Line #8 Trivia/Robotech


1	* ApprovalOfGod:
2	** Many people that worked on ''Southern Cross'' praised the altered characterization of the characters and the more professional battle chatter.
3	* DevelopmentHell:
4	** The Hollywood adaptation of ''Robotech'' is one of the longest film development projects ever to be stuck in the 7th circle of development hell. Many screenwriters, directors, and leading actors have been rumored to be connected to the project -- but no live action films have been released. Currently, Sony has the rights and are moving forward with a film franchise with James Wan directing the first film.
5	** And ''Robotech Academy'' is now stuck too because of failing to meet its gigantic Kickstarter goal to produce a pilot.
6	* DisownedAdaptation:
7	** [[https://fullfrontal.moe/kawamori-40-interview/?fbclid=IwAR3tcPbBw3YCp0TXm_SMBcC4B03xbO6tj-DQA8Ex-Vz4zZjVN0ytvS2t-js This interview]] reveals that Creator/ShojiKawamori isn't pleased with ''Robotech'', calling it a "pirated version" of ''Macross'' due to Harmony Gold ''not even asking for his permission'' regarding its usage, effectively making it ''plagiarism''. On the other hand, he at least appreciates the fact that it helped [[ColbertBump expose his work]] to the West.
8	** Carl Macek has disowned ''Robotech: The Movie'' due to the ExecutiveMeddling by Cannon Films he endured during production; see below.
9	* EnforcedMethodActing: Michael Bradley said that if he knew in advance that Yellow Dancer was supposed to be Lancer disguising himself as a woman to avoid being killed/apprehended by Invid forces and their collaborators, he would have tried to use a feminine voice or at least, pretend to dress up with female clothes while recording the music in the booth.
10	* ExecutiveMeddling: The plot of the ''Robotech: The Movie'' was once going to be vastly different, but had to be changed drastically once the creators of ''Anime/{{Macross}}'' realized this movie could somehow interfere with their profits from ''Anime/MacrossDoYouRememberLove''. [[InsaneTrollLogic Somehow]].
11	** The movie was pulled because it was successful with adults but not with children, the demographic which is considered the film's main audience.
12	** When Cannon Films president Menahem Golan watched an early print of ''Robotech: The Movie'', he complained that there were "too many girls and not enough robots and guns", and as a result, Macek was forced to add footage from ''Southern Cross'', despite the difference in film resolution. Macek then presented the final cut to Golan, who responded, "Now that's a Cannon movie!" Macek has since disowned ''Robotech: The Movie''.
13	** Even the genesis of the show had this going on. Harmony Gold did not originally own the ''Robotech'' name. That was owned by Revell-Matchbox, who were using it independently to sell model kits and toys licensed from Japan, including from ''Anime/SuperDimensionFortressMacross''. This presented a problem for Harmony Gold, as it a) cut off at the knees much of the ability to sell TheMerch for ''Macross'' and; b) essentially gave free advertising for the company that ''could'' sell such merch. In one of the few non-litigious moves Harmony Gold made, they instead partnered with Revell, taking on the ''Robotech'' name for the series they were putting together, allowing both to profit from the shared licenses.
14	* {{Improv}}: There were many different AdBumpers for the show. Each would feature a different character for the show lending their own style and adlibs to the "After These Messages" and "Now Back To Our Show" lines.
15	--> '''Sean Phillips:''' Hey, sweetheart, Robotech is back!
16	--> '''Commander Leonard:''' The United Earth Forces are ready, so stay tuned for Robotech!
17	--> '''Nova Satori:''' As you were! Robotech is back!
18	--> '''Exedore:''' A brief intermission is requried for these urgent messages!
19	--> '''Exedore:''' Robotech shall now resume transmission.
20	* IncestuousCasting: Mother and son Alexandra Kenworthy and Gregory Snegoff play Azonia and Khyron, respectively.
