The Wild Robot has arrived in Australian cinemas for the September school holidays and I recently had the chance to speak with writer-director Chris Sanders (Lilo & Stitch, How to Train Your Dragon) about the film…
Matt: Robot movies have been around for a century, and they show both ends of the spectrum – robots intent on destroying the world (The Terminator) and then the friendlier kind like what we see here in The Wild Robot. What drew you in to this story and perspective?
Chris: I feel the same way and I like robot movies. The idea that a robot was front and centre as the main character of the movie was very attractive to me. Even more so when I read the book and realised this robot was going to be an accidental mother which goes way against its programming. That really drew me in. It’s a conflict that created energy and there’s also a lot of heart and emotion that’s generated by that relationship – both with Roz and the gosling which she realises is now hers, but also with the other animals on the island. There’s so much emotional resonance within the story and it became a labour of love for me and the crew to bring that to the big screen.
Matt: Peter Brown’s books have some simple black and white drawings, but you have the challenge of translating that into an animated feature for the big screen. How did you approach the look of the film?
Chris: I would start with Roz actually. We wanted to stay true to Peter Brown’s very clear proportions which are described in the books. His style is both specific and graphic and so there’s a lot of details we knew we had to fill in. We had a big task ahead of us to design a robot which would be iconic and memorable. We wanted people who see it in the future to instantly know that’s Roz and no other robot. I think the artists on this film achieved it and full credit to all of them. We were all trying to design Roz in parallel but when Hyun Huh brought in his design one day, it was “pencils down”. That was the one and we began working and refining that design. It’s pretty much the one you see on screen.
Matt: Great family flicks often find a way to appeal to both kids and adults. How much thought went into that here and trying to find the right balance?
Chris: The humour and tone balance comes out of a lot of work. I do my best when writing the initial script but then we go through a lot of iterations and balancing. It’s like putting a car on a track and driving it around. We test it over and over, and we watch it over and over. Just like when a Formula 1 racer comes into the pit, we make adjustments and send it out again until it feels just right.
As far as adult and kids, we play to ourselves in a way and work not to exclude anybody. I see myself the same as the audience. They’re smart but not pretentious. They come to movies with open hearts and they’re ready to hear a story. Anything that delights all of us and pulls us in, is going to be the same for the audience.