I can remember the songs a lot better than I can some of the shows. Mighty Orbots, MASK, Transformers, GI Joe, Pole Position, Masters of the Universe, Silverhawks. Scooby-Doo, although that's technically the 70s. Music is a wonderful touchstone for memories.
I wonder how many in Japan, upon seeing this, quipped that "Rob Simmons" was the geeky cousin of "Space Adventurer Cobra". Dezaki himself probably joked as much.
They did try to make Mighty Orbots toys, getting to the prototype stage with printed catalog listings (JCPenney, Sears) before the show was cancelled. But there's really no way to fully capture this art in a physical toy.
It feels like an anime BECAUSE Tokyo Movie Shinsa had a lot more creative input than is usually the case with contract animation (TMS' deals with Disney and Warner).
TMS had major creative input on this mecha anime..Its a shame this anime was cut short due to the lawsuits and poor ratings of it..The toys of it weren't released no thanks to Hasbro..
Now this is fascinating. A American show that was inspired by a Japanese anime, and then in turn dubbed back for Japanese audiences. It wouldn't be until Power Rangers than anything like that happened again.
So the opening was just originally in English? I guess that makes sense in that it was commissioned for a Japanese studio and then presumably was dubbed in English first before being released in Japan (which feels rare these days versus the 80s)
Yep. You nailed it. The funny thing about it was that the 80s animation in Mighty Orbots is more vibrant, cleaner, & breathtaking than its predecessor.
I notice each character was prefaced as a "cyborg." Does anybody know if that word has a different connotation in Japanese than it does in English? I know the Japanese found Hasbro's Transformers re-branding of their own Diaclone toys to be a revolutionary idea because, culturally, they didn't think of robots being autonomous or capable of emotions, and MO was released at the same time as TF. So, maybe explaining them as cyborgs with human brains eased the transition??
this was during the whole, movement from super robots over to Real robots, i take it it's just labling them as sentient machines, much like the japanese title for TF, Super robot lifeform.
In Sega's "Kunoichi" ("Nightshade" here in the States), a product of about 2002, the totally-non-organic Kurohagane is referred to as a "cyborg" rather than an "android"
@@floydjohnson7888 interesting. With the reliance Japan has on robots, now moving into the sector of taking care of their growing elderly population, it's fascinating to me to look deeper into their thoughts about machines.
I'm Japanese. In the past, the definition of a cyborg was vague, but now it is often used to mean something like "a human body modified." In the 1988 "Dennou Keisatsu Cybercop," an autonomous tank called the Cyborg Tank appears, but it is not a modified living organism. In the 1989 "Kidou Keiji Jiban," the main character Naoto is considered a cyborg because he underwent surgery to strengthen his body after an accident. Transformers and Exkaiser are often treated as robots, so I think Orbots are also properly considered robots.
@@オワタ1994 thank you for the information. When I was younger, in the 1970s I watched an anime called “Battle of the Planets” in America. In Japan, it was “Gatchaman.” As an adult, I found the characters were considered cyborgs in Japan. This information is helpful for that.
