Robotech 3000

Last updated
Robotech 3000
Robotech3000.jpg
Directed by Carl Macek
Written byCarl Macek
Produced byJason Netter
Distributed byFUNimation
Release dates
  • 2000 (2000)(proposed)
  • 2007 (2007)(DVD extra)
Running time
3 minutes (trailer only)
LanguageEnglish

Robotech 3000 was Harmony Gold's attempt to revive the Robotech franchise before the turn of the millennium. [1] After the relative success of Voltron: The Third Dimension and Roughnecks: Starship Troopers Chronicles , a new Robotech sequel was proposed that would use 3D CG visuals, with producer Jason Netter and original Robotech writer Carl Macek at the helm.

Contents

Story and development

The story was based during an era of peace under an interplanetary federation nearly a thousand years after the final episode of Robotech. At the time of development in 1998, Harmony Gold did not have the rights to create a sequel to any of the three Japanese series that they had licensed from Tatsunoko Production, [2] which included Super Dimension Fortress Macross , Super Dimension Cavalry Southern Cross, and Genesis Climber MOSPEADA . Both the time setting as well as the CG animation of this project ensured that it would not resemble a sequel to any of the Tatsunoko Production licensed series.

Harmony Gold brought on former Robotech producer Carl Macek in a freelance capacity to write a 3-minute trailer presentation, a treatment for a pilot episode, and a series bible outlining 13 episodes. [3] Only the trailer presentation was ever produced.

In the trailer, the starship Corsair is commanded by Captain Noble with Lt. Suzy Kramer at the helm as they respond to a distress call on a mining planet. They quickly lose communications with their landing party on the surface, composed of Brent Hawkins, Lorna Cassidy and the alien Arroq. As the party works to re-establish communications with the Corsair, an unmanned mechanical excavator suddenly becomes sentient and attacks them, which they narrowly escape.

Some of the new concepts presented were Veritech Excavators and Proteus-group starships. None of the trademark anime-look and transformable mecha of the earlier series were seen, although what resembles a Veritech fighter can be seen in early pre-production artwork. [4] The character Arroq was a member of the alien race known as the Spherisians, seen in adaptations of Robotech II: The Sentinels.

The trailer also featured returning cast members from the original Robotech series, including Richard Epcar, Rebecca Forsdadt, Edie Mirman, and Dan Woren.

The response to the Robotech 3000 promotional trailer at the 2000 FanimeCon anime convention was disastrous. Much of the negative feedback concerned the distinctive artistic style of the original anime series were going to be replaced by generic CGI characters in a style that resembled ReBoot . By the 2000 San Diego Comic-Con, it was revealed that the CG project had been cancelled, not only due to negative feedback from fans but also because American animation studio Netter Digital, which had been hired to produce the project, had gone bankrupt earlier that year.

During that same San Diego Comic-Con panel in 2000, Carl Macek revealed that an attempt was being made to salvage the series as an anime-style production with Tatsunoko Production. [5] Revealing that this new anime was going to now be set 700 or 800 years in the future, Macek said that no deal had been signed and that the earliest it could premiere would be 2002. The official Robotech website later posted character concept art for this series. [6]

In 2002 Harmony Gold re-gained the rights to create a Robotech sequel based on elements from Super Dimension Cavalry Southern Cross and Genesis Climber MOSPEADA (but not Super Dimension Fortress Macross) and abandoned Robotech 3000 in order to pursue development on Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles .

The story seen in the trailer was revisited in the Robotech series from Titan Comics in 2019, which was a multiverse story arc. With its universe being designated as "Protoverse-113," brief appearances are made characters Lt. Kramer and Captain Noble, as well as the Corsair ship. [7]

Home video

The Robotech 3000 trailer was released as part of a collector's edition DVD of Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles on November 20, 2007. [8] [9]

On April 1, 2002, the Robotech website posted an April Fool's joke announcing a fictitious Robotech 3000 DVD set. [10] The article was posted saying that the DVD set was already sold out.

Related Research Articles

<i>Robotech</i> Science fiction media franchise

Robotech is an American science fiction franchise that began with an 85-episode anime television series produced by Harmony Gold USA in association with Tatsunoko Production; it was first released in the United States in 1984.

<i>Super Dimension Fortress Macross</i> Science fiction anime series

Super Dimension Fortress Macross is an anime television series from 1982. According to story creator Shoji Kawamori, it depicts "a love triangle against the backdrop of great battles" during the first Human-alien war. It is the first part of: The Super Dimension trilogy and the Macross franchise.

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<i>Macross: Do You Remember Love?</i> 1984 Japanese film

The Super Dimension Fortress Macross: Do You Remember Love?, also known as Macross: Do You Remember Love? or Super Spacefortress Macross, is a 1984 Japanese animated space opera film based on the Macross anime television series.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carl Macek</span> American screenwriter

Carl Frank Macek was an American screenwriter and producer. Noted for his work on English-language adaptations of anime during the 1980s and 1990s, he was the creator of the Robotech franchise and the co-founder of Streamline Pictures. His work is considered to have been instrumental in creating mainstream awareness of Japanese animation in the United States.

