Tobor the Great is a 1954

1954 in film

The year 1954 in film involved some significant events and memorable ones.-Events:*May 12 - The Marx Brothers' Zeppo Marx divorces wife Marion Benda...

 science fiction

Science fiction

Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...

 film, written by Carl Dudley

Carl Dudley

Carl Ward Dudley was an American film director and producer best known for the Cinerama feature South Seas Adventure ....

 & Philip MacDonald

Philip MacDonald

Philip MacDonald was an English author of thrillers.-Life and work:...

, and directed by Lee Sholem

Lee Sholem

Lee Tabor Sholem was an American television and film director....

. It stars Charles Drake

Charles Drake

Charles Drake was an American actor.-Biography:Drake was born as Charles Ruppert in New York City. He graduated from Nichols College and became a salesman. In 1939, he turned to acting and signed a contract with Warner Brothers. He wasn't immediately successful...

, Karin Booth, and Billy Chapin

Billy Chapin

Billy Chapin is an American former child actor, known for a considerable number of screen- and TV-performances from 1943 to 1959 and best remembered for both his roles as the “Diaper-manager” Christie Cooper in the 1953 family feature The Kid from Left Field, starring Dan Dailey, Anne Bancroft and...

. The film was released on DVD on May 13, 2008 by Lionsgate Home Entertainment.

Dr. Ralph Harrison, a member of the new government-appointed Civil Interplanetary Flight Commission, resigns in protest against the inhumane treatment being inflicted upon spaceship pilots. His colleague Professor Nordstrom develops an alternative robot spaceman, "Tobor

Tobor

Tobor is a fictional robotic character, featured in the 1949-1954 American science-fiction TV-series Captain Video and His Video Rangers as well as being the main character of the 1954 movie Tobor the Great...

" (the reverse anagram of "robot"), which is stolen by enemy agents. Only the scientists' psychic link with the robot can save it from being reprogrammed for evil purposes.

Tobor's design was the brainchild of Robert Kinoshita

Robert Kinoshita

Robert Kinoshita is an artist, art director, and set and production designer who worked in the American film and television industries from the 1950s through the early 1980s.-Biography:...

, television and film effects man and prop designer who would later go on to design Robby the Robot

Robby the Robot

Robby the Robot is a fictional character who has made a number of appearances in science fiction movies and television programs after his first appearance in the 1956 MGM science fiction film Forbidden Planet.-Overview:...

 from the 1956 film Forbidden Planet

Forbidden Planet

Forbidden Planet is a 1956 science fiction film directed by Fred M. Wilcox, with a screenplay by Cyril Hume. It stars Leslie Nielsen, Walter Pidgeon, and Anne Francis. The characters and its setting have been compared to those in William Shakespeare's The Tempest, and its plot contains certain...

, as well as the B9 environmental control robot from the 1960's hit sci-fi series Lost In Space

Lost in Space

Lost in Space is a science fiction TV series created and produced by Irwin Allen, filmed by 20th Century Fox Television, and broadcast on CBS. The show ran for three seasons, with 83 episodes airing between September 15, 1965, and March 6, 1968...

.

Sequel

A sequel to the film was announced by Diamond World Pictures, a new film company and division. It will feature Patrick Dempsey

Patrick Dempsey

Patrick Galen Dempsey is an American actor, known for his role as neurosurgeon Dr. Derek Shepherd on the medical drama Grey's Anatomy. Prior to Grey's Anatomy he made several television appearances and was nominated for an Emmy Award...

 and Christopher Plummer

Christopher Plummer

Arthur Christopher Orne Plummer, CC is a Canadian theatre, film and television actor. He made his film debut in 1957's Stage Struck, and notable early film performances include Night of the Generals, The Return of the Pink Panther and The Man Who Would Be King.In a career that spans over five...

, use the classic combination of live-action and stop-motion animation, and be released as the first film from Diamond World Pictures in the summer of 2011.