| The Wild Robot | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Chris Sanders |
| Screenplay by | Chris Sanders |
| Based on | |
| Produced by | Jeff Hermann |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Chris Stover |
| Edited by | Mary Blee |
| Music by | Kris Bowers |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Universal Pictures |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 102 minutes[1] |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $78 million[2] |
| Box office | $334.5 million[3][4] |
The Wild Robot is a 2024 American animatedscience fiction film based on the2016 novel byPeter Brown and produced byDreamWorks Animation. It was written and directed byChris Sanders and features the voices ofLupita Nyong'o,Pedro Pascal,Kit Connor,Bill Nighy,Stephanie Hsu,Matt Berry,Ving Rhames,Mark Hamill, andCatherine O'Hara. The film follows a service robot shipwrecked on an island who must adapt to her surroundings, build relationships with the local wildlife, and become the adoptive mother of an orphaned goose.
DreamWorks Animation bought the screenplay before the first novel's release in 2016. Sanders first encountered the original book through his daughter and was offered an opportunity to direct a film adaptation at DreamWorks. The film's visuals use awatercolor aesthetic, inspired by classicDisney animated films and the works ofHayao Miyazaki.Kris Bowers composed the score, marking his first score for a fully animated film. Development took four years on a budget of $78 million.
The Wild Robot premiered at the49th Toronto International Film Festival on September 8, 2024, and was released in the United States on September 27, byUniversal Pictures. The film received critical acclaim from critics who praised for its writing, animation, score, and voice acting. The film was a commercial success, grossing $334.5 million worldwide. Among its accolades, it received nineAnnie Awards (includingBest Animated Feature), won Best Animated Feature at theCritics' Choice Awards andProducers Guild of America Awards, and was nominated for threeAcademy Awards, becoming DreamWorks' most-nominated film at the latter ceremony. A sequel is in development.
A storm causes a Universal Dynamics cargo ship to lose six ROZZUM robots, which wash up on an uninhabited island; only Unit 7134 survives and is accidentally activated by wildlife. "Roz" is called a monster by the frightened wildlife and injures herself while trying to help them, even after learning how to communicate with all animals. Unable to find anyone needing her services, she signals for retrieval but is struck by lightning and attacked by animals. While fleeing from Thorn, an aggressivegrizzly bear, Roz accidentally crushes agoose nest, resulting in the death of all but one egg.
Roz protects the egg from a hungryred fox, Fink. A gosling hatches, imprints on Roz, and accidentally breaks her long-range transmitter. Pinktail, a motheropossum, "provides" Roz with the task of caring for the gosling to ensure he can fly, swim, and eat by himself before thewinter migration. Fink discovers he can benefit from Roz, who builds a shelter. Roz names the gosling Brightbill, and the three cohabit. As Brightbill grows up, he is rejected by other geese and, upon discovering that Roz accidentally killed his family, feels betrayed and angrily disowns her.
Roz reconstructs ROZZUM unit 6262, nicknames her "Rummage", and asks for advice; Rummage gives her transmitter to Roz, advising her to return to the Universal Dynamics factory. Roz enlists the help of afalcon, Thunderbolt, to help Brightbill learn to fly and receives advice from Longneck, a leader for the geese's migration, allowing Brightbill to master flying just in time to join the migration. Roz, missing Brightbill and unsure of her continued purpose, reactivates her transmitter but shuts it off immediately after Universal Dynamics detects her signal.
During the migration, a thunderstorm forces the geese to shelter inside a Universal Dynamicsgreenhouse, triggering a contamination alert that sets reconnaissance (RECO) robots after them. Longneck sacrifices himself so Brightbill can lead the flock to safety. Meanwhile, Roz and Fink save the island's animals during a severe snowstorm, urging them to a truce before Roz powers down. Spring arrives and Roz reawakens to find the animals still following the truce and Brightbill returning, hailed now as a hero.
