Talk:Robby the Robot

Movieland closed
I believe Movieland is closed, and thus the final paragraph should be altered.

Did Robby appear in Star Wars? Take a look at the scene where the Jawas line up the droids for sale, and Uncle Owen buys C-3PO and R2-D2. Is that Robby standing at the end of the line?

I believe you're right but it's very fugitive, something like Hitchcock's appearances in his movies.

I seem to remember him showing up in a Columbo once, as a major player. Anyone remember which one? --Magnus Manske 12:08 Oct 13, 2002 (UTC)

There's a LOT of great information on Robby at www.the-robotman.com. I'm in no way affiliated, but I highly recommend it.

ip
The mechanical man in Gilligan's Island Season 2 "Gilligan's Living Doll" is not Robby. Not even close. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 166.82.153.132 (talk) 06:09, 14 September 2009 (UTC)

ip
In the one for the angels (twilight zone) episode, Robby did not make an appearance. It is a production toy at the time, and not an action figure. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.100.189.90 (talk) 12:41, 28 January 2009 (UTC)

ip
The paragraph about personality is really ridiculous. There were innumerable robots predating Robby who had as much or more humanity. See Metropolis (obviously), a bunch of Flash Gordon/Buck Rogers stuff, arguably Gort, and more. There was likewise plenty of precedent in sci-fi novels and plays for robots with highly complex personality traits. Want to know why everyone remembers Robby? It was basically the first mass-merchandised movie prop, let alone toy robot. That's pretty much it. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.225.214.149 (talk) 18:04, 14 September 2007 (UTC)

I'm inclined to say you have it backwards. The various toy versions of Robby were created because the character was popular. (I had one I wish I'd never gotten rid of.) Prior to Robby, the only memorable film robots were "Maria" (in Metropolis) and Gort. (Tobor the Great might have made a bigger splash in a better film.) Robby was not only a nifty piece of industrial design, but he had an appealing and varied "personality", in part due to Marvin Miller's excellent performance. WilliamSommerwerck (talk) 19:58, 3 November 2010 (UTC)

Clueless
Where in Clueless can Robby be seen? abelson 17:20, 14 July 2006 (UTC)


 * Saw Clueless on Saturday. Robby not in it. abelson 07:52, 21 November 2006 (UTC)

Charmin commercial on youtube right now...http://youtube.com/watch?v=uK9ICazgJB8 —Preceding unsigned comment added by 141.157.176.6 (talk) 14:33, 6 June 2008 (UTC)

The was no appearance of Robby in StarWars. There is a large, tall black robot with a dome shaped head but that's where the similarities end. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 141.157.176.6 (talk) 14:27, 11 June 2008 (UTC)

Unreferenced
"Before the appearance of Robby, robots in movies and plays tended to lack personality characteristics, being simple mechanical devices. Since his appearance, robots with personalities have become more and more common in movies."

Which suit?
Robby's history -- as a prop -- is more complex than the article indicates. MGM neglected to maintain the costume, and it eventually wound up, in poor condition, in some museum where (if I recall correctly) Fred Barton found it. Barton has created multiple reproductions. Ideally, the article should indicate which of Robby's appearances used the original costume, and which were reproductions. I'm sure Mr Barton could provide that info, if courteously approached. (In fact, why doesn't someone get him to expand the article?) WilliamSommerwerck (talk) 19:58, 3 November 2010 (UTC)

Robbie also in "The Brain Center at Whipple"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Brain_Center_at_Whipple%27s —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.71.187.98 (talk) 19:24, 31 January 2011 (UTC)

Copyright problem removed
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Clearer distinctions needed
The article seems to have difficulty distinguishing between fiction and reality, and also deciding just what "Robby the Robot" is. Robby the Robot is a fictional character introduced in the film Forbidden Planet, and the name is also legitimately used to refer to the prop used to portray that character. Neither of these appeared in any of the books, video games, and cartoons being added to the growing fancruft list titled "Appearances". I also object to the inclusion of "Robby"-inspired toys as legitimate appearances of either the character or the prop, since these toys are neither. The article should be making a clearer distinction between what Robby is and isn't, and should exercise more restraint in defining what constitutes an "appearance". An "appearance" is not the same thing as an "homage", and something "vaguely resembling" the subject is not the same thing as the subject itself. I've already stricken several of the offending entries from "Appearances", and most of the remainder require a citation of fact. 12.233.146.130 (talk) 23:12, 18 October 2011 (UTC)

