Robot Carnival (1987)

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nTitle: Robot Carnival (1987)

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nDirectors: Atsuko Fukoshima, Hiroyuki Kitakubo, HiroyikinKitasume, Koji Morimoto, Takashi Nakamura, Yasuomi Umetsu, Manabu Ohashi,nHidetoshi Omori, Katsuhiro Otomo

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nI love anime movies, the problem with some of them is thatnsometimes they are so hard to get! Take for example Robot Carnival (1987), thenfilm I’ll be discussing today. It’s an amazing animated film that I’m sure anynanime fan would love to have in their collection, yet it to this day it hasn’tnbe released on dvd or blueray, and the only way you can see it is either bynbuying a bootleg copy with bad resolution, or you seeing it the way I did, onnYou Tube. Now normally I never watch movies on You Tube because to me it’s antravesty having to see a movie that way, but sometimes it’s the only way to seenthem, specially the more obscure ones. So anyhow, I finally got around to seeingnRobot Carnival which was recommended to me by my good friend Sci-Fi Fanaticnover at Musings of a Sci-Fi Fanatic, where he wrote this amazing article on abunch of anime films, some of which I have not seen yet. Robot Carnival was onenof them. Of course I immediately searched this one out and well, here are mynthoughts on it.

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nRobot Carnival is an anthology film composed of sevennstories from seven different anime directors. Anthology films can be coolnprecisely because of this, because we get to see different stories, withndifferent tones, themes and styles. Japanese animation director’s love makingnthese anthology films, there’s a ton of them and I have to say, I’ve enjoyed allnof the ones I have seen. I’d recommend checking out Memories (1995), whichnincludes three animated shorts; one of them from Katsuhiro Otomo, the directornof Akira (1988) called ‘Cannon Fodder’, great animation on that one. On RobotnCarnival the stories are as diverse as they are entertaining and thoughtnprovoking. Some stories are simply an exercise in style, others are filled withnsentiment. The one thing that holds these shorts together is that they are allnabout robots.  In the end Robot Carnivalnis one big mash up of great animation, it actually gathers an amazing group ofnanimators, some of which went on to make milestones in the world of animation,nlike the aforementioned, Katsuhiro Otomo who went on to direct Akira (1988) and Steamboy (2004),ntwo amazing anime films I urge you guys and gals out there to see at somenpoint. Other animators who participated on Robot Carnival worked on films likenThe Animatrix (2003) and Blood: The Last Vampire (2000), so we have an amazingnpool of talent on Robot Carnival.

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nSo what is Robot Carnival about? Well, since it’s annanthology film it’s about a lot of things. But for starters, the film opens withnthese huge stone letters coming out of a dune in the dessert. When we take angood look, the letters spell the words “Robot Carnival”. Soon, from thenletters, guns appear and start to shoot fireworks, then, an orchestra appearsnthat starts shooting lasers out of their trombones. Suddenly we realize that thisnawesome fireworks display and these huge stone letters are really the titlensequence announcing the opening of the film! As if saying, “Here’s our bignRobot movie check it out! It’s going to be spectacular!” And that it was. Itnseemed to me like what these directors were doing was showcasing their artisticnand storytelling abilities, showing the world what they are made of. You canntell that with each different short, the directors were trying their best toncreate a visual feast, something dazzling to look at. This is probably why anlot of the shorts don’t have a lot of story to them, in fact some of them don’tneven have dialog, they simply focus on amazing us with the visuals, a quicknjolt of coolness. In this way, it’s a bit like Disney’s Fantasia (1940). On the other hand, some shorts on Robot Carnival arenthought provoking and even introspective; others cram so much story into them,nthat you feel like you’ve fallen right smack in the middle of a movie alreadynin progress.  So as you can see, tones,nthemes are stories will jump all over the place, which is what’s cool aboutnanthology films. So now, I’ll break down the shorts for you guys:

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nStar Light Angeln-  is about these two girls who go to annamusement park filled with robots. One of the girls ends up falling for a guynin the amusement park who just so happens to be a guy that ends up turning intonan evil giant robot. Then a good robot comes to save her and it felt a bit likenan animated version of Scott Pilgrim vs. The World (2010), with the good robotnboyfriend vs. the evil giant robot ex boyfriend. It’s a lighthearted short, filled with lots of colors and mostly happy moments. 

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nCloud – is a very ‘artsy fartsy’ short, verynsymbolic in nature. I took it as a robot watching the history of mankind unfolding in front of its very eyes, fromnour birth, to our own self destruction, then to rebirth.

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nDeprive – has anhero, a girl in peril and evil alien robots taking over the earth. This shortngoes at a million miles per second, blink and you’ll miss something, but it’sncool stuff happening all the time. We get aliens, tentacled robots, lasers and thenearth saved all in the course of a few minutes.

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nFranken’s Gears -nis a homage to Frankenstein. In this short a mad scientist creates a giantnrobot in his dark laboratory. At first he thinks it’s not alive but after a fewnswitches are flipped, lightning strikes and voila! The robot is alive! Thenrobot begins to imitate its creator. Will this be for the good of the madnscientist? Or will it be his doom? Visually striking, loved this one.

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nPresence – Thisnone also has an inventor working on a robot, this time in a secret secludedncottage in the middle of the woods. He ends up having conversations with thenrobot who expresses her desire to go out into the world and experience life.nShe reminded me of the robots from Blade Runner (1982), asking for life. It’snone of those stories that touches upon the idea of robots outliving their ownncreators. 

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nA tale of Two Robots Chapter 3: Foreign Invasionn- is ‘steam punkish’ in nature because it’s all about two giant woodennrobots fighting in the middle of a city, but not in modern times. It’s a periodnfilm, set in the 19th century, but with machinery that runs on steam. It’s visually impressive, whatnwith giant wood robots walking about the city and all, yet it is also light onnthemes. It feels like we are watching a small part of a larger story.  

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nNightmare – Is the darkest and mostnapocalyptic of all the shorts, it takes place in a darck city, as giant robotsnroam about the streets. Lightning bolts destroy the city and robot armies arenformed, as humans run away from the chaos, trying to survive. This short is allnabout The Human vs. The mechanical. It has no dialog and gives lots of emphasisnto mixing music with visuals. Very atmospheric and gloomy.

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nThen the film ends with another ‘wrap around’ story thatnends the film with a bang. Robot Carnival is a great anthology film, a displaynof awesome talent in the field of animation. You’ll never feel bored becausenyou’ll always see something different. You can tell this film was made bynartists, its main emphasis is on creating striking visuals. So from that angle,nyou won’t be disappointed. If you’re looking for a deep film, look elsewhere,nbecause you’ll get depth only from a few of the shorts, the rest are eye candy,nwhich is a good thing as well. Some films are meant to be enjoyed solely forntheir escapism. If you’re a fan of anime, science fiction and robots, younshould definitely check this one out.

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nRating: 4 out of 5

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