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The Wild Robot Review image

The Wild Robot Review

Animation Deliberation
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336 Plays1 month ago

Dreamwork's new film had us power walking to the theaters from the teaser trailer alone. From a great story, to beautiful animation and a talented voice cast, this was definitely worth the watch in premium formats!

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Transcript

Introduction to Animation Deliberation and 'The Wild Robot'

00:00:01
zuuuuu
On another exciting episode of the Animation Deliberation podcast, the season is changing. It's time to prep to fly south. I forgot which direction I was supposed to go for a second. We're going south, we're bulking up, and we're going to do that with DreamWorks' newest movie, The Wild Robot. Currently in theaters right after these ads, we have no control over.
00:00:19
J Scoots
Sing along if you know the words. One, two, three, it's time for animation deliberation. A conversation and a celebration of our favorite action animated series.
00:00:31
J Scoots
re Yeah.
00:00:34
zuuuuu
Yeah, welcome back to another episode of Animation Deliberation, the podcast where we take action animation and cartoon seriously, but not too seriously.
00:00:34
J Scoots
Whoo.
00:00:40
zuuuuu
We're your hosts, I'm Zuhar Ali.
00:00:42
J Scoots
And my name's J. Scotty Zankler.
00:00:43
zuuuuu
And Dreamworks gave us another great movie, man. This was one that when I first saw the trailer of it, it was just a teaser trailer. I knew nothing about the plot.
00:00:54
zuuuuu
I hadn't heard any dialogue from that teaser trailer. So I went in completely blind.
00:00:58
J Scoots
Yeah.
00:00:59
zuuuuu
I was like, this looks beautiful. I need to see it in a premium format. I don't care what it's about. Like I'm sold.
00:01:06
J Scoots
Okay.
00:01:07
zuuuuu
So going into it with it being Dreamworks, I was just like, this seems very different. The art style is different. It's very ah we're we're going straight into the

Artistic Style and Animation Discussion

00:01:16
zuuuuu
nerdy stuff here.
00:01:17
zuuuuu
So in terms of like animation and spoiler warnings, obviously, it had that painterly brush look that we love about Clone Wars and Bad Batch.
00:01:18
J Scoots
Yeah, sure. Yep.
00:01:27
J Scoots
Yes.
00:01:27
zuuuuu
Somebody mentioned that it was very reminiscent of Arcane, which I'm still behind on, sorry.
00:01:32
J Scoots
Oh, really?
00:01:33
zuuuuu
Yeah, think oh my god like two episodes in Yeah, so
00:01:34
J Scoots
Yeah. I hadn't heard those comparisons, but I could see it. Yeah. Yeah. It's kind of like the 3d models with like the 2d effects, like drawn over over it. Yeah. That's a good comparison.
00:01:44
zuuuuu
Yeah, it was a very it was a very beautiful look. And that was what sold me on wanting to make sure I saw this in theaters. And it's just funny with how fascinated I was with the different look of this for a DreamWorks movie.
00:01:58
zuuuuu
The comedy was still very reminiscent of a DreamWorks movie.
00:01:58
J Scoots
Yeah.
00:02:02
J Scoots
Okay. Okay. That's funny that, uh, I've only seen it the once, but I absolutely loved it.
00:02:07
zuuuuu
Same.
00:02:08
J Scoots
And as I was like kind of reflecting on it, I was trying to recall some jokes and I remember some characters that were funny and I remember a few gags, but I didn't find this movie to be overly funny.
00:02:18
J Scoots
Like it has its moments of levity. Don't get me wrong, but it was a very touching. moving beautiful film for me. It made me cry multiple times. and The most I've cried since Coco.
00:02:26
zuuuuu
Yeah. Wow.
00:02:28
J Scoots
So we'll we'll talk about some of those specific moments later on, but I was actually really glad that you kicked off your take with discussing the trailer and the the teaser trailer, because that's one thing I wanted to talk about.
00:02:38
J Scoots
That was a big factor in my experience with this movie. I want to say it was around March or April of of earlier this year. I saw the first teaser trailer for the wild robot with no context whatsoever in a theater.
00:02:52
J Scoots
And I think it was ah ah a premium format. It was either Dolby or IMAX. So it it really hit me. And like you said, there was no dialogue, very moody, just establishing the the central theme of a robot in the wild interacting with these animals.
00:03:04
zuuuuu
Mhmm.
00:03:05
J Scoots
And I was instantly hooked. I was like, ooh, this looks good. this What a trailer. That looks badass. and then the you So I guess you never saw the second trailer then?
00:03:15
zuuuuu
Correct.
00:03:16
J Scoots
Okay. I unfortunately did see the second trailer and I kind of wish I hadn't because that dashed my hopes a little bit. That's where we got some of the voice acting. And we'll talk about the voice the voice performances later on, because I don't think there's a ah bad one in the bunch.
00:03:28
J Scoots
But when I saw that trailer, I was a little disheartened. I was like, Ooh, that this felt like it had the opportunity to be something really unique and beautiful and really moody.
00:03:35
zuuuuu
Yeah.
00:03:36
J Scoots
And I am reminded last year, We didn't talk about it on the show, but terms of the Oscars, as far as animated features go, one movie that was really discussed was Robot Dreams.
00:03:49
J Scoots
And I saw that after the fact when it was released at my local AMC.
00:03:50
zuuuuu
Okay.
00:03:52
J Scoots
And that was one of those movies. There's actually, it's like an hour 45 minutes, not a single word of of dialogue. And that's all I'll say about it.
00:03:59
zuuuuu
Mmm.
00:04:00
J Scoots
It's like a very beautiful and moving experience, though. So if you like The Wild Robot, I would i would kind of recommend that as a companion piece. but Uh, after seeing that second trailer, like I said, my hopes were

