Here's Robot Dreams (2023), which is a Spanish-French production. Written and directed by Pablo Berger, it's a speech-free animated tragicomedy that follows the life of Dog.
There's nothing groundbreaking here, but what the film does offer is a charming and thematically rewarding time of it. At once heart-warming and heart-breaking, you may well swoon for its wonders. Woof.
Bark and Lark in Friendship-fest Robot Dreams
The plot is simple! There's Dog, who lives in 1980s New York city (one populated by anthropomorphic animals). Despite the abundance of people, he's lonely and wants to connect on a friendship level.
After spotting an advert on TV for a robot companion, Dog orders one.
It arrives the next day. Dog assembles the robot and they instantly become the best of buds, spending all their time together and having, like, a totally jolly time of it. Like so!
However, the pair are separated when robot is left stranded on a beach (due to rust). And the beach is closed for a year, with Dog separated from his buddy.
What follows is Dog and robot attempting to reconcile their separation, both missing each other. But with no way around the situation, they must daydream and cope.
All with the hope of one day reuniting together.
Now, if anyone has seen Futurama and know of Bender then you'll get a lot of those vibes here. Robot Dreams even features a similar artistic style to the cult classic '90s sitcom. Robot even looks like Bender.
In fact, in season four of Futurama there's the notorious Jurassic Bark episode.
That's a real slow burner with a major emotional payoff. Many viewers were left emotionally destroyed by what played out. Again, it's a reminder of the power of animation and the genre's unique ability to tell stories.
Robot Dreams attempts for similar vibes. During their enforced time apart, Dog makes a new friend (Duck... you get ONE guess for what the animal is) and they go fishing.
Dog is then upset as Duck moves to Europe.
This all builds to the conclusion of a friendship will-they-won't-they, with Dog and Robot surely set to reunite!? Well, the morale of the story here is stuff like that isn't always necessary. And that relationships come and go with new meaning and relevancy at specific points in your life.
That's the gist of the fable.
We've seen many people online saying Robot Dreams made them cry. As toxic macho kinda guys, we're too manly for that! However, our indifference to the film (which we think is good, just not great) is probably down to its near two-hour length.
It would've been just as effective, if not more so, as a 30-minute show. There's a lot of meandering filler throughout and the payoff didn't work for us.
But! If you're in a downbeat kind of mood and want something accessible and uplifting, then Robot Dreams may well provide you with some timely light entertainment.
The Production of Robot Dreams
The film is based on comic artist Sara Varon's eponymous work from 2007. However, she's done so many works over the years Robot Dreams seems like a minor addition to her canon.
Primarily, she works on children friendly works such as My Pencil and Me, New Shoes, and Odd Duck.
Varan is an American graphic novelist and writer. Here she is showing off her craft with a few nifty drawing techniques.
As for the film adaptation of her work, it had been in the running since 2008. Once Pablo Berger got involved the project got underway, but was again delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, animation began in June 2021 in Madrid off a €5.42 million budget. It premiered in May 2023 and has since earned around $4 million back.
It has met with strong reviews, though, with some critics handing it 5/5 (such as Robbie Collins here in the UK).
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