Robot Dreams (film)

Robot Dreams is a 2023 animated tragicomedy film written and directed by Pablo Berger. A Spanish-French co-production, it is based on the 2007 comic of the same name by Sara Varon. The film follows an unusual friendship between a dog and a robot in New York City in 1984. The film does not contain any dialogue.

Robot Dreams had its world premiere at the 76th Cannes Film Festival on 21 May 2023, in the Special Screenings section. It received critical acclaim and won Best Film in the Contrechamp section of the Annecy International Animation Film Festival as well as Best Independent Animated Feature at the 51st Annie Awards. It also won the Goya Award for Best Animated Film and the European Film Award for Best Animated Feature Film, and was nominated for Best Animated Feature at the 96th Academy Awards.

Plot
In 1980s Manhattan, Dog lives alone. After seeing a TV advertisement, Dog decides to order a robot friend, which he assembles upon delivery and then takes out to explore Manhattan. Over the course of the summer, the two become inseparable friends. The song "September" is played over these scenes.

As the summer comes to an end, Dog takes Robot to the beach, where they spend a long day playing in the water and later fall asleep. They wake up after all other visitors have left, and Dog realizes that Robot has been rusted by water and thus cannot move; a disheartened Dog is forced to head home for the night. Dog returns the following day with repairing tools, only to discover that the beach has been closed until 1 June of the following year. After some failed attempts to get inside the beach, Dog relents to wait until he can go and rescue Robot next year, placing a note on his refrigerator as a constant reminder.

Throughout Robot's time on the beach, he dreams of various scenarios where he manages to escape from the beach and return to Dog's apartment, only to eventually return to the reality of him being stuck on the beach. One of Robot's legs is severed by some rabbits, who use a part of it to fill a hole in their sinking boat before discarding the leg. Meanwhile, Dog contemplates about Robot, as he is constantly reminded of Robot and struggles to make new friends.

A monkey sneaks onto the beach and finds a buried Robot with his metal detector. The monkey takes Robot to a junkyard to sell him. The alligator owner and his son promptly chuck Robot into a junk pile, breaking Robot into pieces and causing him to shut off. When 1 June finally arrives, Dog returns to the beach but is only able to find Robot's discarded leg. In his search, he is kicked out for making many large holes in the sand. He spends the night at home laying in bed with Robot's leg.

Later, a raccoon named Rascal visits the junkyard and discovers Robot's head and remaining limbs. He buys the parts and takes them home, rebuilding Robot with a boombox as the new body. Meanwhile, Dog buys a new robot friend named Tin. Over the summer, Robot and Rascal form a close friendship as do Dog and Tin. Dog goes to the beach with Tin and, learning from his past mistakes, coats Tin with oil spray and keeps him out of the water.

As Robot and Rascal have a rooftop lunch, Robot looks out and sees Dog and Tin walking down the sidewalk. Robot races down the street and manages to reunite with Dog, but Rascal suddenly appears, revealing that this reunion was yet another fantasy of Robot's. In the real world, Robot decides not to chase after Dog, instead using his boombox body to play the song "September". Dog hears the song and the pair (unbeknownst to Dog) dance together to it for the final time. Dog spots Robot in the corner of his eye, but Robot hides, contemplating whether to reveal himself. As Robot realizes that both he and Dog have found new meaningful relationships following their separation, he chooses against revealing himself to allow Dog to continue on with Tin. Tin notices Dog's sadness and promptly cheers him up as the two dance down the street side by side. Robot then happily returns to Rascal's lunch and the two proceed to dance together on the roof.

Production
In 2008, Sara Varon was approached by an unspecified animation studio to produce a film adaptation of Robot Dreams, which would have been done entirely using computer animation. This project never materialized.

Berger first read Varon's graphic novel in about 2010 and was affected by it. After making his first two films, he went back to Robot Dreams and began visualizing how to make it into an animated film.

Initially, Berger wanted to work with Cartoon Saloon to animate the film, but abandoned plans in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Eventually, Berger helped set up various animation studios across Spain to help to get the film made. The animation process began in mid-June 2021 in Madrid, Spain, and later on Iruñea studios opened as well in Pamplona, working parallel to the Madrid team.

Festivals
Robot Dreams had its world premiere on 21 May 2023 in the Special Screenings section of the 76th Cannes Film Festival, then screened on 12 June 2023 at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival, on 23 July 2023 at the New Zealand International Film Festival, and on 14 August 2023 at the 29th Sarajevo Film Festival. It was screened on 7 September 2023 at the 48th Toronto International Film Festival and in October 2023 at the 56th Sitges Film Festival.

Theatrical
The film was first released in Spanish theatres on 6 December 2023 by BTeam Pictures. It expanded to the French market on 27 December 2023. Curzon released the film in the United Kingdom and Ireland on 22 March 2024. Neon acquired the North American distribution rights and it was released on 31 May 2024.

Critical reception
Paula Arantzazu Ruiz of Cinemanía rated the film 5 out of 5 stars, deeming "[the relationship between] Dog and Robot to be the most amazing and beautiful friendship of the year". Robbie Collin of The Telegraph awarded the movie five stars out of five, writing that "this wonderful tale of friendship will enchant and amuse children – and leave grown-ups in tears".

Variety put Robot Dreams on its list of the 22 Overlooked Films of 2023.

Top ten lists
The film appeared on a number of critics' top ten lists of the best Spanish films of 2023: