Tobot
| Tobot | |
|---|---|
 Opening title card for the English dub of Tobot | |
| Directed by | Dahl Lee |
| Country of origin | South Korean |
| Original language(s) | Korean |
| No. of seasons | 14 |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) |
Young Toys Retrobot |
| Running time | 4 minutes |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | JEI TV |
| Original airing | March 2010 |
Tobot (Korean: 또봇) is a South Korean animated television series produced by Young Toys and Retrobot. The series features transforming cars designed after Kia Motors vehicles.[1]
The series is available in Korean and English on Young Toys' official YouTube channel. The toy line beat Lego as South Korea's most popular toy line in 2013.[2]
Plot
While investigating a string of mysterious car accidents, Dr. Franklin Char is abducted by the perpetrators. This incident activates his creations called "Tobots", cars that transform into robots with a special key called a "Tokey". Dr. Char's first two Tobots, Tobot X and Tobot Y, are entrusted to his twin sons Ryan and Kory, respectively, to fight crime and protect their neighborhood.[1]
Characters
Humans
- Ryan: The first main protagonist.
- Kory: The second main protagonist and Ryan's twin brother.
- Dylan
- Nathan
- Dolly: Ryan and Kory's female classmate.
- Hera Oh: A clumsy female police officer.
- Professor Noh
- Neon
- Dr. Franklin Char: Ryan and Kory's father, and the inventor of the Tobots.
- Mrs. Park: Dolly's obese and overprotective mother.
- Limo: CEO of Booroong Motors and the main antagonist of the series. A former colleague of Dr. Franklin, he instigates a string of mysterious car accidents to get people to buy his cars.
- Diluk: Limo's henchman.
- Heejuk: Diluk's financial manager.
- Angela: Diluk's female assistant.
Tobots
- Tobot X: A yellow Kia Soul that is Ryan's guardian.[3] It is later upgraded into Tobot Evolution X, which is now a futuristic MPV instead of a Kia Soul,[4] and then into Tobot Adventure X, an orange Kia Soul.[5]
- Tobot Y: A blue Kia Forte Koup that is Kory's guardian.[6] It is later upgraded into Tobot Evolution Y, a sleeker sports car,[7] and then into Tobot Adventure Y, a helicopter.[8]
- Tobot Z: A red Kia Sportage R that is Dylan's guardian.[9] It is later upgraded to Tobot Adventure Z, a red Kia Sorento R.[10]
- Tobot W: A white and purple Kia Ray that is Nathan's guardian. It is the first flying Tobot.[11]
- Tobot D: A light green Kia Morning/Picanto that is Dolly's guardian. It is unarmed, but has strong detection and search capabilities. Tobot D initially suffers from stammering due to a defect in its Mindcore chip, but is quickly healed with the help of Dolly and her friends.[12]
- Rescue Tobot C: A Kia K3/Forte police car piloted by Hera Oh.[13]
- Rescue Tobot R: A fire engine piloted by Professor Noh and Neon.[14]
- Tobot Zero: A white Kia Bongo/K2700 tow truck.[15]
- Tobot Adventure K: An olive green military jeep.[16]
- Integrated Robots
- Titan: A combination of Tobot X and Tobot Y.[17]
- Tritan: A combination of Tobot X, Tobot Y, and Tobot Z.[18]
- Quatran: A combination of Tobot C, Tobot D (repainted in white), Tobot R, and Tobot W.[19]
- Deltatron: A combination of Tobot Adventure X (green), Tobot Adventure Z (white), and Tobot D (red), plus a travel trailer.[20]
Production
Young Toys came up with the idea of developing an animated series and related toys during the early 2000s. While Transformers and Power Rangers are popular among older elementary school children, Young Toys decided to Tobot to younger primary school children and kindergarteners. Rather than obtain licenses from animation studios after production, Young Toys did the opposite by developing the animated series and characters from scratch before producing the toys.[21]
Marketing
Between August and October 2014, Young Toys sold the licenses for the Tobot toys and characters to Southeast Asian nations. The series was made available in some Middle Eastern countries in January 2015.[21]
In December 2014, Young Toys erected an eight meter, three ton statue of Deltatron at the Sky Park outside Seoul's Lotte Mall Gimpo International Airport shopping complex to commemorate the fifth anniversary of Tobot. The statue will be on display until 2019.[22]
See also
- Cubix - A 2001 TV series by the same animation studio
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Animation". Young Toys. Retrieved 2015-03-10.
- ↑ Kim Tae-jong (2013-12-26). "Korean toy, Tobot, defeats Lego". The Korea Times. Retrieved 2015-03-10.
- ↑ "Tobot X". Young Toys. Retrieved 2015-03-10.
- ↑ "Tobot Evolution X". Young Toys. Retrieved 2015-03-10.
- ↑ "Tobot Adventure X". Young Toys. Retrieved 2015-03-11.
- ↑ "Tobot Y". Young Toys. Retrieved 2015-03-10.
- ↑ "Tobot Evolution Y". Young Toys. Retrieved 2015-03-10.
- ↑ "Tobot Adventure Y". Young Toys. Retrieved 2015-03-11.
- ↑ "Tobot Z". Young Toys. Retrieved 2015-03-10.
- ↑ "Tobot Adventure Z". Young Toys. Retrieved 2015-03-10.
- ↑ "Tobot W". Young Toys. Retrieved 2015-03-11.
- ↑ "Tobot D". Young Toys. Retrieved 2015-03-10.
- ↑ "Rescue Tobot C". Young Toys. Retrieved 2015-03-10.
- ↑ "Rescue Tobot R". Young Toys. Retrieved 2015-03-10.
- ↑ "Tobot Zero". Young Toys. Retrieved 2015-03-10.
- ↑ "Tobot Adventure K". Young Toys. Retrieved 2015-05-02.
- ↑ "Titan". Young Toys. Retrieved 2015-03-10.
- ↑ "Tritan". Young Toys. Retrieved 2015-03-10.
- ↑ "Quatran". Young Toys. Retrieved 2015-03-10.
- ↑ "Deltatron". Young Toys. Retrieved 2015-03-11.
- ↑ 21.0 21.1 Limb Jae-un (2014-07-11). "Young Toys' transforming robot Tobot popular among kids". Korea.net. Retrieved 2015-03-10.
- ↑ Dong, Bamboo (2014-12-24). "Seoul Erects an 8-Meter, 3-Ton Tobot Kia Robot Statue". Anime News Network. Retrieved 2015-03-10.
External links
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
