The Wild Robot is a heartfelt tear-jerker. While the kids will be laughing and entranced, every parent is balling their eyes out. It's a good kind of cry and quite possibly a return to quality cinema. This film does what cinema is supposed to do; speak to the human condition. It abandons all culture tropes that have pledged movies as of late and conveys a timeless story that could have been told in any era. Even the silent picture era. This film would have been fine without dialogue, as the first trailer seems to suggest, because the visuals alone were captivating. The art design led the story through its artistic animation style and cinematography.
The story is about a robot designed to assist those who are in need of help in completing tasks. It’s the kind of robot we would build in a utopia future where work is set aside for an increase of 43% in leisure time. Yes, this statistic is in the movie. In a future where that kind of mindset is fully realized, it would be severely deadly to the human race, but that is a different article altogether.
The movie begins with Rozzum unit 7134 stranded on the shore of an island covered with vibrant wildlife. It was the only robot to survive after its cargo boat was shipwrecked during a catastrophic storm. As the robot wanders the island in search of a customer to help, it soon discovers that the civilization it was programmed to function in is nowhere to be found. However, after an accident, the robot is presented with an opportunity to assist a newly hatched gosling that sets unit 7134 on a trajectory into motherhood.
Through the lens of the role of a mother, the film portrays the journey of parenthood. The robot, who later goes by the name Roz, conveys the emotional realities of raising a child. In a hilarious yet truthful moment the robot admits that she is “making it up as she goes” and yet can’t stop because of how vital the role is for the child.
Ain’t that the truth.
There is no crash course when it comes to parenting, especially the role of a mother. Yet instinctively we are directed by the weight of the responsibility to continually press forward in raising a child.
“How to parent” seems almost secondary compared to the unexplainable construct of “love” to keep us in the game. While it’s easy to see raising our children as completing a task, there still lingers a type of love that causes us to become sacrificial in our nature. For a mother, love leads her to nurture, comfort, and instill compassion amidst difficulty. As Roz begins to demonstrate these traits, you can’t help but become grateful for your own mother. Even more so, as a parent you feel your own sense of purpose surface. Not that you were created to be a parent, but that love causes you to be sacrificial in character and action. Being a parent speaks volumes to the character of God. It allows us understanding of the correlation of a Creator also being a sacrificial God, one who would give of himself and die in our place for our own transgressions.
There is a lot of dialogue discussing one being created and deviating from programming. If you’re searching for a christian allegory, one like Pilgrim’s progress, you will struggle to make it fit here. The story neither fits a message to rebel against God or God is your programmer. However, the film does speak directly to the difficulty and nature of the world we live in. Ros is created by humans, not God. Her programming is designed to mimic human nature, agenda and goals. It is at that point in the film, when her heart is transformed that we see love become her primary mindset that overrides programming. Much how Christ’s love transforms us from our sinful nature. Love does something only love can. It’s a nice touch how the film shows the difference between love and kindness. Love is sacrificial, laying your life down even for others that may hate you. Kindness as the Fox says “is a survival instinct”. Love transcends and ultimately transforms the community of all who live on the island.
There are many moments throughout the movie that startle and at times intense. The film also does not shy away from death. Many characters joke about it, revealing that we all have ways of coping with difficult subjects. But its presence in the film, highlights the urgency of engaging your role as parent, especially for you mom. Because the thing you are setting aside when you choose to prioritize raising your children, leading and training them up to do difficult but rewarding things that build their character to be like their true Creator, is your life.
You are setting aside not just your agenda and desires for your life but how the limited time of your life is spent as well. It is the best example we have of what Christ means when He says “To die of self”. It is a beautiful thing. It's barely recognized. You’re lucky if you're thanked. But that’s not why you do it. Love transcends. Whether you recognize how it mirrors God the Father’s love for us or not, His love is modeled through parenting.
The Wild Robot (2024)
Motion Picture Rating (MPAA) PG for action/peril and thematic elements.
Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.
Proverbs 22:6
So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
1 Corinthians 13:13
I had a great conversation with my kids after reading this. Does anyone else find these helpful?