Talk: '80s Robot

Name, redux

I looked at the credits at the end of the film; the credit for Legacy Effects says 80's Robot. I think we should move the article now. Anybody want to go see the movie again just to verify? I'm up for a fourth viewing. :) -- Danny (talk) 19:07, December 6, 2011 (UTC)

I think that's just a common typo. Credits can make mistakes. They credited Bill Barretta for Foozie while we know it was Tyler Bunch. —Scott (message me) 19:31, December 6, 2011 (UTC)

I don't know, dude, that sounds like circular logic at some point. I know that "'80s" is more correct than "80's", but if the official name of the character (according to Disney) is 80's Robot, is there any evidence that would make us accept that? Or will we just say that we're right and they're wrong no matter what? -- Danny (talk) 21:10, December 6, 2011 (UTC)

Its true, the credits say 80's Robot. And I've seen the movie five times! :) Of course, I'm going to see it again very soon, I really want to figure out for sure the name of the casino that Fozzie and the Moopets perform in :) --Gonzofan 21:38, December 6, 2011 (UTC)

Question is, Is 80's Robot a name? If it is, we shouldn't change the spelling imo. But if it's a description, we should change it into '80s Robot, since that's the correct spelling. Caudex Rax 02:47, December 7, 2011 (UTC)

The presskit says that too. Now, we have overturned credits before, as with Colander Stenchman, which the credits explicitly spelled "Collander." So maybe now is a good time to revisit when we use correct spelling or style and just include a "In the credits, such and such was used" note. (For the record, both screen credits and presskit also called Lara MacLean "Lars MacLean"; silly credit people, but 80's Robot has been used more consistently, in both performer credits and that for Legacy Effects, in Disney's promotional material, etc). So unlike Colander/Collander, it's clear that it's basically what they wanted to use, even though it isn't the way one should abbreviate decades. And yes, it is used as a character name (it's how he's addressed vocally). -- Andrew Leal (talk) 02:53, December 7, 2011 (UTC)

Credits and press aside, perpetuating the incorrect spelling is kind of like calling it expresso. Everyone being wrong doesn't make it right. But since Rex and Andrew point out that his name is used as such in the dialogue, what about using "Eighties Robot"? —Scott (message me) 03:27, December 7, 2011 (UTC)

Okay, the "Collander Stenchman" example is a good point -- I'd forgotten that we'd corrected that. In that case, I'm okay with '80s Robot; it's got a redirect if anyone is looking for the other spelling. I figured we were waiting for the screen credits and then we'd use what was there -- if that's not the case, then I'm okay. -- Danny (talk) 19:10, December 7, 2011 (UTC)

I just did some rewriting (too much of the page focused on his being in the trailers and so on, which now that the movie is out, is silly, and didn't say much about his personality) and added a note about the punctuation to the bottom section. It mirrors how we handled the Stenchman, and should limit any attempts to move the page (or at least provide a simpler explanation if anyone wonders, without having to point them to this long discussion). Feel free to tweak if needed. -- Andrew Leal (talk) 22:34, December 7, 2011 (UTC)

Chest label

I got a good look at the standee for The Muppets and took some pics of the robot's chest. It reads Minitel Modem 1000, which is obviously not his name, but more likely the label left over from some old electronics parts. There are some LED lights above an old tape deck player that appear to read: USE, ENET, U/S, D/S, SYNC, and RDY. —Scott (contact) 07:14, October 11, 2011 (UTC)

Name again

At this point, I vote that this page get a slight name change to 80's Robot (note the location of the apostrophe) That is the way its spelled on the Legacy Effects website, and in all probability that is how it will be spelled in the end credits of the film. Of course, it doesn't necessarily have to be right away, but I still think the name change should happen sometime soon. Thoughts? Comments?-Gonzofan 03:38, September 16, 2011 (UTC)

I think we can wait until we have another source... It's possible that we'll change it to something different when we get more info anyway; I don't know if we need to do a change now. -- Danny (talk) 18:33, September 16, 2011 (UTC)

Ditto on waiting. Rather than guessing how it will appear in the credits, Disney will release the final presskit in the near future, likely the end of October if not sooner. So that will clarify the character's final name. I do wonder about calling him a "Muppet Character" since it was built by an outside company, but since the sale and division of characters has led to different places making the puppets anyway, and it's in a Muppet movie, I'm not sure if it matters or not. -- Andrew Leal (talk) 18:55, September 16, 2011 (UTC)

Alright, that's cool. That's all I needed to know.--Gonzofan 05:15, September 17, 2011 (UTC)

Read a bit of the junior novelization at Wal*Mart today. It refers to him as '80s Robot. It also names some of the Moopets, though I only remember Roowlf. --Justin 00:28, October 13, 2011 (UTC)

Company that made the robot

Last night while I was at Disneyland, I spoke with a guy who had a The Muppets production crew t-shirt on. Apparently the company he works for, Legacy Effects, made the robot, and they are also the same people who worked on Terminator, Iron Man, and many commercials just to name a few things.--Gonzofan 08:47, July 10, 2011 (UTC)

Neat info, Fred! Although it does make me wonder if the character should qualify as a Muppet (man the sale really has complicated things). He'd still get a page though as a character in the movie, it would just be a question of whether to take out the "Muppets Characters" category (as we've done, for example, with some of the Sesamstrasse characters who we know for a fact were built by other companies). On the whole though, that's an issue we can deal with when we get closer to debut and have a final credits list. -- Andrew Leal (talk) 20:15, July 10, 2011 (UTC)

name

80s Robot is not the name of this character. It's just what the writer of the comingsoon.net article called it. The robot's name is printed on the character's chest. It's M______ Modern 1000. I can't make out the first word, even in the highest definition video available. I'm not opposed to the existence of this article, but it's improperly named, and really too soon to bother having an article at this point anyway, especially in this clunky state. I nominate for deletion at this time. We can recreate when we know more about the character than can be observed in its few seconds of video available on the internet. —Scott (contact) 03:14, June 21, 2011 (UTC)

I agree. When I added him to the Robot page, I was just going along with the existing name that was on this page. I think '80s Robot is a silly name anyway, and yes, clearly not what the real name will be.--Gonzofan 03:20, June 21, 2011 (UTC)

Amy Adams has also called it 80's Robot: http://www.slashfilm.com/muppets-amy-adams-interview/

It may be A name, possibly a nick-name, but it might not be his official name.--Gonzofan 20:17, June 21, 2011 (UTC)

I'm not sure why we're sure that it's not his name. The writer of the Comingsoon.net article uses the name five times, and there doesn't seem to be any hesitation about it. If we're confident about the name "Miss Poogy", then I don't see any evidence that the robot character's name isn't "'80s Robot". Amy Adams using that name is more confirmation. It's possible that the robot has a model number printed on his chest, but everyone in the movie calls him '80s Robot.

I like having this article because it's obviously a character that people are interested in learning more about -- you see him in the preview, and you want to know who he is. Right now, this article shows the current state of our knowledge about the character, and I think it's appropriate. If it turns out that the character has a different name, then we can change the article name at that point. -- Danny (talk) 20:39, June 21, 2011 (UTC)

I can only speak for myself, but I'm fine with anything at this point. I'm just trying not to make any waves! ;) So since most people seem to be ok with it, that is fine by me. Scott had a valid point, but ultimately, Danny is right, we can always change the name later if need be. I'll go ahead and put him back in the Robot page then.--Gonzofan 21:29, June 21, 2011 (UTC)

I think we should wait for a reliable conformation of the name, like a press release about the film mentioning the character or the film itself. We can also look for reliable confirmations. In the meantime, this page should stay, in my opinion. Once we know more, we can update and rename the article (unless it is called '80s Robot, which may be true, but its probably not). :)--Fred (talk) 00:37, June 22, 2011 (UTC)

Muppet Mindset article...if its name turns out not to be '80s Robot, we can rename the article later. I think this is settled.--Fred (talk) 01:17, June 22, 2011 (UTC)

I have a way to figure out the name on the robot's chest. Open the picture of the character in a photo editing app like Jasc Paint Shop Pro, then resize it to a really big size. Then take a look. It will likely be pixalated, but it will probably work. I don't have my own computer now, so I can't try that myself at the moment.--Fred (talk) 01:02, June 24, 2011 (UTC)

His name IS the 80's robot. Whatever Modern 1000 is just probably the mark of robot he is. I think Kermit found or bought him in the 80's and named him after the year.

Trivia and inspirations

Hi guys before I post this I wanted to say that this looks alot like Rob the Robot and Johnny five(Short circuit) both robot icons of the 1980s. You could add WALL-e too but Johnny Five was the inspiration for that. Shadowneko 18:54, November 22, 2011 (UTC)

How I Met Your Mother

A very similar Robot has appeared a couple of times in How I Met Your Mother (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GF1b1pf9DRY, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wVUwO-RaAMw). Anybody now if there is any relation between them?

I seriously doubt it. The Dime (talk to the coin!) 22:07, December 4, 2011 (UTC)

I did not see any robot in those videos... The Dime (talk to the coin!) 22:10, December 4, 2011 (UTC)

Oh wait...that's the omnibot 2000; that's the robot '80s Robot is based on. The Dime (talk to the coin!) 22:11, December 4, 2011 (UTC)i k