Somewhere on a distant island, a verdant little slice of nature filled to the brim with all of North America's greatest hits creatures (bears, raccoons, skunks, foxes, geese, all the recognizable stars), a snazzy robot has crash-landed. Her name is ROZZUM unit 7134, she's winningly voiced by Lupita Nyong'o, and she's a real striver. Like all ROZZUM units -- imagine the love child of The Iron Giant and WALL-E -- she's built to serve, and will "always complete its task, just ask." Unfortunately, when a technological marvel like ROZZUM unit 7134 unexpectedly arrives on an uninhabited island, finding a human master to actually tell them her what to do is a hefty ask.

Such is the starting point of Chris Sanders' gorgeously rendered -- both in style and tone -- "The Wild Robot," which the filmmaker himself adapted from Peter Brown's bestselling novel of the same name (spoiler alert: the books are a trilogy, and here's hoping we get more films to match them). Crafted in a painterly 2D style, the world of "The Wild Robot" is instantly immersive, even as it takes a while for the plucky Roz (as she will eventually come to be known) to settle in. The animals are not exactly welcoming to Roz, early evidence of the film's occasionally darker elements (this is, after all, an ostensibly kid-friendly feature that features an early and awesome joke about baby possum death).

But Roz is nothing if she's not patient -- being not made of flesh and blood sure makes that easier -- and so she plops down in the middle of her temporary new forest home and sets about learning the languages and lives of all the creatures around her. Sure, she's got a censor on her head she should really activate so that she can be picked up by the clearly nefarious Universal Dynamics, but she's also inherently curious, and there's so much around her to learn. Once she's fully booted up, she's still not welcome ("monster!," they scream at her, though the Catherine O'Hara-voiced possum Pigtail takes a shine to her, and the wily fox Fink, beautifully voiced by Pedro Pascal, is certainly interested in this other outsider).

But, there is someone who is about to accept Roz: a tiny, orphaned gosling she'll name Brightbill (voiced by Kit Connor), who imprints on her the moment he's born. Roz, both compelled and terrified, eventually gives into a growing sense of, what is that, love? affection? connection? to raise the little guy, with a major assist by Fink. At first, she's pleased to have an actual task: a three-pronged directive to get Brightbill fit for goose life. She must teach him how to eat, how to swim, and how to fly in time for fall migration.

And, yes, of course, he will teach her how to love, how to even be human. As rote and cheesy as that might sound, the lessons that accompany this change in Roz (and Brightbill and Fink and the rest of the forest crew) are classic ones, necessary ones, and they come to charming life in Sanders' truly lovely film. As the trio approach their tasks, they form deep connections that translate to emotional, vivid storytelling, with tears and laughs to spare.

While Sanders' script feels a bit awkwardly paced around the midway mark -- what the heck is going to happen once we tick off those three essential lessons for Brightbill? -- it eventually allows the film and its many stars to push into some unexpected angles. The result is all the good, big words we want to hear about cinema aimed at our youngest audience members: it's heartening and true and a little sad and incredibly inspiring with a big, ol' message about the power of community and coming together in the face of major adversity. That it looks so gorgeous and homespun adds to its appeal, a warm little gem of a film that's both a throwback and a push forward. Too early to ask for two more?

"The Wild Robot" premiered at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival. Universal Pictures will release it on Friday, September 27.