Robby the Robot Barton Productions; the company manufacturers various 1:1 film and TV robot reproductions under license, aimed at the growing science fiction film collectors' market. Robby has also become a popular subject of collector tin toy and plastic robot reproductions and model kits. Multiple episodes of "The Simpsons" parody Robby the Robot: Notes Bibliography Robby the Robot Robby the Robot is a fictional character and science fiction icon who first appeared in the 1956 film "Forbidden Planet". He made a number of subsequent appearances in science fiction movies and television programs, usually without specific reference to the original film character. The name
Robby the Robot by production designer Arnold "Buddy" Gillespie, art director Arthur Lonergan, and writer Irving Block. These concepts were refined by production illustrator Mentor Huebner and perfected by MGM staff production draughtsman and mechanical designer Robert Kinoshita. The robot's groundbreaking design and dazzling finish represented a radical advance on the conventional "walking oil-can" depictions of robots in earlier features and film serials, and the only previous film robot of comparable style and quality was the "Menschmaschine" created for Fritz Lang's "Metropolis" (1927). However, this did not come cheap: As with every aspect of the production of "Forbidden Planet", MGM spared no expense