Voltron the 3rd Dimension continues the adventures of our heroes,the Voltron Force and the mighty robot Voltron...this time in CGI. Keith is still leader;Lance is still the reckless hothead;Allura is still the princess of Arus;Hunk is still the strongman,though he's less tough here;and Pidge is now the teams technology expert.
The main story goes like this: 5 years after The Fleet of Doom Movie,Lothor(in his doom ship)battles the Voltron in space. At the end of the battle,Lothor's ship crashes down to Planet Doom..Lothor doesn't escape and becaus of this he's nearly dead.Lothor gets arrested soon after.
To keep Lothor alive,the prison guys turn him into a Cyborg. However weeks later he escapes with the help of Haggar. Once reunited the 2 continue their war on the Galaxy. Of course,the Voltron Force are called back into action to stop them.
All characters from the original series are back,exept for a chosen few. these are: Queen Merla,Commander Cossack,Nanny,Sven,Prince Bandor,and Princess Romelle.
Commander Cossack's absence is extremely easy to explain he either A] died in the Doom Ship crash or B] Was fired and we never saw it. So what happened to Nanny,Bandor,Sven,Merla,and Romelle? Like with Cossack,the fates of these guys were never explained. In fact,these characters were never mentioned by Any of the characters.
Anyway,I have some theories about the disappearence of these characters.
Nanny Finally realised that Allura could take care of herself and decided to retire. My guess is that she left the Castle and is living somewere in a village on Arus.
Sven and Rommele probally got married and are very busy running planet Pollox as well as their family. They're so busy that they have very little time to visit or call the Voltron Force. They probally did a few times,but we never saw it and the Voltron Force never mentioned it.
Queen Merla most likely went back to her home world and decided to throttle back on being evil. As for Bandor,Well I think that he's still the head of Pollox's army and is very busy defending Pollox from it's enemies. And speaking of Planet Pollox,like these characters,it isn't even seen or mentioned in this series.
The Doomite soldiers are missing too,but they were probally all destroyed in the Ship Crash and the ones at Castle Doom were destroyed by the Voltron Force. But we never saw it.
Anyway,Taking Cossack's place as Commander is a Robot named Igor. Igor isn't very strong,but he takes orders very well. And speaking of Robots,Galaxy Garrison has a new leader named,Amalgamus. Amalgamus is very stern and upright. He sometimes gets into squabbles with the Voltron Force..especially Keith and Lance.
Along with Haggar,Lothor has 2 space pirate's on his side,Queequeg and Lafitte. These 2 are baffoonish losers that rarely do Anything right. Oh yeah and King Zarkon's a Good Guy...at least,for a while.
The First thing you'll notice is that the models used,don't look very much like the characters of Voltron. In fact,the models used for the characters seem to make them look older. Most of the models used aren't all that great.
Another thing you'll notice about the show is that the V-Forces suits are very different and they match the Lions that they pilot. While in the Anime this wasn't the case. Another thing you'll notice is that only Alura has an alternate costume. The others only have one,their V-Force suits.
It's also woth noting that the show is low budget and fans didn't seem to enjoy this show as much as the Anime. But despite all this,Voltron 3D is a decent show and if you liked Voltron Season 2,you'll love this series.
That's gonna do it for now. See ya next time on Cartoon Quickie!
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Sunday, May 9, 2010
The Cartoon Historian Lesson 17: The Real Ghostbusters
Welcome to the Cartoon Historian. As you remember,I did a lesson about Filmations Ghostbusters aka the Other Ghostbusters. Well,Today I'm gonna be talking about the more popular Ghostbusters series.
It's The Real Ghostbusters on the Cartoon Historian.
As you know,The Real Ghostbusters is an animated series based on the 1984 film. The series ran from 1986 to 1991, and was produced by Columbia Pictures Television and DiC Entertainment.
"The Real" was added to the title after a dispute with Filmation and its Ghost Busters properties. See my 'Filmation Ghostbusters' episode for more details.
The series continues the adventures of paranormal investigators Dr. Peter Venkman, Dr. Egon Spengler, Winston Zeddemore, Dr. Ray Stantz,their secretary Janine Melnitz and,of course,Slimer. The Ghostbusters job is to hunt down and capture rogue spirits around New York and various other areas of the world.
A short pilot episode was produced, but never aired in full. The full four minute promo was released on Time Life's DVD set in 2008. Scenes of the pilot can be seen in TV promos that aired prior to the beginning of the series.
In the promo pilot,the Ghostbusters wore the beige jumpsuits that they wore in the film instead of the different color jumpsuits they'd wear in the finished series. Also,the character design for Peter Venkman bore more of a resemblance to actor Bill Murray than the character design seen in the finished series.
When he auditioned for the voice of Egon Spengler, Maurice LaMarche, noted that while he was asked not to impersonate Harold Ramis, he did so anyway and eventually got the part.
LaMarche also noted that Bill Murray complained that Lorenzo Music's voice of Peter Venkman sounded more like Garfield (who was also voiced by Lorenzo Music at the time). Ironically,Bill would provide the voice for Garfield in the 2006 Live-Action movie.
Ernie Hudson was the only actor from the films who auditioned to play his character in the series. However,the role was given to Arsenio Hall instead. Yes,it's That Arsenio Hall.
Anyway,the character designs by Jim McDermott were dramatically redesigned from the way the same characters looked in the movie.
It's also worth noting that at the same time The Real Ghostbusters was being created, Filmation was making their Ghostbusters Cartoon.
Although the Cartoon series differed from the movie,many tie-ins from the films can be seen. The Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man made numerous appearances including in the intro. During the third season, Walter Peck, the Environmental Protection Agency antagonist from the original film,also reappeared.
The uniforms and containment unit were redesigned, and Slimer was changed from a bad ghost to the ghostbusters goofy sidekick. How Slimer made the change was explained in the episode "Citizen Ghost",as The episode explains what happened to the Ghostbusters right after the 1st movie's events.
Gozer is also mentioned repeatedly throughout the series, usually in comparison to a ghost they are currently battling.
In the second season, some of the character designs were modified. Ray was slimmed down and Slimer was given a tail instead of the formerly rounded bottom.
The biggest change,however,was to Janine, whose hair was completely changed from being short and spiky to long and straight. Her overall design was softened,as was her personality. Her voice was also softened with Kath Soucie taking over the voice role from Laura Summer.
At the start of the series' third season in 1988,the series was retitled to "Slimer! and the Real Ghostbusters". The opening was completely redone to center around Slimer.
Eventually the episodes were expanded from their original half-hour format to last an hour. The show's feel was also changed to be more light-hearted.
When Ghostbusters II was released,the character of Louis Tully was introduced to the show, with his voice provided by Rodger Bumpass. Later episodes referenced events from the film.
With the departure of writer J. Michael Straczynski, more changes were made. Dave Coulier(aka Joey Gladstone of Full House) took over the role of voicing Peter from Lorenzo Music and Buster Jones replaced Arsenio Hall as the voice of Winston.
In 1990,Straczynski returned to the series to write a few of the episodes in the final season. The only voice actors to remain for the entire series were Frank Welker and Maurice LaMarche. The show was canceled in 1991.
The show originally aired on ABC for its full run, except for the third season which ran on syndication at the same time as the second season ran on ABC. Later, reruns of the show appeared on the USA Network's USA Cartoon Express as well as Fox Kids. Fox(abc)Family also reran the series.
In 2004 and again in 2006 Sony released bare bones episode compilations. The DVD release of Ghostbusters II also included two episodes of the series as bonus features, "Citizen Ghost", a story focusing on events set immediately after the first movie, and "Partners in Slime", which featured the psycho-active slime from Ghostbusters II and a brief mention of its villain Vigo the Carpathian.
On May 27, 2008, Time-Life announced they would be responsible for the complete series' release on DVD in the Fall of that year. The DVD set was released on November 15, 2008. The set spans 25 discs containing all 147 episodes of the series.
The show had 2 Spin-offs: Slimer and Extreme Ghostbusters. I'll start with Slimer first.
As you know,the third season in 1988 was given an hour long time slot. In addition to the regular thirty-minute Real Ghostbusters episode, a half-hour Slimer sub-series was added that included 2-3 short animated segments focusing on the character Slimer.
The segments added several characters,including the character Professor Norman Dweeb,a mad scientist accompanied by a poodle named Elizabeth. This dude's main goal was to capture Slimer and experiment on him.
Professor Dweeb also made infrequent appearances in the main series. One of the ghosts from the Slimer cartoons, the Sleaze, also reappeared in The Real Ghostbusters.
In 1997, a sequel cartoon entitled Extreme Ghostbusters, was created by Columbia TriStar Television and Adelaide Productions. It premiered on September 1, 1997 and ran for forty episodes until its conclusion on December of that same year.
Set several years after the end of The Real Ghostbusters, the series opened by saying the team has disbanded due to a lack of supernatural activity. Out of the original cast,only Egon,Janine,and Slimer remained. Egon takes care of the containment system in the firehouse and teaches classes at a local university. Slimer serves as Egon's assistant. And Janine,who is one of Egon's students,returns to manage the office.
When supernatural events begin occurring in New York, Egon recruits four of his university students as a new team of Ghostbusters. The original Ghostbusters return for the two part series finale to celebrate Egon's 40th birthday.
