Book vs Movie: The Wild Robot

Get ready for another epic showdown in the world of storytelling: it’s time for a thrilling book vs movie review! 📚🎬

Grab your popcorn and your favorite cozy blanket, because we’re diving into the pages and frames of a sweet, yet exciting adventure. Let’s see how they stack up against each other, shall we? Are you going to be team bookworm, or movie buff? Let's begin!

So in a strange twist of fate for me, I actually watched the movie before I read the entire book. Shocking, I know! Normally, I'd have read the book first, but allow me to explain. I remember during my librarian days, The Wild Robot was getting very popular. I remember thinking the art work looked cool, but when I read the premise, it just wasn't drawing me in. It wasn't "my thing", so I passed on reading it. But last year, I saw the trailer for The Wild Robot movie on YouTube. Anytime a book is made into a movie, especially a children's or YA book, I have to check out the movie. So of course, I watched the trailer. And let me tell you, it was beautiful! It pulled me right into the world of the Wild Robot. The art work, the music choice, everything was gorgeous. I knew right then and there I had to watch it. Let me include the trailer in case you haven't seen it yet. Please watch it before you continue reading! You won't be sorry, I promise. All you need to do is click the "play" button on the video.

I mean, I get goosebumps watching it again. It's that music combined with the portions of film they chose! Whoever designed that trailer knew what they were doing.

Even though I had not read the book yet, I was able to piece together part of the plot just from the trailer, of course. I immediately put this movie on my "to watch" list. Then, naturally, I tried to check out the book on Jasmine Digital.

Well, apparently the movie trailer inspired a lot of people to do the same thing, because my hold was estimated to be twenty weeks. So, I started reading the sample chapters. I could see the appeal to readers right away. In just those first chapters, the author did a great job world building, and introducing us to our main character. It was fast paced, a little tense, and frightening enough to keep me reading. I was so bummed that I didn't have the whole book at the time.

A while down the road, it was suddenly my birthday (yay!) and I still had not seen the film or finished reading the book. So naturally, I had the brilliant idea to rent the movie for my birthday and watch it with my husband. And I am so glad we did! I told him it was based on a children's book and I just had to watch it. About halfway through the movie, I was captivated. I also let him know that I had not read the whole book, so I had absolutely no idea what was going to happen. He was surprised at that! The point that I had stopped reading was about Chapter 14, but that was the first ten minutes of the movie. So it was going to be a surprise for both of us!

I'm sure you can guess by now, that I loved it. It was charming, heartfelt, beautiful art work and storyline. My guess is that it followed the book very closely, as those opening ten minutes were exactly like the 14 Chapters I read. It actually had me tearing up at parts, and I was sitting there thinking "what is the matter with me? About to cry during an animated movie." But it was just that good. Since you've got the trailer, I don't want to spoil anything by going into details. You just need to watch it!

I am recommended both the book and the movie, but I have to conclude that this is another case where I love the movie more! I don't care how old you are, you need to rent this film immediately. There's so much to appreciate about it. I have to say a bit more about the art work, because that is something I really found unique about it. It is animated, but there is something about the look of it that looks like paintbrush strokes. It makes the whole film look almost like something out of a storybook, and I think it connects to the original art work as well. Just take a look at the book cover below.

image courtesy of goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26030734-the-wild-robot

If you compare it to the movie, you can see the similarities and how it is tied together. This is the first book; it is actually part of The Wild Robot Series! The author currently has three books out in this series, and I plan to read all of them now! I really hope the other two become movies as well.

I hope you go rent the movie and watch it soon! If you do and enjoyed it, come back and click that little heart button in the right hand corner so I know you loved it too. But don't forget to find the book when you can! Happy reading, but also happy movie night!