50 Fun Facts About The Wild Robot

In the novel The Wild Robot, which playful animals find Roz's crate on the shore and wake her up?

Sea otters paw at the washed-up crate until the machine inside switches on, then flee in terror. Four other crates had smashed on the rocks, so Roz is the only survivor.

Which Oscar-winning actress voices Roz the robot in the animated film The Wild Robot?

Lupita Nyong'o had to carry Roz's feelings by voice alone, because the robot's face barely moves. She also voices Rummage, the broken robot Roz rebuilds.

In the novel The Wild Robot, how does Roz accidentally destroy the nest holding Brightbill's egg?

She falls from a cliff while climbing, and the crash kills the geese below, leaving one egg. The film changes it: there Roz flattens the nest while running from a bear.

Chris Sanders, writer and director of The Wild Robot, made his directing debut with which 2002 Disney film?

Lilo & Stitch nearly had a woodland setting: Sanders once toyed with a creature bonding with forest animals for that film, an idea he finally used two decades later with Roz.

Which studio snapped up The Wild Robot for a film before Peter Brown's novel had even been published?

DreamWorks Animation took four years to develop the film. It was reported to be the last feature the studio's own artists would animate entirely in-house.

In the novel The Wild Robot, what do the frightened island animals call Roz when she first appears?

A monster is what the animals see in the shiny stranger, so they hide from her or attack her. Roz wins them over only slowly, one helpful deed at a time.

Peter Brown says The Wild Robot began with his sketch of a robot in which unlikely place?

In a tree is where Brown drew his robot, and the odd picture made him wonder what a clever machine would do in the wilderness. Answering that question took him eight years.

According to author Peter Brown, The Wild Robot teaches that which quality can be a survival skill?

Kindness is how Roz turns enemies into neighbours and builds herself a family. Brown told the film-makers it was the book's central idea, and they wove it through the film too.

Which star of the TV drama The Last of Us voices Fink the fox in the film The Wild Robot?

Pedro Pascal gives Fink his sly charm, but the fox's yips and squeals are real. They were recorded from foxes living at an animal rescue.

In the novel The Wild Robot, which camouflaged creature gives Roz the idea of disguising herself to survive?

A stick insect, nearly invisible on its branch, shows Roz that blending in keeps you alive. She plasters herself with mud and plants and spends weeks quietly studying the animals.

In Peter Brown's novel The Wild Robot, what sinks the cargo ship carrying Roz and the other crated robots?

A hurricane sends the ship down and leaves five crates bobbing on the waves. Only one of them reaches the island in one piece.

In the novel The Wild Robot, which energy source keeps Roz's body running on an island with no power sockets?

Sunlight is all Roz needs, because she is solar-powered. Her crate is found just as the sun comes out, which gives her the energy to start up.

In the novel The Wild Robot, Roz befriends Fink the fox by pulling out painful needles left by which animal?

A porcupine had left Fink stuck with needles, and Roz carefully pulls each one out. The grateful fox becomes one of her first friends on the island.

In the novel The Wild Robot, what kind of animal helps Roz build a proper home for herself and Brightbill?

A beaver, known simply as Mr. Beaver, lends his building skills while a deer plans the planting around the house. Sharing the food that grows there is how Roz wins her first neighbours.

In the novel The Wild Robot, Brightbill's best friend Chitchat is what kind of animal?

A squirrel named Chitchat becomes the gosling's best friend, one of many animals drawn to Roz's home by the plants she grows. Their friendship shows the island accepting the robot's unusual family.

In the novel The Wild Robot, where on Roz's body is the button that Brightbill presses to switch her off?

Back of her head is where the off button sits. When Brightbill tries it, Roz goes dark; she feels no time pass at all, while her worried son says it felt like forever.

Which star of the teen drama Heartstopper voices the grown-up Brightbill in the film The Wild Robot?

