Chris Sanders, the long-time partner of How To Train Your Dragon's Dean DeBlois, has just premiered his solo DreamWorks movie, The Wild Robot, at Toronto International Film Festival. The new animated movie is an adaptation of Peter Brown's #1 New York Times bestselling novel, following a robot named Roz who crash-lands on a remote island and befriends the local wildlife, including an orphaned gosling. Aside from his talent in both writing and directing, Sanders also boasts an all-star cast that includes Lupita Nyong'o (A Quiet Place: Day One), Pedro Pascal (The Last of Us), Kit Connor (Heartstopper), and Stephanie Hsu (Everything Everywhere All at One).
Aside from his screenwriting work on previous DreamWorks projects such as How To Train Your Dragon and The Croods, Sanders is much beloved for creating Lilo & Stitch for Disney. With the live-action remake of that project well underway, it will be refreshing for fans of the rambunctious alien to see a new animated take on a very different kind of creature new to their surroundings. Given the sheer amount of A-list actors signing up to work with him, it's clear that Hollywood is equally as invested in his upcoming work.
Screen Rant interviewed The Wild Robot director Chris Sanders on the red carpet of the movie's Toronto International Film Festival premiere, where the veteran filmmaker praised his casting director and shared his excitement over the likes of Lupita Nyong'o immediately agreeing to join his movie.
Chris Sanders Is Surprisingly Humble About The Wild Robot's Casting Choices
The director claims, "This is something I'm not good at."
Screen Rant: We're so excited for The Wild Robot. You've amassed an incredible cast here. Who were you first thinking of and who were you most surprised at getting?
Chris Sanders: First of all, full credit to Christi Soper, our casting director. This is something that I am not good at - and, of course, this is what she does for a living.
When she suggested these actors, we went out to them, and they all said yes. Which I was surprised by. They all said yes! I was grateful they did because these were all our very first choices, and they were so brilliant.
It's impressive that the director is so calm about nabbing the stars he did, because Screen Rant reporters could not contain their own excitement on the red carpet when Nyong'o, Hsu and Connor walked by. While Pascal and Bill Nighy were not present at the event, their presence was thoroughly felt in the movie and reflected in The Wild Robot's reviews.
More About The Wild Robot (2024)
The animated film has been hailed as reminiscent of Wall-E.
From DreamWorks Animation comes a new adaptation of a literary sensation, Peter Brown’s beloved, award-winning, #1 New York Times bestseller, The Wild Robot.
The epic adventure follows the journey of a robot—ROZZUM unit 7134, “Roz” for short — that is shipwrecked on an uninhabited island and must learn to adapt to the harsh surroundings, gradually building relationships with the animals on the island and becoming the adoptive parent of an orphaned gosling.
Check out some of our other TIFF 2024 interviews here:
The Wild Robot releases in theaters on September 27.
Source: Screen Rant Plus
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