The Wild Robot: release date, reviews, trailer, cast and everything we know about the animated movie

The Wild Robot
(Image credit: DreamWorks Animation)

Get ready to meet the movie's next lovable robot, The Wild Robot. Based on Peter Brown's popular children’s books, this animated 2024 new movie is going to give those who enjoyed reading the book with their kids a chance to see the story on the big screen, while others get to enjoy it for the first time.

There are a lot of popular family-oriented movie franchises dominating the big screen this year, including Despicable Me 4, Inside Out 2, Mufasa: The Lion King and Moana 2 (as well as an animated spinoff of the Transformers franchise with Transformers One). The Wild Robot could become that, as it has a few sequel books, but right now it is a new animated movie character for people to enjoy.

Here is everything we know about The Wild Robot, including when it is coming out, who is in the voice cast and the official trailer.

The Wild Robot release date

The Wild Robot premieres exclusively in US movie theaters on September 27. It follows in the UK a few weeks later on October 18. 

The Wild Robot cast

A stellar ensemble of actors has been brought to provide the voices for The Wild Robot, led by Oscar-winner Lupita Nyong'o as the robot ROZZUM unit 7134, or "Roz." Nyong'o broke out with her Oscar-winning performance in 12 Years a Slave and has since starred in Black Panther, Us, The 355 and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. In addition to The Wild Robot, she stars in A Quiet Place: Day One in 2024.

The voice cast also features Pedro Pascal (The Last of Us) as Fink the fox, Catherine O'Hara (Beetlejuice Beetlejuice) as Pinktail the opossum, Bill Nighy (The Beautiful Game) as Longneck the goose, Kit Conner (Heartstopper) as the gosling Brightbill and Stephanie Hsu (Everything Everywhere All at Once) as another robot Vontra. In unspecified roles are going to be Mark Hamill (The Boy and the Heron), Matt Berry (What We Do in the Shadows) and Ving Rhames (Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning).

The Wild Robot plot

Here is the official plot for the movie from DreamWorks Animation:

"The epic adventure follows the journey of a robot — ROZZUM unit 7134, 'Roz' for short — that is shipwrecked on an uninhabited island and must learn to adapt to the harsh surroundings, gradually building relationships with the animals on the island and becoming the adoptive parent of an orphaned gosling."

The script was written by Chris Sanders.

The Wild Robot trailer

Watch the trailer for The Wild Robot directly below, which features Nyong'o performing a rendition of "What a Wonderful World."

The Wild Robot | Official Trailer - YouTube The Wild Robot | Official Trailer - YouTube
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Additional trailers for The Wild Robot offer more look at the plot of the movie and include some critics quotes. Take a look right here:

The Wild Robot | Official Trailer 2 - YouTube The Wild Robot | Official Trailer 2 - YouTube
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The Wild Robot | Final Trailer - YouTube The Wild Robot | Final Trailer - YouTube
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You can also watch this special featurette video on the movie right here:

The Wild Robot | A Wild Vision - YouTube The Wild Robot | A Wild Vision - YouTube
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The Wild Robot reviews

As of September 26, The Wild Robot is one of the best reviewed movies of the year, with it earning a 99% "Fresh" score on Rotten Tomatoes.

Chris Sanders movies

Chris Sanders is an animation veteran, earning three Oscar nominations for Best Animation Feature for his previous efforts, Lilo & Stitch, How to Train Your Dragon and The Croods. His most recent directorial effort, The Call of the Wild, was a live-action movie (with some heavy CGI scenes), but he returns to his most familiar medium as the director of The Wild Robot, in addition to writing the script. 

The Wild Robot poster

(Image credit: DreamWorks Animation)
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Michael Balderston

Michael Balderston is a DC-based entertainment and assistant managing editor for What to Watch, who has previously written about the TV and movies with TV Technology, Awards Circuit and regional publications. Spending most of his time watching new movies at the theater or classics on TCM, some of Michael's favorite movies include Casablanca, Moulin Rouge!, Silence of the Lambs, Children of Men, One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest and Star Wars. On the TV side he enjoys Only Murders in the Building, Yellowstone, The Boys, Game of Thrones and is always up for a Seinfeld rerun. Follow on Letterboxd.