Mighty Orbots - Series History

Series History

Mighty Orbots was developed from an idea pitched by Fred Silverman, possibly in response to the popularity of other robot-related properties such as Hasbro and Sunbow's Transformers. The original six minute "pilot" featured a slightly different version of Might Orbots called Broots (pronounced "Brutes"). Rob and Ono looked similar to their 'finished' selves, though definitively more late 70s-like. The Orbots, while having the same names as in the finished product, are subtly different, and obviously unfinished. Even their combined form aka "Super-Broots" would go through some more developmental evolution before becoming Mighty Orbots. It was produced by Tokyo Movie Shinsha and Intermedia Entertainment in association with MGM/UA Television for both the United States for the television broadcast and Japan via home video. Unlike many other shows of its kind, Mighty Orbots was not simply a translated Japanese import. The series was directed by anime industry veteran Osamu Dezaki with storyboard work by Dezaki's brother Satoshi Desaki, character designs by Akio Sugino, and animation by Shingo Araki.

The series lasted only a single season of thirteen episodes, mostly due to a lawsuit between the show's creators and toymaker Tonka, who accused them of basing the cartoon on their GoBots franchise (which was adapted from Bandai's Machine Robo line). The robot depicted in the show was virtually identical to the robot in the anime for Bandai's Godmars toy, although the colors were changed. However, the Godmars toy was not among the Bandai figures utilized by the GoBots line. The episodes aired on ABC and although some episodes were available on VHS, the series has yet to be released on DVD. Despite its short run, the series has a dedicated fan base today.

The series got its first commercial broadcasting in Japan via Animax.