In the final episode of our mini-series Class of '84, we look at two iconic franchises that launched in 1984: Transformers and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. They came from opposite ends of the business spectrum. Transformers was a top-down marketing synergy between American and Japanese toy companies along with Marvel Comics to compete against He-Man -- another TV toy behemoth. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle would eventually rival them in cultural dominance, but it began with two indie comic book creators making a black and white comic as a lark. But Turtles and Transformers both ended up wrestling with similar questions around what happens when you put the cart before the horse in creating content to sell products. Documentary filmmaker Isaac Elliot-Fisher and Cartoon Art Museum curator Andrew Farago talk about the incredible rags to riches story of the Turtles creators, and how success changed them. And I talk with Bob Budiansky, who created many of the original Transformers characters for Hasbro and Marvel Comics.
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African Sci-Fi Looks to a Future Climate
When All Is Said in Dune
Mother-in-Law of Oz
Bonus: Turtles and Toys Outtakes
Class of '84: When Cyber Was Punk
Bonus: Rise of The Villains Outtakes
Class of '84: Rise of The Villains
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@ChristmasCarol: A Holiday Tale
Doctor Who's Power of Regeneration
How One Piece Became King of the Backstories
Bonus: Norse Myths Outtakes
Seeing Ourselves in Norse Myths
Creating Hindu Fantasy Worlds
Haunted Housing Market
Making the Sounds of Make-Believe
The Nine Lives of Red Dwarf
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