Robots

Review by Richard Lee

Fox Home Video / 2005 / 90 Minutes / Rated PG
Street Date: September 27, 2005

Specifications: 
-DVD-Video
-DVD-9
-Region 1

Aspect Ratio:
-1.85:1 Anamorphic Widescreen

Audio:
-English DTS
-English 5.1 Surround
-French Dolby Surround
-Spanish Dolby Surround
-Director and Producer Commentary
-Blue Sky Technical Commentary

Subtitles:
-English
-Spanish
-Off

Main Menu:
-Play
-Scene Access
-Languages
-Upgrades
-Inside Look

Upgrades(Special Features):
-Commentaries
-Aunt Fanny’s Tour of Booty
-Robots Original Test
-Discontinued Parts
-“You Can Shine, No Matter What You’re Made Of”
-Blue Man Group
-Meet The Bots
-The Robot Arcade
-Robots Multi-Player Xbox Video Game Demo
-Fox Promos
-DVD Rom

Brought to you by the same team who made “Ice Age”, “Robots”, which features a cornucopia of acting talents lending their voices to the production, tells the tale of Rodney Copperbottom (Ewan McGregor) who dreams of leaving his modest small-town digs of Rivet Town for the hustle and bustle of the metropolis, aptly named Robot City. A tinkerer by trade, Rodney is eager to show his invention, a multi-tasking minibot, to Bigweld (Mel Brooks), the big boss of Robot City, whose TV show Rodney and his dish-washing dad Herb (Stanley Tucci) grew up watching. When Rodney arrives in Robot City, he promptly makes friends with a broken down bot named Fender (Robin Williams) who has more dents and loose nuts than his chassis can handle. Unfortunately for Rodney, when he finally gets to Bigweld Industries, he discovers that Bigweld himself is in seclusion and his business is being controlled by an evil bot named Ratchet (Greg Kinnear); you can tell he is evil by the protrusion on his head that looks like a shark’s dorsal fin. Needless to say, Ratchet is not the least impressed with Rodney nor his invention and ejects him out with the rest of the scrap metal. You see, Ratchet has an evil scheme to rid the town of older model bots by discontinuing the production of spare parts and only making available new and more expensive upgrades. This is all fine with his staff of cowardly yesmen save for one conscientious member Cappy (Halle Berry), who disagrees with Ratchet’s greedy plans. Teamed up with Cappy along with Fender and his motley crew of older model robots all targeted for disposal, Rodney sets out to locate Bigweld to try to convince him to retake his company from the evil Ratchet and save the common robot from the dreaded chopping block.

“Robots” is a hilarious and star-studded venture that is an instant classic in the computer-generated animation genre. At this rate with “Ice Age” and now “Robots”, Blue Sky Studios is making itself a serious competitor to Pixar and its seemingly impenetrable domination in this market. Having Robin Williams in the voice cast certainly adds the manic magic that he utilized to make Disney’s Aladdin a smash. But that in no way minimizes the contributions that other actors make to the movie; Paul Giamatti as Tim the Gate Guard is equally memorable and rounding out the main characters are Drew Cary, Jennifer Coolidge, Amanda Bynes, and Dan Hedaya. James Earl Jones as Darth Vader can even be heard as a short sound byte that was probably taken directly from the source material though he still receives acting credit. Clever humorous touches include a volume control on a crying baby bot and Rodney’s minibot being reminiscent of Microsoft’s old paperclip character although I doubt that was intentional. The PG rating I suspect is due to the references to the derriere, flatulence, and cross-dressing. All these factors help to bring this amusing and touching family entertainment to life. 


Picture Quality:

Presented in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen (also available in a fullscreen version) “Robots”, being digitally produced and transferred onto a digital format looks absolutely outstanding. Like “The Incredibles” before it, this DVD deserves a place on the exclusive list of reference-quality DVD’s. Colors are brilliantly realized and practically the full spectrum is evident in the pastel shades that make up the metal surfaces of the characters and the cityscapes. William Joyce’s production designs for the robot characters bring out a nifty retro look where body parts are made up of 40’s and 50’s era appliances and motor parts. Black levels and contrasting are optimal to bring out the shiny sheen of the metallic surfaces; all-around a visually stunning piece of work.

Audio Quality:

Providing both a 5.1 Dolby Digital as well as a DTS soundtrack, “Robots” is fully complemented with a sonic experience that the exceptional visuals demand. All the channels are used to optimized effect with metallic sounds clanking and whizzing all around you including percussive sounds provided by The Blue Man Group. Dialogue is always clear even during scenes of heightened action. 

Scenes For Demonstration Purposes:

1. (16:30) – Wild Ride on the Crosstown Express. 2. (24:42) – Rodney’s Magnetic Personality. 3. (67:00) – Saving Mr. Bigweld. 4. (73:25) – Battle for Middle-Earth, I Mean Robot City.

Upgrades(Special Features):

For those interested in the technical aspects of the film, there are two separate commentaries; the first provided by director Chris Wedge and producer William Joyce and the second featuring the technical team from Blue Sky Studios.

“Aunt Fanny’s Tour of Booty” is a featurette that plays out more like an animated short much like “Jack-Jack Attack” on The Incredibles Bonus Disc. It features Jennifer Coolidge providing the voice for Aunt Fanny as she guides the viewer through the intricacies of navigating through the interiors of Robot City’s busy mass transit terminal.

“Robots Original Test” is a small clip which comes with optional commentary from Chris Wedge and co-director Carlos Saldanha, showing an audition of an aspiring robot “starlet”. This featurette was actually created to sell the idea of doing a full-length movie involving robots before the story or characters were even developed.

“Discontinued Parts” offers four deleted scenes in various degrees of completion from pencil sketches to pre-finalized animation; all with optional commentary.

“You Can Shine No Matter What You’re Made Of” is an 18 minute behind-the-scenes documentary including interviews with the production staff discussing their inspirations for the look of the film.

“Blue Man Group” shows how the creators worked with the performance artists to develop the unique sounds for the film; including metal which was somewhat new to the group.

“Meet The Bots” is basically a personnel file that showcases the biographies of the main characters and includes input from the actors behind the robots themselves. 

“Robot Arcade” is a gallery with three interactive components; the first, “Robot Dance” features a dancing robot who dances various routines depending on which one you pick with the remote. “Fender Photo Shoot” is a game that tests your photographic memory. “Invent-A-Bot” allows you to design and build your own robot, from the available parts they give you of course.

Rounding out the special features is an Xbox demo that when put in the game console allows multi-players to experience a part of the “Robots” video game. Fox Promos gives a look at the CD soundtrack as well as other family-oriented fare such as “Bratz Rock Angels”, “Ferngully”, “Strawberry Shortcake”, “Garfield”, and “Malcolm In the Middle”.

“Inside Look” on the main menu features actor John Leguizamo giving a tour of the Fox animation studio as they work on the upcoming “Ice Age 2”.