It's no wonder that Robbie's last TV appearance was on the "Banana Splits." How humiliating! Rumor has it, this decline in his career led to a deep depression and an addiction to Valvoline. I'm so glad to hear he got help and continues to work and bring joy to his many fans. You go, Robbie!
Sadly Robbie’s depression was caught by Marvin The Paranoid Android (from Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy) when they went on a blind date together. Marvin never recovered…
I remember watching the "Forbidden Planet" as a young child with my parents at the Drive-In. I remember hiding on the floor in the back seat when the monster scene came on. Best Sci-Fi movie ever.
@@catey62 5$??? WOW. I spent almost fifteen dollars on mine, of course it was an anniversary set which included an extra disc, The Invisible Boy and an episode of the Thin Man TV series With Peter Lawford and Phyllis Kirk that had Robby The Robot as the guest star.
Every year when I'm wrapping Christmas presents for friends and family I will watch "Forbidden Planet", "The Day the Earth Stood Still" (original), and "The Time Machine" (original, nach)... It's part of family tradition! And the scene with Earl Holloway and Robbie about producing more booze always makes me laugh...
"Commander Addams, Robbie can play music, as you can see his head area does look like a juke box record player." Morbeus demonstrates one of Robbie's capabilities .
Enjoy and Travel The World! , I was 13 in 65 and totally in love with Angela Cartwright. She was my sole reason “besides spaceships” for watching the show. Ya, those robots were great!
+D.E.B. B- Yes indeed- may Robby, the Daleks, and all other robonoids bring steaming electric death to all such humanoid scum!! Undo another person's good work at your peril!!
Not sure about that remake. The trend recently for large cast, psycho-drama/dream sequence based sci-fi tells me where they would go with this one: ids out all over the place, a weird wallowing in past personal trauma and a focus on the venting of long pent-up workplace clashes. And as for Robbie? He (or she) would undoubtedly be portrayed as fully human-looking, with a subplot in which he (or she) a) gets "possessed" by the projected thoughts and feelings of the diverse crew, b) temporarily becomes the Krell/Morbius's killing machine and c) learns to be a real boy (or girl). When I think of this movie being remade, I'm sure I've already seen it countless times in countless movies and tv shows that weren't called Forbidden Planet! Which speaks to the iconic nature of the original - but also means that, for a modern audience (even those who have NEVER seen the actual movie before) there would be absolutely nothing new under the Altairian sun with this story
Excellent recap! You've outdone yourself. My favorite movie of all time "Forbidden Planet" where my love of Robby the Robot still endures. "Lost in Space" won second place years later.
Forbidden Planet is one of the most frightening movies I have ever seen. It still gives me chills to think about it and I am 56. I have always loved robots and still do. Robby is awesome!
Many posters for this film, including the thumbnail YOU used, show Robbie carrying Anne Francis - didn't happen in the movie, although Robbie carried Warren Stevens back to the house when he fried his brain in the 'Educator'.
There was a science fiction/fantasy film convention in New York City in the 70's, produced by Famous Monsters magazine. One of the program events was a little stage show by, I believe, Bill Malone, featuring Robby, Gort, and Godzilla
I have a special twin disk version of the 50th anniversary edition of The Forbidden Planet on DVD and on it is a full copy of The Invisible Boy and also an episode of The Thin Man TV series with an episode called Robot Client.
My grand-daughter, now four...loved Robby in the movie Forbidden Planet. Invariably she will ask to watch the movie when she comes over to spend some quality time with Pa Pa. This past Christmas...I had purchased her a 14" walking and talking Robby the Robot Actually I had gotten it three months earlier and wanted to give it to her but my wife kept saying wait until Christmas. You should have seen her eyes light up when she opened the box. The one I got her was brand new in the box...but I went on to get a used one for my brother and myself...it is fun to relive shared memories. "Forbidden Planet" holds up to this day.
That’s a heck of an appearances list, I knew a few but I had no idea there were so many. Loving the multi-coloured moving background btw, that seemed to fit really well with this subject matter. Great video.