Kit Connor voices Brightbill, the undersized goose raised by a robot, once he has grown up. A second actor, Boone Storme, voices him as a baby gosling.

Which Star Wars actor voices Thorn, the fearsome grizzly bear, in the film The Wild Robot?

Mark Hamill, the original Luke Skywalker, growls his way through the part. He said the story reminded him of how he first felt about Star Wars.

Which composer wrote the music for The Wild Robot, his first score for a fully animated film?

Kris Bowers built the island's music with a percussion quartet playing tuned glass bottles, teacups and planks of wood. The score earned him an Oscar nomination.

In the sequel The Wild Robot Escapes, Roz is sent to work at what kind of place?

A dairy farm called Hilltop Farm is Roz's new home, where she runs things for the Shareef family. She must act like an ordinary machine while secretly longing for her island.

In the novel The Wild Robot, what do the animals call the daily meeting when no predator may stalk its prey?

The Dawn Truce lets hunters and hunted gather each morning in the Great Meadow as one community. At one of these meetings Roz later invites the whole island to a party.

In the novel The Wild Robot, what does Roz build across the island so animals can survive the bitter winter?

Lodges go up all over the island while Brightbill is away on migration, sheltering creatures who could not cope with the cold. The animals are thrilled that so many of them are saved.

In the novel The Wild Robot, what does Brightbill discover on his winter migration that is full of robots like Roz?

A factory full of machines just like his mother is the big news Brightbill brings home in spring. It is the first hint of where Roz came from, and of who might come looking for her.

In the novel The Wild Robot, what does a passing ship spot at the animals' spring party, revealing Roz?

A bonfire blazes in the Great Meadow as the animals dance to welcome spring, and a ship out at sea notices the flames. The very next morning, trouble arrives.

In The Wild Robot, what are the gun-carrying robots sent to capture Roz and take her away called?

RECOs is short for reconnaissance robots, and in the book three of them arrive, stamped with the numbers 1, 2 and 3. The island's animals band together to fight them off.

In the novel The Wild Robot, the robots hunting for Roz arrive on the island in what kind of craft?

An airship glides in at daybreak and lands in the Great Meadow, the morning after the animals' party. Brightbill is the first to spot it coming.

At the end of the novel The Wild Robot, why does Roz choose to leave her island home behind?

To be repaired is Roz's only hope after the battle leaves her in pieces, and going also stops more hunters coming for her. She leaves already planning how to get home to her son.

According to author Peter Brown, what formed the rugged northern island where The Wild Robot is set?

Rising seas, Brown imagined, would turn high ground into new islands and crowd animals from far and wide together. That is why his far-future island holds such a mix of creatures.

Peter Brown first dreamed up The Wild Robot while drawing nature scenes for which of his earlier picture books?

The Curious Garden had Brown sketching nature thriving in surprising places, which set him drawing unnatural things in the wilderness too. One of those doodles grew into Roz.

In Peter Brown's first draft of The Wild Robot, Roz reached the island by plane crash as what kind of robot?

A soldier was Brown's first idea for Roz, but his early plans caused so many plot problems that he rewrote the whole story. The finished book made her a helper built to carry out tasks.

Before The Wild Robot, Peter Brown's artwork for Creepy Carrots! earned him which American book award?

A Caldecott Honor, given for outstanding illustration, went to Brown for his sinister vegetables. He was known only for books like that until Roz's story became his first novel.

In The Wild Robot Protects, what mysterious danger spreads through the sea and threatens Roz's island?

A poison tide kills the plants and fish it touches, so the island's sea creatures have to shelter in an inland pond. Roz finally heads out across the ocean to stop it at its source.

In The Wild Robot Protects, Roz discovers by accident that her body has which useful property?

Waterproof is something Roz never knew she was until an accident proved it. The discovery lets her travel under the sea, where she meets everything from tiny plankton to a giant sperm whale.

In The Wild Robot Escapes, what do the children Jaya and Jad remove from Roz so she cannot be tracked?

