Robots (film)

Robots is a 2005 American computer-animated comedy film produced by Blue Sky Studios for 20th Century Fox (the same companies behind the film Ice Age), 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 well-known 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 of Robots was released on September 27, 2005. The MPAA rated the film PG; in most countries, it is suitable for all ages.

Plot

In the beginning of the movie, set in Future, Humans are extinct and dead, no Humans, just robots, Herb Copperbottom (Stanley Tucci),raced through the streets as he was elated that he is going to be a father. As a result of he and his wife, Lydia Copperbottom (Dianne Weist),12 hours of hard work, they manage to fix up a baby. He is Rodney Copperbottom (Ewan McGregor), who is a young genius inventor who dreams of making the robot world a better place for everyone. Rodney idolizes Bigweld (Mel Brooks) the master inventor, and makes him his role model. Rodney has invented a gadget that will help his father clean the dishes at the restaurant. Rodney takes his invention to Robot City to see Bigweld and get a job as an inventor at his company. Rodney gets to see Ratchet (Greg Kinnear), the new head of the company, who has him removed from his office. Cappy (Halle Berry) a beautiful robot-executive of the company takes an interest in Rodney, and wants to help him. In the City, some old robots known as the Rusties, led by Fender (Robin Williams), befriend Rodney. Ratchet believes the company can make a bigger profit if it stops making spare parts for older robots. Non-working robots are picked up and sent to the Chop Shop and melted down by Ratchet's mother. Rodney 'See a need, fill a need' begins fixing old robots. When Ratchet's mother orders him to stop Rodney, the fireworks begin.

Characters

Main

Role	Voiced by
Rodney Copperbottom	Ewan McGregor
Fender	Robin Williams
Bigweld	Mel Brooks
Cappy	Halle Berry
Ratchet	Greg Kinnear
Piper Pinwheeler	Amanda Bynes
Crank Casey	Drew Carey
Madame Gasket	Jim Broadbent
Aunt Fanny	Jennifer Coolidge
Lug	Harland Williams
Diesel	James Earl Jones, Chris Evans, Odie The Dog
Lydia Copperbottom	Dianne Weist
Herb Copperbottom	Stanley Tucci
Loretta Geargrinder	Natasha Lyonne

Supporting

Paul Giamatti as Tim
Chris Evans as Referee Voice Chip
Dan Hedaya as Mr. Gunk
Jay Leno as Fire Hydrant

Cameos

Ryan Seacrest as Watch
Randy Jackson as Watch
Paula Abdul as Watch
Jaden Smith as Rodney at 5
Macaulay Culkin as Teen Rodney
Will Reeve as Teen Rodney
John Mahoney as Ratchet's Robots
James Earl Jones as Darth Vader Voice Chip

British voices

Cat Deeley as Rodney's Mother
Jonathan Roberts as Lug
Chris Moyles as voice introduction to Big Weld Show
Terry Wogan as Ratchet's father

Locations

Movie director Chris Wedge says New York City (his hometown), 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 (a parody of New York City ghettos): The lowest part of the city, and therefore the rustiest. It may be also be a ghetto. Parts 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. It is 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.

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.

Critical reception

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. Metacritic reported the film had an average score of 64 out of 100, based on 33 reviews.

Most critics liked the visual style and gags but panned the predictable story. 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".

Box office performance

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. 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.