I recently watched The Wild Robot and was surprised at the themes that jumped out at me. As an assistant (whose job is to complete tasks) and a mother, I found myself reflecting on how Roz’s journey parallels the experiences of many assistants, women, and mothers. The more I thought about it, the more I saw how her story speaks to the hidden, often undervalued labor that so many of us perform every day.
Roz, a robot designed to follow orders and complete tasks efficiently, finds herself stranded in the wild with no instructions, no clear path forward, and no immediate purpose—until she is thrust into the role of caretaker. When she adopts the orphaned gosling, Brightbill, she does not immediately know what to do. She tries to feed him, but the process is far from straightforward. She has to research, experiment, fail, and try again until she gets it right. This mirrors the experience of many assistants, who are often expected to “just figure it out” when thrown into new challenges without training or guidance. We learn through trial and error, innovating out of necessity because someone is relying on us.
Motherhood, too, is full of these moments of improvisation. At one point, Pinktail the opossum mother with 7 babies of her own tells Roz, “No one knows what they are doing. We just make it up.” This line resonated deeply with me. Like assistants and caregivers, Roz is not given a manual for how to nurture, teach, and protect Brightbill—she has to learn on the go, much like so many of us do in our professional and personal lives.
Throughout the film, Roz’s approach to problem-solving evolves. She cannot simply show Brightbill how to fly or swim; she must help him through repeated efforts, enlisting the guidance of others and adapting her strategies along the way. Many creatures, like Pinktail, offer guidance showcasing the power of leaning on community for help. Later Roz meets Longneck, the old veteran leader of the flock of geese on the island. He agrees to help Brightbill learn to migrate and later helps the young gosling to attain a leadership position in the flock. Without the help of Pinktail and Longneck, and many others, the task would have been much harder and potentially near impossible highlighting the importance of collaborating with community and experts to be successful.
Another striking moment comes when Roz meets another robot, Rummage, who runs a diagnostic and declares her “defective” for having overridden her original programming. Roz admits, “I have been overwriting my code for months. It was the only way to complete my task.” This moment highlights the expectation that assistants (and women, in many cases) should function transactionally—completing tasks without evolving, strategizing, or becoming innovators. Roz, like many of us, learns that real success requires adaptability and self-reinvention. She has changed permanently—not because she was broken, but because she learned and grew from experience.
The film also highlights the unseen labor of caretakers when Roz rescues the entire forest from a deadly blizzard. Predators and prey, once divided, huddle together under her protection. Even those who once mistreated or distrusted her recognize that she has sacrificed and even damaged herself to save them. This mirrors how assistants and caregivers often go unappreciated until a crisis reveals just how essential they truly are.
Perhaps the most profound lesson of The Wild Robot is that survival is not just about endurance—it is about adaptation, connection, and innovation. Roz, initially programmed to follow orders, learns to lead, nurture, and strategize. In doing so, she evolves to meet the challenges that face her and her community and her growth benefits the community-at-large.
Assistants, like Roz, are often expected to function like machines—efficient, predictable, and self-sufficient. But in reality, our greatest strength is our ability to adapt, to learn from experience, to collaborate, and to find creative solutions when there is no clear roadmap. Just like Roz, we are more than our original programming. We are innovators, problem-solvers, and leaders in our own right.
Have you seen the film? Read the books? Share your thoughts below.