We will never forget how great this show was. And even though the franchise itself is very weak and pathetic,it's fanbase is very healthy,as there are a shitload of fansites and Clubs dedicated to the Real Ghostbusters.
That's gonna do it for now,see ya next time on the Cartoon Historian.
*The Real Ghostbusters Theme Plays*
It's The Real Ghostbusters on the Cartoon Historian.
As you know,The Real Ghostbusters is an animated series based on the 1984 film. The series ran from 1986 to 1991, and was produced by Columbia Pictures Television and DiC Entertainment.
"The Real" was added to the title after a dispute with Filmation and its Ghost Busters properties. See my 'Filmation Ghostbusters' episode for more details.
The series continues the adventures of paranormal investigators Dr. Peter Venkman, Dr. Egon Spengler, Winston Zeddemore, Dr. Ray Stantz,their secretary Janine Melnitz and,of course,Slimer. The Ghostbusters job is to hunt down and capture rogue spirits around New York and various other areas of the world.
A short pilot episode was produced, but never aired in full. The full four minute promo was released on Time Life's DVD set in 2008. Scenes of the pilot can be seen in TV promos that aired prior to the beginning of the series.
In the promo pilot,the Ghostbusters wore the beige jumpsuits that they wore in the film instead of the different color jumpsuits they'd wear in the finished series. Also,the character design for Peter Venkman bore more of a resemblance to actor Bill Murray than the character design seen in the finished series.
When he auditioned for the voice of Egon Spengler, Maurice LaMarche, noted that while he was asked not to impersonate Harold Ramis, he did so anyway and eventually got the part.
LaMarche also noted that Bill Murray complained that Lorenzo Music's voice of Peter Venkman sounded more like Garfield (who was also voiced by Lorenzo Music at the time). Ironically,Bill would provide the voice for Garfield in the 2006 Live-Action movie.
Ernie Hudson was the only actor from the films who auditioned to play his character in the series. However,the role was given to Arsenio Hall instead. Yes,it's That Arsenio Hall.
Anyway,the character designs by Jim McDermott were dramatically redesigned from the way the same characters looked in the movie.
It's also worth noting that at the same time The Real Ghostbusters was being created, Filmation was making their Ghostbusters Cartoon.
Although the Cartoon series differed from the movie,many tie-ins from the films can be seen. The Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man made numerous appearances including in the intro. During the third season, Walter Peck, the Environmental Protection Agency antagonist from the original film,also reappeared.
The uniforms and containment unit were redesigned, and Slimer was changed from a bad ghost to the ghostbusters goofy sidekick. How Slimer made the change was explained in the episode "Citizen Ghost",as The episode explains what happened to the Ghostbusters right after the 1st movie's events.
Gozer is also mentioned repeatedly throughout the series, usually in comparison to a ghost they are currently battling.
In the second season, some of the character designs were modified. Ray was slimmed down and Slimer was given a tail instead of the formerly rounded bottom.
The biggest change,however,was to Janine, whose hair was completely changed from being short and spiky to long and straight. Her overall design was softened,as was her personality. Her voice was also softened with Kath Soucie taking over the voice role from Laura Summer.
At the start of the series' third season in 1988,the series was retitled to "Slimer! and the Real Ghostbusters". The opening was completely redone to center around Slimer.
Eventually the episodes were expanded from their original half-hour format to last an hour. The show's feel was also changed to be more light-hearted.
When Ghostbusters II was released,the character of Louis Tully was introduced to the show, with his voice provided by Rodger Bumpass. Later episodes referenced events from the film.
With the departure of writer J. Michael Straczynski, more changes were made. Dave Coulier(aka Joey Gladstone of Full House) took over the role of voicing Peter from Lorenzo Music and Buster Jones replaced Arsenio Hall as the voice of Winston.
In 1990,Straczynski returned to the series to write a few of the episodes in the final season. The only voice actors to remain for the entire series were Frank Welker and Maurice LaMarche. The show was canceled in 1991.
The show originally aired on ABC for its full run, except for the third season which ran on syndication at the same time as the second season ran on ABC. Later, reruns of the show appeared on the USA Network's USA Cartoon Express as well as Fox Kids. Fox(abc)Family also reran the series.
In 2004 and again in 2006 Sony released bare bones episode compilations. The DVD release of Ghostbusters II also included two episodes of the series as bonus features, "Citizen Ghost", a story focusing on events set immediately after the first movie, and "Partners in Slime", which featured the psycho-active slime from Ghostbusters II and a brief mention of its villain Vigo the Carpathian.
On May 27, 2008, Time-Life announced they would be responsible for the complete series' release on DVD in the Fall of that year. The DVD set was released on November 15, 2008. The set spans 25 discs containing all 147 episodes of the series.
The show had 2 Spin-offs: Slimer and Extreme Ghostbusters. I'll start with Slimer first.
As you know,the third season in 1988 was given an hour long time slot. In addition to the regular thirty-minute Real Ghostbusters episode, a half-hour Slimer sub-series was added that included 2-3 short animated segments focusing on the character Slimer.
The segments added several characters,including the character Professor Norman Dweeb,a mad scientist accompanied by a poodle named Elizabeth. This dude's main goal was to capture Slimer and experiment on him.
Professor Dweeb also made infrequent appearances in the main series. One of the ghosts from the Slimer cartoons, the Sleaze, also reappeared in The Real Ghostbusters.
In 1997, a sequel cartoon entitled Extreme Ghostbusters, was created by Columbia TriStar Television and Adelaide Productions. It premiered on September 1, 1997 and ran for forty episodes until its conclusion on December of that same year.
Set several years after the end of The Real Ghostbusters, the series opened by saying the team has disbanded due to a lack of supernatural activity. Out of the original cast,only Egon,Janine,and Slimer remained. Egon takes care of the containment system in the firehouse and teaches classes at a local university. Slimer serves as Egon's assistant. And Janine,who is one of Egon's students,returns to manage the office.
When supernatural events begin occurring in New York, Egon recruits four of his university students as a new team of Ghostbusters. The original Ghostbusters return for the two part series finale to celebrate Egon's 40th birthday.
We will never forget how great this show was. And even though the franchise itself is very weak and pathetic,it's fanbase is very healthy,as there are a shitload of fansites and Clubs dedicated to the Real Ghostbusters.
That's gonna do it for now,see ya next time on the Cartoon Historian.
*The Real Ghostbusters Theme Plays*
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
The Cartoon Historian Lesson 16-B: Transformers Pt. 2
Welcome to part 2 of Transformers.
1986 would prove to be a big year for Transformers, with the summer release of The Transformers Movie. Although a box-office flop, the movie was a turning point for the animated series,jumping the action forward to the year 2005 and introducing a new cast of characters that were the first to be originally created for Transformers,and not derived from other toylines.
Free of the restrictions of television,the movie featured the deaths of many characters including Opitmus Prime. This didn't sit well with fans,but was needed to make room for the next generation of toys.
The future setting of the movie continued on into the third season of the series, which debuted in September 1986 and ran to November of that year, picking up right where the movie's events had left off.
With the addition of Flint Dille as story editor, the series took on a strong sci-fi orientation, with grimmer storylines and stronger inter-episode continuity that revisited concepts more regularly than past seasons.
With a new season,came new new characters,both Cybertronian and Human. Again,they weren't as popular as the older characters.
A slightly different version of the theme song was the new intro for the season, first heard in the Transformers commercials. Fifty percent of the season's episodes were produced by Korean animation studio AKOM. The studio would later work on Batman: The Animated Series, although after producing poor-quality work they were eventually let go.
The grim direction, different animation and new cast of characters ultimately failed to sit well with the viewing audience, who desired to see Optimus Prime return to life after his big-screen demise. Unicron,the planet-sized villain from the movie,also returned.
The production team ultimately gave in to these demands, and Prime was brought back in a two-part episode that aired in February 1987.
Finally, Hasbro's attention from the series drifted, and Transformers was not allocated the funds that would allow it to continue. The series was brought to a close in November 1987 with the airing of the fourth season,which consisted solely of a three-part story entitled "The Rebirth."
The 3-part mini-series was by written by writer David Wise,who had previously scripted several episodes. "The Rebirth" introduced the Headmasters and the Targetmasters and restored a new age of peace and prosperity to Cybertron.
But the Decepticons stole the final scene of the episode, just to let viewers know that their evil was not yet crushed, and that the battles would go on.
The theme song was still the same as the one from season three, but the intro had scenes from season three as well as scenes from past Transformers commercials.
Although this was the end of the American show,in Japan, four additional animated series were produced. These were: Transformers:Headmasters, Transformers: Super-God Masterforce,Transformers: Victory and Transformers: Zone.
In 2007,Transformers Animated debute. This was the first American made Transformers show in years. Beast Wars,made in 1996,was Canadian/American.
The Transformers didn't quite disappear from American airwaves though,as a fifth season aired in 1988, serving as "best of" collection of the series. It re-aired 15 episodes from the original series, along with The Transformers: The Movie edited into a further 4 episodes.
To help promote the then-new Powermaster Optimus Prime figure, the first new Optimus Prime figure since 1984, Sunbow produced new material featuring a stop-motion version of Powermaster Optimus Prime interacting with a boy named Tommy Kennedy.
