Forbidden Planet
Film poster
Directed by	Fred M. Wilcox
Produced by	Nicholas Nayfack
Written by	Cyril Hume (screenplay) from a story by Irving Block Allen Adler
Starring	Walter Pidgeon Anne Francis Leslie Nielsen Jack Kelly
Music by	Louis and Bebe Barron
Cinematography	George J. Folsey
Editing by	Ferris Webster
Distributed by	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Warner Bros.
Release date(s)	March 15, 1956 (sneak preview)
Running time	98 min.[1]
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$4,900,000 (estimated)(source: Kirk Kerkorian)
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile

Forbidden Planet is a 1956 science fiction film and a subsequent novelization by W.J. Stuart. The film features a number of Oscar-nominated special effects, groundbreaking use of an all-electronic music score, and the first screen appearance of both: the famous Robby the Robot ^[2] and the famous C-57D flying saucer starship. The film's characters and setting were inspired by Shakespeare's The Tempest,^[1] though the plot is very different. Also notable is its very effective execution and use of well designed sets, flats, props, matte paintings and sound stage scenic paintings. The production was supervised by Dore Schary, the film's uncredited executive producer. This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Download high resolution version (580x863, 239 KB)A film poster for Forbidden Planet, contended as fair use. ... Fred Wilcox (December 22, 1907 – September 23, 1964) was an American motion picture director. ... Cyril Hume (16 March 1900 – 26 March 1966), was an American screenwriter. ... Allen Adler was an American writer, also involved in theater in various ways. ... Walter Pidgeon Walter Pidgeon (September 23, 1897 – September 25, 1984) was a Canadian actor. ... Anne Francis Anne Francis (born September 16, 1930, in Ossining, New York) is an American actress, famous for her role in the science fiction film classic Forbidden Planet (1956) and as private detective Honey West in the television series Honey West (1965-1966). ... Leslie William Nielsen OC (born February 11, 1926) is a Canadian born American comedian and actor. ... For Jack Kelly, the triple gold medal winning Olympic rower and father of Grace Kelly and John B. Kelly, Jr. ... Louis (1920-1989) and Bebe Barron (b. ... George J. Folsey (1898-1988) was an American cinematographer. ... Ferris Webster (April 29, 1912–February 4, 1989), an American film editor, was nominated for Academy Awards for his work on The Blackboard Jungle (1955), The Manchurian Candidate (1962), and The Great Escape (1963). ... For alternate meanings of MGM, see MGM (disambiguation). ... “WB” redirects here. ... is the 74th day of the year (75th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... A car from 1956 Year 1956 (MCMLVI) was a leap year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... This article needs additional references or sources for verification. ... A pen name for the under-appreciated mystery writer Philip MacDonald, whose most well-known work is the science fiction novel Forbidden Planet was inspired by Shakespeares The Tempest. ... Special effects (also called SPFX or SFX) are used in the film, television, and entertainment industry to realize scenes that cannot be achieved by live action or normal means. ... For other uses, see Electronic music (disambiguation). ... A film poster for Forbidden Planet showing Robby. ... Starship C-57D is the fictional flying saucer starship, first presented in the 1956 science fiction movie Forbidden Planet. Therein it was designated as the United Planets Cruiser C-57D. This represented the first human-made flying saucer spacecraft in film. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Set construction is a process by which a set designer works in collaboration with the director of the production to create the set for a theatrical production. ... 10 foot tall cloth covered flats Flats, short for Scenery Flats, are flat pieces of theatrical scenery which are painted and positioned on stage so as to give the appearance of buildings or other background. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Matte or matt can be used to describe a non-glossy finish on a surface; it can also be used to denote the surface surrounding a framed picture, between the picture itself and the frame; usually made from coloured card. ... Soundstage redirects here. ... Theatrical scenic painting is a wide-ranging craft, encompassing virtually the entire compass of painting techniques and oftentimes reaching far beyond. ... Dore Schary (born August 31, 1905 in Newark, New Jersey, United States - died July 7, 1980 in New York City) was a stage and motion picture personality. ...

Tagline: Amazing!

Plot

In the early 2200s, the United Planets Cruiser C-57D is sent to the planet Altair IV in the Altair star system, sixteen light-years from Earth, to find out what happened to the Bellerophon expedition, sent out some twenty years earlier. As their spaceship arrives after a year's voyage, the crew detects an immense power source scanning the ship (see image of spaceship below). Starship C-57D is the fictional flying saucer starship, first presented in the 1956 science fiction movie Forbidden Planet. Therein it was designated as the United Planets Cruiser C-57D. This represented the first human-made flying saucer spacecraft in film. ... Altair IV, is a fictional planet featured in the classic science fiction film Forbidden Planet. ... For other uses, see Altair (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Bellerophon (disambiguation). ...

United Planets Cruiser C-57D landing on Altair IV

They are immediately contacted over the ship's transmitter by Dr. Edward Morbius, the expedition's philologist, who warns them to leave, but refuses to provide a reason. Upon landing, they are met by Robby the Robot, who takes the Commander, his First Officer and Medical Officer to Morbius' home. Morbius explains that a year after the expedition's arrival, some unknown force wiped out nearly everyone in his party and vaporized the Bellerophon as the final survivors tried to take off. Only he, his wife (who later died of natural causes) and infant daughter survived. Image File history File links FPcapSaucer. ... Image File history File links FPcapSaucer. ... Starship C-57D is the fictional flying saucer starship, first presented in the 1956 science fiction movie Forbidden Planet. Therein it was designated as the United Planets Cruiser C-57D. This represented the first human-made flying saucer spacecraft in film. ... Philology, etymologically, is the love of words. It is most accurately defined as an affinity toward the learning of the backgrounds as well as the current usages of spoken or written methods of human communication. The commonality of studied languages is more important than their origin or age (that is... A film poster for Forbidden Planet showing Robby. ...

