That's okay, I don't think you were the only one to make that same mistake.
When you Wish Upon a Frog (Book II of the Jim Henson at Disney saga)
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Best Forgotten '90s Sci-Fi
The Five Best Forgotten Sci-Fi TV Series of the Early 1990s
From Five Alive! Netsite, posted May 4th, 2018
The 1990s had some epic and legendary science fiction shows, from Star Trek to Ringworld to Babylon Five to The X-Files. But what about those forgotten science fiction shows that we all love? Here’s our Five Alive:
#5 – Tek War
It’s the William Shatner vanity project that’s so bad it’s incredible! Based on the novel series “written” by Shatner (actually ghostwriter Ron Goulart), this “drug war IN SPACE” action series was a cult favorite from the start. Tek War was the inaugural tentpole for the SciFi Channel when it debuted in the fall of 1992. It starred Bruce Boxleitner as Jake Cardigan, a tough-as-nails PI who is (naturally) wrongly accused of crimes in the first episode and has to clear his name. Shatner himself joins the cast, where he brings his (h)A(m) game to the role of the CEO of the Cosmos Security firm. The effects are just bad enough to be good and the acting and writing just bad enough to be unintentionally brilliant. Take this line: Policeman: “I play by the rules.” Jake: “Then start a band!”. Audience: (sighs and rolls eyes) “Brilliant.” It’s also the series that introduced sci-fi fans to the great Marina Sirtis as the android investigator Sam Houston (in a flagrant rip-off of SpaPo) and Torri Higgenson as, naturally, a doctor. While it only survived two seasons, mostly driven by Camp fans, Tek War lives on as a cult hit. And while it’s no Space Police, it’s still an entertaining sci-fi procedural. Watch it now. Bring lots of popcorn and your two favorite wisecracking robots.
#4 – M.A.N.T.I.S.
Brought to you by the great Sam Raimi and Sam Hamm, M.A.N.T.I.S. is a sci-fi superhero series about a disabled scientist using an experimental robot suit, the Mechanically Augmented NeuroTransmitter Interactive System, or M.A.N.T.I.S., in order to fight evil. And if that alone didn’t sell you, nothing will. After struggling through a single season on PFN, Sci-Fi picked it up where it eked out three beloved seasons. Best known today for introducing sci-fi fans to the great Gina Torres, this is pure Raimi: dark, campy, action-oriented, just violent enough to entertain while avoiding the T rating, quirky, and brilliant. It’s also a shining star of diversity in casting for the time. If you like Raimi or you like superheroes or you like Gundam then you’ll like this.
#3 – The Continuing Adventures of the Lone Ranger
Not quite this!!
And you can’t talk about Sam Raimi without Bruce Campbell showing up! Yes, the star of another overlooked sci-fi gem, the Lucasfilm Buck Rogers, Campbell went full Steam Romance in this deliberately uber-campy but incredibly action-oriented sci-fi western series created by Jeffrey Boam and Carlton Cuse. Campbell, as the titular Ranger, stole every scene, made all the better by such supporting actors as the great Michael Horse as Tonto, Julius Carrey as the friendly rival Josiah Bass, the sexy Kelly Rutherford, and the legendary John Astin. It played on NBC where it made two quite-successful seasons that were so intense of a production that it broke the budget and wore out the cast and crew, so seasons 3-4 ended up with John as the local sheriff in a lower-budget, reduced action follow-up that made bank on Fantasia. Come on, ya’ lunk. Go and see it, already!
#2 – Galaxy University
Sort of like this… (Image source Shutterstock)
And speaking (earlier) about Space Police, Gerry Anderson’s Thunderbird Productions launched this sci-fi college comedy as a sort-of spinoff of SpaPo where Lieutenant Chuck Brogan’s niece Callie (Lena Headey) goes to the titular institute of higher learning and interacts with a variety of strange aliens in this “out of the nest” comedy. From her literally pig-headed roommate Swansa (voiced by Rachel Weisz) to her literally reptilian nemesis the alpha-bitch Garla (voiced by Sadie Frost) to her many obnoxious professors, like the Lovecraftian Dr. (unintelligible shrieking sound), who will surely remind you of that one teacher that you had, Callie goes through all of the usual trials and tribble-ations of college life, including the struggles of finding a date when there are literally only three eligible human boys on campus, and they all suck in different ways. Heavy on the SITCOM tropes, and yet willing to address some very complex issues like LGBTQ identity and student-teacher affairs (albeit very indirectly through some bizarre alien reproductive biology), GalUni became a hit follow-on to SpaPo in the UK even as it made middling numbers on Fantasia in North America (where it was known as Space College (SpaCo?) to avoid a lawsuit from the makers of the old ‘80s animated kids’ show Galaxy High). If you haven’t seen it, then there is something seriously missing in your life that you need to fix, right now.