Shortly after, a Universal Dynamics dropship captained by a Virtual Observational Neutralizing Troublesome Retrieval Authority ("Vontra") robot arrives to recover Roz. Roz flees with Fink, pursued by RECO robots dispatched by Vontra. The animals band together to fight off the RECOs, but Vontra detonates the damaged RECOs to incapacitate and capture Roz, starting aforest fire in the process. The geese and Thunderbolt attack the dropship so Brightbill can save Roz as Fink and the others extinguish the fire. Despite Roz appearing to have been shut down by Vontra, her love for Brightbill restores her systems. Roz eventually destroys Vontra and evacuates Brightbill as the dropship explodes.
Roz decides to return to Universal Dynamics to protect the island from future attacks, but she promises to return. The animals continue to live together on the island while Roz works at another Universal Dynamics greenhouse, maintaining her memories. Brightbill visits her, and the two embrace.
Before the release ofThe Wild Robot—a novel created byPeter Brown—in 2016,DreamWorks Animation bought the screenplay,[10][11] setting the budget at $78 million.[2]Chris Sanders first encountered Brown's book through his daughter, though he never read it himself. Years later, while looking for his next project at DreamWorks, Sanders was offered an opportunity to write and direct an adaptation of the book for the studio.[12] Upon reading it, Sanders immediately fell in love with the story and felt he was the right person to adapt it to film. He described the book as "deceptively simple" and "emotionally complex".[13] Sanders had previously considered the idea of a creature bonding with animals in a forest for his directorial debutLilo & Stitch (2002).[14] Sanders contacted Brown and would later describe the phone call as critical to the film's development. Brown told the production team that his intended theme for the book was that kindness could be a survival skill. Sanders sought to weave that theme through the film and felt he achieved that goal.[15] Another theme in the story that Sanders was drawn to was that of motherhood. He felt he had never done a story of this nature before.[15] Development took four years.[11]
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Changes were made to the book's story for the film. In the book, Roz is in constant search of a task but also in the wrong place and with no one to give her tasks.[15] Sanders felt that she risked becoming monotonous at points in the story, so he strived to make Roz constantly interesting and compelling throughout.[15] Some character roles from the book were reduced in order to give others more substantial screen time and impact. The changes to the characters and their roles were also made to prevent the film from overcrowding.[15]
Cast membersLupita Nyong'o,Pedro Pascal,Catherine O'Hara,Bill Nighy,Kit Connor,Mark Hamill,Matt Berry andVing Rhames were revealed on March 5, 2024, with the release of the film's first trailer.[5][16]
Sanders wanted Roz to be a compelling character and felt an extraordinary voice performance was necessary to achieve this. He wanted to avoid a two-dimensional fictional take on a robot, where they go straight from being emotionless to emotional.[15] Nyong'o was tasked with finding a voice for the character and evolving it as the story progressed. The actress's role was particularly important as Roz did not possess facial articulation. This meant Nyong'o's voice was the main way of signifying Roz's emotions.[15]
According to Hamill, who voiced Thorn, he learned about the film after reading the bookThe Wild Robot. Hamill says thatThe Wild Robot reminded him of his first feelings aboutStar Wars (1977), in which he originated the role ofLuke Skywalker.[17]
The Wild Robot would be the final film to be animated entirely in-house at DreamWorks, asCartoon Brew reported on October 6, 2023, that the studio would be shifting away from producing films in-house in their Glendale campus to relying more heavily on outside studios after 2024.[18] Additional character rigging was done by French studio Stim Studio.[19]
