What
a hunk…of metal.
Robby
the Robot is not merely a movie star, he’s a Hollywood icon. For a generation of film-goers and cult-tv
watchers, Robby personifies the very term “robot.” Designed in the mid-1950s by MGM’s prop
department, Robby stands an imposing seven feet tall, and has had a diverse and
notable acting career, one that many carbon-based life-forms would certainly
envy.
After
making a big splash on the silver screen in Forbidden Planet (1956)
and The
Invisible Boy (1957), Robby moved to golden age television, appearing
in a variety of villainous and heroic roles.
Two of his most memorable villainous turn came in The Twilight Zone’s “Uncle
Simon” and the first season Lost in Space episode “The War of
the Robots.” The latter pitted him – as the evil “Robotoid” -- against the
Robinsons’ beloved and bubble-headed B9.
If Robby the Robot has any foible
as an actor, it’s likely vanity. Over
the years, he’s had more face lifts than Joan Rivers. Robby sported a new, cylindrical face in “Uncle
Simon,” and adopted a smaller, more sleek-looking cyclopean dome for Space
Academy (1977) and Project UFO (1978). But no matter his guise, Robby always looked
sharp and sleek, wearing a bow-tie (on The Love Boat’s “Programmed for Love”)
or, in the spirit of Milton Berle going “drag”
as Mildred the Robot on The Banana Splits Adventure Hour (1970).
Over the years, Robby has shown
he can replace the average human worker (The Twilight Zone’s “Brain Center at
Whipples”), host a science fiction convention (Wonder Woman: “Spaced Out”) and
much, much more.
A true cult-television classic,
Robby has also appeared in several notable TV commercials, some of which you
can find below.
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I was a much bigger fan of the robot from "Lost in Space" than of Robby, who seemed to proliferate every medium to the point where it was a cliche to see him. I never quite figured out the purpose for those whirly antennae things on the side of his head.
ReplyDeleteHi Filmverse,
DeleteI also like the Lost in Space robot very much, but I think you're being much too hard on Robby. :)
A robot's gotta work, after all...and Robby has had an amazing film and television career.
A real highlight of that career, for me (as a sci-fi TV fan) is seeing Robby and B-9 cross circuits (and electrical bolts) on the Lost in Space episode "The War of the Robots."
best wishes,
John
Always been a fan of Robby. As a boy in late 1977, while watching a Lost In Space rerun a surprising tv commercial break had Robby The Robot promoting subscriptions to STARLOG Magazine. I obeyed and had my parents send in a check to the address. I was sent my STARLOG Subscription with a special blueprint poster of all of Robby's designs modifications.
ReplyDeleteSGB
SGB:
DeleteThat is a GREAT story. Robby the Robot hawking for Starlog magazine on a TV commercial? Is that commercial still extant, I wonder? I'd love to see it.
But seriously, I would have done the same as you did, and pressured my parents to immediately get me a subscription, in no small part so I could get a peek at Robby's blueprints.
Great memory, and great comment!
best,
John
John, no luck finding the video of the STARLOG Robby commercial.
DeleteHowever, this link has a copy of the blueprint poster from 1978:
http://i.ebayimg.com/t/Forbidden-Planet-Robby-Robot-Blueprint-Poster-MINT-/00/s/Mzk0WDYwMA==/$(KGrHqV,!h0E69GEjPHrBOvyTu3eCw~~60_3.JPG
SGB
Hi SGB,
DeleteThank you so much for researching that. I love the blueprints because they show Robby in all of his various configurations, as I saw them on these various cult-tv programs. That's very cool. Thanks for sharing that, my friend.
best,
John
John, I looked up Robby The Robot's imdb. My boyhood memory was several months off, it was actually 1978 that the STARLOG Robby The Robot tv commercial aired.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.imdb.com/name/nm1119475/otherworks
SGB
SGB: A few months is nothing, as far as memory, so don't worry about that. That kind of thing happens to me too, remembering those great old days of the 1970s. But it's very cool that Robby was selling Starlog subscriptions!
Deletebest,
John
Still the greatest movie robot of all time, love Robby!
ReplyDeleteIt may be of interest to note here that Robby was designed by Robert Kinoshita, who was working in the MGM prop department at the time. Kinoshita would later become employed by 20th Century Fox designing the Robinson's robot on Lost in Space. As you cited, Robby appears in a first season episode of Lost In Space entitled War of the Robots where Robby faces off against his "brother". He also appeared in a third season episode as a prison guard entitled, The Condemned of Space.
ReplyDeleteRobert Kinoshita just passed away on December 9, 2014 at the age of 100.