This month has seen some obscure rarities come to the archive.
MP 200 Pandamonium
Added model sheets, height comparison charts and background layouts for Pandamonium. One of two co-productions in 1982 between Marvel and Intermedia Entertainment (on behalf of MGM/United Artists).
The series revolves around an alien artifact, sought by the sorcerer Mondraggor, which falls to Earth and breaks into pieces. American brother and sister Pete and Peggy observe the piece which makes planetfall in Tibet. Upon flying out to examine it, they discover three pandas have been turned into talking bipeds: Chesty, Timothy and Algernon. The siblings and the pandas are now in a race against Mondraggor to reunite the pieces of the artifact.
The series was presented as a comedy with the panda's personalities being expys of The Three Stooges. It and fellow Marvel/Intermedia show Meatballs & Spaghetti were among the last US animated shows to include a laugh track. Both were cancelled after one season and have had no modern home release.
MP 700 Transformers
The Hasbro briefing binders, originally purchased from the Ron Friedman auctions, have been uploaded to the archive.
These include binders for the initial 1984 cast, including early names and designs. As well as separate briefing material covering Shockwave, Jetfire, the Dinobots, Insecticons and Constructticons.
Air Raiders
Added the Sunbow press kit for what would have been the next Sunbow/Marvel co-production for 1987. Development work by Doug Booth and Ron Friedman during the summer of 1986 led to a three-part pilot script written by Friedman and ready by January 1987.
Unfortunately, low retail orders of $30 million at Toyfair in February, combined with Hasbro's decision to abandon funding for full-length animation once the existing contracts were fulfilled, led to the pilot being cancelled.
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.
Pages
- Home
- Marvel Superheroes 1981-1989
- Marvel Network Shows 1982-1986
- G.I Joe, Part 1 1983 - 1985
- G.I Joe, Part 2 1986 - 1992
- The Marvel Muppet Connection 1984-1991
- The Transformers, Part 1 1984 - 1985
- The Transformers The Movie
- The Transformers, Part 2 1986 - 1987
- Sunbow Syndication 1985-1987
- Jem 1985 - 1988
- Defenders Of The Earth 1985-1986
- My Little Pony N Friends 1986
- Marvel's New World 1988-1996
- Sunbow Round Two 1991-2000
- Briefing/Reference Binder galleries
- Storyboard viewing gallery
- Toyfair Catalogues
- Commercials
- Unproduced projects
- Other companies
Friday, 28 August 2020
Wednesday, 12 August 2020
Marvel Productions Behind The Scenes
A documentary made in 1981 during the production of Spider-Man And His Amazing Friends. Spider-Man On The Move, presented by Stan Lee. According to documentary producer Arthur Greenwald, Stan's star turn on this programme led to NBC requesting he record narration for seasons 2 and 3 of Amazing Friends, as well as narration retroactively added to repeats of season 1 and to The Incredible Hulk.
Sadly, the main production office (flat-topped, single story building) featured in this documentary burned down in March 1984.
A floor plan of the head office from February 1986, from John Semper's files
Ground floor
More of Bryce Malek's home video, this time of the office Christmas Party in 1986. Putting faces to a lot of the names on the above floor plans.
Thursday, 30 July 2020
July 2020 update
This month has seen some housekeeping at the archive. The "Productions" links have been moved to the top of the page for easier navigation between the various shows
MP 600 G.I Joe
Due to the official Hasbro YouTube channel releases reaching 50 out of 95 full episodes. The GI Joe section of the archive has been split into two parts, in the same manner as Transformers.
For production material from season 2, as well as the full script and storyboard samples from GI Joe The Movie. Update your bookmarks to: https://sunbowmarvelarchive.blogspot.com/2020/07/mp-600-gi-joe-real-american-hero-1983.html
MP 900 Defenders Of The Earth
To streamline the DoE page, only full episodes which are supported by available production material will be uploaded.
MP 5205 Jem
A trio of music video storyboards have been made available to the archive:
First up we have There's A Melody Playin' by future Shrek director Vicky Jenson, from the episode In Search Of The Stolen Album. Jenson took visual ideas from Madonna's Papa Don't Preach video, the single for which was only released less than two months before these storyboards were finalized.
