Live to tell the tale

03-03-2010 20:59 Эховзводовская инфа на английском

Michael Edens Interview
July 2nd, 2004 - Exosquad.com exclusive interview with writer/story editor Michael Edens.
Exosquad.com: Were there any future plans for the Exosquad series before it was cancelled? If so, what were they?"
Michael: "Yes there were. We (the story editor and writers and immediate Universal executives) wanted to do a third season and had started some general discussions. All we really knew: (1) Nara and Ketzer's "creations" would be important in the fight against the aliens; (2) the inactivated clone of Phaeton seen in the last episode would be activated to lead the Neosapiens against the aliens alongside the humans -- raising a question of how much he could be trusted; (3) Dark Matter would be the key to defeating the aliens -- that was why they got rid of the planet Chaos, the source of the Dark Matter used in the series. There were also plans for a spin-off series tentatively called Exo-Pirates"
Exosquad.com: "Could you tell us more about Exo-Pirates?"
Michael: "It basically would have followed the adventures of those pirates, jumptroops, and E-frame pilots who were on Chaos when it was "transported" to another dimension/part of the universe (hadn't decided on which yet) when the aliens first invaded. A third season and Exo-Pirates was supposed to dove-tail so that Exo-Pirates ended with the planet Chaos returning to the Solar system in time to help the ExoFleet and its allies defeat the aliens with the Dark Matter from Chaos."
Exosquad.com: "There have been rumors floating around ever since the series ended that a movie was in the works. Were there ever plans for a movie? And, if so, where in the storyline would it have taken place?"
Michael: "Well yes, we had begun some preliminary work on a movie, but had not gotten very far. We were leaning toward insectoid aliens with a collective consciousness, but then stepped back from that because of story-telling concerns -- i.e. what would a collective consciousness mean for being able to do something without all the other aliens knowing what you were up to. Also, a couple of Universal executives thought it might be a better idea to tell a story for the movie from the Neosapien War that we had not told in the series. The writers did not want to do this. While we were kicking around these ideas, we did not know anything about a possible ExoSquad/Robotech deal. I was surprised when I saw the two lines brought together in the toys. I would have been happy to incorporate stuff from Robotech if it would not tie our hands on what we could do with the ExoSquad side of things."
Exosquad.com: "What would you say is the main reason that no third season or movie was ever produced?"
Michael: "The main reason no third season or movie was ever produced was the sudden and almost complete collapse of the TV syndication market in animation. There was rapid change in the business in the mid-90s. There was a lot of media consolidation and synergies being created between in-house production companies and growing networks like the WB and UPN. A lot of independent stations were eaten up and taken into the new nets, who wanted to supply them with their own product. The weekday afternoon syndication times remaining were often filled with Oprah clone talk shows, which could be cheaply produced and were very successful -- at least for a few years. If you remember the time, it seemed like anybody who could ask a reasonably coherent question had their own talk show. Weekday afternoon animation blocks almost completely disappeared -- unless like the WB net they were filled with exclusively Warner Brothers animation. Universal syndication scrambled and actually sold the show broadly, but the times were almost all terrible -- there were a couple of places where we were on at 4 in the morning. In the few decent time slots we got, the show drew a good audience. It was an old TV problem -- the few people who actually saw ExoSquad liked it a lot, but most people didn't even know it existed. Overall, the numbers for ExoSquad were disappointing, which in turn led to a less-than-enthusiastic drive by Universal to commit to a movie. Jeff Segal, who aside from being executive producer and one of the creators of ExoSquad was president of Universal Family Entertainment and its off-shot, Universal Cartoon Studios, tried to keep the movie idea alive, but Universal's feature film division was cool to the idea. When the ratings numbers finally killed a third season...that also killed the movie."
