Some of you will find I’m a bit late with this post. After all, the Super Bowl was over a month ago, and The Book of Boba Fett might be old news to avid fans. But I just got my Disney+ subscription, so I’ll use that as my excuse.
What’s this got to do with Robots? We’ve seen robots in movies as far back as the silent screen. Check out Metropolis someday.
(Image Credit: https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58aabe1e9f74561f4dc712dd/1507906542732-XP7ZCJR35GW0PQIMRWR5/metropolis-film.jpg?format=2500w).
Bring that forward to Robby in Forbidden Planet
(Image Credit: https://amzn.to/3esCKrk).
And lest I get pilloried as fallen away by my fellow Star Wars fans, we can’t forget C-3PO, R2-D2, and BB-8.
(Image Credit: https://media.comicbook.com/2015/11/c3po-r2d2-bb8-160206.jpg )
So why a post on robots in the movies? Who knows how many movie robots there are? They’ve been around for a long time. They’ve become pop culture icons and have found their way into our hearts and homes. (Confession: I have an R2-D2 kitchen measuring spoon kit in my home office!)
I was watching the Super Bowl and loved the Sam Adams commercial, why you might ask. Because of the Boston Dynamics robots that were clearly the stars. They almost looked human and should maybe earn their creators a Clio.
Any other time that just would have been fun—but moving on …
Then I watched the first episode of The Book of Boba Fett. And what to my wondering eyes did appear, but a small flock of Boston Dynamics robots being herded down a dusty street on Tatooine. What? Sure enough, I scrolled back there they were: a flock of robots. (I’ve heard some chatter about fans objecting since the robots aren’t of the Star Wars universe. But read on.)
Watching Episode 1 prompted me to consider the difference between a robot created for a movie that may have a human actor inside (C-3PO, R2-D2, at times) or not (BB-8, Robby The Robot) and a robot cast in a movie to play a role. This was the case in The Book of Boba Fett. This raises the question, did The Book “violate” the unwritten Star Wars droid rule, or did the filmmakers cast the Boston Dynamics robots to play a part, as they would any role? Hard to say since IMDb does not list them in the cast credits but does mention them in the trivia section.
Can robots be actors? Should they get screen credit? What about those sought-after Screen Actors Guild cards? And, what about an Oscar? Wouldn’t that be something— “I’d like to thank the sheet metal crew, the programming staff, …”
Please leave a note and let me know what you think.
Thanks for stopping by.
[Disclaimer: Please accept my apologies for any ads that pop up before the linked videos. They do not reflect my position, nor do I endorse any of the products—it’s just a YouTube thing I can’t get around.]
Steve – thanks for this. I haven’t seen the Book of Boba Fett. But when I first saw Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, I remember thinking that reprogrammed imperial droid K-2SO (voiced by Alan Tudyk) should have been nominated for best supporting actor. I wonder how they might have handled that. — Bud
Thanks, Bud for stopping by. A CG character with a voice actor is a whole ‘nother spin. Shouldn’t the CG guys get something besides the special effects award? Good point. On a separate note, have you seen Tudyk’s work in the Resident Alien series? Hilarious. Thanks again for reading.
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