Work and no play make Tobor a bored robot. That goes for robot builders,
too. Don’t forget the entertainment side-books, movies, and art-on robotics themes. Many
of today’s best robot builders were influenced by fic-tional robots in movies and
books-who hasn’t wanted to build their own R2-D2 after seeing Star Wars?
The two categories that follow take a look at the enter-tainment value of robots:
Art-Robots intended as artistic forms of expression, rather than functional machines. Includes posters, framable art, cinema special effects, spe-cialty magazines, “standees” (life-size cardboard models), museums, and more.
Books & Movies-The fictional side of robots, as presented in storytelling.
{ Entertainment-Art
ABoyd Company, LLC, The 202772 P.O. Box 4568
Jackson, MS 39296 USA
(601) 948-3479 (888) 458-2693 info@aboyd.com http://www.aboyd.com/Science fiction and monster movie memorabilia. See listing under Toys-Robots.
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Acme Vintage Toys & Animation Gallery 202773
9976 Westwanda Dr.
Beverly Hills, CA 90210 USA
Atomic, Gigantor, and other robot figurines. Most are collectables, and most are very expensive.
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All Effects Company, Inc. 203443
17614 Lahey St.Granada Hills, CA 91344 USA
(818) 366-7658 (818) 366-3768 eric@allfx.com http://www.allfx.com/All Effects makes an ingenious Makita battery-powered adapter. Makita batteries are available at most hardware or home improvement stores and come in 7.2 volts, 9.6 volts, and 12 volts. The adapter allows for convenient use of these batteries for other applications.
All Effects is perhaps best known as a mechanical special effects company for motion pictures and television. The company is headed by Eric Allard, one ofthe most cre-ative mechanical effects engineers working in the movie business today. His company's credits include the Johnny 5 robot from the Short Circuit films (the second of which he coproduced), Ghostbusters, Alien Resurrection, Stuart Little, and the Energizer Bunny TV commercials.
Celebrity Standups 202765
436 Highway 31 South Alabaster, AL 35007 USA
(205) 663-2755 celebritystandup@aol.comWeb shopping cart for Acme Vintage Toys.
Copyright 2003 by Gordon McComb. Click Here for Terms of Use.
http://celebritystandups.com/Standees: Star Wars (including C3PO, R2-D2, Battle Droid), Star Trek (original and newer shows, including Captain Kirk, Data, and Seven of Nine), Marvin the Martian, T-2 Endoskeleton, George Jetson.
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Cinefex
300011P.O. Box 20027
Riverside, California 92516 USA
(909) 781-1917 (909) 788-1793 website@cinefex.com http://www.cinefex.com/Cinefex is the premier magazine for special effects in movies and television. The magazine, which comes out four times a year, is beautifully produced in full color.
Each issue concentrates on the digital, optical, and mechanical special effects of at least one, and some-times two or three, motion pictures or television pro-ductions. The articles are semitechnical, and most film jargon is explained.
Movies are gravitating to doing more and more special effects using only computers, but productions with mech-anical effects (other than explosions and car crash ups) are still fairly common. The articles on mechanical effects work are especially notable for robot builders, and you can learn quite a few secrets and techniques from them.
Back issues are available; I recommend you thumb through the index at the site to search for topics and films that interest you. The soldout issues are provided as xerographic copies. For these, the cover is in color, but the articles are black and white.
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Dimensional Designs 202771 Dept. GITG
1845 Stockton St.
San Francisco, CA 94133-2908 USA
(415) 788-0138 (415) 956-9262 DimDesigns@aol.com http://www.dimensionaldesigns.com/Reproductions of popular science fiction figures, including tin Robby the Robot, and latex masks of Outer Limits TV series aliens. Don't expect cheap stuff here. Monsters can be expensive.
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H. I. Gosses: Robots
and Special Effects 202233 http://go.to/robots-sfx
A truly radical personal Web page of robotic and special effects creations. Now, if they only made real robots that looked like these. . . .
Jeff's Robots-Toy Robots 202074 http://www.jeffbots.com/
Jeff collects robot toys and models and displays them here. Plus plenty of links.
Movie Goods 202974
6601 Center Dr. West Ste. 500
Los Angeles, CA 90045 USA
(310) 342-8295 (310) 342-8296 (866) 279-2403 http://www.moviegoods.com/Originals and reproductions of famous movie posters and lobby cards. Yep, Day the Earth Stood Still, Logan's Run, Silent Running, Forbidden Planet, Lost in Space, Star Wars . . . they're all there.
