The Contraband

Issue date: 3/16/05 Section: Entertainment

Back in the day, there was this daily cartoon that had us kids hightailing home after school called the Transformers. The Transformers were these cars, trucks, cycles, etc, that transformed themselves into robotic fighting machines. The Transformers, along with the Thundercats and Superfriends, were our after school babysitters that screwed up our impressionable young minds. The Transformers were so popular they made a movie cleverly titled Transformers: The Movie. I remember all of my male friends selling their souls to the devil so they could go see this movie. I could never forget how they cried like colic babies after the movie was over because one of the main (and popular) characters dies.

Transformers: The Movie became like a little boy's Terms of Endearment. As the only girl in the group, I reveled at their tears and used their rare sensitive moment as a blackmailing wild card. To this day, my best friend gets misty eyed and calls me an evil bitch every time I mention Transformers: The Movie to him.

I do not have any particular reason for my alcohol-induced trip down memory lane except to mention that I recently saw Robots and I am amazed at how far animation has come. Robots is a pretty movie to look at compared to The Transformers cheesy 80's watercolor animation, However, it lacks Transformers' emotional punch. This is not to say Robots is a bad film. In fact, it is quite charming.

Robots takes place in a world composed of robots and machinery that takes human form. This is the kind of place my rundown Ford dreams of going after it clunkers out on me on Interstate 10. It is the story of Rodney Copperbottom (voice of Ewan McGregor), a young, small town robot who dreams of becoming a great inventor. Encouraged by his parents, Rodney heads to Robot City with hopes of meeting his idol, tycoon Bigweld (voice of Mel Brooks). Rodney is disappointed to discover that Bigweld is no longer in command of his company. Instead, the Bigweld Empire is headed by the corrupt Ratchet (voice of Greg Kinnear) who has Californian dreams of turning all robots into shiny new manufactured parts. Along the way, Rodney encounters scoundrel Fender (voice of Robin Williams) and his gang of misfits that includes Piper (voice of Amanda Bynes), Crank (voice of Drew Carey), and Aunt Fanny (voice of Jennifer Coolidge), whose name says it all. Rodney also meets sexy executive robot Cappy (voice of Halle Berry) and becomes instantly smitten.

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