The Wild History of Battletech: The Animated Series - Yes, It's Real

we have a cartoon heir to the 90s and nobody remembers it did it really happen it is possible even if no one has bothered to complete the IMDB page even if it was a prominent intellectual property with a full line of action figures and vehicles and a decade of pop culture awareness behind it I am dan Larson and this is the history of Battletech the animated series [Music] Battletech was a 13 episode animated series produced by Saban entertainment that aired in 1994 it was based on the battle tech science fiction military tactical board game released ten years earlier in 1984 the game had a thoroughly developed mythology set it around the generations of war that take place in Earth's future combat conducted primarily with giant mechanized war machines called battle mechs towering mostly bipedal heavily armoured tank like piloted suits if you know what a Jaeger is if you know what an E frame is if you know what an Armored Core is you know what a battle mech is non transformable missile launching gun firing walking weapons of destruction battle tech is a game a mythology a show that takes the idea of giant robots fighting each other a predominantly Eastern storytelling genre and puts a Western spin on it if you know what a Zord is if you know what a transformer is you know what a battle mech is not less Gundam more robot jocks a thousand years in the future humankind has moved beyond earth planets are colonized throughout the universe there is a period of relative peace under the ruling body called Star League it unites the region of the galaxy known as the Inner Sphere but humans end up doing as humans do and they go to war against each other in their battle necks for the next 300 years then one day there's an attack from outside the Inner Sphere from the periphery beings that appear to be human piloting more advanced battle necks invading the Inner Sphere a sneak attack during our Wars well that's bad form and I hope you know This Means War it was us against us now it's us against you and so the planets of the Inner Sphere are once again united this time against their common enemy the clans our hero is Adam Steiner whose home planet was the first to fall to the clans it's his job to put together a ragtag crew from factions that had previously been at war with each other to fight back and this is where battle tech the animated series begins battle tech the animated series was produced by Saban entertainment and aired on Fox that's the same Saban and Fox that delivered the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers one year earlier in 1993 the same Saban that helped bring almost all of your favorites to life kid video Laser Tag Academy Alf the animated series kissy fur camp candy kiddin play and x-men battle tech the animated series is notable for two things one its obsession with proper military titling of all characters and the slavish devotion to chain of command that comes with it and two a unique mix of traditional hand-drawn two-dimensional animation and at the time cutting-edge 3d computer-generated imagery episodes switch between animation styles character interactions and general storytelling are typically depicted in the hand-drawn cel animation but when the action ramps up when battle mechs get to fightin the show switches over to enhanced mode and the CG animation takes over even though captain power featured computer-generated characters back in 1987 it was expensive by 1994 CG animation reached a point where entire stories could be told in a financially profitable way reboot the world's first completely computer-generated animated series was airing on ABC at the same time as battle tech Toy Story arrived in theaters in 1995 transformers beast wars hit just two years later in 1996 brain so interesti gigantic robot vehicles with weakness no guts no galaxy atom statically other bags sold separately since the 80s nearly every animated series that existed existed to sell toys was about toys or had some component of their marketing design to promote the show that was a line of toys and Battletech was no different for Battletech though the goal was not only to expand the brand to an audience that the game didn't traditionally reach but to bring that audience back to the game going forward battle tech toys were manufactured by Tyco a company that had been in business since 1926 known mostly for their train sets and electric slot car racing tracks but they had been aggressively expanding their offerings in 1988 they produced toys for Dino riders in 1989 they bought viewmaster in 1991 they released dolls for Disney's The Little Mermaid and in 1993 they purchased matchbox by 1994 they were the third largest toy company in the United States series one released in 1994 was made up of five full-sized battle mix standing roughly 12 inches tall it varies from met to mex some of them have really bad posture they were equipped with all kinds of rocket firing mechanisms rotating machine guns opening cockpits movable arms and a blast damage panel because all-out battle mech war was the gimmick of the entire thing you want to suit up with your neuro helmet on your tiny pilot figure put him in the cockpit then square off against another battle mech until one of you is blown to pieces and the other survives to get blown up another day the line was supplemented with smaller units at a lower price point three different support armors and a space fighter wave - followed in 1995 and featured all of the same molds is wave 1 but painted differently assault force and tiger camo treatments a third wave was in development would have included an Atlas there are some prototype images out there there but the show and the line were cancelled before they made it to production maybe