Robotboy is an animated television series which is produced by French production company Alphanim for France 3 and Cartoon Network Europe, as well as the studios LuxAnimation and Cofinova 1. 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 Dexter's Laboratory, The Powerpuff Girls, and Samurai Jack. The series first aired in the United Kingdom on 1 November 2005 on Cartoon Network. The series premiered in the United States on 28 December 2005 as part of a "sneak peek" preview week for the network's new Saturday morning cartoon lineup that debuted on 14 January 2006. Reruns of the show are still airing in Eastern Europe, United Kingdom, France, Italy, The Netherlands, Belgium and Germany but is no longer shown in the United States or Asian territories.
Despite the fact that most of the characters being voiced by British actors and actresses, they have American accents. The same thing happens in Chop Socky Chooks and Dude, That's My Ghost!.
Plot
Robotboy is the latest creation of the world-renowned scientist Professor Moshimo. Due to fears that Robotboy would be stolen by his arch-enemy 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 three friends Lola, Alison (or "Ally"), and Gus, or "G-Man" as he calls himself, Robotboy learns how to behave and act as if he were a real boy while occasionally battling Dr. Kamikazi and Constantine who sought out to capture him.
Characters
Robotboy - The robot title character of the series is best friends with Tommy Turnbull. Robotboy has three modes: deactivated, activated, and superactivated.
Tommy Turnbull - Robotboy's 10-year-old owner and human best friend.
Augustus "Gus"/"G-Man" Turner - Tommy's funny, obese, sometimes rude, self-centered, and neurotic best friend.
Lola Mbola - Tommy's unofficial girlfriend who has discreet romantic feelings for him.
Robotgirl - A super fighting robot just like Robotboy, who was introduced in the episode of the same name "Robot Girl" and her last appearance was in "The Return of Robotgirl". She quickly made good friends with Robotboy and was only seen superactivated twice, both times in episode "Robotgirl". In the first place, she had to be convinced by Moshimo to use her ultimate powers, otherwise she would never see her friends again. In "The return of Robotgirl" she was brought back to Tommy with a distress message by Moshimo, she could not be activated until she was repaired by Tommy and she suffered from a major memory loss, but was convinced by Lola to use her emotions in favour of the kids' team. In the end she was defeated in a fight against Protoboy and then was saved by Robotboy.
Dr. Kamikazi - A small old man with thick glasses and a suit/bathrobe combo who is a self-proclaimed evil genius and the main antagonist of the show. He wishes to capture Robotboy to create a template for an army of super robots, with which he will be able to achieve his dastardly goal of world domination. Most of his henchmen have a large letter K on their uniforms, to show that they are on Dr. Kamikazi's side. He has had many pets, ranging from snakes to cats, but as a running gag they usually always hurt him.
Constantine - A fat hunchbacked hitman of Dr. Kamikazi who also is a master of sumo wrestling (though it is unknown if he has ever been a yokozuna, or "grand champion"). He is a sensitive and none too threatening sidekick to Dr. Kamikazi who mainly acts as his muscle power as well as his assistant. Constantine is also a refined chef, being able to create dishes ranging from Sashimi to tapas. It was seen in one episode that Constantine used to be an orphan before working for Kamikazi. Despite looking like a Japanese version of a hitman, Constantine is actually Spanish, suggesting that his outfit is simply a uniform assigned to him by Dr. Kamikazi.
Donnie - Tommy's older Brother and secondary archenemy, he is a constant bully to every child in the neighborhood, including Gus and Tommy himself. He frequently calls people names, threatens them etc., and yet despite this, Tommy still treats him as family. Some people exploit his attitude for their benefit, usually Dr. Kamikazi. His bullying backfires in the third season after Robotboy tortures him when he decides to play hooky from school in order to humiliate and possibly destroy Robotboy.
Kurt - A sadistic bully at Tommy's school, he has blonde hair and wears a hat. He constantly bullies Gus and Tommy, as well as any other kid he finds. His dad is a spy who has used Kurt to try and capture Robotboy. Tommy sometimes has outsmarted Kurt and his cronies by outwitting them, usually with Robotboy.
Björn Bjornson - An evil boy who is about Tommy's age and claims to be a greater genius than professor Moshimo. He has his own prototype robot named Brother Björn or Bjorn-Bot. Both were first introduced in the episode of the same name - "Brother Björn". Their mission is to destroy Moshimo's creation - Robotboy, so Bjorn-Bot would remain the only fighting robot in the world.
Protoboy - Robotboy's evil brother, who was created by Moshimo in his earlier years, but later stolen by young Kamikazi and Constantine and turned too evil to control. He was then forcibly deactivated by Constantine and stored in a large storage room inside of Kamikazi's quarters in Kaziland until he was saved by Robotboy. His first appearance was in episode "Brother", but he returned in episode "The Old Switcharobot" and was later permanently destroyed by Robotboy in "The Return of Robotgirl" - the last episode of the series. He also has the ability to superactivate just like Robotboy, but the cannon built into his left arm is static and cannot be switched with an arm or another weapon. Robotboy was seen superactivated in Protoboy's body in "The Old Switcharobot" but his cannon was damaged because Protoboy (in Robotboy's body) had removed some of its parts prior to the body switch.
Modes
Deactivated - Robotboy's doll mode. In it, he's smallest in size and not able to move or talk. However, he is seen lighting up his eyes and smiling in a few episodes.
Activated - While activated, Robotboy can talk, express emotions, fly, fight and use some special abilities, introduced throughout the series.
Superactivated - Activated when Robotboy hits his hands together, increasing his size and overall strength greatly. He has the ability to shoot down enemies with various kinds of missiles and laser cannons. While superactivated, he cannot talk, although he produces growling-like noises while turned evil by Kamikazi in "Crying Time".
