ABLA ELBAHRAWY AND KENDAL LUCY BEYNON
VENUSION ROBOTS
OMEGA
TARGET EARTH
FIRST SPACESHIP ON VENUS
GORT THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL
AUTOMATON GUGUSSE AND THE AUTOMATON
THE DUMMY A CLEVER DUMMY
HISTORIES
Q/THE AUTOMATON THE MASTER MYSTERY
STEEL KILLER ROBOT
ARBEITSMASCHINE
MYSTERIOUS DOCTOR SATAN
DER HERR DER WELT
ROB. OF MURANIA
MECH. MONSTERS
THE PHANTOM EMPIRE
THE MECHANICAL MONSTERS
MECHANICAL MAN
ANNIHILANTS
ELECTRIC MAN
FLASH GORDON
MAN-MADE MONSTER
MARIA/FUTURA
VOLKITES
THE PERFECT WOMAN
DEVIL GIRL FROM MARS
KRONOS
THE CREATION OF THE HUMANOIDS
HUMANOIDS
MOGUERA
I
THE MYSTERIANS
DR. NO
GOG AND MAGOG
COLOSSUS
IRON JON
GOG
THE COLOSSUS OF NEW YORK
PLANETA BUR
HUMAN ROBOT
TALOS
THE ROBOT VS THE AZTEC MUMMY
JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS
TOBOR
THE PHANTOM THE PHANTOM CREEPS
TOBOR THE GREAT
GIGANTOR
TIN MAN THE WIZARD OF OZ
TETSUJIN 28-GOU
SINCE THE LATE 1800S, THE WORLD OF CINEMA HAS BEEN EXPLORING THE IDEA AND REPRESENTATION OF ‘ROBOTS’, EVEN BEFORE THE TERM ITSELF WAS COINED IN 1920 BY THE CZECH WRITER KAREL CAPEK TO DENOTE FICTIONAL AUTOMATA IN HIS PLAY R.U.R. SINCE ITS INCEPTION WITHIN POPULAR IMAGINATION, A GAP OF CURIOSITY HAS NOT CEASED TO EXPAND ABOUT THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ROBOTS AND HUMANS. THE CINEMATIC HISTORY OF ROBOTS PRESENTS US WITH A RAREFIED LENS THROUGH WHICH TO PERCEIVE THE EVOLUTION OF CULTURAL SENTIMENT TOWARDS OUR SPECIES’ RELATIONSHIP TO INTELLIGENT MACHINES.
This diagram presents over 200 films in which robots have appeared. They are typically seen as a human creation or aliens, and either as villains and war machines or companions and friends. Canonical movies such as Metropolis (1927), The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951), Tobor the Great (1954), Star Wars (1977) and Terminator (1984), have marked decisive shifts in the cultural perception of robots.
PROPORTIONAL VISUALISATION RELATIONSHIP ROBOT – HUMAN BEING OF PERIODICAL ROBOT MOVIE APPEARANCES
42% 50% 8% 60% 14% 13% 13%
67% 20% 13% COMPANION VILLAIN
I THE INVASION OF THE NEPTUNE MEN
CHANI
OLGA
UNDERSEA KINGDOM
ROBBY THE ROBOT FORBIDDEN PLANET
RO-MAN ROBOT MONSTER
THE MECHANICAL MAN
METROPOLIS
MARK 1 MOTHER RILEY MEETS THE VAMPIRE
COMPANION VILLAIN
58% 17% 8% 17%
COMPANION VILLAIN
WANNABE HUMAN 1900
1930
1940
1950
1960