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tu TSThe animated'Robots' comefrom a longline of movieautomatons,from Fritzlang's Helto Arnold'sTerminators

NTERTAIBY FRANK LOVECE

he CGl-animated"Robots" comesto theaters Fri-day, bearing theretro-future lookof "Sky Captainand the World ofTomorrow" - allblimps and bolts and tailfinsand gearboxes, as ifthe 1930smachine age never stoppedand the atomic and space ageswere just something from theimagination of humans.With Ewan McGregor voic-ing teen robot Rodney Copper-bottom, and Robin Williams,Amanda Bynes and DrewCarey among hisnew friends in ametal-gingerbreadOz called RobotCity, "Robots" fol-lows Rodney'sdream to buildinventions for thegreat and powerfulBigweld (MelBrooks). But thedastardly Phineas T.Ratchet (Greg Kin-near) has other

ltow otIYTEWSDAY.COTIII n,*flte"Robo6"rmviekaileradgetshortimesodine atwww.nynewsdayrony'nnties

became a staple after EdwardSylvester Ellis' "The SteamMan of the Prairies" in 1868.What else, after all, is the TinMan in L. Frank Baum's 1900"The Wonderful Wizard ofOz"?IfRodney Copperbottomhad a family album, the follow-ing would be some of his mostnotable relatives.lhe first moYh robots. In hissilent French short "Gugeusseet L'automate" ("The Clownand the Automaton") (1897),film pioneer Georges M6liBsfound humor in a mechanicalman. Not so funny is that thisseminal 60 seconds ofcinema appears to belost. Available onvideo, however, is thenext example, "TheMaster Mystery," al5-episode serial filmedin Yonkers by HarryHoudini. The famedmagician plays aninsurance investigatorwho escapes fromobstacles that includea villain's roboticplans, bwah-hah-hah.

Clearly, the movie's lookisn't the only thing that's retro.But that's OK - we love ourrobots. When the acerbicBender asked Philip Fry in theFox series' "Futurama" pre-miere whether he really want-ed a robot for a friend, Frygave just the right answer:"Ever since I was 6."Robots have fascinated ussince way before the word wascoined in Czechoslovakianplaywright Karel Capek's 192Ihit,'R.U.R." Automatons, likemechanized birds, date toancient Greece and China, andmechanical-man dime novels

henchman, Qthe Automaton.Hel. One of the big screen'sbest known images is that ofthe black-metal robot in FritzLang's dystopian "Metropolis"(1926). She remains with usdecades later, in the Queenmusic video for "Radio GaGa" and elsewhere.tatlnee.scrlal rcbots As moviescience fiction entered itskiddie era and became thestuff of serial cliffhangers,robots became walking boilers(1936's "The Undersea King-dom," 1940's "Mysterious Dr.Satan"), skirt-wearing block-heads (1935's "Gene Autry andthe Phantom Empire") and

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something out of a DavidLynch nightmare (1939's "ThePhantom Creeps").Gott From "The Day the EarthStood Still" (1951). Were it notfor Patricia Nearl saying"Klaatu. . . barada.. . nikto"to Rerrnie's indestructible,death-beaming robot, Earthwould have known the stillness

Above, theJetsons'familyrobot, Rosie, istaken for a ridein theirJetmobile.RodneyCopperbottom,left, is voicedby EwanMcGregor inthe newanimated film"Robots,"Right, Robby,who was thequintessentialmovie robot,with WalterPidgeon in the1956 classic"ForbiddenPlanet."

ofthe grave.Robby. The quintessentialmovie robot, this bubble-domed Michelin Man from"Forbidden Planet" (1956) -MGM's full-color, widescreentelling of "The Tempest" inouter space - went on tostar in "The Invisible Boy"(1957) and to at least carneo

in a slew of movies and TVshows.Rosle. The most famous female'bot since the one of "Metropo-lis," she cleaned house for"The Jetsons" (ABC, 1962-63).Voiced by lean Vander Pyl(Wilma Flintstone), it's a testa-ment to Rosie's popularity thatshe's featured in only two of

the original 24 episodes: Thepremiere, "Rosie the Robot,"and "Rosie's Boyfriend."Robot. Despite the minimalistname, he was the do-it-allSwiss Army Knife of "Lost inSpace" (CBS, 1965-68). He wasgiven voice by the prolificannouncer Dick Tufeld, whohelped immortalize such lines

as "Danger, Wiil Robinsonl"and "Attack! Killl Destroy!"futto Boy. America's firstanime (syndicated, 1963-64)arrived here as 104 English-dubbed episodes of JapaneseTV's "Tetsuwan Atom"("Mighty Atom"), created by

