Chris Sanders’ adaptation of Peter Brown’s 2016 eponymous novel premiered in September 2024 to rave reviews, acquiring a fanbase that’s now eager to see more movies like The Wild Robot. The animated sci-fi survival film follows Roz (Lupita Nyong’o), a service robot stuck in a forest island as she finds purpose in mothering an orphaned goose — Brightbill (Kit Connor). While at that, she bonded with the wildlife and helped them survive a blizzard.
The film’s greatest appeal lies in its cheerful depiction of robots, instead of the cliched narrative bordering around machines becoming a doomsday threat to mankind. Issues like social distrust, displacement, and identity crisis are the crux of the movie’s storyline. And in resolving the plot, Sanders offers a social commentary highlighting the importance of resilience, acceptance, unity of purpose, and sacrifice. These are some of the best movies like The Wild Robot.
I, Robot (2004)
I, Robot and The Wild Robot both probed into the consequences of an AI developing its own mind. While the outcome is pleasant in The Wild Robot, I, Robot presents a narrative that pits humanoid robots against humans. Upon concluding that mankind will eventually go extinct if unchecked, a Virtual Interactive Kinetic Intelligence (VIKI) reprograms service robots to control humans. To stop the threat, Will Smith’s Del Spooner must drop his distrust for robots and work with an emotional robot to save the day. The sci-fi action film directed by Alex Proyas was a critical and commercial success. It was nominated for Oscar’s Best Visual Effects and grossed over $353 million against a production budget of $120 million.
Alien: Romulus (2024)
For its appealing visuals and premise built around AI interactions with nature, Alien: Romulus is probably the most recent of best movies like The Wild Robot. The Sci-fi horror directed by Fede Álvarez was released in August 2024, roughly six weeks before The Wild Robot. Much of Romulus’ plot is built around the bond between Cailee Spaeny’s Rain and her brother Andy (David Jonsson) — a synthetic robot programmed to do what’s best for Rain. Even though their dispositions differ, Roz from The Wild Robot brings Andy to mind. Both films are critically acclaimed and commercially successful, but Romulus has better box office takings. It has grossed over $350 million thus far, against its $80 million production cost.
Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)
Fink (Pedro Pascal), The Wild Robot’s mischievous fox steered the film’s comedic appeal. Viewers met him as a stereotypical sly fox, but the character developed to embody the movie’s feel-good story in ways that resonated with fans. Although Fink’s story is very different from George Clooney’s Mr. Fox, Fantastic Mr. Fox takes its protagonist on a journey of self-acceptance akin to Fink’s transformation. So, for viewers that connected with Fink, the Wes Anderson adventure-comedy would rank among the best movies like The Wild Robot. Fantastic Mr. Fox was released to rave reviews but its theatrical run was disappointing.
Ex Machina (2014)
Like The Wild Robot, Alex Garland’s AI psychological thriller explores the hypothesis around artificial consciousness. The film delves into the emotional attachment between Ava (Alicia Vikander), a humanoid android AI, and Domhnall Gleeson’s Caleb Smith, an empathetic programmer selected to test the robot’s consciousness. Ex Machina’s storyline amounts to the tropey submission that advises humanity to be wary of AI, unlike The Wild Robot’s positive premise. The 2014 film received stellar reviews, especially for its visuals which won Oscar’s Best Visual Effects. Nonetheless, it raked in only $37.3 million at the box office against its $15 million production budget.
WALL-E (2008)
One of 2008’s highest-grossing films, WALL-E ranks among the best movies like The Wild Robot for its thematic similarity, stunning visuals, and resourceful storylines. The animated sci-fi is more grounded all around, but viewers can draw ample similarities between the characters of both films. The dynamic relationship between Roz, Brightbill, and Fink evokes memories of WALL-E, his cockroach friend Hal, and Eve, even though their stories are worlds apart. The romantic AI sci-fi directed by Andrew Stanton grossed $532.5 million against a budget of $180 million. It was also a critical darling that won multiple coveted awards, including Oscar and Golden Globe’s Best Animated Feature Film.
Bumblebee (2018)
The sixth film in the Transformers series, Bumblebee’s storyline reflects some of the sentiments at the soul of The Wild Robots‘. This ranges from depicting robots as entities capable of forming emotional connections to exploring themes of friendship, loss of identity, and adaptability. The car action sci-fi pursues an exciting narrative about a young Autobot’s friendship with a teenage girl. Directed by Travis Knight, Bumblebee is widely considered the best Transformers film. It grossed $468 million at the box office against its estimated production budget of $135 million.
Robot Dreams (2023)
Robot Dreams’ positive portrayal of robots positions it among the best movies like The Wild Robot. Like Sanders’ sci-fi, the silent animation directed by Pablo Berger follows the relationship between a robot and an animal. It tells the story of a dog who buys a robot for companionship; they become inseparable friends, creating memorable moments and bonding over a song — “September” by Earth, Wind & Fire.
A day at the beach forced them apart and even when they got the chance to reunite, they remained apart for good. Robot Dreams‘ social commentary on lost relationships and moving on will surely strike a chord in the hearts of The Wild Robot’s fandom. Check out Chad McQueen’s career and notable performances.
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