Each episode would be told as a story to Tommy by Optimus Prime, and together they would essentially introduce and close each episode.
From 1993-1995, the original Transformers series was rebroadcast under the Generation 2 label. The Generation 2 series featured a new computer-generated main title sequence, computer-generated scene transitions, and other small changes.
The original stories were presented as though they were recordings of historical events by the Cybernet Space Cube (sometimes referred to as the Cybercube). The cube had the various scenes on its faces, which it spun between transitions,replacing the classic spinning Autobot/Decepticon logo.
It's also woth noting that a large percentage of the characters featured in the show were not featured in the toyline, and vice versa.
Anyway,The cartoon was produced along side a comic book series produced by Marvel between 1984 and 1991.It's referred to now as "Generation One" (or more simply "G1"). The comics tell a different version of the story. Both versions were equally authorized by Hasbro.
The name "The Ark," referring to the Autobots' ship, was not used in the original cartoon. In the cartoon series the ship's computer was called Teletraan I; in the comics, it was called "Auntie," though this name was not often used.
Five proposed public service announcements (PSAs) were created for the second season of the series, but never actually aired on television (they appear as bonus features on the DVD's though).
These PSAs were based on the ones used by the G.I. Joe animated series. They even reused the catchphrase "...and knowing is half the battle," which was popularized by the G.I. Joe PSAs.
And Now it's time to talk controversies.
The character Optimus Prime was killed off during Transformers: The Movie, sparking outrage from parents who felt the character's death adversely affected their children.
The writers had already planned to bring Optimus partially back to life for one episode, "Dark Awakening", before killing him off again. As a result of the public outcry,however,they brought him back for good in the episode "The Return of Optimus Prime".
It is worth noting that in Japan, despite the same revival occurring, Optimus (known there as "Convoy") was killed yet again in the 1987 Japanese-exclusive Transformers: The Headmasters series. He was ressurected four years later in the magazine-exclusive "Transformers Battlestars: Return of Convoy" story,in which he was reborn as Star Convoy.
In the episode "Thief In The Night," the character Abdul Fakkadi was introduced as the "Supreme Military Dictator, King of Kings, and President for Life of the Socialist Democratic Federated Republic of Carbombya."
This was an obvious play on tensions between the United States and Libya. Fakkadi's name is a play off of Moammar Kadaffi,The Libyan President.
Casey Kasem,who voiced Cliffjumper and the the Autobots' computer Teletraan I objected to the parody,and quit the show when it was not removed from the episode. Kasem himself is of Lebanese descent.
Cliffjumper, despite having survived the movie, was phased out as of that episode, and Teletraan I was destroyed with the Ark in the episode "Five Faces of Darkness (Part 5)."
Well that was an informative ride wasn't it? Transformers was an awesome show,with an even more awesome toyline.
That's gonna do it for now,see ya next time on the Cartoon Historian.
*The Transformers Theme Plays*
1986 would prove to be a big year for Transformers, with the summer release of The Transformers Movie. Although a box-office flop, the movie was a turning point for the animated series,jumping the action forward to the year 2005 and introducing a new cast of characters that were the first to be originally created for Transformers,and not derived from other toylines.
Free of the restrictions of television,the movie featured the deaths of many characters including Opitmus Prime. This didn't sit well with fans,but was needed to make room for the next generation of toys.
The future setting of the movie continued on into the third season of the series, which debuted in September 1986 and ran to November of that year, picking up right where the movie's events had left off.
With the addition of Flint Dille as story editor, the series took on a strong sci-fi orientation, with grimmer storylines and stronger inter-episode continuity that revisited concepts more regularly than past seasons.
With a new season,came new new characters,both Cybertronian and Human. Again,they weren't as popular as the older characters.
A slightly different version of the theme song was the new intro for the season, first heard in the Transformers commercials. Fifty percent of the season's episodes were produced by Korean animation studio AKOM. The studio would later work on Batman: The Animated Series, although after producing poor-quality work they were eventually let go.
The grim direction, different animation and new cast of characters ultimately failed to sit well with the viewing audience, who desired to see Optimus Prime return to life after his big-screen demise. Unicron,the planet-sized villain from the movie,also returned.
The production team ultimately gave in to these demands, and Prime was brought back in a two-part episode that aired in February 1987.
Finally, Hasbro's attention from the series drifted, and Transformers was not allocated the funds that would allow it to continue. The series was brought to a close in November 1987 with the airing of the fourth season,which consisted solely of a three-part story entitled "The Rebirth."
The 3-part mini-series was by written by writer David Wise,who had previously scripted several episodes. "The Rebirth" introduced the Headmasters and the Targetmasters and restored a new age of peace and prosperity to Cybertron.
But the Decepticons stole the final scene of the episode, just to let viewers know that their evil was not yet crushed, and that the battles would go on.
The theme song was still the same as the one from season three, but the intro had scenes from season three as well as scenes from past Transformers commercials.
Although this was the end of the American show,in Japan, four additional animated series were produced. These were: Transformers:Headmasters, Transformers: Super-God Masterforce,Transformers: Victory and Transformers: Zone.
In 2007,Transformers Animated debute. This was the first American made Transformers show in years. Beast Wars,made in 1996,was Canadian/American.
The Transformers didn't quite disappear from American airwaves though,as a fifth season aired in 1988, serving as "best of" collection of the series. It re-aired 15 episodes from the original series, along with The Transformers: The Movie edited into a further 4 episodes.
To help promote the then-new Powermaster Optimus Prime figure, the first new Optimus Prime figure since 1984, Sunbow produced new material featuring a stop-motion version of Powermaster Optimus Prime interacting with a boy named Tommy Kennedy.
Each episode would be told as a story to Tommy by Optimus Prime, and together they would essentially introduce and close each episode.
From 1993-1995, the original Transformers series was rebroadcast under the Generation 2 label. The Generation 2 series featured a new computer-generated main title sequence, computer-generated scene transitions, and other small changes.
The original stories were presented as though they were recordings of historical events by the Cybernet Space Cube (sometimes referred to as the Cybercube). The cube had the various scenes on its faces, which it spun between transitions,replacing the classic spinning Autobot/Decepticon logo.
It's also woth noting that a large percentage of the characters featured in the show were not featured in the toyline, and vice versa.
Anyway,The cartoon was produced along side a comic book series produced by Marvel between 1984 and 1991.It's referred to now as "Generation One" (or more simply "G1"). The comics tell a different version of the story. Both versions were equally authorized by Hasbro.
The name "The Ark," referring to the Autobots' ship, was not used in the original cartoon. In the cartoon series the ship's computer was called Teletraan I; in the comics, it was called "Auntie," though this name was not often used.
Five proposed public service announcements (PSAs) were created for the second season of the series, but never actually aired on television (they appear as bonus features on the DVD's though).
These PSAs were based on the ones used by the G.I. Joe animated series. They even reused the catchphrase "...and knowing is half the battle," which was popularized by the G.I. Joe PSAs.
And Now it's time to talk controversies.
The character Optimus Prime was killed off during Transformers: The Movie, sparking outrage from parents who felt the character's death adversely affected their children.
The writers had already planned to bring Optimus partially back to life for one episode, "Dark Awakening", before killing him off again. As a result of the public outcry,however,they brought him back for good in the episode "The Return of Optimus Prime".
It is worth noting that in Japan, despite the same revival occurring, Optimus (known there as "Convoy") was killed yet again in the 1987 Japanese-exclusive Transformers: The Headmasters series. He was ressurected four years later in the magazine-exclusive "Transformers Battlestars: Return of Convoy" story,in which he was reborn as Star Convoy.
In the episode "Thief In The Night," the character Abdul Fakkadi was introduced as the "Supreme Military Dictator, King of Kings, and President for Life of the Socialist Democratic Federated Republic of Carbombya."
This was an obvious play on tensions between the United States and Libya. Fakkadi's name is a play off of Moammar Kadaffi,The Libyan President.
Casey Kasem,who voiced Cliffjumper and the the Autobots' computer Teletraan I objected to the parody,and quit the show when it was not removed from the episode. Kasem himself is of Lebanese descent.
Cliffjumper, despite having survived the movie, was phased out as of that episode, and Teletraan I was destroyed with the Ark in the episode "Five Faces of Darkness (Part 5)."
Well that was an informative ride wasn't it? Transformers was an awesome show,with an even more awesome toyline.
That's gonna do it for now,see ya next time on the Cartoon Historian.
*The Transformers Theme Plays*
Monday, May 3, 2010
The Cartoon Historian Lesson 16-A: Transformers Pt. 1
Welcome to the Cartoon Historian. In this 2-part lesson,we are going to take a look at the 1st Transformers animated series. I originally planned this lesson for a later date,but I got so many requests for this I just had to get this done early.
So anyway,here we go.
The Transformers is an animated television series depicting a war among giant robots from a World called Cybertron,who could transform into vehicles, other objects and animals.
Though Written and recorded in America,the show itself was animated in Japan. This was a very very common practice at the time. Where American Cartoon would be animated in Japan.
Anyway,The entire series was based on a toyline of transforming figures originally created by Japanese toy manufacturer Takara, which were developed into the Transformers line by American company Hasbro.
