Schitt’s Creek), Bill Nighy (Living), Stephanie Hsu (Everything Everywhere All at Once), Mark Hamill (Star Wars), Matt Berry (What We Do in the Shadows), and Ving Rhames (Mission: Impossible). The score by composer Kris Bowers is sublime and euphoric, featuring eclectic found-object percussion by Ian Rosenbaum, Terry Sweeney, Jonny Allen, and Victor Caccese (a quartet collectively known as Sandbox Percussion) that lends an off-kilter sonic kineticism to the imagery.
What’s more, the character designs are sublime, the animal motions are organic and true to each species, and the story adaptation is clever and expands on the original book in just the right ways to build out the world. (A big tip of the hat to Brown for the reference to Karel Čapek’s 1920 science fiction play RUR—or Rossum’s Universal Robots—which first introduced the term “robot” to the world.) Honestly, my only criticism of this film is that its third act becomes a little bit too much of an “everything and the kitchen sink” experience, as so many films involving futuristic technology tend to do. But that’s a nitpick, because up until that point, The Wild Robot is simply perfect. I can’t imagine anyone having a dry eye as Roz watches young Brightbill set out on his first migration. For my money, this is easily the best work that DreamWorks Animation has ever produced. My goodness!
The Wild Robot was created using DreamWorks’ custom in-house Premo 3D modeling and animation platform, which utilizes the LibEE engine, includes tools like Doodle and Grasshopper, and allows animators to work with and modify “fully realized and skinned characters” in real time. It was rendering using the studio’s own open-source MoonRay software, likely in 2K resolution (the current industry standard for CG-animated films) in the DCI-P3 color space and at the “scope” aspect ratio of 2.39:1. Those master files would then have been used to create a 4K upscale for this Ultra HD release, after grading for high dynamic range (both Dolby Vision and HDR10) and encoding for a 100GB disc. The result is an absolutely stunning image, with lovely refined texturing, incredibly vibrant and luminous colors, deep shadows, bold highlights, and impressive dimensionality at all times. It’s as if Claude Monet himself had been born in the 21st century instead of the 19th, and was working in studio animation today. Honestly, there simply aren’t enough uplifting adjectives to describe this visual experience adequately. It’s a demo-worthy 4K image.
Primary audio is available in a terrific home theater port of the theatrical English Dolby Atmos experience. The soundstage is wonderfully large and expansive, with nearly constant use of the height and surround channels for forest and wildlife sounds as well as overall atmospheric immersion. Clarity is exceptional, with clean and well-centered dialogue. The mix is tonally full-sounding, with robust mid-tones and rich bass. Subtleties abound as Roz begins to explore her new island environment, and creatures scurry around her. At one point she walks through the frame and the sound of her voice pans right across the soundstage with her. A few moments later, she runs from the deep background into the foreground to speak with Paddler (a beaver) and the increasing volume of her chatter enhances the sonic dimensionality. Movement is smooth, with precise object placement. And the music is blended in into the mix with pleasing fidelity indeed. This isn’t a blustery mix for most of the film, but it absolutely dazzles with reference-level nuance and precision. And when bombast is required, the mix delivers it effortlessly. Additional audio options include Spanish and French 7.1 Dolby Digital Plus, with subtitles available in English SDH, Spanish, and French.
Universal’s 4K package is a 2-disc set that includes the film on both UHD and Blu-ray. Each offers the same special features content, as follows…
- Audio Commentary with Chris Sanders, Jeff Hermann, Mary Blee, Raymond Zibach, Heidi Jo Gilbert, and Jakob Hjort Jensen
- Alternate Opening: Commercial for Rozzum (with Introduction by Chris Sanders) (4K – 4:08)
- Moments from the Mic (4K – 2:28)
- Meet the Cast (4K – 6:34)
- Deleted Storyboard Sequence: The Overprotective Mother (with Introduction by Chris Sanders) (4K – 3:13)
- Assembly Required: Animating The Wild Robot (4K – 10:25)
- Feeling Alive (4K – 9:08)
- Wild Sounds (4K – 6:01)
- How to Draw (4K – 4 segments – 22:06 in all)
- Roz (4K – 5:50)
- Fink (4K – 5:03)
- Baby Brightbill (4K – 4:43)
- Pinktail (4K – 6:28)
- Fly Your Own Brightbill (4K – 10:39)
Beyond the Alternate Opening and Deleted Storyboard Sequence, most of this content is of the typical studio EPK promotional variety. You get footage of the cast at work and plenty of comments by them, along with content aimed squarely at kids. The best of these extras include Assembly Required (which gives you a nice, if cursory, look at how the film was animated to have a “painterly” appearance), Feeling Alive (which highlights the characters and the work of original book writer/illustrator Peter Brown), and Wild Sounds (which touches upon the film’s score and its pop soundtrack, which features songs by Maren Morris). But it’s a nice touch that all of this content is in actual 4K (or at least upsampled to 4K from HD), which is something that Studio Distribution Services has been doing on lots of their 4K discs recently (and it’s appreciated). The best of these extras is the audio commentary with the director and key crew members, a track that’s thoughtful, insightful, and reveals the care with which this film was made at every step. A Movies Anywhere Digital Code is also included on a paper insert in the packaging.
What a rare treat this film is! The Wild Robot is smart, touching, and wonderfully original. I could watch animation this gorgeous all day long, and that’s saying something—my complements to everyone involved. Universal’s 4K Ultra HD release features a reference-quality A/V experience that honors the film’s artistic achievement and the efforts of every single person who worked on it. The Wild Robot is well worth your time—worth sharing with the whole family—and this disc is very highly recommended.
- Bill Hunt
(You can follow Bill on social media on Twitter, BlueSky, and Facebook, and also here on Patreon)