History Anime / RobotCarnival

* RockBeatsLaser: Played with and (perhaps intentionally) subverted in the "A Tale of Two Robots" segment. While both {{Giant Mecha}} seem to be at the SteamPunk level of technology, the robot belonging to Doctor Volkessen is definitely more advanced, having a real cannon on its shoulder (as opposed to the fireworks used by the heroes) and brick-and-mortar "armor". While the heroes win, it was likely just dumb luck (although their leader is quick to attribute it to patriotic HeroicResolve), and their GiantMecha is definitely much the worse for wear... while the villain's robot winds up ''floating'' homeward.

During the early 1990's, this anthology was shown frequently on the SciFiChannel and later on the Turner Network, often paired with other feature-length anime films such as ''VampireHunterD'', ''DemonCityShinjuku'', and ''TwilightOfTheCockroaches'', making ''RobotCarnival'' one of [[GatewaySeries the first tastes of anime to many American viewers]].

* LeftTheBackgroundMusicOn: Played with in the "Nightmare" a/k/a "Chicken Man and Red Neck" sequence. The score and a few sound effects are all that can be heard on the soundtrack, drawing a parallel with ''WesternAnimation/{{Fantasia}}'' (particularly the "Night on Bald Mountain" segment)... but the volume of the soundtrack actually ''decreases'' when the camera moves away from the parade of monsters to a drunk waking up in a nearby alleyway, and then ''increases'' when he wanders out. The music is temporarily ''treated'' as though it were actually being played audibly in the scene, but of that the film gives no confirmation.

''Robot Carnival'' (1987) is an anime anthology film, produced by Creator/APPP, comprised of a collection of nine short films about robots by a variety of directors, most featuring no dialogue. Many of the film's segments are directed by people who are primarily character designers or animators, not directors.

''Robot Carnival'' (1987) is an anime anthology film comprised of a collection of nine short films by a variety of directors, all featuring little or no dialogue. Many of the film's segments are directed by people who are primarily character designers or animators, not directors.

* NoExportForYou: For almost thirty years, the only legitimate copies of ''Robot Carnival'' in the West were copies of the Streamline Pictures VHS, which went out of print in the mid-Nineties. Not until February 2015 did any company -- Discotek Media, for the record -- announce any intention of distributing it on DVD.

* NoExportForYou: The anthology won't be making a legitimate DVD release in the west anytime soon.

** Also averted in the segment "A Tale of Two Robots", where a battle between two {{Steam Punk}} {{Giant Mecha}} in the middle of a Japanese port town causes more devastation than either one could probably cause on its own. This is hilariously lampshaded by one of the "heroes" at the end (in the dub, at least) when he looks out over the city from atop their {{Giant Mecha}} and laments all the destroyed buildings; he then runs to the other side of the mecha and comments: "Well, ''this'' side looks all right."

* FrankensteinsMonster: Franken's Gears, natch.

** The English dubbing of this particular piece drew some criticism because the voice actors put on thick Japanese accents when they delivered their lines.
** The piece itself is a parody of the Japanese propaganda films before the occupation era following World War II.

** Also averted in the segment "A Tale of Two Robots" where a battle between two {{Steam Punk}} {{Giant Mecha}} in the middle of a Japanese port town causes more devastation than either one could probably cause on its own. This is hilariously lampshaded by one of the "heroes" at the end (in the dub, at least) when he looks out over the city from atop their {{Giant Mecha}} and laments all the destroyed buildings. He then runs to the other side of the mecha and comments: "Well, ''this'' side doesn't look so bad."

* RockBeatsLaser: Played with and possibly subverted in the "A Tale of Two Robots" segment. While both {{Giant Mecha}} seem to be at the SteamPunk level of technology, the robot belonging to the foreigner is definitely more advanced, having real cannons (as opposed to the fireworks used by the heroes) and brick-and-mortar "armor". While the heroes win, it was likely just dumb luck, and their GiantMecha is definitely much the worse for wear... while the foreigner's robot winds up ''floating'' homeward.

