The Day the Robots Woke Up

Ed Hartwell has constructed a lyrical tale, set in a lovingly constructed, overgrown London. Here robots find each other and serve the planet, rather than save it. The models are endearing and painstakingly rendered to give them an appropriately metallic look. The collaborators have caught the mood of the piece, all helping to make the work more cinematic: the music, the sets and a supplementary animation sequence. There are film and television references for those who want to try and spot them: better to fall under the spell of the rhyming couplets. Having seen "Time Looters", "Bus Kong" and the excellent "Finger Kingdom", the evidence of "When the Robots woke up" is that Mr. Hartwell's work is becoming more distinctive and more ambitious. He is one to watch and this work is a crowd-pleaser.