Critical Reception and Voice Cast

00:04:12
J Scoots
dashed a little bit. I was a little disheartened, but then I started hearing the word of mouth starting with like critics siren in the background.
00:04:21
J Scoots
I started hearing the critical reviews coming out of ah film festivals and whatnot. And the word of mouth was really, really strong. It had a lot of buzz and that kind of renewed my hopes, but I was still a little skeptical. And sure enough, the movie absolutely won me over.
00:04:34
zuuuuu
Nice.
00:04:34
J Scoots
Beautiful, beautiful film through and through.
00:04:39
zuuuuu
Yeah I remember the teaser trailer like showing the voice talent at the end like where the names just kind of pop up and I was like oh I know some of those names but I totally like forgot about those names by the time I got in there so I think Pedro Pascal was the only one that I like clearly recognized and everything else like once I read the credits I was like oh okay but also like you know like I don't pay attention and stuff like that it's just like I'm watching and watching it's just like oh yeah like I get who that is but I don't like
00:04:54
J Scoots
Really? That's.
00:05:05
zuuuuu
and get fixated on things like that. But I think the biggest comp that I had, because I only saw the teaser trailer, was how does this compare to Wall-E?
00:05:17
zuuuuu
because Wally also the dialogue is very minimal until we get to the people, but it is very explorative, right?
00:05:17
J Scoots
Okay.
00:05:23
zuuuuu
Like it's the perspective from this robot going through exploring new things, adapting to it, reacting to it.
00:05:24
J Scoots
sure sure yeah
00:05:30
zuuuuu
So I was wondering, it's like, okay, from the teaser trailer, I was like, okay, what why why is this robot here? It seems accidental. It doesn't seem very intentional like how Wally was. But like why does it need to learn? Is it dystopian? Is it just trying to adapt? like There was a lot of curiosity, and it made me feel like it was a nature film, which we did get a little bit of that just on a much smaller scale than what I was anticipating.
00:05:58
J Scoots
Yeah, yeah. I think the Wall-E comparisons are appropriate, but that's another one I hadn't really considered. I think I was, in terms of Pixar films, I was kind of comparing this one in my head to Finding Nemo because I think the the themes of like parenting really resonated with me.
00:06:10
zuuuuu
yeah
00:06:13
J Scoots
the fact that you recognize Pedro Pascal, but I find that really funny and peculiar because like you said, you don't really pay attention to that kind of thing. I was racking my brain the entire time I was watching the movie.
00:06:24
J Scoots
I was like, who is voicing this Fox? I had no idea. I suspect
00:06:28
zuuuuu
I will say I think it took me about halfway through the movie before I was like, that's who it is!
00:06:33
J Scoots
Okay. Okay. Yeah. The only voice I recognized besides Lupita Nyong'o and the only reason I recognized her is because I just, I just knew with the marketing and kind of knowing what I knew about the movie, I knew she was going to be the lead.
00:06:44
J Scoots
She was going to be Roz. Uh, the only other voice I recognized was Matt Berry as the, I thought he was supposed to be a beaver, but I think one of the full, first full body shots we got for him, it looked like he had like a rat tail.
00:06:56
J Scoots
So I guess he was supposed to be a muskrat. I don't know the character's name or anything like that.
00:06:59
zuuuuu
I mean, I'm looking at the voice cast and it says Matt Perry as Padler, a beaver.
00:07:03
J Scoots
Oh, he is a beaver. Okay.
00:07:04
J Scoots
Okay. Maybe it was just, I thought he was a beaver though. I guess maybe there was just one weird shot of the tail that made me think it was more rat like or whatever.
00:07:04
zuuuuu
Yeah, I thought it was a beaver, too.
00:07:09
zuuuuu
Yeah.
00:07:12
J Scoots
Uh, but another instance where I was absolutely like racking my brain. I was like, I recognize this voice, but I can't place it was, uh, being rames as the, as like the Hawk that taught bright bill, how to like, you know, fly more aggressively, uh,
00:07:26
zuuuuu
Is that because the name did sound familiar and I could.
00:07:28
J Scoots
Oh, Ving Rhames.
00:07:28
zuuuuu
Oh, OK.
00:07:29
J Scoots
Uh, he was in like pulp fiction is probably one of his big things.
00:07:31
zuuuuu
Yeah.
00:07:32
J Scoots
And he's in like all of the mission impossible movies as well.
00:07:35
zuuuuu
Yeah, I got the I got the picture up.
00:07:36
J Scoots
Yeah. Yeah.
00:07:38
zuuuuu
Yeah, that one was like. I kind of recognized it, but because his appearance was so quick and to the point, like I just kind of went back to focusing on the movie, and the biggest surprise when I saw afterwards was Catherine O'Hara, because I'm just so used to her from Schitt's Creek and she basically took that same persona into Beetlejuice recently.
00:07:47
J Scoots
Sure. Oh, right. Yeah.
00:07:58
J Scoots
Yes, for sure.
00:07:58
zuuuuu
that was almost like she kind of she kind of does the same thing and has the same vibe so the fact that like I've seen her Schitt's Creek motherly to see her actually be motherly was like oh I didn't even catch on to that oh that's one that I like just haven't seen as a kid and haven't like revisited in any way that yeah my
00:08:11
J Scoots
Uh, one of her original motherly roles was as the mom in home alone. That's where I'll always recognize her from first and foremost. Yeah. Okay.
00:08:25
zuuuuu
Had I like randomly decided to watch that would have been like, oh my god, it's all right.
00:08:29
J Scoots
Yeah, well, speaking of voice performances and voice actors and whatnot, i'm I'm kind of surprised the director, Chris Sanders, didn't give himself a voice cameo because when I did a little bit of research, I recognized he, not only is he the director of Lilo and Stitch, but he is the voice of Stitch.
00:08:46
J Scoots
He has voiced Stitch in pretty much everything and he's he's going to voice Stitch in the live action adaptation that's thats coming out.
00:08:48
zuuuuu
Oh, interesting. That's so cool.
00:08:55
J Scoots
Yeah, yeah. Uh, so not only did he direct Lilo and stitch, but he also did how to train your dragon. So, uh, right there shows his pedigree. That's some of those, you know, one of Disney's best and one of dream works best for sure.
00:09:08
zuuuuu
One of animation's best.
00:09:09
J Scoots
There we go. Yeah. Yeah.

