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,
Tobor the Great Robot for the classic 1956 film "Forbidden Planet", as well as the B-9 Environmental Control Robot for the mid-1960s hit science fiction television series "Lost In Space". The original Tobor prop and remote control device is still in existence, having been stored away safely in a private collection for more than 50 years. There is an on-line company, Fred Barton Productions, that sells screen-accurate, full-size replicas of Tobor as seen in the film. In a review in "The New York Times" "Tobor the Great" is characterized as "This children's sci-fi adventure (that) chronicles the friendship between an 11-year-old and his