okay so everyone is rightfully lamenting that luz didn’t keep at least some of her titan form. i’m with you there, completely and entirely. but consider: that was the last gasp of an ancient but very much dead titan. and. king is alive, and starting to develop his own magic.
yeah you see what i’m getting at, don’t you? fast forward a few years and someone vaguely actually threatening (maybe the titan hunters? or the adult collectors?) tries to pull some shit and luz is just like. “hey, king? hit me.” and proceeds to go titan mode and utterly thrash whoever thought they could mess with her family
Match 1: Makima (Chainsaw Man) vs. Misato Katsuragi (Neon Genesis Evangelion)
Match 2: Raiden Shogun (Genshin Impact) vs. Yor Forger (Spy x Family)
Match 3: Franz Kafka (Prague) vs. Monika (Doki Doki Literature Club)
Match 4: Judy Hopps (Zootopia) vs. Yennefer (The Witcher)
Match 5: Regina George (Mean Girls) vs. Elle Woods (Legally Blonde)
Match 6: Lana Del Rey (New York) vs. Rey Skywalker (Star Wars)
Match 7: Mavis Dracula (Hotel Transylvania) vs. Marceline The Vampire Queen (Adventure Time)
Match 8: Taylor Swift (Pennsylvania) vs. Edna Mode (The Incredibles) vs. Elsa (Frozen)
Match 9: Malfina (Married to Conneticut Clark) vs. Ebony Dark'ness Dementia Raven Ray (My Immortal)
Match 10: ENA (ENA) vs. Vivec (The Elder Scrolls)
Match 11: Bowsette (Super Mario Bros) vs. Chloe Price (Life is Strange)
Match 12: Rouge the Bat (Sonic) vs. Harley Quinn (DC)
Match 13: Queen (Deltarune) vs. Other Mother (Coraline)
Match 14: Toriel (Undertale) vs. Morticia Addams (Addams Family)
Match 15: Mommy Mearest (Friday Night Funkin') vs. Administrator TF2 (Team Fortress 2)
Match 16: Riza Hawkeye (Fullmetal Alchemist) vs. Elaine Benes (Seinfeld)
ROUND 1 Part 2
January 30 2023 / CET 12 PM / CST 5 AM
Match 1: Hitori (Bocchi) Gotou (Bocchi The Rock) vs. Skylar White (Breaking Bad)
Match 2: Konata Izumi (Lucky Star) vs. Hatsune Miku (Vocaloid)
Match 3: Hornet (Hollow Knight) vs. Franziska von Karma (Ace Attorney)
Match 4: Rose Tyler (Dr. Who) vs. Isabelle (Animal Crossing)
Match 5: GlaDOS (Portal) vs. Barbie (Barbie)
Match 6: Bayonetta (Bayonetta) vs. Bella Goth (The Sims) vs. 2B (Nier Automata
Match 7: Popuko & Pipimi (Pop Team Epic) vs. Jessie & James (Pokemon)
Match 8: Pissvortex (Poster's Valhalla) vs. Velma (Scooby Doo)
Match 9: Catra (She-Ra and the Princesses of Power) vs. Shego (Kim Possible)
Match 10: Ranni (Elden Ring) vs. Cirno (Touhou)
Match 11: Eda Clawthorne (The Owl House) vs. Peridot (Steven Universe)
Match 12: Lady Dimitrescu (Resident Evil 8: Village) vs. Joyce Messier (Disco Elysium)
Match 13: Vriska Serket (Homestuck) vs. Bea Santello (Night in the Woods)
Match 14: Rainbow Dash (My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic) vs. Cersei Lannister (Game of Thrones)
Match 15: Katya (Goncharov) vs. Mina Harker (Dracula) vs. Gideon Nav (The Locked Tomb)
Match 16: Siobhan "Shiv" Roy (Succession) vs. Helen (The Magnus Archives)
Round 2
January 31 2023 / CET 12 PM / CST 5 AM
Round 3
February 1 2023 / CET 12 PM / CST 5 AM - Candidates TBD
Round 4
February 2 2023 / CET 12 PM / CST 5 AM - Candidates TBD
Round 5
February 3 2023 / CET 12 PM / CST 5 AM - Candidates TBD
Finals
February 4 2023 / CET 12 PM / CST 5 AM - Candidates TBD
This time I really am back by popular demand because the other two posts have been getting a steady trickle of notes for over a year now.
