TO BRINGA ROBOT TO LIFE

Prashanth Cavale, one of the lead animators behind The Wild Robot, discusses the process of animating Roz, Fink, and the other animals, the changing role of animators with the rise of AI, the scope of animation in India, and more

- NARAYANI M

The success of the latest animated film The Wild Robot is predominantly attributed to the character of Roz, an abandoned robot on an island full of animals who learns to survive and develops feelings for its community. Prashanth Cavale, one of the lead animators of the film, attributes the human characteristics of Roz to the subtle details that his team incorporated. "Even with her (Roz) limited ability, we could bring a nuanced portrayal. For example, her eyes had certain bellow controls, which we would use to show her thinking or focusing on something. She also had these controls where we could turn on the lights on her, and it could change into different colors, and it would be used to emote different things," he explains, adding that he has been overwhelmed by the outpouring of love for the film.

Prashanth and his team of almost 40 members worked for several months to bring The Wild Robot to the screens. On bringing a unique flavor to the film, the animator says, "The film required us to animate in a style that is different from some of the other projects we've done in the past at DreamWorks since this has more naturalistic and grounded performances of animals."