Exosquad.com: "We can't help but notice the similarities between the Exosquad stories and WWII. Was this intentional?"
Michael: "Yes it was. We started off the second season with a rather broad outline that was mainly about the ebb-and-flow of how the war would shape up -- modelled on a vague pattern of WWII with the war in Europe and the Pacific mixed together: for example, we had our "Battle of the Bulge" episodes when the Neosapiens tried to retake Venus and the capture of the moon was based on the battle for Okinawa, the final battle for Chicago was the Battle of Berlin with Phaeton's bunker substituting for Hitler's bunker -- of course all these things had our original twist, but we thought that if we followed the outline of how an actual major war went, then we would never stray from the realism that made ExoSquad so good and that it would help translate into how we dealt with our characters."
Exosquad.com: "Speaking of characters, could you shed some light on the events surrounding the death and "resurrection" of Alec DeLeon?"
Michael: "Originally, we had no intention of bringing DeLeon back. As a matter of fact, we had originally intended to kill DeLeon on Mars when it blew up -- if you carefully watch the episode set in Australia "The Dream War" (I believe that's the title), you will see that DeLeon's death on Mars is foreshadowed there. One of the executives at Universal strongly objected to killing a major character so we settled for the temporary supposed death of Torres. However, an executive at Playmates found out about our original idea and really liked it -- so we killed DeLeon on the moon and then brought him back, primarily because of the Black Box idea we built into the Mars episode."
Exosquad.com: "What about Nara Burns. Could you give some detail on her incident with Ketzer?"
Michael: "Ketzer was lying when he said Nara would become just like him. In our minds, he was always tinkering with his process and really didn't know exactly how it would change her. The fact that her DNA might be subtly different because of her birth on Venus might have been a factor, too. We had not completely worked it out yet -- that was to be part of a third season, if it had been done. The general thinking was that Ketzer's "creations" would be important to defeating the new alien menace -- the exact nature of which, we had also not worked out yet."
Exosquad.com: "As the story editor for most of the episodes, how would you rate Exosquad against other projects you've been a part of?"
Michael: "Of all the series I've worked on, I'm proudest of ExoSquad. I still see Jeff Segal (the executive producer and one of the creators of the series) from time to time and we still talk about it fondly. We'd love to do something more with the series and the characters."
Exosquad.com: "What do you think the fans can do to help that happen?"
Michael: "I've always encouraged eveyone I know to contact Universal to get the whole series released on DVD. If that were done and if the DVDs sold well enough, it might spark some interest on their end to continue the series. I actually talked to Jeff Segal yesterday, and he would still like to make an ExoSquad movie. The only problem now is that, since he is no longer with Universal, he would have to get their permission to develop a movie. It's an extreme long shot, but keep your fingers crossed. As I said before, if we could get them to release the whole series on DVD and it sold reasonably well, we have a better chance at getting them to do more with the franchise -- a third season or a movie. Another thing that could help is getting the series on Cartoon Network -- although that, too, is a long shot since the series was not a WB or Hanna-Barbera product. Maybe some letters to Cartoon Network nudging them toward ExoSquad could get them to take a look at the series and consider acquiring it. Basically we would need to get enough eyeballs on ExoSquad -- either through DVD sales or a run on Cartoon Network or somewhere -- so that Universal stops thinking about it as a dead project and starts seeing franchise potential."
Exosquad.com: "That concludes the interview. Thank you again for giving up your time and thank you for making such and awesome series!"
Michael: "You're welcome. Hopefully we haven't seen the end of Exosquad."