In Japan, the series was called Fight! Super Robot Life Form Transformer for Seasons 1 and 2, and Fight! Transformers 2010 for Seasons 3 and 4. Following the conclusion of the series in 1987,4 Japanese sequel series were created.
In response to the 1993 relaunch of the toyline and its accompanying comic being called Transformers: Generation 2,The Original series is frequently called Transformers: Generation 1,aka G1. Initially a fan-coined term, it has since made its way into official use.
The Transformers toyline and cartoon/anime series all owed their existence to the Japanese toyline,Microman (an asian descendant of the 12" G.I. Joe action figure series). In 1980, the Microman spin-off,Diaclone,was released, featuring inch-tall humanoid figures able to sit in the drivers' seats of scale model vehicles, which could transform into humanoid robot bodies the drivers piloted.
In 1983,a Microman sub-line, MicroChange was introduced, featuring "actual size" items that transformed into robots,such as microcassettes, guns and toy cars. Diaclone and MicroChange toys were subsequently discovered on show at the 1983 Tokyo Toy Fair by Hasbro toy company product developer Henry Orenstein, who presented the concept to Hasbro's head of R&D,George Dunsay. Enthusiastic about the product, Hasbro decided to release toys from both Diaclone and MicroChange as one toyline for their markets.
Once the FCC did away with regulations that prohibited toy companies from broadcasting cartoons based on their products in 1984, the way was cleared for the new product to get a television show.
Hasbro had previously worked with Marvel Comics to develop the G.I. Joe toyline,the tie-in comic book,and an animated mini-series co-produced by Marvel's media arm, Marvel Productions,as well as Sunbow Productions animation studios.
In 1984,Hasbro marketing vice president Bob Prupis approached Marvel to develop their new robot series, which Jay Bacal dubbed "Transformers."
Marvel’s Editor-in-Chief at the time, Jim Shooter, produced a rough story concept for the series, creating the idea of the two warring factions of alien robots – the heroic Autobots and the evil Decepticons.
To flesh out his concept, Shooter called upon veteran editor Dennis O'Neil to create character names and profiles for the cast, but O’Neill’s work,for whatever reason,did not meet with Hasbro’s expectations, and they requested heavy revisions.
O’Neill declined to make said revisions, and the project was turned down by several writers and editors approached by Shooter until editor Bob Budiansky accepted the task.
Hastily performing the revisions over a weekend, Budiansky’s new names and profiles were a hit with Hasbro,and production began on a bi-monthly four-issue comic book miniseries, and three-part television pilot.
Japanese designer Shohei Kohara was responsible for creating the earliest character models for the Transformers cast, greatly humanising the toy designs to create more approachable robot characters for the comic and cartoon.
His designs were simplified a bit by Floro Dery, who went on to become the lead designer for the series,creating many more concepts and designs in the future.
The three-part mini-series was animated by Japan's famous Toei Animation studio and it first aired in the United States in September 1984,then in the United Kingdom in early 1985.
The pilot introduced Optimus Prime's Autobots and Megatron's Decepticons,Soundwave and his cassette spies,and Shockwave,transporting them from their metallic homeworld of Cybertron to present-day Earth, where they warred for the resources that would take them back home.
The conclusion of the series had the Decepticons defeated and the Autobots poised to return to Cybertron,but this was blurred somewhat when the series itself was gonna continue. So the Autobots remained on the planet to protect it from renewed Decepticon threats.
The Autobots obviously found out that the Decepticons survived and made their underwater base. The Autobots make friends with their first two human allies, Spike Witwicky and his father Sparkplug. A few episodes later, a computer whiz named Chip Chase became an additional ally.
Thirteen further episodes were commissioned to make the first season of the series, and the pilot was re-aired. Running from September to December 1984, the series established important new concepts that would persist through the rest of its run, such as the Decepticon Space Bridge, and featured the debuts of several new characters that would be available in the toyline the following year,the Dinobots,the Insecticons and the Constructicons
While most of the characters for this and the following seasons were Diaclone and Microman toys from Takara,Hasbro also drew on other resources to bulk up the line, acquiring toys from ToyCo,ToyBox and Takatoku Toys.
The latter company's absorption by Bandai,Takara's main competitor at the time,was releasing Transformers in Japan. Unfortunatly,this caused some legal problems and none of their toys were featured in the cartoon.
With the series having proved a great success, the second season was created with the intent of getting the series into syndication and thus consisted of 49 episodes,bringing the total number of episodes up to the 65.
Where the first season primarily functioned episodically but had a general continuity from episode to episode,Season 2 had different syndication goals.Season 1's method of storytelling was dropped in favor of single-episode tales which could be generally watched in any order that networks chose to air them in.
These episodes often served to spotlight single characters and flesh them out more. Most of the new characters introduced in the 1985 toyline were further Diaclone and Microman toys, some of them modified in unique ways.
The first batch of new characters were introduced with no explanation whatsoever or where they had come from.The new Decepiticons and Autobots,weren't as popular as the older ones and the new human characters weren't that great.
The tail end of the second season introduced four combining teams of Autobots and Decepticons: the Aerialbots,the Stunticons,the Protectobots,and the Combaticons. Each team was capable of merging their bodies and minds into one giant super-robot.
Although debuting in this season,the toys based on an unmade Diaclone line were aborted in Japan in favor of importing the Transformers toyline itself. The Diaclone line itself wouldn't be available until 1986.
After Season 2 was produced,Toei Animation began working on Transformers: The Movie. A Movie that sparked a small controversy.
So anyway,here we go.
The Transformers is an animated television series depicting a war among giant robots from a World called Cybertron,who could transform into vehicles, other objects and animals.
Though Written and recorded in America,the show itself was animated in Japan. This was a very very common practice at the time. Where American Cartoon would be animated in Japan.
Anyway,The entire series was based on a toyline of transforming figures originally created by Japanese toy manufacturer Takara, which were developed into the Transformers line by American company Hasbro.
In Japan, the series was called Fight! Super Robot Life Form Transformer for Seasons 1 and 2, and Fight! Transformers 2010 for Seasons 3 and 4. Following the conclusion of the series in 1987,4 Japanese sequel series were created.
In response to the 1993 relaunch of the toyline and its accompanying comic being called Transformers: Generation 2,The Original series is frequently called Transformers: Generation 1,aka G1. Initially a fan-coined term, it has since made its way into official use.
The Transformers toyline and cartoon/anime series all owed their existence to the Japanese toyline,Microman (an asian descendant of the 12" G.I. Joe action figure series). In 1980, the Microman spin-off,Diaclone,was released, featuring inch-tall humanoid figures able to sit in the drivers' seats of scale model vehicles, which could transform into humanoid robot bodies the drivers piloted.
In 1983,a Microman sub-line, MicroChange was introduced, featuring "actual size" items that transformed into robots,such as microcassettes, guns and toy cars. Diaclone and MicroChange toys were subsequently discovered on show at the 1983 Tokyo Toy Fair by Hasbro toy company product developer Henry Orenstein, who presented the concept to Hasbro's head of R&D,George Dunsay. Enthusiastic about the product, Hasbro decided to release toys from both Diaclone and MicroChange as one toyline for their markets.
Once the FCC did away with regulations that prohibited toy companies from broadcasting cartoons based on their products in 1984, the way was cleared for the new product to get a television show.
Hasbro had previously worked with Marvel Comics to develop the G.I. Joe toyline,the tie-in comic book,and an animated mini-series co-produced by Marvel's media arm, Marvel Productions,as well as Sunbow Productions animation studios.
In 1984,Hasbro marketing vice president Bob Prupis approached Marvel to develop their new robot series, which Jay Bacal dubbed "Transformers."
Marvel’s Editor-in-Chief at the time, Jim Shooter, produced a rough story concept for the series, creating the idea of the two warring factions of alien robots – the heroic Autobots and the evil Decepticons.
To flesh out his concept, Shooter called upon veteran editor Dennis O'Neil to create character names and profiles for the cast, but O’Neill’s work,for whatever reason,did not meet with Hasbro’s expectations, and they requested heavy revisions.
O’Neill declined to make said revisions, and the project was turned down by several writers and editors approached by Shooter until editor Bob Budiansky accepted the task.
Hastily performing the revisions over a weekend, Budiansky’s new names and profiles were a hit with Hasbro,and production began on a bi-monthly four-issue comic book miniseries, and three-part television pilot.
Japanese designer Shohei Kohara was responsible for creating the earliest character models for the Transformers cast, greatly humanising the toy designs to create more approachable robot characters for the comic and cartoon.
His designs were simplified a bit by Floro Dery, who went on to become the lead designer for the series,creating many more concepts and designs in the future.
The three-part mini-series was animated by Japan's famous Toei Animation studio and it first aired in the United States in September 1984,then in the United Kingdom in early 1985.
The pilot introduced Optimus Prime's Autobots and Megatron's Decepticons,Soundwave and his cassette spies,and Shockwave,transporting them from their metallic homeworld of Cybertron to present-day Earth, where they warred for the resources that would take them back home.
The conclusion of the series had the Decepticons defeated and the Autobots poised to return to Cybertron,but this was blurred somewhat when the series itself was gonna continue. So the Autobots remained on the planet to protect it from renewed Decepticon threats.
