Although never explicitly stated, Flow is about climate change.  Even if you don’t believe in it, I think you can still enjoy the movie, but its underlying message will elude you.  There is a reason why an unassuming grey cat is forced to deal with a sudden environmental catastrophe, and it’s not so that we can see how well it can steer a boat.  (It steers surprisingly well, by the way.)

There’s something different about The Wild Robot.  There’s a vibrancy to the movie that’s  noticeable.  You can almost feel the excitement everyone involved had while bringing this story to the screen.  Every aspect of this movie–the visuals, the voice acting, the dialog–is executed to perfection.  The movie doesn’t have a single false note to it.  Yes, it is that good.  There are aspects to it that will be familiar.  The story features a futuristic robot doing amazing things (Wall-E), migrating birds (Migration) and animals that teach us life-lessons (The Jungle Book, Finding Nemo).  The brilliance of The Wild Robot is in how it incorporates themes that we’re already familiar with and breathes new life into them.  It accomplishes this by having us experience them through the adventures of the wild robot the movie is named after.

As I mentioned above, The Wild Robot is an exceptional film in every way.  Since calling a movie excellent in every way isn’t really criticism, I settled on one aspect that elevates it above other animated films that I also liked.  Its maturity.  The movie never panders to a particular segment of the audience.  Although the movie is one that will appeal to children, it doesn’t contain any jokes just for them.  There are no fart jokes or other examples of simplistic “kiddie humor” designed to make children laugh.  While the movie does have its silly moments, those moments happen within a more insightful context.

Would it surprise you to know that even after writing well over two hundred reviews, I still feel anxious whenever I start a new one?  I always ask myself the same questions.  What if I don’t have anything interesting to say?  What if nobody reads it?  What if I say something dumb and lose what little credibility I have?  What if I miss my self-imposed Tuesday morning publication date?  Fortunately, after seeing Inside Out 2, I now know that all of these expressions of anxiety emanate from an orange, bug-eyed Muppet who has usurped control of my mind.