Acclaimed director Chris Wedge, who created the Academy Award® winning short film “Bunny” and the worldwide box-office smash ICE AGE™, now brings his innovative filmmaking magic to ROBOTS™, taking the computer generated animated film genre to an exciting new level. For the first time ever, an animated feature presents a totally imagined world – a wondrously clanky universe populated solely by mechanical beings.
And never has a cast of this caliber, encompassing five Oscar® winners, as well as Emmy® and Tony® honorees, been brought together for an animated feature. Ewan McGregor, Halle Berry, Greg Kinnear, Mel Brooks, Drew Carey, Jim Broadbent, Amanda Bynes, and Robin Williams voice the principal roles. Also taking on key parts are Stanley Tucci, Jennifer Coolidge, Paul Giamatti and Dianne Wiest.
ROBOTS marks Robin Williams’ return to feature film animation, following his role in 1992’s “Aladdin.” In addition, ROBOTS is Mel Brooks’ debut voicing effort in an animated feature.
Special “cameo” voices include Jay Leno, Dan Hedaya, James Earl Jones, “Today’s” Al Roker, Stephen Tobolowsky, and Terry Bradshaw.
In the film you’ll meet memorable bots Rodney Copperbottom (Ewan McGregor), a young genius inventor who dreams of helping robots everywhere; Cappy (Halle Berry), a beautiful, dynamic and savvy bot with whom Rodney is instantly smitten; the nefarious corporate tyrant Ratchet (Greg Kinnear) who locks horns with Rodney; Bigweld (Mel Brooks), a master inventor who has lost his way; and a group of misfit ‘bots known as the Rusties, led by Fender (Robin Williams) and Piper Pinwheeler (Amanda Bynes). Fender’s head, arms, and legs routinely fall off at the most inopportune moments. As Rodney fulfills Fender’s ongoing need for repairs, the two become fast friends. Piper is Fender’s tomboy kid sister, who surprises everyone with her determination and strength.
The result is a timeless, comedic tale that pushes the boundaries of animation while introducing characters rich with physical humor and soul, and a heart-warming story that proves that a robot can shine no matter what he or she is made of.
What if we created a world inhabited entirely by robots? How would it run? What would it look like? How would the robots act?
These were just a few of the questions pondered by director Chris Wedge when he and noted author and illustrator William Joyce first kicked around some thoughts for a new animated feature film. It was Twentieth Century Fox Animation president Chris Meledandri who teamed Joyce, whose beloved children’s books include Santa Calls, Dinosaur Bob, A Day with Wilbur Robinson and Rollie Pollie Olie, with ICE AGE helmer Wedge. Wedge also holds a key executive position at Blue Sky Studios, which produced ICE AGE and ROBOTS. Joyce and Wedge hit it off, and the ideas started flowing – including the notion of a robotic world.
“Ideas start with a setting,” says Wedge, “and I thought a mechanical world would be a place I’d want to visit, creatively. There have been many movies with robots, many of them science fiction, but Bill Joyce and I wanted to create something different: a whimsical, colorful world of mechanical people.
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