State of Major Animated Franchises Now

[Mostezli]

Streaming old episodes costs them very little, making a new show would cost more.

All the He-Man and She-Ra episodes are being streamed now and they are making new Masters of the Universe cartoons, because Masters of the Universe is fantasy based.

The issue is GI Joe is still about the military fighting terrorists and that may be too close to real life nowadays.

Live streaming* That's why I figured you might be asking the GI Joe question if you happened to be watching recently.

It's the military fighting Snake-themed Storm Troopers and a plethora of other cartoonish oddities for unique characters. The terrorism boils down to absurd fantasy/scifi plots with the action again being no different from Star Wars, except the destruction almost always limits to the inanimate rather than laser burned deaths. Even the upcoming video game looks to be geared toward Fortnite & Overwatch players as opposed to more grounded/intense shooter enthusiasts.

 

[The Overlord]

Live streaming* That's why I figured you might be asking the GI Joe question if you happened to be watching recently.

It's the military fighting Snake-themed Storm Troopers and a plethora of other cartoonish oddities for unique characters. The terrorism boils down to absurd fantasy/scifi plots with the action again being no different from Star Wars, except the destruction almost always limits to the inanimate rather than laser burned deaths. Even the upcoming video game looks to be geared toward Fortnite & Overwatch players as opposed to more grounded/intense shooter enthusiasts.

Fair enough, but there has not been a GI Joe cartoon in 10 years. Maybe Hasbro will bring back in the next few years, but it hasn't so far and that is just my speculation on why not and really a lot of cartoon franchises from the 80s aped Star Wars, GI Joe is not unique in that way.

 

[Mostezli]

Fair enough, but there has not been a GI Joe cartoon in 10 years. Maybe Hasbro will bring back in the next few years, but it hasn't so far and that is just my speculation on why not and really a lot of cartoon franchises from the 80s aped Star Wars, GI Joe is not unique in that way.

The comparison is to underscore the appeal, especially if a lot of 80s cartoon franchises aped Star Wars.
This just so happened to be among the few popular enough to sustain past that decade and it sustained in other decades by coasting on what was popular (edgy comics / toyetic anime / mature dtv / wanted rebels). After the Hub Network and the failed attempts to profit from the live-action movies, Hasbro downsized their animated focus to what sold the most or tried their luck on yet to be adapted IP. They must really be relying on financial feasibility from other GI Joe media before attempting a new installment because aside from Stretch Armstrong & Transformers: War for Cybertron, Hasbro doesn't look to be spending much on these recent shows. Mattel, on the other hand, said they've got 22 new shows in the pipeline - enough room for two He-Mans.

 

[Red Arrow]

G.I. Joe has no international appeal. Star Wars is in space, that's different.

 

[JoeMabbon]

We’ll see what happens at Pulsecon. I’m guessing nothing, but we’ll see.

 

[The Overlord]

The comparison is to underscore the appeal, especially if a lot of 80s cartoon franchises aped Star Wars.
This just so happened to be among the few popular enough to sustain past that decade and it sustained in other decades by coasting on what was popular (edgy comics / toyetic anime / mature dtv / wanted rebels). After the Hub Network and the failed attempts to profit from the live-action movies, Hasbro downsized their animated focus to what sold the most or tried their luck on yet to be adapted IP. They must really be relying on financial feasibility from other GI Joe media before attempting a new installment because aside from Stretch Armstrong & Transformers: War for Cybertron, Hasbro doesn't look to be spending much on these recent shows. Mattel, on the other hand, said they've got 22 new shows in the pipeline - enough room for two He-Mans.

G.I. Joe has no international appeal. Star Wars is in space, that's different.

Yeah I think I agree with Red Arrow here, Stars Wars is more fantastical than GI Joe and thus would have more international appeal and would be less subject to current events.

As I said in my main GI Joe thread:

I watched the show The Toys That Made Us on Netflix and they talked about how GI Joe toys have gone up and down in popularity due to then-current events, that toys were popular when introduced in the early 1960s due to patriotic feelings from WWII, but became less popular due to the Vietnam War dragging on and became popular again to due to Reagan era patriotism. This franchise is far more tied to current events then others like TMNT, Transformers, or Masters of the Universe are.

Ironically the Transformers were created when Hasbro sold the GI Joe license to Takara Tomy and Takara Tomy thought toys based on US solders would not sell well in Japan, so they changed them into transforming robots, so these toys have been more of a hard sell elsewhere.

It is interesting that Hasbro has scaled back its animated content, while Mattel is increasing its animated content. I guess Mattel is jealous that Hasbro's franchises have a bigger media spotlight than their franchises.