The horizontal rotating ring scanner was removed while Robby was appearing in an episode of Lost in Space "The Condemned of Space" because the set designed for that episode had doorways too narrow for Robby's head with the scanners to fit through. The scanner was never seen on Robby again until he was restored. It was likely lost by the Lost in Space crew.
I had a blueprint sheet that depicted EVERY Sci-Fi robot ever made from the Robby Robot body in some form or another. From Twilight Zone, Lost in Space, Forbidden Planet, etc., there must have been well over 20+ variants of that robot's design. 🌌🚀👽 The Project UFO Robby with the green eye, is my second favourite.
Cars of the Stars museum was freaking awesome! They also had the ship from Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea and so much more. Spent my 10th birthday inside there. Loved every moment of it! That was by far my best birthday ever. Also went next door to the wax Museum and enjoyed that tremendously too, but the rest of my family liked Cars of the Stars way more than wax people. I loved both, like I said, best birthday ever.
Excellent Video, I own a B9 replica, but love Robby the robot, and still to this day can watch him without thinking someone is inside controlling it. I had no idea he was in so many shows
I was a young boy when Forbidden Planet opened in theaters. He was so amazing! Robby was the most amazing creature I had ever seen or even imagined. Thanks so much for putting together this video - it is fantastic! I have often wondered whatever happened to Robby in later years so finding out that he is still very much “alive and well” has made my day! Please keep up the great work!
F P is one of my favorites too! I had the Japanese b/o Robbie from the mid-50, which, if I had the box, would be worth at least $3000 today. I sold it cheap 30 years ago. Now, I have the wired remote control Robbie that walks and says lines from the movie, in the original voice. He's still great. (Robbie is a "He", right?)
Thanks for giving Isaac Asimov credit for the Three Laws and for “I, Robot.” This book is a collection of short stories which he previously had published in a magazine (I think they were in “Astounding,” which is known as “Analog” today), so each chapter/story has a different “leading robot.” The first story is about a robot used as a companion for a six year old girl, and the robot is named Robby. After all, it’s the most obvious English name for a robot!
I have loved Robbie since a child OK I was born in 1955 so I am old and so is he. BUT I had NO idea he was used in so many movies and in so many versions. The creator more than earned his pay by designing and building him
Who didn't like Robby and B9? Dr. Smith could have field days calling them a bunch of names. What an act the three of those and a few smaller robots would be!!
Hi Jonathan, Robby formed one of my earliest TV memories. I was 2 years old in 1959 when I saw Robby on "Oh Susanna", The Gale Storm Show! In the cruise ship's cargo hold Gale and ZaSu find Robby by accident. Robby scared me so badly that his TV appearance remains one of my few coherent memories at so young an age.
I think 'The Invisible Boy', filmed 13 years before Colossus: The Forbin Project, is the first movie about a super computer trying to take over the world. Robby fans will enjoy it.
Note that the evil computer isn't merely trying to take over the world ... it wants to destroy all forms of life //throughout the universe//, or any thing that might evolve into a living entity, leaving it the sole form of consciousness. When it orders Robby to kill Doctor Merinoe and his son, Robby smashes the feedback system. I could go on ad infinitum but I'd rather let others voice their own views
My grandson collects toy robots ,last Christmas I got him the Wal-Mart Robby the robot, he loved it ,now he looks for anything with Robby on it from Forbidden Planet to Star Trek, to the invisible boy, Twilight Zone, Lost in Space and more.
Forbidden Planet, The Day the Earth Stood Still, War of the Worlds, This Island Earth, and several Star Trek movies were my weekly fix as a child of the late 80's. The local Library had a VHS section where you could rent donated videos for free, and those were the ones I chose week in and week out lol. Forbidden Planet's invisible cat monster used to give me nightmares, and re-watching the movie a few years ago that creepy echoing roar brought back a nostalgic nervousness even as I'm 35 now. Robbie always be the best Robot in Sci-Fi history, sorry Data not even close!
Robby the Robot was the best ever made, with the LIS robot a close second. But I still like Robby in "The Invisible Boy", another classic, at least as far as I am concerned. Also he did play in an episode of Lost in Space, Addams Family, The Man from UNCLE, and many other appearances on other shows. I guess I should of watched this whole video before I posted. Oh well.
