Robby the Robot robot designed to care for children. In "Tom Swift on The Phantom Satellite" (1956), it is also the name given to a small four-foot robot designed by Tom Swift Jr., the boy inventor in the "Tom Swift Jr." science fiction novel series by Victor Appleton II. Robby the Robot originated as a character in the 1956 MGM science fiction film "Forbidden Planet". The story centers on a crew of space explorers from Earth who land their starship, the C57-D, on the planet Altair IV, ruled by the mysterious Dr. Morbius. Robby is a mechanical servant that Morbius has designed, built,
Forbidden Planet titular alien presence. In the authorized biography of "Star Trek" creator Gene Roddenberry, Roddenberry notes that "Forbidden Planet" "was one of [his] inspirations for "Star Trek"". Elements of the "Doctor Who" serial "Planet of Evil" were consciously based on the 1956 film. "Forbidden Planet" and star Anne Francis are named alongside ten other classic science fiction films in the opening song "Science Fiction Double Feature" in the stage musical "The Rocky Horror Show" and its subsequent film adaptation. The British musical "Return to the Forbidden Planet" was inspired by and loosely based on the MGM film, and won the Olivier