21	* InsistentTerminology: The rulers of the Invid are known as the Regent and Regess. The term regent refers to a "placeholder" ruler who stands in for a monarch who is alive but either absent, infirmed, not yet of age, or otherwise unable to rule. This raises the question as to who the real Invid monarchs actually are. Also, the title of the female Invid queen-mother figure was originally rendered as "Regis". Not really a title, this Latin term meaning "for the king" is typically included in the names of places such as manors or lands owned by the crown in question. This is what led the writers, believing that they were correcting an error, to retcon the title as "Regess". In practice, the term "Regent" is gender neutral and the term "Regess" does not actually exist outside of Robotech.
22	* NoExportForYou: Due to the massive and convoluted legal snarl between Big West, Tatsunoko, and Harmony Gold, very few ''Macross'' series will ever make it across the Atlantic.
23	** This doesn't just apply to ''Macross'', but it also applies to anything that features ''Macross'' as well. The Dreamcast version of ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsAlpha'' ''almost'' got released Stateside[[note]]at the time, ''Gundam Wing'' was at the height of it's popularity, and the anime boom in general was at it's peak in the US[[/note]], since almost all of the licensing companies who held the stateside rights to the titles said yes...except for Harmony Gold, who said no, since they didn't want ''SDF Macross'' to be brought to the states and interfere with sales of ''Robotech'', despite the fact that the latter had ''ended over a decade ago''[[note]]and mind you, they didn't say "You can bring it over if you change the names to Robotech ones", they outright refused[[/note]]. And the reason why Banpresto couldn't just dummy out the units from ''Macross'' was because they were important to the plot of ''Alpha''. And although nothing has been confirmed yet, quite a few fans suspect that the only reason ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsV'' was able to get a multi-region release was because of the absence of Macross in any shape or form.
24	** Due to their association with ''Macross'', both the original ''Southern Cross'' and ''Mospeada'' series have been hit pretty hard with this too, having not seen much of a release since the mid-2000s sub-only sets by Creator/ADVFilms. To this day however, it's not clear if it really is the ''Macross'' snafu that's preventing a re-release of the titles or not. What it ''does'' mean is that any future media based on ''Robotech'' proper can only be based on ''Mospeada''.
25	** In 2021, this restriction was seemingly lifted, as Harmony Gold and Big West reached a settlement where Harmony Gold were given blanket rights to distribute and market any and all content involving ''strictly'' Anime/SuperDimensionFortressMacross as ''Robotech'', with Big West approving the Robotech movie for global release, with Harmony Gold accepting Big West's right to distribute ''everything else'' made after it.
26	** BadExportForYou: Said legal snarl also prevented the original ''Anime/SuperDimensionFortressMacross'' from being released in western countries [[note]]excluding Latin America, at least for the ''Do You Remember Love'' movie, due to legal loopholes involving the respective laws of many of these countries, especially Mexico, whose constitution ''blatantly'' forbids the enforcement of foreign laws and contracts in Mexican soil, unless having very good legal reasons, like plagiarism, for a good example.[[/note]] for quite a while after interest in unedited anime grew; so all we had was ''Robotech'', which essentially became this. Probably due to lack of demand (and the folding of ADV before any releases could be managed), this is ''still'' the case in the UK.
27	* ReCut: In 2004, the entire series was re-edited using new remastered footage from ''Macross'', ''Southern Cross'', and ''Mospeada'' respectively. Since broadcast was no longer a concern, this new version was able to restore most of the footage that had been cut from the three series for time and content. The series now has more violence and nudity than originally seen. The only footage they couldn't put back in were the ones that involved dialogue. Also, the openings/ending sequences were revised to be unique to each individual series, and any title sequences were redone in modern graphics. The audio was also remixed in 5.1 with new sound effects.
28	* ReferencedBy:
29	** ''VideoGame/StarCraft'': The Battlecruiser pilot is a dead ringer for Captain Gloval, Lzerhusskie accent, 'stache, and all.
