by the fans for the fans

LETS SEE

2007 NOV.
I THINK DEAL BETWEEN HG/WB/MGUIRE ENTERTAINMENT MADE

2008 AROUND ANIME EXPO
CHUCK ROVEN AND PRODUCTION TEAM OF DARK KNIGHT START SETTING UP THE TEMPLATE FOR RLAM

WRITTERS ARE HIRED
KASDAN AND OTHER PRODUCTION COMPANYS JUMP ABOARD

2008 DECEMBER/JANUARY
KASDAN IS DONE WITH SCRIPT.

2009 JANUARY
SMALLVILE WRITTERS JUMP ONBOARD TO WORK ON SAID SCRIPT

2009 JUNE
TOM SIGNED ON TO SCRIPT AS WELL

NOT SURE TO POST THIS TIBIT, BUT PLEASE TAKE IT WITH GRAIN OF SALT. AND NOT PART OF THE PRODUCTION AS A TRUTH.

MEET SOME WORKERS ON A COMERCIAL SET HERE OUTSIDE OF MY SECOND JOB IN DOWNTOWN L.A. AND THEY TOLD ME THEY TALKED TO SITE SCOUTS WHO TAKE PICTIRES FOR LOCAL'S OR SCENES.

MY OPINION, THESE GUYS TAKING PICS ARE PROBABLY SETTING UP WITH THE SCRIPT FOR SHOWING WHAT THE WRITTERS NEED TO LOOK FOR AS TO AN AREA THAT MIGHT WORK. OR WITH THE TEMPLATE SO LATER A DIRECTOR CAN LOOK AND DECIDE ON MOST PROBABLE PLACES.



ALSO MAV BEEN POSTING ABOUT FAMOUSE PEOPLE FANS OF ROBOTECH.
WONDER IF THEY WANT TO BE PART OF THE MOVIE BY THEIR ANNOUNCEMNT

Why not just use the original designs or the up dated original designs that the Japanese have
made?

There is no need to go and up date the VFs with new planes.
I do not want to see another artist vision of a series that is well established.

Here in Japan the updated original designs here in Japan look good.
Plus look at the Macross F fighters, they still have the basic structure of the original VFs but it is modern.

Also this show is liked because of the designs and like it or not, people like the Japanese designs of the the show.

Please don't make a Shadow Chronicles mess up with the new stuff. Get some Japanese anime designers on board for this stuff.

yoshiii wrote:

Why not just use the original designs or the up dated original designs that the Japanese have
made?

Simple answer... they don't own that intellectual property, Big West does.

Back in 2001-2004, Big West and Tatsunoko, the companies who respectively created and animated Super Dimension Fortress Macross, went to court to resolve a dispute over ownership of the franchise. The courts decided that Tatsunoko Productions retained the merchandising and film distribution rights, which they had licensed to Harmony Gold USA, and Big West was the sole owner of the intellectual property of Macross.

What this means is that Harmony Gold can, as per the terms of their license agreement, distribute the footage of the Super Dimension Fortress Macross TV series outside of Japan, edit it at their discretion (the Macross Saga), and produce merchandise based on it for sale outside of Japan. Because Harmony Gold doesn't have the intellectual property rights, they can't produce new animation or live-action features using the character and mechanical designs of Macross.

That's why the few Macross Saga characters who weren't killed in Robotech: Prelude to the Shadow Chronicles were completely redesigned, and why the live-action movie is a reimagining.


yoshiii wrote:

There is no need to go and up date the VFs with new planes.
I do not want to see another artist vision of a series that is well established.

Since Big West is adamant about not wanting to work with Harmony Gold for any reason, there is a vital need to go and redesign ALL the Macross Saga mecha. After all, they can't legally use the designs from the animation.

Of course, if you live in Japan, you have nothing to worry about... Robotech is barred from Japan by the terms of their license agreements. Even if the movie IS produced, it'll never play in Japan.


yoshiii wrote:

Here in Japan the updated original designs here in Japan look good.
Plus look at the Macross F fighters, they still have the basic structure of the original VFs but it is modern.

Well, yeah... Macross Frontier's hotter than a sinner's ass in hell. Macross's creators are some of the biggest names in anime, and they know how to do mecha right... not like the poor sods in California, whose sole, feeble efforts into designing new mecha are both sinfully ugly and disappointingly unimaginative.


yoshiii wrote:

Also this show is liked because of the designs and like it or not, people like the Japanese designs of the the show.

Yep... of course, they can do whatever they damn well please with the designs from Southern Cross and Mospeada so long as they get Tatsunoko's OK. It's only the Macross designs, the most popular ones in Robotech, that are the stumbling block.

yoshiii wrote:

Please don't make a Shadow Chronicles mess up with the new stuff. Get some Japanese anime designers on board for this stuff.

Oh no... I'd say it's far more likely we'll get something that closely resembles Michael Bay's Transformers in terms of mechanical design... something that could be aptly described as "junkyard throw-up", or the byproduct of a drunken bet between scrapyard owners. An ugly, clattering mess of small moving parts, exposed hydraulics, and other junk that is so visually busy that it becomes virtually impossible to tell where one robot ends and the next begins if they get too close.

