The Wild Robot | 2024 | PG | – 0.3.1

Why is “The Wild Robot” rated PG? The MPAA rating has been assigned for “action/peril and thematic elements.” The Kids-In-Mind.com evaluation includes discussions of love and friendship, many scenes of animals fearing each other and a robot causing them to scream and run away, wild animals fighting with each other, discussions of the death of animals, several encounters between robots and animals leading to explosions and fires blazing in a forest, a few training sequences with a gosling learning to swim and fly including some failures, and some bullying and name-calling. Read our parents’ guide below for details on sexual content, violence & strong language.

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In this animated tale, a helper bot named Roz (voiced by Lupita Nyong’o) crashes on a remote island and quickly realizes that it will have to figure out how to survive by working with the animals that live there. Also with the voices of Pedro Pascal, Kit Connor, Bill Nighy, Stephanie Hsu, Matt Berry, Ving Rhames, Mark Hamill, Catherine O’Hara and Boone Storm. Directed by Chris Sanders. [Running Time: 1:41]

The Wild Robot SEX/NUDITY 0

 – A robot asks, “How do you know if you love someone?” A fox says that it grew up without love.

The Wild Robot VIOLENCE/GORE 3

 – A robot stands on a platform and is lifted into a large flying vessel; it stops and jumps off the platform to run back to the forest and is chased by many security bots that shoot at it, while forest animals attack the security bots disabling many of them and pulling them apart, as one animal declares, “Let us divide the robot meat among us”; the security bots self-destruct and when they explode the forest catches fire. A robot is taken into a flying vessel and another robot prepares to erase its memories; it is fastened into a machine and it thrashes, as it is being de-programmed.
► A robot and a fox search for animals during a severe winter weather and move those that they find to a safer shelter; the robot digs under the snowy surface at one point and signals that an animal has perished covering it with snow again (we do not see the animal). Many geese descend during a lightning storm and land in a farm maintained by robots; when they are discovered, the robot security chases them and shoots at them until they are able to fly away; we understand that one goose was killed during this encounter. A goose crashes through the windshield of a flying vessel and lands hard on the floor injuring its wing. A robot holds a goose, falls out of a flying vessel hurtling toward the ground, and rolls itself into a ball before hitting the ground, landing unharmed.
► A robot stands on the top of a cliff and is struck by lightning; it revives to see animals pulling it apart and we see one of its eyes missing and a hand being carried away; many raccoons sit on a robot’s arms and it spins around throwing them off. While being chased by a bear a robot tumbles over a ledge and crashes hard on a large nest; we see eggs cracked and a motionless wing among the debris (implying that a goose and its eggs were crushed); when the robot stands up it finds one egg intact and carries it away after it scans the contents and we see a not-fully formed gosling. We hear snarling and growling off-screen as young possums scream and an adult possum implies that one of her young ones was eaten (we see it is unharmed later). Many animals topple a large tree to divert water to squelch flames burning through a forest.
► An eel snatches a gosling in a pond and pulls it through the water; a robot tries to reach the gosling but its foot gets stuck in a pile of rocks as the gosling flutters to get away. A bear roars and slashes at a robot cutting its chest plate and throwing it backward and the bear chases it saying, “Kill.” A goose tells a gosling, “That thing killed your other,” about a robot and the gosling is shocked. Many geese surround a smaller goose in a pond and mock it; they push it underwater and kick it. Raccoons chase a robot up a tree and they are flung a great distance and land in water when the tree snaps back. Large waves slam onto shore knocking a robot down and it follows after watching a crab scamper up a sheer rock wall to safety. Thunder rumbles and lightning flashes and we see a transport container mangled on the ground with a robot inside, twisted and dented; it boots up as animals investigate and then run away. Many animals gathered in a shelter fight with each other until a robot tells them that they must work together to survive. Many animals panic and run away from a robot as it walks through a forest asking if anyone needs assistance. A fox snatches a goose egg out of the hand of a robot and runs away leading to a chase through woods and over a waterfall where they each take possession of the egg; the fox is thrown into a porcupine and stuck by its tines and we see the robot remove the tines one at a time as the fox whimpers. A moose rams a robot and it is thrown through the air; an animal says, “It’s dead,” and others run away when the robot stands up again. Animals sniff around a pile of leaves on the ground saying, “Somebody died over here,” and a robot stands up startling them.
► An animal licks a robot’s face and runs away screaming in fear. Several possums play dead and announce what they are pretending killed them (they each list deadly diseases). A fox throws clods of soil at squirrels on a branch knocking them down to the ground. A gosling is thrown into water trying to teach it to swim and launched into the air to teach it to fly without success. A gosling tries to learn to fly by watching training videos played by a robot but is unsuccessful. Many geese prepare for a migration journey and one is trained from morning ’til night to build endurance. Many land animals prepare for hibernation.
► A young possum tells a robot that it likes its baby and hopes it doesn’t die. A fox says that stories are “lying adjacent.” A gosling speaks like and moves like a robot; other geese tease it and make fun of it for being small and different. While practicing swimming a gosling rides a sled down a hill and another animal says, “The impact alone will probably kill him.” A gosling snaps at a robot and says, “You’re not my mom.”
► Several possums dangle from an adult possum as it walks through a forest; one possum says, “If I barf,” and another threatens to put its tail in another’s eye. A gosling hatches and sees a robot and its glowing eyes staring at it; the gosling screams. A small crab sits in a robot’s hand and a seagull snatches it and flies away. A bird eats a butterfly. A robot is sprayed by a skunk and we see a cloud of green gas surrounding it. A robot breaks apart a den being built by a beaver. A robot runs after a deer and it kicks the robot sending it through the air. A gosling follows a robot walking through a forest and falls into a hole (it’s OK). A robot pushes a pinecone into a gosling’s beak trying to help it eat. A gosling eats many worms as they pop out of the ground. A gosling tries to eat clams but the shells slam closed on its beak, feet and head. A fox burps several times.

The Wild Robot LANGUAGE 1

 – 1 mild scatological term, 1 mild anatomical term, name-calling (monster, dummy, weirdo, weird, stupid, jerk, defective, suspicious, unfeeling, morally neutral), exclamations (sucked, bummer), 2 religious exclamations (e.g. God). | profanity glossary |

The Wild Robot SUBSTANCE USE

 – None.

The Wild Robot DISCUSSION TOPICS

 – Motherhood, wildlife, survival, patience, misfortune, love, lying, truth, family, bullying, fearing what is different, friendship, scale, hierarchy of importance, breaking the rules, improvisation, guilt.

The Wild Robot MESSAGE

 – Kindness is a survival skill.