Sipher Says Stuffs is playing host to a rather insightful interview with Joe Ruby of the Ruby-Spears Mega Man cartoon. Originally conducted in 2005, the interview is just now being released online and, man, is it ever a treat. The interview covers a number of topics about the classic cartoon, yielding all kinds of interesting tidbits. Die-hard Ruby-Spears enthusiasts will be especially pleased with the "rumor mill" portion in which Mr. Ruby comments on some of the rumors surrounding the show's production.
Can't put up the entire interview, but here are a few select portions of interest...
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Some of the most persistent rumors concerning the cartoon series are about the third season that never happened. According to rumor, the season was cut after only one episode was finished (“Crime of the Century”, in which Wily uses remote-controlled toys to pull off heists), but was planned as a full 13-episode run.
Joe Ruby: Nothing was cut short. It was decided just to make the one additional episode. And that completed the package.
Another big rumor is that this third season would have introduced Bass, MegaMan’s new rival from the game series, who would replace ProtoMan as Wily’s Number Two in order to tie into the current game setup. And following that, Proto would become more the Racer-X to Mega’s Speed Racer, as is the setup in the games.
JR: Guess it was just a rumor. That thinking never reached us if that was true.
Of course, there’s the second-season episode “Mega X”, which featured the debut of Capcom’s related Mega Man X series to animation. Again, the rumor mill has it that Mega Man X was to get his own spin-off cartoon (and accompanying toy line), but that too never came to be.=====================
JR: Yes, that was true, as far as I can recall.
The interview is split into two parts across two sites: for all things related to the Mega Man toon, head on down to Sipher Says. For Ruby-Spears in general, hit up ASM Magazine. Included in the ASM portion, you'll find a handful of neat production images from the show -- storyboards and conceptual art. I don't believe these have been ever publicly released before, so give 'em a peek!
Thanks for the tip, Jimmy
Awesome! Always cool to get some more Ruby-Spears Mega Man info!
ReplyDeleteHey, since this is sort of related, would anyone happen to be able to point me in the direction of finding this show in the various other languages I believe it aired in? I think it ended up in Germany, Spain and Brazil as well as the states. Most of my research suggests it didn't air in Japan outside of some sort of promotional screening of one episode and I don't think it was in Japanese.
It's really hard to find hard facts on much of this cartoon so any information would be GREATLY appreciated! Thanks!
Very interesting...but still very sad. Still seems like they really wanted to continue it. Strange how a toy line could influence a show so much back then. Capcom giving the word to cancel it really doesn't surprise me, especially current day. I had a feeling they were going to expand more of Mega Man X, very glad to hear it would have been a spin-off show! Though at the same time...very, very disappointed it never came to be. =(
ReplyDeleteThat was a really good read. It was nice to read up on what really happened after "The Crime of the Century". I still remember the day I ran home from school, since Mega Man just so happened to be on right after middle school, and seeing the episode for the first time. I was excited cause I thought new episodes were coming out. Sadly that happened to be the very last episode. I was happy to hear the series was getting good ratings but sadly they still stopped production. Back then I was the only Mega Man fan I knew.
ReplyDeleteTTL: All episodes did air in Brazil, and a select few episodes were released in VHS back in the day :)
ReplyDeleteActually, pretty cool interview. I never did see much of the Mega Man cartoon, to be honest. I've seen a lot of "It's Gutsman! *DUN NUH!*" clip videos, and a few of Dr. Light being... way less smart than he probably should be. I wonder if these are on DVD, officially or otherwise?
ReplyDeleteAnyway, Joe Ruby seems like a cool guy, I guess I couldn't expect any less from the creator of Scooby Doo.
Wait! So... five consecutive blog posts that have little-to-nothing to do with Mega Man Legends 3?
ReplyDeleteWhat happened?
@ Dark_Yamatoman
ReplyDeleteWow, I wonder how much of a can of worms I'd be opening to try and get some of those VHS tapes . . . :P
A friend of mine actually pointed to a Brazilian streaming site, so I do have access to the show in Portuguese. Now to hunt down the German and Spanish, if they exist.
@Takara_Kitsune
They were officially released back in 2003 I believe by now defunct company ADV Films. The sets are out of print, but you can still find them on ebay and, if you're lucky, in older stores. I actually just bought a sealed copy of the first volume (there were two) for twenty bucks still sealed in its original packaging! :P
@Takara - They are on DVD! They were officially released as two box-sets around the time that the interview is said to have been conducted, oddly enough. The first is "A Hero is Born", the second is "Battle for the Future".
ReplyDeleteBrazilian version opening:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-O8g3k9SqQ
♪It's of iron and fire, Mega Man!♪
♪He's pure steel, Mega Man!♪
♪It's of iron and fire, Mega Man!♪
♪It's of iron and fire, Mega Man!♪
♪He's pure steel, Mega Man!♪
♪It's of iron and fire, Mega Man!♪
♪Will defeat... the evil the evil the evil♪
Woo, that's way better than:
ReplyDeleteSUPER FIGHTING ROBOT....... MEGA MAN!
Argh! Now I have that song in my head
You know, I wondered what they were saying when a friend of mine found me a streaming site with the entire Brazilian series on it. It didn't seem like it could be "Super Fighting Robot" as they lyrics didn't repeat.
ReplyDeleteCool stuff to learn!
Its truly sad that this is the only current MM news. This just in! Guy talks about old dead cartoon that wasn't really that good, Do you like legends? we'll tell you why you didn't and how you could possible never see another MegaMan game again, more at eleven!
ReplyDeleteWow, can you be anymore stupid? This is huge news. He outright confirmed they were working on an X cartoon, henceforth ending years of speculation.
ReplyDeleteWhen I listened to "Fighting to save the world" in the English opening for the 1st time, I thought it strange as it sounds just like the Brazilian version. But paying more attention to it, it seems the dub left it untranslated as the way it is said sounds just like "Will defeat the evil" in Portuguese.
ReplyDelete@ anon
ReplyDeleteWhats stupid was that cartoon, the original concept would have been better.
And I don't really care about the X cartoon, that would have sucked also.
@JinzoNingen X
ReplyDeleteI think your anger is a bit misdirected. Sure, Mega Man news is slow any more without many games coming out, but that's more Capcom's fault than it is the existence of a cartoon you didn't like.
I love Megaman since I was 5 (I'm 27) but even as a kid, I didn't think very highly of that cartoon, it was that that "I like it because I have too" kinda feeling.
ReplyDeleteAnd might I add, Joe Ruby sounds like a dick.
*sigh*
ReplyDeleteDamnit. And I was SO PSYCHED when I saw X in the Mega X episode (like, bouncing off the walls and scaring a friend who had slept over that I was insane nuts) but none the less..
Oh well. There's alot of Mega Man stuff that never happens despite how awesome it would be; just that X normally gets these bad things to himself.