Source Material and Themes

00:09:11
J Scoots
But I, I do want to say this.
00:09:11
zuuuuu
Voice acting credit. Okay, so he was in Mulan, Tarzan, Lilo, and Stitch.
00:09:16
J Scoots
Uh, yeah.
00:09:17
zuuuuu
All all the stitches. The Croods, Penguins of Madagascar, Once Upon a Studio.
00:09:22
J Scoots
Okay.
00:09:24
zuuuuu
That's cool.
00:09:26
J Scoots
Yeah.
00:09:28
zuuuuu
Sorry, what did I cut you off on?
00:09:30
J Scoots
I honestly don't remember, but that's OK.
00:09:32
zuuuuu
Sorry.
00:09:33
J Scoots
No worries. I did want to check in with you. I think I know the answer here based on what you said when you saw the trailer. but And I think we're on the same page here. But as far as the familiarity with the source material, material excuse me were you aware that this was based on a ah ah children's book?
00:09:50
zuuuuu
no
00:09:50
J Scoots
OK. Yeah, it's based on a 2016 book by Peter Brown. And I think he did that with a follow up in 2017 called The Wild Robot Escapes. But yeah, it's it's funny as we were talking about this show or movie rather on multiverse news.
00:10:07
J Scoots
i was kind of I was kind of saying, oh, it's it's so nice to get something fresh that doesn't rely on existing IP. And someone in the chat corrected me. They're like, actually, this is based on source material. But the nice thing about that is this thing debuted to $35 million dollars and in september at the end of September, but it was enough to make it the third highest grossing animated film in September ever. And also on multiverse news, sorry to plug that show so much, but we had a listener right in and we were kind of talking about how Transformers 1, which is a movie we didn't really talk about on this show, but just a quick review for that one. It was actually kind of similar to my experience with this one. I did not like the trailers, but then when the word of mouth was so strong, I was, I saw it kind of begrudgingly so, and it does have issues. I think there are some issues with it, but it was a solid movie through and through. But anyway, this this listener wrote in and said that they were not going to see Transformers 1 with their kid based on the trailer.
00:11:02
J Scoots
But they were going to see the wild robot, and they weren't just going to see it with but them and their kids. They had like a whole gang of families that were going to go see it. So I think this this one has the potential to go the distance. I don't think it's going to have the same box office hall as Inside Out 2, but come award season, I think this is going to be a real contender.
00:11:21
zuuuuu
Yeah, yeah, and it has a rewrite too. I'm glad you said what you said about Transformers, because that was one where like, I was underwhelmed when I saw the trailer as well.
00:11:31
zuuuuu
So I was like, if one of my two cohorts say that they want to talk about it, I'll go see it.
00:11:31
J Scoots
Yeah.
00:11:38
zuuuuu
But I'm not going to bring up the conversation and see if I can avoid the the
00:11:38
J Scoots
Yeah.
00:11:43
J Scoots
Yeah. If it hits streaming, we can maybe talk about it. I mean, I say if it hits, if it hits streaming, it will hit streaming.
00:11:47
zuuuuu
Sure, yeah I'll do it then.
00:11:50
J Scoots
And like I said, it's a solid movie, but there are, there are some issues with it, but anyway.
00:11:50
zuuuuu
Yeah.
00:11:55
zuuuuu
yeah Because my my Transformers range is already so limited as it is between the live of-action films, and then the only series I really got into was Transformers Armada, the one with the minicons, because obviously Cartoon Network and Warner Brothers and Toonami, I can't remember which one it was on, it was just Supreme, so how could you not get into it?
00:11:56
J Scoots
Yeah.
00:12:06
J Scoots
Okay. Uh-huh.
00:12:15
zuuuuu
like I still have my figures that you can transform and stuff.
00:12:15
J Scoots
Sure.
00:12:17
zuuuuu
so
00:12:17
J Scoots
Nice.
00:12:18
zuuuuu
ah ah because everything was already so small and I knew that just when I came out like the the original like 80s fans and everything were just so disappointed in it like
00:12:25
J Scoots
Hmm.
00:12:29
zuuuuu
but There was just too much negativity and then I didn't have a good perception looking at that. It just seemed too kitty, I guess, which for me to say that for an anime is a big deal.
