If an individual were fortunate enough to witness ‘Kung Fu Panda 4’ while it was playing in theaters, they would have bore witness to the above teaser trailer — the type designed not to reveal much about the project, but to hype something special. 

When I first witnessed this teaser, I was working my day job running orders at Cinépoils Luxury Cinemas. Listening to this trailer hit close to home. The lyrics to an adapted cover of Louis Armstrong’s What A Wonderful World would cause me to emotionally break down every time I ran delivered orders. 

I see trees of green…and clouds of white
The bright blessed day
The dark sacred night
and I think to myself:
What a Wonderful World.  

They were the lyrics to my Grandma’s favorite song, and it made the request for a truce in The Wild Robot’s falling action hit that much harder. 

This is the most emotionally wrecked I have been from witnessing a movie at a theater since Toy Story 3 in 2010.  

Based on the Peter Brown book series, The Wild Robot sees Academy Award Winner Lupita Nyong’o who won Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role at the 86th Academy Awards (12 Years A Slave) voice ROZZUM Unit 7134 — a utilitarian robot whose cargo ship runs aground on an uninhabited island. Activated by the local wildlife, Rozzum enters a safe mode for learning after misunderstandings between the two dynamics. Upon observation of nature, Rozzum becomes fluent in all animal languages. Eventually breaking her communication module, Rozzum becomes acquainted a gosling who imprints itself onto Rozzum — who tasks herself to raise him before winter migration. 

After all, a Rozzum unit is designed to always complete it’s task. Just Ask! 

It’s understandable to see how writer and director Chris Sanders sought inspiration not only from the animation film classics of Walt Disney Pictures, but from the works of Hayao Miyazaki. To achieve a desired showcased to create a final project closely resembling the production’s concept paintings, Sanders and his production team built upon Dreamworks Animation technologies utilized in The Bad Guys and Puss In Boots: The Last Wish. A visual style reminiscent of a Monet painting from a Miyazakian forest. A vision that culminates with a final product worthy of consideration for the greatest animated feature films in the history of the cinematic craft. 

Not only do Universal Pictures and Dreamworks Animation have an Awards Season campaign on their hands for Best Animated Feature, if they were to play their cards right, they have campaigns for the following categories:

• Best Picture (Jeff Hermann, Producer)
• Best Original Song: ‘Even When I’m Not’ (Delacy, Jordan Johnson, Stefan Johnson, Michael Pollack, Maren Morris, Michael Pollack, and Ali Tamposi — Songwriters) 
• Best Original Song: ‘Kiss The Sky’ (Delacy, Jordan Johnson, Stefan Johnson, Michael Pollack, Maren Morris, Michael Pollack, and Ali Tamposi — Songwriters) 
• Best Adapted Screenplay (Chris Sanders) 

With Sanders story being adapted from the Peter Brown story, it serves as a moral for what The Wild Robot is — an adaptation. When one moves to a new city or place, they must learn how to adapt to their surroundings in order to survive. As an individual who traveled frequently — from Illinois, to Texas, to Florida, and now the Tri-State Area. We need to adapt in order to grow. We won’t be able to survive if we don’t. Even in penning this review, the emotions are still felt from the onset of the screening, with the bond between mother and son elevating those emotions further.

As the line was said in the aforementioned teaser trailer:

Sometimes, to survive, we must become more than what we were programmed to be.

Thank you Grandma for watching over me, and thank you Mom for all you have done.

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5 on a scale of 5

(Thumbs WAY Up)

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The Wild Robot is Now Playing Only In Theaters

Check your local theater for options to experience The Wild Robot in standard, REALD 3D, Dolby Cinema, Screen X, 4DX, DBOX, XD, and IMAX formatting.