(If you're looking for stuff like Disney and Dreamworks there are two other posts. Here we've got mostly random cartoons and also the Pokemon horses)
Starlite (Rainbow Brite)
6/10 Little weird that he seems to be drawn in a style that's like 3x more realistic than any other character in this show but hey sometimes you just ascend to a higher plane of existence.
(2014 Reboot Starlite gets a 3/10. I do not trust him.)
Skydancer (Rainbow Brite)
7/10 I bumped Starlite down a point because he wants what Skydancer has. Skydancer doesn't need rainbows to fly. Skydancer has a lightning bolt. Skydancer has the Drama.
(The one wiki page said he's a Shire or a Clydesdale and um I don't think so. Maybe a Friesian.)
On-yx (Rainbow Brite)
This is a rocket powered balloon animal. 2/10
Sunriser (Rainbow Brite)
5/10
Eh.
I like her hair though.
Swift Wind (She-Ra and the Princesses of Power/ She-Ra Princess of Power)
Right (older version) 8/10 I don't understand the wing physics going on here. Also not sure if the horn is part of the mask or just attached to the mask. Diggin the bib though. Also love that he's a ginger.
Left (new version) 4/10 If the older version wasn't there this would score higher because just as a character design I don't think it's bad but if these are supposed to be the same character he seems so cutesy and I do not vibe with it. I don't know either show. So maybe that works. But it feels wrong.
Amalthea (The Last Unicorn)
9/10
They gave the unicorn the split deer hooves, and the lions tail and that is automatic points from me. Bummed they didn't go all out and give us the goat's beard. Rude.
Any distance shot, I love. Close-ups of the face creep me out with the giant doll eyes and tiny nose.
(Pokemon and more below)
Honey Pie Pony (Strawberry Shortcake)
8/10 Adorable. Fantastically chunky design. The others from this... show? book? brand? are like 6s or 5s depending. But Honey Pie has the It factor.
(The It Factor here apparently being that recurring pattern of only the main character's horse being able to talk?? This is the third. Swift Wind, Starlite and Honey Pie have dark secrets about how they come by this knowledge).
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic "ponies"
Just as characters they're cute in a "trying so hard to be cute that they almost miss the mark entirely" way. But this is about how they are as HORSE designs. And these are magical gremlins not horses. 1/10 (WHAT is happening on the far right of this set. I do not approve. Zebra is fine though).
My Little Pony: A New Generation
Like if the MLP: FM ponies and the Trolls characters somehow had children. Somehow the main character of Bee Movie was also involved. The one on the left makes TikTok thirst traps. -2/10
My Little Pony Tales
3/10 I can almost tell they're meant to be horses. Plus that one has a tattoo of a comb. So. Full extra point for the comb tattoo.
Bratz Horses
I can't tell if there's an official video game or cartoon design for these but in ANY given version I found the conclusion is the same: if you look into the gigantic distended eye you will be put under the horse's curse.
1/10
Boxer (Animal Farm)
4/10 All horses are equal but some are more equal than others, but Boxer is not one of them because his mouth is not okay.
Marvin (Marvin the Tap Dancing Horse)
5/10 I mean. Dude's got spats. Come on.
Ponyta (Pokemon)
3/5 The armpit and middle thigh flames were a choice.
Rapidash (Pokemon)
8/10 Look at his face. The angst. He has seen things.
Mudsdale (Pokemon)
8/10 The classic mohawk, dreadlocks and legwarmers trifecta. Love it. Would love to hug him.
Galarian Ponyta
3/10 It's giving sheep, and it's giving dog. Very little horse.
Galarian Rapidash (Pokemon)
4/10 He's angry because his hair is too long and he can't walk and also he has not eaten enough somebody feed this horse.
Origin Palkia (Pokemon)
6/10 A built-in hoola-hoop AND thigh high Boots?! what fashion.
Keldeo (Pokemon)
1/10 Clown goat.
Spectrier (Pokemon)
10/10 Beautiful goth girl horse floating around like a Victorian ghost who's too modest to show her ankles.
Mudbray (Pokemon)
5/10 He has passed through the depths of existential dread and returned world-weary but unshakeable and with a snazzy bowl cut.
