#Mattel grrr

[hannahbananawadders]

don't get me wrong i LOVE the new Ted Lasso Barbie dolls, they're so cute,,,, lowkey mad that even with heels the Rebecca doll is shorter than Ted :( and the same height as Keeley. LET TALL WOMEN BE TALL BARBIES AND HAVE TALL BARBIES PLEASE

like,,,, why have they made her short ,,,,, the even describe her on the back as 'standing tall and fierce' WHY DOESNT SHE STAND TALL THEN MATTEL

[adorezamo]

TRIXIE & KATYA — UNHhhh Ep. 147

[kurojishiyo]

I just wanted to talk about Voltron Force in some way

You know what? I’m going to make a separate post for my actual opinions and “reasons to watch Voltron Force” BUT I’m not a good writer. I don’t know exactly how to articulate words well enough to really capture my opinion, but I can definitely throw in some research in that can give context and maybe some trivia for you to really appreciate the series.

I made this blog because I wanted to talk about weird quirky facts about the franchise because (to me, because I get hyperfixated on the stupidest shit) it’s actually quite interesting.

Before the show actually aired

So this all technically started way before 2011 when the series even aired. I can stretch this back to Voltron: The Third Dimension, but that’d be too much. I’ll start with the Devil’s Due comic which launched in 2003.

The Devil’s Due comics are significant. They are the first true reboot of the Defender of The Universe franchise, whereas Third Dimension (VTTD) before it served as a sequel to the 1984 show. The changes it did bring over evidently influenced future entries in the Voltron franchise.

One thing to thank the Devil’s Due comics is cementing that Keith is definitely not white. In the comics he’s Japanese and Chinese mixed, and even adopting his surname from his original Golion counterpart, Kogane, albeit mispronounced constantly.  The Dynamite comics that came after would retain this, whereas Voltron Force would make him more ambiguous and give him darker skin.

Like many things in Voltron: Devil’s Due would be cut short, with its third arc being rushed, and having its final chapters only published in a mass omnibus (which got many pages out of order grrr). Though before the omnibus’ release, WEP (the IP owners of Voltron) would partner up with animation company Kickstart Productions to work on a new Voltron series as early as 2005. Kickstart would provide an animation test based on the Devil’s Due comics.

Again, things get blurry from here in terms of how development actually rolled out. Between this time to when VF actually aired, Super Robot Wars W would have Golion make a debut in the game, where they clearly credit Toei as the copyright holder, and a year later there would be a legal dispute between WEP and Toei over the legal rights as the movie was in development (important). 2010 was when the rights were settled, and that marked just the right time to make a new show.

(From EJ Su’s DeviantART)

Kickstart was busy developing the series along with Classic Media’s help. The series was initially pitched as Panthera Force. Again, many characteristics of the Devil’s Due comics would leave their mark on VF, even having EJ Su, the main artist of the second volume of the comics (and his art still holds up really well to this day might I add), would help in developing concept art for the show.

Panthera Force was initially pitched to center on new pilots being the main focus of the show, with the original crew being the mentors. Of course, as we all know they only kept three of the proposed five characters, Daniel, Vince, and Larmina. The two that didn’t make it were Imam and Bruno, a reformed Drule and an actual fucking lion respectively. Again, we can only make guesses as to why they scrapped the other two new characters, maybe it would be a chore juggling five old pilots, five new pilots, and the villains all together. Maybe they had a personal attachment towards the original cast or they’re worried about the current fanbase that loves them. I wouldn’t know, I don’t work for WEP or Kickstart.

Oh also… here is where Mattel comes in.

Spoilers: Voltron Force got cancelled

Okay so we all know the story: Voltron Force only had one season and it was cancelled. The official reason is that they simply did not have the budget to continue it as a show, and instead continued the series through its comics… which were intended to release alongside a season 2 of the show.

But I’m here to talk about why there was no funding. I think it’s incredibly easy to simply pin the blame on the fact that it had to do with few people liking it thus low ratings. And yes, that does make up part of it, but I believe that it’s actually more of a symptom than an actual cause.

So remember when I said that WEP and Toei had a legal dispute over the franchise right because of the movie being in production? While multiple companies had a bidding war over who would get the production rights to the movie, Mattel would partner up with WEP for the Voltron toy license in anticipation of the movie being made.

And yes I know a lot of you don’t care about the toys, but we have to realize the nature of the relationship with toy sales and show funding. It’s an unfortunate model that has resulted in the demise of many shows not making it because of lackluster toy sales. But here’s the thing: Voltron Force is a toy commercial for toys… that don’t exist…

Mattel would test the waters with the Voltron license by making toys of the classic robot in their Matty Collector line to mixed reception. We do know that they made prototypes of Voltron Force toys but they sadly never came to be, as Mattel cancelled their partnership with WEP seeing as the movie was never made. There is no point in keeping a license that isn’t making you money, and no movie definitely cemented that. What could have been major funding for the TV show was now lost.

Now as for the ratings; again it would be extremely easy to blame it all on people just not liking it, and yeah that may be a factor, but I think something worth pointing out is what channel it aired on: Nicktoons. From what I’ve been told, Nicktoons has a reputation in which cartoons move from the main channel to there as a way of “killing them”. Certain shows would see that cycle where they would be moved over to Nicktoons shortly before they’re cancelled.

Voltron Force had a lot going against it, and even the actual show does have its budget restraints very visible. Having budget cuts and low viewership continued rubbing salt in the wound. We have to remember that this was before Dreamworks came into the picture. It would just make sense to scrap everything before and work on something new now that a reputable animation company is in charge.

However, Voltron Force would continue through its Viz comic line. To reiterate, these comics were intended to release while a second season would air. But an actual continuation to show’s cliffhanger would be in the 30th Anniversary book.

(for some reason the Voltron Force comics also keeps how the show inserts unfitting DOTU styled artwork in the background)

Final thoughts

There’s something very sad writing about this. Sure Voltron Force’s cancellation isn’t as scandalous as theorizing about what really happened with VLD’s production, but overall I can see that there was a lot of potential for what could have been. Of course there are a lot of things that aren’t executed in the best way, and the most visible is the art style which is the easiest to judge at a single glance.

But you really have to admire that there were people that really wanted to make a Voltron for the new generation, and we have to realize that many resources simply weren’t there for them to make that task easier. Sometimes I say that Voltron Force was simply made during a very difficult time, and as it went through an era of companies backing in and out on Voltron’s involvement, everything ironed out for VLD to come in to a bigger fanfare.