00:12:39
J Scoots
Yeah.
00:12:40
zuuuuu
I don't know. There was just just the the perception of it coming out just didn't strike me as something I wanted to jump to see unless somebody else mentioned it.
00:12:49
J Scoots
Yeah, I mean, this is the first time I'm talking about it, so that kind of goes to show. like I came away from it not like disappointed that I saw, but it was like, yeah, it was solid.
00:12:56
zuuuuu
yeah Yeah.
00:12:57
J Scoots
That's the best I can say about it.
00:12:58
zuuuuu
Good one time watch type of thing. I think it was fine.
00:13:00
J Scoots
Yeah, I might revisit it when it hits streaming, like I said, if we want to talk about it.
00:13:03
zuuuuu
Yeah, I'll watch it then.
00:13:05
J Scoots
Yeah, yeah.
00:13:06
zuuuuu
I guess we can get into plot a little bit, and I want to get the one thing I did not like about this movie out of the way.
00:13:09
J Scoots
Sure.
00:13:12
J Scoots
Okay. Okay.
00:13:14
zuuuuu
And it's the fact that they made me care about geese. because I hate geese they are the devil's bird they are a menace to society I cannot stand them they are so freaking irritating and the fact that you gave me a plot and made me care about them and made me feel emotional about them I do not appreciate well done on making me do so but damn you for making me care about geese yes
00:13:20
J Scoots
Oh, that's right.
00:13:35
J Scoots
Yeah.
00:13:38
J Scoots
That's, that's so funny you bring that up because I'm reminded, I think geese are a little bit more of an issue in your neck of the woods on that side of the country. Because I remember when I was stationed in that area, Norfolk and even a little bit more north in Maryland, Fort Meade.
00:13:52
J Scoots
Uh, when I was in a school for the Navy and I was there, uh, not, it wasn't just the Navy. There was the army there. There was every branch was there, but I remember the air force students that were there that were training.
00:14:04
J Scoots
They had to have specialized, like they had pamphlets that had like safety procedures when encountering like geese on like walkways and stuff like that. I thought it was hilarious, but yeah, uh, geese can be pretty territorial.
00:14:13
zuuuuu
Dude, they are... they are such a nightmare. They block traffic so badly. They are wildly aggressive. I know I have a lot of Canadian family and I know some of them are listening to this. I do not care about how you feel about my goose remarks. I cannot stand them here. So, very, like all the, all the applause to the director here for making me care about geese.
00:14:40
J Scoots
for sure Yeah, you talk about uh, you know getting them to endear you to a
00:14:40
zuuuuu
And the fact that Long Neck actually addressed it too, it's like, yeah, we're a pain and we gossip and we're irritating. We're no fun to be around. Blah, blah, blah. I'm just like, thank you for being self-aware. Thank you for addressing this. Like, don't come off as saints right now. like And then when we had the scene and then like bowling, bright bill and stuff like that, I'm just like, yeah, geese are pieces of the shit.
00:15:09
J Scoots
a goose character, which is impressive. I was, but I think what I come away from, ah ah away away from this with so being so impressed with is the fact that I actually endeared me to all the characters in such a short amount of time.
00:15:22
J Scoots
Like it's just such a great economy of like screen time and effectiveness with these character moments.
00:15:23
zuuuuu
Mhm.
00:15:27
J Scoots
And like, to your point, the first like 10, 15 minutes are largely without dialogue. Like the character Roz doesn't even know how to communicate with these animals yet.
00:15:37
zuuuuu
Yeah.
00:15:37
J Scoots
Uh, but
00:15:39
J Scoots
I really found myself really resonating with Ross. Like I think you can take this movie in like one of two ways and and maybe more than that, but I want to go back to what I kind of brought up about like the themes of like parenting. And I think what really hit me so hard about this movie, like I think about the last few movies to hit me really hard, starting with Coco and then thinking about Godzilla minus one, I'll even throw in there. And then this film, like they all involve this motif of a parent that steps up to the plate and makes like a sacrifice that the child is just not at an ability like in a maturity level to appreciate at that point and for whatever reason those stories just like that act of like unconditional love and sacrifice that a parent can have like even right now it's it's a welling up into me and like getting me emotional just just thinking about that and that this movie just like makes that relationship between Roz and