The Autobots obviously found out that the Decepticons survived and made their underwater base. The Autobots make friends with their first two human allies, Spike Witwicky and his father Sparkplug. A few episodes later, a computer whiz named Chip Chase became an additional ally.
Thirteen further episodes were commissioned to make the first season of the series, and the pilot was re-aired. Running from September to December 1984, the series established important new concepts that would persist through the rest of its run, such as the Decepticon Space Bridge, and featured the debuts of several new characters that would be available in the toyline the following year,the Dinobots,the Insecticons and the Constructicons
While most of the characters for this and the following seasons were Diaclone and Microman toys from Takara,Hasbro also drew on other resources to bulk up the line, acquiring toys from ToyCo,ToyBox and Takatoku Toys.
The latter company's absorption by Bandai,Takara's main competitor at the time,was releasing Transformers in Japan. Unfortunatly,this caused some legal problems and none of their toys were featured in the cartoon.
With the series having proved a great success, the second season was created with the intent of getting the series into syndication and thus consisted of 49 episodes,bringing the total number of episodes up to the 65.
Where the first season primarily functioned episodically but had a general continuity from episode to episode,Season 2 had different syndication goals.Season 1's method of storytelling was dropped in favor of single-episode tales which could be generally watched in any order that networks chose to air them in.
These episodes often served to spotlight single characters and flesh them out more. Most of the new characters introduced in the 1985 toyline were further Diaclone and Microman toys, some of them modified in unique ways.
The first batch of new characters were introduced with no explanation whatsoever or where they had come from.The new Decepiticons and Autobots,weren't as popular as the older ones and the new human characters weren't that great.
The tail end of the second season introduced four combining teams of Autobots and Decepticons: the Aerialbots,the Stunticons,the Protectobots,and the Combaticons. Each team was capable of merging their bodies and minds into one giant super-robot.
Although debuting in this season,the toys based on an unmade Diaclone line were aborted in Japan in favor of importing the Transformers toyline itself. The Diaclone line itself wouldn't be available until 1986.
After Season 2 was produced,Toei Animation began working on Transformers: The Movie. A Movie that sparked a small controversy.
Monday, March 29, 2010
The Cartoon Historian Lesson 15: Toonami
The Absolution is flying smoothly though space. Tom Z,Sara(who's on a monitor),and Stefan are inside the master Control Center.
Welcome to this special edition of The Cartoon Historian,I'm Your host and Cartoon Historian Stefan. We are live in the Master Control center inside the one and only Absolution.
Joining me today,,for the very first time,are my co-hosts: Tom Z and Sara.
Tom Z: Hey,hows it goin' Cartoon Historian fans.
Sara: Hello,welcome aboard the Absolution.
If you haven't guest by now,today we are gonna be talking about the History of Toonami.
Tom Z: That's right. We're gonna be looking at the entire history of Toonami,it's Hosts,it's special features,and even a list of it's awesome shows.
Sara: And so much more.
Alrighty then! Sara would you like to start things off?
Sara: Sure thing,Stefan. First you are all probably wondering What does the word 'Toonami' mean. Well, Toonami is a combination of the words 'Cartoon' and 'Tsunami'. So Toonami,in a way,means 'Tidal Wave of Cartoons'.
Tom Z: Toonami is a registered trademark of Turner Broadcasting. It was a block on Cartoon Network that started on on March 17, 1997 and ended on September 20, 2008. Though,in reality it died in 2006.
It all began when Turner Broadcasting decided to make Cartoon Network more interesting. So they created an action cartoon block for weekday afternoons called Super Adventures in Oct. 1st 1992. Soon that block became The Power Zone.
While the block had decent success,it wasn't the super hit that Turner Broadcasting wanted. So they decided to try something different.
On Monday, March 17, 1997, Turner created Toonami. Toomami wasn't just a program block,it looked different,it felt different. and thus it became an instant and huge success.
Tom Z: Toonami was originally hosted by Space Ghost villain-turned-producer Moltar at the Ghost Planet Industries building from 1997 to July 9, 1999. On Saturday,July 10, 1999, Cartoon Network relaunched Toonami with a new environment, the Ghost Planet Spaceship Absolution, and a new host named Tom. He's my oldest ancestor.
Later that year,Toonami:The Midnight Run,a late night block,was introduced. This was a five-hour block that aired on Saturday nights at midnight...until March 2000, when it moved to weeknights in an hour-long format.
Soon after,the creation of Midnight Run,Toonami:The Rising Sun,a Saturday Morning Cartoon block was introduced.However,it couldn't compete with the veterans of saturday morning,so it was axed a year later. On January 2003,Midnight Run ended.
Sara: On Saturday, April 17, 2004, Toonami was moved from weekday afternoons to a Saturday evening slot, where it aired for four hours. Though on October 27, 2007, it was reduced to for 2 hours. On September 20, 2008 Toonami ended, with its final broadcast that same day.
Thanks Sara. Now we shall talk about the Hosts.
Tom Z: Allow Me. As we've stated before, Moltar, of Space Ghost Coast to Coast, was the host for Toonami and later the Tom androids took over. It was during this run that we were introduced to the computer of the ship through online games that tied into a going storyline aboard the ship.
Tom Z: In September 2000, Toonami presented special interactive events known as Total Immersion Events or TIEs. These TIEs took place both on-air during Toonami and online at the official site, Toonami.com. Sara you're up.
Sara: Thank you Tom: The very first TIE was "The Intruder", which introduced Tom 1's companion, an AI matrix known as Sara. That,of course,is me. I played an integral part in the rebirth of Tom. I helped upgrade him from a short Bomberman-esque character to a taller,sleeker,darker,deeper-voiced incarnation dubbed as Tom 2. Despite looking different,Tom 2,was actually Tom 1,just redesigned.
Tom Z: Just to let you guys know I'm just a relative of the previous Tom androids. My schematics were basically Tom 1's. So in a sense Tom's 1,2,and 3 were my older Brothers.
Sara: The following two TIEs, Lockdown and Trapped in Hyperspace, continued the adventures of Tom and Myself, but really didn't offer much storywise. After the events of "Lockdown",Tom 2 became Tom 3. Then,after whole Trapped in Hyperspace fiasco,Tom 3 became the horrid Tom 4.
Tom Z: They say I'm related to this jackass,but I have my doubts. Anyway,Toonami the Midnight Run sometimes had special editions. One of witch was a special edition on Friday,August 31,2001 at midnight, which aired music videos. Toonami also aired on Kids WB.However it didn't last long and it wasn't as popular as it's Cartoon Network counterpart.
On April 17, 2004, Cartoon Network moved Toonami from weekday afternoons to Saturday evenings with a new demographic of preteen and teen audiences. A new lighter-toned action franchise,Miguzi,took Toonami's place on weekdays.
Sara: Beginning in late October of 2007 Toonami was,as we mentioned before,cut from a 4-hour block to a 2-hour block on Saturday nights. During that time,Turner Broadcasting started airing Cartoon Network comedy cartoons,which were very crappy.
At the time of its cancellation on September of 2008,the Saturday night lineup consisted of a full hour of Naruto,Ben 10: Alien Force,and Samurai Jack. It was a disaster!
But on September 20, 2008 Toonami shut down for good, ending it. Some speculate that the reason for the 2 hour block instead of the previous 4 hour block was Cartoon Network preparing to close down Toonami.
On Saturday September 20, 2008,Turner Broadcasting cancelled the block(that's ok since it was dead anyway) and Toonami aired its final transmission. Employees who worked on the block moved to other parts of the Network.
From then on,all Anime was mostly handled by Adult Swim and Live Action Movies replaced Toonami on Saturday nights.Now that's just Wrong!
Tom Z: You sead it,Stefan. Live Action on a Network ment for Cartoons is so retarded.
Sara: Agreed. Anyway,Toonami Jetstream remained with the Toonami name until January 30, 2009. And even though it ended in 2008.Toonami died in 2006. So in a way from 2006-2008,Toonami was "walking dead".
True that,but enough about that. Let's talk Music.
Tom Z: Right. Toonami always proved a haven for techno/electronica music throughout its history. It used original compositions by skater/artist Tommy Guerrero from 1997 to 1999,and then by Atlanta-based composer Joe Boyd Vigil from 1999 to 2002. These cool tunes were compiled in the,now out of print album,'Toonami:Deep Space Bass'.
Sara: In 2003, DJ Clarknova took Toonami's beats,both old and new,and mixed them with sound bites from recent Toonami and Adult Swim shows. This resulted in an hour-long compilation of Toonami remixes called 'Toonami: Black Hole Megamix'.
Tom Z: Right,but for some unknown reason,these tunes never made it to CD. However, the Megamix recently was hosted by Toonami Digital Arsenal,a popular and unofficial Toonami multimedia site.
From 2003 through 2008, Toonami relied on original tracks from various artists from publisher Ninja Tune. On rare occasions,very rare,videos from known bands aired on the block.
Sometimes,Toonami aired reviews of video games. The reviews,delivered by Tom and occasionally Sara,were fairly short and ran during commercial breaks. The hosts scored games on a 1 - 10 system: 10 signifying an excellent game, 1 signifying a very poor game. The score system was originally 1 - 5 until 2001.
But Toonami wasn't just popular on TV,it was also popular on the Net. Sara,please tell'em about it.