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Cinefex is the leading publication for and about special effects in movies and TV.
Movie Poster Shop, The 202766
#9, 3600 21 St. NE Calgary, AB T2E 6V6 Canada
(403) 250-7588 (888) 905-7588 (403) 250-7589 mail@moviepostershop.com http://www.moviepostershop.com/Movie posters (original and reproduction), theater lobby cards, standees.
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Museum of Unnatural Mystery 202775 http://www.unmuseum.org/
The Web site says it best: “Welcome to the Museum of Unnatural Mystery, a slightly bizarre, cyberspace, sci-ence museum for all ages. Are there really flying saucers? What killed the dinosaurs? Is there something ancient and alive in Loch Ness? The Museum takes a scientific look at these, and other, questions.”
Some fun stuff here.
NEET-O-RAMA 202768
93 West Main St.
Somerville, NJ 08876 USA
(908) 722-4600 neetstuff@mindspring.com http://www.neetstuff.com/Movie posters, standees, and video. Check out the Twonky Video category for thousands of unusual cult movies, including hard-to-find 1940s through 1960s sci-ence fiction titles.
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Retrofire-Robot &
Space Toy Collectibles 202067 http://www.retrofire.com/
Interesting “high-tech” toys, including tin robots, space ray guns, and more.
Retrofire's Web site.
SCI FI 202770
http://www.scifi.com/
Online site for SciFi Channel; also reviews and discusses robot toys.
Standees.com 202767
303 Lippincott Dr. Ste. 220 Marlton, NJ 08053 USA
Info@standees.com http://www.standees.com/“Standees” are cardboard cutouts offamous people, like movie actors. That includes movie robots, like Robot B-9 from Lost in Space (talking and nontalking versions) and, ofcourse, Star Trek and Star Wars characters. Most standees are full size, but fold at strategic places for storage.
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{ Entertainment-Books &
Movies
ABoyd Company, LLC, The 202772 P.O. Box 4568
Jackson, MS 39296 USA
(601) 948-3479 (888) 458-2693 info@aboyd.com http://www.aboyd.com/Science fiction and monster movie memorabilia. See listing under Toys-Robots.
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Amazon.com
202586 http://www.amazon.com/The ubiquitous online retailer ofbooks and more.
Separate stores sell books, DVD and VHS movies, kitchen and household appliances, toys (online Toys'R'Us), com-puters, software, and magazine subscriptions.
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Barnes & Noble.com
204024 http://www.bn.com/Barnes & Noble is the largest bookseller in the world, with retail stores and an online e-commerce site. They have hundreds of books on robotics and other techni-cal subjects.
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Jeff's Robots-Toy Robots 202074 http://www.jeffbots.com/
Jeff collects robot toys and models and displays them here. Plus plenty of links.
Retrofire-Robot &
Space Toy Collectibles 202067 http://www.retrofire.com/
Interesting “high-tech” toys, including tin robots, space ray guns, and more.
Rad Robot Movies
These movies are out on VHS or DVD. Find them at your local video store. Some are con-sidered special interest, so they may be available only for sale and not rent.
The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)
The quintessential robot flick, and yet the robot (Gort) is only a minor character. But what a character! Tick him off and he’ll open his visor and disintegrate you with a piercing laser beam. Cool stuff.
Gort was played by Lock Martin, one of the tallest actors (7’7”) ever to work in
Hollywood—first as the doorman of the Graumans Chinese Theater, then as host of a Los Angeles children’s TV show named The Gentle Giant. The Gort costume (there were two, with laced “zippers” on the front or back, depending where the camera was placed) was latex rubber and measured 8’2”.
Despite its age, TDTESSranks as one of the best science fiction movies ever made. The special effects are low-tech by today’s standard—the sound effect of Gort’s destructive ray was created by playing a tape backward—but the story is top-notch, and the action thrilling.
From out of space . . . a warning and an ultimatum. Strange power from another planet menaces the earth! What is this invader from another planet . . . Can it destroy the earth?
Robot Monster (1953)
Directed by Phil Tucker, Robot Monsteris one of those “so bad it’s good” movies. Tucker directed a number of sex and teen exploitation films in the 1950s (including Dance Hall Racket, written by legendary comic Lenny Bruce). This flick stars George Nader, a popu-lar B-picture actor of the 1950s and 1960s.
For whatever reason, the robot in this picture looks like a gorilla in a diving helmet, probably because the actor playing the robot wore a gorilla suit wearing a deep-sea div-ing helmet. The robot manages to kill off all but a half-dozen people on earth, then falls in love. Jeepers! Moon monsters launch attack against earth! How can science meet the menace of astral assassins?
