Mighty Orbots (1984): The Complete Series Coming Soon from Warner Archive (1 Viewer)

[justarandomstan]

Talk about an obscure show. Mighty Orbots is coming out on DVD this April. Never expected this show to make it. Warner Archive is digging deep.

"Earth: the 23rd century. A time of robots and aliens. And of destruction and terror! Can the Galactic Patrol, defender of the United Planets, stop the evil computer Umbra? You bet they can! Meet Rob Simmons, the secret inventor of feisty Ohno; mighty Tor; versatile Bort; elusive Boo; Bo, the master of the elements; and Crunch, the metal muncher! Super robots forging together at Rob's command to form Mighty Orbots, champion of the universe!"This Japanese-American coproduction may have lasted only one season, but thanks to its veteran director, Osamu Dezaki (Astro Boy), and character designs from Akio Sugino (Kimba the White Lion), it's one of the sleekest and most striking action cartoons to be broadcast in a decade brimming with them. So get ready to cheer for six special robots as they defend the agents of the Galactic Patrol from the menace of the criminal organization SHADOW."

Running time: 312 minutes

Release date: 4/17/2018

You can pre - order the show here: https://www.wbshop.com/collections/...roducts/mighty-orbots-the-complete-series-mod

 

[Randy Korstick]

Sad. There are so many great 60's and 70's HB shows left unreleased and for the past year and a half all they release is super obscure 80's shows like this, bisquets, etc. Never even heard of most of them.

 

[Regulus]

Sad. There are so many great 60's and 70's HB shows left unreleased and for the past year and a half all they release is super obscure 80's shows like this, bisquets, etc. Never even heard of most of them.

Looks like Hollywood is casting us Baby Boomers aside, leaving us to enjoy what we got.

 

[Jaytee]

I'll defend this release if no one else will. Yes, Mighty Orbots is hardly a famous cartoon, but then it wouldn't be, having been buried in a legal quagmire for over 30 years, beginning the following year after its debut:

https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=2551841612591080869&hl=en&as_sdt=2&as_vis=1&oi=scholarr

This isn't some bargain-basement level production either; the series features some of the most impressive animation created for television. The animation is so good in fact, that, in all seriousness, it would probably have been better served by a Blu-ray release, although that isn't to say that the forthcoming DVD isn't most welcome.

Warner Archive clearly do some budgeting and research into what they can release and when, and it is frustrating that some series remain unreleased, but this could be due to any number of factors that may be difficult to overcome, such as degraded film prints or video masters, for instance. I won't begrudge any release of vintage material, no matter which decade it's from. Orbots itself is, after all, 34 years old now.

On the subject of its forthcoming DVD in particular, I would hope Warner include the short Broots proof-of-concept pilot film along with all 13 episodes.

 

[JayHink]

I'll defend this release if no one else will. Yes, Mighty Orbots is hardly a famous cartoon, but then it wouldn't be, having been buried in a legal quagmire for over 30 years, beginning the following year after its debut:

https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=2551841612591080869&hl=en&as_sdt=2&as_vis=1&oi=scholarr

This isn't some bargain-basement level production either; the series features some of the most impressive animation created for television. The animation is so good in fact, that, in all seriousness, it would probably have been better served by a Blu-ray release, although that isn't to say that the forthcoming DVD isn't most welcome.

Warner Archive clearly do some budgeting and research into what they can release and when, and it is frustrating that some series remain unreleased, but this could be due to any number of factors that may be difficult to overcome, such as degraded film prints or video masters, for instance. I won't begrudge any release of vintage material, no matter which decade it's from. Orbots itself is, after all, 34 years old now.

On the subject of its forthcoming DVD in particular, I would hope Warner include the short Broots proof-of-concept pilot film along with all 13 episodes.

I'm looking forward to this as well, Jaytee. I was 8 in 1984, so this will be fun to see again & will fit nicely on the shelf with Transformers, GI Joe, Go-bots & others of the era.

We all have our favorites. I'm happy to see releases from all eras...I happily purchase Boomer-era toons as well to add to my library, even though it's not my "personal classic era." Im just happy anything is released to disc these days.

 

[JayHink]

Received my copy the other day. Haven't had a chance to screen yet, but it came on two burned discs, for anyone who cares about that (ordered directly from the Archive).

 

[adelaine]

Mighty Orbots is obscure to you because you weren't part of the 80s market, particularly not the Saturday morning animation market, nor likely the anime market.

Sad. There are so many great 60's and 70's HB shows left unreleased and for the past year and a half all they release is super obscure 80's shows like this, bisquets, etc. Never even heard of most of them.

 

[Ron1973]

Mighty Orbots is obscure to you because you weren't part of the 80s market, particularly not the Saturday morning animation market, nor likely the anime market.

I was very much a part of the 80's Saturday morning animation market and don't remember it. Even to someone who knows about it, I think it would still rank in the "obscure" category just as any other cartoon with a brief run would be. Anyway, welcome to the forum!

 

[adelaine]

I remember nearly everything from the period, though of course I preferred and could watch approximately 1/3 of it. Anything Science Fiction-y* I watched, the more sophisticated the better, and the new animation was not alluding my eye. For example 1981's Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends, I think some of them were done by a Japanese animation house, the first instance of that for the american market (versus Battle of the Planets, being adapted by Sandy Frank, which was out-dated by a few years).

What do you remember?


*I did watch a bit of Fantasy, like The Smurfs, The LIttles (great DIC animation), Dungeons and Dragons (Japanese house again, Toei).

I was very much a part of the 80's Saturday morning animation market and don't remember it. Even to someone who knows about it, I think it would still rank in the "obscure" category just as any other cartoon with a brief run would be. Anyway, welcome to the forum!