Toy lines that should have had cartoons?

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av3ng3dwarri0r

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I know, toy-based cartoons are lazy and all, but which toy lines past or present do you think could have spawned a good cartoon? For example, i can see a crystar cartoon being done, and even though its also based on comic books, marvel's secret wars figure line could be a launching pad to a superfriends-type series with marvel heroes and villains. As for more recent toys, i can see them trying to make a super soaker cartoon somehow, though what the backstory would be escapes me (it would probably be some environmental show with the super soaker league against literally sludgy, dirty villains).
 
There's sizeable money being made from animated Barbie direct-to-video movies. My niece watches them and likes them quite a bit. We could even get screeners for them for Toon Zone News if we asked, but we don't -- I'm willing to watch a Disney Princesses video, but the Barbie videos are about where I draw the line :).

I always wondered if those cartoony Pirates of the Caribbean figures were a reverse test to see if it was worth it to license the likenesses of the cast to do a cartoon. However, that's really a movie tie-in toy, so it's not quite as pure as something like Transformers.

These days, I really can't come up with many toy lines that should be cartoons, since all the toys in the shelf today seem to be licensed properties already or are things like Hot Wheels or your generic soldier toys that don't support much of a story. About the only toy line I can think of is Takara's Cool Girls, but they're pretty obscure. Still, what I can get out of the mangled English translations of the boxes is that it's a team of super-tough women in skintight outfits packing heat, which is something I can solidly get behind ;).

-- Ed
 
They were created together. Hasbro came up with a line to compete with Barbie, then had the cartoon created to push said doll when it hit the market.
 
Does any one remember those teddy bear things that turned into fanged monsters when you folded them up a certain way? Or did I just imagine them as a kid? If so, then I'm hereby copyrighting the idea.

Anyway, those things would have made a great cartoon.
 
But instead, we got "Loonatics". :-p

Though I'd much rather have a Captain Carrot and his Amazing Zoo Crew cartoon... parodies/satire, amusing characters, and bad animal puns. ;-)

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These days, I really can't come up with many toy lines that should be cartoons, since all the toys in the shelf today seem to be licensed properties already or are things like Hot Wheels or your generic soldier toys that don't support much of a story.
 
Rom Spaceknight, Shogun Warriors, Captain Action

It's always been weird to me that they never made a Barbie series for girls before they started making the CGI movies
 
It's been a few years, but there was an article in T.V. Guide or somewhere where a rep with Matell was interviewed and asked that very question. The response was something along the lines of not wanting to dictate how Barbie should be played with, which an ongoing series would have done.

There was, however, an animated Barbie special in the 80's called 'Barbie & The Rockers' which was obviously made to test the waters to see if Barbie could take on Jem, which I guess was a failure.
 
Which is also why Mattel turned down Toy Story, whose original script had a t2-style Barbie. And if you'll notice, Barbie gets DTVs and stuff focused on specific lines.



I think it was more about minimizing royalty fees, but one of the Disney podcasts mentioned that a POTC show was pitched around the time of Gargoyles. As was a show set in a fictional world much like Disneyland- with pirates, princesses, ghosts, cowboys, etc. Gotta say I think Phantom Manor would be awesome as at least a short- it's the French park's Haunted Mansion and it's got a Western town full of the undead instead of the graveyard.
 
The Nerf Max Force guns could have made for a fun futuristic G.I. Joe kind of thing. They could just give the names of the guns to the guys wielding them instead.
 
Two words: Beanie Babies. They like ruled the world like in 1998. Also Ferbies and the little digital pets on a keychain (I forgot their names)
 
I could see the Beanie Babies working as a kind of "Shirt Tales" or "Noozles" kind of thing, maybe. Like, they pretend to be stuffed toys when most people are around, but when they're alone with their human friend they go out and help people who are in trouble.

I wonder which ones would be used in the main cast.
 
Probably the "origninal 9": Legs the frog, Squealer the pig, Spot the dog, Flash the dolphin, Splash the orca, Chocolate the moose, Patti the platypus, Cubbie the bear, and Pinchers the lobster.
 
Tamagotchi actually did have an animated primetime special back in the mid-90's, and currently has an anime (with a movie) in Japan, which was licensed a few months back.
 
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