Morbius fears that the same fate may await the crew of the C-57D. He and his daughter have remained unharmed, and his house has an interesting array of unknown advanced technology, including Robby, which he claims to have "tinkered ... together during my first months up here" (with Robby exhibiting advances in technology beyond that currently known), including a home security system which can quickly cover the residence window-slides with steel plates. A film poster for Forbidden Planet showing Robby. ...

First Officer Jerry Farman speaking with Altaira.

The C-57D command crew meet Morbius' daughter Altaira, who is now nineteen years old and has grown up bereft of the knowledge of any male except her father. She swims in the nude (she does not know what a bathing suit is), wears scanty clothing and is very curious about human relations. The commander is very protective of her but nonetheless competes with his First Officer, Jerry Farman, for the chance to enlighten her on the romantic topics (note discussion in scene at left). Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1025x949, 88 KB) From Forbidden Planet: Commander Adams with Altaira Film screen-shot of 1956 film Forbidden Planet. ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1025x949, 88 KB) From Forbidden Planet: Commander Adams with Altaira Film screen-shot of 1956 film Forbidden Planet. ...

Morbius tells the Commander he has been reconstructing the history of the Krell, the long-extinct natives of the planet. They had possessed a technology far in advance of that of the humans, but had all died 200,000 years before in one mysterious night of destruction. The crew are shown an intact & self-maintaining underground Krell laboratory, dubbed a "nursery", which includes a "plastic educator" brain-booster machine that resulted in the death of the captain of the Bellerophon. Morbius explains that his attempts to use the educator put him into a coma for almost two days, but also resulted in a significantly increased IQ, enabling him to build Robby the Robot and other inventions. The Great Machine on Altair IV as seen in the movie Forbidden Planet. ...

The party then leave the Krell lab and are taken on a tour of the Krell facilities. This includes an underground machine in the shape of a cube 20 miles square, powered by 9200 thermonuclear reactors, which has been operating, self-repairing and self-maintaining, its purpose unknown, since the extinction of the Krell. The sweeping semi-animated effects shots convey images of enormous, miles-deep shafts with huge structures moving up and down, transferring powerful arcs of energy. Power meters indicate the tremendous energy this vast machine could generate, each meter representing 10 times the power of the previous one. Most of the meters are blank, and only one of them indicates any energy usage. The visitors ask Morbius the purpose of the machine, and he is evasive, mentioning only that the machine responds to flocks of birds with energy discharges (apparently it was a beam from the machine which had earlier scanned the arrival ship).

Site of C-57D spaceship on Altair IV, with crew working on weaponry and circuits, where unknown creature attacked.

One night, an unknown creature sneaks into the ship and kills Chief Engineer Quinn, tearing his body apart in the process. (This is not seen, but is merely referred to.) In response to his killing, security around the ship is increased including the installation of particle cannons and a defensive force-field fence. A plaster cast is made from one of the invisible attacker's footprints. Dr. Ostrow puzzles over the improbability of such a creature, which appears to be a chimera which doesn't follow any known evolutionary adaptation — in his description, a "monster". Image File history File linksMetadata Forbidden_Planet_2. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Forbidden_Planet_2. ...

The intruder returns to the ship the following night, and is found to be invisible. It remains invisible until revealed by special effects: a huge, roaring, leonine biped revealed in outline by the energy neutron-particle-beam guns that flicker over its surface. In the attack, it kills First Officer Lt. Jerry Farman,Science Officer Pete Doherty and Gunner's Mate "Buddha" Ellis. In the Krell lab, various power meters come to life as the attack progresses. Morbius, having a nightmare, is awakened by Altaira, also screaming, apparently also from a nightmare. Simultaneously, the invisible attacker vanishes and the Krell power meters rapidly fall back to near zero.

Ostrow idly mentions that for the creature to have survived the high energy beams of the cannons it would have to be so dense that it would sink of its own mass to the center of the planet. The only other explanation is presented as a literal recreation of the creature 'microsecond by microsecond'.

Commander Adams and Doc Ostrow go to Morbius' home to confront him about their latest findings. Ostrow sneaks in and attempts to use the Krell educator machine. Before he dies from its effects, he gasps out his revelation: the huge machine was designed to let the Krell materialize anything they wanted at a mere thought. "But the Krell forgot one thing! Monsters, John! Monsters from the id!" Though the Krell considered themselves civilized, their subconscious minds were unleashed by the almost limitless power of the Machine. With this information, the Commander deduces that the race was wiped out in a single night of frenzied destruction, as their subconscious minds acted out their darkest urges, fueled by the Machine's power. For other uses of ego and id, see EGO and ID. The ego is not sharply separated from the id; its lower portion merges into it. ...

With this revelation, the Commander also realizes that Morbius' sessions with the educator had attuned his mind to the machinery. Although Morbius' conscious mind was not strong enough to control the machine, his subconscious was and did, directing the attacks first against the Bellerophon party when they voted to return to Earth, and now the rescue ship. His deepest desire is simply to be left alone to study the Krell, and his subconscious is using the Machine to fulfill that wish. Ultimately, Altaira declares her love for the commander and chooses to leave the planet with him, despite the risks posed by this defiance of her father.