MP 600 G.I Joe
Due to the official Hasbro YouTube channel releases reaching 50 out of 95 full episodes. The GI Joe section of the archive has been split into two parts, in the same manner as Transformers.
For production material from season 2, as well as the full script and storyboard samples from GI Joe The Movie. Update your bookmarks to: https://sunbowmarvelarchive.blogspot.com/2020/07/mp-600-gi-joe-real-american-hero-1983.html
MP 900 Defenders Of The Earth
To streamline the DoE page, only full episodes which are supported by available production material will be uploaded.
MP 5205 Jem
A trio of music video storyboards have been made available to the archive:
First up we have There's A Melody Playin' by future Shrek director Vicky Jenson, from the episode In Search Of The Stolen Album. Jenson took visual ideas from Madonna's Papa Don't Preach video, the single for which was only released less than two months before these storyboards were finalized.
Next is the original version of Love's Not Easy, by comics legend Romeo Tanghal. This music video was slated to be the third video for the episode Island Of Deception. Due to the issues which affected many shows sent out to overseas animators by Marvel Productions in the summer of 1986. This episode along with 6 others in season 1 were cut down to 19 minutes of original animation. The time being made up with music video replays and Superstar PSAs.
The video below is of a fanmade animatic using colourised versions of the storyboards. This was premiered at Jemcon 2018:
Finally, there is Gettin' Down To Business, version 2. Drawn by Marvel Comics and Productions artist Mike Vosburg for the season 2 episode The Bands Break Up. Unusually for the time, the storyboards were drawn on 3-panel pages (left over from GI Joe The Movie), versus the usual 6 panels. Viewers are encouraged to compare the storyboards with the finished video as major changes are made to the first five pages:
Monday, 15 June 2020
One year anniversary
Better late than never! The Sunbow Marvel script/storyboard archive celebrated its one year anniversary on June 10th.
Since launching, the archive has expanded beyond anything I thought possible. Covering 13 years worth of shows, movies, miniseries and pilots:
There is still a lot more out there to be preserved, so if any owners are willing to contribute, please message the archive.
Here's to the second year!
Since launching, the archive has expanded beyond anything I thought possible. Covering 13 years worth of shows, movies, miniseries and pilots:
- 91 full or partial scripts
- 118 dialogue scripts
- 73 full or partial storyboard sets
- 43 model sheet/cel files
- 7 show bibles or writer's guides
Not counting concept art, memos, outlines, voice actor call sheets and much more
Thank you to everyone who has contributed scanned material over the past year.
There is still a lot more out there to be preserved, so if any owners are willing to contribute, please message the archive.
Here's to the second year!
Wednesday, 27 May 2020
May 2020 update
Here is a roundup of additions and changes to the archive for May:
MP 100 The Incredible Hulk
Added sample pages from both the outline and the full script for Prisoner Of The Monster, written by Susan Misty Stewart (Misty Taggart).
MP 700 Transformers
MP 100 The Incredible Hulk
Added sample pages from both the outline and the full script for Prisoner Of The Monster, written by Susan Misty Stewart (Misty Taggart).
MP 700 Transformers
- Completed the 9th digital reconstruction of a Ron Friedman-revised script, back to first draft dialogue.: Doug Booth's Roll For It
- Received a contribution by NeverDoubt of the first draft script for Fire In The Sky
- Added low-resolution samples of storyboards for The Immobilizer
- Separated the More Than Meets The Eye script into it's three parts, for ease of loading and reading.
MP 5204 Moondreamers
Added 6 pages of samples from the show bible, created by future Spider-Man TAS showrunner John Semper and Cynthia Friedlob.
Monday, 11 May 2020
Martin Pasko 1954-2020
It was announced on Mark Evanier's blog that writer and story editor Martin Pasko has passed away at the age of 65. The Sunbow Marvel Archive wishes to express condolences to his friends and family.
