Robby the Robot

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Robby the Robot in Forbidden Planet

Robby the Robot is a fictional character who has made a number of appearances in science fiction movies and television programs from 1956 onward.

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[edit] Description and overview

Robby the Robot is a 6-foot, 11-inch tall mechanical suit designed for an actor to wear, to play the part of a robot. It was originally designed for the 1956 MGM movie Forbidden Planet,[1] and quickly became an icon.

As Forbidden Planet was inspired by Shakespeare's play The Tempest, Robby's character was inspired by Ariel, the sprite in the play. The first known use of the name "Robbie the Robot" was in the Doc Savage adventure, The Fantastic Island (published in 1935), as a nickname for a mechanical likeness of Doc's used to confuse foes. It is unknown if Robby the Robot was named in honor of this Pulp Era automaton or a later Asimov robot character likewise named (and perhaps also derived from the first Doc Savage usage).

An important feature of Robby was the command that he was not to inflict fatal harm upon human beings. This comes into play near the end of the film, where Robby is commanded to kill the monster, but cannot do so because it comprehends that the monster is an alter ego or extension of Dr. Morbius. Both the injunction against harming humans (the First Law of Robotics) and the name "Robby", were adapted from a story by Isaac Asimov from the science fiction story collection I, Robot.[citation needed] Although I, Robot was issued in 1950, the short story "Robbie" was published in 1940. Asimov's Robbie was a first-generation robot designed to care for children.

The "Robby" robot suit in Forbidden Planet was later reused in a less popular movie called The Invisible Boy. It made several further appearances in other movies and TV shows over the next few decades. While Robby's appearance was generally consistent, there were notable exceptions, such as the 1962 Twilight Zone episode "Uncle Simon", where he was given a somewhat more human "face". At other times, Robby usually retained the working gears inside his bubble head, although the details of his "brain" and chest panel were sometimes altered. Robby has made few television or film appearances since the 1970s, although he is featured in a 2006 commercial for AT&T.

Robby differed from his successors in that he walked (somewhat awkwardly) on mechanical legs, while later models by his principal designer Robert Kinoshita, such as Robot B-9 of Lost in Space, moved smoothly on motorized treads. In Forbidden Planet, Robby was operated by Frankie Darro from inside the suit and his distinctive voice was provided by actor Marvin Miller.

In 2004, Robby the Robot was inducted into the Robot Hall of Fame. In 2008, a robot apparently inspired by Robby was included in the video game Fallout 3 as the Protectron.

[edit] The prop and its reproductions

For many years, Robby the Robot was on display at the Movie World / Cars of the Stars Museum in Buena Park, California. The museum is now closed. Fred Barton, a robot historian, is credited with saving Robby from ruin and restoring him to his original state. Robby is owned by film director William Malone.

A replica is currently on display at the Metreon entertainment complex in San Francisco. There are, however, many full-scale reconstructions and duplicates of the "Robby" suit in various venues. Full-sized, remote-controlled reproductions of Barton's restoration are available from Hammacher Schlemmer.

[edit] Appearances

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Robby original role/bio, Robot-Hall-of-Fame
  2. ^ Lost in Space: War of the Robots - TV.com
  3. ^ IMDB episode capsule

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robby_the_Robot"