The following contains spoilers for The Wild Robot, now playing in theatersAs a story centered on family, kindness, and motherhood, The Wild Robot naturally includes an array of emotional scenes throughout its heartfelt story. Following the stranded robot ROZZUM 7134 (Lupita Nyong’o), known as Roz, The Wild Robot tells the story of how Roz goes from an unfeeling completer of tasks to a fierce, kind, and loving protector, nurturer, and mother. Raising her gosling Brightbill (Kit Connor) with the help of Fink (Pedro Pascal) the fox, the emotional journey that Roz takes is one that the entire audience also feels from start to finish.
This story, based on Peter Brown’s book of the same name, has no shortage of these crucial emotional moments. The Wild Robot‘s reviews and its Rotten Tomatoes score prove how much it’s resonating with its audience, and its emotional beats have much to do with it. The Wild Robot‘s cast also gives a collective stunning performance that makes each one of these scenes carry even more weight in a way that perfectly serves its story. Here are the 7 most emotional scenes that take place throughout The Wild Robot, as well as how they function within the story.
7 Roz & Fink Save The Animals From The Storm
Their Kindness Saves Lives
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With Brightbill gone during the winter, Roz is left on her own to weather the harshness of the island’s colder climate, one that Fink informs her is much more serious than past winters. Roz, insistent on doing everything she can to protect the other animals, recruits Fink to help her find their winter homes and dens so that she can bring them into the home she had built with Fink and Brightbill instead. Despite Fink’s initial reluctance, he still helps her as best as he can, and the duo manages to save many of the animals from the harsh winter.
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The most emotional part of this scene, however, is the beautiful yet heartbreaking way the reality of survival is portrayed. There’s one moment in which Fink finds another animal beneath the snow, but Roz is able to confirm that they arrived too late, and the animal has already succumbed to the harsh winter conditions. When Fink loses faith because of this, Roz encourages him to push on with her, all while she quite literally pushes herself to the brink to save as many as she can. It’s an incredibly heartfelt moment of bravery and selflessness for both of them.
This is also the event that leads to the animals finally learning how to come together as a singular, peaceful unit. Fink’s initial reluctance is a simple reflection of how animals naturally operate within a food chain, something that he reminds Roz of when their home is bustling with fights after she’s collected them all, but her plea for Fink to help them leads to them accepting these terms for even longer than just the winter. This is a true testament to how acts of kindness can become truly transformative, making it one of the movie’s many stand-out emotional scenes.
6 Fink Thinks Roz Will Say She Loves Him
He Craves Love That He Never Received
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As a self-proclaimed expert at lying, Fink’s development into an important part of Roz and Brightbill’s family is one of the best in The Wild Robot, which makes his honesty about never experiencing love even more heartbreaking. It’s easy to see throughout the movie just how desperate he is to receive it, making this specific moment even more emotional. After Brightbill’s departure for the migration, Roz asks Fink what to do if she thinks she loves someone, and when he says, in a hopeful tone, that she should tell them, she insists it’s too late – and Fink completely deflates.
Dejected, Fink’s quick to disappear after uttering a response about how he wouldn’t know, and Roz turns around to find him no longer there. This adds to the heartbreak of Roz initially accepting her fate and trudging up to the island’s highest point to activate her transmitter, though she does end up turning it back off to instead stay on the island and wait for Brightbill to return. The loneliness that both these characters are feeling is palpable, but watching Fink walk away with his tail quite literally between his legs really pulls on the heartstrings.
This is because the audience, at this point in the movie, has come to root for Fink just as much as Roz and Brightbill. He’s undoubtedly a part of their family, given the fact he’s been with them since the start and is even a part of Brightbill’s initial “baby picture,” yet he’s still craving to hear the audible confirmation and affirmation that he’s also just as loved. Fink clearly thinking here that he’s not loved makes this moment utterly devastating, and certainly one of the movie’s most emotional.
5 Roz, Fink, & Brightbill Have Their First Story Time
The Story & Their Cuddles Are Heartwarming
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Startled by Paddler (Matt Berry) making his threat outside their home, Fink reluctantly offers to tell Brightbill a story with Roz’s help to calm Brightbill back down enough to go to sleep. What ensues is a surprisingly touching tale from Fink about Roz herself, describing her as someone who waited upon a star to deliver herself straight to Brightbill. What elevates this moment to emotional, however, is how Fink ends the story, and what goes on from there. Fink says that Roz had forgotten some things when she fell from her star, but not Brightbill, who she loves very much.
Afterward, when Brightbill is asleep, Roz asks Fink outright how he can tell a story about something he previously said he knew nothing about: love. Fink offers such a real yet heartbreaking response, informing her that when someone spends their entire life wanting something, it can teach them a lot about it, which for him is love. Roz then powers herself down to recharge for the night, and Brightbill cuddles himself into her neck – but he’s not the only one.
Fink follows just after he thinks them both to be asleep and tucks himself under Roz’s arm. That’s when Brightbill speaks to Fink and assures him that he also misses Roz when she sleeps, a line that truly tugs on every single heartstring. It’s such a raw depiction of true love and care, of never wanting to miss even just a single moment with someone, even in slumber. This scene cements the trio as a true family, which makes it one of the most emotional in the entire movie.
4 Brightbill Finds Out The Truth About His Family
Both Perspectives Are Simply Heartbreaking
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Audiences wait for the other shoe to drop in The Wild Robot as soon as Fink warns Roz early on about the risk of telling Brightbill the truth about what happened to his birth family. Although it was an honest accident, Roz’s failure to tell Brightbill what had actually happened once he got older has serious repercussions on their relationship, especially since Brightbill has to find out from the other geese who tease him for being different. Brightbill rejecting Roz and insisting she’s not his mother is just as devastating for the audience as it is for Roz.