What episodes of the Japanese dub do you have, and where did you find them? I wouldn't mind pairing them with the cleaner video from the US issued Warner Archive DVD set, if you'd be able to pass them along to me in full. Here's a sample of how it could look: ruclips.net/video/a52CkdzXCZE/видео.html
The original English version is here. Read by the late iconic announcer Gary Owens, who was also the narrator for the show. ruclips.net/video/kaSJL18lJmw/видео.html
So... wait... I thought this WAS a Japanese cartoon.. So my brain is saying that this was one of those Japanese cartoons that was hacked and dubbed into English... like Gatchaman... (Battle of planets / G-force).. Then I watched this dub in Japanese saw that it was a Japanese "DUB"... So I thought... no.... It's a Japanese cartoon... Do they mean the ORIGINAL format??? Its not a DUB.... But then I saw the music in english... heard the Orbots names still the same in Japanese... Suddenly genius brain I have .. Oh.. redubbed here in the US... back into Japanese.... Wait.... a .... minute ... You mean to tell me... This was actually a totally Ameeican made Anime style cartoon?????!!!! I have actually been tinkering on that thought for a while now... To make a totally Anime style... down straight serious type cartoon.. Done totally here in America... Drop all the three stooges, bugs bunny, romper room crap that American made cartoons tend to be... you know... that, boing eeee boing eeee .... blub babababababa splat a patoogie AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! HEEEEE HEHEHEHE.. junk.. And make a cartion series that's serious with very real adult emotions... (and I'm not talking triple X crap either...) I mean go for the true to real life art that real Japanese Anime is known for... Have the characters get hurt... charaxters die.. characters fall in love... Have solid stories that are believable... and make sense... To make a cartoon series done in America that's watchable.. I can't stand the animated crap we have here in America... I hate the slapstick pointless crap we have got stuck with... I can't stand most Disney stuff either... Hey how are you today.. HUGE BROADWAY PRODUCTION Just to say I'm fine... Ohhhhhhhh I woke up this morning... Get out of bed and did my thing.. That is why that I sing... This soooonnnnggg.. Of that I'm fine.... Ohhhhhhhh The sun is so bright and it shines... The air is warm .... And it's about time.... I tell you I'm fine..... GOD!!!! YUCK... Stop the singing crap and just get on with the damn story Disney Lol.. And then there is American style cartoons like Family Guy.... I HATE family guy and any other type of cartoon like that... To me Family Guy is just complete garbage.. Family guy is just total shht RUBBISH!!! We need mature Ameican made cartoons.. Like now!!!
As far as I'm aware, this is a unique creation in animated cartoons and was intended to be so. A staff of American writers and actors supplied the original stories and voices while a staff of Japanese animators drew the product. Primarily intended for American audiences, but if you have another country involved that's big into sci-fi animation, of course you're going to dub another version for them.
Fred Silverman hooked up with Osamu Dezaki for what would otherwise have been a contract animation gig (the "animation production" credit you saw in Disney's "Gummi Bears", for example) This deal, however, TMS got to bring character/mecha designs and music to an American project. I figure that, when Silverman asked about, "a brawny blond-haired guy with a brain", Dezaki scribbled glasses on "Space Adventurer Cobra", saying, "How's THIS?"
@@skylinefever Marvel Productions contracted with Toei for much in the 80s: "Transformers", "Dungeons and Dragons" (there's a casting gotcha in the opening credits), "Muppet Babies"
@@floydjohnson7888 That was the problem with TMS on this project: they scribbled glasses on properties they did not OWN and resold the work as their own. Cobra for Rob Simmons, God Mars for the Orbots machines. Ishinomori was ready to sue TMS over this in Japan, meanwhile Tonka was threatening to sue ABC in the US over the name of the show, and Bandai was caught in the middle being part of the God Mars toys and Gobots toys. Everybody was going to sue everybody over this show, until ABC decided the low ratings were not worth fighting over and canceled it. This incident did open a lot of eyes to the problem of "they'll never notice if we just borrow this" IP infringement going on in the mid 80s. TMS was the poster child for it, unfortunately.
I will say this: Mighty Orbits was ahead of its time!
I have had this theme song stuck in my head for years. There's about a dozen or so songs that are epic making for '80s cartoons.
I can remember the songs a lot better than I can some of the shows. Mighty Orbots, MASK, Transformers, GI Joe, Pole Position, Masters of the Universe, Silverhawks. Scooby-Doo, although that's technically the 70s. Music is a wonderful touchstone for memories.
same, I still remember it years later.
Yes, some 1980s intros really rocked out. I remember TMNT and Thundercats most.
I wonder how many in Japan, upon seeing this, quipped that "Rob Simmons" was the geeky cousin of "Space Adventurer Cobra". Dezaki himself probably joked as much.
Cobra wouldn't need a giant robot to end Umbra 😁
@@amyyoung2830 but had one anyway. 😜
Loved how, if you look at the backgrounds, there's a lot of things moving.
I adored this show when I was a kid and I still adore it now ❤
I only have two episodes of the Orbots JP dub. If you have the rest please let me know. Thanks!
PLEASE
Mighty Orbots: the complete series, is available on DVD through AMAZON. That's where I got mine. Try there.
Give me til February and I'll find a way to take care of it.
Would LOVE to see these Japanese versions if they still exist somewhere!
I love the look of 70s and 80s mecha so much.