Forbidden Planet (1956)
Before Leslie Nielson got silly and starred in all those Naked Gunmovies, he was a dash-ing leaddash-ing man in many 1950s and 1960s movies. Of his most famous is Forbidden Planet, where he and his crew of space voyagers come to fetch a scientist and his pretty daughter and return them to Earth.
Only the scientist doesn’t want to go, and besides he doesn’t need to, because he’s built his very own mechanical butler, a robot named Robby. Robby is polite, couldn’t hurt a fly (his programming follows Isaac Asimov’s Three Laws of Robotics, and therefore for-bids it), and can make smooth, aged whiskey by the gallons. Needless to say, he becomes a favorite of many, including the audience.
An interesting story and some fine acting, but parts are a tad scary for the little kids.
Robby the Robot would later make a number of guest appearances in other films, on the Twilight Zoneshow, and even on the Supermantelevision series.
Kronos (1957)
What do Kronos and mothers-in-law have in common? They both zap the energy out of everything they come into contact with. Low-budget but still engaging, Kronosthe movie is the story of an alien race that has used up all the electricity of their home planet (sounds like they’re from California). So, they send a giant robot to Earth to collect all of ourenergy.
Kronosis one of many science fiction flicks that takes place predominantly in
California’s high desert—because it was so cheap for Hollywood producers to film there.
To this day, whenever I drive through the Anza-Borrego or Mohave deserts of the U.S.
Southwest, I get an eerie feeling Kronos is right around the next bend.
Parts of Kronosare really cheesy. Don’t expect multi-million-dollar special effects. This is 1957, after all, the same year Russia launched Sputnik. World-destroying monster!
The Outer Limits, Vol. 41: I, Robot (1963)
An episode of the originalOuter Limitstelevision series, this is an adaptation from the Isaac Asimov short story of the same name. Stars Leonard Nimoy, before he donned his pointed ears inStar Trek. The robot stands accused of murder, but is it a machine or a man?
This prototypical episode of the Outer Limitswas directed by Leslie Stevens, who would later turn out the movie Incubus, starring William Shatner, another Trekalumnus.
The movie is memorable on many counts, the least of which it is entirely in the Esperanto language! No robots, though—probably because robots don’t speak Esperanto.
Westworld (1973)
Written and directed by Michael “Jurrasic Park” Crichton, Westworldexplores what hap-pens when humans put too much trust into machines. It’s a story line that Crichton would explore many times in his films, using various technologies that “go worng.”
Westworld is one of three “worlds” in an interactive resort for rich folks. The guests are real, but just about everything else is a machine, including the gunslingers and the hook-ers. What goes worngin Westworldis a gunbot, played deftly by Yul Brenner. For some unknown reason, the programming for Yul and the rest of the robots get scrambled (they must be running Microsoft Windows!), and they end up killing all but one guest.
There are few special effects with robot-like mechanisms, except for a fairly unrealistic shot of the inside of Yul Brenner’s head. Enjoy this movie more for its “be careful what you ask for” mid-1970s message about high-tech. Westworld . . . where robot men and women are programmed to serve you for . . . romance . . . volence . . . anything.
The Terminator (1984)
Forever frightening all of the women in the world unlucky enough to be named Sarah Conner, The Terminatorput actor Arnold Schwarzenegger on the Map of the Stars. Great effects for such a low-budget film.
The Terminator robot is a cyborg: human-looking on the outside, but high-tech machine on the inside. Except for some brief shots at the beginning of the film, it’s not until the end of the movie do we see the innards of the Terminator: chrome-plated “bones” operated by powerful hydraulic systems. In reality, “it’s only a model” (in the words of Monty Python). No working robot was ever created for the film; what you see is a cleverly designed puppet operated by cables. It looks real enough!
The Terminator skeleton was designed by veteran Hollywood mechanical and makeup effects artist Stan Winston. Winston was also responsible for the mechanical and creature effects for such films as Aliens, Inspector Gadget, Small Soldiers, Galaxy Quest, and Terminator III. He’s one of the best.
Short Circuit (1986)
Let’s forget the human characters in this film. Please. Instead, just concentrate on the robots, designed by conceptual artist Syd Mead, and expertly crafted by effects supervi-sor Eric Allard.
Briefly, Short Circuitis about a group of five battlefield robots. One robot is accidentally electrocuted, and this somehow fuses his computer, causing him to become alive. Now a sentient creature, this robot—referred to as Number Five—fears for his life and escapes.
