Forum - View topicThe Mike Toole Show - Orbots Almighty
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Kadmos1
![]() Posts: 13587 Location: In Phoenix but has an 85308 ZIP |
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I don't know if I ever saw this (outside of YT clips), but we are really showing our ages here in this thread.
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GeorgeC
Posts: 795 |
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The Warner Archive releases are VERY bare-bones meaning you'll get little more than the trailer as an extra but at least most of these discs would have a menu on the Blu ray edition! The Blu ray's are also remastered for hi-def and NOT upscales. They'd probably be from the same master tapes used to create the streaming HD and HD TV broadcasts of these films (and TV series), too. The Blu ray IS pressed (manufacturered like store-bought Blu ray's of more popular movies and TV series) so at least the media the movie is on is more stable than the DVD-R's the standard definition (DVD-media type) the majority of the releases use. It's all about WB saving money and releasing less popular, less known films and TV shows on home media without having to send them to stores -- and the print runs on these releases are also smaller than for store-bought DVDs and Blu rays. WB is not the only studio doing this. Sony also has "archive releases" that are web-only (a few are anime releases like Metropolis and Tokyo Godfathers) and there be at least one other studio that does web-only but I'm not aware of any other home video company other than Disney that does web-only for its Disney Home Video Club which which pressed DVD and pressed Blu ray releases. |
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mangamuscle
Posts: 2658 Location: Mexico |
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This makes it sound like if the warner archive will include in their dvd-r all dubs available in their releases, which it is simply not true. Warner do release other dubs in their normal dvd releases (at least half of the time), but dvd-r are bargain bin releases. Hopefully down the line we will get a blu-ray release with more extras, even if it is only SD quality. |
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LuckySeven
![]() Posts: 585 Location: Georgia, USA |
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I remember watching this show as a kid but not knowing why it got canceled. If I remember correctly, I used to think it was the time slot it was in. I believe it was on at the same time as SatAM juggernauts The Smurfs (NBC) and Muppet Babies (CBS). I know I'd certainly lose that argument of what to watch when I'd often spend the weekend with my cousin and his annoying little sister (who was very similar to the one on Everybody Hates Chris). I had kinda heard about them getting sued off the air over GoBots, but never heard much. I loved it back then, but I do wonder if I'd still enjoy it now. All in all, a revival/reboot of it is still on my "probably never gonna happen" wish list along with a live-action Gunsmith Cats.
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Wrangler
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Thank god some of these shows made it into American Television in the 1980s.
Mighty Orbots and The Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers were my savior of mediocre animation on Saturday and weekdays cartoons which are now history. Star Blazers & Robotech (as much i hate the latter company who adapted for US TV, even to this DAY) truly was my go-to and matured me to true anime fan back in the day. Too bad Mighty Orbots was rip on God Mars, i actually knew it was. My mother was a spend-holic, and she regularly got me unique gifts from Japanese Importer Toy Store, she unknowly bought the original big God Mars toy itself,. As soon I saw Orbits, i knew it was borrowing from the original show. I've not seen Godmars, but i doubt it be as adaptable for younger audience the American Television producers were fixing to hook into. I'm Galaxy Rangers made it into DVD, it hasn't age too well though, but i'm glad i got it. |
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Beatdigga
![]() Posts: 4488 Location: New York |
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Considering the level of mass censorship Dungeons and Dragons (a contemporary of Orbots) faced where the main hero couldn’t wield a sword, God Mars would NEVER fly.
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Chrno2
![]() Posts: 6171 Location: USA |
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I'm kind of getting to this late. But I remember when Obots aired. I watched every Sat. i was in my last half of JHS or in HS. And while there was much love for the show and a whole lot of love for Rob. Because they were waiting him to finally have the guts to drop his mojo onto Dia. Because she just didn't respect the guy. It was that whole 'Lois Lane' deal. She didn't know the truth. But they hated Ohno. If you thought Jason Todd who would come years later was the center of hate then you don't know how much fans hated what many would later deem as the "annoying" side kick. But as much as viewers wanted her to bite the big one she WAS the driving force behind how the whole robot worked. Rob created all of the robots to have certain qualities and attributes. She was no side kick annoying as her voice was. Rob was the pilot and genius. Ohno was the focal operating system of the entire Orbots armada. If she was removed the robots couldn't combine. In fact there is an episode that is pretty much doesn't exactly explain it, but it leaves it up toe the viewer to figure it out. If you're smart and observant you'll catch it. So yep, viewers had to sit through her constant annoying pidgeon maternal nagging. But all in all the show was loved.
