Looking back now, the go-bots really did suck

[ShadowBoxing]

Seriously. Like, I really don't care what people on the Transformers messageboards say about Beast Wars because when I was growing up Beast Wars was the ****. And I have great childhood memories of Beast Wars. So **** all that ****.

Transformers messageboards love Beast Wars. They hate G1, because as a show, G1 sucked.

 

[ShadowBoxing]

You are totally missing my point. I am not arguing you about the quality of those cartoons. I am just stating that those cartoons were great memories of many peoples' childhood and that many of us DON'T CARE what the intentions were behind the shows. Like any cartoon put out isn't put out for the purpose of being a commercial success... get off the high horse.

It has nothing to do with the intentions behind the show, it has to do with this constant Hot Topic bullsh** I see repeated everywhere by everyone who watched Transformers that one time when they were five: "Oh my teh GODZ Transformers was teh greatezt show evah, cartoons suck now". No, cartoons sucked then.

The cartoon itself wasn't put out to be a commercial success either. The fact that they shipped it out to some knock-off Korean animation studio after the first season wrapped should have been a dead give-away to that. The cartoon was meant to promote the toys, not vice versa. They didn't even promote the movie, except for a blurb put into the toy commercials. They could've cared less whether the show tanked or was a hit. Now cartoons are actually seen as investments by TV stations, Transformers and G.I.Joe however were bought the same way advertisers buy space on TV and radio, those stations didn't spend a dime on them.

 

[Knightsaber Priss]

I mean, it's not Turbo Teen bad, but compare it to a contempory like Robotech......

Trust me, Robotech is a butchered mess. Try watching the original, unedited Macross to see just how much they ruined the flow of the show when they brought it over from Japan and dubbed it.

Transformers messageboards love Beast Wars. They hate G1, because as a show, G1 sucked.

As I like to say, true fans don't bash G1.

 

[ShadowBoxing]

Trust me, Robotech is a butchered mess. Try watching the original, unedited Macross to see just how much they ruined the flow of the show when they brought it over from Japan and dubbed it.

I have, and oh my God they did. I think "The Macross Saga" is tolerable because aside from the SDF-2 I'm not being told by a narrator that sh** is there that doesn't exist. I think my favorite is the Southern Cross where they go to the "site of the SDF-1" and I'm thinkin' "that's three f---in' hills". Seriously though, Macek should be sued, and that Robotech movie they're talking about doing should just be handed over to StudioNu so we can get a Macross film.

 

[Knightsaber Priss]

I have, and oh my God they did. I think "The Macross Saga" is tolerable because aside from the SDF-2 I'm not being told by a narrator that sh** is there that doesn't exist. I think my favorite is the Southern Cross where they go to the "site of the SDF-1" and I'm thinkin' "that's three f---in' hills". Seriously though, Macek should be sued, and that Robotech movie they're talking about doing should just be handed over to StudioNu so we can get a Macross film.

I agree. Macross is so much more layered and complicated a series than Robotech made it. But such was the stringent rules of child geared television back then. If you want to go back just a tad bit further there was Battle of the Planets which was a skewered edit of Gatchaman. Literally whole scenes that depicted violence were excised leaving alot of space to fill, and fill it they did with the antics of 7-Zark-7 and his "dog" 1-Rover-1. I remember Zarkie used to get all hot and bothered (Well as hot and bothered as a robot on a kid's cartoon could get.) over this magic voice called Susan too. And the worst thing was that they'd say that people you watched blatantly get slain by the robot monster of the week were either robots or that no one was seriously hurt. Now that I think about it, there was another dub of Gatchaman called G-Force which came from Ted Turner's company. And while they kept the episodes pretty much intact, the dubbing was horrible and the names they gave the characters was even worse. This is exactly why I like to stick with subtitled versions of anime because you miss the original voice actor or actress' performance when they redub the lines in English.

 

[ShadowBoxing]

I agree. Macross is so much more layered and complicated a series than Robotech made it. But such was the stringent rules of child geared television back then. If you want to go back just a tad but further there was Battle of the Planets which was a skewered edit of Gatchaman. Literally whole scenes that depicted violence were excised leaving alot of space to fill, and fill it they did with the antics of 7-Zark-7 and his "dog" 1-Rover-1. I remember Zarkie used to get all hot and bothered (Well as hot and bothered as a robot on a kid's cartoon could get.) over this magic voice called Susan too. And the worst thing was that they'd say that people you watched blatantly get slain by the robot monster of the week were either robots or that no one was seriously hurt. Now that I think about it, there was another dub of Gatchaman called G-Force which came from Ted Turner's company. And while they kept the episodes pretty much intact, the dubbing was horrible and the names they gave the characters was even worse. This is exactly why I like to stick with subtitled versions of anime because you miss the original voice actor or actress' performance when they redub the lines in English.