Glastrier (Pokemon)
20/10 ICE HORSE ICE HORSE ICE HORSE. I love him so much. He's punk rock
If you notice any issues with the matchups or submissions please let me know!
Matchups under the cut, polls will be linked once they're posted.
Bracket A
Jess McCready (A League of Their Own) vs. Shelley Byron (Doom Patrol)
Lupe García (A League of Their Own) vs. Desdemona (Fortnite)
Jo DeLuca (A League of Their Own) vs. Min Suh (My Princess Charming)
Vi (A League of Their Own) vs. Darling Charming (Ever After High)
Max Chapman (A League of Their Own) vs. Faye (Questionable Content)
Chloe Kitagawa (Belle of the Ball) vs. Imtura Tal Kaelen (Choices: Blades of Light and Shadow)
Kase Tomoka (Kase-san snd Morning Glories) vs. Miyake Aoi (D4DJ)
Hoshiumi Asa (Haikyuu) vs. Kyoutani Kentarou (Haikyuu)
Annabelle Cheddar (Dimension 20: A Crown of Candy) vs. Sir Amanda Maillard (Dimension 20: A Crown of Candy) vs. Captain Jan De La Vega (Dimension 20: A Starstruck Odyssey)
Kristen Applebees (Dimension 20: Fantasy High) vs. Evan Kelmp (Dimension 20: Misfits and Magic) vs. Chieftess Cleva Katzon (Dimension 20: The Ravening War)
Cynthia Zdunowski (Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies) vs. Lake (Infinity Train)
Anne Lister (Gentleman Jack) vs. Sasha Nein (Psychonauts)
Tracer/Lena Oxton (Overwatch) vs. Zarya/Aleksandra Zaryanova (Overwatch)
Moira O'Deorain (Overwatch) vs. Junker Queen (Overwatch)
Brigitte Lindholm (Overwatch) vs. Susie (Deltarune)
Riot Maidstone (Hello from the Hallowoods) vs. Striga (Castlevania)
Bonnibel Bubblegum (Adventiure Time: Fionna and Cake) vs. Cassie Sandsmark (DC Comics)
The Ninth Doctor (Doctor Who) vs. The Twelfth Doctor (Doctor Who)
Sevika (Arcane) vs. Vi (Arcane)
Geeta (Pokémon Scarlet/Violet) vs. Rika (Pokémon Scarlet/Violet)
Kim (My Candy Love) vs. Jean (Blue Jean)
Naberius Kalego (Mairimashita! Iruma-Kun) vs. Opera (Mairimashita! Iruma-Kun)
Zen'in Maki (Jujutsu Kaisen) vs. Jane Crocker (Homestuck)
Rainbow Dash (My Little Pony) vs. Applejack (My Little Pony)
Dame Aylin (Baldur's Gate 3) vs. Lae'zel (Baldur's Gate 3)
Karlach (Baldur's Gate 3) vs. Kevin E. Levin (Ben 10 Ultimate Alien/Alien Force)
Jillian Holtzmann (Ghostbusters (2016)) vs. Kena Mwaura (Rafiki)
Emmy Altava (Professor Layton) vs. Chloe Price (Life Is Strange)
Lois (Dykes to Watch Out For) vs. Kora (Rebel Moon)
Mo (Dykes to Watch Out For) vs. Kipo (Kipo And The Age Of Wonderbeasts)
Niamh Brody (Any Way The Wind Blows) vs. Jamie (Butch Jamie)
Kenjou Akira/Cure Chocolat (KiraKira Precure a la Mode) vs. Hinomori Shiho (Hatsune Miku: Colorful Stage)
Bracket B
Tenoh Haruka/Sailor Uranus (Sailor Moon) vs. Arkady Patel (The Strange Case of Starship Iris)
Nahara Satrinava (The Arcana) vs. Nazali Satrinava (The Arcana)
Gideon Nav (The Locked Tomb) vs. Isabel Lovelace (Wolf 359)
Pyrrha Dve (The Locked Tomb) vs. Alice "Daisy" Tonner (The Magnus Archives)
Park Jae-In (Sora & Haena!) vs. Thatcher Davis (The Mandela Catalogue)
Jess Goldberg (Stone Butch Blues) vs. Lady Lesso (The School for Good And Evil)
Undyne (Undertale) vs. Van Palmer (Yellowjackets)
Amaya (The Dragon Prince) vs. Tenjou Utena (Revolutionary Girl Utena)
Burn (Wings of Fire) vs. Moonwatcher (Wings of Fire)
Tsunami (Wings of Fire) vs. Asha (Wings of Fire)
Moonlight (Warriors) vs. Mothwing (Warriors)
Anybodys (West Side Story (1961)) vs. Anybodys (West Side Story (2021))
