The Wild Robot has broken a DreamWorks record with its Rotten Tomatoes debut. The new movie, which was written and directed by How to Train Your Dragon co-director Chris Sanders, is based on the Peter Brown book of the same name and follows a malfunctioning robot who lands on a desert island and begins to bond with a young gosling, accidentally reprogramming herself along the way. The Wild Robot movie is only the fourth non-franchise title released by DreamWorks in the 2020s after The Bad Guys, Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken, and Orion and the Dark.
Rotten Tomatoes has now compiled 25 different critics’ reviews of The Wild Robot, including some early reviews out of the movie’s Toronto International Film Festival premiere on September 8. At the time of writing, the movie’s Tomatometer score is a perfect 100%. While the score will likely fluctuate as more reviews are added, for the moment it is the highest-rated DreamWorks release of all time, beating their previous high of 2010’s How to Train Your Dragon, which has a Certified Fresh score of 99%.
What This Rotten Tomatoes Record Means For The Wild Robot
The Movie Could Become An Instant Classic
Ultimately, it seems improbable that The Wild Robot will maintain a perfect 100% score by the time every review is compiled. Wide release DreamWorks movies typically get an average of 200 reviews, so with roughly 175 more to go, it seems likely that at least one of them will be negative enough to be considered Rotten. However, even if the movie’s score dips below How to Train Your Dragon into the 90% to 98% range, it will still be considered one of the best DreamWorks movies of all time. Below, see every DreamWorks title with a score over 90%:
|
Title |
RT Score |
|---|---|
|
How to Train Your Dragon (2010) |
99% |
|
Chicken Run (2000) |
97% |
|
Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (2022) |
95% |
|
Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005) |
95% |
|
How to Train Your Dragon 2 (2014) |
92% |
|
Antz (1998) |
92% |
|
How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World (2019) |
90% |
Of the 46 DreamWorks Animation movies and co-productions listed on Rotten Tomatoes, only eight including The Wild Robot have scores over 90%, which still puts the 2024 title in rarefied air. The top chart does not even include some of the studio’s most notable works such as the Kung Fu Panda movies or the flagship Shrek franchise. The stretch below 90% is also incredibly broad, ranging from Shrek 2‘s 89% score to Shark Tale‘s thoroughly Rotten 35%.
Our Take On The Wild Robot’s Rotten Tomatoes Score
The Wild Robot Could Mark New Territory For DreamWorks
Even if The Wild Robot does not maintain its current standing, it could still achieve a major record. If it maintains a score above 90%, it will still be the highest-rated non-franchise movie since How to Train Your Dragon in 2010. While it could potentially launch a similarly robust franchise if it is a commercial hit in addition to being a critical hit, this score also shows that DreamWorks is finding their stride once again with titles that are not part of established film franchises.
Source: Rotten Tomatoes