A full list of his work that is covered by the archive is below, followed by the video of one of his finest works: The GI Joe two-parter, Worlds Without End
Dr Strange And The Mystery Kids
In late 1981, Martin was commissioned by Marvel Productions to write the Preliminary Development document for a potential Dr Strange cartoon pitched to NBC, spinning off the Doctor's appearance in Spider-Man And His Amazing Friends.
NBC balking at some elements of the property that could be interpreted as "satanic", along with Marvel's subsequent refusal to water down the concepts, led to the pitch being rejected.
Martin sold the development script in early 2013: https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/unique-item-dr-strange-fans-411883048
MP 100 The Incredible Hulk
The Creature And The Cavegirl (partial storyboard available)
MP 600 GI Joe
Operation: Mind Menace
Worlds Without End part 1 and 2
Cobrathon (with Rebecca Parr)
MP 5201 My Little Pony
Story Editor for 61 episodes (with Rebecca Parr)
Writer: Fugitive Flowers, part 1 and 2 (with Rebecca Parr)
MP 6610 Bucky O'Hare And The Toad Wars
Kreation Konspiracy (full script available)
93-400 The Tick
Story editor for 6 episodes
Writer: The Tick vs the Breadmaster
Worlds Without End, part 1
Worlds Without End, part 2
A full list of his work that is covered by the archive is below, followed by the video of one of his finest works: The GI Joe two-parter, Worlds Without End
Dr Strange And The Mystery Kids
In late 1981, Martin was commissioned by Marvel Productions to write the Preliminary Development document for a potential Dr Strange cartoon pitched to NBC, spinning off the Doctor's appearance in Spider-Man And His Amazing Friends.
NBC balking at some elements of the property that could be interpreted as "satanic", along with Marvel's subsequent refusal to water down the concepts, led to the pitch being rejected.
Martin sold the development script in early 2013: https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/unique-item-dr-strange-fans-411883048
MP 100 The Incredible Hulk
The Creature And The Cavegirl (partial storyboard available)
MP 600 GI Joe
Operation: Mind Menace
Worlds Without End part 1 and 2
Cobrathon (with Rebecca Parr)
MP 5201 My Little Pony
Story Editor for 61 episodes (with Rebecca Parr)
Writer: Fugitive Flowers, part 1 and 2 (with Rebecca Parr)
MP 6610 Bucky O'Hare And The Toad Wars
Kreation Konspiracy (full script available)
93-400 The Tick
Story editor for 6 episodes
Writer: The Tick vs the Breadmaster
Worlds Without End, part 1
Worlds Without End, part 2
Wednesday, 22 April 2020
April 2020 update: 10 in 10
Just wanted to say thank you to all viewers and contributors for getting the archive to 10,000 views in 10 months.
I haven't done an update post for a couple of months, but have been busy adding to the archive on a near-daily basis. The additions include:
I haven't done an update post for a couple of months, but have been busy adding to the archive on a near-daily basis. The additions include:
- Various model sheets/cels, height charts and concept art from Spider-Man And His Amazing Friends, G.I Joe, Muppet Babies and the Pryde Of The X-Men pilot. Including work by John Romita Sr, Russ Heath, Rick Hoberg, Bruce Timm and Alex Toth.
- Various one and two-page storyboards for Jem music videos
- For Transformers, pages from the outline, and the unedited pages to Act I of the dialogue script for Chaos. The first page of the outline and the handwritten "Beats" chart for Grimlock's New Brain
- The official video for the first three miniseries of GI Joe
- More official video of Defenders Of The Earth, including three of the four "movie" releases: The Story Begins, The Book Of Mysteries and the Prince Kro-tan arc. The fourth, The Necklace Of Oros, will be linked once posted to YouTube by ComicsKingdom
As always, if anyone out there has access to any full scripts or storyboards and is willing to consider contributing scans to the archive. Please get in touch via the "Contact" link. For scanning from home, some contributions have already been made using Adobe Scan: https://acrobat.adobe.com/uk/en/mobile/scanner-app.html
For one-page items, such as a voice actor call sheet or a memo, a flat photo will do the trick.
Here's to the next 10,000
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