Neon debuted the official trailer for Robot Dreams, Pablo Berger’s award winning film about a tender, affecting tale of friendship between a dog and a robot in New York in 1984.

The movie is adapted from the graphic novel of the same name by Sara Varon and does not contain any dialogue.

It has won multiple awards including Best Film in the Contrechamp section of Annecy International Animation Film Festival; Best Independent Animated Feature at the 51st Annie Awards; Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Animated Film at Goya Awards; Best Animated Film at European Film Awards; along with a nomination for Best Animated Feature at the 96th Academy Awards.

Release Date

Directed by Pablo Berger, Robot Dreams world premiered at Cannes Film Festival and opens in theaters in New York on May 31 at Film Forum and in Los Angeles on June 7, then expanding through June.

Synopsis

Robot Dreams is set in a 1980s NYC populated solely by pigs, birds, cats, and other animal clans. Yet Dog leads a lonely existence, eating TV dinners in his East Village walkup. When he sees an infomercial for a robot-building kit, he seizes the chance for the perfect city buddy: Dog and Robot eat hot dogs together on 5th Avenue, roller skate in Central Park, venture to Coney Island — to the groove of their song, Earth, Wind & Fire’s “September.” But when Robot gets stranded at the beach, Dog is helpless to rescue him; and, as the seasons change, they both endure a separation that will change them forever.

Reviews

Guardian review called the film ‘one of the best animations in recent years’ and gave it a perfect 5 of 5 stars, wrote, “What Berger has created with Robot Dreams is not just one of the finest animations of recent years; it’s also one of the most persuasive love letters to the city of New York. The time and location are etched in affectionate details into every frame, from the period-specific graffiti to the cultural references (Dog is visited by a trick-or-treating sloth dressed as Freddy Krueger), to the East Village in-jokes (a rented VHS of The Wizard of Oz comes from Kim’s Video, a now fabled video store that was run from the back of an East Village dry cleaners). It’s a city that is vibrantly present in the film’s evocative sound and meticulously captured in the background design. But, as Dog and Robot discover, it fully comes to life when it’s shared.”

Official Trailer

Watch the official trailer for Robot Dreams