Welcome to the review of Robots, a film featuring legendary actor, Robin Williams, released in 2005 by Blue Sky Studios. This review will discuss the plot, cast, characters, where to stream, and more details about the movie Robots. If you’ve already watched this funny movie, share your thoughts in the comments below. Don’t forget to check out the Robots movie page for additional details, including the trailer and streaming options.
Year of Release: 2005
Production Studio: Blue Sky Studios
Distributor: 20th Century Fox
Directors: Chris Wedge, Carlos Saldanha
Screenplay: David Lindsay-Abaire, Lowell Ganz, Babaloo Mandel
Robots Movie Voice Cast
Robots (2005), the voice cast includes:
- Ewan McGregor as Rodney Copperbottom
- Robin Williams as Fender Pinwheeler
- Halle Berry as Cappy
- Greg Kinnear as Ratchet
- Mel Brooks as Bigweld
- Amanda Bynes as Piper Pinwheeler
- Drew Carey as Crank Casey
Where can I stream Robots?
Robots (2005) is available for streaming on various platforms such as Max with a subscription, Apple TV, Youtube, Vudu, and Google Play Movies.
The Plot
In a world of sentient robots, aspiring inventor Rodney Copperbottom idolizes Bigweld, a famous entrepreneur who helps robots with spare parts. When Rodney arrives in Robot City seeking Bigweld’s mentorship, he discovers a plot by the new owner, Ratchet, to exploit older robots. With the help of newfound friends, Rodney uncovers the scheme and leads a revolt against Ratchet’s tyranny.
The Animation
The animation style used in Robots is primarily computer-generated imagery (CGI). It features colorful and vibrant visuals with detailed character designs and intricate backgrounds.
The animation style aims to create a visually stunning world inhabited by robots. It blends realism with exaggerated character movements and expressions to enhance comedic and emotional moments.
I particularly loved the scenes of Robot City itself. The metallic world was both chaotic, with multiple kinds of robots walking the streets, and stunning, with large towering buildings and contraptions.
The train station scene was a thrill to watch as Rodney and Fender are thrown in the air and through multiple obstacles on their way to Bigweld Industries. I also particularly enjoyed seeing the different types of robots like the breakdancing robots.
The Characters
In the Robots movie cast, renowned actors like Halle Berry portrayed Cappy, while Ewan McGregor, known for his role as Jedi Obi-Wan Kenobi in The Phantom Menace, starred as the lead character, Rodney Copperbottom.
In Robots, the late actor Robin Williams portrayed Fender, who enthusiastically greeted Rodney as he entered Robot City as a newcomer. Fender, in Robin’s iconic voice, swiftly began taking pictures of Rodney from various angles, charging over $50 per picture.
Despite Rodney’s objections, Fender persisted in taking photos and cheekily requested “big anime eyes.”
For those familiar with Robin’s voice-acting style, this scene was nostalgic and perfectly captured Robin’s fun-loving approach to acting.
Mel Brooks, the American actor, filmmaker, and comedian, voiced Bigweld, the founder of Bigweld Industries. In this role, Mel portrays Bigweld as a recluse following Ratchet’s takeover of the company, spending his time building dominos.
He tells Rodney that he is an old outmode with a childish dream. However, eventually, Bigweld joins Rodney’s fight to save the outmodes and expresses gratitude to Rodney for believing in him.
Robots movie: My Take
The main theme of the movie really resonated with me. Ratchet and his mother, Madame Gasket created an elaborate scheme to convince the robot population that they were ‘crummy’ and to buy expensive upgrades instead of spare parts. When they couldn’t afford the upgrades, they would be tossed in Gasket’s furnace and used as scrap metal.
To fight against Ratchet and Gasket’s evil plot, the outmodes banded together. This brings us to the overarching theme of Robots which revolves around the importance of staying true to oneself, standing up against injustice, and the value of friendship and teamwork in overcoming obstacles. Additionally, the film explores themes of innovation, embracing diversity, and the consequences of greed and exploitation.
Robots Movie Favorite Quotes
Not only is this movie full of funny gags, but it also contains meaningful quotes. One quote that is repeated often is “See a need, fill a need.” This quote comes from Bigweld himself. It is meant to inspire others to be creative and to invent products and services that help other robots in need.
Rodney takes this phrase to heart as he sees his dad work in the kitchen as a dishwasher. Rodney tries to lighten his father’s workload by inventing the helpful robot, Wonder Bot, which he plans to show to Bigweld.
Another meaningful quote comes from Rodney’s father, Herb Copperbottom, “If I could do it over again, I would follow my dream.” Like many of us, Rodney’s father had to forgo his dream of being a musician to provide an income to support his family.
Herb was fitted as a dishwasher robot at a young age to provide for Rodney and his mom growing up. In this scene, Herb encourages Rodney to go to Robot City to become an inventor and to show Bigweld his great ideas- to follow his dreams.
On the same note, Rodney’s father encourages Rodney further by telling him that a dream he doesn’t fight for will haunt him for the rest of his life. This can be true for many of us. As cheesy as it may sound, we need to take a page out of Herb’s book and pursue our dreams before we regret not doing so.
My Favorite Scene
One of my favorite scenes in Robots, since there were many, was when Rodney and Fender tried to pull one over on Tim, the gate guard, to get into Bigweld’s ball.
This scene is where Robin Williams’ acting truly shined. Fender acted as Rodney’s lowly servant, worthy of being slapped by Rodney. Apparently, Fender’s acting was so good, that Tim begged to be slapped as well. Fender continued to create a hilarious secret call that gained attention from onlookers.
Recommendation
I would recommend Robots to anybody looking for a carefree movie with a good message. I would also recommend this movie for those looking for some good laughs, as there are many, I mean many, hilarious gag scenes- no wonder, since Robin Williams is in it.
What do you think?
Already seen the movie? Do you have a favorite robot character? A favorite quote or message? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below. And as always- keep watching!
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