Talking about animation

This chapter examines Pablo Berger’s Robot Dreams (2023), an animated adaptation of Sara Varon’s 2007 comic book, which narrates a wordless friendship between a dog and a robot in a world without human characters. Robot Dreams premiered at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival, before receiving a Best Animated Feature Film nomination at the 96th Oscars. Why is it so compelling? Through silent storytelling and minimalist visuals, Berger invites viewers into a narrative where the absence of dialogue and human presence heightens the emotional and philosophical depth of the protagonists’ experiences. Although the film represented Spain in the Oscars, the story eliminates any cultural identity in favor of American film features, which raises questions about if that is the price to pay in order to make Spanish animation a profitable business ( Pagès, 2025 ).