Robin Robin (2021) – 3/5

Round Robin

„Robin Robin“ is a co-production between the United Kingdom and United States from 2021, so a relatively recent film and if Netflix and Aardman collaborate on a film featuring the voices of Richard E. Grant and Gillian Anderson, then you know what you can expect: Good quality. The one voicing the title character is Bronte Carmichael. Interesting first name. Even more interesting to see what other film she appeared in a while ago and the name connection to this one here is just a huge coincidence I assume. With Aardman, you never really get the newest animation technologies, but there is a touch of retro to their works. And lots and lots of charm. I like it. They are also never going for the cutest characters in terms of looks, even if they definitely could have with the robin here. I mean said robin does look cute in its own way, also through the clumsiness a bit, but definitely not Disney-style and instead more flawed and it is also a bit of a chubby Robin and just works nicely all in all. The robin (I guess it is a male robin then despite the female voice actress?) is brought up by mice and taught by them (or its „father“) how to be a good mice. So a bit of Jungle Book almost, even if we do not see all that in detail. Lots of love from the mice for the robin, even if he does something wrong that results in them losing all the food they were about to take with them. How the mice talked about traps or, even worse, cats, was a bit funny, also their plans of the neighborhood basically to see which places they had already broken into. Those with the big red cross. But the funniest moment came from the Magpie for me when he was about to understand something the robin said. Or was not. Nobody can be sure about that. But the reaction was hilarious.

This was a charming little film overall. I was missing greatness, but I enjoyed the watch constantly. At 32 minutes, it is by far the longest from the animated short Oscar nominees this year. All four others are roughly half as long. Not too many weaknesses here. I admittedly struggled a bit with the somewhat big moment when the robin accepts he is a bird and simply flies away when he has to because the cat is about to catch (hehe cat-ch) him otherwise. This came a bit out of nowhere. I mean there was one occasion earlier when the robin said he can’t fly when he was talking to the magpie with the injured wing, but still. The good moments were more frequent luckily, also really creative in a cute way too. Look at how the title character distracts the cat and the cat asks what he is doing (and probably some people in the audience asked themselves the same question because of the typical Aardman awkwardness, awkwaardness hehe), but it totally made sense to help his (fellow) mice. The robin was not stupid at all. Just a bit naive maybe. In the end, the robin, the mice and the magpie bond and find a new approach how they can get the food they are longing for. I think this worked out really nice and no hesitation for me in giving it a thumbs-up. I am not sure if it is my favorite from the nominees or „only“ number two, but if it wins the Oscar (and the chance is certainly there), then I will not complain at all. This is also the most harmless film from the nominees, which could help its chances. Maybe even the only one you want to watch with children. Okay, the Russian entry is also still okay for that. I shall get to that one next. For now, Robin Robin surely gets a positive recommendation from me. The running time also feels right. Don’t think there could have been enough quality material for a full feature film, but under 25 minutes would maybe also not have been the right choice. So well done to those working on it and you should reward them by giving this cute little film a chance. Nicely animated, good story too.