Mitsuki Koga (The Guy She Was Interested in Wasn't a Guy At All) vs. Rachel Lindt/Hellhound/Bitch (Worm)
Warthog (Trinity) vs. Susie Myerson (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel)
Jay (Star Stable) vs. Sabine (Star Stable)
Alex Cloudmill (Star Stable) vs. Korra (The Legend of Korra)
Adora (She-Ra and the Princesses of Power) vs. Huntara (She-Ra and the Princesses of Power)
Catra (She-Ra and the Princesses of Power) vs. Scorpia (She-Ra and the Princesses of Power)
Pearl (Splatoon) vs. Kit Tanthalos (Willow)
Sun Jing (Tamen De Gushi) vs. Coral (The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes)
Buliara (The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild/Tears of the Kingdom) vs. Urbosa (The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild)
Ganondorf (The Legend of Zelda) vs. Impa (The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword)
Tetra (The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker) vs. Linkle (Hyrule Warriors)
Queen Barb (Trolls) vs. Viva (Trolls)
Hunter (The Owl House) vs. Willow Park (The Owl House)
Luz Noceda (The Owl House) vs. Raine Whispers (The Owl House)
Blaze the Cat (Sonic the Hedgehog) vs. Vector the Crocodile (Sonic the Hedgehog)
Surge the Tenrec (Sonic the Hedgehog) vs. Ali (The Big Con)
Garnet (Steven Universe) vs. Ruby (Steven Universe)
Bismuth (Steven Universe) vs. Roman (Sanders Sides)
Saira (We Are Lady Parts) vs. Kim (Yes Or No)
Lucy Kensington (Where The Stars Fell) vs. Yang Xiao Long (RWBY)
What are your most devastating losses this round?? Mine are Milo Murphy's Law, Gilmore Girls, That 70s Show, and Reba. (No respect around here for a single mom who works too hard who loves her kids and never stops)
Group A
The Addams Family vs. Fairy Tail
Sagwa, the Chinese Siamese Cat vs. Goosebumps
Wizards of Waverly Place (S1-3) vs. Ed, Edd n Eddy
Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood vs. Only Murders in the Building
The Backyardigans vs. Downton Abbey
Naruto vs. The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy
Dexter's Laboratory vs. Kenan & Kel
Parks and Recreation vs. Jujutsu Kaisen
Danny Phantom vs. Pippi Longstocking/Pippi Långstrump
My Life as a Teenage Robot vs. My Hero Academia
Sabrina the Teenage Witch vs. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (S4-7)
Little Einsteins vs. The Benny Hill Show
Teletubbies vs. Ted Lasso
VeggieTales vs. Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir
Lizzie McGuire vs. The Proud Family
Steven Universe (Original Theme) vs. The A-Team
Group B
Doctor Who (New S1-2) vs. Charlie's Angels
Thomas & Friends vs. Bob's Burgers
Community vs. The Brady Bunch
Adventure Time vs. Ever After High
Seinfeld vs. Ranma ½
Batman vs. Brooklyn Nine-Nine
Monty Python's Flying Circus vs. One Piece (2023)
Friends vs. Rocko's Modern Life
Sesame Street (S1-23) vs. Saved by the Bell
Total Drama vs. Monk
Full House vs. Winx Club (We Are the Winx)
Looney Tunes vs. Murder, She Wrote
M*A*S*H vs. South Park
Pinky and the Brain vs. Happy Days
One Day at a Time (2017) vs. The Suite Life on Deck
Pokémon (Pokémon Theme) vs. The Andy Griffith Show
Group C
Gravity Falls vs. Milo Murphy's Law
Horrible Histories vs. Leverage
Neon Genesis Evangelion vs. Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers
The Simpsons vs. Samurai Jack
The Golden Girls vs. Wonder Pets!
