“The Wild Robot”: Director Chris Sanders and cast

THE WILD ROBOT

Section: Gala presentations

Director: Chris Sanders

Screenwriter: Chris Sanders

Logline: Featuring the voices of Pedro Pascal, Catherine O'Hara, Lupita Nyong'o, Stephanie Hsu and Bill Nighy, this science fiction adventure from DreamWorks Animation is about a robot assigned to help humans who ends up stranded on an island inhabited exclusively by animals.

Panelists: Chris Sanders, Lupita Nyong'o, Stephanie Hsu, Catherine O'Hara

Premiere: 8 September

Key quote: “At the beginning [Roz] has the naivety of a child, she's almost like a blank slate. Yes, she's a highly advanced robot, but she doesn't have any unique or identifiable features compared to all the other robots out there, but in the end she's adapted and evolved so much that she has something like empathy and compassion.” – Lupita Nyong'o

“The film is also very much about imagination and storytelling and what that brings to a community. And when I imagine all the little creatures in my life watching this film and that feeling of 'I can pick up a pencil and draw that,' I think that's so lost today, and this film is really a nod to what we all grew up with in the world of animation. It's so great, vibrant and human.” – Stephanie Hsu

“The wilderness and its brutality and its survival, it's so raw and has nothing to do with compassion or what these animals learn throughout the film, but not in a way that hits you over the head. It's so subtle and beautiful.” – Catherine O'Hara

“It's so exciting that this is a harsh place and Roz sees that as her programming. I like that she puts it in words that she understands. So she says, 'Their programming…' and that's true, they are programmed to survive and that is incredibly selfish. Unless they are absolutely selfish, they will not live to see another day.” – Chris Sanders

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