Roz was afraid of hurting Brightbill with the truth, and Brightbill is betrayed that she was never up front with him about it.
While this reaction from Brightbill is extremely valid, it’s still a heartbreaking moment. Every single perspective can be understood; Roz was afraid of hurting Brightbill with the truth, and Brightbill is betrayed that she was never up front with him about it. After seeing Roz do everything she truly can to mother Brightbill and set things right after the accident that killed his family and, of course, come to honestly care for Brightbill like her own, it’s a stab straight to the heart to hear him outright reject her and the role she plays in his life.
Still, the heart breaks for Brightbill as well. He never had the chance to get the truth from Roz herself, and after watching him get picked on by the other geese, it’s devastating to hear him mourn a life where he thinks he could have been more normal and could have fit in better with his own kind. Everything about this scene is devastating, with only three others pulling on the heartstrings even more.
3 Roz Decides To Leave The Island
She Sacrifices Herself To Save Her Family
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Despite the animals fighting bravely to keep Roz from being taken by Universal Dynamics, she knows deep down that it’s not enough. The island’s devastation is evidence to her that the only way to guarantee their safety, at least for now, is to return to Universal Dynamics and settle things there. The animals protest, and their desperation is utterly heartbreaking – particularly Fink’s, with him even asking her, “What if I need to tell you something, and you’re not here?” As mundane as the concept of that is, it’s a true and valid concern of a family member.
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Though the animals come to accept Roz’s decision to sacrifice herself by leaning on one another for such protection and comfort, this is still an incredibly moving moment. The way the animals respond shows how much they have truly come to care for Roz, someone they used to see as a “monster.” Especially devastating is Fink’s heartbreaking reaction, as he’s been a part of The Wild Robot‘s core trio with Roz and Brightbill since the beginning. Her sacrifice is honorable, but it’s also incredibly emotional, making The Wild Robot‘s ending perfectly bittersweet.
What truly elevates this scene, however, is the animals continuing to come together for one another, a change that was set into motion by Roz herself during the winter storm. Fink’s heartbreaking question is answered by Thorn (Mark Hamill), who assures the fox that he’ll be there to listen to whatever Fink has to say. This scene does the duality of comfort and true friendship in the face of sadness so well, which makes it one of the movie’s most emotional.
2 Brightbill Leaves For His First Migration
Roz Lets Go Of Who She Loves
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From the score to the breathtaking handpainted visuals, Brightbill departing for his first migration is not only one of The Wild Robot‘s most emotional scenes, but also one of its very best. Though the pair still haven’t fully resolved their fallout from Brightbill discovering the truth about his birth family, he still asks Roz for a boost as he prepares to fly away, and she runs with him until he’s ready to take off. Roz watches him the whole way, even collecting a feather from him as he and the other geese fly into the sunset.
There isn’t a single moment during this scene when a heartstring isn’t being pulled. It’s the most real depiction of motherhood that could exist, particularly with the context that there’s still some unresolved tension between Roz and Brightbill when it happens. They’re unsure if they’ll see one another again, and those three words of true care for one another hang in the air between them as Brightbill departs. Everything Roz did to prepare Brightbill for that moment pays off, and she gets to stand and watch him fly away with both sadness and pride.
The stunning animation in this scene only elevates the emotions even more. From the colors of the sunset to the collection of geese flying through the air, the visuals, in tandem with the score, paint the picture of Roz’s emotions in a way that words never could. For anyone who’s ever had to either had to let someone go or was the one being let go, this moment truly hits different, and is only second to one in The Wild Robot.
1 Brightbill Finally Tells Roz He Loves Her
Brightbill’s Confession Saves Roz
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The only moment more emotional than the first migration is the scene when Brightbill finally gets to tell Roz he loves her. With Universal Dynamics having arrived just after Brightbill’s return to the island, Roz is captured by them before he gets a chance to tell her what’s been in his heart the entire time. She’s powered down when he finally gets to her, and despite that, Brightbill confesses everything he wants to say to the open air and cuddles into her neck once more while saying “I love you, Mom.”
The silence that ensues weighs heavily as audiences hold their breath and wait to see if Roz has even heard her son’s words. When she begins to light up underneath his affectionate touch, the visuals alone create a newfound spark of hope that changes everyone’s tears from ones of sadness to ones of joy. Both Brightbill and the audience finally earn her response of “I love you, too,” proving that a robot can, indeed, lead with her heart rather than just her mind.
It’s such a beautiful picture of family and motherhood, and further evidence of the fact that love truly does trump all else.
What elevates this heartfelt confession even more is the fact that his words bring Roz back to life. No matter what Universal Dynamics tries to do to erase her memories and reset her programming, Brightbill’s love for Roz still brings her back. It’s such a beautiful picture of family and motherhood, and further evidence of the fact that love truly does trump all else. This is easily the most emotional moment in The Wild Robot, helping this movie to cement itself as one of cinema’s most heartfelt stories to date.
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8/10 9.2/10 The Wild Robot PGAnimationDrama Sci-Fi
The Wild Robot is an animated drama film based on a series of books by Peter Brown. The adaptation is written and directed by Chris Sanders and stars Lupita Nyong’o, Pedro Pascal, and Catherine O’Hara. The Wild Robot centers on a robot named Rozzum 7134, who becomes stranded on a deserted island and the guardian of a young orphan.
Director Chris Sanders Release Date September 27, 2024 Studio(s) Dreamworks Distributor(s) Universal Studios Writers Chris Sanders , Peter Brown Cast Lupita Nyong’o , Pedro Pascal , Catherine O’Hara , Bill Nighy , Kit Connor , Stephanie Hsu , Mark Hamill , Matt Berry , Ving Rhames Runtime 101 Minutes Main Genre Animation Expand