The Invisible Boy

Robby the Robot's appearance in the film was partly because it was so expensive to build him for Forbidden Planet (1956) that MGM felt obliged to use him in another project.

The computer set was also used in Desk Set (1957).

Although shot in academy 1.37:1 aspect ratio (for later television airing) the theatrical--or *intended* (by the studio, producer, director and/or cinematographer)--aspect ratio of this film is 1.85:1 widescreen. Most modern 16x9 (1.78:1) televisions have a "zoom to width" picture option, essentially allowing the viewer to see the film as the director and cinematographer originally planned. It is easy to spot films shot this way, since all the titles and credits will still fit when properly cropped (they stay in the "middle" of the frame), and there is an unusual amount of "headroom" above the actors in medium and close-up shots when viewed uncropped. Quite often "mistakes"--like seeing equipment in the top or bottom of the uncropped frame--would never have been seen by a theater audience.

There is a connection with the film and Forbidden Planet (1956) when Timmie discovers a photo from the future, dated March 26, 2309, showing the return of the C57D spacecraft landing at Chicago Spaceport. The photo has his uncle in the photo, which would suggest time travel. Timmie says the photo was taken over three hundred years from now, which would explain how Robby the Robot has come to the 1950s.

MGM released this film, which features a sequence set aboard an Earth-orbiting satellite, in October 1957, the same month that the USSR inaugurated the Space Age by launching Sputnik.