Whatever Happened to ROBBY The ROBOT?

what ever happened to Robbie the robot let's find out movies and monsters hey guys Dan Monroe here Media Master design before we get started I just want to put out a huge thank you to everybody who subscribed Channel's taking off like crazy thank you so let's talk about Robbie the robot now Robbie here is pretty much considered the older brother of our beloved B9 robot from Lost in Space and there's a very good reason for that they were created by the same guy a lot of people who often talk about Lost in Space will say oh yeah the robot on Lost in Space his name was Robbie no this is Robbie the iconic Robbie the robot was created for the 1956 MGM production of Forbidden Planet and he was initially put on as a supporting character but quickly became the star many different people and designers worked on creating Robbie the robot for MGM but it was Robert kenesa who actually finalized the design and put the robot into construction Robert kenesa came from a background of Designing old washing machines the big round washing machine tubs which is kind of why both Robbie and the LW of Space robot have this washing machine body look to them that's why hello Dan you did a beautiful job on that internet uh tape beautiful I'll be signing this robot especially for you Robbie was created in mgm's leather shop in 1955 and he was made of metal plastic rubber glass plexiglass and a brand new vacuum forming technique at the time called royalite royalite is the exact material they used to use in luggage and if you look at the inside of the original Robbie the inside of his body it looks like luggage material royalite was an early form of ABS plastic which is no longer produced the budget to make Robbie the robot in 19 55 was a whopping $100,000 unheard of for a prop on a major Motion Picture budget even though they didn't really want it known at the time there was an actor inside Robbie the robot Frankie Darrow is the guy who was credited for playing Robbie although he wasn't the one in the suit most of the time Frankie Darrow had a bit of a let's just say drinking problem and one of the first times he was in the costume he almost fell over in it so the remainder of the movie movie was shot with a prop builder named Frankie Carpenter who was actually inside Robbie uncredited for most of the film The Final Robbie weighed in at about 110 lbs and just like in Lost in Space the actor would wear a body harness that would support the lower section while walking around with the head section on top the amazingly talented Marvin Miller provided the voice and Robbie the robot and Forbidden Planet very quickly became a huge Blockbuster success but Robbie Fame didn't end there after Forbidden Planet Robbie was a star and started appearing in other films and TV shows he went from Forbidden Planet Into The Invisible Boy he did the Twilight Zone he did Lost in Space not once but twice but all that stopped in 1971 because Robbie here was sold to Jim Brooker Jim owned the movie World Museum in California and Robbie here along with his original car from Forbidden Planet were put on display sadly horribly vandalized over the years people would come in take pictures of Robbie and literally take pieces off of him so it wasn't long before Robbie here was in really terrible condition enter the incredibly talented Fred Barton now Fred otherwise known as the robot man was hired by the museum to basically come in and restore Robbie he had access to Robbie a lot of the original parts and molds from MGM and he did an incredible job restoring Robbie the robot for the museum in 1980 the museum holding the original Robbie was closed and Robbie was sold to Mr Bill Malone Bill not only got Robbie but he got all of the Power controllers and things that would make Robbie go all the original stuff right from the MGM production of Forbidden Planet now remember the original Robbie was in this Museum from 1971 until 1980 when he was purchased by Bill Malone but if Robbie was in a museum all through the 70s how did we see him on all those amazing TV shows well a lot of people don't know this but just like Kevin Burns did with the Lost in Space robot Bill Malone did the same thing and he built an exact replica so that means that anytime you saw Robbie on TV in the 70s it was the replica it was the duplicate um Columbo Ark 2 project UFO tons of TV commercials Space Academy Moran Mindy he even appeared in the movie Gremlins in the background for just a brief second again that wasn't the original that was the replica so I know what you're asking if Bill Malone now has the original Robbie where's the duplicate well some people from Japan were very very interested in buying the original robot from Bill Malone and Bill said the heck with it I'm not selling you the original so he sold them his duplicate which is now somewhere in Japan on July 16th 2011 the original Robbie the robot prop made its final public appearance at an academy screening of Forbidden Planet boy did he look great Bill Malone did an amazing job protecting Robbie all through the years until 2017 in 2017 Robbie went on The Auction Block Bonham's Auction House ran the auction and Robbie the robot sold for over $5 million making him the most expensive movie prop ever sold in history but who bought it where is he now we don't know that information was not disclosed will we ever see good old Robbie again I hope so and if you're interested in owning your very own authorized Robbie replica contact Fred Barton the Robot Man his Robbie the robots are incredible they come in several different tiers they're a bit pricey but you certainly won't be disappointed one of my personal favorite Robbie moments was when he was on Lost in Space but that my friends is the topic of another video so that's what Robbie the robot's been up to all these years and I really hope you enjoyed the video if you did take time to like subscribe and comment if you got any questions that I can answer I will certainly try to do so and stop on back for more conversations about movies music and monsters movies and monsters danger [Music] danger

Channel: Dan Monroe / Movies, Music & Monsters

Views: 90,874

Keywords: lost in space, robot, b9 robot, dan monroe, classic television, robby the robot, forbidden planet

Id: 6T86icPHoNE

Length: 6min 59sec (419 seconds)

Published: Tue Dec 19 2023