00:16:20
zuuuuu
Mm hmm.
00:16:37
J Scoots
uh and bright bill and he even throw fink into the into the mix there that little like found family surrogate familiar unit is just i i care about them so much in just such a short amount of time it's it's incredible filmmaking
00:16:53
zuuuuu
the I love what you said in regards to parenthood and I love the Godzilla comparison because the the part that hit me yes like I'm a mama's boy so I even like text my mom right after the movie ended I was just like hi I just saw Wild Robot I miss you more I love you I hope you have a good weekend uh, I literally like text her right away.
00:17:16
J Scoots
love that.
00:17:19
zuuuuu
I was just like, man, I really miss my mom right now.
00:17:21
J Scoots
have you
00:17:22
zuuuuu
but another thing, especially with Roz and the main character of Godzilla really pertains to this as well. It's a sense of purpose. for this.
00:17:32
zuuuuu
regard, she's designed to do one thing and that's to serve, right?
00:17:38
J Scoots
Right.
00:17:38
zuuuuu
So when she gets put into a circumstance of like, how do I do this? Like, it's not, oh, I need to take care of this child because it needs to be taken care of. It's because someone talked to me into setting an objective for myself, like I'm finding a loophole to do what I'm actually supposed to do.
00:17:56
zuuuuu
not It's not for the sake of caring for this child, right? So the same thing in Godzilla minus one, where it's like,
00:17:59
J Scoots
Right.
00:18:02
zuuuuu
like i i Like the guy can't be an asshole and just leave his baby and woman on the side, but like he's a soldier, right? And they they develop these reputations. So he's the reputation of you know being a pilot. This person has a reputation of being a robot that's supposed to serve.
00:18:19
J Scoots
Mmhmm.
00:18:20
zuuuuu
Fink has a reputation of messing things up. Brightville has the reputation of not fitting into everybody. So to have this purpose, to find something that defines them for something that lets them be their best self, to fulfill their full potential and whatnot.
00:18:38
zuuuuu
I really like that that was just a common thing that was going through, especially when she had to like bring everybody together. It reminded me of the the opening of the
00:18:44
J Scoots
Yeah.
00:18:47
zuuuuu
live action Disney Jungle Book, where it's just like, yo, when we're all at the river, let's just call a truce.
00:18:48
J Scoots
Oh, okay.
00:18:53
zuuuuu
Take it easy.
00:18:53
J Scoots
Right.
00:18:54
J Scoots
Yeah, absolutely.
00:18:54
zuuuuu
Let's be friends for a little bit.
00:18:55
zuuuuu
Do whatever you want outside of that.
00:18:58
J Scoots
Yeah.
00:18:58
zuuuuu
But yeah, let's let's dial it back over here. So just just those recurring stories of people overcoming what is expected of them and becoming their best selves.
00:19:08
J Scoots
Yeah.
00:19:09
zuuuuu
This stuff is was kind of what hit me most.
00:19:13
J Scoots
Yeah, I think that's a ah great point. And like in terms of overcoming that expectation that exists and really rewriting the narrative, like I think you hit on something great there that I i picked up on, I think more so with Roz, but I i think you you make great points about Fink as well. and and Brightville being the runt, but particularly with Roz, the fact that like she rewrote her programming initially to, like you said, find loopholes to accomplish this task, this purpose, but then that effectively like made her who she was.
00:19:45
J Scoots
That's what made her so valuable. It's the fact that I can't remember the name of the, was it Rosam? I think it was Rosam because she went by Roz.
00:19:54
zuuuuu
unit 7134.
00:19:55
J Scoots
Right. All right. So I think it was the Rossum corporation that like, eventually you have, uh, the collector robot that wants to like dissect her and learn about her voiced wonderfully by Stephanie