After reading the book, Sanders felt the story's innocent tone and natural setting required a look that strayed away from the standard CGIphotorealism in many modern animated films.[13] He and production designer Raymond Zibach wanted the film in its finished state to still resemble the concept paintings.[13] To achieve this, the production team built upon the technologies used in two of DreamWorks' earlier films,Puss in Boots: The Last Wish andThe Bad Guys (both 2022).[13] While the characters were made up of CGI geometrical shapes, their surfaces possess a hand-painted look. This painterly style philosophy was carried onto every visual element in the film, including the sky and environments.[15]
Sanders took inspiration from classicDisney animated movies and the works ofHayao Miyazaki, resulting in a stylized CG visual style that he described as "aMonet painting in a Miyazaki forest".[20][21] He consideredBambi (1942) andMy Neighbour Totoro (1988) as the biggest influences on the visuals.[15] The works ofSyd Mead served as inspiration for the futuristic parts of the film.[15]
Sanders wanted Roz's design to be memorable, and one that would take its place among fiction's most famous robots. Taking inspiration fromC-3PO andR2-D2 fromStar Wars andRobby the Robot fromForbidden Planet (1956), he wanted Roz to have little facial articulation.[15] Sanders and the rest of the design team made several prototype designs during production. One of the designers, Hyun Huh presented his Roz design to the crew, which became the basis for the one seen in the film. The crew immediately fell in love with Huh's design, with Sanders describing it as simple and appealing.[15] Brown's original book described Roz with great detail, so Sanders and the team knew they had to leave some design elements out. Although on behalf of Brown's description of what a ROZZUM unit's purpose was to humans, they aimed for Roz's design to be humanoid.[15]
In March 2024,Kris Bowers was revealed to be composing the score, his first score for a fully animated film.[22] Additionally, two original songs were announced to be made for the film, performed and co-written byMaren Morris. The first, "Kiss the Sky", was released on August 28; the second, "Even When I'm Not", along with the full soundtrack album, was released on September 27.[23] Morris and her team of co-writers were inspired to write a second song for the film, "Even When I'm Not", which is featured in the film's end credits, when they screened the finished film.[23]
The Wild Robot had its world premiere as the opening front runner of theToronto International Film Festival Grand Opening celebration on September 8, 2024.[24][25] It was initially scheduled for release on September 20,[26] but was postponed to September 27. This shift was reportedly made to avoid competition withTransformers One.[27]
On December 29, 2024, it was announced thatThe Wild Robot would be re-released in theaters in the US on January 17, 2025.[28]
The first trailer for the film, featuring a rendition ofLouis Armstrong's "What a Wonderful World", plus a poster, were released on March 5, 2024.[29] The trailer debuted in theaters three days later in front of screenings of DreamWorks' other new filmKung Fu Panda 4.[30] Writing forPolygon, Tasha Robinson compared the design of Roz to familiar film robots such asBB-8 (theStar Wars sequel trilogy),WALL-E (inhis titular film),Baymax (fromBig Hero 6), and The Iron Giant (inhis titular film), and noted that the only words spoken in the trailer - "Sometimes, to survive, we must become more than we were programmed to be" - evoked the message ofThe Iron Giant (1999).[31]
The Wild Robot was released to rent ondigital streaming on October 15, 2024,[32] and onBlu-ray andDVD on December 3.[33]