I liked the Robotech voices and names incidentally, I also liked the Roy Fokker of Robotech a tad better because...well...he wasn't a constantly drunk rapist (yes, Japan, because all us Americans are like that). Otherwise though, I agree completely. What kills Robotech for me is the Sci-Fi aspect. The love story remains more or less the same throughout either, but the whole aspect of Protoculture, the Zentradi and the SDF-1 are majorly f---ed to sh--. Macek was a horrible Sci-Fi writer, just atrocious. The mythos of Macross is so much stronger than the hack job he created.

 

[knowsbleed]

SB makes my head hurt... what a ****ing nerd.

TF > GoBots.

'nuff said.

 

[ShadowBoxing]

SB makes my head hurt... what a ****ing nerd.

Only the Hype and the Comic store knows of my nerd-dom You're just jealous.

TF > GoBots.

'nuff said.

Indeed. Though Gobots are Transformers now, so we get the last laugh.

 

[knowsbleed]

I hate your face.

 

[Erzengel]

So I love the first Macross, how much am I missing with the American version?

 

[SLVRSR4]

Just want to say that the raptor in Beast Wars was the greatest bad-ass with a heart of gold in 3-d robot animation. Also Transformers before this weren't even remotely cool.

 

[knowsbleed]

Just want to say that the raptor in Beast Wars was the greatest bad-ass with a heart of gold in 3-d robot animation. Also Transformers before this weren't even remotely cool.

Expound.

 

[ShadowBoxing]

So I love the first Macross, how much am I missing with the American version?

It's actually not so much what your missing, it's how much extra crap...and I do mean crap...they needlessly added in. Let me put it this way; the Macross series in Japan had very little narration.

 

[The Original Bamfer]

Only the Hype and the Comic store knows of my nerd-dom You're just jealous.

Indeed. Though Gobots are Transformers now, so we get the last laugh.

I could be wrong, but I'd have to guess it'd be pretty evident elsewhere, too.

 

[ShadowBoxing]

I could be wrong, but I'd have to guess it'd be pretty evident elsewhere, too.

Completely wrong, I have only one friend who knows I like comics and they don't even live with me, I don't even keep comics in my own apartment. Why do you think I come here, because I talk about this stuff with other people? Most of these subjects are too esoteric for normal conversation anyway.

 

[kane9321]

80s had M.A.S.K., Transformers, Voltron, GI Joe, Centurions, Robotech, Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors, etc... not to mention all the Saturday Morning Cartoon lineups like Spider-man and his Amazing Friends.

I'll take all of those any day over Mighty Morphin Power Rangers and Pokemon.

damned rightt:

 

[kane9321]

LOL. Yeah Go-Bots sucked. I liked it though. They had some pretty cool characters. I forget the evil females name. SHe was my favorite because she transformed into a race car and in robot form would stomp on the ground creating some sort of lightning strike.


QFT. To this day while watching the DVDs I let the opening play because it's that awesome. I can't think of any other cartoon I own that I do that for.

Although TC is probably one of the worst examples on how to f' up a cartoon series. It started out w/ some top-notch art and by shows end I remember thinking that I could out draw the artist and I was like 9-10yrs old.

"CRUSHER" WAS HER NAMEt:

 

[kane9321]

Sucked for who? You as an adult? Of course. If a child were to watch those shows though... they would not "suck".

You've grown out of those shows... but for people who grew up with them and love the nostalgia... they are great shows in memory. You feeling the need to remind people how much they "sucked" is a reality that I'm not asking you to bring me back to. So how 'bout you grow down a little... you old nutsack.

FTWt:

 

[ShadowBoxing]

FTWt:

I still disagree. There are shows I watched as a kid, and I watch them now and appreciate them more. Batman the Animated Series came on FOX when I was younger, and know when I watch it on DVD I realize the show was not just fun for me as a kid but that it was a really, really well done show and actually dealt with some very mature and adult storylines. Reboot and Beast Wars have also held up, and even some of the newer shows like Transformers Animated and JLU have proven to me people are perfectly capable of producing well written, smart cartoons. Transformers G1 was not one of them, neither was G.I.Joe or He-Man. Yes, nostaglia certainly makes us remember things we liked as children fondly, but it doesn't remove the fact that some of those things sucked and some of them were legitmately good. I suppose as a kid you also though picking your nose in public was perfectly a-okay, but I don't see the "cool kids" reviving that long lost craze.

