Robot Dreams, a new animated film from Spanish director Pablo Berger, is an absolutely charming and sweet story of how friendships can grow and change. Cloaked in simple character design, the story tells what is actually an emotionally complex story that is still easily accessible for all ages. It quite simply is the best animated film of the year.
In a world of anthropomorphized animals, Dog is living a rather lonely, single life. In an attempt to find friendship similar to the couples he seems surrounded by, he mail orders a robot pal for himself after seeing a commercial on late night TV. The two instantly become best friends. They do everything together from shopping to roller skating in the park. But their friendship is tested on the last day of summer when an accident leaves Robot stranded on the beach and Dog unable to get him until the following spring.
Based on the graphic novel of the same name by Sara Varon, Robot Dreams seems set in some fantasy version of New York City of the 1980s. But really, that’s just set dressing for a story that feels universal and timeless. All relationships change over time, changing form and waxing and waning in intensity. Where as other films would use the setup above as a way to have its characters undergo a series of shenanigans in their drive to reunite, Berger explores the emotional reality of what it is like to have a strong friendship be interrupted, to have to deal with not having one’s anchor there anymore, to possibly even start over one’s search for happiness.
Dog feels bad about having to, at least temporarily, abandon his friend. He tries to find ways to cope and fill the newly reopened void in his life while waiting until the beach reopens and he can fix Robot. Meanwhile, Robot lies on the beach where he dreams and has some chance encounters which alter the way he sees the world. But will their friendship be the same when they reunite after this time apart?
This is some complicated material, but Berger presents in a simple, straight forward way that keeps us engaged from start to finish. There is no dialogue in the film – the skating sequence scored to Earth, Wind and Fire’s pop hit “September” really is the only spoken words here at all – but the animation simply but effectively conveys the lead characters’ emotions at all times. There is joy in the animation of Dog and Robot’s initial time together and melancholy in their time apart. That Berger is able to convey all that simply through animation is an achievement unparalleled in modern animation today.
Quite simply, Robot Dreams is a masterpiece, and one that can be experienced by all ages. If anything, the film might reveal itself more through repeated watches as a viewer ages and is able to connect with its themes on deeper levels.