They did try to make Mighty Orbots toys, getting to the prototype stage with printed catalog listings (JCPenney, Sears) before the show was cancelled. But there's really no way to fully capture this art in a physical toy.
??? Bandai has been doing it for decades
Feels like it was an anime but TMS made this show
it is anime, it was animated By TMS
It feels like an anime BECAUSE Tokyo Movie Shinsa had a lot more creative input than is usually the case with contract animation (TMS' deals with Disney and Warner).
TMS had major creative input on this mecha anime..Its a shame this anime was cut short due to the lawsuits and poor ratings of it..The toys of it weren't released no thanks to Hasbro..
Hasbro had nothing to do with it, Tonka sued them.
TMS animated Akira, Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers, and I think, the first season of the 1987 Ducktales.
Now this is fascinating. A American show that was inspired by a Japanese anime, and then in turn dubbed back for Japanese audiences. It wouldn't be until Power Rangers than anything like that happened again.
So awesome! And also, epic Japanese narration!
Written by david wise, RIP.
David was an awesome script writer. He wrote some of the best G1 Transformers episodes in the entire series.
@@cneterer He just copied material from God Mars. A super robot anime with a similar appearance to this guy.
@@stephenbyrne2170 this show had nothing t od owith god mars, neither did wise, do your research
@@ViewpointProd I've changed my mind about this show. It absolutely deserves to be revived. With a bit of scrubbing, it could be a proper masterpiece.
So the opening was just originally in English? I guess that makes sense in that it was commissioned for a Japanese studio and then presumably was dubbed in English first before being released in Japan (which feels rare these days versus the 80s)
Music by Yuji Ohno (Lupin III composer since 1977)
ありがとうございました😊
the complete series is on dvd on amazon
The American Version of God Mars.
Yep. You nailed it. The funny thing about it was that the 80s animation in Mighty Orbots is more vibrant, cleaner, & breathtaking than its predecessor.
1:15 ROBOT ROLL-CALL
Cambot... gypsy .... Tom servo.... crowwwwwww..
Mike: "Has anybody seen Crow?" / Crunch: "BURRRP! 'Scuse me."
@@orangie8426 Who are they?
@@stephenbyrne2170 They're the "robot friends" of Joel, and later Mike and Jonah on "Mystery Science Theater 3000."
I notice each character was prefaced as a "cyborg." Does anybody know if that word has a different connotation in Japanese than it does in English? I know the Japanese found Hasbro's Transformers re-branding of their own Diaclone toys to be a revolutionary idea because, culturally, they didn't think of robots being autonomous or capable of emotions, and MO was released at the same time as TF. So, maybe explaining them as cyborgs with human brains eased the transition??
this was during the whole, movement from super robots over to Real robots, i take it it's just labling them as sentient machines, much like the japanese title for TF, Super robot lifeform.
In Sega's "Kunoichi" ("Nightshade" here in the States), a product of about 2002, the totally-non-organic Kurohagane is referred to as a "cyborg" rather than an "android"
@@floydjohnson7888 interesting. With the reliance Japan has on robots, now moving into the sector of taking care of their growing elderly population, it's fascinating to me to look deeper into their thoughts about machines.
I'm Japanese. In the past, the definition of a cyborg was vague, but now it is often used to mean something like "a human body modified."
In the 1988 "Dennou Keisatsu Cybercop," an autonomous tank called the Cyborg Tank appears, but it is not a modified living organism.
In the 1989 "Kidou Keiji Jiban," the main character Naoto is considered a cyborg because he underwent surgery to strengthen his body after an accident.
Transformers and Exkaiser are often treated as robots, so I think Orbots are also properly considered robots.
@@オワタ1994 thank you for the information. When I was younger, in the 1970s I watched an anime called “Battle of the Planets” in America. In Japan, it was “Gatchaman.” As an adult, I found the characters were considered cyborgs in Japan. This information is helpful for that.
This is a really cool find, thanks for uploading! Are you able to upload those 2 episodes? Also, where did you manage to find them?
Legend Yuji Ohno composed the music for this series.
What episodes of the Japanese dub do you have, and where did you find them? I wouldn't mind pairing them with the cleaner video from the US issued Warner Archive DVD set, if you'd be able to pass them along to me in full. Here's a sample of how it could look: ruclips.net/video/a52CkdzXCZE/видео.html
凄い！音楽は大野雄二だ‼
Did this show have a Japanese dub?