* BettyAndVeronica: In "Star Light Angel", the unnamed shy girl runs off crying when her more tomboyish best friend introduces her new boyfriend...who the shy girl had been dating at the time. To her credit, when the tomboy finds out the truth, she wastes no time in dumping him!
* BridalCarry: ""Star Light Angel" has a flying scene with a robot and a girl; "Deprive" has a cyborg and a girl, etc. etc.

* {{Expy}}: Hiroyuki Kitazume's involvement in "Star Light Angel" seems to have resulted in a number of characters from the Franchise/{{Gundam}} franchise (''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundamZZ Gundam ZZ]]'' in particular) being utilized for the segment. The main character appears to be a [[CompositeCharacter composite]] of Leina Ashta and Elpeo Ple, her friend is highly reminiscent of Elle Vianno, and their two-timing hypotenuse bears more than just a passing resemblance to Char Aznable. A young lady with the likeness of Roux Louka also makes a walk-on cameo appearance early in the segment.

** Creator/KatsuhiroOtomo worked on this, so another of the directors involved decided to pay him homage. Be sure to watch out in "Star Light Angel" for the cameos of Tetsuo, Akira and the Colonel -- a year before ''Manga/{{Akira}}'' was released in cinemas.

''RobotCarnival'' (1987) is an anime anthology film comprised of a collection of nine short films by a variety of directors, all featuring little or no dialogue. Many of the film's segments are directed by people who are primarily character designers or animators, not directors.

* AdaptationDistillation: The segment "Deprive" takes your stereotypical Shonen-action series and boils it down to the barest essentials without missing a beat in the story and ''without a word of dialogue''. It still works.

The bookend segments, "Opening" and "Ending", feature a huge machine, the eponymous Robot Carnival, chugging along over the landscape unheeding of any obstacles in its way. Once a magnificent showcase of mechanical prowess, the hulk is now a decayed, rusting, malfunctioning engine of destruction.

* KeepCirculatingTheTapes
* MoodWhiplash: Franken's Gears.

** Also averted in the segment "A Tale of Two Robots" where a battle between two {{Steam Punk}} {{Giant Mecha}} in the middle of Japan causes more devastation than either one could probably cause on its own. This is hilariously lampshaded by one of the "heroes" at the end when he looks out over the city from atop their {{Giant Mecha}} and laments all the destroyed buildings. He then runs to the other side of the mecha and comments that "but this side doesn't look too bad".

* {{Rock Beats Laser}}: Played with and possibly subverted in the "A Tale of Two Robots" segment. While both {{Giant Mecha}} seem to be at the SteamPunk level of technology, the robot belonging to the foreigner is definitely more advanced, having real cannons (as opposed to the fireworks used by the heroes) and having brick and mortar "armor". While the heroes win, it was likely just dumb luck, and their GiantMecha is definately the worse for wear.

* ShoutOut: The [[strike:"Chicken Man and Red Neck in Tokyo"]] "Nightmare" section makes obvious references to Disney works such as the "Night on Bald Mountain" segment from ''Disney/{{Fantasia}}'' and ''The Legend of Sleepy Hollow''.

* ShoutOut: The [[strike:"Chicken Man and Red Neck in Tokyo"]] "Nightmare" section makes obvious references to Disney works such as the "Night on Bald Mountain" segment from ''{{Fantasia}}'' and ''The Legend of Sleepy Hollow''.

* BridalCarry: Starlight Angel has a flying scene with a robot and a girl; Deprive has a cyborg and a girl, etc. etc.

