MovieChat Forums > The Invisible Boy (1957) Discussion > Connection to Forbidden Planet?

Connection to Forbidden Planet?

posted 18 years ago by Cinemasitter
8 replies | jump to latest

Just watched this as the bonus feature on the Forbidden Planet dvd. I originally assumed that this film would have no narrative connection to FP, and that it was simply a way to get more money out of the expensive Robby the Robot creation.

However, having now watched it, I noticed during the scene where the father takes Timmy to his work to show him Robby, he points out a picture pinned to a wall, which depicts Robby in the year 2390 (or something). He explains this picture was found amongst the work of a deceased professor who had worked there, and how had supposedly built a time machine, which the father thought was nonsense.

So, are we to assume that Robby the Robot was transported to Earth's past from the future - presumably the future Forbidden Planet depicted? Did the professor create the time machine, or did Robby get transported back by another means? Does this make The Invisible Boy a sequel to FP? And how exactly did Robby get transported back?

I always thought some sort of connection to FP would be likely, as they share the same screenwriter. The untold adventures of Robby the Robot! It's fun to ponder these things sometimes...

[–] King-Grim 18 years ago

I watched it last night, and it does indeed seem to be a loose sequel to Forbidden Planet - the professor travelled to the future and brought Robby back with him. In The Invisible Boy, Robby does have the same failsafe programming as he did in Forbidden Planet, and there is a reference to him being able to survive on a distant planet. I guess that the film was planned as a cash-in, but as the films shared the same scriptwriter, he decided to fit in some connection to tie them together.

[–] flan99 17 years ago

Very good points.

Irving Block, who wrote the original FP story, also wrote Kronos - another very cool 1950s flick about a huge machine from space that sucks the energy out of other worlds.

[–] bobcunk 14 years ago

is it in hd?

[–] rocketXpert 14 years ago

It was a pretty clever way of tying the two movies together, rather than just reusing Robby and giving him a different origin altogether, although I actually find myself sort of wishing they had done the latter. For one, I just find myself feeling bad for Robby, trapped in the past, forced to be this brat's slave. Also, while not totally terrible, The Invisible Boy is vastly inferior to Forbidden Planet, so I almost hate to connect the two at all. Imagine what a let down it would have been if instead of "The Empire Strikes Back," the sequel to the original Star Wars had been about R2D2 being transported to 1970s Earth and becoming pals with a little kid. Bleh.

[–] bobcunk 14 years ago

i just through up a little.

[–] AttackoftheKillerVacuum 12 years ago

Imagine what a let down it would have been if instead of "The Empire Strikes Back," the sequel to the original Star Wars had been about R2D2 being transported to 1970s Earth and becoming pals with a little kid. Bleh

Isn't that what "Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace" was about?

[–] rgrigonis-163-29426 10 years ago

I had heard that Forbidden Planet and the Invisible Boy were actually part of a trilogy, but the producer died before the third film in the series could be made. I wonder if there is a script sitting out there somewhere, waiting to be made after all these years....?

[–] sargon19552003 13 years ago

I really wish I good get a good closeup of the picture from the future, depicting Robby departing from the spaceship. So cool!