‘The Wild Robot’ To World Premiere At TIFF

Chris Sanders’ The Wild Robot will have its world premiere at the 49th Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), set to take place September 5-15.

The Dreamworks Animation film about a robot that is shipwrecked on an uninhabited island and must learn to adapt to the harsh surroundings is adapted from Peter Brown’s bestselling illustrated book of the same name. The film will be released into U.S. theaters on September 27.

Sanders, who has been nominated for an Oscar three times (Lilo & Stitch, How to Train Your Dragon, The Croods), screened footage from the film at Annecy last week to an enthusiastic reception from the crowd. In addition to directing, Sanders also wrote the adaptation for screen.

In recent years, TIFF has increasingly served as a launchpad for high-profile animated features. Last year, the festival held the international premiere of Miyazaki’s The Boy and the Heron, which went on to win the Academy Award for animated feature.

The festival has also world premiered three films from Cartoon Saloon – Song of the Sea, The Breadwinner, and Wolfwalkers. Other recent animated features that have had launches at TIFF include Wendell & Wild, Charlotte, and Masaaki Yuasa’s Inu-Oh, the latter film having had its North American premiere at the festival.