Exosquad Season 1 - DVD
by Jim M. Howard, Jr.
May 11th, 2009

Exosquad Season 1 - DVD

Under attack by rogue pirate clans and an artificial humanoid race called the Neosapiens, a heroic group of humans band together to save their Homeworld from the impending evil. When the Pirate clans become such an overwhelming threat to the Homeworld’s space fighters, Earth’s Congress dispatches the entire Exofleet in an attempt to stop their looting. However, the conflict develops into a new threat that looms in Phaeton City when Phaeton makes a highly controversial speech. The plot alone might not reveal the many way that this series differentiates itself from the pack, but this series is not your typical cartoon fare.
As Asian anime grew in the late 1980s and especially in the 1990s, an American hybrid of sorts was bound to come along, hence, this 1993 series. Exosquad also utilizes elements of Iron Man and especially 1986’s Aliens; a band of military trained workers encase themselves in an exo-skeleton of metal armor during the Exosquad’s battles.
Created by Will Meugniot (X-Men: Evolution), the show was so well received that an additional, whopping 52 episodes were ordered for a second season. But because of the confusing and changing air times, Exosquad lost its audience and the show called it a wrap after its second season. It’s been noted that Meugniot has been very proud of this work in his growing resume and the series’ caliber is worthy of its praise.
In many ways, the show is more complex than expected for a sci-fi cartoon, so it’s easy to understand how involving it can be. The politics between characters, class, territory, arrogance, sexism and even racism are brought to the surface with angry, explosive consequences. This certainly adds gravity to some of the plotting.
Conversely, some of the characters are stereotypes – the team includes the studly, square-jawed leader (with a mullet), the serious sporty girl, the lazy joker, and the vampy villains all can make one roll their eyes. But don’t be alarmed when a surprising betrayal emerges or a potential bad guy has a change of heart given a complex, dicey situation.
Thankfully, there is enough action to keep the plot charging forward with some excitement, and bits of humor can help give the show some levity. But, frankly, the action can be very choppy and hard to understand, and the humor is frequently bland. Still, the interesting plotting and the Neosapien conflicts with the Resistance (Star Wars anyone?) are a solid concoction to keep one entertained and involved.
The thirteen episodes include: Pirate Scourge; Seeds of Deception; Hidden Terrors; Blitzkreig; Resist!; Target: Earth; A Traitor Among Us; Scorched Venus; Sabotage; Abandoned; The Brood; Betrayal; and Defying Olympus.

The Video: How Does The Disc Look?

The film’s theatrical aspect ratio of 1.33:1 is presented (appropriately) in nonanamorphic video. The source has been stored well as the quality looks very good. Colors are fully saturated and bold. Blacks are quite deep and the highlights are fairly clean. Blemishes are far and few between with rare instances of lint or other anomalies. Images are sharp and well defined. However, some of the background mattes will display noticeable grain. Fans that had the multiple, old VHS tapes will truly be happy with this upgrade, even if it is a long time coming.

The Audio: How Does The Disc Sound?

The disc includes a Dolby Digital mono 2.0 track. It was wishful thinking that the audio would at least have a stereo track, given that this premiered in the 1990s when most TV shows were at least in stereo. At least. And given the heavy action and musical score, some stereo directionality would have enhanced the proceedings. Ugh. Yet since the audio is all studio-generated, the sound remains clean and clear. Dynamics are on the bland side with little heft and only average highs. But all sounds are certainly discernable including the well-recorded dialogue. The musical score by Michael Tavera is certainly spirited with stylization fit for an orchestrated film, though it is frequently too distant. Overall, I suppose the audio gets the job done, but it certainly could have been better.
No other audio tracks are included, the optional subtitles are only in English SDH.

The Supplements: What Goodies Are There?

Trailers include: 10Rock, The Incredible Hulk, The Office, Battlestar Galactica, Miami Vice, Quantum Leap, Heros, and Columbo.

DVD-ROM Exclusives: What do you get when you pop the disc in your PC?
No ROM extras have been included.

Final Thoughts

While Exosquad might plow forward with its plotting, there is no denying that much thought is applied to the rather challenging, often intelligent themes. It’s clear that this Aliens/Anime type of animation is a labor of love with some attention to detail in structure by creator Will Meugniot. While I didn’t care for some of the very choppy action sequences, it’s nonetheless vibrant and interesting to watch. The picture quality is fine, the audio is clean but a disappointing mono mix (for 1993 sci-fi?), and the supplements are nothing but some trailers. Fans should toss those old VHS tapes and enjoy a cleaner (meaner?) Exosquad on DVD. And it’s definitely worth checking out for the uninitiated.

The music is: Nightwish feat Jonsu - Eramaan viimeinen

My flower, withered between pages 2&3 [ Exo-squad ]

Follow Left Hand Path • Remember, not the hand, that wrote it • Think of me long enough to make a memory

закладки:

цитатник:

дневник:

хочухи:

местожительство: