Robots (2005)

Robots (2005) is an American animated sci-fi adventure comedy film set in a world inhabited by sentient beings made of metal. The story follows the journey of Rodney Copperbottom, a young and ambitious inventor who looks up to Bigweld – a renowned entrepreneur, philanthropist, and founder of Bigweld Industries. The company not only employs other inventors but also provides spare parts for robots in need. Inspired by Bigweld’s motto of ‘seeing a need and filling it’, Rodney creates his own flying robot named Wonderbot to help his father Herb, who works as a dishwasher at a local restaurant. However, when Herb’s boss catches them in the act, Wonderbot malfunctions and causes chaos in the kitchen. In an effort to help his father cover the damages, Rodney decides to leave their small town and move to Robot City where he hopes to pitch his creation to Bigweld Industries. Upon arriving, he is swiftly kicked out by Phineas T. Ratchet – the current head of the company – who has discontinued production of spare parts and instead promotes expensive ‘upgrades’ that render older models obsolete.

Meanwhile, Madame Gasket, Ratchet’s mother, runs the Chop Shop. It is a facility that gathers scrap, spare parts, and outdated robots to create ingots for upgrades. At the train station, Rodney meets Fender Pinwheeler and the two become friends. Fender invites Rodney to stay at a boarding home with other outdated robots called the ‘Rusties’. Rodney’s reputation as a skilled mechanic spreads quickly and he becomes a local hero after helping fix outmodes in the neighborhood. However, due to a shortage of spare parts, they are unable to keep up with the demand. In hopes of getting Bigweld’s assistance, Rodney and Fender sneak into the annual Bigweld Ball where he usually makes an appearance. To their disappointment, Ratchet announces that Bigweld will not be present. This infuriates Rodney and he openly criticizes Ratchet. In response, Ratchet orders his security team to eliminate him.