It's 80's Cartoon Time

As a child of the 80's, I was privileged to bear witness to some of the best cartoons in the history of the medium. Of course there were the big ones, such as The Transformers and G.I. Joe, but there was also a sizeable number of lesser-known cartoons that were really pushing the limits in terms of characters, plot, and overall story quality. One of these was The Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers.

Produced in the U.S. with animation created in Japan, Galaxy Rangers had some really great characters that all had their own personal side issues (Shane Gooseman: "I am not a metamorph!") and long-running story arcs. I'd rank it a close second only to Robotech in my list of favorite 80's cartoons.

Speaking of Robotech, I still think it's criminally underrated as a franchise. I've always wondered why it hasn't hit movie screens like almost every other major comic, fantasy, or science-fiction property has by now. As it was originally a cobbled-together meta-story that combined three different Japanese anime series (Super Dimension Fortress Macross, Super Dimension Cavalry Southern Cross, and Genesis Climber MOSPEADA), I'd imagine that sorting out the rights and money distribution for a movie deal would not be easy.

Further indication of licensing difficulty is the small number of Robotech video games released in the West; there's only been four released in total, with a fifth (Robotech: Crystal Dreams for the Nintendo 64) getting cancelled during development. In contrast, Japan sees a steady stream of games based on the three separate series (Macross in particular), with each licensing agreement requiring no more wrangling than usual.

I'd love to see Robotech live-action movies, especially now that special effects have evolved to the point that they could really do the source material justice. They could easily turn the series into a trilogy, with each movie covering the high points of each generation. A man can dream, right?