Robots

Plot

In a world populated by sentient robots, Rodney Copperbottom, son of Herb and Lydia Copperbottom from Rivet Town, is an aspiring young inventor who idolizes Bigweld, a famous inventor, entrepreneur, and philanthropist whose company, Bigweld Industries, hires other inventors and provides robots with spare parts. Following Bigweld's example to "see a need, fill a need", Rodney develops a small, flying robot, named Wonderbot, to assist his father, who works as a dishwasher at a restaurant in town. When Herb's supervisor confronts them, Wonderbot malfunctions and wreaks havoc in the kitchen, leaving Herb in debt. To help Herb pay for the damages, Rodney decides to move to Robot City, hoping to present Wonderbot to Bigweld Industries in order to get a job there. Upon his arrival at Robot City, Rodney is ejected from Bigweld Industries by the company's current head Phineas T. Ratchet, who in Bigweld's absence has stopped producing spare parts in favor of expensive "upgrades", thereby "outmoding" robots who are unable or unwilling to pay for them. Ratchet's mother, Madame Gasket, runs the Chop Shop, a place that collects scrap and spare parts (and sometimes outmoded robots) and melts them to create ingots for Upgrades.

Rodney befriends Fender Pinwheeler, a ne'er-do-well he met at the train station. Fender takes him in to a boarding home populated by other outmodes, known collectively as the "Rusties". Word of Rodney's mechanical prowess spreads, and he is hailed as a local hero after he and the Rusties fix outmodes throughout the neighborhood, although they are eventually unable to cope with the demand due to the spare part shortage. Hoping to enlist Bigweld's help, Rodney and Fender infiltrate the Bigweld Ball – where Bigweld is reputed to make an appearance – only for Ratchet to announce that Bigweld will not attend. Enraged, Rodney publicly berates Ratchet, who orders his security team to eliminate him. Cappy, a Bigweld Industries executive opposed to Ratchet's plans, rescues Rodney and Fender. Fender is captured by a Sweeper, a vehicle that collects scrap metal and outmodes, and taken to the Chop Shop where he discovers Gasket and Ratchet's plan to use a heavily-armed fleet of Super-Sweepers to destroy all outmodes throughout the city in order to make them into more ingots. Meanwhile, Rodney and Cappy fly to Bigweld's mansion, where they eventually find Bigweld and tell him what has been going on. But he reveals that Ratchet's greed and business sense won over his idealism in the management of Bigweld Industries, and orders Rodney and Cappy to leave. Crushed, Rodney calls his parents and plans to return to Rivet Town but Herb encourages Rodney to fight for his dreams or he will spend the rest of his life regretting it like Herb did. Fender returns upon escaping from the Chop Shop and reveals Gasket and Ratchet's plot. Rodney rallies Cappy and the Rusties to stop them, soon joined by Bigweld who has regained his resolve after realizing how much he and his ideals meant to Rodney.

The group returns to Bigweld Industries where Bigweld fires Ratchet, who ultimately knocks him unconscious, planning on melting him down as well. Rodney, Cappy, and Wonderbot rescue Bigweld from Ratchet and escape with the Rusties in a security vehicle with Ratchet close behind. Rodney unclips Ratchet’s vehicle to break free but their vehicle loses control in front of the Chop Shop and Bigweld is rolled inside. Undetermined to give up, Rodney upgrades the Rusties to rescue Bigweld. Rodney, Cappy and the Rusties battle Gasket and her army of Super Sweepers alongside an army of outmodes that Rodney had repaired earlier. Rodney and Bigweld immobilize the Super-Sweepers and defeat Ratchet, who accidentally destroys Gasket by throwing her into the incinerator while trying to escape and is stripped of his upgrades, being left chained to the ceiling with his father (who was already there for an unknown reason). Taking control of Bigweld Industries once again, Bigweld promises to make spare parts available to everyone. Later, he holds a public ceremony in Rivet Town, where he nominates Rodney as his new second-in-command and eventual successor. Rodney provides Herb with new replacement parts and a flugelhorn-like instrument to fulfill his dream of being a musician. After a shaky start, Herb leads Rodney, Cappy, the Rusties, Bigweld and the townspeople in a rousing rendition of "Get Up Offa That Thing".