 

[Mostezli]

Yeah I think I agree with Red Arrow here, Stars Wars is more fantastical than GI Joe and thus would have more international appeal and would be less subject to current events.

As I said in my main GI Joe thread:

I watched the show The Toys That Made Us on Netflix and they talked about how GI Joe toys have gone up and down in popularity due to then-current events, that toys were popular when introduced in the early 1960s due to patriotic feelings from WWII, but became less popular due to the Vietnam War dragging on and became popular again to due to Reagan era patriotism. This franchise is far more tied to current events then others like TMNT, Transformers, or Masters of the Universe are.

Ironically the Transformers were created when Hasbro sold the GI Joe license to Takara Tomy and Takara Tomy thought toys based on US solders would not sell well in Japan, so they changed them into transforming robots, so these toys have been more of a hard sell elsewhere.

It is interesting that Hasbro has scaled back its animated content, while Mattel is increasing its animated content. I guess Mattel is jealous that Hasbro's franchises have a bigger media spotlight than their franchises.

Like you said, it's more-so about the exclusivity of the soldiers being US-based, which seems like an easy fix if the Joes haven't already evolved into a global defense force with as much diversity as a fighting game roster. They were apparently a top seller for Marvel Comics while the 80s cartoon was on air and Transformers was the only other toyetic IP to rival that long serialized run and style of storytelling.

Similar to TMNT & Transformers, they have been present for almost every major action toon trend. Unlike those two juggernauts, each of GI Joe's reboots have been relatively short because it wasn't as popular. Similar to Masters of the Universe after the early 2000s reboot & Thundercats with its 2 decade gap, it's on an extended break.
Unlike those two 80s franchises, GI Joe has been trying to be hip & cool through modern games & movies.
It's an understandable trade-off.

When I think Mattel I think Hot Wheels & Barbie. They have more than enough Barbie content. They also had plenty of Max Steel content. Lego & Hasbro, though, have been broadening their adaptation scope.

 

[The Overlord]

Interesting question, who do you is doing a better job, Disney with Marvel animation or WB with DC animation?

Also in recent times, Star Wars has made a couple of ventures into animation, while Star Trek has released one animated show (for adults) and another one for kids is coming out soon. What do you guys of Star Wars and Star Trek in animation at this point?

 

[the greenman]

Interesting question, who do you is doing a better job, Disney with Marvel animation or WB with DC animation?

Also in recent times, Star Wars has made a couple of ventures into animation, while Star Trek has released one animated show (for adults) and another one for kids is coming out soon. What do you guys of Star Wars and Star Trek in animation at this point?

#1 I feel WB has been doing excellent with DC animation. Though they have an over reliance on Batman, they simply are doing incredibly well with the content. I haven't liked the Marvel animation since those Avengers: EMH, and those Lionsgate DTVs.

#2 When it comes to Star Wars animation in the modern era, I really enjoy Clone Wars. These other little projects have done nothing for me. Though, I enjoyed watching those Star Wars anime shorts. For Star Trek, I have been wanting Star Trek animation for many years. I reached out to people on it, and got zero response. I think it's an issue with the Studio. I am not happy with the new stuff, but beggars can't be choosers.

Sent from my LM-Q730 using Tapatalk

 

[AdrenalineRush1996]

Interesting question, who do you is doing a better job, Disney with Marvel animation or WB with DC animation?

Definitely the latter, though I am hoping the former will bounce back with What If...?

Also in recent times, Star Wars has made a couple of ventures into animation, while Star Trek has released one animated show (for adults) and another one for kids is coming out soon. What do you guys of Star Wars and Star Trek in animation at this point?

The former has done a great job with Clone Wars and Rebels, though the less said about Resistance the better and I am happy that the latter has returned to doing animated shows after nearly 50 years since the last effort. I can definitely see Prodigy being the Clone Wars of the franchise in terms of quality.

 

[JoeMabbon]

What is the current state of Voltron and Alvin and the Chipmunks at the moment?

 

[AdrenalineRush1996]

What is the current state of Voltron and Alvin and the Chipmunks at the moment?

The recent Voltron series ended nearly two years ago and the final season wasn't well received by fans while for the latter, the 2015 reboot is currently in its fourth season and has already been renewed for seasons five through seven.

 

[Mostezli]

Interesting question, who do you think is doing a better job, Disney with Marvel animation or WB with DC animation?

Also in recent times, Star Wars has made a couple of ventures into animation, while Star Trek has released one animated show (for adults) and another one for kids is coming out soon. What do you guys think of Star Wars and Star Trek in animation at this point?

Hot button question, which AU (animated universe) of the last decade was better?
We definitely had more exposure than ever before for characters outside of the typical big names thanks to these universes.