Memorable Performances and Emotional Impact

00:20:05
J Scoots
shoe.
00:20:06
J Scoots
That's she's one of my favorite performers. That's like rising up right now, small role, but absolutely venomous in that, uh, portrayal there.
00:20:12
zuuuuu
Gave me the heebie-jeebies all around Yeah Yeah, it wasn't until it popped up that I was like, oh that's awesome
00:20:15
J Scoots
Yeah. Yeah. and And while we're on the subject of voice performances, not to veer too much here, but I did want to shout out Mark Hamill as the bear. I had no idea. It was, he's so great. He, he's just got such a range with that voice is.
00:20:30
J Scoots
Yeah. Yeah. Same here.
00:20:34
zuuuuu
Yeah, I wasn't expecting as much action as there was towards the end of that. It was like, how do animals fight robots? But it was really just really well done. Like I don't it's one of those things like how much can you really describe that much of an action scene?
00:20:48
J Scoots
Yeah.
00:20:48
zuuuuu
I was just I was fascinated with the approach and how they went about it, especially because it was so unexpected.
00:20:55
zuuuuu
Like this was a very dialogue heavy a movie.
00:20:55
J Scoots
Yeah.
00:20:58
J Scoots
Yeah, and i I think that is a fair fair thing to bring up. I don't think this film is like overly violent in its depictions of the the action that happens, but I will say like I think the themes and some of the things that happen in this movie, particularly like now that we are, you know, talking about the plot, you know, Roz becoming the surrogate mother to Brightville is because she unfortunately took out his entire family when she crashed into
00:21:05
zuuuuu
No.
00:21:18
zuuuuu
Okay.
00:21:22
J Scoots
They're not his, uh, their nest. So there are some, some, you know, heavy themes at, at play here. And, uh, also just the fact that like nature exists the way it does. Like they kind of addressed that head on like, Hey, like we eat each other and like, that's what we do to survive here.
00:21:35
zuuuuu
Yeah.
00:21:37
J Scoots
So, uh, some younger kids may it may, it may be a little too intense for them, but I, I will say like, yeah, that's fair.
00:21:42
zuuuuu
Wish with how bad Fink wanted to eat the egg. And it's stuff like that that makes it dreamworks, right? Like for us, it's funny, but it's like you think about how dark that actually is for like the designated audience.
00:21:49
J Scoots
True. True that. Yeah.
00:21:55
zuuuuu
Like ah ah Pixar and Disney do a pretty good job of having like subtle hints, but stuff like that, like him salivating over wanting to eat a child is like, oh,
00:22:05
J Scoots
Yeah. Yeah. and Well, there is the death of, uh, was it long neck? Is that what you said?
00:22:10
zuuuuu
Yeah.
00:22:10
J Scoots
Yeah. ah Yeah. Voiced by Bill Nye. It's not gratuitous. You don't really actually see anything happen on screen, but the the revelation of that might, you know, not sit well with some younger viewers, but I think that's what makes this film so, so great is it just, it has stakes.
00:22:20
zuuuuu
Yeah.
00:22:27
J Scoots
What's what gotcha. What's so funny.
00:22:29
zuuuuu
My favorite line of the movie was when Pinktail was giving advice and stuff for the first time. And she was like, I have seven children.
00:22:35
J Scoots
Okay.
00:22:38
zuuuuu
I have six children. I'm like, whoa. It's just casually what your kid can eat.
00:22:43
J Scoots
Yeah.
00:22:45