The rest of the movie is about Number Five being chased by the security department of the Big Bad Defense Company that created him.
Actual working (remotely controlled) robots were created for the movie, which makes Short Circuitone of the few films that employed real robotic actors. (For some shots, bits and pieces of the Number Five robot were controlled by cable using off-screen puppeteers.)
If you can find it, get a copy of issue 28 of the magazine Cinefex(see
http://www.cinefex.com/for starters). This issue contains an in-depth article covering the construction of the Short Circuitrobots by Allard and his All Effects Company.
Enlightening reading. Something wonderful has happened. . . . Number Five is alive!
Robot Jox (1990)
Little story but cool special effects. The robots are huge, legged vehicles used in combat death matches. An early incarnation of the MechWarriors concept. The ultimate killing machine, part man, part metal.
The Iron Giant (1999)
Agree or disagree, this movie is not only one of the best robot films ever made, but also one of the best animated pictures, ever!
The Iron Gianttakes place amid the fear and suspicion of the late 1950s (1957, to be precise). The Soviet Union had just launched Sputnik(see Kronos, above), and Americans were sure the next “man-made moon” would contain a nuclear bomb, dropped into the middle of their sleepy little town.
Something doesfall from the sky, but it’s not what folks are expecting; it’s a giant robot sent to earth for some unknown reason. The robot feeds itself by eating metal. Before you can say “pass the ketchup, please,” the hulking ‘bot becomes entangled in some high-voltage power lines and is on the brink of destruction. Enter our hero, nine-year-old Hogarth Hughes, who saves the robot and ends up becoming best pals with it.
What might have been just another “kid and his big robot buddy” film, The Iron Giantis unique in how it deals with humanity, even when that humanity comes from a metal leviathan. Vin Diesel plays the voice of the robot.
Two end effectors up! It came from outer space!
Honorable Mentions
Doctor Who(1975)—British television series co-starring the Daleks, a race of really, really bad robots. There are some older Doctor Whomovies that you might enjoy, as well.
Daleks are in many of them.
Gigantor(1965)—An early Japan animation series where a little boy controlled his very own giant robot. They fought crime together.
Lost in Space(1965-1968)—Sold to the CBS network as “the Swiss Family Robinson in outer space,” this television series started out as serious, but is best viewed today as the ultimate in camp. When the show was first on, I had a major crush on Angela Cartwright (she played Penny Robinson), so I didn’t pay much attention to The Robot (sometimes referred to by fans as Robot B9 or Robot YM-3).
Others noticed the machine over the cute brunette, and some of them have even cre-ated their own scratch-built LIS robots, faithful down to the red grippers.
Fun fact: The original pilot for Lost in Spacelacked both The Robot and the miserable Dr. Smith. Good thing producer Irwin Allen reshot the pilot with these two great charac-ters added.
Lost in Space(1998)—Not everyone’s cup of tea, but a personal favorite for me, this full-feature version of the 1960s television show is packed with modern mechanical and digital effects. The Robot is a radically updated version of the TV model. After the movie came out, there were truckloads of models and toys based on this robot.
Metropolis(1927)—Considered the first science fiction epic film, Metropolisis per-haps best known for the shapely metallic robotrix created by the mad scientist, Dr.
Rotwang. Look carefully at the background walls of his laboratory: You’ll see an upside down pentagram; this symbol is often considered the sign of witchcraft and the occult.
The symbology is not accidental. Metropoliscame out during a period when the world was reeling from the effects of the industrial revolution. Suspicion of mechanics outstrip-ping humanity helped set the notion that people who created artificial life were evil. Isaac Asimov’s robot stories, and his Three Laws of Robotics, were aimed at reversing this long-held stereotype.
Silent Running(1972)—An allegory of the many ills besetting the United States during the Vietnam War era, Silent Runningstars Bruce Dern as a sort of interstellar gardener.
With the aid of three small robots, he tends to Earth’s last remaining agriculture, which is now limited to several “pods” on a space ship. The anthropomorphic robots are a high-light of the film, but they are not mechanical; each one has a person inside it.
Star Wars(1978 to ??)—Honorably mentioned here because the films, and the robots in them, get mentioned so much everywhere else. Who doesn’t know about C-3PO and R2-D2? ‘Nuff said.
How to Search for More Movie Robots Use the Internet Movie Database at:
http://www.imdb.com/
to search for movies—past, present, and near future, on any topic. For example, to find movies about robots, enter robotin the search box, and choose Plotfor the search type.