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Robots
2005 Wiki
Robots is a 2005 American computer-animated comedy film produced by Blue Sky Studios for 20th Century Fox, and was released theatrically (both in normal theaters and in IMAX theaters) on March 11, 2005. The story was created by Chris Wedge and Bill Joyce, a children's book author/illustrator. The two were trying to create a film version of Joyce's book Santa Calls but instead they came up with a movie about robots. Joyce served as producer and production designer for the film. The DVD and VHS of Robots were released on September 27, 2005. Robots is also the last 20th Century Fox animated film to receive a VHS release.The story begins in Rivet Town with Herb Copperbottom (Stanley Tucci),
a dishwasher at Gunk's Greasy Spoon diner, racing through the streets,
elated that he is going to be a father. He and his wife, Lydia
Copperbottom (Dianne Wiest), after 12 hours of "labor," finally manage to construct the baby. His name is Rodney Copperbottom (Ewan McGregor), and he becomes a young inventor who dreams of making the world a better place for everyone. Rodney idolizes Bigweld (Mel Brooks), a master inventor and owner of Bigweld Industries.
When Rodney comes of age, he invents a gadget, "Wonderbot", intended
to help his father clean the dishes at the restaurant, but when Herb's
boss, Mr. Gunk (Dan Hedaya),
unexpectedly confronts them, Wonderbot goes haywire (a running gag in
this film) and breaks dishes, infuriating Gunk and putting Herb in debt.
Rodney decides to take his invention to Robot City to see Bigweld and
get a job as an inventor at Bigweld Industries, so that he can help his
father pay back Mr. Gunk. He's encouraged by his father, who confides
that he's always regretted not pursuing his dream of becoming a
musician.
Rodney arrives in the big city and is thrown together with Fender (Robin Williams),
a ramshackle robot who is trying to scrape by taking souvenir photos
and selling maps to the stars' homes. After a spectacular but harrowing
ride on the crosstown express, Rodney arrives at the gate of Bigweld
Industries.
However, he learns that times have changed: Bigweld is gone, new
inventions are no longer wanted, and his greedy replacement, Ratchet (Greg Kinnear),
is about to discontinue the manufacture of spare parts. Ratchet
believes the company can make a bigger profit if it stops making spare
parts for older robots and instead focuses on selling sleek-looking but
expensive upgrades. If the robots refuse to buy the Upgrades they are
picked up by mechanical "Sweepers" and sent to the underground Chop
Shop, where they're shredded and melted down by Ratchet's mother, Madame
Gasket (Jim Broadbent).
Thrown out by Ratchet, Rodney ends up sharing quarters with Fender at Aunt Fanny's (Jennifer Coolidge)
low-rent boarding house, along with an assortment of other "Rusties" —
older robots threatened with the Chop Shop. When the news gets out that
spare parts have been discontinued by Bigweld industries, Rodney
remembers Bigweld's slogan, "See a need, fill a need", and begins fixing
old robots on his own. Ratchet's mother orders him to stop Rodney and
kill Bigweld.
Rodney receives a letter saying that his father Herb is ill, and is
having trouble finding replacement parts. In desperation, Rodney decides
to try to contact Bigweld directly, in order to beg him to restart the
manufacture of spare parts. Wonderbot reminds him that the annual
Bigweld Ball takes place that night.
Rodney and Fender go to the ball in disguise, only to hear Ratchet
announce that Bigweld was unable to attend. Rodney confronts Ratchet,
but is waylaid by security robots. He's saved by Cappy (Halle Berry),
a beautiful robot-executive of the company who does not like Ratchet's
scheme, and together with Fender and the latter's new girlfriend,
Loretta Geargrinder (Natasha Lyonne), they escape from the ball.
Fender walks Loretta home and then joyously dances to the tune of "Singing in the Rain".
As he rejoices that love has turned his life around, a sweeper swallows
him and takes him to the Chop Shop. In the Chop shop he struggles to
escape being melted down, losing the lower half of his body in the
process. He escapes by attaching a new pair of legs to himself, only to
find that they are female.
Meanwhile, Rodney and Cappy fly to Bigweld's home. The place seems to
be deserted, but while searching for Bigweld, Rodney accidentally
knocks over a domino. This triggers a falling-domino sequence that
builds from small, Rube Goldbergesque
devices to a succession of increasingly large dominos tipping over. As
the last and largest domino slams into the floor, it triggers a tidal
wave of dominoes with Bigweld himself surfing on one. Rodney tries to
convince Bigweld to return to the helm of his company and once again
make spare parts available, but Bigweld is uninterested. He tells Rodney
to give up, because there's no point in trying to fight Ratchet, who's
only in the business for the power and money.
