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The core of DreamWorks The wild robot is the heartfelt concept of creating your own found family.
The sci-fi animated adventure film – written and directed by Chris Sanders, based on the 2016 Peter Brown bestseller – follows Rozzum, a robot who lives during a typhoon on an island where there are animals but no people. suffers shipwreck. There, Roz discovers the unhatched egg of a gosling (Kit Conner) whose family she accidentally killed. For this reason, she takes on the role of protector with the help of a clever fox (Pedro Pascal).
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“Chris pointed out to me that the mother is missing from most of the animations. And the mother is missing for the adventure to take place,” Nyong’o said at Deadline’s Contenders event in Los Angeles on Saturday. “But this film is truly a celebration and celebration of motherhood and parenthood and the unique bond between mother and child, whether biological or chosen.”
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The acclaimed film recently surpassed $300 million worldwide since its release in September. With $134.4 million domestic and $166.1 million overseas The wild robot the No. 2 non-sequel studio film of 2024 is behind us It ends with usthe No. 1 non-sequel Hollywood animated title of the year and the fourth-biggest animated studio film of 2024 worldwide.
“I think one of the reasons why it’s been so well received and resonates so much is because we can all relate to being either a parent or a child,” Nyong’o continued. “And [the film] does this with a seriousness that is beautiful. In art, when it’s advanced, we often become quite sophisticated and don’t want to be serious, but the book was serious and this film is serious and speaks to a pure part of us that just seeks belonging and love.”
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Working with casting director Christi Soper, Sanders discussed the decision to entrust Nyong’o to bring the maternal robot to life. “Christi did such an amazing job casting this film. Not only is she looking for a great voice to fit the characters, but she’s also really looking for characters that fit. And there’s no better example than Lupita with Roz, because Lupita really took the lead in deconstructing that character to understand the architecture of her particular mind as a robot. There’s a lot going on, and we wanted her to be believable as a robot that you could have bought from a very expensive company, but also be human so that we as an audience could connect. ”
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star Wars Legend Mark Hamill, who voices a grizzly bear named Thorn Wild robot, was also on the panel and talked about why he enjoys working on toons.
“One thing I love about animation is that it turns every actor into a character actor because they cast with their ears and not their eyes,” he said. “So you’ll be able to play roles that you would never get on camera. And I found it incredibly liberating to explore this part of the business that I hadn’t really been involved in for many years. I went to Broadway to try to get roles and did seven shows, but when I came back and did the animation role, I think Joker was the real turning point for me because people would stop you in the supermarket. … So you’re at Toys R Us singing the Joker voice to a confused kid in aisle 5.”
Check back on Monday to watch the panel video.
The presenting sponsor of this year’s Contenders Film: Los Angeles is Together for the economy. are sponsors Eyeptizer glasses, Final draft + ScreenCraftand are partners Four Seasons Maui, 11 ravens And Robina Benson Design House.
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