In the climactic attack, the monster breaks into the Krell nursery to which the remaining principals have fled. Morbius, finally accepting the awful truth that the enemy is his own subconscious, throws himself between the monster and his daughter. He is mortally injured, suffering a severe cerebral hemorrhage, and simultaneously the monster disappears. As he lies dying of the stroke, he directs Adams to put the Krell machine into overload to initiate the destruction of the planet. He has realized that the machine is far too dangerous to be used by any race that cannot fully control its subconscious desires. Altaira, Robbie, and the surviving crew members escape to a safe distance where they witness the destruction of the planet, and then prepare for the trip to Earth.

Cast

• Walter Pidgeon ... Dr. Edward Morbius
• Anne Francis ... Altaira "Alta" Morbius
• Leslie Nielsen ... Commander John J. Adams
• Jack Kelly ... Lt. Jerry Farman
• Warren Stevens ... Major (Medical) 'Doc' Ostrow
• Richard Anderson ... Lt. Quinn
• Earl Holliman ... 'Cookie', the ship's cook
• George Wallace ... Bosun (called "Steve" by Commander Adams in one scene)

Crewmen: Walter Pidgeon Walter Pidgeon (September 23, 1897 – September 25, 1984) was a Canadian actor. ... Anne Francis Anne Francis (born September 16, 1930, in Ossining, New York) is an American actress, famous for her role in the science fiction film classic Forbidden Planet (1956) and as private detective Honey West in the television series Honey West (1965-1966). ... Leslie William Nielsen OC (born February 11, 1926) is a Canadian born American comedian and actor. ... Jack Kelly (September 16, 1927—November 7, 1992 in Astoria, Queens, New York) was an American film and television actor most noted for the role of Bart Maverick in the TV series Maverick, which ran on ABC from 1957 to 1962. ... Warren Stevens (born November 2, 1919) is an American stage, screen, and television actor. ... Richard Anderson as Oscar Goldman in The Six Million Dollar Man Richard Anderson, born Richard Norman Anderson (born August 8, 1926 in Long Branch, New Jersey, USA) is an actor in film and television. ... Earl Holliman Earl Holliman (born Anthony Earl Numkena on September 11, 1928 in Delhi, Louisiana) is an American film and television actor. ... George Dewey Wallace (June 8, 1917 — July 22, 2005) was an American stage and screen actor. ...

• Dan Sheridan... Pete Doherty
• Caleb Clinton.... Buddha Ellis
• Bob Dix ... Grey
• Jimmy Thompson ... Youngerford
• James Drury ... Strong
• Harry Harvey Jr. ... Randall
• Roger McGee ... Lindstrom
• Peter Miller ... Moran
• Morgan Jones ... Nichols
• Richard Grant ... Silvers

and introducing: Robby the Robot* James Richard (Jimmy) Thomson (1927-1991) was a NHL player and former captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs. ... James Child Drury (born 18 April 1934 in New York, New York) played the title role in the 90-minute weekly television series The Virginian from 1962 to 1971 After a series of bit parts and playing second-lead for Disney, Drury landed the part of a ranch hand on... Peter Miller (born April 6, 1969) is an Australian rules footballer who played for the Fremantle Dockers in 1995. ... Morgan Jones is a Welsh television presenter. ... A film poster for Forbidden Planet showing Robby. ...

• Frankie Darro† ... stunt performer inside Robby the Robot
• Marvin Miller† ... Voice of Robby the Robot
• Les Tremayne† ... Narrator
• James Best†, William Boyett† ... Other C-57D crewmen

* Billed in opening credits, but not closing credits. Billed as The Robot in theatrical trailer.
† Not credited on-screen. Frankie Darro (born December 22, 1917 in Chicago, Illinois, United States; died December 25, 1976 in Huntington Beach, California of a heart attack), was an American voice-over artist and character actor, notable for voicing Lampwick in Walt Disneys Pinocchio and other film roles. ... Miller in Deadline at Dawn Marvin Miller July 18, 1913 - February 8, 1985, born Marvin Mueller, was an movie and voice-over actor. ... Les Tremayne was renowned on the radio. ... James Best James Best (born July 26, 1926, in Powderly, Kentucky) is an American character actor best known for his role as bumbling Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane in the television series The Dukes of Hazzard. ... William Boyett (1927-December 29, 2004) was an American actor best known for his work as the low-key but authoritative Sgt. ...

Production aspects

A small portion of the Great Machine on Altair IV (note the characters walking on the platform)

The original 1952 screen treatment was titled "Fatal Planet" by Irving Block and Allen Adler; the screenplay by Cyril Hume was retitled "Forbidden Planet" which was felt to have more box-office appeal^[3]. Download high resolution version (700x657, 105 KB) This is a screenshot of a copyrighted website, video game graphic, computer program graphic, television broadcast, or film. ... Download high resolution version (700x657, 105 KB) This is a screenshot of a copyrighted website, video game graphic, computer program graphic, television broadcast, or film. ... Allen Adler was an American writer, also involved in theater in various ways. ... Cyril Hume (16 March 1900 – 26 March 1966), was an American screenwriter. ...

