''Sym-Bionic Titan'' is an American

animated television series An animated series, or a cartoon series, is a set of Animation, animated films with a common title, usually related to one another. These episodes typically share the same main heroes, some different secondary characters and a basic theme. Series ...

created by

Genndy Tartakovsky Gennady Borisovich "Genndy" Tartakovsky (; born January 17, 1970) is a Soviet-born American animation, animator, screenwriter, film producer, and film director, director. He is best known as the creator of various animated television series on ...

(in his fourth collaboration with the channel), Bryan Andrews and Paul Rudish for

Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (CN) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the Cartoon Network, Inc., a sub-division of the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks division of Warner Bros. Discovery. It launched on ...

. The series focuses on a trio consisting of the alien princess Ilana, the strict but rebellious alien soldier Lance, and the robot Octus, who arrive on Earth and combine themselves to create the titular Sym-Bionic Titan. A preview of the series was first shown at the 2009

San Diego Comic-Con San Diego Comic-Con is a comic book convention and multi-genre entertainment event held annually in San Diego, California, at the San Diego Convention Center. Founded in 1970, originally showcasing primarily comic books and science fiction/fant ...

, and further details were revealed at Cartoon Network's 2010 upfront. The series premiered on September 17, 2010, and ended on April 9, 2011, with a total of 20 episodes as ordered by the channel; Tartakovsky had hoped to expand on that, but the series was not renewed for a second season, as it "did not have any toys connected to it". While ''Sym-Bionic Titan'' has never been released to

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

in the United States, all 20 episodes were available for purchase on

iTunes iTunes is a media player, media library, and mobile device management (MDM) utility developed by Apple. It is used to purchase, play, download and organize digital multimedia on personal computers running the macOS and Windows operating s ...

and the

Microsoft Store The Microsoft Store (formerly known as the Windows Store) is a digital distribution platform operated by Microsoft. It was created as an app store for Windows 8 as the primary means of distributing Universal Windows Platform apps. With ...

. On October 7, 2012, reruns of the series began airing on

Adult Swim Adult Swim (stylized as dult swimand s is an American adult-oriented television programming block that airs on Cartoon Network which broadcasts during the evening, prime time, and Late-night television, late-night Dayparting, dayparts. T ...

Toonami Toonami ( ) is an American late-night television programming block that broadcasts Japanese anime and American action animation. It was created by Sean Akins and Jason DeMarco and currently produced by Williams Street, a subsidiary of W ...

block along with the 2011 television series of ''

ThunderCats ''ThunderCats'' is a media franchise, featuring a fictional group of cat-like humanoid aliens. The characters were created by Tobin Wolf and featured in an animated television series named ''ThunderCats'', running from 1985 to 1989, whic ...

'' until Cartoon Network wrote-off ''Sym-Bionic Titan'' for financial reasons in September 2014. The series was later released on

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

in 2019, but was removed from the service in December 2020. Animated television series set in Chicago

Premise

Billed as "an exciting hybrid of high school drama and giant robot battles", ''Sym-Bionic Titan'' features "the adventures of three beings from the planet Galaluna who crash-land on Earth while attempting to escape their war-torn world". The series follows the lives of Lance (voiced by Kevin Thoms), Ilana (voiced by

Tara Strong Tara Lyn Strong (; born February 12, 1973) is a Canadian and American actress. She is known for her voice work in animation, websites, and video games. Strong's voice roles include animated series such as '' The Powerpuff Girls'', '' The Fair ...

) and Octus (voiced by Brian Posehn), two alien teenagers and a robot respectively in the form of

humanoid A humanoid (; from English ''human'' and '' -oid'' "resembling") is a non-human entity with human form or characteristics. By the 20th century, the term came to describe fossils which were morphologically similar, but not identical, to those of ...

s living on Earth, an "identical" planet to Galaluna, while fleeing an evil general who has taken over their home planet with the help of monstrous creatures called Mutraddi. Ilana is the kind princess of the Galalunan royal family, Lance is a dark-hearted but capable soldier and Octus is a bio-cybernetic robot created by Ilana's father to protect her: all three having to now pose as normal high school students to blend into everyday life in Sherman, Illinois so Lance and Octus can conceal Ilana from General Modula ( Don Leslie) and his hideous space mutants sent to kill the sole heir of Galaluna and complete his conquest. When called into battle, the Galalunans are outfitted with individual armor that provides more than ample protection. It is when the gravest of danger appears that Octus activates the sym-bionic defense program and he, Ilana, and Lance unite "Heart (Ilana), Body (Lance) and Mind (Octus)" and come together to form the spectacular cyber-giant, Sym-Bionic Titan.