zuuuuu
it And then my my buddy was like, which one do you think it was? It was like, it i was obviously the one that was like doing the slow death. Like, fake your death. What are you doing? I have meningitis. It dies slower. Just like, oh, yeah, that's definitely the one.
00:22:57
zuuuuu
I'm okay, Bob." And it's like, oh my God. Like, yes, that was the part that made me go, yes, this is a DreamWorks movie. I'm totally bought into that now.
00:23:05
J Scoots
Yeah. Yeah. That's a great call out. It was like surprisingly like callous or her delivery there. But I guess to drive it home here, we'll we'll keep it kind of tight here, but do definitely recommend you go check out the movie. I just, I guess in terms of the character arc that we get for Roz and the sacrifice that I'm talking about and how it really built. And I think about the moments that really tugged at my heartstrings and how I got to that point at the end where I was like borderline, you know, ugly crying. It was just like the, how Roz's sacrifices just continued to ramp up like
00:23:40
J Scoots
First we see her like falling apart so she replaces part of her leg with like a tree stump that we see just like slowly decaying and growing more moss and whatnot. She's leaking fluid constantly like to the point that like thinks like Don't you need that? But then ultimately, even after this big epic third acts action sequence that we're talking about, the forest to save the animals are saved. Everyone can stay. She knows that they're going to keep coming back for her. So she makes the ultimate sacrifice and says, Hey, I'm just going to go with them to protect you. And thankfully we do get a happy ending. Brightbill is able to reunite with her at the end there and she recognizes him. but
00:24:18
J Scoots
Up until that point, it was just like full on waterworks. Like what more can this robot give?
00:24:21
zuuuuu
Yeah.
00:24:23
J Scoots
She's given everything.
00:24:25
zuuuuu
Yeah, especially when she's like, completely out of energy because she like called everyone in and found everyone and rebuilt the house and accommodated and she's like leaning just like think you need to take over. I can't do this and just like, oh my god, you you poor thing. Yes, you've worked so hard.
00:24:45
J Scoots
Good robot.
00:24:47
J Scoots
All right. I think I've gushed. Yeah.
00:24:47
zuuuuu
Yeah, I don't know if I have too much else.
00:24:51
zuuuuu
Great movie, man.
00:24:52
J Scoots
Absolutely.
00:24:52
zuuuuu
I'm genuinely looking forward to seeing it again. And it was it was worth the you got to go watch this and in premium format, if you're able to, Dolby or IMAX.
00:24:55
J Scoots
Yeah.
00:25:01
J Scoots
Oh yeah.
00:25:05
J Scoots
Absolutely.
00:25:06
zuuuuu
Just really, really went on.
00:25:06
J Scoots
And even if you can't like, I understand like, you know, parents with kids and stuff like that, even if you go to a regular showing, I would just say, you know, give movies like this support because
00:25:15
zuuuuu
Oh, yeah.
00:25:16
J Scoots
I'm not a parent, but I would just have to imagine like a beautiful film that tackles things that can stir up family conversations and really get you know the emotions going. i ah i ah Not to throw too much shade, but I would take this over like illumination films all day, every day.
00:25:33
zuuuuu
You're not a fan of minions?
00:25:35
J Scoots
Not the minions. No, no sir.