Block and Adler's treatment took place in the year 1976 on the planet Mercury. An expedition headed by John Grant is sent to the planet to retrieve Dr. Adams and his daughter Dorianne who have been stranded there for twenty years. The plot is roughly the same as the final film, though Grant is able to rescue both Adams and his daughter and escape the invisible monster stalking them.

Many aspects of the film production involved novel concepts at the time. The film sets were constructed at an MGM soundstage on the Culver City lot: In drama, the set (or setting) is the location of a storys action. ... A sound stage is a hangar-like structure, building or room, that is soundproof for the production of theatrical motion pictures and television, usually inside a movie studio. ... Culver City sign near the intersection of the 405 and the 90. ...

• For modern viewers, some of the advanced technologies featured on the saucer-design starship are interesting, both in their relationship to how human technology has actually developed, and in terms of their influence on later science fiction. In this film, "quantum mechanic" is a job description. The starship has a "quanto-gravitetic Q-G hyper-drive" system that allows travel over the 16 light year journey distance in about a year. The crew must place themselves in "DC Stations" (Deceleration tubes) as the ship comes out of hyperspace — a form of stasis in order to avoid injury or death from such braking forces.

• This was the first film in which humans constructed flying saucers and used them to travel in outer space.

• Helen Rose, who had made some miniskirts for actress Anne Francis, is sometimes credited with inventing the garment.

• For the film, a full-size mockup of three quarters of the C-57D was built to suggest its full width of 170 ft (51 meters). This was surrounded by a huge painted diorama of the desert landscape of Altair 4. This set took up all the space in an MGM soundstage on the Culver City lot. The entire film was studio-bound, without any outdoor photography. All outdoor scenes were simulated with sets and visual effects. Also constructed was a futuristic electrically-controlled Landcar sports vehicle or "dune buggy" piloted by Robby, and a futuristic Tractor-Tow Truck offloaded from the spaceship as a land vehicle.

• Robby the Robot was possibly the most expensive film prop ever constructed at the time ($125,000);^[4] he also featured in the film The Invisible Boy. He also made two separate appearances, playing different characters in the TV series Lost in Space.^[5] He made a cameo appearance in the 1984 film Gremlins; he can be seen in the background during a telephone conversation scene at an inventors' convention repeating select lines from Forbidden Planet. He appears as junk in Star Wars: The Phantom Menace. He also appeared in three episodes of The Twilight Zone, an episode of Columbo, and an episode of Mork and Mindy.

• The adamantine steel of the Krell which was used by Morbius to create protection for his residence shares a common etymological origin with the fictional metal adamantium, although the word "adamantine" itself is from an old word for "of diamond" or "diamond-like" and in modern mineralogy denotes a form of the gem corundum.

• Forbidden Planet was first released on April 1, 1956 in theaters across America, and it ran continuously at the Grauman's Chinese Theater in Hollywood until the following September. Its Hollywood premiere was at the Grauman’s Chinese on Hollywood Boulevard, and featured Robby the Robot on display in the lobby. The film was subsequently re-released in movie theaters in 1972 as one of MGM's "Kiddie Matinee" features, with 6 minutes of film footage cut to ensure a G-Rating from the Motion Picture Association of America.^{[citation needed]} The classic sci-fi epic was first released on MGM VHS and Beta Video in 1982, and it was reissued by MGM/UA in widescreen VHS for its 40th Anniversary in 1996. FP was then released on DVD in 1999 by Warner Bros., catalogue number 65059, after MGM's back catalog was sold to AOL-TW by Turner Entertainment and MGM/UA in 1998. The 1999 release came with both standard and widescreen format visuals and English, French and Spanish soundtrack and subtitle options. This was followed by a release of the 50th Anniversary and the Ultimate Collector's Edition DVDs in November 2006. ^[6]

• The animated sequences used for the special effects (especially the attack of the Id Monster) were animated by veteran FX animator, Joshua Meador who was lent to MGM from Walt Disney Pictures for the film. Curiously, shots showing the shape of the invisible Id Monster outlined in the blaster beams were evidently removed from some prints shown on TV — presumably because its monstrous appearance was considered too terrifying for younger viewers — and it was many years before these shots were restored. The Id Monster vaguely resembles the Looney Tunes character "Gossamer". A close look at the Id Monster shows it to have a small goatee beard, suggesting that it is the product of the deep psychology of Dr. Morbius, the only other figure in the movie with this feature.

• After the movie was released, there followed a novelization by W.J. Stuart. The book delves further into the mystery of the vanished Krell, and Morbius's relationship to them. In the novel Morbius repeatedly exposes himself to the Krell mind machine, which (as suggested in the film) increases his brain power far beyond human intelligence. Unfortunately, Morbius retains enough of his imperfect human nature to be afflicted with hubris (his contempt for humanity is obvious). Not recognizing his own limitations is Morbius' downfall, as it had been for the Krell.

Cover of film HD-DVD, showing graphic of the Commander and Altaira.

• Many of the props originally created for Forbidden Planet, including the ship, crew uniforms, and Robbie's transport vehicle, were later used in episodes of Rod Serling's The Twilight Zone television series, which was also filmed at the MGM studios.