#1 – Doorways
In the early 1990s, R-rated fantasy author George R. R. Martin took some time away from writing about sex and dragons (and sex on dragons) and teamed up with Robert K. Weiss and Tracy Torméto produce the brilliant dimension-hopping series Doorways[1], a PG-rated story of parallel universes, a mysterious “Dark Lord”, and a strange sort of cyberpunk-meets-dark fantasy twist. Led by the great Jerry O'Connell and featuring sci-fi legends like Max Grodénchik and Carrie Anne Moss, the dimension-hopping show took advantage of great writing by Martin and his team to create a sci-fi classic that was greatly beloved across its four seasons on PFN, and yet is for some infernal reason largely forgotten today. Not enough tits, I guess? It was brilliant, even if the time he took off from his Song of Ice and Fire series to make it is widely agreed to be the main reason why he still hasn’t written the final book in that series. Well, in a universe where this show died as a pilot they may have the last book, but they don’t have Doorways, so it sucks to be them. Is it not time for a reboot? Just sayin’.
[1] Hat tip to @nick_crenshaw82.
From Five Alive! Netsite, posted May 4th, 2018
The 1990s had some epic and legendary science fiction shows, from Star Trek to Ringworld to Babylon Five to The X-Files. But what about those forgotten science fiction shows that we all love? Here’s our Five Alive:
#5 – Tek War
It’s the William Shatner vanity project that’s so bad it’s incredible! Based on the novel series “written” by Shatner (actually ghostwriter Ron Goulart), this “drug war IN SPACE” action series was a cult favorite from the start. Tek War was the inaugural tentpole for the SciFi Channel when it debuted in the fall of 1992. It starred Bruce Boxleitner as Jake Cardigan, a tough-as-nails PI who is (naturally) wrongly accused of crimes in the first episode and has to clear his name. Shatner himself joins the cast, where he brings his (h)A(m) game to the role of the CEO of the Cosmos Security firm. The effects are just bad enough to be good and the acting and writing just bad enough to be unintentionally brilliant. Take this line: Policeman: “I play by the rules.” Jake: “Then start a band!”. Audience: (sighs and rolls eyes) “Brilliant.” It’s also the series that introduced sci-fi fans to the great Marina Sirtis as the android investigator Sam Houston (in a flagrant rip-off of SpaPo) and Torri Higgenson as, naturally, a doctor. While it only survived two seasons, mostly driven by Camp fans, Tek War lives on as a cult hit. And while it’s no Space Police, it’s still an entertaining sci-fi procedural. Watch it now. Bring lots of popcorn and your two favorite wisecracking robots.
#4 – M.A.N.T.I.S.
Brought to you by the great Sam Raimi and Sam Hamm, M.A.N.T.I.S. is a sci-fi superhero series about a disabled scientist using an experimental robot suit, the Mechanically Augmented NeuroTransmitter Interactive System, or M.A.N.T.I.S., in order to fight evil. And if that alone didn’t sell you, nothing will. After struggling through a single season on PFN, Sci-Fi picked it up where it eked out three beloved seasons. Best known today for introducing sci-fi fans to the great Gina Torres, this is pure Raimi: dark, campy, action-oriented, just violent enough to entertain while avoiding the T rating, quirky, and brilliant. It’s also a shining star of diversity in casting for the time. If you like Raimi or you like superheroes or you like Gundam then you’ll like this.
#3 – The Continuing Adventures of the Lone Ranger
Not quite this!!
And you can’t talk about Sam Raimi without Bruce Campbell showing up! Yes, the star of another overlooked sci-fi gem, the Lucasfilm Buck Rogers, Campbell went full Steam Romance in this deliberately uber-campy but incredibly action-oriented sci-fi western series created by Jeffrey Boam and Carlton Cuse. Campbell, as the titular Ranger, stole every scene, made all the better by such supporting actors as the great Michael Horse as Tonto, Julius Carrey as the friendly rival Josiah Bass, the sexy Kelly Rutherford, and the legendary John Astin. It played on NBC where it made two quite-successful seasons that were so intense of a production that it broke the budget and wore out the cast and crew, so seasons 3-4 ended up with John as the local sheriff in a lower-budget, reduced action follow-up that made bank on Fantasia. Come on, ya’ lunk. Go and see it, already!
#2 – Galaxy University
Sort of like this… (Image source Shutterstock)
And speaking (earlier) about Space Police, Gerry Anderson’s Thunderbird Productions launched this sci-fi college comedy as a sort-of spinoff of SpaPo where Lieutenant Chuck Brogan’s niece Callie (Lena Headey) goes to the titular institute of higher learning and interacts with a variety of strange aliens in this “out of the nest” comedy. From her literally pig-headed roommate Swansa (voiced by Rachel Weisz) to her literally reptilian nemesis the alpha-bitch Garla (voiced by Sadie Frost) to her many obnoxious professors, like the Lovecraftian Dr. (unintelligible shrieking sound), who will surely remind you of that one teacher that you had, Callie goes through all of the usual trials and tribble-ations of college life, including the struggles of finding a date when there are literally only three eligible human boys on campus, and they all suck in different ways. Heavy on the SITCOM tropes, and yet willing to address some very complex issues like LGBTQ identity and student-teacher affairs (albeit very indirectly through some bizarre alien reproductive biology), GalUni became a hit follow-on to SpaPo in the UK even as it made middling numbers on Fantasia in North America (where it was known as Space College (SpaCo?) to avoid a lawsuit from the makers of the old ‘80s animated kids’ show Galaxy High). If you haven’t seen it, then there is something seriously missing in your life that you need to fix, right now.
