Robotech Academy Blasts Onto Kickstarter

[Fanghawk]

Robotech Academy Blasts Onto Kickstarter

[kickstarter=1381502542/robotech-academy]Robotech writers have turned to crowdfunding to pitch a series concept from creator Carl Macek.

If you're anything like me, dear reader, you're probably a big fan <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/escape-to-the-movies/7705-Pacific-Rim>of giant mechs that shoot aliens invaders in the face. That being the case you might have some familiarity with Robotech, the 1985 anime series which introduced the concept to Western audiences. The franchise has seen a few film sequels since then, although nothing that's ever quite matched the draw and widespread appeal of the original. Now Harmony Gold Productions hopes to change that with a Kickstarter for Robotech Academy, a pilot based on an original storyline by creator Carl Macek.

"We're thrilled to finally be able to tell the world about Robotech Academy," said Tommy Yune, President of Animation, Harmony Gold. "Over the last few years, Harmony Gold has been working hard to answer fan demand for a new Robotech project. The next step involves fans, who will be instrumental in supporting a crowdfunded Robotech project and making series creator Carl Macek's original vision for Robotech Academy a reality."

Before his death in 2010, Carl Macek developed the concept for a sequel where the children of Robotech's characters continue their adventures across the universe. While Harmony Gold hopes to produce a full series, this Kickstarter is focused first on developing a pilot to gauge interest for future episodes. The team is requesting $500,000 to complete the initial episode, of which almost $15,000 has been donated so far.

Despite the success of Robotech, actually getting sequels off the ground <a href=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robotech#Animated_sequels_and_spinoffs>has been a hit-and-miss affair, with very few ever reaching completion. Turning to Kickstarter is potentially a much more secure prospect, since fans who want more Robotech could contribute to making it a reality. Meanwhile, Harmony Gold is sweetening the deal with pledge rewards that include the script, finished physical and digital copies of the film, and even the possibility of appearing as a character.

We'll find out within 34 days whether that's enough to launch a pilot, but it wouldn't surprise me to see this Kickstarter reach its goal.

Source: <a href=https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1381502542/robotech-academy>Kickstarter

Permalink

 

[RA92]

I've only watched Macross: Do you Remember Love? and Macross Plus, so I've no idea about the Americanized Robotech. Is Robotech anywhere near as batshit as Macross (aliens being defeated by the power of music)?

 

[Kaimax]

Thanks..But I'll just stick on waiting for the newest Macross series...

I've only watched Macross: Do you Remember Love? and Macross Plus, so I've no idea about the Americanized Robotech. Is Robotech anywhere near as batshit as Macross (aliens being defeated by the power of music)?

Robotech, is actually a mixof 3 different animes
Macross (1st one) + Southern Cross + Mospeada. So when the series reaches it's end of that saga, it just jumps into another anime, re-written to match up with the current storyline.

BUT, it actually has "Adaptation Induced Plot Hole" because of that decision.

 

[Zontar]

I have the whole series on DVD as well as the Shadow Chronicles and the unaired pilot for Sentinels. It's basically what got me into the mech genre.

That being said, I'd much rather Harmony Gold try and fix the bridges it burned down in the 90s and just make a distribution agreement for Macross already!

 

[Kaimax]

That being said, I'd much rather Harmony Gold try and fix the bridges it burned down in the 90s and just make a distribution agreement for Macross already!

QFT, It's just very stupid, and they didn't even use any materials from those "blocked" Macross Series.

 

[Zetatrain]

The Robotech series has a special place in my heart as it was one of the first shows that introduced me to anime and the first one to get me into mecha anime. However, today I'm more of a fan of the Macross series and would rather see the rest of the Macross franchise come state side especially Macross Frontier .

I've only watched Macross: Do you Remember Love? and Macross Plus, so I've no idea about the Americanized Robotech. Is Robotech anywhere near as batshit as Macross (aliens being defeated by the power of music)?

Well the singing is definitely in the Macross Saga portion, but I don't recall it being in Southren Cross/Robotech Masters or the Shadow Chronicles. Never saw Mospeada/Last Generation so can't comment on it.

 

[octafish]

You know I understand protecting your IP and everything, but as a BattleMech/MechWarrior fan, fuck Harmony Gold.

 

[octafish]

Double Post. Damn Captcha.

 

[SteinarB]

The day I give any money to Harmony Gold is the day hell freezes over, no matter how much I might have liked Robotech back when I was a kid. Their business practices are abhorrent and they deserve nothing but scorn both from animation and gaming fans with the way they've behaved over the last few decades.