Fifty years after the theatrical release, Forbidden Planet was released on HD-DVD on 28th November 2006. In honour of its fiftieth anniversary, the film was restored by the Warner Bros.-MGM reconstruction crew.^[7] The DVD cover shows a graphic sketch of the Captain and Altaira, with a background view of Robby the Robot (see image at right). The term stasis has several meanings: A state of stabilty, in which all forces are equal and opposing, therefore they cancel out each other. ... Costume designer Helen Rose (1904 - 1985) spent the bulk of her career with MGM where she clothed the stars of 200 films. ... A woman modelling a miniskirt The miniskirt (often hyphenated as mini-skirt) is a skirt with a hemline well above the knees (generally 20 cm - about 8 inches - or more above knee level). ... A film poster for Forbidden Planet showing Robby. ... Categories: | ... For other uses, see Lost in Space (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Gremlin (disambiguation). ... Film poster for Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace is a 1999 film by George Lucas starring Liam Neeson, Ewan McGregor, Natalie Portman, and Jake Lloyd. ... The Twilight Zone title. ... Columbo is an American crime fiction TV series starring Peter Falk as Lieutenant Columbo, a homicide detective with the Los Angeles Police Department. ... Mork & Mindy was a sci-fi-based American sitcom broadcast from 1978 until 1982 on the American Broadcasting Company. ... For other uses of adamant, adamantium, and similar terms, see Adamant (disambiguation). ... Adamantine is a mineral, often referred to as adamantine spar. ... This article is about the mineral. ... Mineralogy is an earth science that involves the chemistry, crystal structure, and physical (including optical) properties of minerals. ... Corundum (from Tamil kurundam) is a crystalline form of aluminium oxide and one of the rock-forming minerals. ... This article or section cites very few or no references or sources. ... MPAA redirects here. ... Joshua Meador was an animator, special effects artist, and animation director for the Disney studio. ... MGM logo Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer or MGM, is a large media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of cinema and television programs. ... Old logo from 1985-2006 Walt Disney Pictures refers to several different entities associated with The Walt Disney Company: Walt Disney Pictures, the film banner, was established as a designation in 1983, prior to which Disney films since the death of Walt Disney were released under the name of the... Looney Tunes opening title Looney Tunes is a Warner Brothers animated cartoon series which ran in many movie theatres from 1930 to 1969. ... Gossamer and Bugs Bunny in Hair-raising Hare (1946) Gossamer is an animated cartoon character in the Warner Bros. ... A traditional goatee, notice the mustache par does not touch A goatee is a beard formed by a tuft of hair on the chin and a moustache around the upper lip. ... A pen name for the under-appreciated mystery writer Philip MacDonald, whose most well-known work is the science fiction novel Forbidden Planet was inspired by Shakespeares The Tempest. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... The Twilight Zone title. ... HD DVD or High-Density DVD is a high-density optical disc format designed for the storage of data and high-definition video. ...

Precursors

This article or section may contain original research or unverified claims. Please improve the article by adding references. See the talk page for details. (October 2007)

The use of the name "Bellerophon" ties in with Morbius's character in several ways: Image File history File links Emblem-important. ...

• The mythical Greek hero Bellerophon was struck down by the gods for the crime of hubris in trying to reach Olympian heights.

• One of Bellerophon's greatest feats was his victory over the Chimera, a monster with mismatched body parts appropriate to many other animals. When the ship's doctor tries to reconstruct the Monster from the Id based on a cast of its footprint, he is puzzled by its having attributes appropriate to many different and incompatible animals.

• Morbius was taken to his unintended exile by a ship sharing the same name as the ship that transported Napoleon Bonaparte to his final exile, the HMS Bellerophon.

Morbius tells Adams and Farman to view the Krell thermonuclear reactions only in the mirror: "Man does not behold the face of the Gorgon and live." For other uses, see Bellerophon (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Chimera. ... Bonaparte as general Napoleon Bonaparte ( 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821) was a general of the French Revolution and was the ruler of France as First Consul (Premier Consul) of the French Republic from November 11, 1799 to May 18, 1804, then as Emperor of the French (Empereur des... Napoleon Bonaparte on board the Bellerophon in Plymouth Sound by Sir Charles Lock Eastlake, painted 1815. ... At the end of the 20th century, Thermonuclear has came to imply anything which has to do with fusion nuclear reactions which are triggered by particles of thermal energy. ... This article is about the Greek mythological monster. ...

While not stated explicitly in the film, the novelization compared Altaira's ability to tame the tiger (until her sexual awakening) to the medieval myth of a unicorn being tamable only by a virgin woman. The gentle and pensive maiden has the power to tame the unicorn, in this fresco in Palazzo Farnese, Rome, probably by Domenichino, ca 1602 For other uses, see Unicorn (disambiguation). ...

As mentioned, the film was influenced by Shakespeare's The Tempest, though the plot of the film only superficially resembles the plot of the play. Some of the characters can more clearly be opposed:

• Prospero = Morbius
• Miranda = Altaira
• Ariel = Robby the Robot
• Caliban = Monster from the Id
• Stephano and Trinculo = Cookie

However, although the identification of Ferdinand with Commander Adams and Gonzalo with "Doc" Ostrow is tempting, the characters do not really match up. There are no further identifications for important characters such as Alonso, Antonio, or Sebastian. Prospero and Miranda by William Maw Egley Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Prospero Prospero is the protagonist in The Tempest, a play by William Shakespeare. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... Ariel taking on an illusionary form, at Prosperos command Ariel (IPA: [ɛəriəl]) is a fictional sprite who appears in William Shakespeares play The Tempest. ... William Hogarths painting The Tempest, depicting Caliban carrying a load of wood Caliban is a fictional character in William Shakespeares The Tempest, a deformed monster who is the slave of Prospero. ...

