In Praise of Mighty Orbots

The Mighty Orbots was a cartoon that aired in the 80s. I knew nothing of this series until I did some research for my first book. I remembered agonizing over which shows to watch on the fall cartoon premiere day in 1984.

Using the program guide in the newspaper, I planned which cartoons to watch. For 8:00, I decided on The Smurfs over Mighty Orbots as I didn’t know what Orbots were. It turns out they are kinda like Voltron, and definitely way cooler than the Smurfs. If only I’d known!

When Mighty Orbots came out on DVD last year, I knew I had to watch it eventually. I wrote a series of haikus as a celebration of the show! Mighty Orbots is way better than I thought it would be, and my ten year old self would have been enthralled by it.

I was able to capture a few fun video clips from the show, and I will share them here. First up is the pre-show introduction. It gives you a nice concise overview of the characters and plot. Really nice animation!

One of the best parts of Mighty Orbots is the music. I’ve watched lots of 80s cartoons, even as an adult, and the soundtrack for the show eclipses that of similar shows. Just listen to this opening theme… super catchy!

Mighty Orbots has excellent line work, good character designs, and intricate backgrounds. Pervading the entire show is a sense of motion and action. It’s difficult to get good screenshots, because no one stands still! This clip is a good example.

Every show about robots combining into a bigger giant robot has a combination sequence. Mighty Orbots is no different. But rather than use the same one over and over again, like say Voltron, this show mixes it up with at least two different combination animations. Just another reason the show is great!