 

[Aggieknight]

The day I give any money to Harmony Gold is the day hell freezes over, no matter how much I might have liked Robotech back when I was a kid. Their business practices are abhorrent and they deserve nothing but scorn both from animation and gaming fans with the way they've behaved over the last few decades.

Do you mind elaborating, dear sir?

I'm kinda..."shuddup and take my money" as a kid of the 80's growing up on that stuff, but its possible I've missed something.

 

[Gatx]

I really dislike Harmony Gold and the aftereffects of Robotech. That said Robotech: Battlecry is my favorite "Macross" game.

Also strange Western made sequels to popular anime properties that were licensed before people were more aware of what anime was are hit and miss (the only hits I can think of being various Transformers series).

Also Shadow Chronicles does not give me high hopes about how the action scenes would look. They're laughable compared to the stunning battles in Macross Zero, which was released 5 years earlier.

 

[Zetatrain]

I've only watched Macross: Do you Remember Love? and Macross Plus, so I've no idea about the Americanized Robotech. Is Robotech anywhere near as batshit as Macross (aliens being defeated by the power of music)?

Yes and no. In Macross, they defeated the Zentraedi with "culture" because the Zentraedi are a warrior race without it. That's kind of goofy, but believable.

In Robotech, they defeat the Zentraedi (and pretty much every other alien out there) with "protoculture", a magical energy source that comes from alien flowers. Depending on how canon expanded material like the Palladium RPG and novels are, it's an energy that creates a spiritual bond between pilots and mecha, because reasons. But don't let that fool you into thinking that there is some interesting exploration of the human/machine boundary in Robotech. Because that would require writing, and Robotech hates writing.

Correct me if I'm wrong but I believe the flowers don't appear until the second phase (The Masters). In the Macross Saga portion of Robotech they did defeat the Zentraedi with singing/protoculture like they did in the original Macross series.

The day I give any money to Harmony Gold is the day hell freezes over, no matter how much I might have liked Robotech back when I was a kid. Their business practices are abhorrent and they deserve nothing but scorn both from animation and gaming fans with the way they've behaved over the last few decades.

Do you mind elaborating, dear sir?

I'm kinda..."shuddup and take my money" as a kid of the 80's growing up on that stuff, but its possible I've missed something.

Here's the short(ish) version.

They sit on the Robotech brand name but do not do anything with it. However if someone wants to bring something like the other Macross TV series to the States Harmony Gold will cry foul and claim such attempts violate their copyright license. The painful part is that harmony Gold doesn't really have much of a leg to stand on and would lose in most cases. However, Harmony has a lot of money to throw around and will fight tooth and nail to keep the case going as long as possible. So even if a company wins against Harmony Gold they have to pay a heavy price in legal fees.

So basically, no one wants to bring other Macross related stuff to the states because any profit that could be made is not worth all the legal hurdles they got to jump in order to get past Harmony Gold's copyright trolling. And Harmony Gold knows this.

 

[Karnesdorff]

Hmm didn't Harmony Gold also get involved in a dust up with Hasbro last year about a the release of a Jetfire toy and ask for some pretty ludicrous stuff as damages?

After a quick Google, yes, yes they did.

Harmony Gold claims Hasbro's release of the set violates their rights to the Macross franchise outside of Japan. They claim the Jetfire figure in the set is financially damaging to their company (although they can't specify just how damaging) and are asking the set be removed from sale, all remaining stock be turned over to Harmony Gold, and sold sets be recalled. Of course that's not all, they also want money. They're seeking all profits from the set be turned over, all legal fees be paid, and compensation for damages (which, again, they don't know how much that is). They're also asking that Hasbro pay damages "in an amount sufficient to punish and make a public example of the Defendants, and to deter such wrongful conduct in the future."

IIRC, the case was met with a lot of people asking what business they were actually doing these days that was being damaged.

K.

 

[Kaimax]

This is why we won't have good things

 

[SteinarB]

The day I give any money to Harmony Gold is the day hell freezes over, no matter how much I might have liked Robotech back when I was a kid. Their business practices are abhorrent and they deserve nothing but scorn both from animation and gaming fans with the way they've behaved over the last few decades.

Do you mind elaborating, dear sir?

I'm kinda..."shuddup and take my money" as a kid of the 80's growing up on that stuff, but its possible I've missed something.

Here's the short(ish) version.

