ROBOCOP: THE ANIMATED SERIES
(Syndication, October 1-December 17, 1988)
Marvel Productions, Orion Pictures Corporation, New World
International
MAIN CAST:
Len Carlson – The Old Man, Clarence Boddicker,
Casey Wong, The
Scrambler, Ace Jackson, intro narrator
Part man. Part
machine. All cop.
That was the tagline used to market Orion Pictures’ 1987
film RoboCop. The story takes place
in a dystopian version of Detroit, Michigan, in the near future (circa 2014).
The crooked mega-corporation Omni Consumer
Products (OCP) owned everything, including the police. In order to achieve
their dream of demolishing the poorer sections of Detroit and building their
independent city-state of “Delta City,” OCP was tasked with eliminating the
spiraling crime rate. They got their chance when Officer Alex Murphy
(Peter Weller) was brutally
murdered in the line of duty. Murphy was placed into the experimental RoboCop
program, where he was transformed into a cyborg. After reclaiming his own mind
though OCP’s programming, RoboCop stopped a crooked OCP executive and got
revenge on his murderer before saving the life of OCP’s head, nicknamed “The
Old Man” (Dan O’Herlihy).
 |
| RoboCop's armor. |
Edward Neumeier got the idea for
RoboCop after a friend explained to
him the plot of Blade Runner. The
character himself was inspired by blending comic book heroes Judge Dredd and ROM (whose comic appeared in two scenes of
the movie). Neumeier wrote the screenplay with Michael Miner, who was working
on a script with a similar concept, and they got the chance to pitch it to a
studio executive when they were all stranded at the same airport. The film
dealt with several themes including corruption, privatization, gentrification,
capitalism, masculinity, resurrection, the media and human nature.
 |
| RoboCop doing his trademarked gun spin. |
The RoboCop costume was designed by Rob Bottin. Originally, the
design was sleeker and aerodynamic. Director Paul Verhoeven requested
multiple revisions to the suit to make it look more machine than man. The end
result looked close to Bottin’s original design, but bulkier and more
cumbersome. Weller had hired Moni
Yakim, the head of the Movement Department at Julliard, to help him work out the
character’s movements. However, the awkwardness of the suit forced him to
rethink how he moved, leading to a more robotic and slower method of moving. RoboCop’s
primary weapon was a modified Beretta 93R by Ray Williams of Freshour Machine
in Texas.
 |
| Bullet proof! |
The film was released on July 17,
1987 and became regarded as one of the best films of the year. Despite being an
extremely graphic and violent R-rated film, the following year began a heavy
campaign to market the character to children. Part of which (and the reason
you’re reading this) included an animated series. Developed by Miner and Michael Charles Hill for Marvel Productions,
the series began along the same lines as the movie but underwent many changes
in both story and content to make it more suitable for its intended audience.
 |
| Lewis and RoboCop. |
Like the film, the series focused on
RoboCop (Dan Hennessey) and his partner, Anne Lewis (Susan Roman), as they
patrolled the streets of Old Detroit. However, Old Detroit wasn’t quite the
cesspool it was depicted as; instead it was more technologically advanced in
line with other depictions of future timelines in various media. Notably,
standard weaponry was replaced by laser guns in order to reduce the imitable violence
depicted. Without the physical restrictions of an actual suit, Animation Korea Movie Production, Ltd. (AKOM)
was able to give RoboCop a greater range of motion and faster speeds in their
animation. RoboCop’s visor was also given a red light which sometimes extended
across its length. Though not as overt, the series dealt with its own themes
including racism, workplace prejudice, environmental issues, terrorism and
finding one’s humanity.
 |
| Boddicker, alive and well. |
The character of Bob Morton (Miguel
Ferrer in the movie) who created the RoboCop project was omitted, replaced
instead by Dr. Tyler (played by Sage
Parker in the film, voiced by Barbara Budd) who was assisted by Dr.
Roosevelt (Stephen Berrier in
the film, voiced by Greg Morton) as they maintained RoboCop. Clarence Boddicker
(Kurtwood Smith in the film,
voiced by Len Carlson), the gang leader who murdered Murphy, was still alive
despite having been killed off in the film. Other returning characters were
their commander Warren Reed (Robert
DoQui in the film, voiced by Morton), OCP head The Old Man (Carlson), and Dr. McNamara (Jerry Haynes in the film, voiced
by Robert Bockstael), who
served as a recurring villain always trying to upstage or destroy RoboCop.
