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.

For in-depth thoughts on The Wild Robot, please see my colleague Larry Fried’s review from its original theatrical release here.

Video Quality

The Wild Robot arrives on 4K UHD Blu-Ray with a stellar 2160p HDR/Dolby Vision transfer. The sumptuous colors saturating the screen are a treat to witness on this format with the wide range of hues dancing across the screen. Highlights are splendid without succumbing to blooming, and black levels are perfectly deep with no hint of crush, compression artifacts, or other such digital anomalies. The animation style allows for unbelievable textures throughout the different character designs and environments that are extremely impressive and give the film a real sense of depth. Environmental details are plentiful and worth surveying over multiple viewings. The unique character designs are rendered with perfect fluid motions throughout. The level of detail the animation team puts into each shot is among the best we have seen. This transfer is as close to flawless as you could want from a modern animated film. Universal is firing on all cylinders.

Audio Quality

This 4K UHD Blu-Ray serves up a Dolby Atmos track that gives this adventure a momentous soundscape. The dialogue is clear without ever getting overshadowed by the music or sound effects. The low end activity from the subwoofer gives numerous moments a tremendous amount of texture. One of our favorite aspects of the film is the score, and this track renders it with impeccable fidelity. Environmental sound effects are rendered with unwavering precision within the mix so that directionality is never an issue. A large portion of the activity is focused on the front channels, but it extends to the surround and rear channels to allow for a more immersive experience. The implementation of the height channels thrusts you into the middle of the bustling narrative. Fans of the film should be thrilled with this presentation. Optional English SDH, Spanish, and French subtitles are provided.

Special Features

Audio Commentary: Director Chris Sanders, Producer Jeff Hermann, Editor Mary Blee, Production Designer Raymond Zibach, Head of Story Heidi Jo Gilbert, and Head of Character Animation Jakob HjortJensen provide a very entertaining commentary track in which they discuss how they adapted the story for the screen, changes that needed to be made, the evolution of various sequences, the limitations they put on themselves, and more.

Alternate Opening – “Commercial For Rozzum”: A four-minute alternate opening to the film is provided with an introduction from director Chris Sanders.

Moments From The Mic: A nearly three-minute look at the recording process with plenty of amusing moments with the performers.

Meet The Cast: A nearly seven-minute collection of interviews focusing on the characters, the vocal performances that bring them to life, how they fit into this overall story, and much more.

Deleted Storyboard Sequence – “The Overprotective Mother”: A four-minute unused sequence is provided with an introduction from director Chris Sanders.

Assembly Required – Animating The Wild Robot: An 11-minute look at how the animation in this film pushes the boundaries of what came before.

Feeling Alive: A nine-minute exploration of the thematic resonance within the story.

Wild Sounds: A six-minute look at the score of the film with composer Kris Bowers.

How To Draw: Four videos totaling 22 minutes are provided here in which you are guided through how to draw Roz, Fink, Baby Brightbill, and Pinktail.

Fly Your Own Brightbill: An 11-minute video is provided here which shows you how to create your own kite.

Final Thoughts

The Wild Robot captures some of the magic that audiences used to get regularly from major animation studios that were hungry to provide something artistically rewarding. Among the Dreamworks output, this one certainly rank among the best the studio has ever created. The animation is absolutely gorgeous with tons of personality, and the script has a thematic resonance that rockets it past many contemporaries. We can only hope Dreamworks keeps this up. Universal has provided this one with a 4K UHD Blu-Ray with a fabulous A/V presentation and fun special features. If you are looking for something the whole family can enjoy, this is a slam dunk. Recommended

The Wild Robot is currently available to purchase on 4K UHD Blu-Ray, Blu-Ray, DVD, and Digital.

Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the 4K UHD Blu-Ray.

Disclaimer: Universal Pictures Home Entertainment has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.