'Where the Robots Grow' burst onto the scene in October 2024 with audacious claims of being first in AI film history - claims that Forbes (Oct 26, 2024) had to officially correct after overlooking two years of established pioneers. What we have here is hollow filmmaking dressed in marketing hype. Despite trumpeting AI breakthroughs, it's essentially traditional CGI and mocap work with minimal AI elements to warrant the hype. Rushed through production in three months, it hides behind a children's film label to disguise its lack of storytelling. Plenty of children's films manage to engage audiences of all ages through genuine creativity and care, such as the works of Jim Henson or Studio Ghibli. The director's brazen claim that 'quality, not chronology, determines first' is perhaps the film's greatest irony. As critic Thaddeus Howze states: 'It's historically bad... in ambition, it fails spectacularly, reminiscent of Ed Wood's disasters.' The film achieves a remarkable feat: it manages to be both creatively and technically unengaging. While it could have contributed something meaningful to the AI film conversation through mocap integration (like 'Who Said Death was Beautiful?' a film that was famously banned at Annecy), instead it chose to dismiss two years of genuine innovation and pioneering work. The result isn't just disappointing, it's a cautionary tale of what happens when marketing ambition exceeds creative integrity. While it is free to watch, we should try to get our money back.
