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Robots (film)
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Everything about Robots Film totally explained » This article is about the animated movie Robots . For the book series entitled Robot City , see Isaac Asimov's Robot City.
Robots is a computer-animated film produced by Blue Sky Studios for 20th Century Fox (the same companies behind the film Ice Age), and was released theatrically (both in normal theaters and in IMAX theaters) on March 11th, 2005. The story was created by Chris Wedge and Bill Joyce, a well known children's book author/illustrator. The two were trying to create a film version of Joyce's book "Santa Calls" but instead they came up with a movie about robots. Joyce served as producer and production designer for the film. The DVD of Robots was released on September 27, 2005. The MPAA rated the film PG, in most countries, it's suitable for all ages.
Characters
Cast
Supporting roles
Stanley Tucci as Herb (Rodney's Dad)
Catherine O'Hara as Rodney's Mom
Paul Giamatti as Tim
James Earl Jones as Darth Vader Voice Chip
Chris Evans as Referee Voice Chip
Odie The Dog as Puppy Voice Chip
Joan Plowright & Billy Ray Cyrus as Other Robots
Dan Hedaya as Mr. Gunk
Jay Leno as Fire Hydrant
Cameos
Ryan Seacrest as Watch
Randy Jackson as Watch
Paula Abdul as Watch
Jaden Smith as Rodney at 5
Macaulay Culkin as Teen Rodney
Will Reeve as Teen Rodney
A Baby as Baby Rodney
John Mahoney as Ratchet's Robots
British voices
Cat Deeley as Rodney's Mother
Jonathan Roberts as Lug
Chris Moyles as voice introduction to Big Weld Show
Terry Wogan as Ratchet's father
Locations
Movie director Chris Wedge says New York City (his hometown), Toronto, London, and a little future-like city inspired him to make the city.
There are three parts of the city:
High End District (based on a future-like city): The part of the city where the rich and famous robots live. Buildings and robots are all shiny and nearly everything is futuristic. Everyone here has a metal covering that hides all their inner workings. Bigweld Industries is here.
Combustion District (based on a hybrid of Toronto and London): Middle-class place. It has a few rust spots, and robots have the internal workings similar to a 1950s car. Aunt Fanny's house is here, and the majority of the movie takes place here.
Steam District (a parody of New York City ghettos): The lowest part of the city, and therefore the rustiest. It may be also be a ghetto. Parts resemble the inventions of the Industrial Revolution, and everywhere is filled with broken machines. Sweepers grab old robots and bring them to Madame Gasket's Chop Shop, where mutant robots then break and melt robots, turning them into upgrades.
Another major location of the film is Rivet Town. It is home to the Copperbottom family. Two of the buildings there are Gunk's Greasy Spoon and Flathead Floyd's. Rivet Town is based on Watertown, New York, where movie director Chris Wedge lived during his teens.
Release
The film was the first to feature (in US screenings) the new trailer for . The movie featured the exclusive trailer for, then called Ice Age 2.
Critical reception
The film received generally favorable reviews from critics. The review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported that 63% of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 172 reviews. Metacritic reported the film had an average score of 64 out of 100, based on 33 reviews.
Most critics liked the visual style but panned the predictable story. The film was nominated for many awards in the category of best animated film, as well as awards for character design, best animated character, voice casting, and sound editing. However, it only won one, the MTV (Mexico) Movie Award for best song, "Un héroe real".(External Link ).
Box office performance
The film was released March 11, 2005 in the United States and Canada and grossed $36 million in 3,776 theaters its opening weekend, ranking #1 at the box office. It grossed a total of $260.7 million worldwide — $128.2 million in the United States and Canada and $132.5 million in other territories.
Cultural references
In the scene where Rodney asks a break-dancing robot for directions to Bigweld Industries, a robot version of Sid from Bluesky's other film production "Ice Age" appears at the end when Rodney leaves.
In the Robot City Train station, the Tin Man shows up and goes dancing away with 3 other robots and a small dog à la Wizard of Oz. The Tin Man also makes an appearance in the crowd in Rivet Town, where he says "Now I'm sure I've a heart, 'cause it's achin'!".
Andrés Cantor: The voice box that the mute robot put on made him start commentating a football game in Spanish and say "GOOOOOOL!" like Andrés Cantor.
James Bond: During the party, a robot asks for a screwdriver, "shaken, not stirred."
Singin' in the Rain: After a party, Fender does a spoof version of the classic song and dance called, "Singing In The Oil."
: Bigweld breaks down like HAL and begins singing "Daisy". Also, a shot of a domino echoes a similar shot of the Monolith.
Star Wars: When Gasket and Wonderbot are fighting with the pipes they sound like lightsabers. One of the voiceboxes Diesel tries gives him a Darth Vader sound (James Earl Jones provided the voice).
The chopshop is very similar to the droid making factory in episode 2. Bigwield gets stuck in a bucket shaped object, like Padme. Fender losing his lower half and having to make do with another one is remarkably similar to C-3PO having his head taken off, and having it welded onto another body.
Scarface: In the big fight scene Aunt Fanny says,"Say hello to my Dimpled Friend".
The Matrix: During the big battle, Diesel dives to his left in apparent slow motion and fires "bullets" in the form of metal balls, that spring from his "guns" (straws). The spring tailing the metallic balls as they travel forward and hit the enemy robots is reminiscent of the slow motion bullet time trail seen in The Matrix.
Rodney has a movie poster parodying the "Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots."
Xena Warrior Princess: In the big fight scene Fender charges in yelling the Xena war cry.
Operation: Rodney fixed a yellow robot that has a wrench in his right ankle.
In the climatic fight scene Lug is dressed like a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle.
Diesel's narration of the fight is accompanied by Eye of the Tiger, the theme music from Rocky III.
"Blazing Saddles": Flatulence scene in Aunt Fanny's house homages the bean eating scene with Mongo in Mel Brooks' Blazing Saddles. Mel Brooks is the voice of Big Weld.
On the "Map of the Stars' Homes" that Fender tries to sell Rodney, the names of the stars are:
At the party Fender yells/yodels "Ricola."
In the background of one shot (Beginning of the 'Crosstown Express' scene) it says "Got Oil?": a spoof of "Got Milk?"
During the big battle, Fender uses Britney Spears' song, "...Baby One More Time," as an attack.
In the final battle,the spear that Fender used;looked strikingly familar to the Lance of Longinus from Neon Genesis Evangelion.Further Information
Get more info on 'Robots Film'.
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