Robots (2005)
Directed by Chris Wedge
Rodney Copperbottom is a young robot inventor who dreams of making the world a better place, until the evil Ratchet takes over Bigweld Industries. Now, Rodney's dreams – and those of his friends – are in danger of becoming obsolete.
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13 films that influenced Robots
What critics say influenced Robots
Lots of medium-amusing references to sources as varied as The Wizard of Oz and the "Daisy" death scene from 2001 share time with a few genuinely inventive throwaway moments, such as public restroom logos that are an outlet and a plug and an animal litter sign that sees a magnet attracting Fido's droppings.
The story of a bright-eyed small-town robot who sets out to find the mechanical wizard of a gleaming utopian metropolis called Robot City, "Robots" gets its engine from "The Wizard of Oz" (the Tin Man has a cameo), which it reinterprets as a postindustrial, consumer-age parable about remaining true to yourself even if you resemble a 1950s kitchen appliance.
It's Pinocchio crossed with The Wizard of Oz.
Thus the ever-fascinating spectacle of "Robots" as created by the computer wizard Chris Wedge of "Ice Age" fame: a mechanical universe rooted firmly in the pre-computerized engineering of 1939 (when "The Wizard of Oz" came out).
Consider "Toy Story", "Antz", "A Bug's Life", or "SharkTale" (which ironically started life with a more story-oriented name, "Shark-Slayer").
Robots combines the visionary alternate world-building of Monsters, Inc. , the flair for gadgetry and gimmickry of an old Fleishers cartoon, and most sneakily of all, the toybox nostalgia of the Toy Story movies , with cleverly worked-in toy and game references — “Operation,” Slinky, Wheelo — that will have adults grinning with recognition.
In the end, the film comes off as more of a low rent "Toy Story" mixed with "Monster's Inc.".
As far as I'm concerned, as beautiful as it to look at, "Robots" lacks the warmth of the "Toy Story" movies, the hipness of the "Shrek" films, the heart of "Monsters, Inc.," and the sheer fun and excitement of "The Incredibles."
The class warfare in Robots harks back to Fritz Lang's Metropolis � so do the scenes of proles laboring in a subterranean furnace � but this is a different world, with a different architecture.
It's funny stuff, but it's totally random, veering from references to famous movies that adults will remember ("Singin' in the Rain") to famous people whom kids will recognize ( Britney Spears).
Credit Wedge and company for a generous supply of creative bits such as Fender doing a "Singin' in The Rain" number and Big Weld playing the biggest game of dominos ever.
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Williams only offers a rusty version of his brilliant Genie from Disney’s “Aladdin” and it stinks of banality as much as the has-been script.
While his vocal performance isn't quite up to the standard he established in Aladdin, it's only a rung lower.
Even worse is Robin Williams, who was brought to the film to provide some needed improvisational laughs, just like he did years ago in Disney's "Aladdin," yet seems incapable of making a single gag funny here.
Robots also marks a return to voiceover work by Robin Williams, who stole the show in Disney’s Aladdin as Genie.
Thankfully, a lot more air time is devoted to Williams, whose Fender is one part blue genie from "Aladdin," one part Cosmo Kramer and one part coffee grinder -- without seeming like a retread of his earlier comedy.
I wrote that Ice Age felt like a retread of Shrek and Monsters, Inc. Robots might as well be called Shark Tale but with robots instead of fish.
Robots combines the visionary alternate world-building of Monsters, Inc. , the flair for gadgetry and gimmickry of an old Fleishers cartoon, and most sneakily of all, the toybox nostalgia of the Toy Story movies , with cleverly worked-in toy and game references — “Operation,” Slinky, Wheelo — that will have adults grinning with recognition.
Following the lead of such other computer-animated hits as "Shrek," "Monsters, Inc." and "Ice Age," it goes through all the requisite motions.
Directed by Chris Wedge and Carlos Saldanha, whose Ice Age was a veritable frozen treat, and written by comedy veterans Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandell, Robots is at least a noble attempt to create something from nothing.
Director (and voice of Wonderbot) Chris Wedge ("Ice Age") surpasses his earlier film with the closest approximation of Pixar magic yet from outside of that studio.
Despite the minimal success enjoyed from their first film “Ice Age” though (which was released amidst a whirlwind of much better competition), Blue Sky’s latest venture is only slightly better, especially considering when it's the following act of Pixar’s award-winning “ The Incredibles .”
If ever a movie warranted the Second Coming of silent cinema, it's this animated effort from the same studio (20th Century Fox) and director (Chris Wedge) that brought us the middling Ice Age.
Robots has been directed by Chris Wedge and Carlos Saldanha, the same men who helmed the superior Ice Age - though there's absolutely no denying that Robots far exceeds that movie in terms of its look.
Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel, the unstoppable comedy-writing duo (18 movies, including “Splash” and “City Slickers”), were lured away from live action to write the script with playwright David Lindsay-Abaire.
Written by the veteran comedy writing team of Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel ('70s sitcoms Laverne & Shirley and Happy Days and the movies City Slickers and Parenthood), the movie's one-liners are sometimes funny, other times flat.
"Ice Age" director Chris Wedge and co-director Carlos Saldanha work from a polished script by the acclaimed screenwriting duo of Lowell Ganz & Babaloo Mandel ("City Slickers") to create a slapstick brand of humor with retro styled robots attempting to save their species from being outmoded by slash and burn capitalism.
This team, responsible for such comedy classics as "Splash," "A League of their Own," and "City Slickers," know the proper balance between comedy and action, drama and sentiment.
At least those bits are fun to watch, whereas the comedy, taken in part from the pens of the reliably disappointing team of Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel (City Slickers, Fathers' Day), just kind of drifts by unnoticed.
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"Robots" features clever writing (screenplay by Lowell Ganz & Babaloo Mandel, "Splash"; story by Jim McClain and Ron Mita), ingenious throwaway sight gags, in-jokes galore, good messages and cute characters.
Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel, the unstoppable comedy-writing duo (18 movies, including “Splash” and “City Slickers”), were lured away from live action to write the script with playwright David Lindsay-Abaire.
This team, responsible for such comedy classics as "Splash," "A League of their Own," and "City Slickers," know the proper balance between comedy and action, drama and sentiment.
Again like Shrek (and Beauty and the Beast , come to think of it), though Robots talks the talk, when it comes time to walk the walk, the ugly ones are still lonesome, the fat ones find romance but only with each other, the struggling dad gets to stop being a blue-collar guy and start being a popular musician, and Rodney ends up paired with hot Cappy instead of tepid Piper.