#1 – Doorways
In the early 1990s, R-rated fantasy author George R. R. Martin took some time away from writing about sex and dragons (and sex on dragons) and teamed up with Robert K. Weiss and Tracy Torméto produce the brilliant dimension-hopping series Doorways[1], a PG-rated story of parallel universes, a mysterious “Dark Lord”, and a strange sort of cyberpunk-meets-dark fantasy twist. Led by the great Jerry O'Connell and featuring sci-fi legends like Max Grodénchik and Carrie Anne Moss, the dimension-hopping show took advantage of great writing by Martin and his team to create a sci-fi classic that was greatly beloved across its four seasons on PFN, and yet is for some infernal reason largely forgotten today. Not enough tits, I guess? It was brilliant, even if the time he took off from his Song of Ice and Fire series to make it is widely agreed to be the main reason why he still hasn’t written the final book in that series. Well, in a universe where this show died as a pilot they may have the last book, but they don’t have Doorways, so it sucks to be them. Is it not time for a reboot? Just sayin’.
[1] Hat tip to @nick_crenshaw82.
I've never heard of Malian blues until you wrote that, @Geekhis Khan - might check it out.
Oh my sweet summer child...
Interestingly, the big reason for the reason why Feast for Crows and Dance With Dragons (OTL) took so long and why we still don't have Winds of Winter OTL, according to him at least, is that he didn't put in a greater Time Skip between Robert's Rebellion and the present - he's since commented that the younger characters are too young for the plotlines he'd intended for them. Perhaps he does a longer time skip ITTL and that's why he's actually slightly ahead (this implies we actually do have Winds of Winter).
The other reason is that the plots have progressed too slowly, which would probably apply ITTL as well as OTL, given the likely shitload of plotlines that is going to be in both.
I'd love to see an ASOIAF that contains a lot of the ideas GRRM dropped (as seen in his original outline which he sent to his publisher) - in particular, Jamie Lannister as a villain and Tyrion being the one who besieges Winterfell rather than Theon (and murdering Joffrey himself).
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Tek War- as long as Shatner did not sing this is probably good campy fun. Nice casting there since they where not on other shows.
M.A.N.T.I.S. - does sound like fun. What I have seen of it OTL looks like a show from before its time. It would rock with modern sfx heh Raimi?
The Continuing Adventures of the Lone Ranger -now there is a production history, bounced around all over the place to make 4 seasons. Seems like it was a fun one, though I suspect ITTL wouldn't got for it.
Galaxy University - Was the creature SFX done by the London branch of Creatureworks?
Doorways- is this effectively Sliders by RR Martin? Seems like an interesting show with a good cast. ITTL me would likely watch it. Wonder if Martin can get the Wild Cards books made into a series now?
Nice round up of the lesser known Sci-Fi shows there @Geekhis Khan !
M.A.N.T.I.S. - does sound like fun. What I have seen of it OTL looks like a show from before its time. It would rock with modern sfx heh Raimi?
The Continuing Adventures of the Lone Ranger -now there is a production history, bounced around all over the place to make 4 seasons. Seems like it was a fun one, though I suspect ITTL wouldn't got for it.
Galaxy University - Was the creature SFX done by the London branch of Creatureworks?
Doorways- is this effectively Sliders by RR Martin? Seems like an interesting show with a good cast. ITTL me would likely watch it. Wonder if Martin can get the Wild Cards books made into a series now?
Nice round up of the lesser known Sci-Fi shows there @Geekhis Khan !
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Those are some fun series.
Those this confirm that the devide between television and movie is getting smaller since Sam is working on a tv show?
George R.R. Martin isn't as brilliant of a writer than people are making him out to be. He's great, but he's not the non plus ultra.
However this version of Sliders sounds awesome.
Great chapter @Geekhis Khan
This sounds like it works for all the wrong reasons. Especially since it's not supposed to be comedic.#5 – Tek War
It’s the William Shatner vanity project that’s so bad it’s incredible! Based on the novel series “written” by Shatner (actually ghostwriter Ron Goulart), this “drug war IN SPACE” action series was a cult favorite from the start. Tek War was the inaugural tentpole for the SciFi Channel when it debuted in the fall of 1992. It starred Bruce Boxleitner as Jake Cardigan, a tough-as-nails PI who is (naturally) wrongly accused of crimes in the first episode and has to clear his name. Shatner himself joins the cast, where he brings his (h)A(m) game to the role of the CEO of the Cosmos Security firm. The effects are just bad enough to be good and the acting and writing just bad enough to be unintentionally brilliant. Take this line: Policeman: “I play by the rules.” Jake: “Then start a band!”. Audience: (sighs and rolls eyes) “Brilliant.” It’s also the series that introduced sci-fi fans to the great Marina Sirtis as the android investigator Sam Houston (in a flagrant rip-off of SpaPo) and Torri Higgenson as, naturally, a doctor. While it only survived two seasons, mostly driven by Camp fans, Tek War lives on as a cult hit. And while it’s no Space Police, it’s still an entertaining sci-fi procedural. Watch it now. Bring lots of popcorn and your two favorite wisecracking robots.
