Robot Dreams

Last night I went to the Broadway for an early access screening of Robot Dreams, a nominee for the Best Animated Feature Academy Award this year, and it made me feel all the things.  Dog lives a lonely life in a small apartment in the East Village where he spends his time playing video games, watching TV, and eating microwaved dinners.  He sees an ad for a Robot companion and decides to order one. Soon Dog and Robot are inseparable, riding the subway, roller skating in the park, rowing on the lake, eating hot dogs from street vendors, and watching The Wizard of Oz together.  At the end of the summer they take a trip to the beach and spend a fun day swimming and sunbathing but the water makes Robot rust in place and, when Dog cannot move him, he reluctantly leaves in order to get the tools to fix him.  Unfortunately, when he returns, the beach is closed for the winter and he can't get to Robot.  While they wait for the summer, Robot has a series of hopeful dreams in which he reunites with Dog while Dog goes on with his life trying to find another connection.  Eventually, Robot ends up in a scrap yard and is rebuilt by Rascal the Racoon and Dog buys another Robot named Tin.  When Robot sees Dog on the street he decides not to approach him because Dog has formed a new friendship with Tin and he has done the same with Rascal.  I found the message that friendships sometimes grow apart through no fault of anyone involved to be incredibly moving (and not at all what I was expecting) and it actually brought me to tears.  I loved that this is able to convey just about every emotion imaginable without any dialogue (I especially loved Robot's expression of wide-eyed wonder) and I loved the colorful 2-D animation.  The depiction of New York City in the 80s is perfectly realized with lots of little details that put a smile on my face and the sound design featuring the background noise of the city is very effective. Finally, the use of "September" by Earth, Wind & Fire is a lot of fun in the roller skating scene but it becomes increasingly more poignant and the movie progresses.  I do think that some of the dream sequences go on longer than they need to but I loved this more than I was expecting to and I highly recommend it when it gets a wide-release this summer.

Note:  This would be a perfect double feature with Past Lives (but only if you have enough tissues).