it was lagging interest in the toys that got the show cancelled maybe it was lagging interest in the show that got the toys cancelled maybe it was competition from another property that was also doing futuristic neck fighting battle action and was doing it in a more entertaining way maybe there was another war going on behind the scenes fossa a corporation the company that created battle tech in 1984 was plagued with legal issues since the beginning during its growth and as part of the animated series and the toys related to it heck the game was originally called battle droids in 1984 landing them a lawsuit from Lucasfilm for using their trademark term droid in 1985 battle tech was released a rebranded reissue of battle droids but in both releases fossa used mech designs licensed from 20th century imports that had been licensed from Japanese companies Tatsunoko productions and Nippon sunrise battle Tech's original battle mechs were Mac Ross crusher Joe and do grim designs because they didn't want to create their own they thought it would be easier and more economical to use existing designs and if it weren't for the release of Robo tech also in 1985 it might have been a different world instead instead in 1985 Harmony Gold who had licensed some of the same Mac Ross designs directly from Tatsunoko exercised a claim against Fosse's battle mechs but neither would or necessarily could go as far as to say they had exclusive rights to the designs 10 years of legally resenting each other later playmates toys released a line of mech toys and action figures for a show called EXO squad which told the story of the expansion of earthlings out into space colonizing the galaxy in the distant future and their eventual fight against pirate clans from the outer planets as if the surface narrative similarities weren't enough as if even having a line of piloted mech suits wasn't enough the EXO squad heavy attack 'iframe was not coincidentally a copy of a battle tech MadCat playmates after all was the first company fossa took the battle tech the animated series concept 2 before eventually signing with Tycho absolutely scandalous and fossa justifiably sued playmates but the judge either didn't see it the same way or just couldn't see and the case was dismissed the following year playmates introduced a new line of Robotech vehicles as part of the EXO squad line which allowed Robo tech creator harmony gold to take fossa to court for continuing to use the Mac cross designs that they still claimed rightfully licensed ownership of battle took the animated series the toy line it was all canceled fahsai wanted more people to know about the world of battle tech to play the game in 1995 before everything was canceled they published a source book called first somerset strikers named after the team that set out to fight back against the invading clans in the animated series it was a companion module or rulebook that took the characters battle necks and concepts that people might have been familiar with from the show and attempted to integrate them with the existing gameplay it was meant to be a bridge to the regular game but is it know the events of the animated series are not considered canon as there are too many things that contradict previously established elements of the world from the game but hold on while the events that take place in the animated series are not canon the show itself is canon as it exists in world as a hollow vid series retconning for the win in 1995 Malibu comics published a 5 issue series called battle tech fallout based on the hit animated series 5 issues that ran issue 0 through issue 4 based on the hit animated series because I think they just made that up like what does the word hit mean who knows right battle tech as a brand survived cancellation of the animated series and toy line the game in the world have been accessible through multiple formats since then the tabletop game as originally conceived video games novels a ton of source books rule books miniatures and other supporting media most of the episodes are available here on YouTube or your nearest holovid projection device battle tech the animated series set out to sell some toys set a new standard for the way a cartoon can look and raise the awareness of a game that was celebrating its 10-year anniversary despite all of the legal issues the game the company and the toys faced battle tech has survived and is still one of the most popular tabletop gaming tactical combat game systems that has ever existed thanks for watching please hit like hit subscribe if you're not already a subscriber thank you very much to those of you who already are if you're in the position to help the channel grow please visit our patreon patreon.com slash toy galaxy or become a channel member here at youtube youtube.com slash twig Alex CTV slash join both patreon and YouTube channel membership have the same exclusive content please share this video and let us know in the comments down below if your team battle Tech or Team Robo tech or team EXO squad or team matte cross and do Graham you ever build a cardboard box robot suit and run around the house shooting rubber bands at your cats what's that called because that's what I do that's my team

Channel: Secret Galaxy

Views: 330,466

Keywords: battletech cartoon, battletech animation, battletech animated series, 1st summerset strikers, 1st summerset strikers cartoon, battletech cartoon intro, battletech cartoon opening, battletech cartoon toys, battletech cartoon hd, battletech intro, battletech tabletop, battletech gameplay, battletech unseen, battletech unseen mechs list, 90s cartoon, 90s commercials, toy galaxy robotech, toy galaxy, robotech lawsuit, 90s nostalgia, fasa battletech

Id: _tkyK6eUeYU

Length: 11min 13sec (673 seconds)

Published: Thu Mar 19 2020