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The Wizbits Cartoon
Production Information
The Wizbits was, in fact, a "re-imagining" of the Japanese anime エラメン☆, which is romanized as ElamenSTAR. ElamenSTAR originally aired in Japan in 1996, as a cross-promotion with the collectible card game エラメン☆カード大戦 (ElamenSTAR Card Battle), known in the United States as Wizbits Elemenstor Battle.
The Wizbits Cartoon was cobbled together both from clips of the original Japanese cartoon (see the article ElamenSTAR) and from all-new and, at times, highly psychedelic animation commissioned by General Defense Dynamics and guided by the avant-garde artist/eccentric/felon James Langomedes. Overdubbing of the original Japanese material and voice work for the new animation were handled by American voice actors employed by cut-rate animation house UDI. The overdubbing has been vocally criticized by some fans, while others applaud it for introducing clever twists such as hidden literary references and clever anagrams.
A rumored Season 4, starring the speculative 'fifth Wizbit' Phila never came to fruition. This is probably because Phila was the Japanese name of the character Penny (See The Wizbits Translation Notes).
In an attempt to resurrect the 1980s heyday of Saturday Morning Cartoons, Wizbits originally aired on Saturday mornings (timeslot varied from network to network). After syndication, it aired weekdays immediately after Kung Fu Rooster (of Toon Penny fame, lending yet another sliver of credence to certain conspiracy theorists) as part of the "James Langomedes Power Hour." The Power Hour lasted for a total of seven nonconsecutive months before the Wizbits Cartoon and Kung Fu Rooster departed from the airwaves permanently.
It has recently been announced that the rights to the Wizbits cartoon, previously held up in years of litigation, have been acquired by Fine-o Video, a production company that plans to release the entire run of the Wizbits in several volumes starting in 2008, pending ongoing legal disputes - see Wizbits Ultimate Collection Volumes 1-13 for announced details so far. This announcment has been met with equal excitement and dread from Wizbits fans, who welcome professionally released versions of the cartoon but are wary of the pricing model and tentative release schedule that Fine-o has announced.
See the Real Life Timeline, Aftermath of The Wizbits, and the article on James Langomedes for more information.
Theme Song
Adventurers, come along, we are brave and strong
With our friends we'll survive to the end
We'll win any war to become elemen-stors
C'mon!
We are the Wizbits!
Lander: Lander, Earth!
Zula: Zula, Air!
We are the Wizbits!
Skip: Skip, Fire!
Penny: Penny... oh, Water?
We are the Wizbits, with the power of Rubian!
Come along with us friends.
- Season 1 Theme Song -
The Wizbits Theme Song
- Season 1 Ending Credits - Season 1 Ending Credits
- --Can we get a better recording? I must hear this song more clearly, it warms my heart.
- --I hope you guys enjoy the new rip... I had to restore an old tape I found in my mom's basement.
Cast and Crew Information
Lead Voice Actors
Lander .... Eric Cummings
Zula .... Monica Chaudhry
Skip ..... Rick Horwell
Penny ..... Patricia Bentor
Production Crew
Executive Producer .... James Langomedes (Also by Gary Jaques, for a short period after Langomedes fell into a coma)
Producers .... Roger Conroy, Niles Taylor, Lisa Coolige
Directors .... James Langomedes (Pilot Only), Cassie Bloomfeld, Brad Aviar
Writers .... James Langomedes, Hal Burton, Jerry Chang, Melissa Eberhart, Calvin Spunting, Gary Jaques
For a complete cast and crew listing please see The Wizbits Cast and Crew.
Note that this cartoon should not be confused with Wizbit, a British children's television program that appears to have no connection to Epic Legends Of The Hierarchs: The Elemenstor Saga other than the seemingly coincidental similarity of the show's titles (though some in the community argue that there is a hidden, clandestine connection between the two). This conflict with an existing series led to The Wizbits being aired under the title Lander and the Power of Rubian.
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