Robby the Robot can be identified with Caliban -- he's clumsy; he does the housework, he gets drunk with one of the ship's crew; "This thing of darkness I acknowledge mine," Prospero says in The Tempest. The "monsters from the Id" represent the spirits, in addition to Ariel, who were invisible and controlled by Prospero. Alternately, most critical sources (see The Tempest) have identified the libidinous Caliban with the Id Monster, and the sexless Robby with Ariel, despite Robby's corporality. This is probably because Robby is entirely in Morbius' control, and because Robby, like Ariel, cannot be used to do harmful acts, going into lockup in somewhat the same way as Ariel when commanded to do "abhorred" acts by the witch Sycorax. Robby acts in accordance with Isaac Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics, and is unable even to act against the Id Monster, which actually would require the killing of Morbius. William Hogarths painting The Tempest, depicting Caliban carrying a load of wood Caliban is a fictional character in William Shakespeares The Tempest, a deformed monster who is the slave of Prospero. ... Prospero and Miranda by William Maw Egley Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Prospero Prospero is the protagonist in The Tempest, a play by William Shakespeare. ... Ariel taking on an illusionary form, at Prosperos command Ariel (IPA: [ɛəriəl]) is a fictional sprite who appears in William Shakespeares play The Tempest. ... For other uses, see The Tempest (disambiguation). ... Isaac Asimov (January 2?, 1920?[1] – April 6, 1992), IPA: , originally Исаак Озимов but now transcribed into Russian as Айзек Азимов) was a Russian-born American Jewish author and professor of biochemistry, a highly successful and exceptionally prolific writer best known for his works of science fiction and for his popular science books. ... This cover of I, Robot illustrates the story Runaround, the first to list all Three Laws of Robotics. ...

The title of the film surely alludes to forbidden fruit, as some critics have noted,^[8] reminding us that The Tempest itself is a version of the "Eden lost" story, in which isolated islands seem Brave New Worlds full of innocent people and different kinds of Serpents. Altaira, with her garden of tame animals and her ignorance of the meaning of nakedness, represents the innocence which is soon to be brought down by the forbidden fruit of knowledge, here represented both by the starship full of ordinary men, and by the re-awakening of the slumbering technologies of the Krell. For other uses, see Garden of Eden (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Brave New World (disambiguation). ...

Unlike Prospero, the wizardly character Dr. Morbius is not in full command of the magic of the technology he discovers, and like the Krell he is ultimately destroyed by the combination of power and what Commander Adams calls "the secret devil of every soul on the planet." As the loser in a pact with technology and hidden desires, Dr. Morbius has something in common with Dr. Faustus, and this film of the post-atomic age also is keeping with the warnings of the Faust mythos. Faust is the protagonist of a popular German tale that has been used as the basis for many different fictional works. ... For other uses, see Faust (disambiguation). ...

Forbidden Planet follows Aristotle's rules for tragedy. A great man is brought down by a single "tragic flaw" or error of judgment — his belief in his moral superiority, which supposedly follows his intellectual superiority. The same flaw destroyed the "noble Krell" as well. And, as Aristotle preferred, the story takes place over many years (in this case, twenty), yet is told almost entirely through exposition. For other uses, see Aristotle (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Tragedy (disambiguation). ... Tragic flaw, derived from the Greek word hamartia, which is also translated in religious works (e. ... It has been suggested that this article be split into articles entitled Exposition (plot device) and Plot dump . ...

Soundtrack

• The movie's innovative electronic music score (credited as "Electronic tonalities" partly to avoid having to pay movie industry music guild fees) was composed by Louis and Bebe Barron. Their score is widely credited with being the first completely electronic film score, and helped open the door for electronic music in film. The synthesized sounds of "bleeps, blurps, whirs, whines, throbs, hums and screeches" that make up the sound track contained carefully developed themes and motifs, while supporting the general atmosphere of the various scenes.^[4]

• Using the equations presented in the 1948 book, Cybernetics: Or, Control and Communication in the Animal and the Machine by mathematician Norbert Wiener, Louis Barron constructed the electronic circuits which he used to generate sounds. Most of the tonalities were generated using a circuit called a ring modulator. After recording the base sounds, Louis and Bebe Barron further manipulated the material by adding effects, such as reverb and delay, and reversing or changing the speed of certain sounds.^[9]

• The soundtrack for Forbidden Planet preceded the Moog synthesizer of 1964 by almost a decade.

• As Louis and Bebe Barron did not belong to the Musicians' Union, their work was not considered for an Academy Award – either in the soundtrack category nor in the special effects category. Curiously, MGM avoided releasing a soundtrack album when the film was first released. However, film composer-conductor David Rose released a 45-rpm single of his original main title theme for Forbidden Planet, which he had recorded at MGM Studios in Culver City, California in March 1956. This theme was the unused discarded theme since David Rose had originally been contracted to compose the film’s music score in 1955, but was discharged from his assignment between Christmas 1955 and New Year’s by MGM producer Dore Schary, who discovered the Barrons quite by chance at a beatnik nightclub in Greenwich Village, New York while on a family Christmas visit to NYC. Schary hired Louis & Bebe Barron on the spot, and contracted with them to do the film music score, the first electronic music (excepting the theremin) ever heard on a theater screen.