I do remember some ads for the toys shown on Saturdays. But it was first and the last time you ever saw them. Orbots while it's not the first Japanese/US collaboration it was something new to come about after a long time. At 13 episodes you'd think it was longer if you hadn't watched it from start to finish. Which I hadn't. Fans wanted more. It definitely had the potential for more. Sadly that wasn't the case. Battle of the Planets ended. Starblazers started and ended. There were a fews shows here and there, but not much more. It would be years up until 'Robotech' came on the scene. And that was a door soon opened and more shows involving TMS would appear. We later got Galaxy Rangers at 65 episodes. A show that all the (seniors I knew) people in my HS watched. But then that was taken off the air because somehow the ratings dropped because the networks love moving shows around. So if you didn't watch it when it was airing and recording it then, there was no way to catch every episode in order. Then came Gobots, Transformers, GI Joe, Visionaries and later Bionic Six. By this time everyone I knew who was into anime or discovering it knew TMS' house style. By the time the early 90's came in and we were getting shows like Tiny Toons and Batman the Animated series, while not everyone would know when TMS was on the scene those that DID know from consciously checking the credits did. You knew what to look for. No matter what they were involved in if the animation was clean and slick you knew it was TMS. Later they would go on to animate other shows. Peter Pan and the Pirates had several animation studios doing work for them. And of course the better episodes were done by TMS. Then in the mid to late 90's we would get Cyber Six which (is now available) was also animated by TMS. TMS is a powerhouse and has been involved with new projects for decades now. Their resume for Western animation is impressive. 'Duck Tales', 'The Littles', 'The Real Ghostbusters' and the list goes on. For years I only looked at TMS as the overseas animation studio that did work for Western companies. It would be years later that I could look at them as a Japanese animation studio that also did work for the homeland. So when I see their name on Japanese animated shows it’s an odd feeling. But it's also acquired knowledge throughout the years. If that makes any sense. For years now I’ve been keeping an eye out for the 'Orbots' on DVD because it is a classic now. Sadly it never seem to show. I recall hitting the old comic haunts that are now long gone and I remember seeing that one VHS copy behind the display glass of the Mighty Orbots. This was (I think) the only time it was released to video. But these were the supposed failed attempts as they would only release one or two episode per tape. Then never the rest and then drop the whole release like a hot potato. As of this article (finally reading over the weekend) and I’m on Amazon right now and I’m actually shocked to finally see ‘Mighty Orbots’ on DVD FINALLY!!! THAT COVER IS ATTROCIOUS!!!But it’s a shame that no one was able to get the license to this and doctor it up better. I’m familiar with Warner’s Archive series. They need to do a better job with it. But they won’t. This is Warner we’re talking about. Hell, if they can’t release proper versions of their own animated shows why should I expect them to treat something like this with care. But the important thing is that it’s finally out. I guess that’s all that matters. This was a great article. What I would also like to see Mike cover is some background behind how Machine Robo help create the Go Bots franchise. I’d heard some stories on it from old timers from the anime scene. Also it would be interesting to hear how the Transformers was pitched, how the Japanese studios were involved, to the creation of the movie and later the Headmasters series up to Masterforce being produced soley in Japan. And history behind Robotech and Voltron the shows that took different ideas and came up with something everyone loved and still loves until this day. Now I gotta add this to my list of things to by for myself and for our collection. By next semester we'll have a new display. Maybe we should do one for TMS. Or Dezaki. While I'm familiar with the name now (that's what happens when you work for an art college library) who would've thought I'd be hearing his name on 'Might Orbots'? Now that would make for an interesting display. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
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StudioToledo
![]() Posts: 847 Location: Toledo, U.S.A. |
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Being a toyline, it figures as such.
Odd really, I don't suppose you remember anything else on ABC that year?
It's weird sometimes. Mighty Orbots did receive a home video release (one episode per tape, via MGM/UA Home Video) but that was about it. Apparently it ended up in Ted Turner's hands when he purchased MGM's catalog up to '84 and passed hands to Warner's along the way. I do wonder if that means Warner Archive is also sitting on two of Marvel Productions' earliest shows produced, Pandamonium and Meatballs & Spaghetti?