I'm all in!
Those this confirm that the devide between television and movie is getting smaller since Sam is working on a tv show?
We already heard about this in the Lone Ranger post, so I keep it brief: Awesome concept and I hope it inspires lots of "western style" Steam Romance works.
Brilliant spin off. Fans of Space Police will love it. This is not a Puppet show tho? I'm never sure with Mr. Anderson.
Unpopular opinion:#1 – Doorways
In the early 1990s, R-rated fantasy author George R. R. Martin took some time away from writing about sex and dragons (and sex on dragons) and teamed up with Robert K. Weiss and Tracy Torméto produce the brilliant dimension-hopping series Doorways[1], a PG-rated story of parallel universes, a mysterious “Dark Lord”, and a strange sort of cyberpunk-meets-dark fantasy twist. Led by the great Jerry O'Connell and featuring sci-fi legends like Max Grodénchik and Carrie Anne Moss, the dimension-hopping show took advantage of great writing by Martin and his team to create a sci-fi classic that was greatly beloved across its four seasons on PFN, and yet is for some infernal reason largely forgotten today. Not enough tits, I guess? It was brilliant, even if the time he took off from his Song of Ice and Fire series to make it is widely agreed to be the main reason why he still hasn’t written the final book in that series. Well, in a universe where this show died as a pilot they may have the last book, but they don’t have Doorways, so it sucks to be them. Is it not time for a reboot? Just sayin’.
George R.R. Martin isn't as brilliant of a writer than people are making him out to be. He's great, but he's not the non plus ultra.
However this version of Sliders sounds awesome.
Great chapter @Geekhis Khan
Here's an idea: A Wild Cards animated series. for Adults, obviously.
Also, for your consideration.
i want the dvd box set of that!!!#1 – Doorways
In the early 1990s, R-rated fantasy author George R. R. Martin took some time away from writing about sex and dragons (and sex on dragons) and teamed up with Robert K. Weiss and Tracy Torméto produce the brilliant dimension-hopping series Doorways[1], a PG-rated story of parallel universes, a mysterious “Dark Lord”, and a strange sort of cyberpunk-meets-dark fantasy twist. Led by the great Jerry O'Connell and featuring sci-fi legends like Max Grodénchik and Carrie Anne Moss, the dimension-hopping show took advantage of great writing by Martin and his team to create a sci-fi classic that was greatly beloved across its four seasons on PFN, and yet is for some infernal reason largely forgotten today. Not enough tits, I guess? It was brilliant, even if the time he took off from his Song of Ice and Fire series to make it is widely agreed to be the main reason why he still hasn’t written the final book in that series. Well, in a universe where this show died as a pilot they may have the last book, but they don’t have Doorways, so it sucks to be them. Is it not time for a reboot? Just sayin’.
i totally agree, a hugely missed chance
it is not a version of sliders, it predates sliders, otl sliders (1995) was likely inspired by the doorways tv movie(1994)
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Since Malcolm X was already released is there any chance Disney might take on civil rights with a version of Our Friend Martin?
As much as I'd say yes to this, I believe Hollywood Animation would be a more likely studio to make that movie ITTL.
I thought it would bear mentioning that Mickey Mouse also has rarely-seen nephews named Morty and Ferdie Fieldmouse who are the twin sons of his older sister, Felicity. Though in this case, one can infer that Morty was named after his other uncle. I wonder if they or Felicity would appear in "Day of the Morts" or another episode of Out of the Vault.
These all sound like shows I would watch sporadically, but frequently forget were on.
The only thing I remember about OTL TekWar is Starburst magazine complaining that at no point is there a car chase featuring the line "The name's Cardigan! Pull over!" (This joke may only work in British English.)
The only thing I remember about OTL TekWar is Starburst magazine complaining that at no point is there a car chase featuring the line "The name's Cardigan! Pull over!" (This joke may only work in British English.)
Very complex and sensitive issue there, obviously. I'll need to do some real careful thinking there.
Yes, Maximum Mortage will be in effect.
And to be clear, I'm not suggesting that the original plan was just Muppet Babies with Looney Tunes, but it does seem noteworthy that the idea appeared when it did (MB were huge, and Scooby Doo and the Flintstones directly copied the formula with A Pup named Scooby Doo and Flintstones Kids). My guess is that somebody came up with "can we do a Looney Tunes Kids?" and rather than just make Baby Bugs they made the decision to pursue a Next Generation of Toons so as not to be obviously following the leader.
