By the Power of Grayskull, Slackers!
From “Masters of the Universe” to “G.I. Joe”, after school cartoons were as important to our childhood experience as the Saturday morning ones. The main difference is the after school cartoons were essentially commercials for the associated toy lines. “Transformers”, “Thundercats”, and many others, followed a simple but effective formula: release the cartoons, comics, and toy lines simultaneously.
Strangely, these toy branded shows often begat a much more serious, if not outright grim, theatrical release. Anyone remember the death of Optimus Prime!? Who does that other than the good folks over at “Transformers” headquarters?
At the same time, anime was making more of a dent in the American market, with “Voltron”, “Robotech”, and “Tranzor Z”.
Some of these brands are still with us. “G.I. Joe” and “Transformers” have had big budget blockbusters, while “Masters of the Universe”, “Thundercats”, and “Voltron” all have had reimagined stories on streaming services like Netflix.
And don’t forget - knowing is half the battle.
