Quartile rating: 5.5/10 · 1 rating
An adolescent lion is accidentally shipped from the New York Zoo to Africa. Now running free, his zoo pals must put aside their differences to help bring him back.
The Wild is widely regarded as a shameless knockoff of Madagascar, released just a year after DreamWorks' hit with a near-identical premise of zoo animals venturing to Africa. It scores poorly on Novelty for being one of the most derivative animated films of its era. The plot is formulaic and predictable, the characters lack depth, and the voice acting is serviceable but forgettable. The CGI visuals, while not particularly distinctive, were competent for the time and show some effort in rendering environments. The ending resolves without any real surprise or emotional payoff, making for a thoroughly by-the-numbers conclusion.