Column: 'The Wild Robot' is a subtle but powerful climate change movie

By Sammy RothClimate Columnist

Oct. 24, 2024 6 AM PT

As the Canada geese fly south for winter — their brown wings flapping in V-shaped formations against a brilliant blue sky — they pass over the unmistakable red towers of the Golden Gate Bridge.

Only no cars are driving across the bridge. The waters of the San Francisco Bay have risen so high that they cover the roadway. There are whales swimming where lanes of traffic should be.

Not that the birds seem to care. They’re busy talking about regrets, and the language of the heart.

This mind-bending scene — part of DreamWorks Animation’s “The Wild Robot,” currently in theaters — lasts just a few seconds. But it’s hardly the only hint of climate crisis in a unique, wonderfully inventive movie.

The filmmakers do a superb job weaving together an emotionally resonant story about motherhood and finding purpose with a gorgeous parable about the natural world — and the importance of protecting our planet.

Especially in a movie marketed to kids and families, that’s a valuable accomplishment.

Because entertainment isn’t just entertainment. The narratives we consume in movies and on TV can shape our opinions and habits, even our votes. That’s why the U.S. government turned to Hollywood studios to build public support for World War II. It’s also why the Walt Disney Co. faced hateful criticism in 2022 for featuring an out gay teenager in its film “Strange World.” Ideas shown on screens can change hearts and minds.

Which is why Jeff Hermann, who produced “The Wild Robot,” wants to start conversations about climate.

“These stories, for better or worse, reach a far greater range of people than just studying the topic,” he told me.

I was encouraged to hear him say that — particularly after what happened with “Twisters.”

The 2024 summer blockbuster, produced by DreamWorks parent studio Universal, focuses on a tornado outbreak in Oklahoma. The movie’s director, Lee Isaac Chung, told CNN that the filmmaking team purposefully avoided any climate change references, despite one character declaring, “We’ve never seen tornadoes like this before.”

“I just don’t feel like films are meant to be message-oriented,” Chung told CNN.

A sign above an entrance to the Universal Studios lot reads, "Welcome All Who Change the World."

Similarly, Universal communicated to the New York Times that possible links between global warming and worsening tornado activity were left out of the story so as to avoid displeasing climate skeptics.

That frustrated me, in part because Universal has helped lead the way among major studios in climate storytelling. The company’s GreenerLight Program, launched last year, aims to incorporate sustainability themes in its films.

Maybe “Twisters” wasn’t the right vehicle for a climate plot. The science exploring links between global warming and tornado behavior is complicated. Still, Universal’s eagerness to avoid the subject was discouraging.

So learning how “The Wild Robot” got made was a breath of fresh air.

The DreamWorks creative team — including Hermann and director/screenwriter Chris Sanders — solicited early input from the Natural Resources Defense Council. Nine NRDC staffers — including environmental policy experts, lawyers and scientists — offered input, drafting two memos for DreamWorks. They took their cues from artwork provided by the filmmakers and also from Peter Brown’s illustrated novel, upon which “The Wild Robot” is based.

“We’re really here to support the filmmakers’ vision,” said Meredith Milton, creative director at Rewrite the Future, an NRDC initiative that consults with Universal and other Hollywood studios to improve climate storytelling.

Without giving away too many plot points, the movie is about an intelligent robot — ROZZUM Unit 7134, or “Roz” — who gets shipwrecked on an island full of wild critters. Without any humans to serve — Roz was programmed to complete tasks — she teaches herself to speak with animals and accidentally adopts an orphaned baby goose, Brightbill. She must help him overcome a host of obstacles and learn to fly in time for the winter migration.

NRDC experts provided guidance on environmental storylines, including an unexpectedly fierce storm battering the island and the construction of a beaver dam. They also suggested ideas for the geese migration sequence — including brief peeks at a human world altered by climate change, at an indeterminate point in the future.

“We were very focused on that moment in the story,” said Daniel Hinerfeld, who oversees Rewrite the Future.

It was Hinerfeld who pitched the underwater Golden Gate Bridge — maybe not a likely scenario, but a clever way to catch people’s attention. The migration scenes also highlight humanity’s capacity for resilience, with shots of a radical new city that people have built to sustain themselves in a world presumably wrecked by fossil fuels.

“The city is very dense in one little area, and then nature is kind of left to itself,” Milton said.

A scene from the movie "The Wild Robot."

The words “climate change” are never spoken in the movie. But that’s not a bad thing.

The best-known climate films have hit audiences over the head so hard with total catastrophe that they alienate viewers not already concerned about rising temperatures — while also managing to discourage many of us knee-deep in the climate trenches. I’m thinking about movies such as “Don’t Look Up,” with its comet as metaphor.

There’s definitely value in those films. Lots of people recognize that climate change is a serious problem but don’t seem to realize quite how scary it is, even as fires, hurricanes and heat waves get worse. Fear can be helpful.

At the same time, fear isn’t enough. At least not for everyone. We need other motivators, too.

For Evelyn Serrano, who runs the Audubon Center at Debs Park near downtown Los Angeles, watching “The Wild Robot” was a powerful experience. She cried both times. She thinks the film will “excite new generations and new people about wildlife,” encouraging children to visit local parks and hang out with their animal neighbors.

