The Mighty Orbots
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| The Mighty Orbots | |
|---|---|
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| Genre | Mecha |
| TV anime | |
| Directed by | Osamu Dezaki |
| Studio | TMS Entertainment |
| Network | ABC |
| Original run | September 8, 1984 – December 15, 1985 |
| No. of episodes | 13 |
The Mighty Orbots is an American/Japanese animated series that aired in 1984 on Saturday mornings in the United States.
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[edit] Series plot
Earth, now part of an interplanetary alliance, is under attack from Umbra, a gigantic bio-computer that lives inside the giant Shadow Star. Young genius Rob Simmons creates 6 robots with artificial intelligence to serve as the alliance's main defense. These five "orbots" each have distinct personalities and abilities. They can also join together to form Mighty Orbots, a giant robot that amplifies the abilities of each component.
[edit] Series history
The Mighty Orbots was developed from an idea pitched by Fred Silverman, possibly in response to the popularity of other robot-related properties such as Transformers. It was produced by Tokyo Movie Shinsha and Intermedia Entertainment for both the United States and Japan (where it was never broadcast but was released on home video). Unlike so many other shows of its kind, The Mighty Orbots was not simply a translated Japanese import.
The series lasted only a single season of thirteen episodes, due to a lawsuit between the show's creators and Tonka who accused them of basing the cartoon on their GoBots toyline. The episodes aired on ABC. But they couldn't compete against the soft cartoons that were opposite them, Muppet Babies on CBS & The Smurfs on NBC.
[edit] The Orbots
- Tor provided the strength of the group, and served as Mighty Orbots' body. Tor's personality resembled a kind boxer: no genius, but dependable and trustworthy. (Tor's head would retract inside his body to make room for Mighty Orbots' head.)
- Bort could change into any machine he needed to, and served as one of Mighty Orbots' legs. Bort stammered quite a bit, and came across rather nervous and sometimes uncertain of his identity or place on the team (in one episode Tor describes him as having "a built-in identity crisis"), but was the most versatile of the group. As part of Mighty Orbots he supplied the power to change the gestalt's hands into various tools.
- Bo was the elemental female Orbot, and served as one of Mighty Orbots' arms. She can manipulate the four elements of fire, wind, water and earth and also limited control over the weather. Bo could appear insensitive and overconfident at times, and had a habit of playing mean pranks, but had the personality of a strong, reliable female.
- Boo was the female Orbot who could distort perception, and served as the other arm of Mighty Orbots. She can turn herself and others invisible, can create holograms and teleport. Boo was the shy ingenue of the team, although she's as valiant as the others in combat.
- Crunch was the "glutton" of the team, and served as the other leg of Mighty Orbots, as well as the giant robot's primary energy source. Crunch could eat anything and everything, any time and all the time and then convert the matter into energy for the team's united form.
- Ono (or "Oh No") was the "mother hen" for the rest of the Orbots, and served as co-pilot and the "key" for the Mighty Orbots united form. Ono appeared to be a little girl, but she was second in command after the Orbots Commander, and everybody knew it.
- Orbots Commander was the only human of the team. Rob Simmons, the Orbots' creator, was secretly the Orbots Commander. Rob used a device to change his standard lab smock & clothes into the uniform and helmet of the commander (The "Omni-suit"). Aside from his leadership, his participation in the control center is essential for the united form to operate with maximum effectiveness.
[edit] Other Characters
- Rondu was the commander of the Galactic Patrol. A member of a race of humanoid aliens with psychic powers, Rondu was the only one (outside the orbots) who knew that Rob was the Orbots Commander.
- Dia was Rondu's daughter. A skilled Galactic Patrol officer,Dia was quite interested in the Orbots Commander, while more or less treating Rob as nothing more than a friend.
- Umbra was the mastermind of the Shadow Organization. A cyborg computer whose visage consisted of five eyes and a mouth, Umbra constantly plotted to take over the Galaxy. In each episode he would pit one of his agents with their own deadly power or secret weapon against the Mighty Orbots.
[edit] Episode list
- Magnetic Menace (8 September 1984)
- The Wish World (15 September 1984)
- Trapped on the Prehistoric Planet (22 September 1984)
- The Dremloks (29 September 1984)
- Devil's Asteroid (06 October 1984)
- Raid on the Stellar Queen (13 October 1984)
- The Jewel of Targon (20 October 1984)
- The Phoenix Factor (27 October 1984)
- Leviathan (3 November 1984)
- The Cosmic Circus (17 November 1984)
- A Tale of Two Thieves (24 November 1984)
- Operation Eclipse (1 December 1984)
- The Invasion of the Shadow Star (15 December 1984)
[edit] Trivia
- The Mighty Orbots had a prototype toy that was a repaint of the Japanese Six God Combination Godmars robot.[1] The design of the assembly and disassembly of the Orbots is modeled after Godmars. The toy was not released due to the backlash from the lawsuit that led to the show's cancellation.
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- The Mighty Orbots at the Internet Movie Database
- Arioch's Mighty Orbots Page - a fansite that has the most extensive database of Orbots-related information.
