The Birth of the Robot (1936)
This experiment was a “prestige advertisement” for Shell Motor Oil. As conventional animation became dominated by Walt Disney, many European filmmakers turned to puppets as an alternative, and Lye enlisted the help of avant-garde friends such as Humphrey Jennings and John Banting to make the amusing puppets. Exploring the still-complex color process, which involved the combination of three separate images, Lye creates such a vivid storm scene that reviewers hailed it as “proof that the color film has entered a new stage.” The music is Holst’s The Planets. - Harvard Film Archive
Director: Len Lye
| Visual Effects | Humphrey Jennings | Color Designer |
| Directing | Len Lye | Director |
| Writing | C.H. David | Writer |
| Camera | Alex Strasser | Director of Photography |
| Art | John Banting | Prop Designer |
| Sound | Jack Ellitt | Music |
| Sound | Gustav Holst | Music |
