Robotech (TV series)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article is about the 1985 Robotech television series. For other uses, see Robotech (disambiguation).
| Robotech (1985) | |
|---|---|
 Title screen from the original broadcast. |
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| Genre | Mecha, Anime, Science Fiction, Space Opera |
| Creator(s) | Harmony Gold, Tatsunoko |
| Starring | (see below) |
| Narrated by | J. Jay Smith |
| Theme music composer | Ulpio Minucci |
| Country of origin |  United States (based on animated content from Japan) |
| No. of episodes | 85 |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) | Carl Macek |
| Executive producer(s) | Ahmed Agrama |
| Running time | 85 x 25 minutes |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | syndicated |
| Picture format | NTSC |
| Audio format | 1.0 monaural (1985) 5.1 surround sound (2004) |
| Original run | March 1985 – July 1985 |
| Chronology | |
| Followed by | Robotech: The Movie Robotech II: The Sentinels Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles |
| Links | |
| Official website | |
| IMDb profile | |
Robotech is an 85-episode animated science fiction television series about three successive extraterrestrial invasions of Earth. Within the context of the show, "Robotech" refers to robotechnology, the advances in science and technology that came about from studying an alien starship that crashed on a South Pacific island. Robotechnology made possible the creation of giant robotic mecha, or fighting machines, many of which were capable of transforming into vehicles (especially fighter planes) for greater battlefield mobility.
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[edit] Background
Robotech was one of the first anime televised in the United States that largely managed to preserve the complexity and drama of its original Japanese source material. Produced by Harmony Gold USA, Inc. in association with Tatsunoko Prod. Co., Ltd., Robotech is a story adapted with edited content and revised dialogue from the animation of three different mecha anime series: The Super Dimension Fortress Macross, Super Dimension Cavalry Southern Cross, and Genesis Climber Mospeada. Harmony Gold's cited reasoning for combining these unrelated series was its decision to market Macross for American weekday syndication television, which required a minimum of 65 episodes at the time (thirteen weeks at five episodes per week). Macross and the two other series each had fewer episodes than required since they originally aired in Japan as weekly series.
[edit] Production History
Harmony Gold hired American writers to adapt the scripts of the three Japanese series. This complicated process was supervised by producer Carl Macek, a pioneer of the anime industry in United States. The adaptation of Robotech was developed in nine months, although writer Gregory Snegoff said in ideal conditions, it should have taken 18 months. The Japanese scriptwriters of the three component series were not credited in the final release.
This combination resulted in a storyline that spans three generations as mankind must fight three destructive Robotech Wars in succession over a powerful energy source called "Protoculture":
- The First Robotech War (The Macross Saga) concerns humanity's battle against the giant Zentraedi warriors who are sent to earth to retrieve the wrecked starship that contains the last known source of Protoculture in the universe.
- In the Second Robotech War (The Robotech Masters), their rulers, the Robotech Masters, attempt to take up where the Zentraedi left off.
- In the Third Robotech War (The New Generation), the alien Invid have been attracted to earth by events that transpired at the end of the Second Robotech War, and it is up to returning elements of the Robotech Expeditionary Force to fight them off.
Notably, the original Japanese Southern Cross was originally intended to be a massive, end-all-be-all space opera, but was cancelled by low ratings in Japan before it could be completed. Its inclusion as part of The Robotech Masters saga actually increased fan awareness of Southern Cross.
[edit] Television Broadcast
- North American television debut: Robotech originally aired in 1985 in first-run syndication, meaning it was sold directly to local television stations without having been run on a network first—this was part of a trend in animation in the 1980s. Previously, local stations would rerun theatrical cartoons like Looney Tunes or shows that had previously aired on network TV on Saturday mornings. This changed after He-Man and the Masters of the Universe introduced a new economic model: shows sold directly for first-run to stations, driving and funded by sales of related toys. Though the original Robotech series did well in ratings, the attempt to cash in on toys may have doomed Robotech II: The Sentinels as the original series attracted older viewers, not necessarily the children targeted by the toy line. The failure of the Matchbox toy line is cited as a primary reason for the cancellation of the Sentinels series.
- International broadcast: In Australia, Robotech was aired in 1980s and late 1990s by both the Seven and Ten networks in different states. Ten cut the series at episode 52, while Seven broadcast all 85 episodes. The Hong Kong cable television channel Star Plus (now Star World) aired all 85 episodes, from May 1994 to January 1995, with changes in time-slots (May-early October 1994, 11:00 a.m. Sundays; October 1994-January 1995, 5:30 p.m. Weekdays).
- Subsequent airings: Robotech appeared on cable television in the 1990s, on both the Sci-Fi Channel, and on Cartoon Network, which made the curious decision to run only episodes 1 through 60, bailing out at the end of the Robotech Masters story-line. Cartoon Network reran selected episodes of Robotech as part of a "Giant Robot" special during Toonami in 2003. KTEH, a public television station in San Jose, California aired the "Macross" and "New Generation" storylines, as well as the Robotech II: The Sentinels feature. Robotech currently airs daily on The Anime Network.
