THE WILD ROBOT, A SCIENCE FICTION AND SURVIVAL ANIMATION
Cinema Writer/Film Critic Efe TEKSOY; adventure, science fiction and drama animation “THE WILD ROBOT”, for America’s Los Angeles-based Internet Newspaper @alaturkanews.
THE MOST IMPRESSIVE ANIMATION OF THE YEAR
The Wild Robot, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 8, 2024, is based on the book series of the same name by American author Peter Brown. Produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by Universal Pictures, it is a science fiction and survival film. The Wild Robot; It offers a warm-hearted story that will affect the audience emotionally. It tells the story of a robot named Rose, who finds herself on a deserted island in the wild as a result of a mistake, and who struggle to survive by adapting to the wild nature and the creatures there. Over time, it has to develop feelings of love and empathy. Rose, who lends a hand to creatures in need in the forest, is forced to mother a gosling without organic feelings of love and empathy. But over time, we see that artificial intelligence can develop these emotions and interact magnificently with living things.
POST-HUMANISM AGE
When we look at the subtext of the animation, it brings us to the discussions of transhumanism and post-humanism. French philosopher Michel Serres’ philosophy of hominescence describes the future of man as adolescence, a transition from childhood to adulthood. It indicates that humanity is in a state of growth and constant change, on the verge of something somewhat unpredictable. In this unpredictability, we also see interaction with artificial intelligence (thanks to The Wild Robot animation). The name of The Wild Robot, which is taking firm steps towards becoming the best animation of the year, has already started to take part in Oscar discussions.
Stars; Lupita Nyong’o, Pedro Pascal, Kit Connor, Stephanie Hsu, Matt Berry, Ving Rhames, Mark Hamill, Catherine O’Hara, Alexandra Novelle, Raphael Alejandro and Bill Nighy.
BEHIND THE SCENES
-The main processor the robots use is designated Alpha – 113. A reference to the room, A113, at the California Institute of the Arts used by graphic design and character animation students, it’s also the room where writer/director Chris Sanders, and head of story Heidi Jo Gilbert studied at CalArts.
-The Robot’s name is “Rozzum”, shortened to “Rozz”. The author of the book the movie is based on, Peter Brown, has written that this is a nod to the 1920 science fiction stage play “Rossum’s Universal Robots”, written by Czech writer Karel Capek. Capek and his brother Josef Capek introduced the word “robot” into the English language (and into science fiction). The word is drawn from the Slavic root, “robot”, meaning “labour”. The play was also the first use of the word to denote a mechanical humanoid.
-Near the end of the movie where the bear tells the fox that he will be chasing him again tomorrow is a joke that Richard Pryor made in his standup comedy special Wanted: Live in Concert.
-Lupita Nyong’o’s first time voice acting in a feature length film that’s fully animated.
THE WILD ROBOT
The Wild Robot, an adventure, science fiction and drama genre that you can watch with your family, is an animation that will make you laugh and deeply affect you emotionally.
EFE TEKSOY
REFERENCES AND SOURCES
SERRES, Michel, Hominescence (insanlanma), İlhan Burak Tüzün, translate, Izmir: Livera yayınevi press, 2024
SERRES, Michel, Hominescence, Bloomsbury Academic- Bloomsbury Publishing, 13 Jun 2019
