Robotboy

Robotboy

Robotboy is a French animated television series which was produced by French production company Alphanim with TV Channels France 3 and Cartoon Network as well as Luxanimation. It was created and designed by Jan Van Rijsselberge and was directed in Alphanim's studio in Paris by Charlie Bean, who worked on other programs such as The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius for Nickelodeon and Camp Lazlo for Cartoon Network. It was first aired in the United Kingdom on November 1, 2005 on Cartoon Network. The pilot episode premiered in the United States on December 28, 2005 as part of a "sneak peek" preview week for the network's new Saturday morning cartoon lineup that debuted on January 14, 2006.

Plot

Robotboy is the latest creation of the world renowned scientist Professor Moshimo. Due to fears that Robotboy would be stolen by his arch-rival Dr. Kamikazi and his main henchman Constantine to be used to take over the world, Professor Moshimo entrusts Robotboy to 10-year-old Tommy Turnbull, his biggest fan. While being protected by Tommy and his two friends Lola and Gus, or "G-man" as he calls himself, Robotboy learns how to behave and act as if he were a real boy.

Characters

Robotboy is a battle robot with three modes of operation: Deactivated, Activated, and Superactivated. Deactivation mode is Robotboy's standby stage, where he becomes compact enough to fit into a backpack. Activation mode is the standard stage of Robotboy's active modes, where he is able to use most of his non-battle technology. Superactivation mode is when Robotboy transforms into his battle stage of operation, where he has access to an amazing arsenal of weaponry to deal with any and all enemies. Robotboy is mainly a fun-loving robot, with the ability to have human-like emotions and actions despite being mostly machinery. In later episodes, he acquired a human skin. Robotboy was created by Professor Moshimo and is currently under the care of Tommy Turnbull. Tommy and his friends Gus and Lola try to teach Robotboy what it means to be a real boy. Robotboy appears to be an homage to GIR, Astro Boy and Mega Man (who is also a homage to Astro Boy).

Tommy is a blonde, square-headed, 10-year-old boy, and Robotboy's new owner. He is smart, responsible, sensitive, likeable and acts as a father figure to Robotboy. Tommy's best human friends are Gus and Lola. He hates all Robotboy hunters, Kurt the schoolyard bully and Donnie, his brother who is also a bully. He is the unofficial leader of the team.

Augustus "Gus" Bachman Turner is overweight, weak-willed, neurotic, red-headed, gluttonous, gross, jerk, no-brain and selfish – the very opposite of Tommy. He is Tommy's friend and a self-proclaimed action hero and leader of the group. He is an attention seeker and tries to show off most of the time by pulling practical jokes on anyone close to him. However, most of these tricks backfire and often get him in trouble. He also boasts about many skills that he claims to have, but obviously doesn't. But despite all his faults, and his regular, but terrible practical jokes, he’s still one of Tommy’s best friends. He is very similar to Eric Cartman of South Park or Raj of Camp Lazlo. An interesting note about Gus is that despite the fact that he claims himself as "cool", he lives in an old fashion house with his old fashioned parents (who dress in nineteenth century clothing). In spite of (or maybe even because of) his strict upbring, Gus can be very greedy and selfish at times.

Lola Mbola (or Lola Mbolắ) is the 10 year old blue-eyed daughter of a wealthy African ambassador. Lola is a very well-educated kid who can pilot jet planes and speedboats despite her age. She is in love with Tommy, but is sort of secretive about it. She'd be devastated if he found out.
For other characters, see List of characters in Robotboy.