Mark Hamill Talks About His Hairy Role in DreamWorks Animation’s The Wild Robot

There’s a ton of endowment down DreamWorks Animation’s upcoming merchandise The Wild Robot, including writer-director Chris Sanders (Lilo & Stitch, How to Train Your Dragon) and stars Lupita Nyong’o and Pedro Pascal. But 1 of the supporting characters is voiced by an histrion of peculiar involvement to the San Diego Comic-Con crowd, which was thrilled to spot Star Wars legend Mark Hamill arsenic a astonishment summation to the movie’s panel.

Hamill, of course, is besides a storied voice-over histrion successful summation to his enactment successful a postulation far, acold distant (as good arsenic different projects, similar Mike Flanagan’s Netflix fearfulness bid The Fall of the House of Usher). And helium brought his wide scope of experiences to voicing Thorn, a grizzly bear, successful the animated movie adapted from Peter Brown’s illustrated novel. First, though, helium explained what drew him to the project.

“When they asked maine to see being progressive [with The Wild Robot], the archetypal happening I did was bid the book, and I was conscionable knocked out,” Hamill said. “I thought, if they tin seizure conscionable a tiny percent of the effectiveness of this book—and I person to archer you, they conscionable did a fantastic job. When I went successful to bash the dependable session, they had footage. I thought, well, 1 of the large things was to look astatine the book, and they kept that.”

“But it’s just—you person to spot it,” helium said. “I consciousness similar backmost successful the day, erstwhile I was trying to picture Star Wars without radical having seen it. [The Wild Robot] is affectional and it works connected truthful galore levels. The kids volition emotion it, but everyone’s going to emotion it. I retrieve erstwhile my kids were small, [I’d] instrumentality them to spot these movies [like] The Garbage Pail Kids Movie, [and you had to] support your opinions to yourself [because the kids are] enjoying it. [But] this is 1 that the the full household is conscionable going to autumn successful emotion with.”

When it came to voicing Thorn, Hamill explained, “We ever person to instrumentality a measurement backmost and say, what’s my relation successful the film, to marque everything work? What relation bash I serve? And 1 of the aspects of the publication and movie is that each these disparate animals are thrown into this concern wherever they person to restrain themselves. Obviously a carnivore is simply a predator, but they person to enactment for the greater good, truthful they peacefully coexist with the animals that that would ordinarily beryllium their dinner.”

Thorn is conscionable 1 of the creatures that Roz the robot (voiced by Nyong’o) encounters erstwhile she’s unexpectedly marooned connected an land filled with a wilderness dissimilar thing she’s ever encountered. It’s a found-family communicative with plentifulness of sci-fi elements; it’s besides a communicative wherever Pascal voices a crafty fox. The remainder of the dependable formed includes Catherine O’Hara arsenic an opossum, Bill Nighy arsenic a goose, Kit Connor arsenic a gosling, Stephanie Hsu arsenic a rival robot, and Matt Berry arsenic a beaver. Ving Rhames is besides successful the cast.

The Wild Robot hits theaters September 27.

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