Her transmitter let Mr. Shareef follow her every move, so the children take it out one night using a diagram of Roz while their father sleeps. Only then can she plan her getaway.

In The Wild Robot Escapes, which predators, led by one called Shadow, does Roz scare off without hurting them?

Wolves keep coming back, and Shadow swears revenge after his pack deserts him. Roz is programmed to be nonviolent, so she drives them off with camouflage tricks and fire instead.

In The Wild Robot Escapes, Roz is nearly destroyed while saving the boy Jad from what?

A tornado tears across Hilltop and leaves Jad frozen with terror. Roz gets him to safety, but the storm flings her about and almost wrecks her.

In the film The Wild Robot, Pinktail, the mother who tells Roz to raise the gosling, is what animal?

An opossum and a seasoned mother, Pinktail is voiced by Catherine O'Hara. She hands Roz the job of making sure the gosling can eat, swim and fly before winter.

In the film The Wild Robot, Thunderbolt, who helps teach Brightbill to fly, is what kind of bird?

A peregrine falcon, Thunderbolt is voiced by Ving Rhames and recruited by Roz as a flying coach. His lessons get Brightbill airborne just in time to join the migration.

In the film The Wild Robot, which company built Roz and later sends a dropship to bring her back?

Universal Dynamics built Roz as a service robot for humans. Its ships, greenhouses and retrieval machines are the film's glimpse of human society.

Which singer co-wrote and performs Kiss the Sky, one of two original songs in the film The Wild Robot?

Maren Morris and her co-writers were so moved when they watched the finished film that they wrote a second song for it, which plays over the end credits.

Director Chris Sanders described the look of The Wild Robot as which painter's work set in a Miyazaki forest?

Claude Monet was the reference for the film's soft, brushy finish. Although the characters are computer-built, every surface was given a hand-painted look, right down to the sky.

Chris Sanders named My Neighbour Totoro and which Disney classic as the biggest influences on The Wild Robot's look?

Bambi was the forest Sanders had in mind, so the film steers away from the photo-real look of most modern computer-made films and keeps the feel of a concept painting.

The Wild Robot was first screened at which city's international film festival, weeks before reaching cinemas?

Toronto hosted the first screening nearly three weeks before the film opened in American cinemas. It went on to take more than 330 million dollars at box offices worldwide.

Alongside nominations for animated feature and original score, The Wild Robot was up for which third Oscar?

Best Sound was the third nomination, shared by four people including Randy Thom, who also supplied the voices of the machines that hunt Roz. The film went home without a win.

Which ceremony gave The Wild Robot nine prizes in one night, including the one for Best Animated Feature?

The Annie Awards gave the film a sweep that also covered directing, music, editing and character design. It was named the year's top animated film at the Critics' Choice Awards too.

Director Chris Sanders first heard about the novel The Wild Robot through which member of his family?

His daughter introduced him to the book, though Sanders never read it himself until the studio offered him the film years later. He then fell in love with the story at once.

Roz's model name in The Wild Robot honours which Czech playwright, whose play R.U.R. introduced the word robot?

Karel Čapek's play features a robot-maker called Rossum, so Peter Brown called his machine a Rozzum as a quiet tribute. In the play the robots destroy humanity; Roz does the opposite.

The first trailer for The Wild Robot was set to a version of which song made famous by Louis Armstrong?

What a Wonderful World plays as the trailer shows off the island and its animals. The trailer reached cinemas three days later, ahead of screenings of Kung Fu Panda 4.

The Wild Robot's American release was moved back a week, reportedly to avoid which other animated film?

Transformers One was due out on the date first chosen, so the two films about robots would have clashed. Moving to 27 September paid off with a number-one opening weekend.

Which famous landmark appears half under water in the film The Wild Robot?

The Golden Gate Bridge stands partly submerged in the film's glimpse of a future San Francisco. Environmental experts advised the film-makers on the story's ecological details.