In some way, it's a shame TMS didn't try to buy back the remaining rights to the program if it gave them something to license off to someone else later down the line like they had with Galaxy High (or stick them up on YouTube like they did with GH anyway, you can even watch Little Nemo too). And now that Batman: TAS was mentioned in the article, THAT series (1992-1995, 1997-1999) IS finally getting a Blu ray release later this year... They haven't announced how it's being sold -- as one set or broken up into volumes like the DVD Boxed Sets were. TMS animated some episodes (the better-looking episodes) of that series, possibly sequences of Batman: Mask of the Phantasm and virtually all of Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker. I don't know that TMS has done work on more recent DC animated series. Judging by what happened with Season 1 of Justice League, I sort of have my doubts they've worked on much lately for WB. Then again, a lot of the shows on Cartoon Network (American-produced) are looking very rough, like they were contracted to the cheapest animation sweat shops which is probably the case...[/quote] Did we even talk about Cybersix here yet? That's another must-see from TMS!
I sometimes wonder if it's that expensive to stamp out discs at one go? Seems like DVD-R made it easy to not do so many batches at once if they could help it.
You would think, that artwork was also used on one of the VHS tapes as well.
There's that (of course Netflix withholds those numbers from the public).
I knew both. The ALF cartoon (technically there were two separate cartoons shows) had some clever writing involved. I'm not sure though if TMS was involved in it, though by that point in time DIC bothered to not credit their overseas staff much by that point (I once found a layout sketch that had "Dragon Production" written on it for an episode of the ALFtales spin-off). The show was apparently infamous for it's first episode leading to a TV Guide article about it having planted a subliminal message when it's clearly the Japanese studio f--king around with the series. http://www.beyondweird.com/conspiracy/cn08-88.html
At least you had chicken pox. Today's generation is nearly free of that.
I would say I was either playing outside or watching something else and didn't notice Mighty Orbots the first time around myself (I was 7 when this hit).
Not me, I'm concerned about the writing going in a direction I don't want it to (we already got burned by the Powerpuff Girls reboot).
At a time when the stylings of Hoyt Curtain, Dean Elliot and Haim Saban had reached it's apex!
Actually 13, don't forget that was a standard number of episodes for most shows on Saturday morning back then, though they used to had odd numbers in the past as sometimes they were greenlit for another season but end up only doing 6 or 7 new episodes anyway (reminded Warner Archives released "The Dukes" that has that many episodes).
I'm sure it stood out the same way people had noticed the look of "Battle of the Planets" before. There was always something that separated what a typical American cartoon was doing versus the efforts of the Japanese side of things. But yeah, the writing was never going to be A+ when you're dealing with veteran people and a lot of young'uns trying to break into an industry teetering on the brink of collapse during the early 80's. Don't forget we had a strike in the animation community in '82 that resulted in more jobs being sent overseas. http://hanna-barbera.wikia.com/wiki/1982_Animators_Strike http://animationguildblog.blogspot.com/2006/03/financial-core-and-82-strike.html Needless to say, it was not a good time to want to work in animation.
Oh, Kennedy Cartoons was certainly the worst, but I also blamed Wang Film for thinking they were animating Bakshi's Mighty Mouse again the way their episodes took on this thick pencil line look. It was so easy to spot these changes. I wondered if our parents did the same to those crappy Popeye cartoons of the 60's that were farmed out to half a dozen studios worldwide?
I remember ALFtales vividly! I have cels from the "Rapunzel" episode in my collection, it was my favorite because they caricatured the king to resemble Ronald Reagan. The show had the best writing for it's time, but I suppose it's one of those you wouldn't get unless you were older (an episode that spoofed The Shoemaker & The Elves had a villain from the first cartoon portrayed like Donald Trump).
I'm sure it is a shame to miss that, but I don't mind buying to own than streaming.
It's an interesting thought of what it could've been. Some foreign countries like Italy had it WAY BETTER. Having aired Godmars probably around the same time Mighty Orbots was seeing faint airings over here.
There has been a Japanese release of Mighty Orbots during the 80's as well. If you type in the katakana of the title, you will pull up a few VHS and VHD covers for the series (it appears JVC/Victor released it over there).
Reminded that same actor also voiced "Rob" in The Adventures of The American Rabbit, but please don't check that one out, it's pretty forgettable.
I don't mind this at all! I'm sure people can guess my age perfectly!
Certainly juggernauts for both networks that dominated the time they had well, though Muppet Babies had just started that year while Smurfs was on its 4th Season during the 1984-85 season. According to Wikipedia (since I don't feel like going anywhere else right now), Mighty Orbots was aired at 9AM EST alongside both cartoons at the same time, so you were correct. This was too competitive to run up against both those cartoons.
It can be a love/hate thing. That's how I look back at 80's cartoons now. I can't really expect to re-watch something as banal as Rubik, the Amazing Cube the same way I did when I was 6!
Oh yeah, keep dreaming!
We ought to be thankful for something.
