The Wild Robot, Directed by Chris Sanders, is Dreamworks latest animated movie, and quite possibly its best. In an era where a new animated movie seems to come out every few months, the quality seems to be diminishing. Especially with recent Pixar and Disney movies, the emotional impact just isn’t hitting as hard, and instead of working on better new stories, they’re re-focusing on existing IP’s. However, recently with movies like Puss in Boots: the Last Wish, Dreamworks has been stepping up their animation game to match up with the top studios. The Wild Robot is a refreshing animated film that brings us back to the conversation of if an animated movie should be nominated for best picture. 

Starting with the voice acting of the movie, Lupita Nyong’o yet again proves how great of an actress she is. Just this year alone, she has shown us her ability to act with minimal dialogue, in her role in Quiet Place: Day One, and as Roz the robot in this movie, she shows us her voice acting ability and it does not fail to bring a large emotional impact. Pedro Pascal and Kit Connor are amazing supporting cast members in this movie and do a great job of weaving very heartfelt connections. Because of the performances in this movie, it is undoubtedly one of the most sincere and emotionally driven movies of the year.

The animation in this movie is astounding. Following the success of Puss in Boots: The Last Wish and its innovative art style, Dreamworks took another stylistic choice in this movie with an emphasis on expressionism. The bold colors, and variation of texture does an excellent job of representing the clash of the industrial and naturalistic worlds. In addition a lot of the design choices made in this movie do a great job of upping the emotional impact, especially in the design of Roz and the way she emotes and interacts with her loved ones.

This movie is full of comedy, and it has jokes for all ages. As someone who is a bit on the older side of childhood, not all the jokes hit for me. However, there was a lot that did, and they didn’t get in the way of the plot. For the most part, this movie did a really good job of letting its deep sad moments breathe and take their time to have effect, and letting it’s goofy moments be goofy. 

All in all I think this movie might very well be one of the best of the year. From the script’s originality, to the voice acting, and animation, this movie hits all the marks and is nearly a perfect movie. What I think is so great about this movie is that it will resonate with all age demographics. It’s a movie the whole family can enjoy, just remember to bring the tissues. I would rate this movie a 4.5/5, and absolutely recommend that you watch this movie whenever you get the chance!