WB adjusted more quickly after the action toon purge with DC. Disney simply withstood the purge by not investing as much into their redheaded stepchildren as the shows fizzled out on their own the older the MCU got. The lesson WB/WarnerMedia learned was to get the old ways of doing a superhero toon on their very own streaming hub. The lesson Disney learned was to spinoff their version of a Marvel IP with tried & true veterans (Big Hero 6). This was a weird enough era as is for animated superheroes and between the MODOK show and Batwheels it's only going to get weirder within the next couple years.

Star Trek needs a Dave Filoni. Seriously, I've never been more invested in a Star Wars anything when Star Trek would be my go-to for all the cool political ethical scifi drama. I always saw Star Wars as this silly laser tag Arthurian fantasy with some superpowers and aliens mixed in. The shows, Clone Wars obviously (2D & 3D), made this so much more like the actual galactic epic I assumed the movie franchise would be.

 

[khuddle]

Speaking of Dave Filoni, I finally watched Clone Wars: Season 7 -- the four final arc episodes that everyone has been raving about (Old Friends Not Forgotten, The Phantom Apprentice, Shattered, and Victory and Death). I thought it was very good -- not great, but still very, VERY good. Probably an 8 out 10. The music was a 10 out 10 -- just the way Star Wars music should be: rousing in some places, poignant in others. Awesome to see the final events of the Clone Wars through the eyes of the young Jedi, Asoka Tano.

 

[AdrenalineRush1996]

Star Trek needs a Dave Filoni. Seriously, I've never been more invested in a Star Wars anything when Star Trek would be my go-to for all the cool political ethical scifi drama. I always saw Star Wars as this silly laser tag Arthurian fantasy with some superpowers and aliens mixed in. The shows, Clone Wars obviously (2D & 3D), made this so much more like the actual galactic epic I assumed the movie franchise would be.

The Hageman brothers could actually be the Filoni-type figure if Prodigy ends up doing well with audiences and fans.

 

[The Overlord]

I think this thread deserves an update.

Both Marvel and DC animation seems to be on the upswing, with Marvel having What If aimed at an older crowd and a new Spider-Man show and a sequel to X-Men TAS. Meanwhile we have interesting looking Batman and Superman shows coming out in the future. It seems like DC is producing more animation and Marvel has cancelled those garbage Loeb XD shows and is trying to produce some quality content.

Looks like I was wrong about GI Joe, it's getting a new show.

She-Ra has concluded, but He-Man has gotten 2 new shows, showing that Masters of the Universe has made a come back in animation.

Transformers has a show coming out on Nickelodeon in the future and a kids cartoon on Cartoon Network and a show for an older crowd have just concluded.

Star Wars has less animated content, with the only new show being Bad Batch which was okay, but a lot of oeople seemed to have liked Star Wars Visions.

Star Trek has far more animated content than before, with an excellent kids cartoon and adult comedy.

TMNT is still in Dire straights, Rise failed to launch, with only the Rise movie on Netflix and that Seth Rogan movie to look forward to.

So besides a few exceptions, most of these franchises are doing better than when I started this thread.

 

[Vuxovich]

What is the current state of the Powerpuff Girls franchise?

 

[The Overlord]

What is the current state of the Powerpuff Girls franchise?

Seems inactive at the moment, the reboot ended back in 2019 and no new projects announced.

 

[Goldstar!]

What is the current state of the Powerpuff Girls franchise?

The only recent project related to The Powerpuff Girls that I know of was that live action pilot titled Powerpuff with the titular Girls as angsty 20 somethings that was made for The CW, which flopped like a fish on land. Beyond that, no new PPG projects have been announced.

 

[khuddle]

What is the state of various major animated franchises now? Here are my opinions on some of them:

Marvel animation is pretty bad, most of the cartoons that have come out in recent years (Hulk Agents of SMASH, Avengers Assemble, 2 bland Spider-Man shows) have terrible, except for Big Hero 6. The best animated Marvel release in recent times came from Sony, rather than Disney.

DC animation is not doing too hot either, Teen Titans Go is popular, which is fine, but Justice League Action got the boot pretty quickly. The recent DC DTVS are a pretty mixed bag, I think Harley Quinn is alright. DC animation doesn't have the same output it had in the previous decade (2000 to 2010).

DC has been crushing, obliterating, destroying and generally embarrassing Marvel on the animation front. Marvel animation. What "Marvel Animation"? The last good show they put out was "Avengers: Earths Mightiest Heroes", but that was 12 years ago (2010). DC OTOH has been consistently putting out DTV Animated movies for decades now, with vastly more hits than misses. Couple that with high quality TV series like "Young Justice", and yeah, the DC Animation franchise is doing very well, thanks for asking.