This year marks the 40th anniversary of a lot of landmarks in pop culture, especially sci-fi and fantasy. So many franchises were born in 1984. Some came to define the genre or invent new genres. The great podcast Imaginary Worlds noticed this and produced a three-part series about 1984's Cambrian explosion of creativity that landed on the big screen, the small screen, bookstore shelves and, of course, the toy store.
In this episode we learn about 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.
Toyetic
569- Between the Blocks
568- Don't Forget to Remember
Roman Mars Describes Chicago As It Is
567- The Double Kick
The Power Broker #01: Robert Caro
566- Imitation Nation
565- Mini-Stories: Volume 18
470- Another Visit from the Three Santas of Slovenia
564- Mini-Stories: Volume 17
563- Empire of the Sum
562- Breaking Down The Power Broker (with Conan O'Brien)
344- The Known Unknown [rebroadcast]
561- Long Strange Tape
560- Home on the Range
559- The Six-Week Cure
558- The Fever Tree Hunt
557- Model Village
328- Devolutionary Redesign
556- You Ain’t Nothin But a Postmark
555- The Big Dig
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
Gastropod
The Atlas Obscura Podcast
Freakonomics Radio
Anne of Avonlea
Just So Stories
The Indicator from Planet Money
Planet Money