Development of the film began in 2000, following a failed attempt by Wedge and children's authorWilliam Joyce to adapt Joyce's 1993 children's bookSanta Calls. They instead decided to create an original story based on robots. The project was approved by executive producerChris Meledandri in 2001 and production began the next year.
Robots premiered at theMann Village Theatre inWestwood, Los Angeles, on March 6, 2005, and was released in the United States on March 11. The film was praised by critics for its humor, animation, and performances, while its story and characters were deemed somewhat formulaic.[4] The film was commercially successful, grossing $262.5 million worldwide against a $75–80 million budget. A sequel was discussed but never produced due to the studio shifting focus to its flagship franchise,Ice Age.[5]
In a world ofrobots, Rodney Copperbottom, son of Herb and Lydia Copperbottom, is an aspiring young inventor from the city of Rivet Town. He idolizes Bigweld, a famous inventor and philanthropist whose company, Bigweld Industries, employs other inventors and provides poor robots with spare parts. Rodney develops a small, flying robot named Wonderbot to assist his father, who works as adishwasher in a restaurant. When Herb's boss, Mr. Gunk, confronts them, however, Wonderbot malfunctions and wreaks havoc in the kitchen.
To help Herb pay for the damages, Rodney travels to Robot City, hoping to present Wonderbot to Bigweld Industries. However, upon his arrival, Rodney is ejected from Bigweld Industries by its newCEO, Phineas T. Ratchet. In Bigweld's absence, Ratchet has discontinued production of spare parts and inventions for the poor outmoded robots, prioritizing expensive "upgrades". Meanwhile, Ratchet's mother Madame Gasket runs theChop Shop, a facility that recyclesscrap metal, including that of deceased or outmoded robots, intoingots for upgrades.
Rodney befriends Fender Pinwheeler, ane'er-do-well who introduces him to a group of outmoded robots known as the "Rusties". Rodney and his new friends help to fix outmodes throughout the neighborhood, but they are eventually unable to cope with the demand due to the spare part shortage. Hoping to enlist Bigweld's help, Rodney and Fender infiltrate the Bigweld Ball, but Ratchet announces that Bigweld will not attend. An enraged Rodney confronts Ratchet, who orders his security team to eliminate him. Cappy, an executive opposed to Ratchet, rescues Rodney and Fender. While Fender is captured by the Chop Shop, he discovers their plan to scrap all outmoded robots with new machines designed to destroy them.
Rodney and Cappy fly to Bigweld's mansion, where he lives as a recluse and reveals that Ratchet's greed led to his resignation and refuses to help them. A distraught Rodney calls his parents, but Herb inspires him to fight for his dreams. Fender escapes the Chop Shop and exposes Ratchet's plot. Rodney rallies the Rusties, and Bigweld, reinvigorated by Rodney's spirit, joins them to stop Ratchet. Rodney and his friends return to Bigweld Industries where Ratchet attempts to dispose of Bigweld, who ends up being rolled into the Chop Shop. Rodney upgrades the Rusties and leads them in a battle against Ratchet, Gasket, and their army. Gasket is eventually flung into the incinerator and destroyed, and Ratchet is stripped of his upgrades and left chained with his father.
Retaking control of Bigweld Industries, Bigweld holds a public ceremony in Rivet Town, where he nominates Rodney as his new second-in-command and eventual successor. Rodney provides Herb with new replacement parts and aflugelhorn-like instrument to fulfill his life-long dream of being a musician. Herb leads the townspeople in a rousing rendition of "Get Up Offa That Thing".
Halle Berry as Cappy, a straight-laced executive at Bigweld Industries and Rodney's love interest
Robin Williams as Fender Pinwheeler, a mischievous redblender-like robot who befriends Rodney and is constantly falling apart[8]
Mel Brooks as Bigweld, an elderly sphericalyin and yang-like robot who is the caring inventor and founder of Bigweld Industries
Greg Kinnear as Phineas T. Ratchet, the menacing and arrogant upgraded robot, Madame Gasket's son and right-hand-man and Rodney's arch-nemesis. He is the main antagonist of the film.
Jim Broadbent as Madame Gasket, the evil owner of the Chop Shop, Ratchet's mother and the overarching antagonist of the film.
Amanda Bynes as Piper Pinwheeler, a plucky yellowtomboy robot who is Fender's younger sister and has a crush on Rodney.
