“The only reason we are talking right now,” director Pablo Berger says over Zoom, “is because I fell in love with Robot and Dog and the story.” The Spanish director is speaking from L.A., where he recently attended the Oscar nominees luncheon for his feted feature animated film Robot Dreams, but, as he explains, the project originated with Sara Varon’s 2007 graphic novel. “The characters are very simple, cartoonlike,” says Berger. “That was very attractive and at the same time something very good for animation.”

So Berger, working on his first animated project, along with his character designer Daniel Fernandez Casas, embarked on a little bit of a “makeover” for the central duo, a human-like dog and the robot pal he orders who becomes his best friend. Set in ’80s New York, the dialogue-free film — which will have a U.S. theatrical release in May — tracks the ups and...