Robert Kinoshita, R.I.P.

Above, a replica Robby the Robot at the 2013 Monsterpalooza. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

The name Robert Kinoshita is not a very familiar name to people, but he is well-known to fans of classic science-fiction.

According to the Rafu Shimpo:

Robert Kinoshita, whose robot designs have become American pop culture icons, passed away on Dec. 9.

Kinoshita designed the title character of Tobor The Great (1954), Robby the Robot of Forbidden Planet (1956) and the robot from television's Lost In Space, among others.

He was 100 years old.

To read more, go here.

Robby The Robot

Above, a replica Robby the Robot at this year's Monsterpalooza.  Photo by Armand Vaquer.

One 1950s icon was not even human (well, when there wasn't a man inside).

The icon is Robby the Robot from Forbidden Planet (1956). Besides Forbidden Planet, Robby has appeared in other movies and television shows over the decades.

According to Wikipedia:

Robby the Robot is a 7-foot (2.1 m) tall fictional robot originally created in the mid-1950s by MGM's prop department.^[1] The initial design was sketched by Arnold "Buddy" Gillespie, refined by production illustrator Mentor Huebner, and then turned into reality under the direction of mechanical designer Robert Kinoshita.^[2] The robot quickly became a science fiction icon in the decades that followed.

The current whereabouts of Robby The Robot?

Wikipedia says:

The original Robby the Robot suit continues to reside today in Writer/Director William Malone's collection; Malone is the world's foremost collector of original Forbidden Planet materials.

Monsterpalooza 2013 - Part 2

Above, Kong dominates the Monsterpalooza Museum.

Text and photos by Armand Vaquer

Along with King Kong, there seemed to be a lot of Erik from The Phantom of the Opera.  The Chaney Family had a booth there as did Sara Karloff and Bela Lugosi Jr.

I was pleased to meet and be photographed with Academy Award winning actor Martin Landau.  I also saw 2001: A Space Odyssey stars Keir Dullea and Gary Lockwood.  I had met Gary Lockwood before when I used to patrol in Malibu.  He lives at one of our gated community accounts in Point Dume.

Back in the day, I used to pick up copies of G-Fan at the Creature Features store in Burbank to do the  highlights summaries for kaiju message boards (as issues tended to be slow in coming).  They closed down about 7-8 years ago.  They had a booth at the show and they are now open in Arcadia, California.  We talked a little and perhaps they will be carrying The Monster Movie Fan's Guide To Japan at their store.

Here's some more from opening day:

Above, a rather well-done replica Robby the robot from "Forbidden Planet."

Above, the crew of the "Orca" from 1975's "Jaws."  Great likenesses of
Robert Shaw, Roy Scheider and Richard Dreyfuss.

Above, yours truly with Academy Award winner (for his role as Bela Lugosi in "Ed Wood")  Martin Landau.

Above, Erik and Christine from "The Phantom of the Opera."

Above, I took this photo because this reminds me of a co-worker in Malibu.

A Short Stack of Stuff

As mentioned yesterday, I worked on my first claim assignment for 2011. Hopefully, many, many more will be coming in soon.

Additional note, I was in the Chatsworth Superior Court yesterday morning for that claim assignment, and in a courtroom, an attorney was reading the Los Angeles Times' obituary page on Anne Francis. From where I was sitting, I couldn't tell who it was who died, so I walked over to see who it was. It was a surprise to see it was Anne Francis from the classic Forbidden Planet. It is weird that two stars from that movie (Leslie Nielsen) have passed away in such short order.



On The Monster Movie Fan's Guide To Japan, I am expecting the issue of Metropolis magazine to be out not too long from now. The layout on the article was received just before Christmas and I share the page (actually two of them as her article continutes to another page with mine) with Christina Aguilera.



Also, I have decided to repeat the advertisement (created by Archie Waugh) that appeared in Famous Monsters of Filmland #253 in the upcoming FM #254. Again, the issue will have variant covers and I am guessing that this one (above) of Vincent Price will be the subscriber cover. The Price cover and the others will be available at newsstands.