It was a 'You kinda had to watch it' sort of thing with Robotech. You could at least say it tried to elevate what a cartoon (aimed at kids) could do.
Sounds like you had it better than me, the worst I had was a pair of Robotech PJ's I wore to bed when I was 8, and I never even seen a single episode as I don't think it was picked up locally!
There was a mention of Visionaries in the article, I had those toys! I suppose it was simply the gimmick of having those holographic panels on their bodies is what made me interested in them, yet I barely saw the cartoon. I don't think they played locally either but I'm not sure, syndication was always a crapshoot whether a station picked up the program or not.
Network BS&P was what made ABC's Reboot what it was (not the version on Netflix mind you, we shall never speak of it again)!
Oh, it's never too late!
And not enough people who might have caught those commercials at all. Don't forget they couldn't advertise those figures during the show (FCC rules and all).
These were the dark ages for anyone wanting something better in their animated fare.
I remember these days well, not old enough to have probably found out there was a community out there that were taping these things or trading tapes around like at SciFi Cons where anime fandom got it's start in, but they were out there. It didn't help when stations weren't confident enough to put a show on at an appropriate time and often stuck it in at an early morning time slot like right at sign-on or after the "US Farm Report".
Even when the best most studios gave them was "Produced in Association with TMS Entertainment" or some limited credit. By that point, crediting overseas help simply wasn't common outside studio names and maybe a supervisor or two.
I'm sure we all did. A show like Lupin III simply didn't resonate with us back then as it does now.
It's true, even when the look of the show can be very different from the stuff we've seen produced for us. It's an interesting contrast between something like "The Blinkins" to "Space Adventure Cobra" and it's night and day!
I'm only glad they mentioned Osamu Dezaki and Akio Sugino in the linear notes. At least they did that. |
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Chrno2
![]() Posts: 6171 Location: USA |
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Hey, it's my buddy Studio Toledo. Good to see you on this. Thanks for replying.
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Well, I just put the info on our list to be purchased in June. Which will be the end of the fiscal period for purchasing items. Then we pick up in July for the new fiscal period which will end in June 2019. But I passed the info around to people at my job, and believe it or not not many people know of the show or even heard of it. Which goes to show you just how easily this show was missed. Some are my age but I don't expect those younger to know because 1) they had other interests or 2) might have not aired in their hometown. But one fellow who was familiar with the older 'Voltron' series, while he never heard of it now wants to check it out. And by tossing out the name 'Osamu Dezaki' which he is familiar with (the name mainly) now wants to check it out. Since he's introducing the older TMNT series to his sons, I told him that they probably might enjoy 'Mighty Orbots' for it's silly campiness. So I'm sending him some clips. And they're finally releasing 'Voltron Legendary Defender' on DVD in June. Oh, now I remember what I forgot to mention yesterday. Mike should talk about how we got that Hannah Barbera/ Japanese collab on a 'Ultraman' cartoon that aired back in 87 (thought it was earlier but it wasn't) on Columbus day. I CHECKED THE CALENDAR AND i WAS RIGHT!! You got one part Hannah Barbera and one part anime for all the action. I knew I there was one more thing I forgot. |
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Snomaster1
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Before I say anything about this,I want to let people know that this wasn't the first time I saw old Mike talk about "Mighty Orbots." I first heard about this show on his old site called "Anime Jump!" And,to be honest,I hope that he gets it up and running again one of these days. It's a great website and I hope everyone at least visits it every once in a while. I also hope he puts up some new material there. I'd love to see that happen.
![]() If you want to look at it in another way,shows like "Inspector Gadget,""Mighty Orbots,""Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers,""The Littles,"and others like them not only showed off the talents of Japanese animators,but also helped gain acceptance for anime outside of Japan. Yeah,sure stuff like "Robotech" and "Voltron" also played a role,but you can't deny that these shows helped do that too. Cartoons like this helped make easier for stuff like "Naruto" and others like them to earn acceptance here and elsewhere. For example,"Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers" had similar things to a lot of sci-fi anime of that era. Shows like it and the visual effects they displayed would also be featured in anime of that time period. If you compared them,some of the special effects that would show up in those cartoons also appeared in a lot of older anime. Do you get what I'm saying? These 80's and 90's cartoons were a big help in giving anime the acceptance that it has now and they shouldn't be overlooked or panned. I believe that they played a big role in doing that and I hope that this gets some acknowledgement. |
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Kenshiroh
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TMS did a Star Wars pilot, too. Marc Scott Zicree has seen it and may have a VHS of it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqaFppb3y-U |
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