Seven-foot-tall automaton from the 1956 science fiction classic ‘Forbidden Planet’ goes under the hammer November 21 as the headliner of the ‘Out of This World!’ movie memorabilia auction.
Turner Classic Movies and Bonhams Auctioneers have announced that Robby the Robot, the seven-foot-tall automaton from the 1956 science fiction classic Forbidden Planet, will go under the hammer on November 21 in New York as the headliner of the movie memorabilia auction, “Out of This World!”
Though the estimate is not public, Robby is expected to sell for a price in the low-to-mid seven figures.
One of the greatest movie robots of all time, Robby was designed and built by a dream team of MGM designers, including Mentor Huebner and Robert Kinoshita. Robby captured the imagination of the world in Forbidden Planet as the devoted robot servant to Professor Morbius, one of the few inhabitants of the distant planet Altair IV.
The seven-foot-tall robot, built for the 1956 MGM production, breaks down into three pieces: the head, the torso and the legs. In order for Robby to move and emote, an operator must climb down into the legs and have the torso and head placed over him. The operator then can walk and activate Robby’s lights and panels through mechanisms inside the robot, or via an auxiliary control panel. In addition to Robby himself, the lot also includes the car he drives on Altair IV, the auxiliary control panel, and his original MGM packing crates.
Robby has a long and illustrious résumé. After Forbidden Planet, he appeared in The Invisible Boy (1957) and other films, as well as television shows such as Columbo, The Addams Family, and Lost in Space (in which he battles the Robinson family robot).
Robby was not sold at the 1970 public auction of MGM’s costumes and props, but instead was sold privately to Jim Brucker who put him on display at his Movie World/Cars of Stars attraction near Disneyland. In 1981, Brucker sold Robby to the present owner, who has carefully tended the beloved robot since that day.
“Robby the Robot is, simply, the heart of Forbidden Planet, the moral center of the film, as well as the key narrative device,” argues Dr. Catherine Williamson, the Director of Entertainment Memorabilia at Bonhams.” As such he is a major piece of entertainment memorabilia, one that any serious collector would be proud to own.”
Robby and the rest of “Out of This World!” Will preview in Los Angeles November 3-5 and in New York November 17-20. The sale will be held on November 21 at 1:00PM EST.
Source: Bonhams Auctioneers