“Most of what I learned and retained [as a kid] is probably through television and movies,” she said. “We grew up with a lot of educational TV and PBS. That is where I learned new things and was exposed to new things.”

That exposure can pay dividends. As can the shock of seeing the Golden Gate Bridge underwater — especially for viewers who might decline to see a movie they thought was going to lecture them about global warming.

So “The Wild Robot” is a climate winner. Still, Hollywood has a long way to go.

An analysis from USC and nonprofit consulting firm Good Energy found that less than 3% of scripted movies and TV episodes from 2016 through 2020 mentioned global warming or related keywords. A similar report from Colby College and Good Energy found that of 250 of the most popular films of the last decade, not even 10% passed the Climate Reality Check, which measures whether a story or its characters acknowledge global warming.

Hopefully those numbers start to improve now that NRDC is consulting with several major studios, and now that Universal’s GreenerLight program has had time to get going. In addition to working on development of “The Wild Robot,” GreenerLight helped produce a 90-second video in which Lupita Nyong’o, who voices Roz, asks viewers to consider taking sustainable actions, such as eating plant-based foods. A 30-second version has aired in theaters.

“Making the planet a better place is easier if we do it together,” Nyong’o says.

Lupita Nyong'o from the film "The Wild Robot."

GreenerLight did something similar with “Twisters,” helping produce a 30-second video that aired in theaters and a longer version online that showcased efforts to reduce climate impacts during the filmmaking process.

And even though “Twisters” didn’t allude to climate change on screen, researchers at the conservation nonprofit Rare think that might be a good thing. In a blog post, they praised the film for making scientists the heroes of the story, calling it “a paean to the scientific method” that could help strengthen public trust in science.

By repeatedly highlighting that dangerous weather events are getting worse, they added, “Twisters” was likely to elevate audiences’ concerns about climate change — even without saying the words “climate change.” In fact, not saying those words might be helpful, so as to avoid triggering a negative reaction in skeptical viewers.

“No film can do everything all at once, or all by itself,” Rare concluded.

A fair point — for “Twisters” and also “The Wild Robot.” The beloved children’s book has two sequels, which offer a fuller picture of how Earth has changed. Hermann, the film producer, would love to bring them to screens.

In the meantime, if you want to see Canada geese in Los Angeles? You can find year-round populations at bodies of water, including at Lake Balboa, Echo Park, MacArthur Park and along the L.A. River, according to Serrano.

“You probably hear them flying above,” she said. “It’s easy to spot them, because they always use that V shape.”

Canada geese are seen at the Ballona Wetlands in 2021.

IN OTHER NEWS

Arguably the biggest climate news in California over the last week was Phillips 66’s announcement that it would shutter its L.A.-area oil refinery next year. The company’s decision could go down as a seismic moment in the state’s transition to cleaner energy. My L.A. Times colleague Laurence Darmiento has the story.

Environmental justice activists cheered the news. They’ve spent years fighting to limit air pollution in low-income communities of color near Phillips 66 facilities in Carson and Wilmington, as The Times’ Tony Briscoe reports.

On the flip side, the refinery’s closure could mean higher gas prices, at least in the short term. It’ll certainly be a test for California as the state works to balance climate ambitions with political realities, Russ Mitchell writes.

By the way, Phillips 66 announced the refinery closure shortly after Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill, opposed by the fossil fuel industry, designed to limit gasoline price spikes. Details here from my colleague Taryn Luna.

A few more energy stories:

L.A. Mayor Karen Bass promised a “car free” 2028 Olympics. But with not nearly enough public transit funds and no detailed transportation plan, that’s looking more and more like a fantasy. (Rachel Uranga, L.A. Times)
The Biden administration approved an advanced geothermal power plant in Utah. As I reported in June, the plant will generate 24/7 renewable electricity for Southern California. (Maxine Joselow, Washington Post)
The developer of a geothermal and lithium project illegally drained 1,200 acres of wetlands near California’s Salton Sea, per a federal settlement. Even clean energy can have problems. (Janet Wilson, the Desert Sun)
The U.S. Supreme Court voted 7-1 not to block a Biden administration rule requiring coal plants to slash their climate pollution 90% by 2032, or else shut down. A final ruling will come later. (David G. Savage, L.A. Times)

Last but not least: A shadowy firm with Republican Party ties is gathering info on people connected to an Oregon lawsuit against fossil fuel companies, possibly in hopes of discrediting them, E&E News’ Corbin Hiar reports.

ONE MORE THING

Hurricane Milton shredded the roof of Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Fla.

If you care about sports, you should care about climate change.

The latest reason why: With Hurricane Milton destroying the roof of Tropicana Field, home to Florida’s Tampa Bay Rays, it’s unclear where the Rays will play next season. The Trop certainly won’t be ready for Opening Day, per the Tampa Bay Times’ Marc Topkin. Major League Baseball is exploring other options, none of them appealing.

We’re talking about a roof that was designed to withstand 115-mph winds. And although hurricanes existed long before human-caused warming, fossil fuel emissions are making storms and other weather disasters bigger and more damaging. This is one of many reasons why I keep reporting on fossil fuel advertising in sports.

Also worth noting: In 2015, the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Green Sports Alliance issued a report finding that at least 31 North American sports teams had mascots at risk of going extinct in the wild.

Rays were on the list, with climate change as one of the threats.

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