“The Wild Robot” will return.
DreamWorks Animation is developing the sequel “The Wild Robot Escapes,” based on the second book in the popular series by author Peter Brown, and TheWrap can exclusively reveal that Troy Quane, one of the directors behind the Oscar-nominated “Nimona,” will take over directing duties from Chris Sanders.
Heidi Jo Gilbert, who worked as head of story on the first film, will serve as co-director.
Producer Jeff Hermann will return, and Sanders will write the screenplay for the new installment.
“The Wild Robot,” released in 2024, was heralded for its painterly animation style and emotional depth. It marked Sanders’ return to animation after more than a decade away and was widely celebrated. The film, which starred Lupita Nyong’o as a high-tech robot named Roz who washes onto an island populated only by animals, grossed $320 million globally and secured three Oscar nominations, including best animated feature, along with three BAFTA nominations.
It was awarded Best Animated Feature by the Critics’ Choice Awards and won nine Annie Award from ASIFA-Hollywood, four Visual Effects Society awards, the Producer Guild Award for Best Animated Feature, along with nearly “100 additional awards from film industry guilds, critic groups, and film festivals around the world,” according to DreamWorks Animation. It was also our #1 animated movie of that year.
In Brown’s “The Wild Robot Escapes,” the second book in Brown’s trilogy, Roz and her bird-son Brightbill try to escape a dairy farm and return to their island.
It’s not a huge surprise that Sanders is not returning for “The Wild Robot 2,” considering his films “Lilo & Stitch” and “How to Train Your Dragon” (made with his frequent partner Dean DeBlois) and “The Croods” (made with the great Kirk DeMicco) all inspired sequels that Sanders did not return to direct. He is currently set to write the live-action sequel to last year’s “Lilo & Stitch” for Disney, with the possibility that he’ll also direct.
Quane, who had been at DreamWorks developing an original project, had served tours of duty at Disney (working on “Enchanted”), Sony Pictures Animation (“Hotel Transylvania,” “Smurfs: The Lost Village”) and Blue Sky Studios (“The Peanuts Movie,” “Ice Age”). When Blue Sky Studios, owned by 20th Century Fox, was sold to Disney alongside the other 21st Century assets, the Blue Sky version of “Nimona” was unceremoniously canceled. It was later revived by Annapurna Pictures and Netflix and released in the summer of 2023.
Gilbert, an animation veteran and one of the most exciting voices at DreamWorks Animation, has previously done storyboarding work for Disney, Pixar and Nickelodeon. Before serving as Head of Story on “The Wild Robot,” she also served in the same role on “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish,” working alongside director Joel Crawford. (She had worked as a story artist on Crawford’s “The Croods: A New Age,” a sequel to Sanders and DeMicco’s film.)
At DreamWorks, Gilbert also worked as a story artist on “Ruby Gillman: Teenage Kraken” and “Turbo.” She received an Annie Award nomination for her work on DreamWorks’ series “Dragons: Riders of Berk.”
No release date has been set for “The Wild Robot Escapes.”
