Lupita Nyong'o in the touching DreamWorks cartoon

In the opening scenes of The Wild Robota robot washes up on the shore of a remote island, bearing the markings and labels of its human makers. Rozzum Unit 7134, voiced by Lupita Nyong’o in an inspired performance, is a machine built to serve. One of its first lines after being activated by a colony of beavers is an expression of this loyalty: It always gets the job done, just ask. Naturally, the animals in this secluded place fear this imposing metal assembly. When introduced to its eager gestures of assistance, they become agitated.

Premiering at the Toronto Film Festival, The Wild Robot is the story of how Rozzum 7134 becomes Roz and finds her place and purpose within the vibrant ecosystem of a dark island. Chris Sanders (Lilo and Stitch, How to Train Your Dragon) has adapted this touching DreamWorks film from Peter Brown's trilogy of the same name. When it hits theaters on September 27, The Wild Robot It will not only please existing fans, but will also gain new ones.

Part of the charm of this tender animation comes from its committed and engaging vocal performances. Nyong'o, whose previous voice acting work includes Disney's The Jungle Book and an episode of Big mouthtransforms into her role as a robot, overcoming the rigidity of her programming for the freer and more unexpected terrain of motherhood. Roz initially encounters the creatures on the island with a mechanical curiosity and the static voice to prove it. As a representative of artificial intelligence, the robot begins its journey by scanning the island for data.

In a lively and well-crafted opening sequence, Roz curls up in a pseudo-hibernation posture as she absorbs the sounds and textures of the landscape. Having learned, among other things, the language of all the animals, the island vibrates with the exciting energy of comprehension: the creatures thrash around the sleeping robot, their chirps, squeals, and roars becoming legible commentaries on the strangeness of this machine and what its presence means for the future of the island.

When Roz wakes up, the animals are still afraid of her. Doubly so now that she, like her colonial human predecessors, has learned their ways. She wanders around feebly, offering help feebly to an uninterested constituency. Purpose comes in the form of a duck that imprints on her. Under the little creature's gaze, Roz is a mother. In portraying the robot's anxious trepidation and initial rejection of this responsibility, Nyong'o infuses her feelings with appropriate levels of surprise and disbelief. Roz's programming prevents her from rejecting the duck entirely (remember, she always gets the job done, just ask) despite her limited understanding of what it takes to raise a goose. So, she reluctantly agrees to raise the duck, which she names Brightbill (Kit Connor from Heart stopper).

A few creatures more perplexed than frightened, including Fink, a wily fox voiced humorously by Pedro Pascal, and Pinktail, an overextended mother possum voiced delightfully by Catherine O'Hara, help Roz on her journey. Their advice ranges from the helpful to the downright dubious. Still, there's a sweetness in the community effort that gives The Wild Robot some of his most touching moments.

Roz's initial approach to breeding Brightbills involves scientific precision and technological inflexibility: she boxes the duck and searches the database for information on how to teach it to hunt, swim and fly. These methods don't always work, and most The Wild Robot concerns about using her heart to counter the sometimes “overwhelming,” in her words, obligation of parenthood, rather than just her head. As Roz leans into her more maternal role, Nyongo’s mechanical voice becomes more supple and gentle, as if holding space for answers to questions she doesn’t even know she needs to ask.

Roz isn't the only person growing up on the island. Brightbill grows older, and with his development comes the disaffection of being a teenager. Fink, who begins as a supporting character, is rounded out with a backstory that helps us better understand the fox's scheming and conspiratorial impulses.

Sanders, who wrote the screenplay in addition to directing, creates a screen version of these characters that still feels like family. If the personalities tie us to the story, it’s the animation that initially captivates us. Sanders’ film blends photorealistic characters with painterly images of the landscape to create delightful, immersive scenes. Life on the island is vividly rendered, and there’s an appreciation for detail, from the splinters on the giant tree that an industrial beaver (Matt Berry) gnaws every day to the fine hairs on the cantankerous grizzly bear Thorn (Mark Hamill). The remote location represents unspoiled beauty, an environment undisturbed by human machinations.

The lack of people doesn't mean there's no human threat. Like Pixar's robot adventure Wall-E, The Wild Robot is also about the subtle consequences of unchecked consumerism. When humans send other machines, including a menacing drone voiced by Stephanie Hsu, to retrieve Roz, their impact on the verdant earth is punishing to watch. There's a surprising vein of sentimentality that comes from this environmental message, in addition to Roz's journey through motherhood. Even if The Wild Robot accelerating the conclusion into a more hasty third act, these threads offer helpful reminders of interdependence and lessons of hope in community.