Radio Atlantic: What Does a Robot With a Soul Sound Like?

Release Date: February 28, 2025
Host: Hanna Rosen
Guest: Randy Thom, Supervising Sound Designer on "The Wild Robot"
Podcast Series: Radio Atlantic by The Atlantic

Introduction

In this bonus episode of Radio Atlantic, host Hanna Rosen delves into the intricate world of sound design for the animated film "The Wild Robot." Following up on their previous discussion about the Oscar-winning sound design of "Zone of Interest," Hanna introduces listeners to the challenges and creative processes behind giving life to a robot's voice and movements in cinema.

Exploring Ra's Character and Sound Design Challenges

"The Wild Robot" centers on Ra's, a helper robot voiced by Lupita Nyong'o, who gains sentience and forms an emotional bond with a gosling on a deserted island. This narrative posed unique challenges for the sound design team: How can Ra's sound both robotic and emotionally expressive?

Hanna Rosen sets the stage by describing Ra's dual role:

"Raz is a helper robot, a kind of turbocharged Siri who gets stranded on a deserted island and learns to communicate with the animals that live there. She also finds a goose egg... and decides to become its mom."
[00:57]

Technical Insights with Randy Thom

Randy Thom, the supervising sound designer, shares his expertise on crafting Ra's voice:

"We did initially think that there might be quite a bit of robotizing of Lupita's voice. But the more we tried that, the more we realized that, you know, we really need this character to express emotion because this robot develops a soul."
[06:24]

He emphasizes the balance between maintaining a robotic tone and allowing emotional depth:

"What makes you think there are settlements over there? Don't get technical with me. There's this thing called audio phasing where a signal, a sound, gets combined with itself but slightly out of sync with itself and it makes this kind of swishing sound. And so a little bit of that is typically added to a voice to make it sound a little more like a robot."
[04:07]

Creating a Robotic Voice with Emotion

Randy explains the process of making Ra's voice sound both mechanical and heartfelt:

"One of the things Gary Rizzo, the dialogue mixer on the film did... was to dial up a reverberation algorithm that makes it sound like her voice is inside a metal container."
[05:30]

This technique, coupled with subtle processing, allows Ra's voice to resonate with her metallic form while conveying genuine emotion.

Designing Robotic Movements

Moving beyond vocal design, Randy discusses the sounds associated with Ra's movements. Traditional approaches use servo motors, common in classic robots like C3PO from Star Wars, but Randy sought a more innovative sound:

"The tradition for doing robot movement sounds for movies is to use recordings of servo motors... But at this point, it seemed like a bit of a cliché, and so I wanted to stay away from it."
[11:47]

Instead, he experimented with pneumatic systems and even breath sounds to create a more elegant and organic movement:

"I decided to try, you know, actual breath sounds... So every time you would take a step, you would hear this and that... It has to be quiet enough so that it's mostly subliminal."
[13:01 – 14:37]

Symbolism of Sound in Character Development

The choice to incorporate breath-like sounds wasn't just a technical decision but also a symbolic one, representing Ra's emerging soul:

"What's philosophically as you're talking, that the symbolism of this, of breathing life into the robot is very interesting."
[16:04]

Randy reflects on how these subtle sounds bridge the gap between machine and living being, enhancing the audience's emotional connection to Ra's journey.

Evolution of Robot Sounds in Film

Randy traces the evolution of robotic sound design, highlighting his past work on "The Iron Giant" and the iconic Imperial Walkers from Star Wars:

"Early in his career, Randy also helped to come up with the sound for an even bigger kind of robot, which he found in recordings of a huge metal shear like a metal guillotine."
[17:01 – 17:28]

He discusses the shift from metallic and mechanical sounds to more organic and human-like auditory experiences:

"So you're moving essentially from something that is metallic to something that's a little more organic to something that feels fairly human, like... that does feel like an evolution."
[18:05 – 18:17]

Future of Robotic Sound Design

The conversation concludes with pondering the future of robot sounds in media:

"I don't think we're there yet. It depends in movies, of course. So if you see a robot in her. Then... if there's a kind of retro look to the robot, then I can certainly imagine a movie being made next year where it would be appropriate to go back to servo motors."
[18:37 – 19:17]

Randy predicts a nostalgic return to classic robotic sounds, balancing innovation with homage to iconic representations.

Conclusion

Hanna and Randy's discussion illuminates the nuanced art of sound design in bringing animated robots to life. By blending technical expertise with creative symbolism, Randy Thom successfully imbues Ra's with both a mechanical essence and a soulful presence, earning an Oscar nomination for "The Wild Robot." This episode underscores the profound impact of sound in storytelling, shaping how audiences perceive and connect with synthetic characters.

Notable Quotes:

• Randy Thom on Audio Phasing:
  "There's this thing called audio phasing where a signal, a sound, gets combined with itself but slightly out of sync with itself and it makes this kind of swishing sound."
  [04:07]

• Randy on Breath Sounds:
  "But we don't want the audience to think, well, we're hearing her breathing as she's walking. It has to be quiet enough so that it's mostly subliminal."
  [14:42]

• Randy on Evolution of Robot Sounds:
  "So you're moving essentially from something that is metallic to something that's a little more organic to something that feels fairly human."
  [18:15]

Production Credits:

• Produced by: Janae West
• Edited by: Claudina Baid
• Engineered by: Rob Smirciak
• Fact-Checked by: Genevieve Finn
• Executive Producer of Atlantic Audio: Claudina Baid
• Managing Editor: Andrea Valdez

Host: Hanna Rosen

Radio Atlantic aims to dissect and explore the big ideas shaping our culture and news, providing listeners with insightful conversations and debates to foster informed perspectives.