The film was made available to stream onNBCUniversal'sPeacock streaming service in the US on January 24, 2025.[34] As part of Universal's long-term deal withNetflix for its animated films, the film streamed on Peacock for the first four months of the pay-TV window, before moving to Netflix for the next ten beginning on May 24. It will return to Peacock for the remaining four.[35][36]
The Wild Robot has grossed $143.9 million in the United States and Canada, and $189.9 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $334.1 million.[3][4]
In the United States and Canada,The Wild Robot was released alongsideMegalopolis, and was projected to gross $24–30 million from 3,962 theaters in its opening weekend.[2][37] The film made $11.2 million on its first day,[38] including an estimated $1.9 million from Thursday previews.[39] The film went on to debut to $35.8 million,[40] slightly above predictions and topping the box office.[41] In its second weekend, the film made $18.9 million (a drop of 47% from its first weekend), finishing in second behind newcomerJoker: Folie à Deux.[42][43] In its third weekend the film made $14 million (dropping just 25.9%), finishing in second behind newcomerTerrifier 3. According toThe Hollywood Reporter, theater chains treated the unratedTerrifier 3 as anR-rated film, turning down attendees 17 or younger if unaccompanied by a parent or guardian. Distribution sources speculated that more people saw the film than reported, theorizing that a "noticeable bump" in the earnings forThe Wild Robot's third weekend was the result of teenagers buying tickets to the film and then sneaking into screenings ofTerrifier 3.[44][45] The film then made $10.1 million and $6.8 million in its fourth and fifth weekends, respectively.[46][47]
On thereview aggregator websiteRotten Tomatoes, 97% of 259 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 8.4/10. The website's consensus reads: "A simple tale told with great sophistication,The Wild Robot is wondrous entertainment that dazzles the eye while filling your heart to the brim."[48] It is DreamWorks Animation's second highest-rated film on the site, behindHow to Train Your Dragon (2010).[49]Metacritic, which uses aweighted average, assigned the film a score of 85 out of 100, based on 46 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".[50] Audiences polled byCinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale, while those surveyed byPostTrak gave it a 96% overall positive score, with 62% saying they would definitely recommend it.[41]
Natalia Winkelman ofThe New York Times called the film "a dazzling triumph of animation" and wrote "this is a work that cares most about two things: big feelings and great beauty".[51] Pete Hammond ofDeadline Hollywood said, "IfSpielberg'sE.T. had been an animated film instead, it might resemble what writer-director Chris Sanders has created here. However,Wild Robot weaves its own magic and for that we can all cry tears of joy."[52] Adrian Horton, writing forThe Guardian said: "Clever, heartfelt and frequently stunning,The Wild Robot offers the type of all-ages-welcome animated entertainment that will delight kids and leave a lump in one's throat."[53]Robbie Collin ofThe Daily Telegraph gave the film a five out of five scoring, saying, "DreamWorks was founded 30 years ago this month, and this well-timed anniversary release is their richest, most moving film since 1998's reputation-makingThe Prince of Egypt."[54] In his review forVulture,Bilge Ebiri praised Nyong'o's performance and found that it "turn[ed] this heartwarming family film into an unforgettable one".[55]
Collider thought it was one of Sanders's best films yet,[56] whileScreen Rant called it the best animated film of the year.[57]
FilmmakersTim Fehlbaum,Jeff Fowler,Reinaldo Marcus Green,Chad Hartigan,Matt Johnson, Dana Ledoux Miller andJuel Taylor all cited the film as among their favorites of 2024.[58]
| Award | Date of ceremony | Category | Recipient(s) | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Academy Awards | March 2, 2025 | Best Animated Feature | Chris Sanders and Jeff Hermann | Nominated | [59] |
| Best Original Score | Kris Bowers | Nominated | |||
