Biker Mice from Mars on 4kids

[lonewolf23k]

Just saw the promo for the new Biker Mice from Mars cartoon, to be shown on 4kids Saturday Mornings.

Looks good, even though the narrator mixed up Throttle and Vinnie's names. Oy, don't those folks fact-check anything?

[J Dog]

Oh, dear God, no.

Because they pissed off most of the anime community, they now gotta deal with Grade-D crap cartoons.

[ZT4]

This series has been lingushing in the European regions for about two years now, a nifty little toyline came out too to commemerate it, they didnt budge from the shelves.

It's only noticable in that is IS for the most part a direct continuation of the original series, with some continuity still standing, but it follows the pesky habit of sticking the Mice with a new pair of villains and sidelining the originals (until the series finale anyway)

[J Dog]

This series has been lingushing in the European regions for about two years now, a nifty little toyline came out too to commemerate it, they didnt budge from the shelves.

It's only noticable in that is IS for the most part a direct continuation of the original series, with some continuity still standing, but it follows the pesky habit of sticking the Mice with a new pair of villains and sidelining the originals (until the series finale anyway)

European cartoons generally don't do well in the States.

For example, look at the character in my avatar, Brett. He comes from a French cartoon called "Team Galaxy" that was debuted on Cartoon Network. Now, the creators had already presented "Totally Spies!", which didn't do well but is still shown on a infrequent basis, and their animated version of "Martin Mystery" which had a short run on 4Kids. Anyway, it was originally pushed as part of a Saturday-morning lineup, but that didn't go well. And aside from one showing on the 7:00 P.M. block (which Cartoon Network considers a sacred timeslot), it didn't do much. They tried it on "Miguzi" but that didn't last a week, and it's pretty much never been shown in the States (except for Cartoon Network's On Demand) again, but it has some success in Europe, mainly in the Netherlands. I should point out that I'm not a fan of the series, but I am a big fan of the character, so that's why he's my avatar.

I'm not saying all European cartoons are bound for failure here in the states. Look at "Code Lyoko". But if a cartoon didn't do much in its home region, why try it in another?

[ZT4]

It's interesting that Marathon's shows didnt budge at all in the States, but then, as you point out, they start to infrquently rerun them if there not successes off the bat.

Jetix UK rerun TS, Martin Mystery, and Galaxy Force non-stop, even when no clear merchandise is coming out to back up that amount of money on airing the syndicated episodes, it's almost infuritating, as those slots can all go to proven successes.

[J Dog]

It's interesting that Marathon's shows didnt budge at all in the States, but then, as you point out, they start to infrquently rerun them if there not successes off the bat.

Jetix UK rerun TS, Martin Mystery, and Galaxy Force non-stop, even when no clear merchandise is coming out to back up that amount of money on airing the syndicated episodes, it's almost infuritating, as those slots can all go to proven successes.

So, in spite of all that claiming stuff, they still haven't debuted a plush Brett doll (I've seen people over on YouTube and at DeviantArt going ga-ga over him... even if it's for the "adorably cute genius". I know they'd be more than willing to shell out $20 plus shipping and handling for one. I would, since he's the only thing that I like out of that show, or anything from European cartoons.). Enough of that, though, I agree with them wasting the spaces for cartoons that have been successful. That's just throwing money out the window.

I think Marathon's problem is that they're using a criticized style of animation: the anime approach. Look, "Avatar the Airbender" does it, but they use it for the beauty of the characters and landscape. Marathon essentially uses it for the "shortcuts", like the shoutouts and the "throbbing vein". Plus, they don't really offer much of storytelling. That's just being lazy right there.

I also noticed that 4Kids TV moved some of their better shows over to the CW morning lineup just to debut Biker Mice. That's stupid.

[ZT4]

I also noticed that 4Kids TV moved some of their better shows over to the CW morning lineup just to debut Biker Mice. That's stupid.

That's a major mistake, there's not going to be a third season due to it bombing over here, and even if it were more succesful than it was...I doubt that, with the decline of animation over here, there would have been anyway. We're back in the Lew Grade days where they just order few episodes and then leave it to it's own devices without renewing it,

[mattx110]

wasn't this a relatively old show? Like... 8 years ago? I'm kinda remembering the name, but I'm not sure...



Isn't it time for a SWAT KATS relaunch?

[Kevin M.]

Oh, dear God, no.

Because they pissed off most of the anime community, they now gotta deal with Grade-D crap cartoons.


As long as they don't touch the A-list cartoons I don't really care.

[Black Atom]

Biker Mice was one of the 9,000 cartoon shows made to capitalize on the Ninja Turtles by trying to dupe the formula. You know, [pop culture theme]+[science fiction element]+[childhood pet]=gold. I never got how Harley Davidsons (unlike ninja) were supposed to be relevant or cool to 10 year-olds in the early 90s, which made the whole idea seem out of touch. I guess it was a better idea than Post-Pubescent Time-Travelling Soda Jerk Iguanas, though.

[bwrosas]

I need your help, you see I'm looking for the epsiodes SEEDS OF VICTORY, BACK TO MARS and ONCE UPON A TIME ON MARS PART 1 from the orginal series.

Can anyone help me please.

[Johnny_Luck]

The Original show was amazing and if its anything close to it, then it will be a nice refresher from the majority of messy junk we got on tv now.

[Schuimend Mormel]

Biker Mice was one of the 9,000 cartoon shows made to capitalize on the Ninja Turtles by trying to dupe the formula. You know, [pop culture theme]+[science fiction element]+[childhood pet]=gold. I never got how Harley Davidsons (unlike ninja) were supposed to be relevant or cool to 10 year-olds in the early 90s, which made the whole idea seem out of touch. I guess it was a better idea than Post-Pubescent Time-Travelling Soda Jerk Iguanas, though.I thought they were better than Creepy Crawlers. And I remember that quite a bunch of kids loved this show, and thought the motorcycles were cool (especially because the bikes had 'minds' of their own). It could be corny sometimes, had a lot of cheesy humour and terrible one liners (at one point Throttle asks Modo 'Who writes your lines?'), but I liked them (I loved Ian Ziering voicing Vinnie).

I don't know what a new Biker Mice show would add, though. It was a kind of formulaic cartoon. 'Once Upon A Time In Mars' was a great two parter (or was it a three parter?). There was this scene (in flashback) where we see how Throttle, Modo, and Vinnie are hit by the rocket that maimed them, and you can see Modo's severed arm, and even (bright red) blood. Didn't happen in any of the other episodes, it was usually a light hearted show.

[Knightmare10880]

I loved the original Biker Mice from Mars cartoon(I think it is very underrated and was the best of TMNT copycats) and I've enjoyed the new version, it's one of 4 shows I look forward to watching on Saturday mornings. I like the pop culture references(even though some of them are already kinda dated) I love that they brought back the original voice actors, those guys have great chemistry together.

I look forward to watching the new series and hope that the original eventually gets put on DVD.