Why So Blu?

The Wild Robot (Collector’s Edition 4K UHD Blu-ray Review)

In case you readers didn’t know, I am a teacher.  I have been a preschool teacher for nearly 14 years.  My love of animated films often comes into play with my students.  I always hear about the latest Disney princess and then I’m inundated with the soundtrack for months on end before I ever lay an eye on the film.  Then there are the ones I become interested in, much like The Wild Robot, that I never hear these children mention.  I have wondered why it works that way with films targeted at children.  I can say before I even delve into my critical point of view that The Wild Robot is a very special film, and one that children and adults can find lovable and totally entertaining. Read more about the film and it’s exceptional 4K release below!

Film:

An adaptation of Peter Brown’s award-winning, #1 New York Times bestseller, THE WILD ROBOT is an epic adventure staring Academy Award® winner Lupita Nyong’o (Us, the Black Panther franchise) as Roz, a robot that is shipwrecked on an uninhabited island and must adapt to the harsh surroundings. Gradually Roz starts building relationships with the animals on the island, including a clever fox voiced by Pedro Pascal (The Last of Us, The Mandalorian), and becomes the adoptive parent of an orphaned gosling named Brightbill voiced by Kit Connor (Ready Player One, Heartstopper). THE WILD ROBOT is a powerful story about self-discovery, a thrilling examination of the bridge between technology and nature, and a moving exploration of what it means to be alive and connected to all living things.

When Roz awakens on an island one day, it’s lost, confused and curious.  As most robots do in films, Roz looks to help and learn about those that it helps.  Roz chases butterflies, birds, beavers and more. Roz destroys a dam, scares off some other animals and then eventually happens upon a bird’s nest.  Except for some eggshell, the nest appears empty. When Roz looks deeper and discovers an egg, it’s up to Roz and a fox named Fink to fight over it.  Roz foils Fink, and the egg hatches into a runt Canadian Goose whom Roz names Brightbill.  Learning as time goes, with the help of its forest friends, Roz can raise Brightbill.  Roz wants Brightbill to learn to fly and teaches the runt to fly like he should, wholly as himself.

At some point in teaching Brightbill how to fly, Roz finds other Rozzum robots on the island and is told by another robot that it is defective and needs to go back to the factory.  Roz determined to get Brightbill off and flying, refuses to leave the gosling before he goes with the other geese south for the Winter.  When the big day comes, Roz is overcome. Although Roz is not a human or an animal, it has a heart and has learned about and expresses emotions.  Roz has found a friend in Fink as well as Pinktail, Longneck, Paddler, and Thunderbolt.  They all give Roz tips, instructions and guidelines on how to raise the little goose.  When Brightbill finally does fly south, another robot comes to collect Roz, but now that Roz is an individual, it will want to go home on its own terms, not just because there’s another robot telling them they must go.

The Wild Robot is a fascinating film.  It’s told with a universal storyline that anyone with feelings can relate to.  Roz may be a robot but it’s a struggle not to relate them to a mother once they begin to raise Brightbill.  It’s so difficult to even say it in this review when because of Lupita Nyong’o’s incredible vocal performance has me feeling her feminine motherly energy.  As helped by Pedro Pascal’s Fink and other forest friends, it’s lovely to see such care taken to tell this story.

Animation wise, the film breaks new ground with a seamless and engaging style that I haven’t seen in recent animated films from any studio.  Where the others have done incredible work to make things look hyper-real, this film tapers that reality down to make a believably cartoon looking film.  The animation is something that then pulls us in with it’s less CG-Ish look, and we fall in love with the characters because they feel like what we may have seen when we were younger watching animated films as kids.

As a teacher, I see so many valuable lessons within The Wild Robot too.  Besides determination and perseverance, I also see a lot of great attention paid to the idea of parenthood, friendship, acceptance in the face of things being different and doing what’s best for those in need.  These are special messages and to see this in a thoroughly modern animated film is rare and fantastic.  Chris Sanders has presented himself as an excellent director of these types of films.  The How To Train Your Dragon films all carry messages in their complex stories and build upon each entry to make a world you dive into with each watch. Should The Wild Robot be able to continue as a film series, I would love to see the world he and his animators can create with such rich characters.  The Wild Robot stands heads and tales up there with Inside Out 2 as the finest animated features of 2024.