| Best Sound | Randy Thom,Brian Chumney,Gary A. Rizzo andLeff Lefferts | Nominated | |||
| African-American Film Critics Association | December 13, 2024 | Best Original Score | Kris Bowers | Won | [60] |
| Best Animated Feature | The Wild Robot | Won | |||
| Alliance of Women Film Journalists | January 7, 2025 | Best Animated Film | Won[a] | [61] | |
| Best Adapted Screenplay | Chris Sanders &Peter Brown | Nominated | |||
| Best Animated/Voice Performance | Lupita Nyong'o | Won | |||
| American Cinema Editors Awards | March 14, 2025 | Best Edited Animated Feature Film (Theatrical or Non-Theatrical) | Mary Blee | Won | [62] |
| Annie Awards | February 8, 2025 | Best Animated Feature | The Wild Robot | Won | [63] [64] |
| Outstanding Achievement for Animated Effects in an Animated Production | Derek Cheung, Michael Losure, David Chow, Nyoung Kim, Steve Avoujageli | Won | |||
| Outstanding Achievement for Character Animation in an Animated Feature Production | Fabio Lignini | Won | |||
| Outstanding Achievement for Character Design in an Animated Feature Production | Genevieve Tsai | Won | |||
| Outstanding Achievement for Directing in an Animated Feature Production | Chris Sanders | Won | |||
| Outstanding Achievement for Editorial in an Animated Feature Production | Mary Blee, Collin Erker, Orlando Duenas, Lucie Lyon, Brian Parker | Won | |||
| Outstanding Achievement for Music in an Animated Feature Production | Kris Bowers | Won | |||
| Outstanding Achievement for Production Design in an Animated Feature Production | Raymond Zibach, Ritchie Sacilioc | Won | |||
| Outstanding Achievement for Voice Acting in an Animated Feature Production | Lupita Nyong'o | Won | |||
| Kit Connor | Nominated | ||||
| Art Directors Guild Awards | February 15, 2025 | Excellence in Production Design for an Animated Film | Raymond Zibach | Won | [65] |
| Artios Awards | February 12, 2025 | Outstanding Achievement in Casting – Feature Animation | Christi Soper Hilt | Won | [66] |
| Astra Film and Creative Arts Awards | December 8, 2024 | Best Animated Feature | The Wild Robot | Won | [67] |
| Best Voice Over Performance | Lupita Nyong'o | Won | |||
| Pedro Pascal | Nominated | ||||
| December 8, 2024 | Best Original Score | Kris Bowers | Nominated | ||
| Best Original Song | "Kiss the Sky" –Maren Morris,Ali Tamposi,Michael Pollack,Delacey, Jordan Johnson & Stefan Johnson | Nominated | |||
| Austin Film Critics Association | January 6, 2025 | Best Animated Film | The Wild Robot | Won | [68] |
| Best Original Score | Kris Bowers | Nominated | |||
| Best Voice Acting/Animated/Digital Performance | Lupita Nyong'o | Won | |||
| British Academy Film Awards | February 16, 2025 | Best Animated Film | The Wild Robot | Nominated | [69] |
| Best Children's & Family Film | Nominated | ||||
| Best Original Music | Kris Bowers | Nominated | |||
| Black Film Critics Circle Awards | February 19, 2024 | Best Animated Film | The Wild Robot | Won | [70] |
| Black Reel Awards | February 17, 2025 | Outstanding Voice Performance | Lupita Nyong'o | Won | [71] |
| Outstanding Score | Kris Bowers | Won | |||
| Outstanding Soundtrack | The Wild Robot (Original Soundtrack) | Nominated | |||
| Celebration of Cinema and Television | December 9, 2024 | Composer Award | Kris Bowers | Won | [72] |
| Chicago Film Critics Association | December 12, 2024 | Best Animated Film | The Wild Robot | Nominated | [73] |
| Best Original Score | Kris Bowers | Nominated | |||
| Chicago Indie Critics Awards | January 17, 2024 | Best Animated Film | The Wild Robot | Won | [74] |
| Best Adapted Screenplay | The Wild Robot | Nominated | |||
| Best Original Score | The Wild Robot | Won | |||
| Best Original Song | Kiss The Sky - The Wild Robot | Nominated | |||
| Best Sound | The Wild Robot | Nominated | |||
| Breakout Artist | Kris Bowers | Nominated | |||
| Sight Unseen award | Lupita Nyong'o | Won | |||
| Sight Unseen award | Pedro Pascal | Nominated | |||
