The Mighty Orbots

Have to say though I really loved this short lived cartoon series as a kid. This along with Transformers and Voltron were my favorite cartoons. I always enjoy the robots that combine to form bigger robots or transform. I also watched Gobots a bit, but I did not care for that one nearly as much, and I learn now that it is the reason this much more entertaining show was canceled. Really, how the heck did that lawsuit even work when Gobots was clearly a Transformers rip off while Orbots more closely resembled Voltron than Transformers or Gobots. Here we had a dude who along with six robots fought the evil UMBRA's forces (I did not remember the villain's name but rather a reviewer mentioned it). The Orbots consisted of a strong robot that would turn into the main torso, a shape shifting robot that would be one of the legs, a junk eating robot who was the other legs, two rather attractive twin girl robots who formed the arms, and a little girl robot who sort of was the glue for when they combined as the dude entered the robot in combined form and fought against stuff that I can not remember thanks to the brief run of this show. I am guessing it will never come on DVD unless the gobot creators die or something so I will never get to relive this show and see why I enjoyed it as a kid.

Great animation, great action. Even some good in-humor from the announcer/narrator (Gary Owen).

I knew this show only lasted one season and was very disappointed, but I had no idea it floundered because of a lawsuit from the creators of the very very very inferior "Gobots". Figures. Ah well, if you want to look at the silver lining, they didn't have a chance to run this show into the ground with cut-budget or somehow less fantastic additional seasons. Not that they were likely to do so, it just seems like the best stuff we remember back then was short lived, maybe because it didn't get the chance to disappoint us.

And, by the way, you guys, the Orbots' arch enemy (the big round bright orange and red...sphere of plasma with multiple eyes) was named UMBRA.

Combining super-heroics with the giant robot craze of the 80's, mixed in with a style that mimics Japanese Anime (and why not, since most of the animators were, indeed, from Japan), "Mighty Orbots" was a wonder to behold. The stories were solid for a half-hour "kids' show," and the animation was clean from day 1.

The 5 Orbots each had their own unique talents, which became part of the talents of the fused giant robot known as Mighty Orbots. (OK, the name isn't sensational, but that's about the only campy bit.) Tor was the "strong-bot" of the team; he formed the main torso of Mighty Orbots, with MO's head rising out of his body to replace Tor's head. Bort was a shape-changer; he was one of MO's leg. Bo, the confident female weather-wizard Orbot, became one of MO's arms, while shy Boo, whose talents were more ephemeral as well, became the other arm. Crunch was the "fat bot" who was always eating; he was MO's other leg, as well as the primary energy source for the giant robot. Finally, Ono (or "Oh No!," as she was always fond of saying) served as the "key" to activate MO, while seated in the command craft with the Orbots Commander (who was secretly Rob Simmons, builder of the Orbots); the craft entered MO's torso and became the command center.

Oh, how I wish these episodes were available on DVD, and that we could see some new ones.

A very FAST-PACED sci-fi cartoon featuring our very funny, lovable robots who can arrange themselves into a gigantic robot just like the one in "Voltron" to battle the evil forces! First, there's this big, fat robot who likes to eat alot that becomes the "body", then the two very spunky female robots who go as the "arms", and finally, the two fun-loving brothers to be turned into "legs". Now, along comes the head (uh, if I remember correctly), which is actually a flying spacecraft piloted by the young human scientist and the cutest little robot girl you'd ever see with a few clever tricks of her very own up her metal sleeve! Simply MARVELOUS, color-splashed animation that looks very Japanese both in character and action as well as such good-natured humor and very zany whimsicality at every turn! Oh, how you'd gasp in such amazement during the very rapid sequence where each flying robot instantly transforms himself or herself into massive body parts to be attached to each other before the big heroic acts! And the very perception of the whole cartoon is always turning and moving so much you'd feel like you're turning and twisting in an anti-gravity room! A very unique and entertaining fantasy experience with cartoon robots, indeed!

I always wondered what became of the Mighty Orbots. When I found out the show was canceled due to a stupid lawsuit concerning the extremely cheap and bottom of the bargain basement bin GoBots, I was very disappointed. I have fond memories of getting up early on Saturday mornings so I could enjoy the adventures of these Mighty Orbots. It was very well animated, and the plots kept you guessing at what would happen next. I also admired the nature of each of the Orbots' personalities. They weren't over-the-top, so it was easy to develop a bond with all of them. It definitely introduced a better quality of anime in the American market and this was apparent in the success of Robotech, Transformers and Voltron. Ironically, the GoBots tanked horribly and was always seen as a "poor man's" version of the Transformers. Maybe one day somebody will decide to re-release the Orbots or pick up the series again. At the very least, I hope that a DVD is forthcoming.