Drippy Duck makes so much sense. I'm going there. Drippy it is.
It still works in the US, and hell, once the producers realize who their audience is there will be a slow shift into Embracing the Cheese. Lines like that will become the norm.
Drippy seems to close to Droopy for my taste, I like the similarities between Plucky and Spunky.
Heavy Mecha
Searching for a Sign of Zeta
Post from The White Base Netsite by Richard O’Connell, March 2, 2015
A Guest Post by @Denliner.
Ah, Zeta Gundam. Is there any need for an introduction? Along with beloved anime classics such as Dragon Ball Z, Sailor Moon, Yu Yu Hakusho, and many others, it practically defined a decade for many budding anime fans in the 90s, including myself. It’s hard to believe that such a show could not have existed in the first place, but just like many of its peers, it might not have happened without a few select factors that helped bring it forth to a Western audience[1].
In any case, to celebrate its 30th anniversary, let’s take a look back at the show that started an entire fandom and taught a generation of angsty teenagers to grow up amidst the horrors of war.
It’s funny to think how a lovable monster meant for kids such as My Neighbor Totoro would be related to mobile suits and beam rifles, but it’s true! Totoromania had a huge influence on the growing anime industry in the West. By 1990, millions of dollars in merchandise were sold to kids and Studio Ghibli became a veritable pop culture icon overnight as a result of its success along with their other films. Of course, this was noticed by practically every media exec, and so channels such as Nickelodeon, Disney, and Cartoon City all scrambled to create space for new content from Japan.
Nickelodeon came out first with Toonami in 1992[2], although Disney would follow suit with Vaultoons in 1994 and Cartoon City releasing Sunburst in 1995. While all three programming blocks released similar content with cartoons and anime, Toonami was often considered to be the most daring with their distribution of T content compared to Vaultoons, its sanitized PG counterpart. Blood, gore, profanity, and sex were all acceptable for the platform and that environment was perfect for the content that Zeta Gundam presented to its audience, who grew up from watching Totoro towards more mature content like Batman: The Animated Series and Akira.
While most people know about this today, most people in the 90s didn’t know that Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam was a sequel series to the original Mobile Suit Gundam in 1979, which would be a huge factor later down the line, but to summarize (spoilers ahead!):
Set in UC 0087, 8 years after the One Year War, the show follows a teenager named Kamille Bidan living in a space colony named Green Noa 1, with his parents working as engineers for the Earth Federation. However, he is constantly bullied and picked on by his parents’ employers, the Titans, the Earth Federation’s elite organization, dedicated to hunting down Zeon remnants. His life changes forever when Quatro Bajeena (secretly Char Aznable of the previous series), one of the senior pilots for the Anti Earth Union Group, or the AEUG, manages to infiltrate the colony and locate the secret Gundam Mk-II test units. In a stroke of luck, he boards one of the mobile suits and decides to fight back against the Titans, leaving with the AEUG as he decides to oppose the Titans and the Earth Federation.
The war, known as the Gryps Conflict in the official Gundam canon, is the central focus throughout much of the series like the One Year War before it.
Eventually a third faction appears midway through the series, with Haman Karn’s Axis Zeon, the remnants of the Principality of Zeon. With the introduction of this new faction, the Gryps Conflict devolves into a three-way war as all three factions constantly switch allegiances in an effort to one-up each other, exemplified with the newly built Gryps colony laser, a superweapon that could turn the tide of the war.
Throughout the entire series, Kamille experiences many hardships as a pilot, including being beaten up by his own superiors, although you could argue that it was justified as he was very immature and provoked many of the adults around him during the early episodes. He also lost precious loved ones, including his parents and his love interest, Four Murasame after a tragic confrontation at Mt. Kilimanjaro. However, he eventually grows up and matures into a competent pilot and a veritable threat to the Titans, especially once he gets the new Zeta Gundam midway through the series.
By the final episode of Zeta Gundam, many of the characters have already tragically died as the AEUG, Titans, and Axis Zeon all engage each other in a final three-way battle to determine the fate of the Earth Sphere. Racking up huge kill counts already in Zeta, Tomino did something unthinkable to Western audiences: he killed Kamille[3].
That’s right.
After he slammed the Zeta Gundam into The O, one of the enemy mobile suits piloted by the main antagonist of the series, the suave yet dangerous Paptimus Scirocco, he wasn’t able to get out in time to avert the explosion, telling Fa Yuiry to escape before cutting off, as both the Zeta Gundam and the O explode in a fiery blaze in the sea of stars, as the AEUG slowly decimates the last of the Titans with the Gryps Colony Laser. Although the rebels have won, it was not without great cost, and there was no greater cost than Kamille Bidan to us fans.