30	** The ''Franchise/StarWars'' animated shows contain references to ''Robotech''/''Macross'', courtesy of Creator/DaveFiloni, who was a fan of the show.
31	** ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsRebels'':
32	*** One of Kanan's early concept designs heavily resembled Roy Fokker.
33	*** [[https://www.starwars.com/news/the-cinema-behind-star-wars-robotech According to this article]], Ezra borrows some character elements from Rick Hunter.
34	*** In "Fire Across the Galaxy", the engine room that the Inquisitor and Kanan duel in was inspired by ''Robotech'' (though AllThereInTheManual specifically cites ''Macross''). Especially the three background pillars, which look like the ill-fated anti-grav engines that ripped out of the Macross early in the show's run.
35	** ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsResistance'': Captain Doza also strongly resembles Captain Gloval.
36	** ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars'': The show's final action sequence of [[CatchAFallingStar Rex in a Y-Wing trying to catch a falling Ahsoka]] may be [[https://twitter.com/PhilSzostak/status/1290375417405169664?s=20 based off of this scene]].
37	* ScienceMarchesOn: As is the fate of many depictions of dinosaurs from before the late 1990s, there is not a feather to be seen on any of the cloned dinosaurs in the Invid Genesis Pit.
38	* TheOtherDarrin: Miriya Sterling was voiced by Edie Mirman in ''The Macross Saga'' and Catherine Battistone in ''The Sentinels''.
39	** Dana Sterling was voiced by Melissa Newman in ''New Generation'' and Lara Cody in ''The Sentinels''. According to series creator Carl Macek, Newman "had completely disappeared from the acting community," and that he had lost touch with her.
40	* WhatCouldHaveBeen:
41	** The franchise is somewhat infamous for having many projects planned, but undeveloped. There's also ''Robotech III: The Odyssey'', which never saw the light of day. It would have picked up where ''New Generation'' and ''The Sentinels'' left off, creating a 260 episode series filling up all weekdays of the year, creating an endless cycle. There's also rumors of a 4th and 5th series, but they were never mentioned by Carl Macek himself, only being hinted at by other members of the production team. ''Robotech 3000'' was another attempt to continue the series, this time in CGI, that never got past a trailer. There's also a few projects stuck in development hell; see above. The only derivative works that have been successfully completed since the end of the original series are the ''Shadow Chronicles'' sequel film and ''Love, Live, Alive,'' a localized version of a ''Mospeada'' OVA.
42	** Also, ''Robotech: The Movie'' was originally supposed to be a dub of ''Macross: Do You Remember Love?'', but ''Anime/MegaZone23'' was chosen instead because Harmony Gold couldn't license the former. ''DYRL?'' did eventually get a poorly-received HongKongDub unrelated to ''Robotech'', but still hasn't been properly released in North American territories.
43	** Beyond that, the original plans for ''Robotech: The Movie'' (and the first cut) had it as a relatively straight adaptation of ''Megazone 23'', with the story set on Earth during the ''Macross'' era. Early plans for ''Sentinels'' featured Eve along with the hero (Mark Harris), heroine (Becky Franklin), and villain (B.D. Edwards) from the movie[[note]]In other words, Shogo, Yui, and B.D. from ''Megazone 23''[[/note]] as major characters. When ExecutiveMeddling forced Harmony Gold to revise the script to include ''Southern Cross'' footage as filler, ''Anime/RobotechIITheSentinels'' had to be revised to match, resulting in multiple {{Decomposite Character}}s. The hero and heroine roles in ''Sentinels'' evolved into Jack Baker and Karen Penn, the "Eve II" RobotGirl became Janice Em, and '''T.R.''' Edwards emerged after filing off the serial numbers (and the backstory with Roy Fokker) from the newly renamed B.D. '''Andrews'''. Mark and Becky from the movie also received new last names in the revised script.
