Warning: this article contains spoilers for The Wild Robot
DreamWorks has released yet another stunning masterpiece inThe Wild Robot,a film about a robot named Roz (Lupita Nyong’o) who ends up shipwrecked on a deserted island with no idea why or how.The Wild Robot’sexcellent cast, storytelling, animation, and score have made this movie a must-see for fans of DreamWorks properties, or just people who love great films.
The Wild Robothas quickly become a classic, but it actually shares a strange connection with another hit DreamWorks movie, that being the originalHow To Train Your Dragon.Both films share a director and an animation studio, but there is one, moresubtle connection between these two movies that might be easy to overlook. Its shared DNA with what is certainly one of DreamWorks' most beloved properties is very charming to see.
The Wild Robot & How To Train Your Dragon’s Main Characters Lose A Foot
DreamWorks Keeps Its Protagonists On Their Toes
During key moments in bothThe Wild RobotandHow To Train Your Dragon,Roz and Hiccup find themselves losing one of their feet, Hiccup his left and Roz her right.Hiccup loses his while fighting the Red Death at the climax of the film, though the exact nature of how he lost just one foot remains unclear. He replaces it with a mechanical prosthetic made by Gobber, which stays for the rest of the franchise.
Hiccup doesn’t literally keep the same prosthetic throughout the franchise, he upgrades it as the movies progress, but it still all goes to show that his lost limb is not a weakness to overcome, but a strength.
Roz, on the other hand, loses her appendage when she is trying to help Brightbill escape from an eel trying to eat him as he attempts to learn to swim. Even thoughThe Wild Robotcontains many great moments, the loss of her foot still stands out, because as it occurs closer to the middle of the film itforces her to spend more time in the movie itself learning to adapt to her new limb, as opposed to Hiccup, who has to mostly learn to use his between movies.
How Roz & Hiccup Lose A Foot Is Wildly Different
Thematically And Literally, Their Loss Is Also Their Gain
The way these two characters lose their limbs differs not just physically, but symbolically as well. Hiccup’s loss represents his self-sacrifice and willingness to do what must be done, giving everything he possibly can to help save te people he loves.His loss also symbolizes his deep connection with Toothless, as they had both lost a part of themselves that they were able to find and restore with the help of each other.The excellentHow To Train Your Dragontrilogygreatly expands on their relationship, and Hiccup’s lost limb plays a big part in that.
Yes, The Wild Robot Really Is The Best Animated Movie Of 2024
There have been plenty of amazing animated movies that have premiered so far in 2024, but The Wild Robot is no doubt the best of them all.
Roz’s loss inThe Wild Robotalso represents a bond between two characters, with Roz getting closer to Brightbill, wanting to protect and mother him regardless of what her programming says. Unfortunately, it is followed by one of themost devastating moments inThe Wild Robot,when Brightbill leaves Roz as he learns the truth about his biological family. Her replacing the lost limb with wood also symbolizes her deepening connection to not just the natural world inThe Wild Robot, but to the island itself, as a part of the island literally becomes intertwined with her being.