I think this is probably the most comprehensive video on Robbie! The one thing that gave me a laugh was that the crew of the spaceship traveled millions of miles, had ray guns but were dumbfounded by a robot.
I met Robbie the Robot back in the ‘60s at Harry’s Ace Hardware on Magazine Street in New Orleans. I was around four or five years old at the time. He scared the hell out of me and everyone else, as the man in the robot suit was obviously drunk. Robbie was rude and crass, much to the audience’s surprise. He made a little girl blow up a balloon until it popped in her face, the entire time yelling at her to, “BLOW!!! BLOOOW!!!!! BLOOOOOOOOW!!!!!!!!!” The children were terrified and the adults were mortified! Then, at the end of the event, Robbie gave everyone ‘autographed’ black and white 8” X 10” photographs of himself that came out of the horizontal slats in his ‘neck’. I remember crying a lot, and the evening was most traumatic for all who attended.
I remember seeing the torso and head, mounted on a movable platform instead of having legs. I think it was in an episode of The Love Boat, where he was supposed to be the invention of some genius kid. But Forbidden Planet is the best place to get accquainted with Robby. That film is credited (rightly or wrongly) as being the first one where the robot was not depicted as some kind of hostile device which is threatening all of humanity, but instead as a safe and obedient helper. It might possibly also be the first movie featuring a robot where said robot survives unscathed to the end of the film. ;)
In a way you're right. Gort, from 1953's "Day the Earth Stood Still" does menace Earth, but only after he and Klaatu are threatened & Klaatu is shot -- twice. (Spoilers? Still? After 66 years?) Patricia Neal's character gives the pass-phrase, though, and averts disaster. Gort also survives the movie and probably outlives Klaatu. Got to go now and watch the scene... YOU know which one!
Yes. He is my favorite robot. Also staring in forbidden planet it should be mentioned the sailor cook. Who had the hooch made. The invisible boy was a great movie also.
Robby also starred in a Charmin toilet paper commercial. Mr. Whipple gets Robby to prevent people from squeezing the Charmin packages, but even Robby can't resist. Robby also appeared in an episode of the Wonder Woman TV show, at a sci-fi convention. This appearance is notable as being the only time Robby is depicted as a costume, rather than as an actual robot. That episode also referenced other sci-fi properties, like Logan's RUn.
You can find a electronic lights and sound 1997 re issue of Robby the Robot from Trendmasters(Jakks Pacific) at Walmart as of right now for twenty bucks! Just got me one and man he is BEAUTIFUL
Hay Jonny, have just watched this and the other composition for the movie FP. It's quite clear to me and I'm sure everyone else that this is a work of love and passion for you. Great work.
What a unique situation. He was treated almost the way an actor is, playing many multiple but distinct roles throughout his lifetime, yet it’s a prop/costume. Imagine if they’d done that with something like Star Wars; The R2D2 prop showing up in “The Black Hole” as Vincent. Or Ash from “Alien” is an actor in the C3PO costume with a different name and voice. It just wouldn’t work. But it somehow worked for Robbie. Like any great actor, he was greater than any one role.
C3PO's design was based on the "Maria robot" from Fritz Lang's 1927 film, Metropolis. Artoo on the other hand, could be Robby's great great great great great great grandson. LOL.
The studio model of the Space Cruiser also made an appearance in the only episode of the Twilight Zone where there was literally no dialogue. Agnes Morehead played a lonely Woman who was being tormented by its tiny inhabitants in what appeared to be a house in a forlorn countryside. Finding the table sized Flying Saucer on her roof she destroyed it but as the camera pulled back its revealed to have been for Earth with USAF marking on its caved in top. The music from the film was ground breaking since it was the first totally electronic score and might of gotten an Oscar nomination but the rules stated that members of a music union/profession had to have played/composed it for an award. Indeed many of the iconic SciFi props met an unhappy fate from the period and the ships along with the cobra like heat Ray projectors from War of the World's were given to a Boy Scout Scrap drive because they were made out of Copper. Robbie the Robot's popularity helped it survive and the original equipment from 1930s Frankenstein was used in Mel Brooks classic comedy take on story decades later because some one had wanted it to survive as well. In an odd way no other Cinematic Robot has been as advanced or skilled as Robbie and few fictional rivals can claim to be his equal in the last 60+ yrs...
