Why Robot Dreams Director Pablo Berger Needed Earth, Wind & Fire’s ‘September’

Robot Dreams is nominated for the Oscar for Best Animated Feature, but most people haven’t been able to see it yet. It premiered at Cannes and played additional festivals. I saw it on an FYC screener so when American Cinematheque showed it this weekend, I had to see it in a theater. As a bonus, director Pablo Berger was there to speak about the film afterwards. 

Based on Sara Varon’s graphic novel, Robot Dreams is about the friendship between a Dog and a Robot in the ‘80s. Sadly, they get separated and the film is about the bittersweet part of life where some very important people are only in your life for a moment. Nobody in the film talks, but the song “September” by Earth, Wind & Fire, is a theme of the film. 

“Having ‘September,’ I imagine everybody in Studio 54, Liza Minelli, and all the crowd dancing to ‘September,’” Berger said. “So I thought it was perfect to have it in the ‘80s in New York. We had the roller dance scene in Central Park. I said roller disco era, the ‘80s is more sexy than the ‘90s.”

Robot Dreams chronicles a year in the life of the Dog and Robot, from September to September. Berger said his first cut identified each month like Varon’s book, but took those title cards out because they were intrusive. More importantly, the Earth, Wind & Fire song had more resonance than simply keeping time. 

“‘Do you remember?’ The film is about memory,” Berger said. “One of the main themes of the film is memory. Then we analyzed the lyrics. I went through the whole song. ‘Do you remember the 21st night of September?’ The music editor of the film, [Yuko Harami], we are life partners, and we both remember the 21st night of September because our only daughter was born on the 21st night of September. Films are like our children. Our daughter knows that all the time that we haven’t spent with her we spent with her siblings, the films. So it has to be this song.”

“September” plays more than once in the film. After the roller dance, characters may whistle it, and every time it plays it reminds Robot and Dog of each other. 

“The producers are here and they know how expensive this song is,” Berger said. “It was a tough negotiation, worth every penny. I’m sure there’s some people in the business, you can imagine, it’s not that you get ‘September’ for the movie and you put it as many times as you want. Every time you play ‘September,’ whistle, another version, it was a big production cost.”

Besides music, Berger specified the city of New York in his adaptation. 

“In the book there was no New York,” Berger said. “It was just an American city but it was not clear with city. I live with my closest collaborator Yuko 10 years in New York. When I told her, I want to adapt this book and make an animation film, the reason is because it would also be our love letter to New York. So the protagonists of the film, not the graphic novel, are Robot, Dog and New York.”

The film makes Varon’s art move and also fills in the background with background characters. 

“If you want to make the protagonist of Robot Dreams Robot, Dog and New York, you need New Yorkers,” Berger said. “They’re everywhere. One of the interesting things about making this film is creating thousands and thousands of New Yorkers. We had a team, character design team, through the whole time of production, doing New Yorkers nonstop. Every animal.”

Berger also added more attempts by the Dog to reunite with the Robot, who gets stuck on the beach with no power. In the movie, Dog attempts to file paperwork to access the beach after it is closed, and gets arrested trying to break into the beach.

“Every time we put more and more,” Berger said. “Even some audience tell me, ‘Can’t he try more?’ But he’s going to jail the next time.”

Neon will open Robot Dreams on May 31.