Read Aaron Neuwirth’s theatrical review of The Wild Robot HERE

Video

Encoding: HEVC / H.265

Resolution: 4K (2160p)

Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1

Layers: BD-100

HDR: Dolby Vision

Clarity/Detail: The Wild Robot is a stunner in 4K.  While we’ve learned in the 8 years since UHD Blu-rays have been around, animation can really shine in the format, and this gorgeous Dolby Vision 4K presentation is no exception.  The film looks crisp and clean with lovely colors throughout and tons of detail in the animation.

Depth: Depth wise, everything seems mapped out to the nth degree.  Nothing looks like it was created with mistakes intact.  Lots of great closeups reveal fine detail in the animation and the longer shots within have the same amount of detail, even from a distance.

Black Levels: Blacks look spectacular with good shadow detail and zero crush.

Color Reproduction: Colors are stunning in this presentation.  As with most computer animated content, the colors are hand picked and each color has its own time on-screen to shine.  No color is left on the floor, so to speak, and taking this film in visually is a spectacle of colors.

Flesh Tones: N/A

Noise/Artifacts: Clean.

Audio

Audio Format(s): English Dolby Atmos, French and Spanish Dolby Digital Plus 7.1

Subtitles:  English SDH, Spanish. French

Dynamics: Quiet moments make for some spectacular listening within The Wild Robot.  There aren’t a lot of hugely dynamic moments that we’d call upon to highlight our setups, but the subtleties are the ones that make the mix an utter standout.  The quiet of a cricket filled night or the coming of a big ship… Any moment in the film can provide some excellent listening.

Height: Height channels bring the island to life, with wind, bugs, bird calls, water and rainfall coming out from above.  Sometimes Roz’s voice can come from not just the center speaker but sometimes from above, among other ways.

Low-Frequency Extension: Bass asserts itself with force when ships arrive, waves crash and music intensifies.  Overall, the subwoofer has a lot of fun things to do in the listening space.

Surround Sound Presentation: Surrounds compliment the other channels bringing some more 360 surround activity within the nature space that is in the entire film.  Lower ambience delivers here, along with a more action heavy sequence towards the end of the film.

Dialogue Reproduction: Lines are heard perfectly for the duration of the film.

Extras:

The Wild Robot comes home in 4K in Universal/Dreamworks’ “Collector’s Edition” form. The 4K disc comes bundled with a Blu-ray and digital code, housed in a standard 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray case and an embossed slipcover.

EXCLUSIVE BONUS FEATURES:

• COMMERCIAL FOR ROZZUM – An alternate opening to the film in storyboard form, with introduction by writer/director Chris Sanders.
• MOMENTS FROM THE MIC – Straight from the recording booth, watch the star-studded cast of The Wild Robot perform some of their most memorable lines!
• MEET THE CAST– How do you give empathy to the voice of a robot, vulnerability to a fox, and wisdom to an opossum? Meet the talented voice cast and learn more about your favorite characters from The Wild Robot.
• THE OVERPROTECTIVE MOTHER – A deleted sequence from the film in storyboard form, with an introduction by writer/director Chris Sanders.
• ASSEMBLY REQUIRED: ANIMATING THE WILD ROBOT – Go behind the scenes to see how filmmakers pushed the boundaries of animation to achieve the uniquely immersive world of The Wild Robot.
• FEELING ALIVE – Learn how filmmakers and cast enhanced the universally relatable thematic elements of Peter Brown’s original story to deepen its emotional connection to audiences.
• WILD SOUNDS – Explore the incredible music of The Wild Robot – from Kris Bowers’ enchanting score to Maren Morris’ two new songs.
• HOW TO DRAW – Follow along with writer/director Chris Sanders as he teaches Lupita Nyong’o how to draw Roz and then learn to draw Fink, Baby Brightbill, and Pinktail with story artist/character designer Genevieve Tsai!
• FLY YOUR OWN BRIGHTBILL – One of Roz’s primary tasks is to teach Brightbill to fly so he can migrate with the other geese. Here, you’ll learn how to create your very own Brightbill Kite so you can help him fly too!

Summary:

I went into The Wild Robot blind.  I had no clue what the story was about save for a teaser trailer I saw a long time ago.  The film is a gorgeous one that will hopefully be seen by a lot of people.  It’s a sweet, funny, intelligent animated film that can touch anyone of any age that has feelings.  I will happily be revisiting this film and hope they continue Roz’s story with this much thoughtfulness in the future.  The animation is stunning, the 4K presentation is impeccable and this film easily lands on my top films of the year list!

Buy your copy of The Wild Robot 4K UHD Blu-ray HERE