Cartoon Robots in ROBOT Magazine!

I recently read the May/June 2016 issue of ROBOT Magazine, and to my surprise (and overwhelming joy!) an article about cartoon robots was featured in the issue. The article is written by Brett Weiss, a writer and expert in Pop Culture related to video games, TV and movies and other entertainment.

Here are some of my favorite cartoon robots that he mentions:

• WALL-E
• The Iron Giant
• Astroboy
• Baymax
• Optimus Prime
• Gigantor

I had coffee when I read the magazine. So I dunno if I became super hyper because of the coffee or because I read that article, or because I did both. But I was fired up!

It may have given me the jolt I needed to return to updating Cybernetic Dreams at a more regular schedule.

Right now, I don’t have a defined schedule for posting for Cybernetic Dreams. It is my personal robot blog, after all. I seem to post when I feel like it. And I know that I should have a more regular schedule if I hope to gain and keep more readers.

Early Signs: Cubix: Robots for Everyone

I used to watch this computer-animated cartoon show called CUBIX: Robots for Everyone.  I remember this show and I watched it when it started in the summer of 2001.  It has returned to air on Saturday mornings at 7:00am.

This cartoon is about a robot named CUBIX (he is made of cube-shaped pieces).  He is able to convey emotion through facial expressions. This is in a world where humans and robots coexist, robots of many different kinds.  It was a very colorful cartoon.  It's nice that it's coming back to TV again.

I'll try to catch an episode or two, if  I feel like getting out of bed at 7am on a Saturday morning, ha ha hah.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cubix

Google Image Search for CUBIX: Robots for Everyone

H.E.L.P.eR, from the cartoon Venture Brothers

Are any of you guys familiar with the cartoon on Cartoon Network's [adult swim] block, Venture Brothers?

I love this cartoon servant robot.  He is a typical servant robot with wheels for feet, a jut mandible, button/light bulb eyes, of course with an expressionless face.  That doesn't mean he lacks feelings.

I haven’t watched enough of Venture Brothers to know exactly what H.E.L.P.eR’s role is in the Venture family, except that for the cartoon he can be a source of comic relief. He is such a lovable robot character. He speaks in beeps that have different inflections and tones, I’m guessing to make words and sentences. And what’s funny is, anyone can understand what he says, even if he doesn’t speak in actual words.

This past week was the part in the previous season when Brock Samson’s [bodyguard license?] expires and he’s being sought after by this other organization. Brock had to start leaving after fixing [some other machine, I forgot] and H.E.L.P.eR didn’t want Brock to leave, so he made believe he needed to be fixed to. Brock knew that H.E.L.P.eR was fine, and when the robot saw that, he went to Brock and gave him a hug. Aww, a robot hugs! He must feel that a separation of a friend is unpleasant. Does H.E.L.P.eR have an emotion chip or what?  It seems he certainly developed attachments to the humans he works with.

Later the Venture family and Brock were in an airplane and the plane had to land, but the landing gear was damaged. H.E.L.P.eR went on his own and climbed to the bottom of the plane and acted as landing gear, and he made this prolonged beep sound that suggested he was in pain. After all, his feet/wheels were being scraped off by the friction. He didn’t have to do that, but he believed his humans would have better chance of survival if he stepped in to help, even if it cost parts of him. Awww! :3

I hope he makes more appearances in the upcoming new episodes this season. He always seems to get maimed or destroyed, and then is rebuilt as if nothing happened to him. In one other Venture Brothers episode, in a space station of a sort, Venture brothers Hank and Dean thought that there was a ghost or boogey man walking around, and they thought that it killed their father. When they found this monster covered in a white sheet, they beat him up. It turned out to be a very lost and confused H.E.L.P.eR blinded by the sheet. Dean and Hank couldn’t even hear his beeps of distress and never realized it was him. He appeared okay later in the episode. I haven’t seen it in its entirety for a long time.

So H.E.L.P.eR is one of the robots I admire because of his apparently robotic form, his selfless acts, and his hilariously awkward situations. And his beeps.

Red Tornado from the cartoon Batman: The Brave and the Bold

The first time I watched Batman: The Brave and the Bold (and was INTERESTED in it at all), I saw a red-colored android character who seemed to be Batman’s ally. He was fighting another android who was evil, I guess (I don’t remember too many details since it was months ago since I saw this episode). But at the end of the episode, this android, known as Red Tornado, and Batman, had a conversation about the battle that went on earlier that day.  Red Tornado built that other android, but he had to destroy him because he turned evil (destructive), and it was the right thing to do. He realizes that, but somehow he also felt…sad.  Batman asks him if he will be alright. Then Red Tornado answers, “Why wouldn’t I be?” meaning that since he is a robot (I prefer to call him an android because he is a humanoid robot), he wouldn’t have emotions that would bother him. So Batman leaves him alone. Then as Red Tornado is left to himself, it would appear that he is shedding a tear. Even his facial expression shows a degree of sadness. I thought about those moments in the cartoon for a long time after I watched the end of that episode.

The title of that episode is “Hail the Tornado Tyrant.” I looked up the cartoon on YouTube earlier this week.  Red Tornado builds another humanoid robot, in a similar likeness of his own image. I haven’t seen the whole episode, and I don’t know how, or if, I’ll be able to. Sigh. I can’t do a full analysis of the episode now if I haven’t watched it in its entirety, but it is clear that the end of this episode, Red Tornado became a fast fan favorite of mine. I learned that the Batman comic book series is DC, not Marvel (I always confuse which character is which, except for X-Men and Iron Man). So if I had to have a favorite DC comic book character, it would have to be Red Tornado—simply because he is a humanoid robot.

Should Red Tornado be called an android or a humanoid robot? Well, in my opinion, he apparently sounds like a robot, but he has a mostly human form. I noticed I use “android” and “humanoid robot” interchangeably, and should I worry, does it matter?  In almost every sentence he speaks after someone talks to him, he says words like, “observation” and “declaration” to classify the statements he makes. That characteristic shouts “I’m a robot.” But gosh, in terms of behavior, he sure is human-like.  I don't think he realizes that he is already capable of having emotion, namely love.  He just doesn't recognize it.
     Sorry.  I get carried away...

Here is a link to a webpage about the voice actor for Red Tornado, Corey Burton.  You can also hear a sample of his voice:
Behind the Voice Actors.com--------Corey Burton