Biography for
Robby the Robot More at IMDbPro »

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Mini Biography

Robby was the brainchild of, and designed by Robert Kinoshita, and built in mid-1955 by the MGM prop department, at a reported cost of $125,000.00 from blueprint plans provided by industrial designer, Japanese-American engineer Robert Kinoshita, to 'star' in the epic science fiction classic Forbidden Planet (1956) and its B-movie followup The Invisible Boy (1957) a year later. Robby the Robot has become one of the most popular robot icons in the history of movies and media, as recognizable as George Lucas' erstwhile comedy team of R2-D2 and C-3PO who 'co-starred' in his epic sci-fi fantasy Star Wars (1977).

Trivia

Today, Robby the Robot is a superstar of science fiction, appearing first in Forbidden Planet (1956). Some would say he is the perfect realization of Isaac Asimov's famous "Three Laws of Robotics", which Azimov first promulgated in his 1950 story collection, I, Robot.

The Barton brothers completed their full-size replica of Robby in the spring of 1975, and celebrated by booking him at as many Star Trek and sci-fi conventions as they could. Robby was a big hit, a major media star once again, even though the clone made all the personal appearances while the original MGM robot stood gathering dust in an Orange County movie museum.

Robby is now owned by the top Forbidden Planet collector in the world, film director 'Bill Malone'.

Robby's voice was provided by talented actor and announcer Marvin Miller.

Robby stands at a height of 7' 6" tall, weighs about 300 lbs., and was originally operated by an MGM special effects technician named 'Glen Robinson' who subsequently worked on MGM's Logan's Run (1976).

Robby was designed by Robert Kinoshita, and built in mid-1955 by the MGM prop department, at a reported cost of $125,000.00.

In Forbidden Planet (1956) he was played by Frankie Darro.

He made a personal appearance at the opening of 'This is Tomorrow' at London's Whitechapel Art Gallery in 1956. The event is sometimes regarded as the first launch of 'Pop Art'.

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