It’s pretty standard that a hit kid’s movie will start a franchise, even before it’s been proven at the box office. Recent years have given us films like The Bad Guys, which quickly spawned a sequel, a TV series, and TV specials. Last summer’s KPop Demon Hunters was a perfect example of this, with the runaway success of the film and its soundtrack cementing the series as a franchise moving forward. Not every animated movie that starts a franchise can also satisfy genre fans, though, today’s news confirms at least one is happening.
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Fresh off the Oscar-nomination and box office success of 2024’s The Wild Robot, Dreamworks Animation is officially bringing back the hit series for another film. The Wrap brings word of the sequel movie, which, like the Peter Brown books they’re based on, will carry the title The Wild Robot Escapes. Like The Mitchells vs The Machines, an official sequel to the hit animated movie, not only signals good things for fans of animation but also for fans of science fiction, as The Wild Robot has already proven it’s a prime example of the genre. There will be some changes behind the scenes, though.
The Wild Robot Sequel Officially Confirmed
The Wild Robot Escapes will have some key differences behind the scenes compared to the original film, with the trade reporting that Chris Sanders will not return to direct the film, though he will pen the screenplay. Instead, Troy Quane (Nimona, Spies in Disguise) will direct the film, with Heidi Jo Gilbert, previously head of story on The Wild Robot, acting as co-director. This shouldn’t alarm fans too much because Sanders has seldom returned to direct sequels for his films, but the man is also busy, with the trade revealing he might actually direct the live-action sequel for Lilo & Stitch.
With The Wild Robot, audiences were introduced to Lupita Nyong’o’s Roz, the titular robot who washed her way onto the shores of an island uninhabited by humans and populated with animals. Along the way, the film deals with the themes of nature vs nurture, as Roz attempts to raise a young goose as its mother while also coming to terms with her own status as a robot.
The themes of The Wild Robot were not only prescient and welcome, but the film set itself apart from other animated movies with its distinct visuals that harkened to hand-painted images, evolving the style used in Dreamworks’ Puss in Boots: The Last Wish. In the end, it paid off, as The Wild Robot grossed over $330 million globally, holds a near-perfect 97% on Rotten Tomatoes, and was even nominated for three Academy Awards.
Based on the reporting about The Wild Robot Escapes movie, it sounds as if the film will again take its cues from the books by Peter Brown and tell the story of Roz and Brightbill as they try to escape back to the island. A third book exists in the series, which could no doubt set the stage for another film (titled The Wild Robot Protects). As animation and sci-fi fans know, though, success always leads to more, and hopefully, this is just the beginning of The Wild Robot as one of our great sci-fi animation franchises.
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