| Cinema Audio Society Awards | February 22, 2025 | Outstanding Achievement in Sound Mixing for Motion Picture – Animated | Ken Gombos, Leff Lefferts, Gary A. Rizzo,Alan Meyerson, Richard Duarte | Won | [75][76] |
| Critics Association of Central Florida | January 2, 2025 | Best Animated Film | The Wild Robot | Won | [77] |
| Best Original Song | "Kiss the Sky" | Won | |||
| Best Hybrid Performance | Lupita Nyong'o | Won | |||
| Critics' Choice Movie Awards | February 7, 2025 | Best Animated Feature Film | The Wild Robot | Won | [78] |
| Best Song | "Kiss the Sky" – Maren Morris | Nominated | |||
| Best Score | Kris Bowers | Nominated | |||
| Critics' Choice Super Awards | August 7, 2025 | Best Science Friction/Fantasy Movie | The Wild Robot | Nominated | [79] |
| Best Actress in a Science Friction/Fantasy Movie | Lupita Nyong'o | Nominated | |||
| Dallas–Fort Worth Film Critics Association | December 18, 2024 | Best Animated Film | The Wild Robot | Won | [80] |
| Best Musical Score | Kris Bowers | Won | |||
| Dublin Film Critics Circle | December 19, 2024 | Best Film | The Wild Robot | 5th Place | [81] |
| Florida Film Critics Circle | December 20, 2024 | Best Animated Film | Nominated | [82] | |
| Golden Reel Awards | February 23, 2025 | Outstanding Achievement in Sound Editing – Feature Animation | Brian Chumney, Leff Lefferts, Randy Thom, David Farmer, David Hughes, Jamey Scott, Rich Quinn, Malcolm Fife, Dee Selby, Ronni Brown, Jana Vance | Won | [83][84] |
| Golden Globe Awards | January 5, 2025 | Best Animated Feature Film | The Wild Robot | Nominated | [85] |
| Cinematic and Box Office Achievement | Nominated | ||||
| Best Original Song | "Kiss the Sky" – Maren Morris, Ali Tamposi, Michael Pollack, Delacey, Jordan Johnson & Stefan Johnson | Nominated | |||
| Best Original Score | Kris Bowers | Nominated | |||
| Golden Trailer Awards | May 29, 2025 | Best Animation/Family TV Spot (for a Feature Film) | Universal Pictures / Inside Job (for "Academy Love#) | Won | [86][87] |
| Best Digital – Animation/Family | Universal Pictures / Inside Job (for "Organic Social/Meet the Cast 1/4×5") | Nominated | |||
| Best Animation/Family Poster | Universal Pictures / AV Print & DreamWorks Animation (for "Payoff Poster") | Nominated | |||
| Best International Poster | Universal Pictures / AV Print & DreamWorks Animation (for "International Payoff Poster") | Nominated | |||
| Grammy Awards | February 1, 2026 | Best Score Soundtrack For Visual Media | Kris Bowers | Pending | [88] |
| Heartland Film Festival | 2024 | Truly Moving Picture Award | The Wild Robot | Won | [89] |
| Hollywood Music in Media Awards | November 20, 2024 | Best Original Score – Animated Film | Kris Bowers | Won | [90] |
| Best Original Song – Animated Film | "Kiss the Sky" – Maren Morris, Ali Tamposi, Michael Pollack, Delacey, Jordan Johnson & Stefan Johnson | Won | |||
| Houston Film Critics Society Awards | January 14, 2025 | Best Animated Feature | The Wild Robot | Won | [91][92] |
| Best Original Score | Kris Bowers | Nominated | |||
| Best Original Song | "Kiss the Sky" | Won | |||
| Hugo Awards | August 16, 2025 | Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form | Chris Sanders and Peter Brown | Nominated | [93] |
| Kansas City Film Critics Circle | January 4, 2025 | Best Animated Feature | The Wild Robot | Won | [94] |
| Best Adapted Screenplay | Nominated | ||||
| Best Original Score | Kris Bowers | Nominated | |||
| London Film Critics' Circle | February 2, 2025 | Best Animated Feature | The Wild Robot | Nominated | [95] |
| New York Film Critics Online | December 16, 2024 | Best Animation | Runner up | [96] | |
| NAACP Image Awards | February 22, 2025 | Outstanding Animated Motion Picture | Nominated | [97] | |
| Outstanding Character Voice Performance – Motion Picture | Lupita Nyong'o | Nominated | |||
| Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards | June 21, 2025 | Favorite Animated Movie | The Wild Robot | Nominated | [98] |
| Favorite Female Voice from an Animated Movie | Lupita Nyong'o | Nominated | |||
| Favorite Song from a Movie | "Kiss The Sky" – Maren Morris | Nominated | |||
