Not just a chat bot! Lupita Nyong’o on The Wild Robot

Just in time for the holidays, the DreamWorks Animation (How to Train Your Dragon, Kung Fu Panda), adaptation of Peter Brown’s children’s novel The Wild Robot will have the whole family laughing, crying, and awwing. It’s a lovingly detailed film that’ll reward watching and re-watching.

The movie follows a ROZZUM unit 7134 robot nicknamed Roz (voiced by Lupita Nyong’o, A Quiet Place: Day One) who crash lands on a deserted island, and befriends and learns from the wild animals – including Fink the curious fox (Pedro Pascal, The Last of Us), Pinktail the possum and veteran mother to multiple litters (Catherine O’Hara, The Last of Us) and Longneck the wise leader of the flock of wild geese (Bill Nighy, Sometimes Always Never) – after she becomes the guardian to an abandoned egg that hatches into an orphaned gosling named Brightbill (Kit Connor, Heartstopper and Rocketman). 

The story spotlights the value of kindness in hard times, the resilience it takes to adapt to new environments, the importance of accepting others as they are, the love and letting go involved in parenthood, and a sense of wonder at both nature and technology. 

“In our initial discussion with Peter Brown, we focused on the idea that ‘kindness is a survival skill’,” says producer Jeff Hermann. Director and screenwriter Chris Sanders adds: “We took that conversation to heart and even wrote it into the narrative. While it’s not explicitly stated in the book, Roz’s acts of kindness became a guiding principle for the film and that shaped not just the story but also the values embraced by our entire team.”  

Stream The Wild Robot now, explore more DreamWorks animation on Showmax, and read about the best new kids shows and movies to stream this April.

Lupita and the DreamWorks team work

Rozzum 7134, “Roz”, is a sophisticated robot created by Universal Dynamics to assist humans living in an advanced futuristic city. Her primary objective is to find a person who needs help, and then to help them. When she lands on the island with no human population, though, she creates her own assignment after coming across an abandoned goose egg. As Roz adapts to fulfil Brightbill’s needs, she starts to take on a life of her own. She adds to her programmed knowledge of the world, even developing her own wild instincts as she observes and learns to communicate with the other animals on the island. 

“At the start of the film, Roz is an unfeeling robot. Brightbill teaches her about kindness and love, and in turn, their mother-son relationship continues to grow stronger as the story progresses,” explains Kit Connor. “Their evolving connection not only brings warmth to the story but also emphasizes the power of empathy and understanding in overcoming challenges.”

In the world of the film’s production, Lupita took on her own nurturing role as she explored how she wanted Roz to come across on screen, giving the animation team input about motivation, voice, character development and movement. “Every scene recording was preceded by extensive discussions and brainstorming sessions with Lupita, leading to rewrites that consistently enhanced the scenes,” says Chris Sanders. “Lupita’s talent lies in her profound understanding of characters and their narrative impact, ensuring they drive the story rather than merely being passengers … Lupita’s input was pivotal in quickly discovering Roz’s character. Her attention to detail in every aspect was invaluable.”

While Lupita helped to guide Roz’s story arc and movements, her real time to shine came in slowly changing Roz’s voice to reflect how she’s adapting to the world, as she takes on the role of nurturer to her little gosling. 

“Finding Roz’s voice was quite the journey,” says Lupita. “It all started with a debate about the role of emotion in a robot. Roz, being a robot, has to learn how to access the spontaneity of emotion, which doesn’t come naturally to a programmed entity. So, how does that philosophical, cerebral debate translate into a performance? What choices do you make to convey the lack of emotion and then her adaptation to the world to express emotion?” Lupita asks. 

“We started with a more disembodied voice and what I call the ‘programmed optimism’ that comes with robotic figures like Siri or Alexa. There’s this optimism, but you can’t really feel the soul of Siri. Roz starts in that realm and then, as she adapts to the world and becomes more of a mother in raising Brightbill, she reprograms herself to access something more akin to human empathy, expression and emotion. By the end of the film, she’s a fully three-dimensional, well-rounded figure,” Lupita adds. 

Bringing Roz to life was a passion project for everyone on the DreamWorks team. “Working with DreamWorks has been a dream, and I say that with my full chest,” insists Lupita. “Chris is the kind of director who doesn’t let his ego get in the way. Whenever I got into the booth and had questions or was debating him on something, he was ready for that. The whole team behind this project was so adaptable and collaborative. It felt like we were all getting our hands in the dough, and we were going to bake this cake together. Every time I left the booth, I felt empowered, highly valued and definitely inspired by the work that we’d done.” 

Lupita’s co-creators in the role included original designs from character designer Nico Martlet and art director Ritchie Sacilioc. Modelling supervisor Hyun Huh made sure that all the robotic elements that made up Roz meshed together and worked logically. Head of character animation Jakob Jensen guided how Roz’s emotions would play out on screen through the robot character’s body language – which was inspired by everything from the classical pantomime movements of performers like Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin, to modern industrial robotics engineering. Head of Look Baptiste Van Opstal and look development supervisor Lisa Slate Connors guided the changes in Roz’s appearance that show she’s becoming part of her new environment. And production designer Raymond Zibach introduced “RozVision”, a system that uses images to symbolize Roz’s journey from machine to sentient being.

Lupita fell in love with the artistry and creativity of The Wild Robot’s animation – an unusual blend of painterly backdrops inspired by Impressionist art and the nature scenes in Miyazaki films, and advanced digital character animation. “With all the technology that went into this, they’ve managed to make it feel like moving paintings. When you see a painting and think about the hands that made it, the time it took and the love involved, that’s the feeling I had watching this movie. I savoured it because it looked worth savouring,” she says.

Animal movies gone wild

Roz is the heart of the story, but the animals she interacts with are just as important. And they have a surprising connection. “Animals have a large set of behaviours that they do automatically. Robotically. It turns out, robots and animals have quite a bit in common, and that realization inspired me to write and illustrate The Wild Robot,” reveals author Peter Brown. 

“One of the unexpected joys in creating this film was portraying animals authentically,” says Chris Sanders. “What set this story apart is our creatures on the island being somewhat anthropomorphic in their ability to talk, but they behave authentically as real animals in all other aspects.” To that end, the animation team studied reference footage and conducted motion-capture sessions as well as visiting the Los Angeles Natural History Museum to study the anatomy of various animals. They brought 47 species of animals to life in the film, including a swarm of 80 000 butterflies, and a flock of 28 710 migrating geese, for which they animated the movements of 102 838 147 feathers. “The animators embraced this rare opportunity and infused warmth and authenticity into the animals’ movements and behaviours. Surprisingly, the absence of human-like elements led to a beautiful purity in the story,” adds Chris.

“I hope that audiences relish the beauty, adventure and emotion of this movie. It’s not afraid to pull at your heartstrings, and I hope audiences enjoy that ride,” says Lupita. “Ultimately, the message of The Wild Robot, both the book and the film, is that kindness is an innate quality we should hone, and there’s value in staying true to yourself while embracing change.” 

Stream The Wild Robot now, explore more DreamWorks animation on Showmax, and read about the best new kids shows and movies to stream this April.