Killing Kamille proved to have huge ramifications, not just for us Western fans, but Tomino himself. He often cited in his interviews that he did regret killing Kamille in Zeta Gundam, telling fans that he killed him because he thought that there wasn’t much of a future in the franchise, which coincided with a new onset of depression[4]. He would later attempt to rectify this in the movie compilation of Zeta Gundam in the 2000s (called Zeta Gundam: A New Translation), which includes an ending where Kamille survives his battle with Paptimus, spawning several manga detailing his whereabouts in this alternate continuity[5].
Despite the extremely tragic ending, the series proved to be extraordinarily popular with the growing anime fandom in the 90s. Aside from its mature setting and dark narrative, which was already growing to be very popular among an audience familiar with cartoon and anime like Batman: The Animated Series, it was also unique in its status as the first mecha show since Robotech to garner a large following, and one where it stuck around as the Gundam fanbase we know today.
Zeta Gundam’s popularity in Nickelodeon also inspired other companies to take notice of the growing mecha genre. One notable example is Disney, no less. While they did control the production rights to Transformers as of this time, they had no plans on reviving the series at the moment. Yet. Instead, they brought back an import from Japan which was ironically based on the Transformers called the Brave Series, which proved to be similarly popular for Transformers fans and a source of exposure towards the Super Robot genre. Eventually, Disney would get a similar Real Robot adaptation for their own, as they would air Patlabor[6] on Vaultoons within a few years of Zeta Gundam.
The show also paved the way for future dubs of mecha shows like Escaflowne, Neon Genesis: Evangelion, GaoGaiGar, and even Eureka Seven, to the point where many mecha fans consider Zeta as the starting point for the golden age of mecha anime.
Future Gundam shows would never capture the same spark as Zeta Gundam, but regardless, we are ever grateful that the show existed, as despite the grim story and often violent and gruesome depiction of war, it all taught us the horrors we were often shielded from in our cushy homes, and the power that an animated series, normally reserved for kids fare in the West, could have in our hearts[7].
[1] What happens when Westerners are first exposed to one of the greatest Gundam anime series ever? Interesting butterflies are afoot here...
[2] Toonami and Vaultoons are here in full force! After Totoromania and subsequent successes of Japanese media in the West, Nickelodeon, Disney, and Columbia have released their own blocks dedicated to anime and cartoons which function similarly to OTL Toonami. This will be the first in a new series that documents an earlier release of Gundam in the West, which will have huge effects on pop culture and the history of Gundam itself. Stay tuned for more and feel free to PM to collaborate.
If you’re interested, here’s the opening lineup for each of the blocks, courtesy of @TheFaultsofAlts:
[3] Even for the notorious Kill Em' All Tomino, this is a huge butterfly. It’s similar to the mind rape ending in the original series (I am serious about the mind rape. That actually happened!), but arguably has bigger impacts on both Tomino and the nascent Gundam fandom since he is physically dead and cannot come back. Plus, imagine a kid who saw Optimus Prime killed in front of your eyes in the Transformers Movie and now seeing Kamille die in Zeta Gundam as a teenager. Now that’s pretty sad.
[4] Tomino didn’t appreciate Zeta Gundam as much as his fanbase, often citing his regrets for making the series. I don’t think it’s far-fetched that he could’ve killed Kamille in an effort to distance himself from Gundam (he also killed Kamille and Amuro in the novels), perhaps due to a bout of depression, only to regret that choice later.
[5] A New Translation is most likely the same as OTL, being an adaptation of the TV series, but perhaps it could be fully animated this time around due to the butterflies. Of course, this means the ending will remain as is, albeit with a different context. I’ve heard that he becomes a doctor in Moon Crisis, so I could also see him retiring as one in this continuity as well with the New Translation manga.
[6] GaoGaiGar and Patlabor for Disney? Hehehehehe…..
[7] Because Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam came out first, it will be hit with the same rose-colored nostalgia glasses that New Mobile Report Gundam Wing has OTL, as will their successors, so the Gundam fandom in the West will overwhelmingly be for the Universal Century timeline, especially for the older fans, whereas it's more of a mix IOTL. I think this will have a pretty huge effect on how the Gundam fandom will view certain series, including Gundam Wing itself. Expect your beloved shows to be ruthlessly eviscerated by the fans ITTL. You've been warned.
Post from The White Base Netsite by Richard O’Connell, March 2, 2015
A Guest Post by @Denliner.
Ah, Zeta Gundam. Is there any need for an introduction? Along with beloved anime classics such as Dragon Ball Z, Sailor Moon, Yu Yu Hakusho, and many others, it practically defined a decade for many budding anime fans in the 90s, including myself. It’s hard to believe that such a show could not have existed in the first place, but just like many of its peers, it might not have happened without a few select factors that helped bring it forth to a Western audience[1].
In any case, to celebrate its 30th anniversary, let’s take a look back at the show that started an entire fandom and taught a generation of angsty teenagers to grow up amidst the horrors of war.