Merlin vs. El Chavo del Ocho
Victorious vs. CSI: Miami
My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic vs. Smallville
Good Omens vs. Good Luck Charlie
House, M.D. vs. Pride and Prejudice
LazyTown vs. The Big Bang Theory
Bob the Builder vs. Wild Kratts
New Girl vs. Infinity Train
Arthur vs. I Love Lucy
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles vs. The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
The X-Files vs. Pucca
Group D
The Fairly OddParents vs. X-Men: The Animated Series
Sherlock vs. Monster High
Spider-Man vs. Revolutionary Girl Utena
Orange Is the New Black vs. Hunter × Hunter
The Office vs. Angel: The Series
Law & Order (SVU) vs. Arcane: League of Legends
BoJack Horseman vs. Wonder Woman
Jeopardy! vs. Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?
The Suite Life of Zack and Cody vs. Taskmaster
Totally Spies! vs. Yellowjackets
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia vs. Ouran High School Host Club (Japanese)
Yuri on Ice vs. Samurai Champloo
Ducktales (1987) vs. Charmed
Mister Rogers' Neighborhood vs. Shaun the Sheep
How It's Made vs. Tokyo Ghoul
Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! vs. The Emperor's New School
Group E
Kim Possible vs. Once Upon a Time
The Great British Bake Off vs. The Legend of Vox Machina
She-Ra and the Princesses of Power vs. Gilmore Girls
Animaniacs vs. Pretty Little Liars
Zoboomafoo vs. Who Wants to Be a Millionaire
The Umbrella Academy vs. The Muppet Show
WandaVision (A Newlywed Couple/Ep 1) vs. NCIS
Reading Rainbow (1983-1999) vs. Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Hannah Montana (S1-2) vs. Gilligan's Island
The Mandalorian vs. Dragon Ball Z (Cha-La Head-Cha-La)
What We Do in the Shadows vs. Inspector Gadget
Big Time Rush vs. Barney & Friends
Power Rangers (Mighty Morphin) vs. Young Justice
Futurama vs. Spy × Family
Succession vs. Bluey
iCarly vs. Code Lyoko
Group F
The Magic School Bus vs. Jackie Chan Adventures
Digimon Adventure (Butter-Fly) vs. The Last of Us
Star Trek: The Next Generation (S3-7) vs. Soul Eater
Zoey 101 vs. Xena: Warrior Princess
Dora the Explorer vs. We Bare Bears
Crazy Ex-Girlfriend vs. Carmen Sandiego (2019)
Star Trek: Enterprise (S1-2) vs. Mr. Bean
Sailor Moon (Japanese) vs. Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
Buffy the Vampire Slayer (S1-2) vs. Red Dwarf
Death Note vs. Phil of the Future
Yu-Gi-Oh! vs. El Chapulín Colorado
The Flintstones vs. His Dark Materials
Game of Thrones vs. Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure
The Nanny vs. Haikyu!!
Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends vs. Frasier
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air vs. Black Butler/Kuroshitsuji
Group G
Bill Nye the Science Guy vs. The Facts of Life
George of the Jungle (1967) vs. Veronica Mars
H2O: Just Add Water (S1) vs. Star Trek: Voyager
Star Trek: The Original Series (With Vocal) vs. Hawaii Five-O
Drake & Josh vs. Fetch! with Ruff Ruffman
Puella Magi Madoka Magica vs. Cowboy Bebop (1998)
Lilo & Stitch: The Series vs. Torchwood
The Twilight Zone vs. Wander Over Yonder
Rugrats vs. Columbo
The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius vs. The Walking Dead
Hey Arnold! vs. Psych
Twin Peaks vs. Voltron: Legendary Defender
Dragon Tales vs. How I Met Your Mother
Stranger Things vs. Mission: Impossible (1966)
W.I.T.C.H. vs. Daredevil
What's New, Scooby-Doo? vs. Tiny Toon Adventures
Group H
SpongeBob SquarePants vs. X-Men: Evolution
Fraggle Rock vs. Stargate SG-1
Firefly vs. Scrubs
Codename: Kids Next Door vs. Inuyasha (Change the World)
That '70s Show vs. Bear in the Big Blue House
Cheers vs. American Dragon: Jake Long
A Series of Unfortunate Events vs. Black Sails
The Powerpuff Girls vs. Darkwing Duck
That's So Raven vs. Grey's Anatomy
Ben 10 vs. JoJo's Bizarre Adventure
Cyberchase vs. Reba
Malcolm in the Middle vs. Shake It Up
Teen Titans (2003) vs. Mob Psycho 100
The Owl House vs. I Dream of Jeannie
Assassination Classroom (Question) vs. Adventure Time: Fionna and Cake
Phineas and Ferb vs. Batman Beyond/Batman of the Future