Sara: Sure. On March 26, 2001,Cartoon Network launched Toonami Reactor,their first online streaming video service. The three-month service featured streaming episodes from Dragon Ball Z and Star Blazers, the latter of which was an online-exclusive series.
Sara: Editorial content was provided by the now-defunct Animerica Magazine,published by VIZ Media. After the three-month "trial run" was over, Cartoon Network took it offline and completely revamped it.
Sara: On November 14, 2001,Cartoon Network relaunched Toonami Reactor with all online-exclusive programs such as Star Blazers, Patlabor, The Harlock Saga, and Record of Lodoss War. It also had Toonami-themed games. In the summer of 2002,Toonami Reactor was revamped again under the Adult Swim aegis and programmed it as Adult Swim Pipeline.
Sara: On April 25, 2006,a little over five years since the launch of Toonami Reactor,Cartoon Network and VIZ Media announced plans to launch Toonami Jetstream,an ad-supported streaming video service featuring various Toonami series. Toonami Jetstream launched on July 17, 2006 and offered episodes of both Toonami and Non-Toonami shows.
Sara: On January 30, 2009, Toonami Jetstream ended its run. Though some of it's shows can be watched on Cartoon Network's website. You can also watch the shows on Youtube.
Toonami wasn't Just a program block,it was something special. I mean C'mon,lets face it without Toonami,Anime Fandom in the States would very pathetic and very weak.
Tom Z: Damn straight,Stefan.
Sara: Yes.
Well that's it for this Lesson. Yeah,It wasn't as informative as expected,but at least kept you entertained...at least I hope we did. Anyway,to wrap things up,Tom Z,Sara,and Myself will now list the shows that aired on Toonami.
Thundercats
Tom Z: Voltron
Sara: The Real Adventures of Johnny Quest
Tom Z: Superfriends
Sailor Moon
Tom Z: Dragon Ball Z
Sara: Reboot. I really loved that show.
Transformers Beast Wars
Gundam Wing
Robotech
Tom Z: Ronin Warriors
Sara: Tenchi Muyo
Tom Z: Tenchi Universe
Tenchi In Tokyo
Sara: Mobile Suit Gundam
Gundam 08 MS Team
Tom Z: Outlaw Star
Sara:Dragon Ball
Tom Z: Big O
Rurouni Kenshin
Sara: Cyborg 009
Tom Z: Card Captors
Hamtaro
Sara: Zoids
Tom Z: Mobile Fighter G Gundam
Transformers Armada
Tom Z: Transformers Energon
Transformers Cybertron
Sara: SD Gundam
Tom Z: Knights Of The Zodiac
Mega Man NT Warrior
sara: Batman Beyond
Tom Z: Justice League
Teen Titans
Tom Z: Megas XLR
Sara: Duel Masters
Zatch Bell
Sara: Rave Master
Tom Z: Yu Yu Hakusho
.Hack//Sign (i think thats what it's called)
Tom Z: Dragon Ball GT
Sara: Gundam Seed
IGPX
Sara: Bobobo-Bobobo
Tom Z: One Piece
Mar
Tom Z: Prince of Tennis
Sara: Wulin Warriors
Naruto
Tom Z: Samurai Jack
Sara: Bakugan
Blue Dragon
Tom Z:Ben 10
Sara: As well as countless Animated Action Movies.
For Tom Z and Sara,this is Stefan,the Cartoon historian bidding you farewell. Thanks for watching and see ya next time.
Scene switches to outer space,where the Absolution is flying smoothly. The scene then fades to black.
Welcome to this special edition of The Cartoon Historian,I'm Your host and Cartoon Historian Stefan. We are live in the Master Control center inside the one and only Absolution.
Joining me today,,for the very first time,are my co-hosts: Tom Z and Sara.
Tom Z: Hey,hows it goin' Cartoon Historian fans.
Sara: Hello,welcome aboard the Absolution.
If you haven't guest by now,today we are gonna be talking about the History of Toonami.
Tom Z: That's right. We're gonna be looking at the entire history of Toonami,it's Hosts,it's special features,and even a list of it's awesome shows.
Sara: And so much more.
Alrighty then! Sara would you like to start things off?
Sara: Sure thing,Stefan. First you are all probably wondering What does the word 'Toonami' mean. Well, Toonami is a combination of the words 'Cartoon' and 'Tsunami'. So Toonami,in a way,means 'Tidal Wave of Cartoons'.
Tom Z: Toonami is a registered trademark of Turner Broadcasting. It was a block on Cartoon Network that started on on March 17, 1997 and ended on September 20, 2008. Though,in reality it died in 2006.
It all began when Turner Broadcasting decided to make Cartoon Network more interesting. So they created an action cartoon block for weekday afternoons called Super Adventures in Oct. 1st 1992. Soon that block became The Power Zone.
While the block had decent success,it wasn't the super hit that Turner Broadcasting wanted. So they decided to try something different.
On Monday, March 17, 1997, Turner created Toonami. Toomami wasn't just a program block,it looked different,it felt different. and thus it became an instant and huge success.
Tom Z: Toonami was originally hosted by Space Ghost villain-turned-producer Moltar at the Ghost Planet Industries building from 1997 to July 9, 1999. On Saturday,July 10, 1999, Cartoon Network relaunched Toonami with a new environment, the Ghost Planet Spaceship Absolution, and a new host named Tom. He's my oldest ancestor.
Later that year,Toonami:The Midnight Run,a late night block,was introduced. This was a five-hour block that aired on Saturday nights at midnight...until March 2000, when it moved to weeknights in an hour-long format.
Soon after,the creation of Midnight Run,Toonami:The Rising Sun,a Saturday Morning Cartoon block was introduced.However,it couldn't compete with the veterans of saturday morning,so it was axed a year later. On January 2003,Midnight Run ended.
Sara: On Saturday, April 17, 2004, Toonami was moved from weekday afternoons to a Saturday evening slot, where it aired for four hours. Though on October 27, 2007, it was reduced to for 2 hours. On September 20, 2008 Toonami ended, with its final broadcast that same day.
Thanks Sara. Now we shall talk about the Hosts.
Tom Z: Allow Me. As we've stated before, Moltar, of Space Ghost Coast to Coast, was the host for Toonami and later the Tom androids took over. It was during this run that we were introduced to the computer of the ship through online games that tied into a going storyline aboard the ship.
Tom Z: In September 2000, Toonami presented special interactive events known as Total Immersion Events or TIEs. These TIEs took place both on-air during Toonami and online at the official site, Toonami.com. Sara you're up.
Sara: Thank you Tom: The very first TIE was "The Intruder", which introduced Tom 1's companion, an AI matrix known as Sara. That,of course,is me. I played an integral part in the rebirth of Tom. I helped upgrade him from a short Bomberman-esque character to a taller,sleeker,darker,deeper-voiced incarnation dubbed as Tom 2. Despite looking different,Tom 2,was actually Tom 1,just redesigned.
Tom Z: Just to let you guys know I'm just a relative of the previous Tom androids. My schematics were basically Tom 1's. So in a sense Tom's 1,2,and 3 were my older Brothers.
Sara: The following two TIEs, Lockdown and Trapped in Hyperspace, continued the adventures of Tom and Myself, but really didn't offer much storywise. After the events of "Lockdown",Tom 2 became Tom 3. Then,after whole Trapped in Hyperspace fiasco,Tom 3 became the horrid Tom 4.
Tom Z: They say I'm related to this jackass,but I have my doubts. Anyway,Toonami the Midnight Run sometimes had special editions. One of witch was a special edition on Friday,August 31,2001 at midnight, which aired music videos. Toonami also aired on Kids WB.However it didn't last long and it wasn't as popular as it's Cartoon Network counterpart.
On April 17, 2004, Cartoon Network moved Toonami from weekday afternoons to Saturday evenings with a new demographic of preteen and teen audiences. A new lighter-toned action franchise,Miguzi,took Toonami's place on weekdays.
Sara: Beginning in late October of 2007 Toonami was,as we mentioned before,cut from a 4-hour block to a 2-hour block on Saturday nights. During that time,Turner Broadcasting started airing Cartoon Network comedy cartoons,which were very crappy.
At the time of its cancellation on September of 2008,the Saturday night lineup consisted of a full hour of Naruto,Ben 10: Alien Force,and Samurai Jack. It was a disaster!
But on September 20, 2008 Toonami shut down for good, ending it. Some speculate that the reason for the 2 hour block instead of the previous 4 hour block was Cartoon Network preparing to close down Toonami.
On Saturday September 20, 2008,Turner Broadcasting cancelled the block(that's ok since it was dead anyway) and Toonami aired its final transmission. Employees who worked on the block moved to other parts of the Network.
From then on,all Anime was mostly handled by Adult Swim and Live Action Movies replaced Toonami on Saturday nights.Now that's just Wrong!
Tom Z: You sead it,Stefan. Live Action on a Network ment for Cartoons is so retarded.
Sara: Agreed. Anyway,Toonami Jetstream remained with the Toonami name until January 30, 2009. And even though it ended in 2008.Toonami died in 2006. So in a way from 2006-2008,Toonami was "walking dead".
True that,but enough about that. Let's talk Music.