They sit on the Robotech brand name but do not do anything with it. However if someone wants to bring something like the other Macross TV series to the States Harmony Gold will cry foul and claim such attempts violate their copyright license. The painful part is that harmony Gold doesn't really have much of a leg to stand on and would lose in most cases. However, Harmony has a lot of money to throw around and will fight tooth and nail to keep the case going as long as possible. So even if a company wins against Harmony Gold they have to pay a heavy price in legal fees.

So basically, no one wants to bring other Macross related stuff to the states because any profit that could be made is not worth all the legal hurdles they got to jump in order to get past Harmony Gold's copyright trolling. And Harmony Gold knows this.

Pretty much this, yes. Harmony Gold has burned a lot of bridges with the way they've been squatting on the Macross name and on the mecha designs for decades simply by virtue of having deep enough pockets to keep any lawsuit they might decide to throw at someone going for ages and ages, making it impossible for smaller companies to survive the legal costs and not profitable for bigger companies to bother. The actual owners of the Macross property (I want to say Big West, but I'm not 100 percent sure if that's the right name) pretty much won't, as far as I understand it, do business with them because of HG's repeated insistence on blocking import of anything Macross related to the US where HG claims to have complete and total copyright over it (a claim which was actually ruled against by the Japanese courts some years back, but that doesn't help because it would have to go through the US system, which HG can make very expensive). It's also how the original Macross mecha designs disappeared from the Battletech game and became "unseen", despite FASA having a valid license to use the images from the owner of the license. A small company like FASA could never compete with HG's deep pockets in the legal arena and so had to settle and remove the Macross mecha from their products.

Basically HG has been using bully tactics to get their way while doing nothing with the property for decades, so unsurprisingly a lot of people have less than pleasant things to say about them.

 

[Akisa]

The day I give any money to Harmony Gold is the day hell freezes over, no matter how much I might have liked Robotech back when I was a kid. Their business practices are abhorrent and they deserve nothing but scorn both from animation and gaming fans with the way they've behaved over the last few decades.

Do you mind elaborating, dear sir?

I'm kinda..."shuddup and take my money" as a kid of the 80's growing up on that stuff, but its possible I've missed something.

Here's the short(ish) version.

They sit on the Robotech brand name but do not do anything with it. However if someone wants to bring something like the other Macross TV series to the States Harmony Gold will cry foul and claim such attempts violate their copyright license. The painful part is that harmony Gold doesn't really have much of a leg to stand on and would lose in most cases. However, Harmony has a lot of money to throw around and will fight tooth and nail to keep the case going as long as possible. So even if a company wins against Harmony Gold they have to pay a heavy price in legal fees.

So basically, no one wants to bring other Macross related stuff to the states because any profit that could be made is not worth all the legal hurdles they got to jump in order to get past Harmony Gold's copyright trolling. And Harmony Gold knows this.

Pretty much this, yes. Harmony Gold has burned a lot of bridges with the way they've been squatting on the Macross name and on the mecha designs for decades simply by virtue of having deep enough pockets to keep any lawsuit they might decide to throw at someone going for ages and ages, making it impossible for smaller companies to survive the legal costs and not profitable for bigger companies to bother. The actual owners of the Macross property (I want to say Big West, but I'm not 100 percent sure if that's the right name) pretty much won't, as far as I understand it, do business with them because of HG's repeated insistence on blocking import of anything Macross related to the US where HG claims to have complete and total copyright over it (a claim which was actually ruled against by the Japanese courts some years back, but that doesn't help because it would have to go through the US system, which HG can make very expensive). It's also how the original Macross mecha designs disappeared from the Battletech game and became "unseen", despite FASA having a valid license to use the images from the owner of the license. A small company like FASA could never compete with HG's deep pockets in the legal arena and so had to settle and remove the Macross mecha from their products.

Basically HG has been using bully tactics to get their way while doing nothing with the property for decades, so unsurprisingly a lot of people have less than pleasant things to say about them.

Which is why this kick stater can rot for all I care.

 

[Parnage]

The only thing harmony gold deserves is mocking laughter.

They've screwed macross fans, battletech fans and pretty much patent troll anything they think they can get away with. Now they've got the nerve to ask for money? Give this money and you are essentially saying "please continue being dicks" to them.

Let um rot.

 

[JPArbiter]

the phrase "You have got to be fucking kidding me!" seems inadequete at this time. this is the company that sued Battletech into near extinction, not by winning a legal argument, but by having enough money to keep paying the lawyers. and they have the balls to try and crowd fund this mess? no thank you.