That beginning encapsulates the perception of DreamWorks Animation in a nutshell — as the decidedly less ambitious, less artful cousin to Pixar. And it’s hard to say that reputation is totally unearned.

“The Wild Robot” is the best-animated film of 2024 due to great voice acting, breathtaking animation, and a wonderful message of becoming more than you're programmed to be. It is currently playing in theaters.

With two published sequels ready and waiting, DreamWorks Animation has a franchise in the works with “The Wild Robot,” a big success in its first weekend. It’s good, too. Based on the first of three books by writer-illustrator Peter Brown,

"The Wild Robot” opened No. 1 in theaters nationwide this weekend, riding in on a wave of critical acclaim. The movie's release coincides with the DreamWorks Animation's 30th anniversary.

In the opening scenes of “The Wild Robot,” a chirpy metal android with a state-of-the-art processing unit wanders around a forest asking confused animals if it can help them, offering discount codes and stickers for future customers. “Did anyone order me?” it asks.

Undoubtedly it’s easier for animation studios to have an in-house style, but this isn’t the path DreamWorks Animation decided to take when adapting the illustrated children’s novel The Wild Robot by Peter Brown,

Nature and technology collide and then come together in the narrative of the new animated film “The Wild Robot.” That feels particularly fitting considering the visually dazzling and heartfelt movie couldn’t have been made without both the latest and greatest tech has to offer and extremely talented people.

Love and loss, a cautionary tale about climate change, and the virtue of finding one's purpose. "The Wild Robot" may be a kids' movie at heart, but there's a lot of things in the film that only adults will notice.