<i>Genesis Climber MOSPEADA</i> Japanese anime television series

Genesis Climber MOSPEADA is an anime science fiction series created by Shinji Aramaki and Hideki Kakinuma. The 25-episode television series ran from late 1983 to early 1984 in Japan. MOSPEADA is an acronym of "Military Operation Soldier Protection Emergency Aviation Dive Armor", one of the transformable motorcycle-armors the series features. The other primary mecha featured in the show is the three-form transformable fighter called the Armo-Fighter AFC-01 Legioss. MOSPEADA was adapted as the third generation of the American series Robotech, much like Macross and Southern Cross.

<i>Super Dimension Cavalry Southern Cross</i> Japanese anime television series

Super Dimension Cavalry Southern Cross is a Japanese science fiction mecha anime TV series released in 1984, as the third of the Super Dimension series. It was adapted as "The Masters Saga" or the "Second Generation" of the American TV series Robotech.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tatsunoko Production</span> Japanese animation studio

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<i>Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles</i> 2006 American film

Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles is the 2006 animated sequel to the 1985 Robotech television series. It was released on DVD on February 6, 2007.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harmony Gold USA</span> US film and television production company

Harmony Gold USA, Inc. is an American film and television production company. It was founded in 1983 by Egyptian-born Frank Agrama and is managed by his daughter, Jehan F. Agrama.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hikaru Ichijyo</span> Fictional character in The Macross franchise

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The Robotech Defenders are a line of scale model kits released by Revell during the early 1980s with an accompanying limited comic series published by DC Comics. Contrary to what their name seems to imply, the "'Robotech Defenders'" are not part of the Robotech anime universe adapted by Carl Macek and released by Harmony Gold USA, but they did adopt the same moniker and logo.

<i>Robotech</i> (comics)

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<i>Robotech</i> (role-playing game) Tabletop anime role-playing game

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<i>Robotech</i> (TV series) 1985 animated series

Robotech is an American 85-episode adaptation of three unrelated Japanese anime television series made between 1982 and 1984 in Japan; the adaptation was aired in 1985. Within the combined and edited story, Robotechnology refers to the scientific advances discovered in an alien starship that crashed on a South Pacific island. With this technology, Earth developed giant robotic machines or mecha to fight three successive extraterrestrial invasions.

<i>Robotech II: The Sentinels</i> 1988 American film

Robotech II: The Sentinels was an attempt by Harmony Gold USA to continue the original 1985 Robotech television series. Only three episodes were ultimately animated before the project was canceled in 1986, and a feature-length film was released from footage taken from the completed episodes. The aborted 65-episode Sentinels series would have followed the ongoing adventures of Rick Hunter and Lisa Hayes and the rest of the Robotech Expeditionary Force (REF) during the events of The Robotech Masters and The New Generation series.

Studio Nue, Inc. is a Japanese design studio formed in 1972 by Naoyuki Kato, Kenichi Matsuzaki, Kazutaka Miyatake, and Haruka Takachiho. Crystal Art Studio would change their name to Studio Nue in 1974.

<i>Robotech: Love Live Alive</i> 2013 American film

Robotech: Love Live Alive is an American direct-to-video animated film produced by Harmony Gold USA released on July 23, 2013. It is based on the 1985 Japanese OVA music video Genesis Climber MOSPEADA: Love Live Alive by Tatsunoko Production, but adapted to the continuity of the Robotech universe.

References

  1. ↑ Liberty, Space Station (14 April 2007). "Ep. 35 - Carl Macek Interview – Space Station Liberty – Podcast". Podtail.
  2. ↑ "Harmony Gold, USA, Inc., Petitioner, v. Tatsunoko Production Co., Ltd., Respondent. Case No. 2:17-cv-06034-PA-MRW Amended Judgment Confirming Arbitration Award. United States District Court Central District of California" (PDF). August 23, 2017.
  3. ↑ Chris Meadows (2007-04-14), Space Station Libery Podcast - Carl Macek Interview 4/14/2007 , retrieved 2024-04-20
  4. ↑ "Robotech 3000". Blacksheep Productions. Retrieved 2024-04-16.
  5. ↑ "scifi.ign.com:Robotech 3000". 2001-04-01. Archived from the original on 2001-04-01. Retrieved 2024-04-17.
  6. ↑ Harmony Gold, U. S. A. (2000-01-01), Robotech 3000 Character Concept Art , retrieved 2024-04-17
  7. ↑ Furman, Simon (December 2019). Robotech Volume 6: Event Horizon. London, England: Titan Comics. ISBN   9781787733015.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  8. ↑ Evan Miller (2007-07-23). "Otakon 2007: Harmony Gold". Anime News Network . Retrieved 2007-08-05.
  9. ↑ "Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles Collector's Edition - Where my Hovertanks at?". Pop Syndicate. 2007-11-28. Archived from the original on 2008-01-10.
  10. ↑ "Robotech.com". 2002-05-06. Archived from the original on 2002-05-06. Retrieved 2024-04-17.
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