Mighty Orbots | |
マイティ・オーボッツ (Maiti ōbottsu) | |
---|---|
Genre | Adventure, Comedy, Mecha |
Created by | Barry Glasser |
Anime television series | |
Directed by | Osamu Dezaki |
Produced by | George Singer Tatsuo Ikeuchi Nobuo Inada |
Written by | Michael Reaves |
Music by | Yuji Ohno |
Studio |
MGM/UA Television TMS Entertainment Intermedia Entertainment |
Licensed by | |
Original network | ABC |
Original run | September 8, 1984 – December 15, 1984 |
Episodes | 13 |
Mighty Orbots (マイティ・オーボッツ, Maiti Ōbottsu) is a 1984 American-Japanese super robot animated series created in a joint collaboration of TMS Entertainment and Intermedia Entertainment in association with MGM/UA Television. [1] It was directed by veteran anime director Osamu Dezaki and features character designs by Akio Sugino. [2] The series aired from September 8, 1984, to December 15, 1984, on Saturday mornings in the United States on ABC. [3] [4]
Mighty Orbots was developed from an idea pitched by Fred Silverman, possibly in response to the popularity of other robot-related properties. [5] The original six-minute "pilot" featured a slightly different version of Mighty Orbots called Broots (pronounced "Brutes"). Rob and Ohno looked similar to their 'finished' selves, though definitively more late 70s-like. The Orbots, while having the same names as in the finished product, are subtly different, and obviously unfinished. Even their combined form aka "Super-Broots" would go through some more developmental evolution before becoming Mighty Orbots. It was produced by Tokyo Movie Shinsha and Intermedia Entertainment in association with MGM/UA Television for both the United States for the television broadcast and Japan via home video. Unlike many other shows of its kind, Mighty Orbots was not simply a translated Japanese import. The series was directed by anime industry veteran Osamu Dezaki with storyboard work by Dezaki's brother Satoshi Dezaki, character designs by Akio Sugino, and animation by Shingo Araki.
The main theme song used in the show introduction and throughout the series was created by Steve Rucker and Thomas Chase, with lead vocals provided by Warren Stanyer. [6] The music was composed by Yuji Ohno.
The series lasted only a single season of thirteen episodes, mostly due to a lawsuit between the show's creators and toymaker Tonka, who accused them of causing brand confusion with their GoBots franchise's "Mighty Robots, Mighty Vehicles" advertising campaign. [7] The episodes aired on ABC and some episodes were later released on VHS by MGM/UA Home Video. Despite its short run, the series has a dedicated fan base today. The series' narration was done by voice-actor Gary Owens, who was the voice of Hanna-Barbera's Space Ghost in the 1960s and Dynomutt, Dog Wonder's human straight man Blue Falcon in the late 1970s.
Mighty Orbots is one of only a small number of Saturday morning cartoons to have a definite series finale: the final episode, "Invasion of the Shadow Star," ends with a sequence in which the SHADOW homeworld is destroyed and the arch-villain Umbra defeated "once and for all." This differs from most other animated series, where the villain always escaped to fight another day.
Earth, the 23rd Century. A time of robots and aliens, and of destruction and terror. Can the Galactic Patrol, defender of the United Planets stop the evil computer, Umbra? You bet they can, meet Rob Simmons the secret inventor of fiesty Ohno, mighty Tor, versatile Bort, elusive Boo, Bo, the master of the elements, and Crunch, the metal muncher, super robots forging together at Rob's command to form Mighty Orbots, champion of the Universe.
— opening narration
The 23rd Century, the future is a time of robots and aliens. The people of Earth have banded together along with several other peaceful alien races to promote peace throughout the galaxy, forming the United Planets. As part of the United Planets, the Galactic Patrol — a body of law-enforcers — works to maintain order, under the leadership of Commander Rondu. [8] However, a powerful criminal organization called SHADOW is out to destroy both the Galactic Patrol and the U.P. Led by Lord Umbra, a massive cyborg- computer, SHADOW employs sinister agents and incredible schemes to attack and someday rule over all corners of the known-galaxy.
There is one thing that helps to fight against SHADOW: ingenious inventor Rob Simmons — secretly a member of the Galactic Patrol — creates six special robots who can use their unique powers to battle against the forces of Umbra. Together, these robots can unite to form a giant robot called Mighty Orbots, to fight for truth, justice and peace for all.