• The innovative soundtrack was released on a vinyl LP album by Louis & Bebe Barron for the film's 20th Anniversary in 1976, on their own PLANET Records label (later changed to SMALL PLANET Records and distributed by GNP Crescendo Records) and, later, on a music CD in 1986 for its 30th Anniversary: with a six-page colour booklet containing images from Forbidden Planet plus liner notes from the composers, Louis & Bebe Barron, and Bill Malone.^[9]

For other uses, see Electronic music (disambiguation). ... Louis (1920-1989) and Bebe Barron (b. ... For other uses, see Cybernetics (disambiguation). ... Norbert Wiener Norbert Wiener (November 26, 1894, Columbia, Missouri – March 18, 1964, Stockholm Sweden) was an American theoretical and applied mathematician. ... Ring modulation is an audio effect performed by multiplying two audio signals, where one is typically a sine-wave or another simple waveform. ... The term Moog(pronounced // as in moan) synthesizer can refer to any number of analog synthesizers designed by Dr. Robert Moog or manufactured by Moog Music, and is commonly used as a generic term for analog and digital music synthesisers. ... Léon Theremin playing an early theremin The theremin (originally pronounced but often anglicized as [1]), or thereminvox, is one of the earliest fully electronic musical instruments. ... A 12-inch record (left), a 7-inch record (right), and a CD (above) Two 7 singles (left), two colored 7 singles (middle), and two 7 singles with large spindle holes (right). ... An album or record album is a collection of related audio or music tracks distributed to the public. ...

Track list

The following is a list of compositions on the CD:^[9]

1. Main Titles (Overture)
2. Deceleration
3. Once Around Altair
4. The Landing
5. Flurry Of Dust - A Robot Approaches
6. A Shangri-La In The Desert / Garden With Cuddly Tiger
7. Graveyard - A Night With Two Moons
8. "Robby, Make Me A Gown"
9. An Invisible Monster Approaches
10. Robby Arranges Flowers, Zaps Monkey
11. Love At The Swimming Hole
12. Morbius' Study
13. Ancient Krell Music
14. The Mind Booster - Creation Of Matter
15. Krell Shuttle Ride And Power Station
16. Giant Footprints In The Sand
17. "Nothing Like This Claw Found In Nature!"
18. Robby, The Cook, And 60 Gallons Of Booze
19. Battle With The Invisible Monster
20. "Come Back To Earth With Me"
21. The Monster Pursues - Morbius Is Overcome
22. The Homecoming
23. Overture (Reprise)[this track recorded at Royce Hall, UCLA, 1964]

Influences

• A number of similarities between Forbidden Planet and later science fiction movies and TV shows have been noted by observers. The film has even been called "The First Episode of Star Trek", both as a result of its general structure and in the plots and details of various episodes (e.g., the C-57D's advance team consists of the Captain, First Officer, and Ship's Doctor, a trope of many later Star Trek episodes). Indeed, Gene Roddenberry noted in his biography Star Trek Creator that Forbidden Planet was one of the inspirations for Star Trek.^[10]

• The Star Trek episodes The Man Trap, Shore Leave, What are Little Girls Made Of? and Requiem for Methuselah show certain similarities to Forbidden Planet. The latter episode is also based on The Tempest. The Star Trek Enterprise first season episode Oasis also bears a strong resemblance to the story line of Forbidden Planet.

• The underpinnings of the Doctor Who serials Planet of Evil, The Face of Evil and Snakedance have similarities to Forbidden Planet. "The Face of Evil" also includes invisible creatures that leave huge footprints and attack people. There is also a Fourth Doctor serial named The Brain of Morbius, although it bears no similarity to Forbidden Planet. Planet of Evil was consciously partly based on Forbidden Planet. ^[11]

• In Serenity, the movie finale to the TV show Firefly, the plot revelation is made on the planet Miranda, which itself contains several references, including uses of the number C-57D.^[12]

• The Painkiller Jane episode "The Beast of Bolnar" centers around a "creature of the id" created by a 10-year-old orphan.

• In Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope when Obi-Wan Kenobi rescues Luke Skywalker after he is attacked by the Sand People, C3PO remarks "something is approaching from the southwest, master" - a quote from Robbie the Robot, as the Id Monster approaches Dr. Morbius's house.

The starship Enterprise as it appeared on Star Trek Star Trek is a culturally significant science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry in the 1960s. ... Captain is a rank or title with various meanings. ... In commercial aviation, the first officer is the second pilot of an aircraft. ... Eugene Wesley Roddenberry (August 19, 1921 – October 24, 1991) was an American scriptwriter and producer. ... The starship Enterprise as it appeared on Star Trek Star Trek is a culturally significant science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry in the 1960s. ... The Man Trap was the first episode of Star Trek: The Original Series to air on NBC. It is episode #6, and was broadcast on Thursday, September 8, 1966. ... Shore Leave is a first season episode of Star Trek: The Original Series. ... What Are Little Girls Made Of? is a first season episode of Star Trek: The Original Series. ... Requiem for Methuselah is a third season episode of Star Trek: Original Series, first broadcast February 14, 1969. ... For other uses, see The Tempest (disambiguation). ... The starship Enterprise (NX-01) Star Trek: Enterprise is a science fiction television series set in the Star Trek universe. ... This article is about the television series. ... Planet of Evil is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from September 27 to October 18, 1975. ... The Face of Evil is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from January 1 to January 22, 1977. ... Snakedance is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four twice-weekly parts from January 18 to January 26, 1983. ... The Fourth Doctor is the name given to the fourth incarnation of the Doctor seen on screen in the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. ... The Brain of Morbius is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from January 3 to January 24, 1976. ... Serenity is a 2005 science fiction space western/epic film written and directed by Joss Whedon. ... Firefly is an American science fiction television series created by writer/director Joss Whedon, creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel, under his Mutant Enemy Productions. ... Unofficial diagram of the Firefly universe. ... Painkiller Jane is a television series based on the comic book character of the same name. ... This movie poster for Star Wars depicts many of the films important elements, such as Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, Han Solo, X-Wing and Y-Wing fighters Star Wars, retitled Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope in 1981 (see note at Title,) is the original (and in chronological...

