The Wild Robot

Roz stays up on the mountaintop until one afternoon when she finds her view blocked by clouds. She hears rumbling and sees lightning in the sky. Rain starts to fall, so Roz unclamps her hands from the rocks and slides down the peak.

Roz runs through the fierce storm, looking for shelter. She falls and gets swept up by a mudslide. Roz slams into a pine tree and climbs the tree to escape the mud flow. She waits for the storm to pass.

The storm has passed, leaving flooding and mud everywhere. Roz falls repeatedly on wet rocks as she climbs downhill.

The animals had known the storm was coming and protected themselves. Roz realizes they are experts in survival and she is not. She is dented and dirty. Roz finds a hole in the side of the mountain which looks like a safe place for a robot.

Roz stomps into the cave, then runs back out, chased by two young bears. The bears run after Roz, who leaps over rocks and through trees. Roz trips on a tree root and the bears catch up to her.

Roz feels something like fear, confronted by the bears, who attack. Roz asks them to stay away, since she cannot fight back. The bears move in for the kill, but the robot vanishes.

Roz jumps straight up into the air with her powerful legs, landing on a tree branch above. Pinecones fall on the bears, giving Roz an idea. She plucks pinecones off the tree and throws them at the bears. Her aim is perfect, and each pinecone hits the bears.

The bears growl at Roz, who says that she cannot understand them. Back at the cave, the mother bear roars for her cubs to return, so they glare at Roz and lumber away.

Roz sits in the pine tree, examining herself. She is covered with bite and claw marks and dirt. Her hands become covered with sticky pine resin.

A robin swoops around Roz, who is directly below the bird’s nest. The robin screeches at Roz, who says she does not understand. The bird covers Roz with droppings. Roz tries to move away, then falls as the branch breaks from under her.

Roz is about to start cleaning herself again when she notices a twig moving on a broken branch. She realizes it is a stick insect and introduces herself. Roz admires how well camouflaged the insect is and decides to use its example to help her survive.

Roz desire to survive is stronger than her need to stay clean, so she decides to camouflage herself by blending into the landscape. She covers herself with mud, then sinks ferns and grasses in by their roots. She puts flowers around her face to hide her glowing eyes and covers bare patches with moss and leaves. After dark, Roz moves to the center of a clearing and settles in.

Unseen in the clearing, Roz observes the behavior of plants and animals. Over time, Roz moves to other spots, replacing her camouflage to blend in with each environment.

Roz studies many kinds of animals while camouflaged, seeing how they make their homes, find food, and grow. She sees how plants grow and how the ocean and clouds move.

Roz notices that certain birds sing the same songs at the same time each day. She comes to understand their language.

Roz discovers that all the animals she observes speak one common language, though they speak in different ways, like how people speak the same language with different accents. Animals like deer speak with their body motions. Everywhere she goes, Roz now hears animal voices.