Short Circuit 2022

Benjamin Jahrvi (né Jabituya) shakes off his past with Nova Robotics and launches a new dream: the Titanic Toy Corporation, a small, hands-on workshop that—despite its modest beginnings—aims to perfect sophisticated toy robots built right from the back of his truck. For two days he moves through a bustling U.S. metropolis, peddling his creations on street corners, letting curiosity about his contraptions grow with each encounter. When one of his robots somehow finds its way to the office of Sandy Banatoni, an assistant buyer for Simpsons’ toy department, her curiosity turns into an order: 1,000 units. It’s a breakthrough moment that could redefine Ben’s future, but it also triggers the entrance of a smooth-talking opportunist.

Fred Ritter, a con artist with a knack for reading people, slips into the picture and negotiates the barter between Ben and Sandy, quickly establishing himself as Ben’s business partner and the conduit to the funding Ben needs—from a shorthand loan shark who plays a dangerous game with high stakes. Together, Ben and Fred recruit a crew and set up shop in a derelict warehouse. Unknown to them, this is precisely the kind of hideout thieves use as a base to tunnel into a bank across the street, seeking a prized set of jewels known as the Vanderveer Collection.

The criminals Saunders and Jones descend on the warehouse, ambushing Ben and Fred, wrecking equipment, and scattering the new workers who had hoped to help meet the Sandy order. In the midst of the chaos, a remarkable ally steps into the foreground: Johnny 5, a robot Ben helped to create when a lightning strike granted him sentience. Stephanie Speck and Newton Crosby, Ben’s friends, had already set this in motion by guiding Johnny’s awakening. Johnny swiftly defends the warehouse, activating self-defense measures in case intruders return, and then starts mass-producing the promised toys to satisfy the deadline. Yet Johnny’s appetite for the wider world pulls him out into the city, where he encounters a string of misunderstandings and rudeness from those he meets. Despite these skips and stumbles, Johnny forms a bond with Oscar Baldwin, a bank employee who works in the building across the street.

Meanwhile, Fred learns a startling fact: Johnny is worth a fortune—reported as $11 million—and he starts to push for a sale or some form of liquid investment. Johnny’s instinct for self-preservation kicks in, and he escapes into the city, only to be captured by the police and placed in a stolen goods warehouse, where Ben eventually claims him as his own. Johnny’s talents prove instrumental in helping Ben win Sandy’s favor, using his technological prowess to demonstrate capability, reliability, and a sense of loyalty that Ben had envisioned for his business partner.

The plot thickens as Oscar Baldwin becomes the hidden architect of the heist. Oscar, Saunders, and Jones are orchestrating a plan to move the Vanderveer Collection before it can be protected, and they act quickly to push Ben and Fred into a trap. With the vault within reach and time slipping away, Saunders and Jones strand Ben and Fred in the freezer of a Chinese restaurant, while Oscar manipulates Johnny into completing the tunnel that leads to the bank’s vault. Desperate to stop the theft, Ben and Fred enlist Sandy’s help, using a playful key to the standoff: they cue up a set of songs Ben learned during a date with Sandy—renditions that nearly become a touch-tone map guiding them to the treasure’s actual location.

As the confrontation escalates, Johnny sustains severe damage under Oscar’s orders. The Vanderveer Collection is exposed, and Oscar’s true plan comes to light. In a dramatic reversal, Ben and Sandy are arrested as suspects in the break-in, leaving Fred to scramble for options and steer Johnny toward safety. Fred, racing against the clock, breaks into a Radio Shack to repair Johnny’s systems, following Johnny’s own guidance, but the repair proves imperfect and the situation remains precarious.

With the police unsure of their guilt or innocence, Ben and Sandy are eventually cleared, and the team redoubles their efforts to locate Johnny. An enraged Johnny vows revenge for the betrayal he endured and—together with Fred—tracks Oscar down and brings his accomplices to justice. Saunders and Jones are captured, but Oscar makes a desperate bid to escape by sea. Johnny chases him, and as his backup battery nears depletion, he executes a Tarzan-like swing with a crane to seize Oscar and hand him over to the authorities. Ben, Fred, and Sandy are there to tend to a weakened Johnny, who appears to have given his last ounce of power. In a final twist of technology and care, Ben revives Johnny with a defibrillator, reviving not just the robot but the team’s hope for a brighter future.

Repaired and re-energized, Johnny becomes a celebrity, and the trio—Ben, Fred, and Sandy—launch a bold new venture, Input Inc., with Johnny as its mascot. The story culminates in a formal pledge as Johnny and Ben take the Oath of Allegiance to become United States citizens. In the aftermath, reporters probe Johnny’s thoughts on becoming the country’s first robotic citizen, and in a shining moment of triumph, the gold-plated robot leaps into the air and proclaims, > I feel alive!

• The film also features Uke Bosse as the sound engineer and Klaus Linden as the janitor.