Robby is a friendly robot who first appeared in
"Forbidden Planet" science-fiction movie from
1956. Though the film now seems to be a bit old-fashioned, it has its devoted fans in the world. Many of them collect original items or recently manufactured toys and gadgets connected with the movie.
I was actually born during the
Communism. At that time we had rather
simple toys and there was not much of a choice - just a couple of shapes and designs. One of them was a plastic
earthworm made of 3 balls, one put on the top of the other, with two antennas sticking out of its head. It was usually in the colour of wrinkled leaves, super-cloudy sky, melted banana ice-creams and dead oranges. I guess there was also a violet version, but it was also dim, let's say it was in the shade of grape juice which you put in a glass, but forgot to drink and reminded yourself about after 2 years. I guess these toys and colours could have been the reason for my depressive childhood. The earthworm was made of very hard plastic. My mother was afraid I would pick out my eyes with the toy's antennas, so she cut them off. They should have used softer material to produce that toy. I had indifferent attitude towards the earthworm when I was a child. I rather used it for decoration in my room or in the castles which I used to build with my great-grandmother. I didn't really play with it. However, when I think of it now, I feel
nostalgic.
Robby The Robot actually reminds me of my
Communist childhood earthworm toy. He brings a lot of positive feelings into my heart.
Robby was also constructed out of several balls, one put on the top of another. His character was inspired by
Ariel - a ghost, a forest spirit and a servant from one of
Shakespeare's play. It is an interesting transition to me. A character who in the old drama came from the world of
magic, in a new interpretation comes from the world of
technology.
I have been wondering about this
techy fetish in the contects of robots. As you can see it in vintage science-fiction movie posters, there are fainting women in the arms of robots which reminds me of
King-Kong and
Ann Darrow. Machines seem to have
sexual feelings towards women, though it is obvious that a human is not an appropriate partner for a machine. What aspects of our subconsciousness robots represent? It seems that they represent
male and animal energy which
dominates women. However in old films robots are usually rather simple, they move in a bit awkward way, they don't harm humans and protect the female character. Robby was a faithful servant with an intelligence of a child or a dog. In the vintage photos
"Forbidden Planet's" leading actress
Anne Francis seems to flirt a bit with Robby. Perhaps this represents somewhat
teenage fascination with women and
female's desire to have a faithful
friend and a
slave? It is a bit risky to go deeper into that. Vintage robots/women photographs and posters are confusing, but at the same time intriguing.
Robby became a huge inspiration for a generation. Until
1970 he appeared in
several movies and TV-series. After that he had few film roles. He is featured in 2006 commercial of an American telephone industry. He still moves people's hearts and imagination.