| Online Film Critics Society Awards | January 27, 2025 | Best Animated Feature | The Wild Robot | Nominated | [99] |
| Best Original Score | Kris Bowers | Nominated | |||
| Producers Guild of America Awards | February 8, 2025 | Outstanding Producer of Animated Theatrical Motion Pictures | The Wild Robot | Won | [100] |
| Saturn Awards | February 2, 2025 | Best Animated Film | Won | [101] | |
| San Diego Film Critics Society | December 9, 2024 | Best Adapted Screenplay | Chris Sanders | Nominated | [102] |
| Best Animated Film | The Wild Robot | Runner-up | |||
| Satellite Awards | January 26, 2025 | Best Motion Picture – Animated or Mixed Media | Nominated | [103] | |
| Best Original Score | Kris Bowers | Nominated | |||
| Best Original Song | "Kiss the Sky" – Delacey, Jordan Johnson, Stefan Johnson, Maren Morris, Michael Pollack, and Ali Tamposi | Nominated | |||
| San Sebastián International Film Festival | September 28, 2024 | Lurra - Greenpeace Award | The Wild Robot | Won | [104] |
| San Francisco Bay Area Film Critics Circle | December 15, 2024 | Best Animated Feature | Nominated | [105] | |
| Best Original Score | Kris Bowers | Nominated | |||
| SCAD Savannah Film Festival | November 2, 2024 | Virtuoso Award | Lupita Nyong'o | Won | [106] |
| Seattle Film Critics Society | December 16, 2024 | Best Original Score | Kris Bowers | Nominated | [107] |
| Best Animated Film | The Wild Robot | Won | |||
| Society of Composers & Lyricists | February 12, 2025 | Outstanding Original Score for a Studio Film | Kris Bowers | Won | [108][109] |
| St. Louis Film Critics Association | December 15, 2024 | Best Animated Feature | The Wild Robot | Won | [110] |
| Best Score | Kris Bowers | Nominated | |||
| Best Voice Performance | Lupita Nyong'o | Won | |||
| Pedro Pascal | Nominated | ||||
| Toronto Film Critics Association | February 24, 2025 | Best Animated Feature | The Wild Robot | Nominated | [111] |
| USC Scripter Awards | February 22, 2025 | Best Adapted Screenplay | Chris Sanders and Peter Brown | Nominated | [112] |
| Visual Effects Society Awards | February 11, 2025 | Outstanding Visual Effects in an Animated Feature | Chris Sanders, Jeff Hermann, Jeff Budsberg and Jacob Hjort Jensen | Won | [113] |
| Outstanding Animated Character in an Animated Feature | "Roz" – Fabio Lignini, Yukinori Inagaki, Owen Demers and Hyun Huh | Won | |||
| Outstanding Created Environment in an Animated Feature | "The Forest" – John Wake, He Jung Park, Woojin Choi and Shane Glading | Won | |||
| Outstanding Effects Simulations in an Animated Feature | Derek Cheung, Michael Losure, David Chow and Nyoung Kim | Won | |||
| Outstanding Compositing and Lighting in a Feature | Sondra L. Verlander, Baptiste Van Opstal, Eszter Offertaler and Austin Casale | Nominated | |||
| Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association | December 8, 2024 | Best Animated Feature | The Wild Robot | Won | [114] |
| Best Original Score | Kris Bowers | Nominated | |||
| Best Voice Performance | Lupita Nyong'o | Won |
The Wild Robot incorporates environmental themes throughout its narrative, including a reference to climate change in a sequence depicting a futuristic San Francisco with a partially submergedGolden Gate Bridge.[115] DreamWorks Animation developed the film in collaboration with bothUniversal's GreenerLight Program and theNatural Resources Defense Council's Rewrite the Future initiative, with environmental experts consulting on the ecological elements and a sustainability-focused PSA featuringLupita Nyong'o.[116] The film's environmental themes were showcased atClimate Week NYC 2024, where it received a special screening at the inaugural Climate Film Festival.[117]
On September 7, 2024, when asked about a potential sequel, Sanders stated, "I would very much like to. This was a labor of love on the part of everybody at the studio, and yes, I think I'd love to go and stay here for a while."[118] On October 12, 2024, he confirmed that a sequel is in development.[119]