Big barn house decorated with fairy lights and garlands of flowers. Bowls of mushroom tea. Pitchers of water, iced tea, and fruit juice. Plates of berries and cheese and cornbread and spinach tarts. Magical and sparkly music playing. Moonlight streaming in through the curtains. Projectors silently casting images of moomin, unico, she ra, rainbow brite, adventure time, and other beloved cartoons on the wall as we all dance and drink and feast and worship the big glitter in the sky. Swirling cloaks, twirling skirts, boots stomping around in the hay. Painted faces, bejeweled eyes, everyone has a staff or a sword or a magic wand or a bag of mysterious powder. A cat runs along the wooden beams up above. Our dancing and collective body heat keep us warm as the snow begins to gently fall outside.
I've mentioned the so-called "U-Matic tapes" before, but had tabled finding footage of them bc the next step was going to involve a lot more hacking than I'm capable of. But on my most recent research quest, I got a bootleg DVD which contained an unlisted feature: my personal white whale.
So what is this? Why did I want a copy so bad?
The U-Matic tapes were found in Filmation archives, and we believe this was part of the collaborative process between Mattel and Filmation's development of the characters.
It's easy to look at the Filmation designs and see where the studio's common practices are put into effect. Hordak was changed from gray-skinned to blue so that he would pop out against the backgrounds better. She-Ra's spiraling chest emblem was made symmetrical, because they'd learned that asymmetry and stock footage do not get along during their Superman cartoon.
But this--these designs, this singular tape--this is our missing link. The common ancestor between the first wave toys and the Filmation designs. And yes, I had still images, but not in the original resolution! Not with the clapperboard! This is an entirely unexpected windfall and I'm downright gleeful. Buckle in, folks, I'm breaking it all down:
Castaspella
Ah, Castaspella. She started out with really vibrant colors actually, Justine Dantzer designed her with this whole psychedelic vibe. Her magic wheel was originally super bright, primary colors that imo would have served the toy really well. Instead of 'look at this cool hypno disk' it would be 'look at this cool rainbow hypno disk'. Kids love rainbows! I'm not biased at all!
Obviously the biggest difference aside from her color scheme is the wheel. They did have it in early Filmation passes, but like... it's a giant wheel. I imagine it's kind of a pain to animate.
Double Trouble
Double Trouble, too, had a bit of a color scheme journey. She began with magenta and red, then apparently moved into this violet-and-blue combo, before finally settling on green. And like, the first wave did need more green imo. If they'd stuck with the red for Catra and that lilac for Glimmer they could have had a whole rainbow. And like, gay bias aside, that would be lovely for collectors, or kids that like to arrange stuff by color.
Anyway they kind of stole prototype DT's color scheme for Filmation Glimmer, probably because of the aforementioned 'pop' blue brings against their standard backgrounds. And speaking of...
Glimmer
The guide who lights the way! Filmation pushed her hair much pinker than the toy's (although it's dyed purple in one episode), but otherwise yeah, that's pretty much just Double Trouble's proto-outfit, sans tulle. I should note that the leotards and so on are likely also a 'reduce the number of frames we have to draw' measure. Lou Scheimer had a very, very strict policy that She-Ra's underwear never be showed, which made a number of shots incredibly difficult to animate (the spin-kick towards the camera comes to mind). Honestly it's probably the reason for our She-Ra's shorts. But it's where things like leotards come in handy, because you can animate the action without working around modesty or fabric physics.
Catra
Catra's the biggest downgrade, in my opinion. Like I know, toys marketing being what it is, that they had to push pink. But the red looked so cool! And I know it's difficult to see in the video, but her mask used to have fur like in the prelims. That I think was more of a practical decision, since it's harder to slip a fur-lined mask over rooted hair than a smooth plastic one, but I'd kill to see some test shots with it.
