Animation Robots

Kevin

Code Monkey
Staff member
[MOVIE]Robots (tt0358082)[/MOVIE]I recently watched Robots, the 2005 animated film with Ewan McGregor, and, even after watching it a second time, I come away with two totally different views of it, one good and one bad.

Set in robot world that has a look & feel of the robots from the 1950's & early 1960's, Robots is a star filled movie aimed at teaching kids to accept themselves for how they are. Rodney Copperbottom, voiced by Ewan McGregor, is a young inventor who travels to the big city with the dream of meeting & working for his idol, Bigweld. Bigweld was the host of a kids science show that Rodney watched with his father while growing up and it inspired him to tinker. Upon arriving in the city he first meets Fender, voiced by Robin Williams, a manic panhandler who helps Rodney travel downtown to where Bigweld's office is. Upon arriving at Bigweld's office Rodney learns that life in the city as depicted on Bigweld's TV show is no longer and he is barred from entering. What follows is Rodney's adventure in learning what his role in life can be.

The Good View
Ratchet, the villain of the show, has taken over Bigweld's company and has stopped selling robot replacement parts. His plan is to only sell upgrades where robots can upgrade their parts to all shiny & new pieces. Ratchet and his evil mother hatch a plan to round up outdated robots who can't afford upgrades to scrap them and use them for parts. Rodney finds out that his inventing skills are perfect at repairing the outdated robots and soon finds himself on a quest to find Bigweld and help restore Bigweld as the head of his company that Ratchet has taken over. With the help of his new friends, all of whom are outdated in the new Ratchet led city, Rodney helps to overthrow Ratchet, have replacement parts made available to the outdated robots, and inspires Bigweld to reclaim the helm. The lesson to be learned is that not everybody needs or wants upgrades and they can be happy just as they are. (y)

The Bad View
Ratchet, the villain of the movie, uses giant trash truck like contraptions to roam the town looking for outdated robots who can't afford upgrades to be new & shiny. The robots that are scooped up are destined to be torn apart and melted down to be used as raw materials for new & shiny upgrade parts. As the trucks roam around town the outdated robots hide in fear. When Fender, one of Rodeney's new friends, is caught by one of the trucks he is shown on a rolling belt where other robots are savagely shredding whatever comes in front of them with the parts eventually ending up in a huge furnance. Fender is naturally terrified; he doesn't want to die. That is quite a heavy story element for a kids movie. The robots are sentient beings and they are afraid of dying. That premise also served as the basis for a major scene in the 2001 movie A.I. where humans were horrified at the sight of a robot boy who didn't want to die. In Robots you have a choice, "upgrade" your looks if you can afford it or be treated as trash to be disposed of by the rich & powerful. (n)



There are a few good one-liners from the movie, both provided by Fender. My favorite is describing a style of music as "It's a fusion between jazz and funk. It's called.... junk!" :LOL: The movie is visually entertaining, and the Rube Goldberg devices shown, especially the transportation system in the big city, are often ingenious. If you have kids who are young enough to just watch a movie without thinking too much about it then they'll likely enjoy it. On the other hand, if you or your kids think too much about some of actual story elements then it becomes a much darker movie wrapped up in a bright presentation.
 

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