It’s funny to think how a lovable monster meant for kids such as My Neighbor Totoro would be related to mobile suits and beam rifles, but it’s true! Totoromania had a huge influence on the growing anime industry in the West. By 1990, millions of dollars in merchandise were sold to kids and Studio Ghibli became a veritable pop culture icon overnight as a result of its success along with their other films. Of course, this was noticed by practically every media exec, and so channels such as Nickelodeon, Disney, and Cartoon City all scrambled to create space for new content from Japan.
Nickelodeon came out first with Toonami in 1992[2], although Disney would follow suit with Vaultoons in 1994 and Cartoon City releasing Sunburst in 1995. While all three programming blocks released similar content with cartoons and anime, Toonami was often considered to be the most daring with their distribution of T content compared to Vaultoons, its sanitized PG counterpart. Blood, gore, profanity, and sex were all acceptable for the platform and that environment was perfect for the content that Zeta Gundam presented to its audience, who grew up from watching Totoro towards more mature content like Batman: The Animated Series and Akira.
While most people know about this today, most people in the 90s didn’t know that Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam was a sequel series to the original Mobile Suit Gundam in 1979, which would be a huge factor later down the line, but to summarize (spoilers ahead!):
Set in UC 0087, 8 years after the One Year War, the show follows a teenager named Kamille Bidan living in a space colony named Green Noa 1, with his parents working as engineers for the Earth Federation. However, he is constantly bullied and picked on by his parents’ employers, the Titans, the Earth Federation’s elite organization, dedicated to hunting down Zeon remnants. His life changes forever when Quatro Bajeena (secretly Char Aznable of the previous series), one of the senior pilots for the Anti Earth Union Group, or the AEUG, manages to infiltrate the colony and locate the secret Gundam Mk-II test units. In a stroke of luck, he boards one of the mobile suits and decides to fight back against the Titans, leaving with the AEUG as he decides to oppose the Titans and the Earth Federation.
The war, known as the Gryps Conflict in the official Gundam canon, is the central focus throughout much of the series like the One Year War before it.
Eventually a third faction appears midway through the series, with Haman Karn’s Axis Zeon, the remnants of the Principality of Zeon. With the introduction of this new faction, the Gryps Conflict devolves into a three-way war as all three factions constantly switch allegiances in an effort to one-up each other, exemplified with the newly built Gryps colony laser, a superweapon that could turn the tide of the war.
Throughout the entire series, Kamille experiences many hardships as a pilot, including being beaten up by his own superiors, although you could argue that it was justified as he was very immature and provoked many of the adults around him during the early episodes. He also lost precious loved ones, including his parents and his love interest, Four Murasame after a tragic confrontation at Mt. Kilimanjaro. However, he eventually grows up and matures into a competent pilot and a veritable threat to the Titans, especially once he gets the new Zeta Gundam midway through the series.
By the final episode of Zeta Gundam, many of the characters have already tragically died as the AEUG, Titans, and Axis Zeon all engage each other in a final three-way battle to determine the fate of the Earth Sphere. Racking up huge kill counts already in Zeta, Tomino did something unthinkable to Western audiences: he killed Kamille[3].
That’s right.
After he slammed the Zeta Gundam into The O, one of the enemy mobile suits piloted by the main antagonist of the series, the suave yet dangerous Paptimus Scirocco, he wasn’t able to get out in time to avert the explosion, telling Fa Yuiry to escape before cutting off, as both the Zeta Gundam and the O explode in a fiery blaze in the sea of stars, as the AEUG slowly decimates the last of the Titans with the Gryps Colony Laser. Although the rebels have won, it was not without great cost, and there was no greater cost than Kamille Bidan to us fans.
Killing Kamille proved to have huge ramifications, not just for us Western fans, but Tomino himself. He often cited in his interviews that he did regret killing Kamille in Zeta Gundam, telling fans that he killed him because he thought that there wasn’t much of a future in the franchise, which coincided with a new onset of depression[4]. He would later attempt to rectify this in the movie compilation of Zeta Gundam in the 2000s (called Zeta Gundam: A New Translation), which includes an ending where Kamille survives his battle with Paptimus, spawning several manga detailing his whereabouts in this alternate continuity[5].
Despite the extremely tragic ending, the series proved to be extraordinarily popular with the growing anime fandom in the 90s. Aside from its mature setting and dark narrative, which was already growing to be very popular among an audience familiar with cartoon and anime like Batman: The Animated Series, it was also unique in its status as the first mecha show since Robotech to garner a large following, and one where it stuck around as the Gundam fanbase we know today.
Zeta Gundam’s popularity in Nickelodeon also inspired other companies to take notice of the growing mecha genre. One notable example is Disney, no less. While they did control the production rights to Transformers as of this time, they had no plans on reviving the series at the moment. Yet. Instead, they brought back an import from Japan which was ironically based on the Transformers called the Brave Series, which proved to be similarly popular for Transformers fans and a source of exposure towards the Super Robot genre. Eventually, Disney would get a similar Real Robot adaptation for their own, as they would air Patlabor[6] on Vaultoons within a few years of Zeta Gundam.