* {{Expy}}: Hiroyuki Kitazume’s involvement in "Star Light Angel" seems to have resulted in a number of characters from the Franchise/{{Gundam}} franchise (''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundamZZ Gundam ZZ]]'' in particular) being utilized for the segment. The main character appears to be a [[CompositeCharacter composite]] of Leina Ashta and Elpeo Ple, her friend is highly reminiscent of Elle Vianno, and their two-timing hypotenuse bears more than just a passing resemblance to Char Aznable. A young lady with the likeness of Roux Louka also makes a walk-on cameo appearance early in the segment.
** This has led to a couple jokes on youtube about "Char breaking (more) young girls' hearts."

** "Star Light Angel" also contains several references to the ''Franchise/{{Gundam}}'' franchise, mostly in the form of character designs. No surprise, as the director worked on several entries in the Gundam series.

** "Star Light Angel" also contains several references to the ''Franchise/{{Gundam}}'' franchise, mostly in the form of character designs. No surprise, as the director worked on several of the Gundam series.

** Because Katsuhiro Otomo worked on this be sure to watch out for the cameos of Tetsuo, Akira and the Colonel - a year before ''Manga/{{Akira}}'' was released in cinemas.

** The male protagonist in "Deprive" seems to be based off 8Man.

* {{Expy}}: Hiroyuki Kitazume’s involvement in "Star Light Angel" seems to have resulted in a number of characters from the {{Gundam}} franchise (''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundamZZ Gundam ZZ]]'' in particular) being utilized for the segment. The main character appears to be a [[CompositeCharacter composite]] of Leina Ashta and Elpeo Ple, her friend is highly reminiscent of Elle Vianno, and their two-timing hypotenuse bears more than just a passing resemblance to Char Aznable. A young lady with the likeness of Roux Louka also makes a walk-on cameo appearance early in the segment.

* BettyAndVeronica: In "Star Light Angel", the unnamed shy girl runs off crying when her more tomboyish best friend introduces her new boyfriend...who the shy girl had been dating at the time. To her credit, when the tomboy found out the truth, she wasted no time in dumping him!

* CircusOfFear: The titular carnival. It was once a normal circus, but years of disrepair have turned it into a mechanical nightmare that turns the people of the towns it encounters into new performers... or [[StuffBlowingUp makes them explode]].

* {{No Endor Holocaust}}: Averted big time in the opening and closing segments where the massive destruction caused by the titual "Robot Carnival" is shown front and center.

The bookend segments, "Opening" and "Ending", feature a huge machine, the titular Robot Carnival, chugging along over the landscape unheeding of any obstacles in its way. Once a magnificent showcase of mechanical prowess, the hulk is now a decayed, rusting, malfunctioning engine of destruction.

* WhatDoYouMeanItsNotAwesome: The Opening sequence. The movie starts out with a bland black title card with "Robot Carnival" on it. Then the titular Robot Carnival shows up with grand music and on the front of the BaseOnWheels spells out "ROBOT CARNIVAL."

* {{Rock Beats Laser}}: Played with and possibly subverted in the "A Tale of Two Robots" segment. While both {{Giant Mecha}} seem to be at the SteamPunk level of technology, the robot belonging to the EvilForeigner is definitely more advanced, having real cannons (as opposed to the fireworks used by the heroes) and having brick and mortar "armor". While the heroes win, it was likely just dumb luck, and their GiantMecha is definately the worse for wear.

** Because Katsuhiro Otomo worked on this be sure to watch out for the cameos of Tetsuo, Akira and the Colonel - a year before ''{{Akira}}'' was released in cinemas.

* {{Expy}}: Hiroyuki Kitazume’s involvement in "Star Light Angel" seems to have resulted in a number of characters from the {{Gundam}} franchise (''GundamZZ'' in particular) being utilized for the segment. The main character appears to be a [[CompositeCharacter composite]] of Leina Ashta and Elpeo Ple, her friend is highly reminiscent of Elle Vianno, and their two-timing hypotenuse bears more than just a passing resemblance to Char Aznable. A young lady with the likeness of Roux Louka also makes a walk-on cameo appearance early in the segment.