Since Harmony Gold is in a bind, I think that they should do their best to repair relations with
Big West.
Since WB has the movie now, can they negotiate some kind of new deal?
To be honest, if they have to completely change it, I will have lost faith in the people in Hollywood to do any series American or Japanese correctly. I am so tired of this crap that is coming out of Hollywood.

If anything they should just make something from 2nd or 3rd generation.

I'd heard a story once, about how HG tried to do exactly what you're thinking, that being to try and resolve the rift between themselves and the originators of SDF-Macross.

So the story goes, HG had initially blocked any and all Macross-related material from entering the US, except under thier auspices. However, they had made a 'peace gesture' by allowing Macross Pluss and Macross 2: Loveras Again to be sold here.

Unfortunately, this did not have the desired effect, and for some reason, the rift only widened. (Seto, feel free to add or correct as needed.)

Sadly, for all those interested in a reconciliation, there appears to be too much bad blood between the organizations involved.

I say WB needs to use their Hollywood skills and make some kind of deal with Big West.
Otherwise I probably will not watch this movie except maybe on DVD

I think that they can do it.

yoshiii wrote:

Since Harmony Gold is in a bind, I think that they should do their best to repair relations with
Big West.

As I understand it, they've tried at least once since Tommy Yune took the reins of the Robotech franchise back in 2001. What I heard is that they tried to talk to Big West to get the rest of Macross released in the US, but Big West told 'em to go pound sand.

Big West hasn't been too fond of Harmony Gold ever since they effectively blocked all Macross exports by trademarking the Macross name in the US and EU, and sent legal threats to stores importing Macross toys. Harmony Gold made their bed, now they have to sleep in it.

yoshiii wrote:

Since WB has the movie now, can they negotiate some kind of new deal?

Since the terms of Harmony Gold's license agreements ban them from marketing or distributing Robotech stuff in Japan, and with all the bad blood between them and Big West, I can't see Big West responding any differently just because Warner asked on Harmony Gold's behalf.

yoshiii wrote:

To be honest, if they have to completely change it, I will have lost faith in the people in Hollywood to do any series American or Japanese correctly. I am so tired of this crap that is coming out of Hollywood.

Consider your faith lost then.

Admittedly, the fact that you had faith in them at all after the disasters that were Dragonball Evolution and Speed Racer just has me confused. They proved pretty definitively that all they're capable of producing is crap.


yoshiii wrote:

If anything they should just make something from 2nd or 3rd generation.

Thus far, they've been very vague about the story, just saying that it's a "re-imagining" of Robotech, not a straight adaptation of any one saga.




Friendly piece of advice, since you also posted about this on Robotech.com... DO NOT ASK ABOUT THE LEGAL SITUATION SURROUDING Macross THERE. The administration there has made it abundantly clear that it's a taboo topic and they don't want anything that shows them in a negative light. So unless you crave a banning, avoid discussing that particular topic there, since their marketing goons and other corporate figures run the message boards there.

Thank you,

I didnt know that. I will be careful when posting there.

Hope no one touches Yamato or Gundam(anymore, G-Savior was Bandai's fault) unless they do it right.

It`s just ashame that HG went the way they did back then. Tho as said They made their bed. You never know tho Big West may negate their previous answer IF the contract is very favourable to them?
Also with the way the market works between RT & Macross. What the hell are they going to call the film so it has a Japanese/US release then?
I Know "Big Robotes & Alien Invaders". There you go Hollywood the title of the film

Just so stupid how a founding Anime has been so bastardised legally. The guys Just need to wake up & smell the coffee. United front would surely bring in MAXIMUM revenue for ALL involved.

yoshiii wrote:

Thank you,

I didnt know that. I will be careful when posting there.

No problem.

They've been really touchy about that sort of thing since they cut the license agreement with Maguire Entertainment and Warner Bros. In the past, I've gotten several nasty e-mails from mods for talking about HG and Macross rights on the Robotech.com message boards.

yoshiii wrote:

Hope no one touches Yamato or Gundam(anymore, G-Savior was Bandai's fault) unless they do it right.

Sunrise isn't dumb enough to try again with a live-action movie after G-Saviour. Now that the Japanese owners of Space Battleship Yamato have settled the legal disputes over the series, they're working on a new TV show and a new movie (not American-made).


panzertank wrote:

You never know tho Big West may negate their previous answer IF the contract is very favourable to them?

They snubbed Harmony Gold once in the past, despite the chance of being able to distribute the rest of Macross worldwide... I think they care enough about artistic integrity and controlling their own intellectual property that they wouldn't license their designs if they felt they were going to be abused or exploited by a company they don't get along with.

panzertank wrote:

Also with the way the market works between RT & Macross. What the hell are they going to call the film so it has a Japanese/US release then?

Oh, there's no doubt that it'll be called Robotech in the US. The movie will likely NOT see a Japan release, due to the obvious contractual problems barring Harmony Gold from releasing anything Robotech over there.

panzertank wrote:

Just so stupid how a founding Anime has been so bastardised legally. The guys Just need to wake up & smell the coffee. United front would surely bring in MAXIMUM revenue for ALL involved.

Bastardized legally? Not so much as you'd think. A lot of the problems were caused by Tatsunoko trying to lay claim to more of Macross than they actually had rights to under their contract.

If anything, Macross Frontier proved beyond a doubt that Big West doesn't need a united front with Tatsunoko to make something that sells like mad.