# 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 has no 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, such as rollerskating in Central Park to the song "September". Over the course of the summer, the two become inseparable friends.
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 lying 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 reality, 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.

## Release
### 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.

### Home media

The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray in the United States by Decal Releasing on October 8, 2024.

## Reception
### Critical reception

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 98% of 136 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 8.4/10. The website's consensus reads: "As heartbreaking as it is heartwarming, Robot Dreams is the stuff good animation is made of." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 87 out of 100, based on 30 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".
Paula Arantzazu Ruiz [es] 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. Rolling Stone put the film at #14 on their list for the best films of 2024.

### Top ten lists

The film appeared on a number of critics' top ten lists of the best Spanish films of 2023:
* 4th — El Periódico de Catalunya (critics)
* 5th — El Español (Series & Más consensus)
* 6th — El Cultural (critics)
* 6th — El Mundo (Luis Martínez)
* 7th — Mondosonoro (consensus)

### Accolades

| Year | Award / Festival | Category | Recipient | Result | Ref. |
| 2023 | Annecy International Animation Film Festival | Contrechamp Award - Best Film | Robot Dreams | Won | |
| 2023 | 56th Sitges Film Festival | Best Film | Robot Dreams | Nominated | |
| 2023 | 56th Sitges Film Festival | Grand People's Choice Award for Best Feature Film in the SOFC | Robot Dreams | Won | |
| 2023 | Cinekid Festival | Best Children's Film | Robot Dreams | Nominated | [45] [46] |
| 2023 | Coronado Island Film Festival | Best Animated Feature | Robot Dreams | Won | |
| 2023 | 36th European Film Awards | European Animated Feature Film | Robot Dreams | Won | |
| 2023 | 44th Boston Society of Film Critics Awards | Best Animated Film | Robot Dreams | Runner-up | |
| 2023 | 49th Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards | Best Animated Film | Robot Dreams | Runner-up | |
| 2023 | 36th Chicago Film Critics Association Awards | Best Animated Feature Film | Robot Dreams | Nominated | |
| 2023 | 29th Forqué Awards | Best Animation Film | Robot Dreams | Won | |
| 2023 | 20th St. Louis Film Critics Association Awards | Best Animated Film | Robot Dreams | Nominated | |
| 2023 | 27th Toronto Film Critics Association Awards | Best Animated Feature | Robot Dreams | Won | |
| 2023 | 15th Indiana Film Journalists Association | Best Film | Robot Dreams | Nominated | [55] [56] |
| 2023 | 15th Indiana Film Journalists Association | Best Animated Film | Robot Dreams | Runner-up | [55] [56] |
| 2023 | 15th Indiana Film Journalists Association | Original Vision | Robot Dreams | Nominated | [55] [56] |
| 2023 | 28th San Diego Film Critics Society Awards | Best Animated Film | Robot Dreams | Nominated | |
| 2023 | 28th Florida Film Critics Circle Awards | Best Animated Film | Robot Dreams | Nominated | |
| 2024 | 13th Georgia Film Critics Association Awards | Best Animated Film | Robot Dreams | Nominated | |
| 2024 | 22nd San Francisco Bay Area Film Critics Circle Awards | Best Animated Film | Robot Dreams | Nominated | |
| 2024 | 23rd Nevada Film Critics Society | Best Animated Feature | Robot Dreams | Won | |
