Mighty Orbots
A 1984 super robot series with a single season and a definitive ending.
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Mighty Orbots is a 1984 super robot animated series that aired on Saturday mornings on ABC from September 8 to December 15, 1984.[1] TMS Entertainment, Intermedia Entertainment, and MGM/UA Television jointly produced the 1984 super robot animated series.[1] Osamu Dezaki directed the series, and Akio Sugino handled the character designs.[1]
Making and release
ABC began broadcasting Mighty Orbots in the fall of 1984.[2] The series lasted only one season of thirteen episodes, largely due to a lawsuit from toymaker Tonka.[3] Tonka accused the creators of brand confusion with their GoBots franchise's "Mighty Robots, Mighty Vehicles" campaign.[3] Fred Silverman pitched the concept for the series, which may have been inspired by the success of other robot-themed shows.[4]
Warren Stanyer sang lead vocals on the main theme, which Steve Rucker and Thomas Chase composed.[5] Yuji Ohno wrote the series' musical score.[5] MGM/UA Home Video put out some episodes on VHS cassettes.[3] Warner Bros. Home Entertainment, via its Warner Archive Collection, issued the series on DVD in North America on April 17, 2018.[6]
What the cited sources add
An Otaku USA Magazine article notes that the Orbots were built by a super genius named Rob Simmons.[2] The same source reports that the animation quality was notably fluid, with 15-16 objects moving on screen compared to 2-3 in most cartoons of the era.[2] The article attributes the excellent animation to director Osamu Dezaki and animation director Akio Sugino.[2] The series had a limited afterlife with a broadcast in Japan in 1988 and VHS releases from MGM Home Video.[2]
The show's cancellation after one year and its low ratings are attributed by the source to the absence of a toy line.[2]
References
- Wikipedia, "Mighty Orbots" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "The Mike Toole Show - Orbots Almighty", Anime News Network, 28 August 2023; "Mighty Orbots: A Look Back", Otaku USA Magazine, 5 July 2011; "List of Titles", April 6, 2019; Erickson, "Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003", McFarland & Co, 2005, p. 549–550 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- "Mighty Orbots: A Look Back", Otaku USA Magazine, 5 July 2011. facts only, no text reused. otakuusamagazine.com
- Wikipedia, "Mighty Orbots" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Tonka Corp. v. TMS Entertainment, Inc., 638 F. Supp. 386 (D. Minn. 1985)", Justia Law (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Mighty Orbots" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Jensen, "Year of the Robot, Part 1: How Go-Bots, Transformers, Voltron, and Mighty Orbots conquered the world", SYFY WIRE, 17 December 2014 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Mighty Orbots" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "The Mighty Orbots (TV Series 1984– ) - IMDb" (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Mighty Orbots" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "TVShowsOnDVD.com - Goodbye", www.tvshowsondvd.com, 28 May 2024 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Mighty Orbots (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
More in Television Series Set in the 23rd Century
Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Mighty Orbots (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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