Fan Page: MIGHTY ORBOTS

[captain-slinky.livejournal.com]

HOW IS THIS CARTOON NOT MORE POPULAR?!?!? When the 80's nostalgia wave hit, I was SURE that this one would have been bigger than Thundercats or any of the other 3rd-string cartoons that have garnered huge cult fan followings which created a demand for DVD's, Toys, T-Shirts and other merchandise.

Share your thoughts on the matter in the comments below, and then don't forget to go and vote for this show in our Best of 1984 Poll :)

Comments

[aurora77]

I... I honestly don't know. I loved this one as a kid. I was thrilled when I found it on a bootleg DVD. I guess it just lacks something that I can't quite put my finger on.

I'll try, though. It tries a little too hard to be too many things at once? It's neither obviously for boys or for girls. It's got too much cute/girly stuff for many boys, and many girls weren't into the sci-fi space robot thing. It also had to compete with Muppet Babies and Smurfs in the same timeslot in most markets. Just guessing here on the reasons, but that combo of issues probably meant it didn't get the attention it deserved.

[broken-skai.livejournal.com]

I loved this show. I thought the animation was top notch and seemed clearer, with more attention to detail than that of He-Man or Scooby Doo. Of course, this was before I understood that some cartoons are animated and drawn by japanese animators. Back then, some cartoons just seemed to be drawn better than others... and I thought it was all American stuff. Just compare the intro to He-Man with the intro to the 80's Thundercats. As for what went wrong with Mighty Orbots, I think you're right. With the commentator, the personality of the robots, the orbots commander who was supposed to have a secret identity but like Superman, never wore a mask or anything... and people couldn't figure out who he was? It just tried to be to many things at once. You couldn't really take it seriously when the story and the action called for the audience to take things seriously. Plus it became kind of predictable in that you know that the good guys are gonna win in the end, no matter what. I think all cartoons of that era were predictable in that sense. Still, it was an awesome cartoon!

[grayalynn.livejournal.com]

Loved it.

[artytoons.livejournal.com]

Tokyo Movie Shinisha produced the series for MGM in the US...a natural for giant robo anime stories.

The individual Orbots robots were humorous (Bo, Boo, Torg, Bort, and Crunch) and had interesting personalities...although when they joined together into one robot...the gestalt (little pieces becoming one big piece) robot didn't exhibit much of a personality of its own.

Gary Owens was the narrator although his speaking tone seemed too comical when th action got serious on screen...it didn't fit too well. If Owens spoke like his Space Ghost character...maybe that would have helped.

[tohoscope.livejournal.com]

Orbots rocked. I remember getting up early just to watch Orbots. Loved it.