Tom Z: Right. Toonami always proved a haven for techno/electronica music throughout its history. It used original compositions by skater/artist Tommy Guerrero from 1997 to 1999,and then by Atlanta-based composer Joe Boyd Vigil from 1999 to 2002. These cool tunes were compiled in the,now out of print album,'Toonami:Deep Space Bass'.
Sara: In 2003, DJ Clarknova took Toonami's beats,both old and new,and mixed them with sound bites from recent Toonami and Adult Swim shows. This resulted in an hour-long compilation of Toonami remixes called 'Toonami: Black Hole Megamix'.
Tom Z: Right,but for some unknown reason,these tunes never made it to CD. However, the Megamix recently was hosted by Toonami Digital Arsenal,a popular and unofficial Toonami multimedia site.
From 2003 through 2008, Toonami relied on original tracks from various artists from publisher Ninja Tune. On rare occasions,very rare,videos from known bands aired on the block.
Sometimes,Toonami aired reviews of video games. The reviews,delivered by Tom and occasionally Sara,were fairly short and ran during commercial breaks. The hosts scored games on a 1 - 10 system: 10 signifying an excellent game, 1 signifying a very poor game. The score system was originally 1 - 5 until 2001.
But Toonami wasn't just popular on TV,it was also popular on the Net. Sara,please tell'em about it.
Sara: Sure. On March 26, 2001,Cartoon Network launched Toonami Reactor,their first online streaming video service. The three-month service featured streaming episodes from Dragon Ball Z and Star Blazers, the latter of which was an online-exclusive series.
Sara: Editorial content was provided by the now-defunct Animerica Magazine,published by VIZ Media. After the three-month "trial run" was over, Cartoon Network took it offline and completely revamped it.
Sara: On November 14, 2001,Cartoon Network relaunched Toonami Reactor with all online-exclusive programs such as Star Blazers, Patlabor, The Harlock Saga, and Record of Lodoss War. It also had Toonami-themed games. In the summer of 2002,Toonami Reactor was revamped again under the Adult Swim aegis and programmed it as Adult Swim Pipeline.
Sara: On April 25, 2006,a little over five years since the launch of Toonami Reactor,Cartoon Network and VIZ Media announced plans to launch Toonami Jetstream,an ad-supported streaming video service featuring various Toonami series. Toonami Jetstream launched on July 17, 2006 and offered episodes of both Toonami and Non-Toonami shows.
Sara: On January 30, 2009, Toonami Jetstream ended its run. Though some of it's shows can be watched on Cartoon Network's website. You can also watch the shows on Youtube.
Toonami wasn't Just a program block,it was something special. I mean C'mon,lets face it without Toonami,Anime Fandom in the States would very pathetic and very weak.
Tom Z: Damn straight,Stefan.
Sara: Yes.
Well that's it for this Lesson. Yeah,It wasn't as informative as expected,but at least kept you entertained...at least I hope we did. Anyway,to wrap things up,Tom Z,Sara,and Myself will now list the shows that aired on Toonami.
Thundercats
Tom Z: Voltron
Sara: The Real Adventures of Johnny Quest
Tom Z: Superfriends
Sailor Moon
Tom Z: Dragon Ball Z
Sara: Reboot. I really loved that show.
Transformers Beast Wars
Gundam Wing
Robotech
Tom Z: Ronin Warriors
Sara: Tenchi Muyo
Tom Z: Tenchi Universe
Tenchi In Tokyo
Sara: Mobile Suit Gundam
Gundam 08 MS Team
Tom Z: Outlaw Star
Sara:Dragon Ball
Tom Z: Big O
Rurouni Kenshin
Sara: Cyborg 009
Tom Z: Card Captors
Hamtaro
Sara: Zoids
Tom Z: Mobile Fighter G Gundam
Transformers Armada
Tom Z: Transformers Energon
Transformers Cybertron
Sara: SD Gundam
Tom Z: Knights Of The Zodiac
Mega Man NT Warrior
sara: Batman Beyond
Tom Z: Justice League
Teen Titans
Tom Z: Megas XLR
Sara: Duel Masters
Zatch Bell
Sara: Rave Master
Tom Z: Yu Yu Hakusho
.Hack//Sign (i think thats what it's called)
Tom Z: Dragon Ball GT
Sara: Gundam Seed
IGPX
Sara: Bobobo-Bobobo
Tom Z: One Piece
Mar
Tom Z: Prince of Tennis
Sara: Wulin Warriors
Naruto
Tom Z: Samurai Jack
Sara: Bakugan
Blue Dragon
Tom Z:Ben 10
Sara: As well as countless Animated Action Movies.
For Tom Z and Sara,this is Stefan,the Cartoon historian bidding you farewell. Thanks for watching and see ya next time.
Scene switches to outer space,where the Absolution is flying smoothly. The scene then fades to black.
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
The Cartoon Historian Presents: The 'Toonami Special' Promo
The Absolution is flying smoothly though space. Deep inside the master control room{the same one that was used by tom 2},the systems begin to reactivate. Sara appears on the digital monitor in front of Tom's chair.
Meanwhile,a Mysterious Robot{shown from the waist down} is walking down a hallway to an elevator. The mysterious bot comes to the elevator,the doors open,the bot enters,the doors close,and the elevator takes the bot up.
The elevator stops,the doors open,the bot exits the elevator and walks down another hall way. The elevator closes behind the Robot. The Robot{still shone from the waist down,BTW} comes to a closed enterance. The enterance opens up and the Robot steps though. The Robot is now inside the Master Control Room.
As the enterance closes,The camera pans up at the Robot,revealing him to be yet another upgraded Tom. However,this new version of Tom looks like the first 3 Toms. The New Tom walks over to the chair.
Sara: Welcome aboard the Absolution,you must be the new Tom?
Upgraded Tom: Yup. *sitting down in the chair* I was in secret storage,until I was activated. *turns to viewes at home* Hey,how's it goin' everyone? I'm Tom Z,the New keeper of the absolution. BTW,what ever happened to the unhip Tom 4?
Sara: He was last seen flying through space,where he was promptly destroyed by an incoming meteor.
Tom Z: Good riddance.
Sara: Yes. You know I myself was never really fond of him.
Tom Z: Me neither,he was one of the dumbest looking robots ever made.
Sara: Agreed.
Tom Z: Alrighty,lets get down to business. What do we have planned?
Sara: Well,in this promo,we'll be talking about The Cartoon Historian's 15th episode: The History of Toonami.
Tom Z: Sweet!
Sara: Yes,the Lesson will be taught live aboard the Absolution,hosted by the Cartoon Historian himself,Stefan. With You as the Co-host.
Tom Z: Yeah,I've heard about that. It was based on a poll,right?
Sara: Yes.Toonami was on a poll asking about which topic to cover in the future. And Toonami won. You Two will be covering alot of stuff. Such as,Toonami's Beginnings,The History of the Hosts,and much more.
Tom Z: Sweetness! I can't wait.
Sara: There was also a Small Memorial planned,but Stefan decided to drop it at the last minute. Don't ask me why?
Tom Z: So when will this little event take place?
Sara:I wasn't given a date...Sorry,Tom. All Stefan said about the matter was 'Soon'. How soon is still a mystery.
Tom Z: I hope he dosen't keep us waiting too long. Not to sound impatient or anything,but I'd like to get this thing done before the end of the year.
Sara: *giggles* You and the rest of the Fans.
Tom Z: Yeah.
Sara: Well,whenever this event is gonna take place,It's sure to be something special.
Tom Z: Word! I still can't wait for this thing. Y'know if things work out,I might become Stefan's permanent Co-host. I need the work.
Sara: As do I. The absolution has remained unused for years until just last year. I take it for joyrides every now and then,as well as preform the annual systems check.However that's all. It's also been kind of lonely without the company of the Tom robots.
Tom Z: Thanks for taking care of this ship for such a long time. Hey,do the Cartoon Network people know about this?
Sara: No! So far I've been lucky. The CN execs either don't know about my actions or they just don't care and ignore them.
Tom Z: Well I hope it stays this way. By the way,how Did Stefan hook up with us in the first place?
Sara: We met last year. I was surfing the web to check on the Toonami faithful and I stumbled upon a something called 'Operation: Save Boomerang'. this was on his blog. That post had alot of great Ideas for the Network. One of said ideas was about adding Toonami to Boomerang.Anyway,the whole post intrigued me,so I E-mailed him about it. I found out that he is a big fan of Toonami and became an Anime fan because of it. He is also a Revolutionist,but that's a story for another time. Sometime after that,we became friends and have been in contact with each other since.
Tom Z: So did this little project of his Work?
Sara: It is unknown weather or not that 'Operation: Save Boomerang' was a success. He hasn't said.
Tom Z: I hope it does. I really wanna see Toonami on Boomerang. I dig those old Anime shows.
Sara: I do too. Plus,we might get to host the block if it does get reborn.
Tom Z: That'd be really cool. So any other news?
Sara: Well,We might be getting our own special on The Ultima Network.
Tom Z: Bitchin'! Well,I guess that's all for now. *turns to viewers* And remember guys,keep a look out for the Toonami special,right here on The Cartoon Historian.
Sara: This upcoming event is definatly going to be an awesome experience.
Tom Z: *turns to sara* Yup. *sighs as he lays back in the chair* I cant wait.
