Sym-Bionic Titan Signing Off

 Around March 25th I learned that one of my favorite new animated shows was being canceled.  The internet rumors are swirling that this is not due to terrible ratings, but instead due to the fact that the show doesn’t have enough merchandising potential.

Sym-Bionic Titan debuted Sept. 17, 2010 on the Cartoon Network. Billed as “an exciting hybrid of high school drama and giant robot battles”, Sym-Bionic Titan features “the adventures of three beings from the planet Galaluna who crash-land on Earth while attempting to escape their war-torn world.” The series follows the lives of Ilana, Lance, and Octus, two alien teens and a robot in the form of humanoids who arrive on Earth while fleeing an evil general who has taken over their home planet with the help of monstrous creatures called Mutraddi. (via)

The show’s creator, Genndy Tartakovsky, is best known to me for his work on the original animated micro-series Star Wars Clone Wars as well as Samurai Jack and Dexter’s Lab.  In the video below Genndy describes that the premise for the show came from he and his son watching Godzilla movies, and then re-enacting them with little soldiers and Barbies!

I loved that these aliens had to try and figure out a way to fit in to this new world AND they had to try and fit into High School too.  The show had some scary moments as well as a scene where the head cheerleader tries to convince one of the characters to do her homework by dancing around the room, BUT I really enjoyed it.  As Newton (robot disguised as a big nerdy kid) refuses to do Kimmie’s homework (head cheerleader just mentioned), and helps her figure it out for herself she gives him a kiss.  Shes never felt that she was smart enough to do this work, and Newton helped to build her confidence.  This video takes place right after this scene (thank you Flock of SeaGulls for just the right song!).

So there it is.  I really enjoyed this show, but now, it looks like it’s gone.  I’ve been thinking quite a bit about how this could have been avoided, but I’ll save that post for later.

by