The article is still a bit lax at making the distinction identified above; it also seems unduly subjective, e.g., the poster being described as showing a “fierce” looking Robbie - how does a robot without a face look fierce? 86.162.12.140 (talk) 10:10, 16 March 2015 (UTC)

Fallout's Protectrons
I feel that it would be worth mentioning how Fallout has very likely based their Protectrons on Robby the Robot's design. If you look at them, they're strikingly similar. When I have first seen the Forbidden Planet and saw Robby, the very first thing that came to my mind was the Protectron. Given that Fallout is a renown game series, and the fact that Fallout is full of references, especially of the media in the era of Forbidden Planet and sci-fi movies like it, I see this as a note-worthy mention, but that is merely my opinion. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 173.10.221.30 (talk) 04:37, 31 January 2012 (UTC)

Roboassess
Assessed as "mid" because Robby is a robot hall of fame inductee, would be high if current. Chaosdruid (talk) 13:16, 3 February 2012 (UTC)

Starlog TV commercial
I don't know if there's a proper way to cite these...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pdd5QCP1mho — Preceding unsigned comment added by Wainstead (talk • contribs) 21:42, 24 July 2013 (UTC)

Columbo - Mind Over Mayhem
appearance as "mm07" — Preceding unsigned comment added by 88.217.10.105 (talk) 00:49, 11 June 2016 (UTC)

Fred Barton’s "Robbie" debut…
The article suggests that the Robbie replica which debuted at the 1974 “Star Trek” con was his second; Fred Barton’s own site says it was his first. Can’t guarantee which is correct, but the second would seem indicative. Jock123 (talk) 18:27, 23 October 2016 (UTC)
 * Ah, just re-parsed the text, and see that the “second” referred not to Barton’s own work, but to replicas in general, thus counting William Malone’s as the first… :-) Jock123 (talk) 18:39, 23 October 2016 (UTC)

Appearance on New York Post newspaper cover - Dec 6 2016
The New York Post newspaper had a full page photo of Robbie on its Dec 6, 2016 front cover in connection with an Amazon news story. They used a still from Forbidden Planet. There does not seem to be a place in the article to note this appearance, so I want to mention it here in case a regular editor can figure out if it's inclusion worthy. I know it makes sense not to include appearances on ordinary sci-fi and movie magazine covers, but a major news media newspaper use seems to be a special case because the use is outside the world of entertainment. Here is the newspaper's twitter post: https://twitter.com/nypost/status/806114238594957312 and here is how they suggested a retweet: "Covers for December 6, 2016 http://nyp.st/2h1EI5S via @nypost" on their website. The news article that the cover refers to is at "Amazon’s new grocery store won’t have any checkout lines." but there is no photo of Robbie included with that article. 5Q5 (talk) 12:07, 7 December 2016 (UTC)

The Robot from Lost In Space
The Robot was designed by Robert Kinoshita, who also designed Forbidden Planet's Robby the Robot.[7] Both robots appear together in Lost in Space episode #20, "War of the Robots," and in episode #60, "Condemned of Space." 98.164.98.125 (talk) 01:19, 12 April 2019 (UTC)

Koukaku no Pandora - Ghost Urn
There's a robot that looks similar to Robby that appears in chapter 37 (volume 10) of the manga, as a tour guide for the main characters during a visit to a farm. The robot also introduces itself as "Robby-kun," to them. Glomoro (talk) 01:55, 12 May 2019 (UTC)

A Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for speedy deletion
The following Wikimedia Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for speedy deletion: You can see the reason for deletion at the file description page linked above. —Community Tech bot (talk) 23:08, 29 June 2020 (UTC)
 * Robbie the Robot San Diego Comic Con 2006.jpg