Marines (lost animated portion of "Aliens" toy commercial; 1992): Difference between revisions

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{{InfoboxLost
{{InfoboxLost
|title=<center>Operation: Aliens</center>
|title=<center>Marines</center>
|image=Opposter.jpg
|image=Opposter.jpg
|imagecaption=1992 "Assault" poster advertising the series.
|imagecaption=1992 "Assault" poster advertising the board game.
|status=<span style="color:red;">'''Lost'''</span>
|status=<span style="color:red;">'''Lost'''</span>
}}
}}
'''''Marines'''''<ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20180404032524/https://www.ebay.com/itm/-/362286068516?roken=cUgayN&soutkn=QN2XXX</ref> was the title given to unused animation for a set of toy commercials for Kenner's ''Aliens'' toyline.


[[File:OP_ALIENS.jpg|thumb|300px|Montage of stills from the pilot.]]
Frames from the finished animation were uploaded on a long-defunct site devoted to Korean animation along with a promotional poster for the 1994 ''Operation: Aliens'' board game, leading to long-running speculation that the animation was a scrapped pilot for an ''Aliens'' animated series.
20th Century Fox's ''Alien'' franchise has been successful for more than three decades, with plenty of tie-in movies, games and merchandise to its name. Yet, there were also plans at one point to market a cartoon series based on the films!


'''''Operation: Aliens''''' was a proposed cartoon pilot that was developed in 1992, both to coincide with the release of the third film in the series, ''Alien 3'', and with a proposed line of action figures Kenner Toys was producing. Details on the pilot itself are scarce, but what is generally known is that the idea to do a cartoon series was envisioned by Fox during the marketing blitz for the third film, and work was outsourced to a Korean animation studio.
==Reveal==
In April 2018, animation professional Will Meugniot, who had directed and produced said animation, put up a listing for a storyboard for the second commercial on eBay and explained in the description that ''Operation: Aliens'' never existed and that the animation was produced for a set of toy commercials in 1992. The animated footage ended up being unused after the producer of the live-action portion of the commercial found a technique to better film the actual toys and decided to use that instead.


What happened next is unclear. Production evidently got far enough along that an ''Operation: Aliens'' toy and merchandise line was planned and designed, and that the pilot was due to be aired in Fall 1992 on Fox's television network. However, the pilot was scrapped, although late enough in the process that several pieces of merchandise went to store shelves still bearing the ''Operation: Aliens'' banner.
:''"In 1992, while producing Conan the Adventurer and X-Men for Graz Entertainment, Meugniot was asked to storyboard, produce and direct animated segments for three ''Aliens'' toy commercials, done in support of a new ''Aliens'' toyline. The trio of ads were all concerned with a team of space marines defending a space station from an Alien attack. The animation was done by Akom, using the same team that did the ''Conan'' titles. However, a new snorkel camera had come to the attention of the commercials live-action producer, allowing him to film the toys with unprecedented clarity, so he decided to use this footage instead of the completed animation in the final cut of the commercials. <br> The shown frame captures from finished animation have sparked an internet myth that there was an ''Operation Aliens'' animated pilot, which doesn't exist."''


Assuming that the plots outlined in the mini-comics from the Kenner toyline were intended to be part of this cancelled series, the pilot would have followed Lieutenant Ellen Ripley and several members of the Colonial Marines as they captured or destroyed dangerous xenomorphs who were attacking various locales. One major conceit of the action figure line is that the xenomorphs were breeding new hybrids, in the form of the chestbursters assimilating various traits of their hosts (including a bull, a mantis, a scorpion and others).
:''-Will Meugniot, in the eBay product description for the storyboard<ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20180404032524/https://www.ebay.com/itm/-/362286068516?roken=cUgayN&soutkn=QN2XXX</ref> ''


It's likely the pilot was scrapped when members of the production realized that it's incredibly difficult to plan a children's program where the antagonists are double-jawed, phallic-shaped creatures with acid for blood. It's also likely that the lackluster box office performance of the third film put a damper on any future opportunities for tie-in films or shows.
==Gallery==
[[File:OP_ALIENS.jpg|thumb|600px|center|Montage of stills from the commercials.]]


The pilot has never been released in any form, and the only evidence that it was at least partially animated are a series of screencaps that appeared on a now-defunct website for Korean animation.
==External Link==
* [https://www.avpcentral.com/hicks-newt-alternate-fates Article on alternate fates for the ''Alien'' series, including a mention from the animated ad.] Retrieved 22 Aug '19


==References==
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Lost advertising and interstitial material]]
[[Category:Lost animation]]
[[Category:Lost animation]]
[[Category:Lost TV]]
[[Category:Lost TV]]
[[Category:Completely lost media]]

Latest revision as of 17:55, 8 January 2021

Opposter.jpg

1992 "Assault" poster advertising the board game.

Status: Lost

Marines[1] was the title given to unused animation for a set of toy commercials for Kenner's Aliens toyline.

Frames from the finished animation were uploaded on a long-defunct site devoted to Korean animation along with a promotional poster for the 1994 Operation: Aliens board game, leading to long-running speculation that the animation was a scrapped pilot for an Aliens animated series.

Reveal

In April 2018, animation professional Will Meugniot, who had directed and produced said animation, put up a listing for a storyboard for the second commercial on eBay and explained in the description that Operation: Aliens never existed and that the animation was produced for a set of toy commercials in 1992. The animated footage ended up being unused after the producer of the live-action portion of the commercial found a technique to better film the actual toys and decided to use that instead.

"In 1992, while producing Conan the Adventurer and X-Men for Graz Entertainment, Meugniot was asked to storyboard, produce and direct animated segments for three Aliens toy commercials, done in support of a new Aliens toyline. The trio of ads were all concerned with a team of space marines defending a space station from an Alien attack. The animation was done by Akom, using the same team that did the Conan titles. However, a new snorkel camera had come to the attention of the commercials live-action producer, allowing him to film the toys with unprecedented clarity, so he decided to use this footage instead of the completed animation in the final cut of the commercials.
The shown frame captures from finished animation have sparked an internet myth that there was an
Operation Aliens animated pilot, which doesn't exist."
-Will Meugniot, in the eBay product description for the storyboard[2]

Gallery

Montage of stills from the commercials.

External Link

References