What Makes Them Tick
2022 · 7m · Finland
Directed by Jimi Kujanpää
Tones: contemplative, melancholic, tender
Three small robot companions descend into an abandoned mine in search of the invaluable fuel that keeps their kind alive. Working together in the darkness, they uncover what powers them — and what it costs.
Picked by Zoe
The scouts
Everyone expects animated robots to be cute or clever — Kujanpää flips it into something closer to a descent into industrial horror, which is genuinely weird for the form, but the emotional core never feels like mere provocation.
The dialogue-free constraint places this firmly in the lineage of Miyazaki's wordless sequences and early Pixar's formal restraint; the editing rhythm between intimate close-ups and vast mine spaces shows real command of animated pacing.
The single choice that makes this work: using practical-looking lantern glow as the only source of warmth in a monochromatic environment — it's a lighting decision that transforms a student project into something with genuine atmospheric weight, and it cost nothing but intention.
Reviews
An animated movie about three robot friends exploring an abandoned mine in quest of the vital fuel that might ensure the continued existence of their race.
Festivals
- Animatricks Animation Festival 2022
- Animatricks Animation Festival 2023