Mobile Mecha/Draft

Mobile Mecha is a Japanese-American animated series created by Jake Borella. It revolves around the crew aboard the SpecSpace 4 and it's adventures.

History
It began running in syndication by Worldvision (later World Event Productions) from 1989 to 1997, when BronzePlanet picked up the rights to air the show and to help fund and produce the show as well.

In 2007, it was announced that the show will move from BronzePlanet to Syfy, as the channel wanted to expand its animation library at the time. At the New York Anime Festival in 2008, it was announced in a JB Animation industry panel that Mobile Mecha was canceled by Syfy and JB Animation collectively and that a sequel comic series will be produced for sometime in the summer of 2009 to continue and finish the story.

In 2011, JB Animation was shut down, and its assets were fused with RaGE Media USA (later Firebasket Studios). The comic series ended later that year as well.

At a 2015 SDCC panel, RaGE-Typewriter announced an anime series, produced mostly in Japan titled Mobile Mecha: Next In Class. The anime lasted three seasons, from 2015 to 2017 with a total of 68 episodes produced. Jake Borella himself joined the production team during the second season to help write and produce the series.

At Anime Boston 2017, in a RaGE-Typewriter industry panel, it was announced that due to the success of the Mobile Mecha anime, the original Mobile Mecha series will be revived for a 22 episode season. The show will be produced by Studio 4°C and Powerhouse Animation Studios.

Plot
TBA

Characters

 * Blitz Murdock
 * Voice Actor: Gary Sinise (1989-1995) / uncredited soundalike (1995-1997) / Sean Schemmel (1997-2008)
 * Molly Hart
 * Voice Actor: Emilie Brown (as Mary Cobb (1989-1998)) / Veronica Taylor (1999-2008)
 * Eve Black
 * Voice Actor: Wendee Lee (1989-2001) / Jessica Boone (2004-2008)
 * Liam "Boss" Turner
 * Voice Actor: Richard Epcar (1989-2008)
 * Isiah Ryan
 * Voice Actor: Tony Oliver (1989-2008)
 * Millie Kaur
 * Voice Actor: Rebecca Forstadt (1989-2002) / Carrie Keranen (2002-2008)

Production
Borella was watching various mecha anime throughout the early to mid-eighties, with Voltron being the major hit. Borella, being a mildly successful animator at the time with his early cel animation dramas, booked a trip to Japan and South Korea to meet with animation teams to help animate his dream project. He contracted Madhouse, AKOM, and Studio 4°C to produce the first season.

Writing
Writing for the first two seasons took about three months, and were written by Borella himself. Starting with the third season, Peter Bennett would help Borella write up until 1998, where Borella would hire a team of writers, including Bennett. Eliot Vasquez, Isabelle Cunningham, and Emmanuel Berry joined the writing team then and would stay with the project until the cancelation of the show in 2008.

Animation
Madhouse, AKOM, and Studio 4°C animated the first two seasons. During the pre-production phase of Season 3, Borella reached out to A.P.P.P., Studio 4°C, and Telecom Animation Film to animate the season. The animation studios would change after 1999, with Sunrise replacing Telecom Animation Film. After 2003, AKOM returned to the show, replacing A.P.P.P. Studio 4°C would be replaced by Ufotable. During the last two seasons, AKOM would stick with the show, with Sunrise being replaced by Nomad and Ufotable being replaced by Saerom Animation.

Directing
Directing the animation from the start until 1998 was Jake Borella himself. During this time, Borella would be in Japan and South Korea throughout the late fall and early spring to work on the series. During 1999 he would have Peter Bennett direct some scenes, and by 2000 he would be directing about a quarter of the show until it's cancelation in 2008.

Recording
Voiceover work was produced at various recording facilities in the United States, although most work has been done at Skywalker Sound. Starting in 1997, recording as done in New York by TAJ Productions until 2005, when NYAV Post started working on it. ADV Films also recorded for the show using their Texan based actor pool.

Music
The show uses rock music as its opening themes, while somber songs would be in the ending themes, mimicking the Japanese anime style of opening/closing themes. The first three seasons use Radioactive by The Firm. For the next three seasons, until 1995, the opening theme was an original composition by Borella himself. This composition would then be the international opening for Mobile Mecha. Shine by Collective Soul would be the opening themes between 1995 and 1997. 1998 and 1999 use Voodoo People by The Prodigy. The 2000 season use Firestarter, also by The Prodigy. The 2001 and 2002 seasons use Suckerpunch by Bowling For Soup. 2003 and 2004 use I Stand Alone by Godsmack. The 2005 season use Straight Out Of Line, also by Godsmack. The 2006 season use Remedy by Seether. The final two seasons use Dead Man Walking by Virus Syndicate and Milanese.

The show has an orchestral soundtrack composed by Jake Borella himself from 1989 until 1994 when a synth-rock soundtrack was used, composed by Borella and James Knight. From 2002 until 2008, the soundtrack was outsourced to Faulconer Productions Music.

Broadcasting
TBE

Syndication Partners

 * Worldvision Enterprises (1989-1993)
 * World Events Productions (1993-2003)
 * JB Animation & Co. (1997-2008)
 * NBCUniversal Television Distribution (2006-2008, 2012-2017)
 * Kingson Networks (2017-2019)
 * Jake Borella Enterprises / Beta Cartoon Productions / Firebasket Television (2018-present)

Video Distributor Partners

 * Worldvision Home Media & Harmony Gold USA (1989-1994)
 * CBS/Fox Video (1994-1998)
 * Anchor Bay Entertainment (1998-2003)
 * ADV Films (2003-2006)
 * Funimation/Universal Home Entertainment (2006-2012)
 * RaGE Media USA / Discotek Media (2012-2018)
 * Firebasket Media Publishing & Distribution (2018-present)
 * Distributed by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment from 2018-2019, 2019-2020 by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, and from 2020-2024 by Universal Pictures Home Entertainment