Toon Zone Talkback - 'American Gladiators' Animated Series in the Works

Because contrary to what people think, not everything made from DiC was terrible.

Inspector Gadget. Heathcliff. The Littles. The Real Ghostbusters. Dinosaucers. Captain N. Camp Candy. Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors. COPS. M.A.S.K. Beverly Hills Teens. Sonic the Hedgehog. These aren't all terrible shows by any stretch, and nearly all of them haven't been seen in American shores because of the monopoly the Big Three (Disney, Nick, and Time Warner) has on television. And most of them are still pretty good.

Plus, KidsCo isn't "just" DiC. It also includes Corus Entertainment's Nelvana division, a very diverse Canadian animation house still churning out shows like Class of the Titans, 6Teen, Ruby Gloom, Being Ian, Yvon of the Yukon, and a whole lot of shows you've never heard of if you're living in the US. Like I said, the monopoly held by the Big Three is preventing any non-anime production not made by or for them from airing on the US. That's why we're seeing Nelvana/Studio B's George of the Jungle on Cartoon Network and why we're not seeing Nelvan/Studio B's Class of the Titans. It's also why Nelvana's DiGata Defenders aired only a couple of times on 4Kids TV before being moved to the internet exclusively.

KidsCo is expanding throughout Asia, Africa, the UK, and South America this year and will be in nearly every television market except two by the end of next year. It's not going to be in Canada because Nelvana's owner, Corus, owns the kids network YTV and owns half of the animation channel Teletoon.

It's not coming to the US because even though they want to be perceived as "the fourth voice," they don't want to face them head-on in their home market.

The series will come. But I doubt that'll make more of a mark on the dignity of American animation studios than Animation Collective already has.

Seriously, Animation Collective, producers of Kappa Mikey, Princess Natasha, Wulin Warriors, and Tortalini Western, is a terrible, terrible, terrible animation studio. Even people that work there know it's terrible.
 
If they were going to make this, I'd think they'd make the Gladiators direct descendants of the Greek/Roman Gods, and they'd fight evil with gadgets based on the challenges used on the show (One of them using those sphere things to defeat enemies).
 
That's a lot of material to cover. Where to begin, where to begin.

1. Most of the shows you listed are considered medicore at best by modern standards, unfinished, just plain antiquitated, etc. DiC's disasters are well-listed, but let me just list one that fits the subject.

Rambo- Apparently the anti-war novel turned movie was fitting material for a kids cartoon.

2. None of the shows you mentioned justify making an entire new network. If DiC can't find penetration in this market, it's probably because the demand for children's cartoons is at a low right now. Look at what's popular. Live action shows mostly, with Naruto sticking out like a sore thumb trying to hide in bright orange.

3. If American Gladiators can't find a market outlet in America, then it will never air. And we'll all be better off for it. Animation Collective, I haven't seen anything of theirs except the horrid Pili adaptation, and that got cancelled in record time.
 
And there must be a public service announcement after every episode featuring a Gladiator talking to a kid about drugs, sexual predators, or something.
 
Corus and DiC have together a HUGE catalog they could use to fill a 24h network, they'd just need a few new and original live action show to premiere and garner interested.

A Jem movie would have to be set in the 80s to work. No big hair and bright color = PHAIL!



You mean like a cheap muscle bound knock off of Class of the Titans, except without David Kayes' excellently played Chronus?
 
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