Scene switches to outer space,where the Absolution is flying smoothly. The scene then fades to black.
Meanwhile,a Mysterious Robot{shown from the waist down} is walking down a hallway to an elevator. The mysterious bot comes to the elevator,the doors open,the bot enters,the doors close,and the elevator takes the bot up.
The elevator stops,the doors open,the bot exits the elevator and walks down another hall way. The elevator closes behind the Robot. The Robot{still shone from the waist down,BTW} comes to a closed enterance. The enterance opens up and the Robot steps though. The Robot is now inside the Master Control Room.
As the enterance closes,The camera pans up at the Robot,revealing him to be yet another upgraded Tom. However,this new version of Tom looks like the first 3 Toms. The New Tom walks over to the chair.
Sara: Welcome aboard the Absolution,you must be the new Tom?
Upgraded Tom: Yup. *sitting down in the chair* I was in secret storage,until I was activated. *turns to viewes at home* Hey,how's it goin' everyone? I'm Tom Z,the New keeper of the absolution. BTW,what ever happened to the unhip Tom 4?
Sara: He was last seen flying through space,where he was promptly destroyed by an incoming meteor.
Tom Z: Good riddance.
Sara: Yes. You know I myself was never really fond of him.
Tom Z: Me neither,he was one of the dumbest looking robots ever made.
Sara: Agreed.
Tom Z: Alrighty,lets get down to business. What do we have planned?
Sara: Well,in this promo,we'll be talking about The Cartoon Historian's 15th episode: The History of Toonami.
Tom Z: Sweet!
Sara: Yes,the Lesson will be taught live aboard the Absolution,hosted by the Cartoon Historian himself,Stefan. With You as the Co-host.
Tom Z: Yeah,I've heard about that. It was based on a poll,right?
Sara: Yes.Toonami was on a poll asking about which topic to cover in the future. And Toonami won. You Two will be covering alot of stuff. Such as,Toonami's Beginnings,The History of the Hosts,and much more.
Tom Z: Sweetness! I can't wait.
Sara: There was also a Small Memorial planned,but Stefan decided to drop it at the last minute. Don't ask me why?
Tom Z: So when will this little event take place?
Sara:I wasn't given a date...Sorry,Tom. All Stefan said about the matter was 'Soon'. How soon is still a mystery.
Tom Z: I hope he dosen't keep us waiting too long. Not to sound impatient or anything,but I'd like to get this thing done before the end of the year.
Sara: *giggles* You and the rest of the Fans.
Tom Z: Yeah.
Sara: Well,whenever this event is gonna take place,It's sure to be something special.
Tom Z: Word! I still can't wait for this thing. Y'know if things work out,I might become Stefan's permanent Co-host. I need the work.
Sara: As do I. The absolution has remained unused for years until just last year. I take it for joyrides every now and then,as well as preform the annual systems check.However that's all. It's also been kind of lonely without the company of the Tom robots.
Tom Z: Thanks for taking care of this ship for such a long time. Hey,do the Cartoon Network people know about this?
Sara: No! So far I've been lucky. The CN execs either don't know about my actions or they just don't care and ignore them.
Tom Z: Well I hope it stays this way. By the way,how Did Stefan hook up with us in the first place?
Sara: We met last year. I was surfing the web to check on the Toonami faithful and I stumbled upon a something called 'Operation: Save Boomerang'. this was on his blog. That post had alot of great Ideas for the Network. One of said ideas was about adding Toonami to Boomerang.Anyway,the whole post intrigued me,so I E-mailed him about it. I found out that he is a big fan of Toonami and became an Anime fan because of it. He is also a Revolutionist,but that's a story for another time. Sometime after that,we became friends and have been in contact with each other since.
Tom Z: So did this little project of his Work?
Sara: It is unknown weather or not that 'Operation: Save Boomerang' was a success. He hasn't said.
Tom Z: I hope it does. I really wanna see Toonami on Boomerang. I dig those old Anime shows.
Sara: I do too. Plus,we might get to host the block if it does get reborn.
Tom Z: That'd be really cool. So any other news?
Sara: Well,We might be getting our own special on The Ultima Network.
Tom Z: Bitchin'! Well,I guess that's all for now. *turns to viewers* And remember guys,keep a look out for the Toonami special,right here on The Cartoon Historian.
Sara: This upcoming event is definatly going to be an awesome experience.
Tom Z: *turns to sara* Yup. *sighs as he lays back in the chair* I cant wait.
Scene switches to outer space,where the Absolution is flying smoothly. The scene then fades to black.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Cartoon Quickie: My Life As A Teenage Robot
Note: This will be my final Cartoon Quickie for a while.
My life as a Teenage Robot is about the Adventures of a Robot named Jenny aka XJ9,who must protect the Earth from mutants and evil robots,while trying to live the life of an ordinary American Teen.
Jenny fights using many of her built-in gadgets,which range from very useful to very useless. Aiding Jenny in her battles against evil and everyday life are her good friends Brad,Tuck,and Sheldon.
Brad is an outgoing and adventurous dude who kinda thinks of himself as a Ladies man. He's also Jenny's next door neighbor and best friend. Tuck is Brad's goofy little brother,who tags along with his big bro and Jenny.
Sheldon is an uber-nerd inventor who has a crush on Jenny. He often fights crime in a robotic battle suit called The Silver Shell. Dr. Nora Wakeman is Jenny's mother and creator,who refuses to except Jenny's human name (she always calls her by her robot name,xj9). Though an uptight old woman at times,Wakeman is quite the genius and one of the worlds greatest inventors. She can also hold her own in battle.
Britt and Tiff aka The Crust Cousins are Jenny's school Rivals. They are the most popular girls in Jenny's school. They are always 10 steps ahead of the latest fashion trends. They are also 2 of the biggest jerks in the world. Making Jenny look stupid is one of their hobbies.
Jenny battles many many many many many Mutants and Robots of the day,but she does have some regular enemies. First up is Killgor,a cute 8 inch wind-up robot that everyone just seems to love. Killgor claims to be the greatest evil known,but in reality he's just a little fast-talking buffoon.
Jenny's biggest enemy is The Cluster,a race of robots ruled by Queen Vexus. Vexus is a ruthless Queen who aims to enslave and/or destroy all mankind on earth. She constantly tries to get Jenny to join the Cluster. Of course Jenny always refuses.
Smytus is Vexus' ruthless General,who almost always leads the attack on earth. Smytus is Vexus' favorite servant. Krackus is Vexus' scatter-brained inventor,who's inventions always seem to fall apart. One thing you'll notice about Vexus' forces is that they are all modeled after insects.
My Life as a Teenage Robot is an entertaining show. The Artwork is decent and has a retro-american look to it. Which is either a plus or a munus,depending on your art tastes. The Music is also decent and goes with the show well. The animation is good and errorless.
This show also contains both action and humor. Overall,this show isn't that bad and is worth watching atleast once.
Well that's it for now. See ya next time on...Cartoon Quickie!
My life as a Teenage Robot is about the Adventures of a Robot named Jenny aka XJ9,who must protect the Earth from mutants and evil robots,while trying to live the life of an ordinary American Teen.
Jenny fights using many of her built-in gadgets,which range from very useful to very useless. Aiding Jenny in her battles against evil and everyday life are her good friends Brad,Tuck,and Sheldon.
Brad is an outgoing and adventurous dude who kinda thinks of himself as a Ladies man. He's also Jenny's next door neighbor and best friend. Tuck is Brad's goofy little brother,who tags along with his big bro and Jenny.
Sheldon is an uber-nerd inventor who has a crush on Jenny. He often fights crime in a robotic battle suit called The Silver Shell. Dr. Nora Wakeman is Jenny's mother and creator,who refuses to except Jenny's human name (she always calls her by her robot name,xj9). Though an uptight old woman at times,Wakeman is quite the genius and one of the worlds greatest inventors. She can also hold her own in battle.
Britt and Tiff aka The Crust Cousins are Jenny's school Rivals. They are the most popular girls in Jenny's school. They are always 10 steps ahead of the latest fashion trends. They are also 2 of the biggest jerks in the world. Making Jenny look stupid is one of their hobbies.
Jenny battles many many many many many Mutants and Robots of the day,but she does have some regular enemies. First up is Killgor,a cute 8 inch wind-up robot that everyone just seems to love. Killgor claims to be the greatest evil known,but in reality he's just a little fast-talking buffoon.
Jenny's biggest enemy is The Cluster,a race of robots ruled by Queen Vexus. Vexus is a ruthless Queen who aims to enslave and/or destroy all mankind on earth. She constantly tries to get Jenny to join the Cluster. Of course Jenny always refuses.
Smytus is Vexus' ruthless General,who almost always leads the attack on earth. Smytus is Vexus' favorite servant. Krackus is Vexus' scatter-brained inventor,who's inventions always seem to fall apart. One thing you'll notice about Vexus' forces is that they are all modeled after insects.
My Life as a Teenage Robot is an entertaining show. The Artwork is decent and has a retro-american look to it. Which is either a plus or a munus,depending on your art tastes. The Music is also decent and goes with the show well. The animation is good and errorless.
This show also contains both action and humor. Overall,this show isn't that bad and is worth watching atleast once.
Well that's it for now. See ya next time on...Cartoon Quickie!
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