I was really excited to find out that Robot Dreams was now streaming on Hulu, as this is yet another film that I’ve been waiting to watch for some time thanks in large part to my father mentioning this film to me. If there are 2 things that I can think for this film is that I’m now going to have “September” by Earth, Wind & Fire stuck in mind for days now & the fact that this film nearly f**king broke me because of how truly great it is. For me, Robot Dreams feels like it has the atmosphere of a PBS Kids show like Arthur & the art style of We Bare Bears. I really don’t know why, but that’s how I felt while watching this film. I mean, it’s literally just the separation between the friendship of a dog & a robot & it’s just so emotionally mature & written so well. Oh yeah, no character even speaks once at all in this film so that’s even better. Don’t you just love it when a film has no dialogue, but is still amazingly written at the same time?

As the last major contender that I have now seen for Best Animated Feature for 2023, I gotta give it to that year. There were actually a lot of great animated films from 2023. I would have loved to see Robot Dreams somehow being able to the top prize at the Oscars last year, but I’m still very happy with Studio Ghibli & Hayao Miyazaki winning with The Boy & the Heron. This film man, it’s just a fricking emotional roller-coaster exploring how a dog & a robot’s separation is tested. One of the my favorite scenes from this film is the one where the robot befriends a mother bird & her babies on the beach. I won’t go into more detail about it, but holy shit it is so cute. The whole “expectations vs. reality” aspect of this film through the dreams of both the dog & the robot is also just perfect. Think of it like how 500 Days of Summer handled it, but in a very mature animated film. It’s honestly crazy that Robot Dreams is actually rated PG-13 over PG. I think a film like this one would perfect for kids to watch as well, despite some suggestive parts like when the robot flips a person off in the streets of NYC. People, do yourself favor & go watch Robot Dreams. It’s an animated film that just needs to be seen.