‘Robot Dreams’ Director Pablo Berger on Why He Fell in Love With the Simplicity of the Characters and Their Friendship
“The only reason we are talking right now,” director Pablo Berger says over Zoom, “is because I fell in love with Robot and Dog and the story.” The Spanish director is speaking from L.A., where he recently attended the Oscar nominees luncheon for his feted feature animated film Robot Dreams, but, as he explains, the project originated with Sara Varon’s 2007 graphic novel. “The characters are very simple, cartoonlike,” says Berger. “That was very attractive and at the same time something very good for animation.”
So Berger, working on his first animated project, along with his character designer Daniel Fernandez Casas, embarked on a little bit of a “makeover” for the central duo, a human-like dog and the robot pal he orders who becomes his best friend. Set in ’80s New York, the dialogue-free film — which will have a U.S. theatrical release in May — tracks the ups and downs of this friendship through dance numbers to Earth, Wind & Fire and hardships like rust. As soon as you begin watching these two go on their adventures, it’s easy to see why Berger fell in love.
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Berger had one actor in mind for the character of Dog, a lonely New Yorker: Jack Lemmon. Specifically, Jack Lemmon in Billy Wilder’s 1960 film The Apartment. Beyond that reference, however, Berger himself felt very connected to Dog. “It’s me,” he says. “I lived in the East Village for 10 years. That was my last apartment, even the address, even the outside, even what I saw from the window.”
The filmmakers wanted to keep Robot’s and Dog’s eyes and mouths simple. “We have that challenge: How can we do amazing acting and we only have two circles with two dots and one line?” Berger says. Once they did tests, they knew they could achieve this goal. For inspiration, they were “always looking to Japan” and the films of Studio Ghibli.
Animation director Beno?t Féroumont, who has worked on such critically acclaimed films as The Triplets of Belleville, was very involved in the design of Robot. Initially, Robot was rounder. Notes Berger, “He really insisted that we need to have more square lines so we could see the difference when he moves.”
Berger explains that there were “many discussions” concerning Dog’s ears. They had to move if, for instance, he rode on a motorcycle, but couldn’t be constantly swaying. Similar debates were had about Dog’s tail. “It took a while to get to the final design of Dog,” Berger says, adding that they attempted versions of Dog with various sizes and lengths of ears and tail.
Dog wears only a collar for most of the film but puts on swim trunks at the beach. “I like a little bit of surreal humor, almost like Monty Python humor,” Berger says. When Dog takes the shorts on and off, he uses a towel to protect his modesty.
While Varon’s book focuses on the two central characters, Berger’s film creates a vivid New York filled with other anthropomorphic creatures. The denizens also aren’t only creatures that are native to the city. “The animals were from any continent,” Berger says. “I think that is also a good metaphor: What is New York like?” He wanted pairs to be surprising: Dog’s downstairs neighbors are a chicken and a cat, for instance. He also nodded to other thespians. A monkey, for instance, was an homage to Steve Buscemi.
Robot and Dog are a study in contrasts. Dog is bottom-heavy and pear-shaped with short legs. Robot has a sturdy torso with sharp edges and long legs. They were inspired by silent cinema pairs like Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, Berger explains.
This story first appeared in a February stand-alone issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe.
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