[edit] Home Video Releases
Robotech: The Protoculture Collection from ADV Films
- Family Home Entertainment (FHE) first attempted to release one episode per VHS tape, but only got through a handful of early episodes before abandoning this approach. The company then heavily edited the 36-episode Macross Saga portion into six feature-length tapes, cutting out episode introductions and slower scenes, and ignoring the Masters and New Generation segments entirely. A third VHS run finally succeeded at releasing the entire series with 2 uncut episodes per tape over a total of 42 volumes.
- Palladium Books, which once published a Robotech Role-playing game, also released VHS home videos of part of the series as well as Robotech II: The Sentinels via mail-order.
- Streamline Pictures, founded by Macek after the end of Robotech, released an incomplete series of "Perfect Collection" VHS videos. Each volume included two episodes of Robotech after their corresponding episodes of Macross, Southern Cross, or Mospeada, completely uncut but inaccurately subtitled. This series allowed English-speaking viewers to see many of the changes made.
- AnimEigo, a specialty anime company, released the original Macross series on DVD in 2001 with subtitles and unedited in its pre-Robotech form. The footage was extensively restored from the original film stock by Shin Kurokawa, making this the most pristine release of Macross to date. The final DVD of the series also contains commentary by chief director Noburo Ishiguro. Macross Plus and Macross II are also available on DVD from Manga Entertainment, but the official status of other Macross titles such as Macross 7 and Macross Zero are uncertain, as Harmony Gold's claims to international rights for all Macross-related properties have precluded anyone else from licensing them.
- ADV Films, the largest American distributor of anime, began releasing the entire series on DVD in 2001, typically with six episodes per disc. The first box sets of the series (dubbed the Robotech Legacy Collection) included extra discs with special features ranging from Robotech II: The Sentinels to pre-Robotech dubs of the first Macross and Mospeada episodes. Complete collection box sets were also released, containing all the episodes of each of the 3 Robotech sagas minus the extras discs.
- The restoration of the original Japanese Macross TV series led to speculation among fans that the remastered footage could also be used to create a similarly-remastered version of Robotech. However, Carl Macek stated that a remaster would be impossible at the time because they lacked the necessary source materials, including edit decision lists, unmixed audio elements, and restored video elements for Southern Cross and Mospeada as well as Macross. Some of this (the audio elements and edit lists) had been destroyed in a flood in the late 1980s; some of it (remastered footage for the other two series) had never been available to begin with. But in 2002, a set of off-site audio backup tapes was discovered to include the missing audio elements, and in 2003 ADV delayed its release of the subtitled Southern Cross and Mospeada series by several months in order to remaster them as well. With the remastered footage and audio elements available, ADV was able to forego needing the edit decision list by commissioning the same video production company that had originally edited Robotech to create a new edit of the show. Robotech: Remastered included the restoration of some scenes previously cut from the original Robotech release to conform to broadcast standards and broadcast length requirements, new opening/ending sequences, 5.1 Dolby surround sound with rerecorded sound effects, and new eyecatch sequences.
- Robotech: Remastered is not without its share of controversy. Some fans were upset by the reversal of ADV's position on a remastered Robotech, feeling betrayed because they purchased the expensive Legacy Collection during the time ADV was insisting that there would be no remaster and this would be the best way Robotech would ever be seen on DVD. Other fans feel that the new 5.1 mix is overly loud and lacks subtlety; they prefer the unremastered version of the series because it represents the Robotech that they love and remember as it first aired on television without the distraction of new sound effects. Also, the extent of the new footage is limited to sequences that did not require newly recorded dialogue (though other cut scenes are included, in the original Japanese, on one of the Legacy Collection extras discs). The video quality suffers slightly by comparison to AnimEigo's Macross DVDs: ADV includes 6 episodes per Robotech disc to AnimEigo's 4 per disc of Macross, meaning that more compression is necessary and therefore more compression artifacts appear. However, there is little question that the audio and video quality are substantially improved over the prior Robotech DVD release, and Robotech fans would likely prefer having had two different DVD versions released than none at all.
- In 2003, the original Southern Cross and Genesis Climber Mospeada series were released on DVD in their original Japanese language by ADV Films.
- Finally, in 2005, ADV released yet another box set, Robotech: The Protoculture Collection, containing all the Robotech: Remastered DVDs plus the seven extras discs from the Legacy Collection in one thin-pack box. Detractors criticize these DVD re-releases as part of an industry trend to entice buyers to "double-dip," or buy more than one edition of the same DVD.
- Nevertheless, ADV Films announced at Anime Expo 2005 that they would be creating an uncut dub for Macross, with the original Japanese voice actress Mari Iijima reprising her role as Minmei. This release has been completed, with the first volume being released on January 10, 2006, and the final volume being released on December 19, 2006.