To me I see it as no different than a comic fan shouting "comics suck, it's not what Stan Lee intended", then when I calmly explain some of what Stan Lee intended sucked ass and you should be glad you aren't reading his crappy X-Men and DareDevil comics, they get all offended. Ignoring the fact that I never said all of what Stan Lee did sucked, just that they're painting something in very broad strokes, forgetting that there never was, is or will be an era that is pristine and produced perfect comic books. Cartoons are no different, some hold up, some don't. What I get tried of is hearing how certain childhood properties are beyond reproach simply because you owned a Jetfire and ate too much high sugar cereal.

 

[JAK®]

Internet nerds from the '80s are obsessed with nostalgia. It really begs the question, are they happy with their current, adult lives?

 

[Equint77]

This has more to do with how much better it seemed for me growing up. Back when I was a kid... Saturday mornings were loaded with cartoons from 6AM through 12PM on all channels. CBS, NBC, ABC and then you had wrestling and American Gladiators on Fox afterwards.

The only channel now is the WB, or the CW or whatever channel it names itself. I started this thread to point out how much the gobots toyline and cartoon sucked back then.. and it hasn't changed over time. But at least there was that option... to like the suckier, more womanly version of Transformers.

 

[ShadowBoxing]

Internet nerds from the '80s are obsessed with nostalgia. It really begs the question, are they happy with their current, adult lives?

I don't think that has anything to do with it. I just find it ironic though how much they defend it. It's one thing to like something, like I do actually like Transformers, even the G1 episodes, it's another thing to defend them as being good quality entertainment, or trying to argue the cartoons brilliance or importance. The cartoon had little to do with Transformers overall success, despite the fact that the concept and characters gained icon status, the toy themselves were novel enough that even the flimsy mythos created around them made them overnight sensations. Though if you look at Transformers as a whole, it abandons and changes it's concepts at the drop of a hat, and despite this the show and characters remain popular -- no matter how many elements you screw with (outside of them, ya'know, transforming). Optimus can be a monkey (Beast Wars), Megatron can be a techno-supremecist (Beast Machines), the Transformers can be human piloted (Masterforce) or if can even have sh---y animation (Animated) and people still love them. Though people often confuse the genius of the toy designers with that of the writers. I even remember Pat "Funana" Lee saying "[The cartoon] was so popular it was only a matter of time before they made the toys". This, however, is how people see Transformers, and it's a very misinformed, misinterpreted view of how they rose to become a popular franchise.

 

[ShadowBoxing]

This has more to do with how much better it seemed for me growing up. Back when I was a kid... Saturday mornings were loaded with cartoons from 6AM through 12PM on all channels. CBS, NBC, ABC and then you had wrestling and American Gladiators on Fox afterwards.

The only channel now is the WB, or the CW or whatever channel it names itself. I started this thread to point out how much the gobots toyline and cartoon sucked back then.. and it hasn't changed over time. But at least there was that option... to like the suckier, more womanly version of Transformers.

When I was growing up I didn't have four or five networks that played cartoons around the clock like I do now. So, actually, there are more options, more often these days.

 

[Erzengel]

How about this. I like the G1 Transformers Characters better than the Beast Wars/Machines, Transformers Animated combined.

 

[The Original Bamfer]

I still disagree. There are shows I watched as a kid, and I watch them now and appreciate them more. Batman the Animated Series came on FOX when I was younger, and know when I watch it on DVD I realize the show was not just fun for me as a kid but that it was a really, really well done show and actually dealt with some very mature and adult storylines. Reboot and Beast Wars have also held up, and even some of the newer shows like Transformers Animated and JLU have proven to me people are perfectly capable of producing well written, smart cartoons. Transformers G1 was not one of them, neither was G.I.Joe or He-Man. Yes, nostaglia certainly makes us remember things we liked as children fondly, but it doesn't remove the fact that some of those things sucked and some of them were legitmately good. I suppose as a kid you also though picking your nose in public was perfectly a-okay, but I don't see the "cool kids" reviving that long lost craze.

To me I see it as no different than a comic fan shouting "comics suck, it's not what Stan Lee intended", then when I calmly explain some of what Stan Lee intended sucked ass and you should be glad you aren't reading his crappy X-Men and DareDevil comics, they get all offended. Ignoring the fact that I never said all of what Stan Lee did sucked, just that they're painting something in very broad strokes, forgetting that there never was, is or will be an era that is pristine and produced perfect comic books. Cartoons are no different, some hold up, some don't. What I get tried of is hearing how certain childhood properties are beyond reproach simply because you owned a Jetfire and ate too much high sugar cereal.

You're still arguing the quality of the cartoon. Which, really, has nothing to do with why people like knowsbleed enjoyed the show.