Additional Content and Personal Reflections

00:25:38
J Scoots
Super Mario Brothers is pretty good, but.
00:25:38
zuuuuu
Oh, speaking of, this was my first time seeing the trailer for Lego Pharrell.
00:25:47
J Scoots
Oh, that's right. Piece by piece is biopic. Yep.
00:25:49
zuuuuu
Yeah, and he's from Virginia Beach. So when they had the beginning of the thing where it was like, yeah, this is where I grew up.
00:25:52
J Scoots
Is he? Okay.
00:25:56
zuuuuu
I was like, oh my God, it's like a Virginia Beach.
00:25:59
J Scoots
That's great.
00:25:59
zuuuuu
My city is on the big screen right now.
00:26:02
J Scoots
That's awesome. Yeah. That's, I'm really curious about that one. I'm interested to see how it's going to do.
00:26:08
zuuuuu
I'm intrigued. Now it's like support the hometown guy for me.
00:26:09
J Scoots
Yeah.
00:26:13
J Scoots
Oh, sure. Sure. Sure.
00:26:17
zuuuuu
I don't know if he can see like demographics, like how we do for the podcast, where it's like, oh, hey, Virginia, like a lot of people saw this movie. It's like, I want to contribute to that.
00:26:26
J Scoots
I'm sure he, they have a way of making him aware.
00:26:30
J Scoots
Uh, but anyway, anything you want to let the people be aware of before we hit the road?
00:26:30
zuuuuu
and Sure.
00:26:37
zuuuuu
Let's see, what have I been getting into? The usual 323 with Reed Murphy, R-E-I-D. It is football season and commanders are actually on a winning streak right now, so I've been on the show a lot happier than I have been in past years.
00:26:51
J Scoots
Nice.
00:26:52
zuuuuu
and Catch them on YouTube or anywhere you find our podcasts. I just made my first Twitch account. It's ZooPlaysGames, that's Z-U.
00:27:00
J Scoots
Oh, cool.
00:27:01
zuuuuu
Maybe if we're up to it, we could throw the podcast on there and just have some live shows for people to chat with us if they want. But yeah, i'm mostly going to be streaming Helldivers, but I'm hoping to have everything up by next week because Dragon Ball Sparking Zero comes out, which is like the new Tenkaichi game.
00:27:08
J Scoots
I don't see why not.
00:27:16
J Scoots
That's right.
00:27:19
zuuuuu
So obviously if I'm an anime guy, like that'd be a cool way to I'm gonna talk about something in that regard and it's just you know means for any of our listeners to Talk to me directly if they want to so if you guys are on Twitch And you know what it might give me a follow over there I might be starting an Instagram to that's just kind of like all my hobby stuff So I will keep you all posted once I decide the name because that's all the only thing slowing me down right now What about you?
00:27:43
J Scoots
All right. Sounds good. and Yeah.
00:27:45
zuuuuu
I know you're all over the place and
00:27:47
J Scoots
I'm doing a lot of podcasting these days on the DC side of things. Ashley and I on bidders assemble. We did the 2019 joker in preparation for Joker Foley ado, which will be coming out soon.
00:28:00
zuuuuu
When are you going?
00:28:00
J Scoots
And then what's up.
00:28:02
zuuuuu
When are you going to watch that?
00:28:02
J Scoots
Uh, I have tickets for Saturday morning currently.
00:28:06
zuuuuu
Cool. I'm going Sunday night.
00:28:08
J Scoots
Nice. then beyond that, still on the DC side of things, particularly DC stuff without Batman, DC villains without Batman.
00:28:15
zuuuuu
yeah
00:28:16
J Scoots
Uh, we are talking about the penguin on always watching. It sounds like zoo hair, uh, when available, we'll be joining us. Uh, yeah. So other than that multiverse news every week.
00:28:30
J Scoots
So that'll do it for this one. Appreciate you tuning in. That's T double O and I in.
00:28:37
zuuuuu
And as always, stay welled.