Tobot

Tobot (Korean: 변신자동차 또봇, RR: Byeonsinjadongcha Ttobot) is a South Korean animated television series produced by Young Toys and Retrobot. The series features transforming cars — some of which are designed after Kia Motors vehicles.[1]

Tobot
Opening title card for the English dub of Tobot
Directed byDahl Lee
Country of originSouth Korea
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons19
No. of episodes392
Production
ProducersYoung Toys
Retrobot
Studio Button (Tobot V/Tobot Galaxy Detectives)
Running time22 minutes
Release
Original networkJEI TV, Tooniverse
Original releaseMarch 2010 (2010-03) –
July 2015 (2015-07)
External links
Website

The series is available in Korean and English on Young Toys' official YouTube channel. The toy line beat Lego as South Korea's most popular toy line in 2013.[2]

An official English dub was produced in Canada by Ocean Productions and its sister studio Blue Water Studios, airing over a few months in 2018. This version is currently available on Netflix.

A spinoff series known as Athlon Tobot aired in three seasons from 2016-2017, before getting rebooted in 2018 as Tobot V (in English dub version known as Tobot: Galaxy Detectives), with animation done by Studio Button, the same company that made Power Battle Watch Car instead of Retrobot.

Plot

Original version

While investigating a string of mysterious car accidents, Dr. Franklin Char is abducted by the perpetrators. This incident activates his creations called "Tobots", cars that transform into robots with a special key called a "Tokey". Dr. Char's first two Tobots, Tobot X and Tobot Y, are entrusted to his twin sons Ryan and Kory, respectively, to fight crime and protect their neighborhood.[1]

Production
Title card of Tobot Galaxy Detectives (or Tobot V)

Young Toys came up with the idea of developing an animated series and related toys during the early 2000s. While Transformers and Power Rangers are popular among older elementary school children, Young Toys decided to Tobot to younger primary school children and kindergarteners. Rather than obtain licenses from animation studios after production, Young Toys did the opposite by developing the animated series and characters from scratch before producing the toys.[3]

Marketing

Between August and October 2014, Young Toys sold the licenses for the Tobot toys and characters to Southeast Asian nations. The series was made available in some Middle Eastern countries in January 2015.[3]

In December 2014, Young Toys erected an eight-meter, three ton statue of Deltatron at the Sky Park outside Seoul's Lotte Mall Gimpo International Airport shopping complex to commemorate the fifth anniversary of Tobot. The statue was on display until 2019.[4]

References
  1. "Animation". Young Toys. Retrieved 2015-07-13.
  2. Kim Tae-jong (2013-12-26). "Korean toy, Tobot, defeats Lego". The Korea Times. Retrieved 2015-07-13.
  3. Limb Jae-un (2014-07-11). "Young Toys' transforming robot Tobot popular among kids". Korea.net. Retrieved 2015-03-10.
  4. Dong, Bamboo (2014-12-24). "Seoul Erects an 8-Meter, 3-Ton Tobot Kia Robot Statue". Anime News Network. Retrieved 2015-07-13.
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