How an Unexpected Storyline Made THE WILD ROBOT a Success
By Movieguide® Contributor
Chris Sander, THE WILD ROBOT director and screenwriter, knows a thing or two about what goes into making a powerful animated movie.
His resumé includes beloved titles like BEAUTY AND THE BEAST and LILO AND STITCH, but in THE WILD ROBOT, he explored something new.
“At the core of the story there’s and mother. And moms are kind of famously missing from animated films,” Sanders told Deadline.
The movie follows “an intelligent robot nicknamed Roz [who] is stranded on an isolated, uninhabited island. To survive the harsh environment, Roz bonds with the animals. She also must take care of an orphaned baby goose, whom she calls Brightbill, so he can join the migration.”
READ MORE: THE WILD ROBOT REVIEW
Mother-centered storylines are often left out of animated movies because they can inhibit character growth.
“When I first started working on ALADDIN, there was a mom in the story in the very early version. And there was a lot of trouble because as he was having his adventures, we would cut back to his mom who’s like heartbroken and worried, so the whole story just wasn’t going to work,” Sanders explained.
“You have to be allowed to make mistakes to these things,” he added.
But his decision to focus on moms was a hit with fans. The movie scored a place among the top 20 movies of 2024 and became “one of the top 75 highest-grossing sci-fi movies ever at the domestic box office,” according to Collider.
Movieguide® also nominated THE WILD ROBOT for a Teddy Bear Award®.
The movie performed so well that a sequel is already in the works. Sanders confirmed in October “that a sequel to the pic is on the way and currently in development at DreamWorks Animation.”
“100% yes there are absolutely plans for a second one,” Sanders said while at Deadline Contenders.
READ MORE: WHY THE WILD ROBOT EMBRACED AND CELEBRATED MOTHERHOOD
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