Disappointed, Rodney and Cappy leave Bigweld alone and head for the
train station. Rodney calls his parents, intending to give up his
ambition of becoming an inventor and return to Rivet Town, but his
father once again encourages Rodney to pursue his dreams. Aunt Fanny and
the other Rusties turn up, and Rodney talks them into fighting back
against Ratchet's skulduggery. Fender appears and tells them that
Ratchet has built a fleet of super-sweepers with the intention of
rounding up and destroying all older robots. At the last minute, Bigweld
himself appears and joins the group; his encounter with Rodney has
caused him to have a change of heart.
The group heads for Bigweld Industries in Bigweld's limo, and Bigweld
goes to the boardroom to confront Ratchet alone. He fires a terrified
Ratchet, but he manages beats him senseless. Rescued by Rodney and
Cappy, a now-deranged Bigweld moves out of control as Rodney attempts
repairs. Pursued by Ratchet in a large mono-wheeled magnetic lifter, he
struggles to repair Bigweld's brain as Cappy, in another lifter, fights
to keep them both out of Ratchet's clutches. Bigweld is restored to
sanity just as they enter the Chop Shop. A climactic battle ensues
between the two Gaskets and their Chop Shop employees on one side and
Bigweld, the Rusties, and all the other old robots that Rodney has
repaired on the other.
When Gasket and Ratchet are gradually winning the battle, Rodney
rescues Bigweld from being melted down, the choppers and sweepers are
destroyed, Wonderbot tosses Madame Gasket into the melter, and Ratchet
loses his upgrades, joining his ineffectual father, who has been hanging
from the ceiling by chains throughout the film.
Bigweld goes to Rivet Town to tell Rodney's parents that their son is
now his right-hand inventor and eventual successor. Rodney makes his
father's dream come true by giving him a three-bell trumpet, and the whole crowd dances to James Brown's "Get Up Offa That Thing" as a victory celebration.
[edit] Characters
[edit] Supporting
[edit] Cameos
[edit] Locations
Movie director Chris Wedge says New York City, Toronto, London, and a little future-like city inspired him to make the city.
There are three parts of the city:
- High End District (based on a futuristic city): The part of
the city where the rich and famous robots live. Buildings and robots are
all shiny and nearly everything is futuristic. Everyone here has a
metal covering that hides all their inner workings. Bigweld Industries
is here.
- Combustion District (based on a hybrid of Toronto and
London): Middle-class place. It has a few rust spots, and robots have
the internal workings similar to a 1950s car. Aunt Fanny's house is
here, and the majority of the movie takes place here.
- Steam District:[citation needed] The lowest part of the city, and therefore the rustiest. Parts of the district resemble the inventions of the Industrial Revolution,
and everywhere is filled with broken machines. Sweepers grab old robots
and bring them to Madame Gasket's Chop Shop, where mutant robots then
break and melt robots, turning them into upgrades.
Another major location of the film is Rivet Town, home to the
Copperbottom family. Two of the buildings there are Gunk's Greasy Spoon
and Flathead Floyd's. Rivet Town is based on Watertown, New York, where movie director Chris Wedge lived during his teens.
[edit] Release
The film was the first to feature (in US screenings) the new trailer for Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. The movie featured the exclusive trailer for Ice Age: The Meltdown, then called Ice Age 2.
[edit] Critical response
The film received generally favorable reviews from critics. The review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported that 63% of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 172 reviews.[1] Metacritic gives the a score of 64%, based on 33 reviews.[2]
Most critics liked the visual style and gags but panned the predictable story.[citation needed]
The film was nominated for many awards in the category of best animated
film, as well as awards for character design, best animated character,
voice casting, and sound editing. However, it only won one, the MTV
(Mexico) Movie Award for best song, "Un Héroe Real".[3]
[edit] Box office
The film was released March 11, 2005 in the United States and Canada and grossed $36 million in 3,776 theaters its opening weekend, ranking #1 at the box office.[4]
It grossed a total of $260.7 million worldwide – $128.2 million in the
United States and Canada and $132.5 million in other territories.[5] |