Revive Some More “Girl” Shows!
A lot of eighties’ animated series that I grew up with are being revamped: from My Little Pony, now called “My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic” which has become such as success that there is a new fandom and several conventions from this revision, to Strawberry Shortcake where the main character looks like an Olsen twin and The Care Bears which, like Strawberry Shortcake is computer animated. I can appreciate that computer animation can be great, and easier to create, but I do believe that there is still room for 2D animation.
If Jem and Rainbow Brite are next on the revamp list, the following should be done to make both of these series a success. First, have these ladies work on both series: Christy Marx, creator of the show Jem. She could be the head writer for both series. Gail Simone, currently a writer for DC Comics, should write episodes for both series. Lauren Faust would help develop the characters, look at her work on My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic and Super Best Friends Forever. Lauren Montgomery, who did story boards for X-men: Evolution and directed the Wonder Woman animated movie should be involed. As for which animation studio should do the series, I say Toei, since they animated Jem back in the 80s, and TMS who animated Rainbow Brite and the Mighty Orbots.
I am not saying that either series needs to be in the style of A\anime but at least use 2D animation. There are too many computer animated series and movies as it is. Both shows would need to be updated to be relatable for a new generation. In particular, the music in Jem and the Holograms: why not have 80s animated music icons Shuki Levy and Haim Saban work on the music, or someone who works in the music industry who is not afraid to NOT be taken seriously due to doing music for an animated series.
If all the voice actors are still alive from the series, bring them back and reprise their roles. or at least get sound-a-likes which is done with Scooby Doo. I know Samantha Newark, voice of Jerrica/Jem, and Rainbow Brite’s voice actress Bettina Bush are still alive. Peter Cullen has played the voice of Optimus Prime in almost any incarnation of Transformers, so both of these ladies can pull this off.
Most importantly of course, the fans of these old shows who kept the spirit of the shows alive. Jem has Jem Con and Rainbow Brite still has a loyal old-school following. If all the fans who grew up watching these shows support the show’s revamping, and use the DVDs of the originals to show their kids what they grew up with, this would bring new life to the fandoms.
Now, some people may not feel that their favorite 80s shows should be re-touched at all, and should just be re-run on TV. For example, back in 2002, the revival of He-man and the Masters of the Universe animated series on Cartoon Network. While I loved the fact that the series stayed more true to the original, I found the main character He-Man to be ridiculously overpowered. A lot of fans preferred the 80s show by Filmation. However, in the case of Jem and the Holograms, which is only three seasons long, there are limited options for reruns on the Hub, Hasbro’s own channel. The Hub has at least 2-4 versions of their biggest toy franchise shows, mainly G.I. Joe and Transformers, so the potential for revamps is there.
So why not have a new updated Jem and the Holograms animated series? Christy Marx might be interested in revamping the character. This can work for both series, and honestly there needs to be more decent “girl” shows on television. I have watched shows like Totally Spies and Winx Club and find both shows’ concepts to be utterly ridiculous and patronizing, implying that girls only want to be fairies, or that when girls do go into the same field as guys they wear pink and fight with laser lipstick. I am still stuck on that for Totally Spies. I understand about “the market” for girls’ toys and animated series but it’s 2013 and it’s time start breaking that concept. Come on, animation studios and toy manufacturers: it’s time for a change.
