For those who don’t know, there’s something that everyone should understand as soon as they meet me – I’m a huge animation person. I love anime with a passion. I've watched every single Pixar and Disney animated movie probably known to man, and adore some of the best Dreamworks films. But, a certain animation studio that has also created some of my favorite movies in the past is Blue Sky Studios – and they created Robots in 2005.
While Blue Sky Studios is probably known more for its successful franchise, Ice Age, or some of their other hits like The Peanuts Movie or Rio, this 2005 animated film, to me, is an underrated animated classic that not that many people my age remember. But, I do, so well, and I’m here to tell you why, if you haven’t seen Robots, you need to watch it right now, as soon as you can.
The World-Building Is Actually Really Cool
Look, we live in a world that is dominated by huge fantasy shows that have fantastic world-building, like House of the Dragon (which is getting a Season 2) or even The Wheel of Time. I’m not saying to expect a fully detailed world that will live up the worlds of great writers like J.R.R. Tolkien or George R.R. Martin. But, what I will say is that, for an animated movie, the world of Robots is really cool.
From the moment the movie begins, we are thrown into the world of Robot City, where everything is obviously a robot and motorized. And yet, everything feels so lively. It’s not only the architecture that you get to see – it’s the way that their culture revolves around being a robot.
I mean, even the way they have a child in Robots is so creative and funny and something that I really appreciate as a viewer, that the writer took the time out of their day to come up with something so clever. It’s so much fun.
The Voice-Acting Is Lowkey Amazing
When it comes to animated movies, there have been some truly star-studded cast lists. Just think of the DC’s League of Super-Pets cast and how many stars were in there. It’s always a big draw for actors, so having a good cast is essential to any animated film.
However, and I don’t say this lightly, the cast kills it in Robots. There have been plenty of animated movie casts that I’ve listened to in the past that just aren’t that good and make me want to roll my eyes, because it sounds like they just sort of stepped into the booth and didn’t put any emotion into their words.
The voice cast of Robots was genuinely great. Ewan McGregor was awesome in the leading role, Halle Berry was perfect as the love interest – even Jennifer Coolidge was amazing as Aunt Fanny – which, by the way, was perfect casting. But there is one specific voice actor out of everyone that I have to give praise to.
Specifically – Robin Williams Kills It
Like, actually, wow.
While the late Robin Williams brought smiles to so many over his lifetime, I always loved him in voice roles, because it felt as if you could feel his personality through the microphone. And that’s what his voicing of Fender was like.
I mean, listen to him as Fender and see for yourself. It almost feels like a robotic version of Genie from Aladdin, because he’s just so energetic and unpredictable and the perfect comedic relief for those serious moments in the movie, something that everyone can love. While the cast of Robots is great, I’ll always personally love Williams’ performance the most.
The Story Is Fun For Both Kids And Adults
I’ll be straight right now – Robots isn’t going to be like a Pixar film and be a movie that will make you question your life, like Soul, or make you want to hug your grandma like Coco, but what it will be is a fun time, because both adults and kids can enjoy it.
The whole point of Robots is that you follow Rodney Copperbottom, an inventor who wants to make it big in Robot City but hates the new management at the company he wants to work at because his idol founded it years ago. Now, it’s up to him and a few of his friends to expose the corruption behind it.
While the story itself isn’t original, it’s something all adults can relate to – the need to try and prove yourself and make sure that things are done the right way instead of the easy way. To always be just and good. It’s a great message for kids, too. Kids can also enjoy the wonderful world of Robot City, and its quirky characters. Speaking of characters…
Every Robot Is Designed So Uniquely
That’s something I genuinely love about this movie. It almost reminds me of the TV series, Totally Spies, because in that show, the animators took the time to animate new outfits onto the main three characters for every episode. In Robots, there is barely a single robot that looks the same. Do you know how much time that must have taken?
Hours. So many hours.
But as a viewer and lover of animated movies, I absolutely adore that. It shows that they really wanted to make sure that this world felt real for the audience that’s watching the film and gave the characters their own designs, as well as their own personalities. No one feels like a carbon copy of the other, and there’s a different robot for everyone to enjoy.
The Random Songs That Are Used Are Genuine Bops
This is something that’s really random but God, I love the usage of modern music in this movie. From one of the big dance scenes to “Get Up Offa That Thing” by James Brown to Fender dancing to “...Baby One More Time,” every single bit is so much fun.
To be honest, at first, you’d almost expect moments like this to feel out of place, but everything works so well and makes me want to get up offa my own thing and dance along to the music as it’s playing in the theater.
Robots may be one of the underrated movies from Blue Sky Studios when it was still in operation, but it’s one that really sits in my heart as a personal favorite from childhood. Hopefully, I've now convinced one new person to check it out. If you haven’t, trust me, it’ll be worth your time.