Do they say the same thing in Japanese?
Translation please?
The original English version is here. Read by the late iconic announcer Gary Owens, who was also the narrator for the show. ruclips.net/video/kaSJL18lJmw/видео.html
So... wait... I thought this WAS a Japanese cartoon..
So my brain is saying that this was one of those Japanese cartoons that was hacked and dubbed into English... like Gatchaman... (Battle of planets / G-force)..
Then I watched this dub in Japanese saw that it was a Japanese "DUB"...
So I thought... no....
It's a Japanese cartoon...
Do they mean the ORIGINAL format???
Its not a DUB....
But then I saw the music in english... heard the Orbots names still the same in Japanese...
Suddenly genius brain I have ..
Oh.. redubbed here in the US... back into Japanese....
Wait.... a .... minute ...
You mean to tell me...
This was actually a totally Ameeican made Anime style cartoon?????!!!!
I have actually been tinkering on that thought for a while now...
To make a totally Anime style... down straight serious type cartoon..
Done totally here in America...
Drop all the three stooges, bugs bunny, romper room crap that American made cartoons tend to be... you know... that, boing eeee boing eeee .... blub babababababa splat a patoogie AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!
HEEEEE HEHEHEHE.. junk..
And make a cartion series that's serious with very real adult emotions... (and I'm not talking triple X crap either...)
I mean go for the true to real life art that real Japanese Anime is known for...
Have the characters get hurt... charaxters die.. characters fall in love...
Have solid stories that are believable... and make sense...
To make a cartoon series done in America that's watchable..
I can't stand the animated crap we have here in America...
I hate the slapstick pointless crap we have got stuck with...
I can't stand most Disney stuff either...
Hey how are you today..
HUGE BROADWAY PRODUCTION Just to say I'm fine...
Ohhhhhhhh
I woke up this morning...
Get out of bed and did my thing..
That is why that I sing...
This soooonnnnggg..
Of that I'm fine....
Ohhhhhhhh
The sun is so bright and it shines...
The air is warm ....
And it's about time....
I tell you I'm fine.....
GOD!!!!
YUCK...
Stop the singing crap and
just get on with the damn story Disney
Lol..
And then there is American style cartoons like Family Guy....
I HATE family guy and any other type of cartoon like that...
To me Family Guy is just complete garbage..
Family guy is just total shht RUBBISH!!!
We need mature Ameican made cartoons..
Like now!!!
As far as I'm aware, this is a unique creation in animated cartoons and was intended to be so. A staff of American writers and actors supplied the original stories and voices while a staff of Japanese animators drew the product. Primarily intended for American audiences, but if you have another country involved that's big into sci-fi animation, of course you're going to dub another version for them.
Didn't the Transformers first season originate in the USA, get animated in Japan, then catch on over there?
Fred Silverman hooked up with Osamu Dezaki for what would otherwise have been a contract animation gig (the "animation production" credit you saw in Disney's "Gummi Bears", for example) This deal, however, TMS got to bring character/mecha designs and music to an American project. I figure that, when Silverman asked about, "a brawny blond-haired guy with a brain", Dezaki scribbled glasses on "Space Adventurer Cobra", saying, "How's THIS?"
@@skylinefever Marvel Productions contracted with Toei for much in the 80s: "Transformers", "Dungeons and Dragons" (there's a casting gotcha in the opening credits), "Muppet Babies"
@@floydjohnson7888 That was the problem with TMS on this project: they scribbled glasses on properties they did not OWN and resold the work as their own. Cobra for Rob Simmons, God Mars for the Orbots machines. Ishinomori was ready to sue TMS over this in Japan, meanwhile Tonka was threatening to sue ABC in the US over the name of the show, and Bandai was caught in the middle being part of the God Mars toys and Gobots toys. Everybody was going to sue everybody over this show, until ABC decided the low ratings were not worth fighting over and canceled it. This incident did open a lot of eyes to the problem of "they'll never notice if we just borrow this" IP infringement going on in the mid 80s. TMS was the poster child for it, unfortunately.
This is different considering that the show was an American product
They're not cyborgs!