My parents bought me a toy in the 1950s called Robert Robot, that could move by a long wire attached to its back and a hand crank you could hold. It also had a voice on a tiny record inside that you could hear a few comments by turning a crank on its back. His arms would swivel up and down as he "walked" (actually rolled) and his hands were made to hold objects. It sort of resembled Robbie, but at the same time not exactly.
Marvin Milner? I remember Martin Milner (Adam 12).I watched the film several times and I'm still not certain if I saw panties or shadow when Anne Francis bent over! The robot was in the 18 Febuarius 1974 AD episode of "Columbo: Mind Over Mayhem" and in an episode of "Wonder Woman".
Wow! I've never before seen a shot of Lock Martin as Gort without his head on. You seem to have the only one! Thanks for saving a bit of history for future generations!
There's another member of Robby's family besides the LIS Robot. Kinoshita also designed the robot from the 1954 movie Tobor The Great. Although that suit went missing and was supposedly stolen.
Well I disagree with most memorable - Robot B9 had his own TV show for 3 years. Grant it he did not have his own movie but B9 had a better personality, would hold conversations and dialog in the shows and he kicked Robby's ass in the episode "The War of the Robots".
Robby is a close second for me for my favorite movie robots. My absolute favorite robot was always the "Death Probe" from the "Six Million Dollar Man". That one showed up in two episodes, one in it's original form, then they repainted it black, and put a dome on top that fired lasers, and added weapons to it. Then they ruined the thing by making it goofy looking and putting it in the movie "Heartbeeps" as the "Crimebuster" robot. To this day, it's two appearances in "The Six Million Dollar Man" are my favorites. That robot both terrified and fascinated me when I was a kid.
2:40 Blimey. Lock Martin (aka Gort, The Day The Earth Stood Still) with his helmet off. 50 years a fan of the film, & have never before seen that particular shot.
Not to date myself but I saw Forbidden Planet in the theater when I was 6. I had to beg my mother to go. That movie had a very big impact on me including a few nightmares involving the big, red "monster from the id". Robby was great!
About ten years ago at the Seattle Science Fiction museum, they had a Robbie standing in a corner in one of the first rooms, and I didn't see anything explaining which one it was. I was hoping this video would have more insight, and it was very good but all I came away with is confirmation that the one I saw definitely might or might not have been the original. Close inspection made me think it was at least a functional costume and not just a model. I feel like it was probably the newer one which they started using on TV in the early '70s. I'd like to believe it was the one on 'Mork and Mindy' and maybe in 'Gremlins'.
It's my understanding that the Robby in Seattle is a Fred Barton replica. The B9 is the actual screen used "stunt" robot used throughout the third season that was heavily restored by Fred as well. It is currently unknown who owns the original hero B9 but he's been heavily restored as well as the result of the terrible alterations made to him for the 1977 Saturday morning kids show "Mystery Island".
I also visited the same museum in Seattle in 2007. I also saw the original Robby in Buena Park, CA at the Cars of the Stars museum back in 1976. I have a photo of that encounter with my arm around Robby. By that time there had already been some vandalism to Robby. I can't imagine vandalism of that nature. I've also visited John Riggs Robot Hut robot museum outside Spokane, WA to see his collection that includes lie-sized duplicates of Robby, Gort, the LIS robot, and many others. As you may have guessed.... I'm a HUGE Robby the Robot fan.
Well it may have been the most expensive prop but they sure got their money's worth over so many decades. In fact the robot from Lost In Space was pretty much a modernized version of Robby.
And let's not forget another immense landmark: Louis and Bebe Barron's awesome electronic soundtrack. Personally, it's the first thing I have in mind when I recall my early memories of this film, first seen on TV in the early 60s.
i made a 3D model of robbie some years ago and did a couple of short animations, on my channel. i also have thousands of reference photos and blueprints and the 3D model is purchasable.