I played hooky to go see Wild Robot this afternoon, so I went back to the office to mark more papers. Plenty more to go, but I put a good dent in things.

The story and characters of Wild Robot were not as engaging as those of Wall-E, and the problem of “how do predators and prey form a community” was not as well thought out as Zootopia or even The Lion King, but there was lots to enjoy.

I always wondered about the slouching robot quietly tending the garden at the end of Castle in the Sky, or the little “drone” in the bio-dome at the end of Silent Running. Wild Robot explores that theme very nicely.

I appreciated the blending of photorealistic tech and stylized vegetation.

I get a little tired of swooping and zooming epic camera shots, and the main robot often seemed too invincible so that the threats didn’t seem real, but as the movie progressed that changed.