The show also paved the way for future dubs of mecha shows like Escaflowne, Neon Genesis: Evangelion, GaoGaiGar, and even Eureka Seven, to the point where many mecha fans consider Zeta as the starting point for the golden age of mecha anime.
Future Gundam shows would never capture the same spark as Zeta Gundam, but regardless, we are ever grateful that the show existed, as despite the grim story and often violent and gruesome depiction of war, it all taught us the horrors we were often shielded from in our cushy homes, and the power that an animated series, normally reserved for kids fare in the West, could have in our hearts[7].
[1] What happens when Westerners are first exposed to one of the greatest Gundam anime series ever? Interesting butterflies are afoot here...
[2] Toonami and Vaultoons are here in full force! After Totoromania and subsequent successes of Japanese media in the West, Nickelodeon, Disney, and Columbia have released their own blocks dedicated to anime and cartoons which function similarly to OTL Toonami. This will be the first in a new series that documents an earlier release of Gundam in the West, which will have huge effects on pop culture and the history of Gundam itself. Stay tuned for more and feel free to PM to collaborate.
If you’re interested, here’s the opening lineup for each of the blocks, courtesy of @TheFaultsofAlts:
Vaultoons (1994):
7:00: Momento Apartments
7:30: Samurai Pizza Cats
8:00: Marvelous Melmo
8:30: Osomatsu-kun
9:00: Sailor Moon
9:30: Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water
Toonami (1992):
5:00: ThunderCats
5:30: Justice League
6:00: Prince Muscle of the Galaxy
6:30: Kingdom Champions
7:00: Dragon Ball Z
7:30: Ranma 1/2
Sunburst (1995):
6:00: The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest
6:30: Ulysses 32
7:00: Slam Dunk
7:30: Elara the Robot Girl
8:00: Magic Knight Rayearth
8:30: City Hunters
7:00: Momento Apartments
7:30: Samurai Pizza Cats
8:00: Marvelous Melmo
8:30: Osomatsu-kun
9:00: Sailor Moon
9:30: Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water
Toonami (1992):
5:00: ThunderCats
5:30: Justice League
6:00: Prince Muscle of the Galaxy
6:30: Kingdom Champions
7:00: Dragon Ball Z
7:30: Ranma 1/2
Sunburst (1995):
6:00: The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest
6:30: Ulysses 32
7:00: Slam Dunk
7:30: Elara the Robot Girl
8:00: Magic Knight Rayearth
8:30: City Hunters
[3] Even for the notorious Kill Em' All Tomino, this is a huge butterfly. It’s similar to the mind rape ending in the original series (I am serious about the mind rape. That actually happened!), but arguably has bigger impacts on both Tomino and the nascent Gundam fandom since he is physically dead and cannot come back. Plus, imagine a kid who saw Optimus Prime killed in front of your eyes in the Transformers Movie and now seeing Kamille die in Zeta Gundam as a teenager. Now that’s pretty sad.
[4] Tomino didn’t appreciate Zeta Gundam as much as his fanbase, often citing his regrets for making the series. I don’t think it’s far-fetched that he could’ve killed Kamille in an effort to distance himself from Gundam (he also killed Kamille and Amuro in the novels), perhaps due to a bout of depression, only to regret that choice later.
[5] A New Translation is most likely the same as OTL, being an adaptation of the TV series, but perhaps it could be fully animated this time around due to the butterflies. Of course, this means the ending will remain as is, albeit with a different context. I’ve heard that he becomes a doctor in Moon Crisis, so I could also see him retiring as one in this continuity as well with the New Translation manga.
[6] GaoGaiGar and Patlabor for Disney? Hehehehehe…..
[7] Because Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam came out first, it will be hit with the same rose-colored nostalgia glasses that New Mobile Report Gundam Wing has OTL, as will their successors, so the Gundam fandom in the West will overwhelmingly be for the Universal Century timeline, especially for the older fans, whereas it's more of a mix IOTL. I think this will have a pretty huge effect on how the Gundam fandom will view certain series, including Gundam Wing itself. Expect your beloved shows to be ruthlessly eviscerated by the fans ITTL. You've been warned.
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I too was never into the franchise and so am not as shocked as you'd think, but excellent!
...Actually, does Disney own Hasbro or just the rights to airing their shows? That means Hasbro could licence its properties to some other network.
This mean no Beast Wars, and thus no Animated, my favourite Transformers series? Argh. (Okay, I admit I was never into the former as a kid either, but still). Hey, butterflies gotta flap, and if it means no Bayformers, alrighty then.
...Actually, does Disney own Hasbro or just the rights to airing their shows? That means Hasbro could licence its properties to some other network.
Toonami on Nick? That's crazy.
I wonder who came up with the name.
So those that make him the first Anime protagonist to die in television?
Would be pretty impressive.
That's an interesting line up but what's the most interesting to me is the dubbing situation.
Like whose dubbing these series? Is 4Kids still a thing or do the networks do it in house? Do the voices differ from our Timeline?
Great chapter @Denliner
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