Episodes

Production

Series co-creator

, best known for creating '' Dexter's Laboratory'', '' Star Wars: Clone Wars'' and '' Samurai Jack'' for

, drew inspiration for the show from many sources. He grew up with various

mecha anime Mecha, also known as giant robot or simply robot, is a genre of anime and manga that feature mecha in battle. The genre is broken down into two subcategories; " super robot", featuring super-sized, implausible robots, and " real robot", where ...

series from the 1980s such as ''

Robotech ''Robotech'' is an American-Japanese science fiction Media franchise, franchise that began with an 85-episode anime television series produced by Harmony Gold USA in association with Tatsunoko Production; it was first released in the United St ...

'' and '' Voltron'': "For whatever reason, I have always loved the idea of kids driving giant robots". His biggest influence for the show were John Hughes films (such as '' Sixteen Candles'' and '' The Breakfast Club'') and 1980s pop culture, while the relationship between the two teenage leads, Ilana and Lance, was inspired by that of Sheeta and Pazu, the two leads in

Hayao Miyazaki is a Japanese animator, filmmaker, and manga artist. He co-founded Studio Ghibli and serves as honorary chairman. Throughout his career, Miyazaki has attained international acclaim as a masterful storyteller and creator of Anime, Japanese ani ...

's '' Castle in the Sky''. An episode of ''Samurai Jack'' with a similar plot, "Jack and the Flying Prince and Princess" (which had two aliens and a robot fleeing to seek help for their planet), may have also provided inspiration for the show. Tara Strong also voiced the princess in said episode. Tartakovsky came up with Octus and the high-school setting first and later, together with co-creators Paul Rudish and Bryan Andrews, added Ilana and Lance as the protagonists. The creators of the show took a long time to develop the female lead: "A positive strong female character is something I've always wanted to create". Tartakovsky had called ''Sym-Bionic Titan'' "the most challenging project I have ever done". Despite airing on Cartoon Network, Tartakovsky stated that he "doesn't consider ''Sym-Bionic Titan'' a kids show".

Cancellation

In March 2011, it was announced that Cartoon Network had cancelled ''Sym-Bionic Titan'' due to the show being unable to acquire a toy license.

's Tumblr later revealed that both '' Beware the Batman'' and ''Sym-Bionic Titan'' were both written off by the network in September 2014. In a 2018 interview with Syfy, Tartakovsky revealed that he and his crew had written 10 more episodes before the show was cancelled.

Possible revival

In February 2017, Tartakovsky mentioned that, during an interview about the revival of '' Samurai Jack'' on

, he could also return to Cartoon Network someday and bring chicken nuggets'to his house in the style of

Guillermo del Toro Guillermo del Toro Gómez (; born 9 October 1964) is a Mexican filmmaker, author, and artist. His work has been characterized by a strong connection to fairy tales, Gothic fiction, gothicism and horror fiction, horror often blending the genres ...

's '' Pacific Rim''. Ilana and Octus later made cameo appearances in the '' OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes'' episode "Crossover Nexus", with Tara Strong reprising her role as Ilana. In 2023, Tartakovsky reiterated his interest in continuing the story.

Home media

The entire series was released on

in Australia from

Madman Entertainment Madman Entertainment Pty. Ltd., also known as Madman Films, stylized as MADMAN, is an Australian film and television production, distribution, entertainment, and rights management company headquartered in East Melbourne, Victoria, specialising ...

on April 6, 2016, five years after the show's cancellation. The show was made available for streaming on

in December 2019, but was later removed from the service the following year. Although ''Sym-Bionic Titan'' has never been released to DVD or

Blu-ray Blu-ray (Blu-ray Disc or BD) is a digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of high-defin ...

in the United States, all 20 episodes were also available on

and the

in SD.

Reception

Critical reception

The series was positively received. Emily Ashby of

Common Sense Media Common Sense Media (CSM) is an American nonprofit organization that reviews and provides ratings for media and technology with the goal of providing information on their suitability for children.

said that the series had "action, adventure, and positive messages for tweens." She argued that while there is cartoon violence, the show has positive like Ilana, describing her a "role model-worthy main female character." She also noted that there is a "gentle side to the show" which makes it different from "many action-adventure cartoons for kids."

Awards and nominations

''Sym-Bionic Titan'' received two nominations at the 38th Annie Awards in 2011: Stephen DeStefano for Best Character Design in a Television Production; and Scott Wills for Best Production Design in an Animated Television Production.

References

External links