- Manga Entertainment started to release Robotech on DVD as 2 disc sets in the UK in late 2005. These sets are essentially the same as the Robotech: Remastered release from the US, but in different packaging.
- Madman Entertainment released an Australian Region 4 version of the Robotech Legacy Collection boxed sets starting in November 2002 with Volume One and ending with Volume Seven in May 2003, the Australian version almost identical to the original US release, except for not repeating the Gold box mistake.
- Claiming for a long time there wasn't enough demand for subtitle-only DVD releases, Madman eventually chose to test waters with the release of SDF: Macross in March 2004. It was successful enough to secure the release of Southern Cross in July and Mospeada in October of the same year. All three series are released in their own Madman designed box and bare little resemblance to the US releases, many fans preferring the Madman Macross box design over the various US versions.
- When initially asked about the possibility of an Australian release of Robotech: Remastered, Madman claimed that it would not be cost-effective or profitable with the Legacy Collection already in the market, only to change their tune and release the Robotech 20th Anniversary Remastered Extended Edition, a single box with all 14 discs, in June of 2005. The recommended retail price for this box is only a little more than that of two of Legacy Collection boxes, which Madman has not discontinued from the market.
[edit] Original Series Episodes
| The Macross Saga | The Robotech Masters | The New Generation |
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[edit] Original Series cast & crew
[edit] English cast
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[edit] Executive & creative staff
[edit] Production crew
[edit] Music staff
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[edit] Trivia
- Since Robotech was a non-union project, many of the voice actors involved worked under pseudonyms to avoid trouble with their union. The voice actor list printed in Robotech Art One lists the pseudonyms rather than the real names of most of the actors.
- Alexandra Kenworthy, who played Khyron's love interest Azonia, is the mother of Greg Snegoff, who played Khyron.
- Cam Clarke, who provided the speaking voice for the cross-dressing rock star Lancer/Yellow Dancer, is openly gay and has recorded an album of love songs from a gay perspective.
- Several of these voice actors reprised their roles for the video games Robotech: Battlecry and Robotech: Invasion. Many have also returned for roles in Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles—sometimes portraying different roles than in the original Robotech. For example, Eddie Frierson (Lynn Kyle) plays Dr. Louie Nichols in Shadow Chronicles.
[edit] Continuing after the Original Series
- Harmony Gold attempted to produce several follow ups (see Robotech: Sequels and spinoffs) to the original series, most notably Robotech II: The Sentinels, but only enough footage for a single feature was completed. The project fell through due to problems with toy licensing and changes in the Japanese yen-US Dollar exchange rate, among other reasons. The Sentinels saga continued to be chronicled in the novelizations by Jack McKinney and comic book adaptations by the Waltrip brothers.
- A disastrous reception by the fans to the Robotech: The Movie screening in Texas led to Cannon Films pulling the feature from release in 1986. Director Carl Macek has gone on record as disowning it.
- A disastrous reception by the fans to the Robotech 3000 trailer in 2000 led to Harmony Gold to cancelling the project before any more footage was completed.
- Announced at Anime Expo 2004, the latest incarnation to be produced is Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles. The first teaser trailer debuted one year later at Anime Expo 2005 for the 20th anniversary of Robotech. The 88-minute movie premiered at various film festivals in 2006 and a limited theatrical run in January 2007, but the DVD release was delayed until February 6, 2007. Whether it will be followed by a TV series or a series of OVAs has yet to be announced.
[edit] External links
Official Sites:
- ROBOTECH.COM - Harmony Gold's official Robotech website.
- ADV Films - The current distributor of Robotech DVDs.
- Manga Entertainment UKs Robotech section
Fan Sites: (English)
- Robotech Museum - A historical archive of Robotech collectibles.
- The Robotech Companion - Extensive Robotech episode and background information.
- Chronology Central's Robotech page - Chronologically integrated listing of the cartoon and comic storylines.
- U.E.Group - Dedicated to Robotech 3D fan film projects.
Fan Sites: (International)
- Super Dimensional Site - French fansite about the Robotech universe.
- Robotech Union @ China - Chinese language fansite dedicated to Robotech.
- Robotech Espanol - Spanish language fansite with the latest news and rumors
- Herederos de Zor Argentina - Spanish language fan club seen on Latin American TV.
- РОБОТЕК - All about Robotech in Russian.
- Macross-City Russia - Russian language fansite with the latest news and external subtitles.
- Robotech Mordecai Youth Inertia - Japanese language fan site of the Robotech Clone comics.
| Robotech | |
|---|---|
| Animation | Robotech (TV series) • Robotech: The Movie • The Sentinels • Robotech 3000 • The Shadow Chronicles |
| Video games | Robotech: Crystal Dreams • Robotech: Battlecry • The Macross Saga • Invasion • The New Generation |
| Franchise | Art books • Collectible card games • Comics • Novels • Music and Soundtracks • Role-playing games |
| Robotech Wars | First Robotech War • Malcontent Uprisings • Second Robotech War • Third Robotech War |
