Robby the Robot 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 "Robbie" (spelled with an "ie") had appeared in science fiction before "Forbidden Planet". In a pulp magazine adventure "The Fantastic Island" (1935), the name is used for a mechanical likeness of Doc Savage used to confuse foes. The name is also used in Isaac Asimov's short story "Robbie" (1940) about a first-generation
I, Robot from the name of a robot manufacturer ("United States Robots and Mechanical Men") that appears throughout Asimov's robot short stories. Many works in the field of science fiction have also paid homage to Asimov's collection. An episode of the original "" series, "I, Mudd" (1967) which depicts a planet of androids in need of humans references "I, Robot." Another reference appears in the title of a "" episode, "I, Borg" (1992), in which Geordi La Forge befriends a lost member of the Borg collective and teaches it a sense of individuality and free will. "Doctor Who"'s 1977 story, "The Robots