Toonami Article | TOM Enters CNX

Originally Posted 06/00 by Jeff Harris

Ever since TOM, the popular host of Toonami, was introduced in July 1999, people wanted to know a lot about him. An AOL chat with a lot of the fans took place in October of that year with fans asking about everything about him, from what was up with the gut (it's a nuclear reactor) to what does TOM meant (Thomas, he coyly said). Nearly a year has passed, and the fans wanted to know more about what's going on in the block, and a lot has changed. No more Saturday Midnight Run, no more Voltron and Robotech, a Saturday Morning lineup, four hours of Toonami a day, and excellent shows. A lot of questions, I knew I had to contact the robot. Thanks to some people in very high places, I managed to get in contact with the Ghost Planet Spaceship Absolution and it's pilot. Gotta thank Sean Akins, Toonami's producer, for giving me the hook-up to the ship. Unfortunately, I didn't know I had a limited time for this interview. Regardless, I got some of the answers I needed. Instead of showing you the formal introductions, I'm going to get right into it.

1) CNX (The X-Bridge): Why was the original Midnight Run cancelled and replaced with the same old CN stuff?

TOM: We thought weeknights would be a better place to show uncut stuff like Gundam - also, we didn't think showing stuff at 5 am was really doing anyone any good.

2) When will Endless Waltz and Blue Submarine be seen on Toonami? Also related to this question, will there be any more Gundam series come to Toonami soon?

They will air sometime around September/October. We have our eye on several Gundam series, and we will be showing them sometime in the next year.

3) Will Toonami show any of the Sailor Moon, Tenchi, and/or DBZ movies?

We will show as many movies as we can get our dirty mitts on.

4) The Reboot movies. Will Toonami be the US home of them?

Can't comment on that just yet.(Since this interview has taken place, the movies, separated into eight episodes, aired in the fall of 2001. -jh)

5) Is there going to be another Full Cycle marathon? If not, will we ever see a Prime Time Toonami lineup? Or are the prime-time slots reserved only for the comedic shorts and the mutt?

It's really not up to us when and if there's another Toonami marathon, but I'm sure someday you'll see it again. As for prime time, well, you never know. We're creepin' up on it already.

6) Ever consider creating original cel-animated series, either based on an existing property (Thundercats, the Blue Falcon comic, Thundarr, or Herculoids) or creating a totally new character?

We have considered this. I'll keep you posted.(Years after this interview took place, Toonami has upped the ante with original programming with their first original cel-animated project, IGPX, and the first Cartoon Network original to premiere on the block, Megas XLR. -jh)

7) Anime shows are plentiful in this country now. Would you consider putting on a show like Slayers, Cowboy BeBop, Trigun, RayEarth, Saber Marionette, or Bubblegum Crisis on Toonami?

I believe Sci-Fi has the rights to Slayers. (It turned out they didn't. Fox Kids claimed those rights as well. They didn't have 'em either. - jh) We at Toonami are huge fans of Bebop as a matter of a fact, we like all of those shows. We've considered everything under the sun. But we've got some stuff under our sleeves I guarantee you've never seen before.

8) I know Toonami's anime-heavy now. But would you consider putting a non-anime series like TMNT, Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors, Shadow Raiders, Roughnecks, Real Ghostbusters, or Transformers? Afterall, Toonami's a showcase of action-animation, not just anime (though anime's cool!).

We aren't totally tied to anime - we're tied to the best action-cartoons. Of the shows you've mentioned, some I like, some I don't - but all of them are a bit old. The nostalgia factor seems to make people want to see these shows, but when we put them on, nobody watches them. Robotech and Voltron were good examples of this.

9) Batman's a good addition to Toonami, but CN only has access to a few of the episodes. Is Toonami planning on showing the remaining Batman episodes in the fall along with Superman?

We will definitely eventually get all of the Batman and Superman animated adventures - round about September.

10) How come Toonami stopped airing the daily openings and the daily lineup briefings? The music used in those openings (especially that Friday theme) were awesome.

We stopped airing the daily openings because I wanted to do an intro personally (the one airing now). Someday we may do that type of thing again. I like to change things up when I get bored, so. But hey, if you want the music, it'll show up on the website eventually. Just stay tuned.

11) Robotech, Voltron, and Ronin Warriors are classics, yet they're no longer on Toonami. Would you consider bringing back these three shows? How about considering the new Robotech series currently in the works or the three RW OVAs not seen in this country?

We love all three of those shows. Ronin Warriors you may see again, but as for the other two, well, they had their day in court, and the fans didn't turn out. For my money though, Robotech is one of the best anime series ever made.

12) Speaking of OVAs, the handling of Tenchi Muyo was EXCELLENT! But something's been on my mind for a while. Is Toonami still going to air a less-edited version of the popular series? If so, when?

Thanks. Unfortunately, the unedited Tenchi episodes are much too racy to ever air on TV. There is too much nudity. We just want to expose more kids to anime, and that means that sometimes we have to tone down some of these shows. As much as I hate to do that.

13) How come there are droves and droves of PPG and Scooby-Doo merchandise and a few CN-related merchandise, but virtually nothing bearing the Toonami name?

Your guess is as good as mine. If you guys want more stuff, email Cartoon Network and tell them. They do, after all, work for you guys. I certainly wanna see my mug all over the place.

14) Will there be any new vignettes ala Space and Technologically advanced?

As long as there is Toonami, there will be stuff like vignettes, messages, drawings, and game reviews. It's part of the fun. We've got a bunch more coming soon.

15) Finally, will there be a 24-hour Toonami channel coming to our television sets?

Again - it's up to you guys. Look how far we've come together. If you want it, you must DEMAND it - and you'll get it. (Well, UK folks demanded it a little harder than we did, and lo and behold, the Toonami network was born! -jh)

At that point, the conversation ended. It was a very interesting conversation. The Revolution Will Be Televised, and it's good to know who's at the helm of the revolution.