Dedicated to the preservation and showcase of scripts, storyboards and other production material from Sunbow Productions, Marvel Productions and their co-production partners. This is an unofficial site that has no affiliation with any company responsible for the commission or production of the cartoons depicted herein.
This past weekend, at Transformers convention TFNation 2024, the Mapes brother held a panel showcasing audio from various dialogue recording sessions for Transformers and GI Joe. At this panel, they debuted the original audio track for Duke's death scene in G.I Joe: The Movie, famously overdubbed for the movie's release, as a reaction to the backlash over Optimus Prime's death in The Transformers: The Movie.
Video of the restored scene, as well as audio from a scripted, but ultimately unproduced funeral scene, is available to view below. Accompanied by an introduction from movie writer Buzz Dixon.
If the YouTube video is restricted in your region, follow the link to view directly on TFNation's website.
To read the full G.I Joe: The Movie script, head to G.I Joe, Part 2
Thanks to yanchagraffiti for use of the digital audio files.
More dialogue audio from The Young Astronauts is now available on the Archive's YouTube channel. One of the main cast members is Retro, a maintenance droid who inadvertently received radio messages from alien life. Now he is tasked with guiding young Mikey Hampton (Stephen Dorff), who is destined to one day be the first human to meet these aliens in person. Below is Retro's pickup dialogue for the episode Ghost Ship.
Next are samples taken from an hour-long auditions reel. First, Rob Paulsen tries out for the character of Rick Hampton, Mikey's older brother. Ultimately, the role was given to Townsend Coleman.
Next up, Charlie Adler's successful audition for the character of Harvey Flynn. Reading a scene from Ghost Ship, Flynn is pompous, buffoonish officer aboard the mothership Courageous, whose lecture on safety and protocol is cut off when he is abducted by service droids gone haywire.
Finally, James Avery's successful audition for the character of Dr. Sam Turrell. As heard in the dialogue, he is close with the ship's Commander Kelly Hampton and is afforded a greater level of informality than most of the crew...well, most of the time.
2023 was an interesting year for the Sunbow Marvel Archive. Thanks to the various contributors, material from a wider variety of shows is now available and also helped in demystifying a series that has previously been considered "lost media."
In terms of general organisation, the website has been streamlined to collect the material for 24 shows on 6 pages.
For Transformers, the march towards series completion continued with full or partial storyboards for another 10 episodes, over 100 audition sheets from voice director Wally Burr's collection, plus various model sheets, backgrounds and the script for The Killing Jar.
The biggest Transformers-related item saw release in August. Three years since it was found by Flint Dille and scanned by Jim Sorenson, the very first script for The Transformers: The Movie is available to the public.
An unexpected surprise came in the form of over a dozen My Little Pony storyboard sets, sold from the estate of artist Wendell Washer. Including the first special Rescue At Midnight Castle and a selection of episodes from the main series, spanning from the first episode Ghost Of Paradise Estate to the final one The Prince And The Ponies.
Beyond paper material, a selection of dialogue reels from various Marvel Productions' series came to light. Among them was audio from The Young Astronauts, Marvel's ill-fated series about space exploration that was cancelled in mid-production due to the Challenger shuttle explosion. The reels covered dialogue for the episode Ghost Ship, as well as auditions for the series narrator, featuring a who's who of 1980s voice actors.
With 2024 marking the 40th anniversaries of Transformers, Muppet Babies and My Little Pony making their television debuts, who knows what untold stories will be uncovered in the year ahead.
With thanks to yanchagraffiti for providing the files, linked below are auditions for the character of Wendy Hampton, on the Marvel Productions' series The Young Astronauts.
These are specific excerpts from an hour-long reel.
With thanks to yanchagraffiti, the Sunbow Marvel Archive presents audio from Marvel Productions ill-fated series The Young Astronauts.
First is the full episode dialogue from MP 800-04 Ghost Ship. Main session recorded 10th October 1985. Pickup audio for Rick and Wendy Hampton recorded 3rd December 1985
(Thanks to Townsend Coleman for cast info)
Cast: Commander Hampton: ? Rick Hampton: Townsend Coleman Wendy Hampton: Nancy Cartwright Mikey Hampton: Stephen Dorff Retro: ? Mr. Flynn: Charlie Adler Sam Turrell: James Avery The Starseeker: ?
(If anyone can help with identifying the remaining voice cast, please get in touch)
Video runtime: 21:22
Next are the auditions for series narrator, with takes from the following actors:
Peter Cullen Irv Immerman Larry Marshall (3 takes) Ed Gilbert Aron Kincaid Ron Gans Bill Ratner Norman Alden Chris Stevens Danny Dark Gene Moss Jack Angel Bernard Erhardt John Stevenson (2 takes) Ron Feinberg Joe Leahy
Thanks to dialogue audio reels being sold on ebay, there is now more information on Marvel Productions ill-fated 1985/86 animated series The Young Astronauts.
First up is a full show reel for episode MP 800-04 Ghost Ship, recorded during November 1985 and re-recorded with revised dialogue the following month. The reel confirms Townsend Coleman and Nancy Cartwright among the main voice cast.
The next reel contains auditions for the series narrator. Recorded at Wally Burr Studios, the actors confirmed to have read for the role are
Peter Cullen
Erv Immerman
Larry Marshall
Ed Gilbert
Aron Kincaid
Ron Gans
Bill Ratner
Norm Alden
Chris Stevens
Danny Dark
If any more reels that can shed light on this series become available, they will be showcased here.
Thanks to Heritage Auctions, we now have a little more info regarding the production of The Young Astronauts. The fruits of Marvel Productions' partnership with The Young Astronauts Council, in the form of an animated series that was intended to air on CBS for the 1985 TV season, but was delayed due to disputes with the YAC's advisor on the production. Attempts to restart the series in early 1986 were for naught as the network cancelled the show after the Challenger space shuttle explosion.
Linked below are background layouts from the series' fourth episode Ghostship, under the production code MP 800-04. Drawn by Disney legend Walt Peregoy, whose work for Marvel around this time included My Little Pony: The Movie, Glo Friends and Moondreamers.
