Gort, B9 and Robbie. These are the iconic ‘scifi starter robots’. Except for the 60’s B9 from Lost in Space, Gort and Robbie are products of the 50’s – a time where science was truly understood by only a handful of academics and seriously misunderstood by pretty much everyone else.
Gort, from the iconic movie ‘The Day the Earth Stood Still; starring Michael Rene’ was a ‘humanoid’ robot. Ostensibly intended to be a form of ‘police’ force to insure that war does not break out on planets that are part of Klaatu’s confederation of worlds.
Robbie. from the 1956 move ‘Forbidden Planet’ staring Leslie Neilsen, on the other hand, wasn’t intended to travel outside of his home world, Altair IV. In fact, he was created by an unknown civilization, long gone and discovered by the mysterious Dr. Morbius, who essentially took over the abandoned planet.
Robbie is probably the most misused and abused robot in movie history. He shows up in all manner of bad scifi flicks, usually without reference to his original role. In reality, Robbie was expensive to construct and no one could resist pulling him out for more cheesy movies and even live shows. Poor thing.
If you’re interested in SciFi robots, you should start with learning about the legacy of the these three.
