RoboCop (animated TV series) explained

Genre:Action
Adventure
Cyberpunk
Superhero
Runtime:30 minutes
Creator:Edward Neumeier
Michael Miner
Developer:Rich Fogel
Mark Seidenberg
Director:Bill Hutton
Tony Love
Executive Producer:Margaret Loesch
Joseph M. Taritero
Music:Haim Saban
Shuki Levy
Voices:Robert Bockstael
Barbara Budd
Len Carlson
Rex Hagon
Dan Hennessey
Ron James
Greg Morton
Susan Roman
Allen Stewart-Coates
Chris Ward
Gordon Maston
Company:Marvel Productions
Orion Pictures Corporation
Country:United States
Canada
Network:Syndication
Num Episodes:12
Related:

RoboCop is a 1988 superhero animated series based on the 1987 movie RoboCop.[1] The cartoon aired as part of the Marvel Action Universe programming block.[2] The series was animated by AKOM Productions.

The show made a number of changes to the RoboCop universe to make it more appropriate for younger viewers, including replacing bullets with laser weapons and shifting the series to a more science fiction setting. In this series, RoboCop had a red light in the middle of his visor (which occasionally panned the whole visor). It is set in an alternate continuity where events similar to those shown in the movie happened, excluding Clarence Boddicker's death, who shows up in the last episode.

Ownership of the series passed to Disney in 2001 when Disney acquired Fox Kids Worldwide, which also included Marvel Productions, while Amazon's Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (under Orion Pictures label) remains as current rights holder of the RoboCop franchise.[3] [4] [5]

Plot

Based on the original movie, the series features cyborg cop Alex Murphy (RoboCop), who fights to save the city of Old Detroit from assorted rogue elements, and on occasion, fighting to reclaim aspects of his humanity and maintain his usefulness in the eyes of the "Old Man", Chairman of Omni Consumer Products. Many episodes see RoboCop's reputation put to the test or soured by interventions from Dr. McNamara, the creator of ED-260, the upgradable version of the Enforcement Droid Series 209 and the top competitor for the financial backing of OCP. He continually develops other mechanical menaces that threaten RoboCop.

In the police force, RoboCop is befriended by Officer Anne Lewis, who is depicted to have romantic inclinations towards him, but is also picked on and lambasted by the prejudiced Lieutenant Roger Hedgecock (who appeared as a minor character in the original film), who is determined to be rid of him and his kind, who he sees as ticking time bomb. Their rivalry comes to a fever pitch during the episode "The Man in the Iron Suit", in which Hedgecock comes close to finally beating Murphy with the aid of a new weapons system developed by McNamara. He almost kills Lewis when she interferes, enraging Murphy into tearing Hedgecock's iron suit apart and nearly crushing his skull before Lewis comes to his aid. RoboCop is maintained by RoboCop Project director Dr. Tyler.

The title sequence features a brief animated variation on Murphy being gunned down by Clarence Boddicker and his gang. Throughout the series, RoboCop struggles to deal with the pain of losing his humanity. Other themes include racism ("The Brotherhood"), prejudice at work ("Man in the Iron Suit"), environmental espionage ("Into the Wilderness"), terrorism, and the Middle East peace process ("A Robot's Revenge").

While this series is based on the original film, there are significant changes to RoboCop and his environment. RoboCop is faster and has a greater range of movement than in the films. The Old Detroit of the series is also considerably more technologically advanced: lasers replace handguns and robots are commonplace, Dr. Tyler (who appears in the original film) is the creator of the RoboCop Program, not Bob Morton, and also serves as one of Murphy's confidants as well as his caregiver, along with Dr. Roosevelt. Clarence Boddicker, the man responsible for Alex's Murphy's death prior to him becoming RoboCop, despite dying in the film, is shown to still be alive and battles RoboCop again in "Menace of the Mind", indicating the series takes place in an alternate continuity.

Cast

Crew

Episode guide

TitleWritten byAir date

The reason why there were only 12 episodes instead of the traditional 13 for a weekly animated series is because Marvel Productions used the budget for what would have been the 13th episode of RoboCop to fund a pilot for a proposed X-Men animated series (also known as Pryde of the X-Men).

Home media

In 1991, three episodes of the series were released as individual NTSC VHS volumes, distributed by Best Film & Video Corp. under the "Marvel Video!" banner. The episodes were: "Man in the Iron Suit!" (volume 1), "Crime Wave" (volume 2), and "A Robot's Revenge" (volume 3).

On February 18, 2008, UK distributor Maximum Entertainment released the complete series in a three-disc box set containing all 12 episodes.

DVD release

United Kingdom

In the 2000s, Maximum Entertainment (under license from Jetix Europe) released several DVDs of RoboCop on Region 2 DVD in the UK.

TitleEpisodesRegion 1Region 2Region 4Notes
RoboCop - Volume 1 1–5-30 August 2004[6] -
Action Man/RoboCop/Conan the Adventurer -20 September 2004[7] -
RoboCop - Volume 2 (The Hot Seat) 6–7 and 11-4 April 2005[8] -
RoboCop - Part Man, Part Machine 1-5-4 June 2007[9] -
Transformers/MASK/RoboCop --16 July 2007[10] -
RoboCop - The Complete Series 12-11 February 2008[11] -

Notes and References

  1. News: A NEW SUPERHERO CARTOON-LIKE 'ROBOCOP'IS AIMED AT ADULTS, TOO . . July 18, 1987 .
  2. Book: Erickson . Hal . Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003 . 2005 . 2nd . McFarland & Co . 978-1476665993 . 527–528.
  3. Web site: U.S. Copyright Public Records System .
  4. Web site: Disney+ and Missing Saban Entertainment & Fox Kids-Jetix Worldwide Library - StreamClues . 14 September 2022 . 2 October 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221226042740/https://streamclues.com/disney-and-missing-saban-entertainment-fox-kids-jetix-worldwide-library/ . 26 December 2022.
  5. Web site: Liste - BVS Entertainment | Séries .
  6. Web site: Robocop (Animated): Volume 1 [DVD]: Amazon.co.uk: Robocop: DVD & Blu-ray |date=27 November 2006 |publisher=Amazon.co.uk |access-date=2014-07-23].
  7. Web site: Action Man/Robocop/Conan The Adventurer [DVD]: Amazon.co.uk: DVD & Blu-ray |date=20 September 2004 |publisher=Amazon.co.uk |access-date=2014-07-23].
  8. Web site: Robocop (Animated): Volume 2 [DVD]: Amazon.co.uk: Robocop: DVD & Blu-ray |date=27 November 2006 |publisher=Amazon.co.uk |access-date=2014-07-23].
  9. Web site: Robocop - Part Man, Part Machine [DVD]: Amazon.co.uk: Robocop: DVD & Blu-ray |date=4 June 2007 |publisher=Amazon.co.uk |access-date=2014-07-23].
  10. Web site: Transformers/MASK/Robocop [DVD]: Amazon.co.uk: DVD & Blu-ray |date=16 July 2007 |publisher=Amazon.co.uk |access-date=2014-07-23].
  11. Web site: Robocop - The Complete Animated Series [DVD]: Amazon.co.uk: Paul Lynch, Alan J. Levi: DVD & Blu-ray |date=11 February 2008 |publisher=Amazon.co.uk |access-date=2014-07-23].