Jennifer Coolidge as Aunt Fanny (also known as Aunt Fan in the UK and Australian version), a motherlysnail-like robot who takes in outmoded and homeless robots
Harland Williams as Lugnut or "Lug", an imposing but good-natured green muscular robot who befriends Rodney along with his best friend Diesel, a slim, mute robot who lacks avoice box
Alan Rosenberg as Jack Hammer, a rusty copperish orange robot who works at a hardware store
Dianne Wiest as Lydia Copperbottom, Rodney's mother
Chris Wedge as Wonderbot, a smallcup-like robot with a propeller who is Rodney's invention
Natasha Lyonne (in the US version),Cat Deeley (in the UK version) andJackie O (in the Australian version) as Loretta Geargrinder, a receptionist at Bigweld Industries and Fender's love interest
Rivet Town was rumored to be based onWatertown, New York, where director Chris Wedge lived during his teens. However, Wedge dismissed this in an interview.[11]
Initially,Chris Wedge andWilliam Joyce wanted to make a film adaptation of Joyce's 1993 bookSanta Calls. After a failed animation test in 2000 (in which 20th Century Fox Animation declined to make the film), Wedge and Joyce decided to instead develop an original story about a world of robots. In 2001, the duo pitched the concept to20th Century Fox Animation presidentChris Meledandri, as a visual idea. Although not initially impressed, Meledandri agreed togreenlight the film and served as its executive producer.[12] The film began production in 2002, shortly afterIce Age was released. Wedge reunited with the crew from his first film, includingCarlos Saldanha as the co-director. In June 2003, the film was announced by Fox at theAmerican Museum of Natural History'sIMAX theater. This announcement confirmed the entire cast and slated the film for its 2005 release.[13]
Robots was originally scheduled for a 2004 release,[14] but the release date was changed to 2005. The film had its world premiere on March 6, 2005, inWestwood, Los Angeles,[6][7] and it was released theatrically on March 11, 2005. The film was the first to feature the new trailer forStar Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith;[15] it was reported thatStar Wars fans went to see the movie just to see the trailer and hear the voice of Ewan McGregor, who also playedObi-Wan Kenobi in theStar Wars prequel trilogy, as Rodney Copperbottom. The film also featured the exclusive trailer for Blue Sky's next filmIce Age: The Meltdown, then calledIce Age 2.[16]Robots was digitally re-mastered into IMAX format (IMAX DMR) and released in select IMAX theaters around the world. It was the first 20th Century Fox film that was released on the same day on IMAX and conventional 35mm screens. It was also the first IMAX DMR film released in the spring season, and the second IMAX DMR film distributed by Fox.[17]
The film was released onDVD andVHS in both fullscreen and widescreen on September 27, 2005.[18] The DVD release was accompanied by an original short animated film based onRobots, titledAunt Fanny's Tour of Booty.[19][20] The short is aprequel to the film, as it takes place during Fender's arrival in Robot City. In the short, Aunt Fanny gives a tour of the Robot City Train Station to a motley collection of robots, including Fender Pinwheeler, Zinc, Tammy, Hacky and an Old Lady-Bot.[19][20]
The film was released inhigh definition onBlu-ray on March 22, 2011.[21] The Asian Blu-ray release ofRobots includesAunt Fanny's Tour of Booty, but it is not included on either the US nor European Blu-ray releases (possibly due to a request from theOffice of Film and Literature Classification (OFLC) to remove the short from the Australian DVD release, for they gave the short a PG rating).[citation needed]
The film was released on March 11, 2005, in the United States and Canada and grossed $36 million in 3,776 theaters in its opening weekend, ranking #1 at the box office.[22] 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.[2]
OnRotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 64% based on 184 reviews, with an average rating of 6.6/10. The site's consensus reads: "Robots delights on a visual level, but the story feels like it came off an assembly line."[23]Metacritic gives the film aweighted average score of 64 out of 100 based on 33 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[24] Audiences surveyed byCinemaScore gave the film an "A" on a scale of A+ to F.[25]
Roger Ebert of theChicago Sun-Times gave the film three and a half stars out of four, stating that "this is a movie that is a joy to behold entirely apart from what it is about. It looks happy, and, more to the point, it looks harmonious."[26]
Caroline Westbrook ofEmpire magazine gave the film a three stars out of five, and said, "Kids will love it and their adult companions will be warmly entertained—but it's far from a computer-animated classic."[27]
Rob Mackie ofThe Guardian gave the film three stars out of five, saying that it "skillfully combines adult and kids' comedy. But for all the imaginative splendours and a sharp script,Robots is never quite as distinctive as its predecessor,Ice Age."[28]
Common Sense Media gave the film four stars out of five, calling it an "endearing 'follow your dreams' story with plenty of laughs".[29]
In light of theRelease the Snyder Cut movement and the closure of Blue Sky Studios, a movement to release a director's cut ofRobots gained traction in 2022.[38] A proposed director's cut was first mentioned on the film's original DVD audio commentary with Wedge and Joyce, in which Wedge said that there would be alternate takes in certain scenes, and that Cappy would have been more fleshed out.[39]
^Hettrick, Scott (June 25, 2002)."Fox thaws 'Ice' vid plan".Variety.Archived from the original on March 5, 2016. RetrievedMay 9, 2015.Blue Sky is working on its next CGI movie for Fox called "Robots," due out in 2004, with a sequel to "Ice Age" to follow.
^"Robots: Filmmaker's Commentary with Director Chris Wedge and Production Designer/Producer William Joyce" (Interview).20th Century Fox Home Entertainment. September 27, 2005.
