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Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles

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Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles is the 2006 animated sequel to the 1985 Robotech television series.

Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles
from HarmonyGold.com
Directed byTommy Yune
Dong-Wook Lee
Written byFord Riley
Frank Agrama
Produced byFrank Agrama
Alan Letz
Jason Netter
Edited byDavid W. Foster
Music byScott Glasgow
Distributed byFUNimation Entertainment
Release dates
August 25, 2006 (festival)
January 5, 2007 (USA)
February 6, 2007 (DVD)
Running time
88 minutes
LanguageEnglish

At Anime Expo 2004, Harmony Gold USA revealed that Robotech: Shadow Force was in production to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Robotech in 2005. The name of the new story arc was soon changed to Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles and the film was not completed until January 27, 2006[1]. This project was initially met with skepticism from the fan community due to Harmony Gold's spotty track record of completing Robotech sequels and spinoffs in past decades. The first teaser trailer debuted to considerable applause at Anime Expo 2005. [citation needed] An official trailer was more recently released on The Shadow Chronicles website during the NATPE conference, a broadcast industry trade show. Harmony Gold has planned several film festival showings, but FUNimation delayed a possible wider theatrical and DVD release until at least 2007. [2] Recently, a new release date has been set for February 6, 2007. [3]


Story and development

The storyline is described as a direct continuation from the 85th (and final) episode of the original Robotech television series, and perhaps also The Sentinels in an indirect way. The main plot seems to revolve around the Robotech Expeditionary Force's search for the missing Admiral Hunter and the SDF-3, but there are reports of a new adversary behind the scenes. Pre-release animatics and teaser trailer footage indicate that the production is a mixture of 2D animation and cel-shaded CG mecha animation.

Though the involvement of original Japanese studio Tatsunoko Productions seems to be limited to early development, the actual digital production of animation is being handled by the Korean animation company DR Movie, whose credits include subcontracting on the in-between animation in Macross Plus and the in-between animation of Yukikaze. Co-director Tommy Yune said in a Newtype USA interview (republished on the official Robotech website) that the producers "consulted extensively" with Kenji Terada, a writer on Southern Cross and Mospeada (two of the three series adapted into the 1985 Robotech series).

DC Comics’ Wildstorm label released Robotech: Prelude to the Shadow Chronicles, a comic prequel series bridging the end of the aborted Sentinels storyline to The Shadow Chronicles. Each of the issues features a "behind the scenes" article about the animation production.

Release status

Region 1

Theatrical

File:RobotechTheShadowChronicles.jpg

Kevin McKeever, operations coordinator at Robotech.com/Harmony Gold, confirmed at the New York Comic-Con in February 2006 that the movie had been completed, [4] but that earlier discussions with a potential distributor had failed due to contract terms that Harmony Gold considered unfavorable. [5] McKeever posted an FAQ regarding these issues on Robotech.com's forums. [6] The finished film was screened theatrically for the cast and crew on March 8, 2006.

Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles was shown for the first time in its entirety outside of Harmony Gold at the Cannes Film Market on May 22, 2006 in the Grey One Theatre to an audience of distributor representatives and staffers. According to Robotech.com, the audience reportedly cheered at the end of the screening. [7] A number of independent film festivals screened the film during the summer and fall. [8] It was awarded Best Animated Sci-Fi Feature at the International Horror and Sci-Fi Film Festival, although it was the first animated feature ever shown in this Arizonan festival's history. [9]

On December 21, Kevin McKeever announced the first round of theatrical viewings of Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles in January 2007. [10]

DVD

On July 22, 2006 at the Comic-Con International, FUNimation Entertainment announced that they had just licensed the home video, broadcast and theatrical rights of Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles from Harmony Gold. Harmony Gold and FUNimation issued a joint press release with a November 21, 2006 DVD release date, but have since delayed the release until 2007. [11] A new release date of February 6, 2007 was reported from FUNimation on November 4, 2006 [12]. As of late January 2007, retailers who do not observe the stricture of street dates for anime DVDs [13] had begun selling it to consumers [14].

The Region 1 DVD has the following features:

  • Animated menus.
  • Anamorphic widescreen transfer.
  • English 5.1 and 2.0 Dolby surround; closed-caption subtitles.
  • 45-minute featurette: Robotech: Birth of a Sequel.
  • Trailers for Shadow Chronicles and other Funimation titles.

Other regions

Madman Entertainment in Australia were the first international distributor to license Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles for release, annoucing it is due locally in 2007 at a October 29th 2006 panel at Supanova Pop Culture Expo convention in Sydney, in early December annoucing a March 7th 2007 release date. [15]

Music

The live musical score was composed by Scott Glasgow and performed by the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra. Chase Masterson is singing some of the parts for her robotic character Janice. Glasgow confirmed that Melissa Kaplan, the lead singer of the band Universal Hall Pass, has vocalized some of the background music.[16]

Cast

According to IMDb, some of the original voice actors are reprising their roles for characters such as Scott Bernard, Rick Hunter, Vince Grant, Sparks, and the Invid Regis alongside well-known actors such as Mark Hamill (Star Wars) and Chase Masterson (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine). This appears to follow the growing trend of casting high-profile Hollywood actors in the voice cast of animation titles.

References

See also

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