| 2024 | 17th Houston Film Critics Society Awards | Best Animated Feature | Robot Dreams | Nominated | |
| 2024 | 27th Online Film Critics Society Awards | Best Animated Film | Robot Dreams | Nominated | |
| 2024 | 11th Feroz Awards | Best Comedy Film | Robot Dreams | Won | |
| 2024 | 11th Feroz Awards | Best Original Soundtrack | Alfonso de Vilallonga | Won | |
| 2024 | 11th Feroz Awards | Best Poster | José Luis Ágreda | Won | |
| 2024 | 3rd Carmen Awards | Best Non-Andalusian Produced Film | Robot Dreams | Nominated | [65] [66] |
| 2024 | 3rd Carmen Awards | Best Editing | Fernando Franco | Nominated | [65] [66] |
| 2024 | 3rd Carmen Awards | Best Art Direction | José Luis Ágreda | Nominated | [65] [66] |
| 2024 | 79th CEC Awards | Best Film | Robot Dreams | Nominated | [67] [68] |
| 2024 | 79th CEC Awards | Best Animated Film | Robot Dreams | Won | [67] [68] |
| 2024 | 79th CEC Awards | Best Director | Pablo Berger | Nominated | [67] [68] |
| 2024 | 79th CEC Awards | Best Adapted Screenplay | Pablo Berger | Nominated | [67] [68] |
| 2024 | 79th CEC Awards | Best Music | Alfonso de Vilallonga | Won | [67] [68] |
| 2024 | 16th Gaudí Awards | Best Animated Film | Robot Dreams | Won | |
| 2024 | 16th Gaudí Awards | Best Adapted Screenplay | Pablo Berger | Nominated | |
| 2024 | 16th Gaudí Awards | Best Original Score | Alfonso de Vilallonga | Won | |
| 2024 | 44th London Film Critics' Circle Awards | Animated Film of the Year | Robot Dreams | Nominated | |
| 2024 | 38th Goya Awards | Best Animated Film | Robot Dreams | Won | |
| 2024 | 38th Goya Awards | Best Adapted Screenplay | Pablo Berger | Won | |
| 2024 | 38th Goya Awards | Best Editing | Fernando Franco | Nominated | |
| 2024 | 38th Goya Awards | Best Original Score | Alfonso de Vilallonga | Nominated | |
| 2024 | 21st International Cinephile Society Awards | Best Animated Film | Robot Dreams | Runner-up | |
| 2024 | 51st Annie Awards | Best Animated Feature - Independent | Robot Dreams | Won | |
| 2024 | 51st Annie Awards | Best Character Design - Feature | Daniel Fernandez Casas | Nominated | |
| 2024 | 51st Annie Awards | Best Direction - Feature | Pablo Berger, Benoît Feroumont | Nominated | |
| 2024 | 51st Annie Awards | Best Storyboarding - Feature | Maca Gil | Nominated | |
| 2024 | 51st Annie Awards | Best Writing - Feature | Pablo Berger | Nominated | |
| 2024 | 28th Satellite Awards | Best Animated or Mixed Media Feature | Robot Dreams | Nominated | |
| 2024 | 17th Alliance of Women Film Journalists Awards | Best Animated Film | Robot Dreams | Nominated | |
| 2024 | 96th Academy Awards | Best Animated Feature | Pablo Berger, Ibon Cormenzana [ca], Ignasi Estapé and Sandra Tapia Díaz [ca] | Nominated | [76] [13] |
| 2024 | 11th Platino Awards | Best Animated Film | Robot Dreams | Won | |
| 2024 | 11th Platino Awards | Best Original Score | Alfonso de Vilallonga | Won | |
| 2024 | 7th Quirino Awards | Best Ibero-American Feature Film | Robot Dreams | Won | |
| 2024 | 7th Quirino Awards | Best Visual Development | José Luis Ágreda, Daniel Fernández Casas | Nominated | |
| 2024 | 7th Quirino Awards | Best Sound Design and Original Music | Fabiola Ordoyo, Alfonso Vilallonga | Won | |

## Future

In March 2024, during a screening in the Aero Theatre, director Pablo Berger expressed interest in making a sequel "involving Dog and Robot meeting up again for Thanksgiving with their respective partners" or a spin-off of the film:
"I’ve thought about revisiting this world, maybe with a spin-off of some of the characters. A horror film with the bunnies, or Duck goes to Barcelona? But we’re in L.A., so someone could steal my idea." said Berger.