TMS and Galaxy High

[SpaceCowboy]

An '80s toon known as "Galaxy High" was animated and released here by TMS (Tokyo Movie Shinsha). I never have seen the show, but would it be considered American or Japanese in origin?

TMS is mostly known for overseas work for American companies ("Batman Beyond") and in-house anime productions ("Lupin III", "Detective Conan", "Sonic X"). Are there any other examples of anime companies doing animation for the American market, releasing it here under their own name, and making it look nothing like anime?

If anyone has seen this show, does it have any anime-esque elements to speak of?

[Nobuyuki sama]

An '80s toon known as "Galaxy High" was animated and released here by TMS (Tokyo Movie Shinsha). I never have seen the show, but would it be considered American or Japanese in origin?Definitely American. http://www.tvtome.com/tvtome/servlet/ShowMainServlet/showid-2916/


If anyone has seen this show, does it have any anime-esque elements to speak of?Not really.

[Lord Dalek]

I think Nelvana created Galaxy High, and just used good ol' TMS as a subcontractor. I may be wrong though.

[Classic Speedy]

Are there any other examples of anime companies doing animation for the American market, releasing it here under their own name, and making it look nothing like anime? Tokyo Movie Shinsa has done episodes of Tiny Toon Adventures, Animaniacs, Pinky & the Brain, Chip N Dale, DuckTales, and New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, so yes, they've done plenty of non-anime stuff. :)

[Nobuyuki sama]

I think Nelvana created Galaxy High, and just used good ol' TMS as a subcontractor. I may be wrong though.I think Film Roman or Ruby-Spears would have distributed it for TMS in that time period.
TMS owns the series; Chris Columbus created it.

[Lord Dalek]

I think Film Roman or Ruby-Spears would have distributed it for TMS in that time period.
TMS owns the series; Chris Columbus created it.Either way, it's not like Transformers where you could call it anime with a good justifiable reason.

[Carolina Red]

The Poprocks and Coke website (http://www.poprocksandcoke.com/)- a website similar to X-Entertainment, except that it is rarely ever updated - has an article about it, and it's a good one too. It's got little reviews of the episodes and pictures.

[Samhaine]

Tokyo Movie Shinsa has done episodes of Tiny Toon Adventures, Animaniacs, Pinky & the Brain, Chip N Dale, DuckTales, and New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, so yes, they've done plenty of non-anime stuff. :)Also animation for The New Batman Adventures and Batman Beyond. They did what was probably considered the best of both series, Over The Edge and Return of the Joker.

[shogunthethird]

well considering Toei, the animation studio behind such hits as DBZ and One Piece was subcontracted to animate Transformers G1, it's not like this is a rare ocurrance

[Matthew Williams]

TMS did Bionic Six, too, so it's not just Galaxy High, and that was explicitly for America...

[SpaceCowboy]

Thanks for clearing that up. I am aware of the practice of American companies subcontracting animation work to Japanese studios, but to have an American series owned by an overseas contractor seems weird to me.:shrug:

Are any American series still animated in Japan nowadays? IMO the work Japanese studios did on American cartoons from years ago looked a lot better in look and feel than the current stuff that's done in South Korea. Case in point, comparing the animation of Batman Beyond to that of Teen Titans. No offense to those who like stuff animated in South Korea.

[Howard Fein]

From what I remember, GALAXY HIGH had no anime elements in the animation or backgrounds. The series could've been easily mistaken for a Hanna-Barbera or Ruby-Spears production- though it had far better writing than anything coming out of either studio, despite some rather stark stereotyping: a hyper Italian pizza chef, a Teutonic science teacher, a 'butch' female gym teacher.

There was very heavy use of what's popularly known as 'Hanna-Barbera' sound effects (which were used by, among others, Filmation, Marvel, R-S, DIC, Film Roman and even Disney). John Stephenson and Howard Morris- both heavily associated with H-B- were featured voices, as well as other veterans Susan Blu, Neil Ross, David Lander and the great Pat Carroll.

The many years since GALAXY HIGH aired in reruns on the Sci-Fi Channel has clouded memories of specific credits. But I remember seeing Gerard Baldwin, who worked on ROCKY & BULLWINKLE(!), listed as a creative consultant. Veteran animator Allen Wilzbach (H-B, Filmation) is credited in a supervisory role. The scripts, a blend of sitcom, satire and sci-fi, were from among others, respected fantasy scribes Larry DiTillio (HE-MAN, REAL GHOSTBUSTERS) and Ken Koonce/Dave Wiemers (DUCK TALES).

By 1986, many cartoons started to sport the anime look, especially those made by DIC. The earliest 'anime' series I can remember airing on Saturday AM was 1983's DUNGEONS & DRAGONS. The following season's MUPPET BABIES, also from Marvel, had this look as well. Even Ruby-Spears got into the anime act with its syndicated RAMBO and CENTURIONS.

The syndicated BIONIC SIX, which came from the same people who brought you GALAXY HIGH, had much more of an anime look. If I remember, there was no use of H-B SFX.

[Gary L Thompson]

From my memory, I think the two lead characters had a vaguely animesque look around their eyes, but yes, it was clearly an American series.

A pretty good one too, by American SatAM standards. I think TMS would be overlooking a bet if it doesn't try to revive this show somewhere.