References in other media

• In the movie Halloween, Jamie Lee Curtis' character, Laurie Strode, has Forbidden Planet playing on the television while she babysits. Curtis and Planet star Leslie Nielsen would later appear together in the 1980 film Prom Night.

• In Babylon 5 one particular shot of the Great Machine of Epsilon 3 (as seen in the episode "A Voice in the Wilderness") bears a strong resemblance to the bridge through the Great Machine of the Krell in Forbidden Planet. (Babylon 5's producer has stated that this similarity was clear at the time of production but the form the shot took was due to production requirements, and was not a deliberate reference to the film.)^[13]

• In the musical The Rocky Horror Show, and its film adaptation, the opening song Science Fiction/Double Feature references many classic SF films; one line is "Anne Francis stars in Forbidden Planet."

• In the classic sci-fi film The Blob, the poster for Forbidden Planet is seen on the theater that is playing the midnight "spook show" (which is the theater that the Blob later on invades).

• Robby and the C-57D, as well as Robby's vehicle, were used in a few of the original Twilight Zone episodes, as Robby appeared in "Uncle Simon" and C57D was used in "Third from the Sun", "On Thursday We Leave for Home", and Death Ship, the latter two of which also reused the crew's uniforms.

• Robby appeared on the TV series "Lost in Space" as the evil "robotoid" in "War of the Robots" Season 1, episode 20.

• The "Klystron frequency modulator", which appears as a coil of copper piping was used as a prop in Star Trek: First Contact as a component that Barclay used to repair the Phoenix.

• The Melvins song title "The Fool, the Meddling Idiot" comes from a line of dialog in the film.

• The movie Serenity contains a space shuttle on the planet Miranda marked with "C57D".

• The song "Afterfire" by VNV Nation contains a sound clip taken from the scene where the crew of the C-57D was setting up the defence perimeter.

Halloween (film) redirects here. ... Jamie Lee Curtis (born November 22, 1958) is an American film actress and an author of childrens books. ... Laurie Strode is a fictional character in the Halloween horror film series, portrayed by actress Jamie Lee Curtis. ... Prom Night is a 1980 Canadian horror film starring Leslie Nielsen and Jamie Lee Curtis, directed by Paul Lynch. ... Babylon 5 is an epic American science fiction television series created, produced, and largely written by J. Michael Straczynski. ... The Great Machine is an enormous technological marvel beneath the surface of the planet Epsilon III in Babylon 5. ... The star Epsilon Eridani, being a sunlike star relatively close to the solar system, is frequently used as a setting in works of science fiction. ... A Voice in the Wilderness is a two-part episode from the first season of the science-fiction television series Babylon 5. ... The Rocky Horror Show is a long running stage musical (opening in London initially, on June 19, 1973) that inspired the movie The Rocky Horror Picture Show. ... Science Fiction/Double Feature is the opening song to the 1973 B-movie stage play The Rocky Horror Show, and its 1975 film counterpart The Rocky Horror Picture Show. ... For other meanings of this term, see Blob. ... Note, this page is about the television series and its two revivals. ... “Uncle Simon” is an episode of the American television anthology series The Twilight Zone. ... Third From the Sun is an episode of the television series The Twilight Zone. ... On Thursday We Leave for Home is an episode of the American television anthology series The Twilight Zone. ... “Death Ship” is an episode of the American television anthology series The Twilight Zone. ... Star Trek: First Contact (Paramount Pictures, 1996; see also 1996 in film), is the eighth feature film based on the popular Star Trek science fiction television series. ... Lieutenant Reginald Endicott Barclay III is a recurring character in the Star Trek fictional universe, created by Sally Caves and played by Dwight Schultz. ... Melvins are an American rock/metal band that usually perform as a trio. ... Serenity is a 2005 science fiction space western/epic film written and directed by Joss Whedon. ... VNV Nation is an electronic music group originally from Dublin and London, now based in Hamburg, that combines elements of trance, synthpop and electronic body music (EBM), into what they call futurepop. ...

Notes

Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 226th day of the year (227th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 226th day of the year (227th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 228th day of the year (229th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 228th day of the year (229th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 226th day of the year (227th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... This article is about the day. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... December 17 is the 351st day of the year (352nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Joseph Michael Straczynski (born July 17, 1954) is an award-winning American writer/producer of television series, novels, short stories, comic books, and radio dramas. ... Year 1995 (MCMXCV) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display full 1995 Gregorian calendar). ... is the 302nd day of the year (303rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 296th day of the year (297th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...

External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:

Forbidden Planet

• DVD Journal review
• Film review: Parallax Reviews: 'Forbidden Planet', Forbidden Fruit, Ingrid Richter, 23-November-1999, space.com
• NPR: Barron Score
• The Wire's100 Records That Set The World On Fire (When No One Was Listening)
• Cinematographic analysis of "Forbidden Planet"