'Next Gen' Trailer: What If Netflix Remade 'WALL-E'?

Next Gen to other family friendly films about robots: "Hey, can I copy your homework?"

Those other films: "Yeah, just change it a bit so it doesn't look obvious."

Look, I don't want to be too harsh to Next Gen. It's clearly a film marketed for a younger audience, and almost every movie borrows something from films before it. Still – yikes. Watching this is like watching a mash-up of every cartoon about a robot ever made. But hey, if it works, it works. In Next Gen, a "friendship with a top-secret robot turns a lonely girl's life into a thrilling adventure as they take on bullies, evil bots, and a scheming madman."

I'll say this: Next Gen has assembled a pretty stellar voice cast. John Krasinski, Jason Sudeikis, Michael Pena, David Cross, Charlyne Yi, and Constance Wu all lend their vocal talents to the film. The project hails from writer/directors Kevin Adams and Joe Ksander, who previously made a live-action short film with a very similar premise – "The story of Mazzy, a troubled teenager who flees the city with the help of her only ally – a broken down construction robot named Three." It's called Gear, and I'll admit it's well-made. It's also intended for a more adult audience – someone says the F-word! When interviewed about Gear, the filmmakers said:

"The seed came from a more complex idea that Kevin had been working on for a while, partly inspired by his daughter. When we started working together, we pitched each other various projects, and Joe really responded to this idea of a dysfunctional friendship between a girl and her robot. We first developed it as a feature, and the short is sort of a slice from that treatment. But we wanted to make sure that the story stood on its own, with the larger world as a backdrop that hopefully makes you want to see more."

It seems as if the duo took their Gear feature idea and reworked it into a more family-friendly package. You can watch it below.