From blockbuster Black Panther to biographical drama 12 Years a Slave, award-winning actress Lupita Nyong’o is no stranger to the big screen.
Nyong’o, whose starring role in the prequel A Quiet Place: Day One was lauded by critics, returns to the world of animation in the big screen adaption of author Peter Brown’s children’s book The Wild Robot.
In the Chris Sanders-directed movie, Nyong’o voices Roz, a task-oriented robot from a futuristic world who washes onto the shore of a remote island inhabited by wild animals.
Roz raises an orphaned gosling named Brightbill (voiced by Kit Connor) and develops a relationship with her environment.
Nyong’o told Breakfast that she took inspiration from AI assistants like Siri and Alexa to craft her character’s voice.
“What I took from them was this sort of relentless positivity. That’s where Roz starts, but as she adapts to life on the island, she ends up having a warmer, more human, three-dimensional voice,” she said.
“I like the challenge of working with different mediums, the vocal athleticism when you’re doing voice work,” Nyong’o added.
Experiment
“Nothing else is being experienced or seen, so it offers the chance for me to be very athletic with my voice and experiment.”
While Rozzum units don’t exist in the real world, Nyong’o joked that having her own robot companion would be helpful.
“I would like a Rozzum unit to work in my garden. That would be helpful; I would like that very much.”
Director and writer Sanders is a pioneer in animation, having been one of the masterminds behind Disney’s Lilo & Stitch films and DreamWorks’ How to Train Your Dragon.
He said Nyong’o “took Roz apart bit by bit because she wanted to understand how the character thought”.
“The way she sounds was not computerised; she crafted that voice herself. We had a lot of iterations to get that.”
Realism
Sanders put the same amount of care into the animation. He wanted the film to resemble paintings and hand-drawn books.
“Take a moment to look away from the characters and look at the way the environment has been created,” he said. “There’s an overall lack of detail, but the result is a realism I’ve never seen in a film before.”
Sanders said this film was one of his favourites to make.
“The act of making this film wasn’t like anything I’ve experienced. My producer said this is one of those films of a lifetime, and that’s absolutely true. I didn’t expect anything like this to happen when I started working on the project.”
While The Wild Robot may appear to aim to capture the hearts of younger audiences, Nyong’o reminded moviegoers that it’s not just for children.
“This film was made very mindfully. It was made for everybody. It’s really funny, so you may cry, but it’s also very funny and cheeky.”
The Wild Robot is out now in New Zealand cinemas.
