Robots

—Overview
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—About this Film pdf
—Spiritual Connections

Memo to Pixar: You’ve got competition—finally.

Robots is a spectacular film. Not since Monsters, Inc. (my favorite animated film to date) have I been so delighted and amazed at an animated feature. Even then, I’m almost willing to concede top spot to Rodney Copperbottom and the gang. Almost.

So why is Robots so great? For starters, what impressed me most about Monsters, Inc. and even Finding Nemo, to a lesser extent, was the detail and complexity of the worlds these films created. I greeted each new scene with joyful expectation, because it was bound to be jammed full of so many little nuggets and inside jokes that it would take several viewings to appreciate them all. You got the sense that the filmmakers had thought of everything, and it is precisely this attention to detail that made the worlds of Nemo and Monsters feel so real.

Robots is enchanting for exactly the same reason, only more so. From the breathtaking, nausea-inducing Robot City transit system right down to the male/female symbols on the bathroom doors, it was obvious that nothing escaped the filmmakers’ attention, and that they were limited by nothing less than their considerable imaginations. As someone with only minimal mechanical ability, I was spellbound that someone could even conceive of such a comprehensive, multi-layered world like this one, much less make it move, talk, and sing. But the folks at Blue Sky did all that and more.

It’s interesting to note that behind all three of these films (Monsters, Nemo, and Robots), you have a team of writers versus a single mind, as was the case with Brad Bird’s The Incredibles. While I thought Bird’s film was okay, it would have benefited immensely from a roomful of post-pubescent guys tossing around every crazy “What if…?� question that came to mind. One mind is simply not enough to pull off a world-building project of this magnitude—unless, of course, that mind happens to reside in the skull of Nick Park (Wallace and Gromit/Chicken Run). But even then, his output could hardly be called prolific.

Another aspect of this film that captured me was the visuals; from the sheer scope of the wide-angle shots to the way the light hit the robots’ “skin.� Robots is the perfect blend of futuristic and modern, engineering and art. Prior to the film, I had no idea that the design team included William Joyce, one of my favorite children’s author/illustrators. But afterwards, it made perfect sense. His fingerprints were all over the place. Bringing the creator of such classics as Dinosaur Bob and A Day With Wilbur Robinson on board was one the best moves Blue Sky could have made. I hope this is only the beginning of a parallel career for him.

Robots also gets top marks because it made me do something that so far only Seinfeld, The Simpsons, and a few stand-up comedians have been able to do: Make me laugh out loud while sitting alone in a darkened room. Fender (voiced by Robin Williams) in particular cracked me up. But just as funny were some of the situations the filmmakers managed to create as well as the dozens of pop culture references and inside jokes. Robots isn’t exactly “laugh-a-minute,� but it definitely gives you a good feeling overall, especially the closing musical number—and that’s saying something, considering I’m not a fan of such things.

In terms of message, you can’t get much clearer than this film. On the one hand, you have Mr. Bigweld’s inspiring message of “You can shine no matter what you’r e made of.� This is good news for robots like Rodney Copperbottom, whose dreams of becoming a great inventor like Bigweld could potentially be threatened by his father’s lowly occupation as a dishwasher. Even though robots like Rodney can’t afford new parts, that doesn’t mean they can’t do something great with their lives.

Enter Phineas T. Ratchet, a slick, next-gen robot with store-bought brains and a plan to enforce a global version of Extreme Makeover. His message echoes that of most marketers of health and beauty products today: “Why be you when you can be new?� With Ratchet in charge of Bigweld’s corporation, the chances of survival for ordinary robots like Rodney are fading fast. Ratchet plans to phase out replacement parts completely. And if robots can’t afford to buy his shiny, new upgrades, it’s off to the scrap heap. Hence, it falls to Rodney and his motley crew of friends to coax Bigweld out of retirement so he can lead the fight against Ratchet and make it okay for robots everywhere to simply be themselves once again. Robots is an anti-consumerist message delivered in the most appealing package imaginable. Let’s just hope Blue Sky doesn’t contradict this message by merchandising the film to death.

The only reason this film didn’t manage to boot Monsters, Inc. off the podium in my mind has to do with characterization and, consequently, plot. While the world of Robots was spectacular, many of the characters that inhabited it seemed stereotypical, underdeveloped, or downright unappealing. Bigweld was a particularly sore spot for me. His decision to take back his company is one of the turning points of the film. And yet it is never clear why he turned his company over to Ratchet in the first place or what finally motivates him to reverse his decision. I had a similar problem with Cappy, Ratchet’s “object of lust,� who comes out of nowhere to help Rodney and his friends overthrow the big shiny jerk. Zero personality, zero appeal. I think sharpening the pencil a little more in this areas would finally push Blue Sky over the top.

Despite such flaws, this film is well worth seeing and re-seeing. No doubt that is exactly what I will be forced to do once my kids get hold of the DVD. However, unlike some of their other viewing choices, I probably won’t mind it a bit.

—Overview
—Photos
—About this Film pdf
—Spiritual Connections