Domo Arigato

I have a vague memory of my first viewing of “The Wizard of Oz” on TV as a small child, something that would become an annual event. I remember the Tin Man’s first appearance, and my brother and I getting very excited because there was a robot in it! “It’s not a robot, it’s a Tin Man,” my mother said. But tin or steel, a metal man is a robot in my book.

The point is, robots have always been cool, the stuff that fuels geeks to become microbudget filmmakers.

An early Robbie the Robot concept shelters his grandson R2D2 at the Robot Hut.

When I learned that a guy living not an hour from me, in a rural section of Eastern Washington, had the finest collection of movie and TV robots this side of anywhere, I had to see for myself. After a little field work, I tracked down electrical engineer and musician John Rigg and finagled my way into a visit to his “Robot Hut.” Quite an honor. He doesn’t do it for just anyone, or he wouldn’t have time to do anything else. I’d like to say it was my movie credits that opened the door for me, but it probably had more to do with my knowing the daughter of one of his best friends.

So my friend Mitch Tiner and I went to visit. Mitch is a great friend, and he does all the special effects make up and miniatures for my films. Sometimes he acts and does the music, too. He was as excited to see this collection as I was.

From the road, John’s ranch fits right in with those around it. But if you pull in and look at the far side of one outbuilding, you will see a giant robot display on the wall, emblazoned with the legend, Robot Hut.

Robot Hut video produced by Colin Malvaney for The Spokesman Review.

Inside are 4,000 plus robot items. Many of those items are life size, meticulous, hand-built, replicas of some of the most famous robots from movies and television. John built them all from scratch, many times re-building them three, four or five times until they met his exacting standards. The imperfect earlier models were sold off or given away to fans who couldn’t believe their luck!

You enter the building through an “airlock” anteroom, powered by a devise fans will recognize as Krell technology from “Forbidden Planet.”

Krell technology

That is the prelude to a perfect replica of that movie’s Robbie the Robot right inside the door, who speaks to you as neon tubes light up where a mouth should be.

“Welcome to Altair IV, Gentlemen.”

“I am to transport you to the Residence.”

Also in attendance are Gort, Tobor the Great, Maria the “Metropolis” robotrix, Johnny Five, Huey, Dewey and Louie (“Silent Running”) R2D2, C3PO, B-9 (“Lost in Space”), the walking tin can from The Mysterious Doctor Satan, the sentient machines from Venus that attacked in “Target Earth,” and many, many more.

Gort

Tobor the Great

Maria of Metropolis

Johnny Five

Huey, Dewey and Louie

Mitch and B-9. That does not compute. Danger, Danger!

The Mysterious Doctor Satan

Target Earth

And there are some pretty swell non-robotic items thrown in for the sheer fun of it.

Flying saucers from “Lost in Space”, “War of the Worlds” and “Forbidden Planet,” for instance.

The Jupiter 5, from “Lost in Space” TV series.

“War of the Worlds“

The C-57D, from “Forbidden Planet.”

And the one and only Time Machine from… “The Time Machine.” (Okay, not the one and only, it’s a copy, but it’s a pretty damn perfect one.) A second Time Machine John built was seen last season in an episode of “The Big Bang Theory.”

Screw Deloreans. This is stylin’ through time.

The Time Machine

Time Machine console

Rigg has been obsessed with robots his whole life, and possesses a natural gift for mechanics and building things. In 1980 he decided to recapture his youth and find the six toy robots that meant so much to him as a child. Along the way, he started collecting other robots as well, and then it became a sickness that many of us geeks can relate to. In John’s case, it was a glorious disease. These hand-built masterpieces are a testament to the films they are copied from – to their durability and to their ability to inspire the geeks and artists of the future.