The animated adventure The Wild Robot stars Lupita Nyong'o as the titular Roz who crash lands on a remote island without any form of human life. Upon arrival she's greeted by a fearful populace of various cute and cuddly forest animals who see her as a monster that's come to kill them. Through a series of unfortunate events, she's introduced to an orphaned gosling (Kit Conner) who she's unwittingly assigned to look after and with the help of a sly fox called Fink (Pedro Pascal) they prepare the gosling for his upcoming migration.

To be completely honest, you would have to have a heart of stone to have any ill feelings towards The Wild Robot. It is the ultimate family film, it's beautifully animated with a lovely story that explore themes important for families like motherhood and belonging. It's is often unbearably cute with its gorgeous art style depicting almost every woodland creature you could imagine, all shown with immaculate details in fur and feathers alike. If you're looking for a film to take the family to see this year, you can do no better. It's hardly surprising when you realise that Chris Sanders is the film's director, who previously directed Lilo & Stitch, another beautiful film for families.

It's clear that Dreamworks is coming for Pixar's crown when it comes to thought provoking animated films that do more than just give children something to do for 90 minutes. Puss In Boots: The Last Wish explored mortality and what makes a well lived life, and now The Wild Robot arrives with a story that explores what it takes to be a mother and create a family, and how family isn't always about blood.

If you don't pick up on these themes then you'd have to be watching the film with your phone in your hand the whole time. The script often takes time to insert lines of dialogue that really drive home the message of the importance of family and it can often be quite ham fisted. Admittedly, these themes are covered in almost the same fashion in Monsters Inc. and several of the plot beats may be familiar to fans of that film. The Wild Robot doesn't quite reach the same heights as Puss In Boots: The Last Wish but it's so well written and animated that you forget that and enjoy the ride of this thoroughly emotional adventure.

If you're vulnerable to a tearjerker then definitely bring your tissues to The Wild Robot. There are points where it almost feels like the screenwriters and the animators are taunting you with the emotional scenes and goading you into balling your eyes out. It's not hard to make a film about cute animals an emotional roller coaster but this film manages to go above and beyond in flooding cinema screens.

The Wild Robot is a beautiful modern fairy tale that certainly doesn't reinvent the wheel but is by all means a perfect family film that will leave you in tears at the end. It's the best animated film this year by far and will be remembered as one of the best in the genre.

The Wild Robot releases in UK Cinemas on Friday 18th October and 4K Ultra, Blu-ray™ and DVD on 20 January 2025