Lupita Nyong’o and Pedro Pascal embark on an epic adventure of self-discovery and survival in The Wild Robot trailer

Following rave reactions from a preview at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival, DreamWorks‘ The Wild Robot trailer arrives to tease a grand adventure of discovery, defying directives, and finding your place in the world, even if that place is the most unlikely venue on the planet.

The Wild Robot follows the journey of a robot—ROZZUM unit 7134, “Roz” for short — that is shipwrecked on an uninhabited island and must learn to adapt to the harsh surroundings, gradually building relationships with the animals on the island and becoming the adoptive parent of an orphaned gosling.

Courtesy of the official press release for The Wild Robot:

The Wild Robot stars Academy Award winner Lupita Nyong’o (Us, The Black Panther franchise) as robot Roz; Emmy and Golden Globe nominee Pedro Pascal (The Last of Us, The Mandalorian) as fox Fink; Emmy winner Catherine O’Hara (Schitt’s Creek, Best in Show) as opossum Pinktail; Oscar nominee Bill Nighy (Living, Love Actually) as goose Longneck; Kit Connor (Heartstopper, Rocketman) as gosling Brightbill and Oscar nominee Stephanie Hsu (Everything Everywhere All at Once, The Fall Guy) as Vontra, a robot that will intersect with Roz’s life on the island. 

The film also features the voice talents of Emmy-winning pop-culture icon Mark Hamill (Star Wars franchise, The Boy and the Heron), Matt Berry (What We Do in the Shadows, The SpongeBob Movie franchise), and Golden Globe winner and Emmy nominee Ving Rhames (Mission: Impossible films, Pulp Fiction). 

The Wild Robot is a powerful story about the discovery of self, a thrilling examination of the bridge between technology and nature, and a moving exploration of what it means to be alive and connected to all living things.

Today’s The Wild Robot trailer looks at Roz’s journey and her many challenges, including parenthood, defying her fellow robots, and finding her place in an environment that goes against her programming. The footage makes The Wild Robot look like an emotionally-crippling experience in the best ways. I can’t wait to hold back tears while watching this on the big screen.

Chris Sanders (The Croods, The Call of the Wild, Lilo & Stitch) directs The Wild Robot from a script based on Peter Brown’s novel. Speaking of which, awards for The Wild Robot series extend beyond its position on the New York Times chart, including prizes for a Horn Book Award, two E.B. White Awards, two E.B. White Honors, a Children’s Choice Award for Illustrator of the Year, two Irma Black Honors, a Golden Kite Award and a New York Times Best Illustrated Book Award.

The Wild Robot stomps into cinemas on September 27.