Five years ago today, Ron’s Gone Wrong introduced audiences to a world where children could buy their own robot best friend, complete with social media connections and an algorithm designed to help them fit in. Gosh, that certainly sounds like another movie coming out this weekend. What a coincidence.
Yes, Ron’s Gone Wrong is celebrating its fifth anniversary just as Taika Waititi’s Klara and the Sun makes its way into theaters. And the two films share a strikingly similar premise, at least on the surface.
The 2021 animated comedy Ron’s Gone Wrong had a funny idea about the future of childhood, but with Klara and the Sun on the near horizon, and Toy Story 5 also tackling the growing battle between toys and technology, it might be time to give Ron another look. It sounds to me like Disney’s animated cult hit was ahead of its time in more ways than one.
Directed by Sarah Smith and Jean-Philippe Vine, Ron’s Gone Wrong follows Barney Pudowski, a socially awkward middle-schooler who feels like the odd kid out because he doesn’t own a B-Bot. The walking, talking devices are made by Bubble, a tech company promising to make friendship as easy as buying a new gadget.
Barney eventually gets a B-Bot of his own, but Ron is a little different from the others. He arrives damaged, with his safety protocols and carefully designed social programming in a state of disrepair. Instead of instantly turning Barney into the most popular kid at school, Ron’s unpredictable behavior sends the pair into a mess of trouble. Their friendship ends up meaning far more than any number of online connections.
The film’s central joke was that a company had figured out how to sell friendship to children, then built a machine that could supposedly deliver it. Ron, of course, doesn’t work as intended. His failures give Barney something he couldn’t get from a perfectly functioning B-Bot: a friend who doesn’t care about popularity or whether his social profile looks impressive.
That idea feels particularly relevant now. Pixar’s Toy Story 5 puts Bonnie’s attention on an interactive tablet called Lilypad, leaving Woody and the other toys worried about their place in her life. It’s a different franchise with its own approach, but the overlap is hard to miss. Both movies are concerned with what happens when technology competes with the old-fashioned business of playing, talking and making friends.
Then we have Klara and the Sun, based on Kazuo Ishiguro’s bestselling novel and directed by Taika Waititi. It explores similar territory from a more emotional, sci-fi perspective. Jenna Ortega stars as Klara, an artificial friend purchased by a family to provide companionship for their daughter Josie (Mia Tharia), who is dealing with serious health problems and a complicated relationship with her mother (Amy Adams).
Like Ron’s Gone Wrong, the film asks what happens when technology is designed to fill a gap in a child’s life, and whether a manufactured companion can offer something that goes beyond its programming. But while Ron’s malfunctions expose the absurdity of a tech company trying to automate friendship, Klara’s story takes a more contemplative look at loyalty, love and what it means to be human. With Klara and the Sun arriving in theaters this week, it offers another timely companion piece to Ron’s Gone Wrong and its questions about technology and human connection. Hopefully it’ll do a little better at the box office.
Ron’s Gone Wrong wasn’t a huge theatrical success when it opened in October 2021. It earned around $60.7 million worldwide while facing pandemic-era moviegoing challenges and competition from Dune. Its fortunes improved at home, where it found a much larger audience on Disney+. The movie may not have become a cineplex sensation, but its ideas have had more time to find an audience.
Five years later, the film’s view of childhood technology is worth revisiting. Bubble’s sales pitch feels familiar in a world where apps compete for attention and online popularity can become a measure of social status. Ron’s Gone Wrong doesn’t have all the answers, but it understands the absurdity of trying to engineer genuine friendship through a product.
So, what should you do about the fifth anniversary? You could start by streaming the movie on Disney+ and giving Barney and Ron another chance. For a family movie night, put together a bowl of popcorn, decorate a few white cups with black-marker B-Bot faces, or pull out the film’s printable coloring pages and maze activities. There’s even a drawing tutorial online for anyone who wants to design a custom B-Bot.
You can also revisit Liam Payne’s song “Sunshine,” which featured in the film, or listen to Henry Jackman’s score. If you’re feeling particularly ambitious, you could make your own B-Bot-inspired T-shirt or tote bag.
Or maybe put your phone away while you watch? That would be a fitting way to celebrate a movie that questioned whether a device designed to connect us could end up getting in the way. Happy fifth anniversary, Ron. You’re still a little broken, but your timing might have been better than anyone realized.