We're not sure what that flocked red Battle Cat mold is--if it's an early Clawdeen/late Tinx, or a shapeshifted Catra. I'm inclined to think the former, both because the play pattern is 'this one toy can be two forms' and because they appear to have added a silver collar in place of Battle Cat's helmet. It seems to have been scrapped for her winged horse Storm, at least for this wave, which is kind of a shame. I think a red velvet Panthor would have had a lot of crossover appeal with the MOTU market (and just been awesome in general).
She-Ra
She-Ra is pretty far along conceptually on both sides of the equation. Naturally, she was the first to be designed--you can see where Mattel was leaning into a tulle and reflective sticker thing and Filmation was like "we reeeeeally want to give her a winged opera-viking-helm thing though". You can see the mask, instead of hard plastic, is like, shiny foil.
Bow
The top of Bow's cape, too--shiny foil. His bow was shaped more like a traditional longbow, and his quiver appears to have been hollow instead of a single cast piece. His outfit is actually the least changed, both in the toy's production and in developing it for Filmation. Like the only things different in the cartoon are that he doesn't have a breastplate covering his heart & abs, and that they gave him a mustache. They tried to do a full beard initially so like. Hey. Could have been hairier!
The figure on the left, under proto-Enchanta, seems to be proto-Kowl. How quickly Justine Dantzer's concept was lost. Koala, plus owl--it's not that complicated!
but Mattel wanted to make a little guy with butterfly wings instead. Explains some of the Filmation concept art, at least.
Angella
Angella was probably changed the most for Filmation. Like they kept the pink and the wing-influenced sigil on her chest (and the actual wings), but they added that blue--almost certainly for contrast--and turned her blonde. Meanwhile the toy just refined the chest design and switched from opaque white to a semi-transparent pink for the wings. 'Cause you know, toy marketing.
Frosta
Frosta, too, was relatively unchanged. Both companies opted for a lighter shade of blueon the hair, and Filmation replaced the reflective elements with white & the sheer with a different shade of blue, but other than that it was pretty much just the same process they applied with Catra's fabrics. Mattel went for texture, Filmation went for an easy-to-animate silhouette.
Other
I've talked about Justine Dantzer's original vision for the Crystal Castle even more than the U-Matics themselves at this point. She loves eagles, she was really excited about the beak elevator thing, it didn't test well & Mattel decided it was too edgy. Thus, the eventual pink situation.
Speaking of eventual pink sitatuations--did somebody say Swift Wind?
That blurry, indistinct horse shape is everyone's favorite equine, in the flesh. Guys, look! He's white! There's a blue ombre on his wings! Suddenly the dichotomy of Toy! and Filmation!Swifties seems less extreme, no?
That bird-thing on the left seems to be a proto-Enchanta, albeit very different from the final product (which was basically just a swan with a mane, not this sick ass dragon-influenced version).
The shields were just round shields, but they may have been placeholders to show off colors/materials, because we know Noreen Porter had refined She-Ra's at least by this point.
The video quality is too poor to say for certain who had a weapon and who had a comb at this point, but Catra's little item there looks significantly pointier than the comb she wound up with. Maybe a comb-ination with a knife? I for one think she should get a blade or two. As a treat. They didn't even give her a sword until wave 3, and that wasn't even her main weapon [side-eyes the Shower Squirter judgmentally]
Man I still can't believe this just turned up. Who would have thought that trying to get cleaner footage of the 1985 Duck Soup commercial could lead to this. Thank you bootleggers you are doing god's work (media preservation). If anybody wants some Rainbow Brite or the live action Japanese Spider-Man or something, I had a pretty great experience with these guys. Only complaint is that their list of included features should be way more specific. I took a gamble on finding some footage anyway & while it didn't turn up I'm far happier with this result. Also if an officially licensed version of any of their titles comes out they take it off the store, which is like, weirdly honorable? But good for them, tbh. Good for them.
You seem to know many different types of magical girls!!! What do you think classifies something as a magical girl?