Lieutenant Roger Hedgecock (Michael
Gregory in the film, voiced by Rex Hagon), a minor character elevated to
villain status by constantly wanting to see all robots eliminated.
 |
| Drs. Taylor and Roosevelt giving Murphy a check-up. |
RoboCop began on October 1, 1988 as part of the syndicated
programming block Marvel
Action Universe, which featured new and old programs produced by Marvel. It
was written by Rich Fogel, Mark Seidenberg, Donald F. Glut, John Shirley, Marv Wolfman, Michael Charles Hill and Roger Slifer, with music by Haim Saban and Shuki Levy. Although budgeted for 13 episodes,
Marvel only produced 12 and reallocated the funds for the final episode into
producing a pilot episode for a potential X-Men
cartoon known as Pryde
of the X-Men. Marvel Productions would become financially unstable in
the following year, resulting in all projects except Muppet Babies being cancelled.
Kenner produced a line of
action figures related to the series under the name RoboCop
and the Ultra Police. Debuting the same year as the cartoon, Kenner made 16
figures and 7 vehicles before the line ended. A large talking RoboCop was
designed but never went beyond the prototype phase. Best Film & Video Corp.
released three episodes as part of the Marvel Video! line in America. Overseas,
Jetix Films UK released 8
episodes on DVD in 2004 and 2005 as RoboCop Volume 1 and RoboCop Volume 2: the Hot Seat.
Later in 2004, volume 1 was re-released as part of the triple pack Action Man/RoboCop/Conan the Adventurer, in 2007 as Part Man, Part Machine and in Transformers/MASK/RoboCop. Jetix
released the
complete series in 2008.
In 1990, Orion released RoboCop 2
directed by Irvin Kershner.
It would be the last time Weller would play the title role due to his
displeasure working on the film. Despite mixed reviews, the movie was successful
and production began immediately on RoboCop 3. The film was directed by Fred Dekker, who heavily rewrote
the screenplay by comic book writer Frank
Miller. Starring Robert John
Burke, the film wasn’t released until 1993 due to Orion’s bankruptcy and
was a critical and commercial failure. However, that wasn’t the end of the
franchise.
In 1994, Orion partnered with Skyvision
Entertainment to produce a live-action television series set between the
first and second movie. Starring Richard
Eden in the title role, RoboCop was given new non-lethal means of
apprehending villains in order to allow them to recur. Because of rights issues,
many of the supporting characters were given new names. The series ran for 21
episodes including the 2-hour pilot produced from an unused RoboCop 2 script before its high
budget-per-episode cost caused it to be cancelled.
In 1998, RoboCop returned to animation with RoboCop: Alpha Commando, played by David Sobolov and produced by MGM
Animation, MGM Television and Orion
Television. Set further in the future
and featuring many of the same writers as the 1980s series, it was even lighter
in tone by giving RoboCop new gadgets such as roller skates and a parachute.
Sgt. Reed was the only supporting character from the films featured, and he was
voiced by Blu Mankuma who played
his counterpart in the live series. In 2001, Fireworks
Entertainment and MGM Telvision produced a four feature-length episode
mini-series called RoboCop: Prime Directives starring Page Fletcher. In 2014, MGM and Columbia Pictures
released the remake RoboCop, starring Joel
Kinnaman, after several years in production hell. Despite mixed reviews,
the remake went on to gross over $242 million making it the most profitable of
the franchise.
EPISODE GUIDE:
“Crime Wave” (10/1/88) – Dr. McNamara hires a dangerous gang, the
Vandals, to cause a crime wave in Old Detroit so he can prove his ED-260 weapon
works.
“Scrambler” (10/8/88) – A jailed member of OCP hacks into RoboCop and
uses him to escape and assassinate The Old Man.
“Project Deathspore” (10/15/88) – OCP’s experiment Project Deathspore
escapes into the city’s sewers and begins draining everything with power.
“The Brotherhood” (10/22/88) – The Brotherhood wants to destroy all
robots and cyborgs in the city and uses a high tech ball that disrupts their
programming..
“The Man in the Iron Suit” (10/29/88) – McNamara puts Lt. Hedgecock
into an iron suit and The Old Man puts him in competition with RoboCop to see
which is more profitable.
“The Hot Seat” (11/5/88) – McNamara frees the Vandals and has them
steal RoboCop’s charging chair.
“No News is Good News” (11/12/88) – McNamara sabotages OCP’s new tank
and a reporter attempts to defame RoboCop.
“Night of the Archer” (11/19/88) – Archer plays Robin Hood in Old
Detroit.
“Rumble in Old Detroit” (11/26/88) – Weapons go missing from the
police lockup and are used to initiate a gang war.
“A Robot’s Revenge” (12/3/88) – RoboCop and Lewis are assigned to
protect two visiting delegates, which are targeted by a terrorist-controlled
ED-260.
“Into the Wilderness” (12/10/88) – RoboCop fights to shut down a
polluting OCP factory.
“Menace of the Mind” (12/17/88) – RoboCop learns the leader of the
Vandals is the man who killed him.
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