44	** In addition, Carl Macek had originally intended ''Anime/SuperDimensionCenturyOrguss'' on being the second ''Robotech'' series (and ''Southern Cross'' as the third), since it was the second in the the "Super Dimension Trilogy" that started with ''Super Dimension Fortress Macross'' and ended with ''Super Dimension Cavalry Southern Cross''. All three shows were unrelated in story, but all were from the same studio, and shared many production team members and story concepts. When he couldn't secure the license to ''Orguss'', ''Southern Cross'' was moved up to being the second series, and Tatsunoko's ''Mospeada'' was chosen for the third. This explains why that season is by far the most unique of the three. ''Orguss'' did receive a faithful dub in the early 90s from LA Hero, but it was shelved after 17 out of 35 episodes were dubbed.
45	** The mid-90s saw the release of ''Robotech'' toys under the ''WesternAnimation/{{Exosquad}}'' banner, and rumors have swirled in the years since, with the most popular one being the alien forces seen in the series finale of ''Exo Squad'' (a CutShort situation) would've been tied to the ''Robotech'' universe in some way. But per [[https://www.stwing.upenn.edu/~pdanner/exo/eps/comments.html story editor Michael Edens]], he and the other writers didn't know about anything relating to a potential ''Robotech'' crossover [[LockedOutOfTheLoop until they saw the toys]]; he did say that he would've been happy to incorporate ''Robotech'' elements as long as it didn't interfere with their own plans. (Them not crossing over on-screen may have been for the best, because then ''Exosquad'' was exempt from all the massive legal troubles regarding ''Robotech''.)
46	** And then, at the end of it all, there's the fact that Macek's ''original'' plan was just to do a straight localization of ''Macross'' itself, with no other material attached; it only fell through because ''Macross'' by itself wasn't long enough for networks to take a serious look at it in syndication. If Macek had made it work somehow, the situation still would have left Harmony Gold as the rights-holder for American ''Macross'' productions, but without the additional baggage there would at least have been more incentive to bring the other titles over from a continuity perspective, and since ''Macross'' was the biggest success of ''Robotech'' regardless, it probably would've done just as well by itself and HG could've pointed to the show's international success on top of the domestic success and encouraged a sequel earlier than ''Anime/Macross7''. It's one of those ultimate what-could-have-beens that might've changed huge swaths of the licensing landscape for decades.
47	*** Had the straight localization gone through, there would have been different names for the characters. For instance, Hikaru Ichijyo/Rick Hunter would have been localized as "Rick Yamada".
48	*** This came extremely close to happening, in fact. The plans were so far advanced that the first issue of Coleco's comic adaptation of the show was still ''Macross''-branded when it went on sale with the Japanese logo, and using (at least in original printings) the "Yamada" name for Hikaru/Rick.
49	** ''Robotech'' had a somewhat more convoluted production history than the average viewer might realize. The originator of the "Robotech" IP was actually Revell-Matchbox, who used it starting in 1983-1984 for marketing licensed model kits and toys from ''Anime/FangOfTheSunDougram'', ''Anime/SuperDimensionFortressMacross'' and, somewhat ironically, when you look above, ''Anime/SuperDimensionCenturyOrguss''. The original story was vastly different to what was seen on TV in 1985. As originally published in a 2-issue Creator/DCComics miniseries, the saga would have revolved around a RagtagBunchOfMisfits acting as LaResistance against alien invaders on a far off planet. The series was abruptly cancelled, (with what was intended to be a three-issue miniseries compressed into a two-issue), when Revell entered into a partnership with Harmony Gold to avoid both sides treading on each other's IP toes over the rights to ''Macross''.
50	** Then theres the Nintendo 64 game, ''Crystal Dreams''. Ohhhhh, ''Crystal Dreams...'' Originally announced in May 1995, over a year before the system was released, and as a launch title no less. It entered a famous and protracted DevelopmentHell, with many joking that the entire project was cursed. The original developers, GameTek, went bankrupt in 1997, only for Ocean to pick up the slack and eventually can it after an unspectacular showing at E3 1998.
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Context Trivia / Robotech