Also do you have any western magical girls besides Winx and Witch? (I feel like Rainbow Brite is fascinatingly close at times to an almost perfect mix of what feels like Western and Eastern of the genre)
It's really hard for me to nail the definition of "magical girl" because the genre has shifted so much over the years. It definitely has a certain feel to it, though. I do really like Wikipedia's definition, so I'm going with that:
"Magical girls are young girls who possess magical abilities, which they typically use through an ideal alter ego into which they can transform."
So in other words, being a magical girl involves magical powers and (usually) transformation.
Some other Western magical girl series I can think of are Miraculous Ladybug, She-Ra, LoliRock, Star vs the Forces of Evil, and Steven Universe!
For each day of Autistic Pride Month, I will draw a fictional character who is canonically or head canonically autistic or the 'sona of an IRL individual. Yet other neurotypes often overlap with auties and as a whole, neurodiversity is too immense to be exclusive, so, I will include characters of other neurotypes such as ADHD, OCD, PTSD, dyslexia processing disorders...etc.
I will update this post as the month progresses.
Day 1: Serial Designation N - autistic (head canon)
From the show Murder Drones by Glitch Productions on YouTube.
Day 2: Fantoccio - autistic (canon)
From the musical 3D platformer for PC, Billie Bust Up by Blueprint Games.
Day 3: Julia - autistic (canon)
From the PBS Kids show Sesame Street (debuted in episode 5715) by Sesame Workshop.
Day 4: Penny Polendina - Autistic (head canon)
From the show RWBY by Rooster Teeth on Crunchyroll.
Day 5: Marcy Wu - autistic (head canon)
From the show Amphibia created by Matt Braly on Disney Channel.
Day 6: Rocky Rickaby - head trauma (canon) + ADHD (head canon)
From the webcomic, Lackadaisy by Tracy J. butler.
He LOVES pancakes!
Day 7: Donatello - autistic (canon)
From Nickelodeon's Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
Day 8: Norma Khan - autistic (canon)
Particularly from Dead End: Paranormal Park on Netflix, based off of the comics, Dead Endia.
Day 9: Billie - ADHD (canon)
From the musical 3D platformer for PC, Billie Bust Up by Blueprint Games.
Day 10: Jack - ADHD (canon)
From Bluey by the Australian studio, Ludo.
Day 11: Twyla - autistic + misophonia (canon)
From Nickelodeon's Monster High show (G3).
Day 12: Padparadscha - processing disorder (head canon)
From Cartoon Network's Steven Universe created by Rebecca Sugar.
Day 13: Arcus - dyscalculia (canon)
From the Webtoon Acception by Colourbee (Coco Ouwerkerk).
Day 14: K.2 - autistic (canon)
From the Webtoon Piece of Mind by lunar_neo
Day 15: Dory - anterograde amnesia (canon)
AKA, "short term memory loss."
From Disney Pixar's Finding Nemo.
Day 16: Entrapta - autistic (canon)
From She-Ra And The Princess of Power on Netflix
Day 17: Pema - autistic (canon)
From the Autistic Aliens comic by Kyah Comic
She likes creatures, so I drew her with a Luna moth.
Day 18: Aristotle - autistic (canon)
From the musical 3D platformer for PC, Billie Bust Up by Blueprint Games.
Day 19: Wednesday Addams - autistic (head canon)
Day 20: Aaron Mitchell - autistic (head canon)
From The Mitchell's vs. The Machines by Sony Animation on Netflix.
Day 21: Hunter - autistic (head canon)
From the show The Owl House created by Dana Terrace.
Day 22: Goh - autistic (head canon)
From the anime Pokémon Journeys.
Day 23: Libby - autistic (head canon)
From Disney Channel's The Ghost And Molly McGee
Day 24: Wasabi - OCD (canon)
From Disney Pixar's Big Hero 6.
Day 25: Bebe - autistic (canon)
From The Proud Family: Louder And Prouder
Day 26: Renee - autistic (canon)
From the Pixar Spark Short Loop
Day: 27: Maud Pie - autistic (head canon)
From My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic
Day 28: Dendy - autistic (head canon)
From Ian Jones-Quartey's OK KO: Let's Be Heroes on Cartoon Network
Day 29: Kawaii~Chan - autistic (head canon)
From Aphmau's My Street Minecraft roleplay on YouTube.
Day 30: Angel - autistic (canon)
My furry OC. She's a sheltie covered in rainbow sprinkles 🥰.