See MOVIES on ClO

Will Smith draws robotic attention in "1, Robot,"co-starring a machine named Sonny, front left. Kristanna Loken and a scuffed-up Arnold Schwarzeneggerin "Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines"

{:o{roF6ozr{UCzUFr.)T_cl\NoOA robot named Robot helped protect theRobinson family in TV's classic "Lost in Space."

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Greg Kinnear gives voice to Ratchet in "Robots."SKY STUDIOS PHOTO

'Bots entertainment!MOVIES from C8legendary animator Osamu Tezuka. Its pint-sizehero's popularity inspired such fellow roboticirnports as "Gigantor" and "Tobor, the EighthMan."flnqnshqgL From "The Magnificent Seven" to amechanicalman, Yul Brynner became a literallysteely-eyed covtboy in "Westworld" (L973), Micha-el @tgnttdlrof, unr, an amusement parkwhere be+ttrections turn deadly.'ffa sffi-dues The desperate housewives ofSe 1975 orfinal were killed and replaced byrobot duplicates. A 1949 British comedy alreadyhad invented the idea of a robot as "the perfectwoman," but, of course, we all know the per-fect woman could only be ]ulie Newmar asrobo-gal Rhoda in the sitcom "My Livi-ng Doll"(cBS, 1964-65).l2-D2 and C-3PO. "Star Wars" (L977, et al). LukeSkywalker's buddies are the one constantthrough the multigenerational movies set a longtime ago in a galaxy somewhere near whereverFlash Gordon fought Ming the Merciless.George Lucas' robots pay homage to those ofmatinee days.The Terminators Whether as Arnold Schwarzeneg-ger's metal-skeleton assassin with synthetic flesh(1984's "The Terminator," and sequels) or a liquid-metal morpher (Robert Patrick in l99l's "Termina-tor 2: |udgment Day," Kristanna Loken in 2003's"Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines"), they turnedrobots into action stars.llunber 5. Looking like a real-life factory robotwith treads, this military machine gained sentiencein the comedy hit "Short Circuit" (1986). Does thatequal life? Who knows? The 1988 sequel didn'teven equd a good movie.Robocop. Arguably a cyborg due to his humanbrain and memories, the future of law enforce-ment (Peter Weller) cut a satiric swath in 1987.Not so much so in the 1990 and'93 sequels.Crou l. Robot and Tom Seruo. The wisecrackingsidekicks of "Mystery Science Theater 3000"(Comedy Central, Sci Fi, 1989-99) were the funni-est'bots ever born.Data. The android crew member of the USS Enter-prise grew to be more human-like through the runof "Star Trek The Next Generation" (slmdicated,1987-94) and the last few films through "Star Trek:Nemesis" (2002), in which the ostensibly agelessData (Brent Spiner) had bags under his eyes.The Fembots In "Austin Powers: International Manof Mystery" Q997),writer-star Mike Myers updat-ed the groovy likes ofthe robotic "super sex-pots . . . built to kill!" of "Dr. Goldfoot and theBikini Machine" (196D. The term itself came froma two-part 1977 episode of "The Bionic Woman"titled "Fembots in Las Vegas."Sonnn In "I, Robot" (2OO4), Sonny (voiced by AlanTudyk) represents the latest futurist vision ofeveryday bots. With softly nondescript featuresand fluidly organic-looking yet form-follows-func-tion chassis, he's the product of more intriguingthought than anything else in this silly flick star-ringWill Smith.

Frank Loveceis a frequent contributorto Newsday.