Robert Kinoshita, Father of Robby the Robot Dies

Robert Kinoshita, the designer of Forbidden Planet’s Robby the Robot reportedly passed away on Dec. 9th.  He was 100.

Still considered one of the greatest science fiction films ever made, Forbidden Planet had a strong influence on all science fiction to follow.  Released in 1956, it borrows heavily from Shakespeare’s The Tempest to tell the tale of Dr. Morbius (Walter Pidgeon) and his daughter Altaria (Anne Francis), the only two surviving members of a colonization expedition on a distant planet.  Whereas Shakepeare’s Prospero had the spirit Ariel as a servant, Dr. Morbius had Robby the Robot.

And yes, that is Leslie Nielsen as our leading man.

Despite receiving screen credit as Robby the Robot, Robby was not actually a robot but rather a complicated costume worn by actor Frankie Darro with voice provided in post production by Marvin Miller.  After the success of Forbidden Planet, Robby became a bit of a celebrity appearing on episodes of The Thin Man, The Twillight Zone, and The Addams Family among others.  He even had a second theatrical starring role in the 1957 film The Invisible Boy.

Two other Hollywood robots owe their existence to Robert Kinoshita designs.  The titular robot from Tobor the Great (1954) has been somewhat forgotten.  The B-9, Class M-3 General Utility Non-Theorizing Environmental Control Robot, is still fondly remembered, although usually went by the designation of just ‘Robot’.  On Lost in Space from 1965 to 1968, the Robot was protector of Will Robinson and foil to Dr. Zachary Smith.  Robby and Robot had the opportunity to work together when Robby made two separate guest appearances on Lost in Space.

Danger! Danger, Will Robinson!

Born in Los Angeles, Kinoshita worked on his first film, 100 Men and a Girl, in 1937.  Forced into a Japanese internment camp in Arizona during World War II, he eventually returned to Hollywood and continued to work as a production designer and art director into the 1980s.  In 2004, he and Robby were inducted into Carnegie Mellon University’s Robot Hall of Fame.