Robots have long been a favorite in Hollywood, especially after 1939 when Jack Haley played the Tin Woodsman in The Wizard of Oz. (He made a cameo in Return to Oz (1985) Though not a robot exactly, he was the perfect model for tin robots everywhere. Nowadays we have the ‘droids of Star Wars to keep this tradition going with C3P0 who was designed after Maria Robot in Metropolis. Each new chapter in the Star Wars universe offers a new droid companion from the overly cute BB-8 and AZI-3 to the wonderfully lethal IG-11. All the clips here only feature “Tin Robots” so you won’t find any FemBots or other robots that look like humans. You won’t see killer computers like Hal 9000 either. I am only interested in the obvious tin robots.
1910s
The Automatic Motorist (1911) (Thanks, Aaron!)
1920s
The 1920s saw the first famous metal woman. Maria Robot from Metropolis will have an influence through the decades but most of the robots that appear in this era are of the clunky tin variety. Her elegant form will resurface with Star Wars in 1977.
1930s
The 1930s offered up plenty of tin but also filmed Karl Capek’s play “R. U. R.” where we get the word “robot” from.
1940s
The 1940s was a low point in robot film, which is surprising. The appearance of Elektro at the 1939’s World Fair should have sparked the beginning of an avalanche as it did in the comics. But this was not the case. We did get the wonderful giant robots of the Superman cartoons.
Mysterious Doctor Satan (1940)
The Monster and the Ape (1945)
1950s
The 1950s were largely killer robot territory with Gort from The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951), ironically, being one of the most famous. While he was able to blast whole tanks, he was actually on a mission of peace. Unlike the original story “Farewell to the Master” (Astounding Science-Fiction, October 1940) by Harry Bates, Gort is the companion, not the master. We do get a few funny robots in the cartoons.
The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)
Mother Riley Meets the Vampire (1952)
The Bowery Boys Meet the Monsters (1954)
The Colossus of New York (1958)
The Robot vs. The Aztec Mummy (1958)
1960s
In the 1960s, the robots tend towards humor or satire, though the killer robot is not unknown. It is also the era of the giant Japanese monsters and robots.
The First Spaceship to Venus (1960)
Invasion of the Neptune Men (1961)
The Creation of the Humanoids (1962)
The Earth Dies Screaming (1964)
Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots (1964)
Santa Claus Conquerors the Martians (1964)
Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (1965)
Voyage to the Planet of the Prehistoric Women (1965)
Frankenstein Jr. and the Impossibles (1966)
Johnny Sokko and His Flying Robot (1967)
Superargo and the Faceless Giants (1968)
Voyage to the Planet of the Prehistoric Women (1968)
1970s
The 1970s gave us many sophisticated robots including the little helper bots in Silent Running (1972) and the killer bot, Box, of Logan’s Run (1975) but it is the Droids of Star Wars (1977) that change everything. An explosion of robots follows and dominates until the 1980s.
Kolchak, The Night Stalker (1975)
The Shape of Things to Come (1979)
1980s
The 1980s gave us a new version of the killer bot in Terminator (1984) at the same time we got funny robots like Kryten on Red Dwarf and a Star Wars parody in Space Balls (1987). For friendly versus evil robots, Transformers brought the toys to animation. In the decades to come, these cartoons would inspire several CGI blockbusters.
The King and the Mockingbird (1980)
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (1981)
The Flight of the Navigator (1986)
Mystery Science Theater 3000 (1988)
1990s
The 1990s offers a smorg of different metal folk from children’s television, to an upgraded killer bot in Terminator II (1992) and at the end of the decade, new Droids in The Phantom Menace (1999). Perhaps the least appreciated was Robin Williams as Andrew in Bicentennial Man (1999) based on the Asimov story.
And You Thought Your Parents Were Weird (1991)
Bill and Ted’s Bogus Adventure (1991)
Godzilla vs. Mecha-King Ghdorah (1991)
Star Wars: The Phantom Menace (1999)
2000s
A new millennium and robots are along for the ride. Funny, scary, sympathetic, every kind. Films like A. I. (2001) look seriously at big themes while Bionicle continues to sell toys. Robots and Science Fiction are here to stay.
Bionicle: The Mask of Light (2003)
Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (2004)
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (2005)
Star Wars: The Revenge of the Sith (2005)
Billy and Mandy’s Big Boogey Adventure (2007)
The Day The Earth Stood Still (2008)
Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (2008)
2010s
The X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014)
The Avengers: Age of Utron (2015)
Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015)
2020s
Bill and Ted Face the Music (2020)
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts (2023)
Conclusion
Compiling this list of clips reminded me of how the tin robot has been a part of Science Fiction’s legacy from early on. Robots seem to be everywhere. And it shouldn’t have surprised me but it did anyway. Robots are the best (and perhaps only) SF idea that has/will exist with the exceptional of interplanetary travel. Time machines, hyper-drive, invisible men or alien invasions (or even alien lifeforms) may never happen. Robots already have, and the themes that SF writers have explored since the days of Mary Shelley, have to come pass. Human workers being replaced by robots, robot sex partners, AI replacing artists and writers, war drones, etc.were all discussed in those silly little magazines filled with ‘That Buck Rogers’ stuff. Our fascination with robots won’t end there. Robots will be part of our future, for better or worse, and Hollywood (or whatever passes for Hollywood in the years to come) will be there to put robots in your entertainment.
I’ve got an exceptionally old one for you: “The Automatic Motorist,” an English short from 1911. A robot goes haywire, and chauffeurs a pair of newlyweds to Saturn & back (literally!) with a policeman hanging from the bumper. Not only is it an early robot movie, it’s also one of the first movies to visit outer space.