Robotech II: The Sentinels offered a promising continuation of the original series that was unfortunately cut short due to financing.
What Is It?
1985’s Robotech adapted three unrelated anime series (Super Dimension Fortress Macross, Super Dimension Cavalry Southern Cross, and Genesis Climber Mospeada) and re-dubbed the dialogue to link them together into a multi-generational epic sci fi story. And even though the series took plenty of liberties with its source material, it still remained closer to the spirit of the originals than prior “kiddified” dubs like Battle of the Planets and Voltron and helped introduce anime to a broader U.S. audience as more than just cartoons for younger viewers. The success of Robotech lead Carl Macek (who helmed the U.S. adapation) to pursues a sequel series with new animation that would carry on the story of Rick Hunter, Lisa Hayes, Lynn Minmei, and the rest. It was intended to follow their expedition on the SDF-3 which began at the end of the Macross segment, and would take place in deep space while the events of The Robotech Masters and The New Generation where unfolding back on Earth. Unfortunately, only three episodes were produced before the project was cancelled.
Aired: 1988, VHS Release Only
Starring: Tony Oliver, Melanie MacQueen, Rebecca Forstadt, Tom Wyner
Created By: Carl Macek
Why Didn’t it Fly?
Macek blamed the demise of the sequel series on the collapse of the dollar/yen exchange rate which resulted in Matchbox bowing out as the show’s partner on the toy end. Animated series in the United States at that time needed toy sales to support their production costs, and producers Harmony Gold did not have the money to fund the show themselves. The three episodes produced were eventually strung together for a VHS release (and also a limited theatrical run), but no additional episodes of the The Sentinels were ever released.
Would It Have Worked as a Series?
Absolutely! The story was carried on in novels and comics that drew from the original scripts produced for the series and that delivered an epic tale that could have been a great Anime series. There were numerous attempts to produce other sequels (Wikipedia gives a full rundown at this link), but none ever made it to series (Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles did produce a film that received limited theatrical run and a DVD release). Currently there are talks of a live-action reboot of the franchise on the big screen with Sony pictures recently picking up the rights and looking to move forward into production. But many who loved the original series lament the fact that we never saw Robotech II: The Sentinels realized as the anime epic it could have been. And a return to that property (which is very doable since it is an animated show) would definitely be welcome.
Where Can You Watch It?
The original VHS has long been out of print, though you should be able to find it through third-party sellers. There may also be some bootleg transfers to DVD floating around out there. It is not currently streaming on any of the major services that I am aware of, but you can find it on YouTube (see above).
Read about more Sci Fi TV pilots that did not fly at this link.
CancelledSciFi.com: Keep up with the status updates of all the currently airing sci fi and fantasy shows with our Cancellation Watch posts. And be sure to follow the Cancelled Sci Fi Twitter Site for breaking news and updates.
SciFiTVSite.com: Follow our Sci Fi TV Schedule for all the currently airing and upcoming sci fi and fantasy television shows, and you can see the premieres for all the upcoming genre entries at this link.
The author makes it sound like this was only released on VHS. It was not. It had a couple of VHS releases, the rarest from Palladium Books/Video. Yet, the film can be found on a couple of the DVD box sets (AE) releases in the “extras” discs. This could have been known with a bit of research. Happy viewing!
Which DVD box sets was it included with? I was thinking it had been added to one or more, but could not find confirmation on the specific sets.
Another fact about The Sentinels is that on the Japanese side of the production, Harmony Gold recruited the artistic creators of SDC Southern Cross. Southern Cross bombed in Japan, the combination of its toy partner going into bankruptcy and poor fan reaction (some pundits saying that audiences weren’t ready for women protagonists being combat commanders). Anyway, these creators saw Sentinels as a road to redemption, and wanted a version of Sentinels for Japanese broadcast. Meanwhile on the ARTMIC side (GC Mospeada), their latest TV series (Galvion) had bombed even worse than Southern Cross. But Robotech got them a Stateside audience. Fans like myself, once we figured it out, began looking for other stuff of theirs…Gall Force…Riding Bean…Bubblegum Crisis…Technopolice 21C…the Captain Power “training films”.
While Harmony Gold made the TV series, they licensed the title and trademark from Revell plastic models. In theory Revell was also a sponsor. But Revell unfortunately saturated their side of the market. By ’86 the Robotech kits were getting remaindered at K-Mart and KayBee. The following year, Harmony Gold got the trademarks outright, and who knows if any money was involved.
Interesting tidbits, thanks! The part about the remaindered revell kits gave me a chuckle. I recall getting just such a remaindered kit of the GC mospeada motorcycle at Kmart which was branded as ‘Cykill’ of the GoBots. I still remember my youthful confusion at recognizing it from Robotech but it being associated with that rather inferior transforming robot toy line. I was always regretful at not getting the similarly rebranded ‘Leader 1’ kit which was the plane from the GCM part of the show.