Harkening back to the times before the “Talkies”, Robot Dreams brings an hour and half of non verbal storytelling, making a universal story about romance (or friendship) and loneliness, packaged in a cute artstyle with comedic moments throughout. The film impressively keeps pace for most of its runtime, even keeping most of the audience of small people quiet and engaged without dialogue at all. It is one that I can see myself leaning on and watching again on a rainy day when I need something pure and easy.
Dog lives a lonely life in New York, surrounded by anthropomorphic odd couples showing off their togetherness to him while he plays Pong all alone. He heats up a TV dinner from his collection of TV dinners and sits down to see an ad for a companion robot, which he immediately orders and waits impatiently until that reliable next day delivery arrives with their new friend. He builds Robot and sparks an instant connection with them as they wander the streets, Robot experiencing life for the first time, in awe of the world.
There is such a sweet section around here, watching Dog and Robot fall in love, while Robot and Dog also find love in the world, appreciating the simplicities of life, like ice cream and rollerskating to September by Earth, Wind & Fire.
This song features heavily in the film, acting as a reminder of their relationship and the happiness it brings them both. It has changed the song for future me, I will now be thinking of the love that a Robot and Dog shared.
They hum and whistle the song all the way to the beach, where along the way, Robot appreciates their dynamic with Dog as they see a babysitter robot look longingly up at Robot’s freedom.
I don’t know about you, but the metal plus saltwater mix is not one that I would engage in if I were a bot, Robot however, throws that logic out the window and dives right in, having a splash around with Dog and flopping on to their beach towels in exhaustion, both passing out until they are the only two left on the beach. Dog gets up and beckons Robot to join him, but Robot has rusted with the water and is stuck where they are. Dog does everything he can to bring Robot with him off the beach but Robot is stuck.
The next day, Dog goes back to get Robot only to find that the beach is closed until next July, meaning he will have almost a year to wait to be reunited.
The rest of the film deals with the longing that both feel to be reunited again. As the title suggests, Robot dreams about his journey home to Dog, which is interrupted by reality or the dark thoughts that Dog might not be interested anymore. Dog’s side of the story is one of trial, and eventually acceptance that he has to wait or move on. I think this section is the only one where I found the pacing slightly too slow, lingering on some elements and losing the energy of the opening of the film. The section does slow down but also does help to build up the connection between Dog and Robot for an emotional conclusion to the plot.
Obviously with the lack of dialogue, it's hard to comment on the performance of the actors, other than grunts, shrieks and whistling, which were flawless by the way. I think the more impressive thing is the silence, and the complete contentedness I found in it. I didn’t interview the kids when we left the screening but I find it hard to imagine any of them had a difficult time following the plot. They have sprinkling of on screen text for context like when Dog is ordering the bot or how we know the beach is closed for the winter months. Other than that, it is all told through effective setups of actions exploring deeper themes.
The look of the film is very polished, looking like a high budget Nickelodeon animated show, with clean and vibrant backgrounds and simple and cute character design. I appreciated the dream sequences which allowed for different lapses in reality and slight changes in style, although staying faithful to the base style that was set out.
In terms of sound, it's hard to comment on too many notable examples. It does its job, obviously in the fact that I have very little memory of it…
Music however, when they didn’t play reprises of September, was bouncy, bright and emotional at times when required.
I am a superfan of this film, I want more like it, adaptations of comic books that have universal appeal, transcending language to just deliver a nice time for all involved. With enough for all ages, taking on themes that will surely go over heads but a plot that will be understandable by all who watch. It is also one that, like many films with animals as the protagonists, doesn’t get weighed down with burdens of discrimination, chickens and cats live together, cows and moose. It is a melting pot of species spending time together in a simplistic bliss.
This film was bought by Curzon and I hope they license it out to a big streaming service to show as many people as possible. It is a gem, and one that I hope for as many people as possible to see.
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