No. | Title | Written by | Original air date | |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | "Magnetic Menace" | Michael Reaves & Kimmer Ringwald | September 8, 1984 | |
Bo and Boo go to see rock star robots Dragos and Drax in concert, unaware that they're SHADOW agents. | ||||
2 | "The Wish World" | Michael Reaves | September 15, 1984 | |
Ohno worries that Rob doesn't appreciate her because she's a robot and travels to the Wishworld to become human. | ||||
3 | "Trapped on the Prehistoric Planet" | Marc Scott Zicree | September 22, 1984 | |
SHADOW agent Mentallus lures the team to a world populated by deadly monsters. | ||||
4 | "The Dremloks" | Michael Reaves | September 29, 1984 | |
SHADOW take over the minds of a race of Ewok-like aliens. | ||||
5 | "Devil's Asteroid" | Buzz Dixon | October 6, 1984 | |
Mighty Orbots are framed as rampaging menaces and sent to the prison Devil's Asteroid for 999 years of hard labor. | ||||
6 | "Raid on the Stellar Queen" | Marc Scott Zicree | October 13, 1984 | |
The luxury space liner The Stellar Queen is captured by pirates while Bort struggles with feeling useless on the team. | ||||
7 | "The Jewel of Targon" | David Wise | October 20, 1984 | |
While on patrol, Bo, Bort and Crunch find a beautiful gem and Bo decides to take it home to Earth, unaware of its deadly secret. | ||||
8 | "The Phoenix Factor" | Donald F. Glut & Douglas Booth | October 27, 1984 | |
A number of machines, including Ohno, are infected with a virus that makes them run amok. | ||||
9 | "Leviathan" | David Wise | November 3, 1984 | |
SHADOW has taken control of a massive whale named Leviathan in order to steal the Solar Sphere from its underwater tomb. | ||||
10 | "The Cosmic Circus" | Donald F. Glut & Douglas Booth | November 17, 1984 | |
The Orbots infiltrate a circus used by Umbra. | ||||
11 | "A Tale of Two Thieves" | Buzz Dixon | November 24, 1984 | |
Crunch befriends a young boy (The Kid) unaware that the child is working with a thief (Klepto) that stole the Proteus Pod with plans to sell it to SHADOW. | ||||
12 | "Operation Eclipse" | Marc Scott Zicree | December 1, 1984 | |
Rondu's old friend Drennen meets the Orbots, and claims to have a way to stop Umbra. But does he have an ulterior motive? | ||||
13 | "The Invasion of the Shadow Star" | Michael Reaves | December 15, 1984 | |
The Orbots come across blueprints of another robotic team, and fear they're being replaced. They decide to fight Umbra on their own, at the risk of their own lives. |
Victor Entertainment released the series in Japan via home video. On April 17, 2018, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment released the series on DVD via their Warner Archive Collection label (via Turner Entertainment Co., the owner of the pre-May 1986 MGM library) in North America. [9]
Mighty Orbots | |
マイティ・オーボッツ (Maiti ōbottsu) | |
---|---|
Genre | Adventure, Comedy, Mecha |
Created by | Barry Glasser |
Anime television series | |
Directed by | Osamu Dezaki |
Produced by | George Singer Tatsuo Ikeuchi Nobuo Inada |
Written by | Michael Reaves |
Music by | Yuji Ohno |
Studio |
MGM/UA Television TMS Entertainment Intermedia Entertainment |
Licensed by | |
Original network | ABC |
Original run | September 8, 1984 – December 15, 1984 |
Episodes | 13 |
Mighty Orbots (マイティ・オーボッツ, Maiti Ōbottsu) is a 1984 American-Japanese super robot animated series created in a joint collaboration of TMS Entertainment and Intermedia Entertainment in association with MGM/UA Television. [1] It was directed by veteran anime director Osamu Dezaki and features character designs by Akio Sugino. [2] The series aired from September 8, 1984, to December 15, 1984, on Saturday mornings in the United States on ABC. [3] [4]
Mighty Orbots was developed from an idea pitched by Fred Silverman, possibly in response to the popularity of other robot-related properties. [5] The original six-minute "pilot" featured a slightly different version of Mighty Orbots called Broots (pronounced "Brutes"). Rob and Ohno looked similar to their 'finished' selves, though definitively more late 70s-like. The Orbots, while having the same names as in the finished product, are subtly different, and obviously unfinished. Even their combined form aka "Super-Broots" would go through some more developmental evolution before becoming Mighty Orbots. It was produced by Tokyo Movie Shinsha and Intermedia Entertainment in association with MGM/UA Television for both the United States for the television broadcast and Japan via home video. Unlike many other shows of its kind, Mighty Orbots was not simply a translated Japanese import. The series was directed by anime industry veteran Osamu Dezaki with storyboard work by Dezaki's brother Satoshi Dezaki, character designs by Akio Sugino, and animation by Shingo Araki.
The main theme song used in the show introduction and throughout the series was created by Steve Rucker and Thomas Chase, with lead vocals provided by Warren Stanyer. [6] The music was composed by Yuji Ohno.
The series lasted only a single season of thirteen episodes, mostly due to a lawsuit between the show's creators and toymaker Tonka, who accused them of causing brand confusion with their GoBots franchise's "Mighty Robots, Mighty Vehicles" advertising campaign. [7] The episodes aired on ABC and some episodes were later released on VHS by MGM/UA Home Video. Despite its short run, the series has a dedicated fan base today. The series' narration was done by voice-actor Gary Owens, who was the voice of Hanna-Barbera's Space Ghost in the 1960s and Dynomutt, Dog Wonder's human straight man Blue Falcon in the late 1970s.
Mighty Orbots is one of only a small number of Saturday morning cartoons to have a definite series finale: the final episode, "Invasion of the Shadow Star," ends with a sequence in which the SHADOW homeworld is destroyed and the arch-villain Umbra defeated "once and for all." This differs from most other animated series, where the villain always escaped to fight another day.
Earth, the 23rd Century. A time of robots and aliens, and of destruction and terror. Can the Galactic Patrol, defender of the United Planets stop the evil computer, Umbra? You bet they can, meet Rob Simmons the secret inventor of fiesty Ohno, mighty Tor, versatile Bort, elusive Boo, Bo, the master of the elements, and Crunch, the metal muncher, super robots forging together at Rob's command to form Mighty Orbots, champion of the Universe.
— opening narration
The 23rd Century, the future is a time of robots and aliens. The people of Earth have banded together along with several other peaceful alien races to promote peace throughout the galaxy, forming the United Planets. As part of the United Planets, the Galactic Patrol — a body of law-enforcers — works to maintain order, under the leadership of Commander Rondu. [8] However, a powerful criminal organization called SHADOW is out to destroy both the Galactic Patrol and the U.P. Led by Lord Umbra, a massive cyborg- computer, SHADOW employs sinister agents and incredible schemes to attack and someday rule over all corners of the known-galaxy.
There is one thing that helps to fight against SHADOW: ingenious inventor Rob Simmons — secretly a member of the Galactic Patrol — creates six special robots who can use their unique powers to battle against the forces of Umbra. Together, these robots can unite to form a giant robot called Mighty Orbots, to fight for truth, justice and peace for all.
No. | Title | Written by | Original air date | |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | "Magnetic Menace" | Michael Reaves & Kimmer Ringwald | September 8, 1984 | |
Bo and Boo go to see rock star robots Dragos and Drax in concert, unaware that they're SHADOW agents. | ||||
2 | "The Wish World" | Michael Reaves | September 15, 1984 | |
Ohno worries that Rob doesn't appreciate her because she's a robot and travels to the Wishworld to become human. | ||||
3 | "Trapped on the Prehistoric Planet" | Marc Scott Zicree | September 22, 1984 | |
SHADOW agent Mentallus lures the team to a world populated by deadly monsters. | ||||
4 | "The Dremloks" | Michael Reaves | September 29, 1984 | |
SHADOW take over the minds of a race of Ewok-like aliens. | ||||
5 | "Devil's Asteroid" | Buzz Dixon | October 6, 1984 | |
Mighty Orbots are framed as rampaging menaces and sent to the prison Devil's Asteroid for 999 years of hard labor. | ||||
6 | "Raid on the Stellar Queen" | Marc Scott Zicree | October 13, 1984 | |
The luxury space liner The Stellar Queen is captured by pirates while Bort struggles with feeling useless on the team. | ||||
7 | "The Jewel of Targon" | David Wise | October 20, 1984 | |
While on patrol, Bo, Bort and Crunch find a beautiful gem and Bo decides to take it home to Earth, unaware of its deadly secret. | ||||
8 | "The Phoenix Factor" | Donald F. Glut & Douglas Booth | October 27, 1984 | |
A number of machines, including Ohno, are infected with a virus that makes them run amok. | ||||
9 | "Leviathan" | David Wise | November 3, 1984 | |
SHADOW has taken control of a massive whale named Leviathan in order to steal the Solar Sphere from its underwater tomb. | ||||
10 | "The Cosmic Circus" | Donald F. Glut & Douglas Booth | November 17, 1984 | |
The Orbots infiltrate a circus used by Umbra. | ||||
11 | "A Tale of Two Thieves" | Buzz Dixon | November 24, 1984 | |
Crunch befriends a young boy (The Kid) unaware that the child is working with a thief (Klepto) that stole the Proteus Pod with plans to sell it to SHADOW. | ||||
12 | "Operation Eclipse" | Marc Scott Zicree | December 1, 1984 | |
Rondu's old friend Drennen meets the Orbots, and claims to have a way to stop Umbra. But does he have an ulterior motive? | ||||
13 | "The Invasion of the Shadow Star" | Michael Reaves | December 15, 1984 | |
The Orbots come across blueprints of another robotic team, and fear they're being replaced. They decide to fight Umbra on their own, at the risk of their own lives. |
Victor Entertainment released the series in Japan via home video. On April 17, 2018, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment released the series on DVD via their Warner Archive Collection label (via Turner Entertainment Co., the owner of the pre-May 1986 MGM library) in North America. [9]