Whatever Happened to... Robot Jones? (partially lost unreleased original voice audio and unfinished/unknown Cartoon Network animated series episodes; 2002-2003): Difference between revisions

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|image=RobotJonesTitle.png
|image=RobotJonesTitle.png
|imagecaption=Opening title card to Whatever Happened to... Robot Jones?
|imagecaption=Opening title card to Whatever Happened to... Robot Jones?
|status=<span style="color:orange;">'''Partially Found'''</span>
|status=<span style="color:orange;">'''Partially Lost'''</span>
}}
}}
'''''Whatever Happened to... Robot Jones?''''' is a 'Cartoon Cartoon' that ran for two seasons from 2002 to 2003 on Cartoon Network. The series consisted of 12 shows with two episodes per show and filled a 30-minute time slot. The cartoon was notable for its style, mimicking cartoons produced in the early 80s in addition to many references and plots devices based on fads of the era. For example, an episode based on the Rubik's Cube series of puzzle boxes. Whatever Happened to... Robot Jones? Was produced using tradition cel animation when most productions had moved on to computerised animation, furthering the style that was desired. The series was released to praise from critics for its unique animation style.
'''''Whatever Happened to... Robot Jones?''''' was a 'Cartoon Cartoon' that ran for two seasons from 2002 to 2003 on Cartoon Network. The series consisted of 12 shows with two episodes per show and filled a 30-minute time slot. The cartoon was notable for its style, mimicking cartoons produced in the early 80s in addition to many references and plots devices based on fads of the era. For example, an episode based on the Rubik's Cube series of puzzle boxes. ''Whatever Happened to... Robot Jones?'' was produced using traditional cel animation when most productions had moved on to computerized animation, furthering the style that was desired. However, the series was released to praise from critics for its unique animation style.


==Plot==
==Plot==
Robot Jones is a young robot tasked by his parents to attend a middle school for humans so that he may study them. Initially, Jones is hesitant to do so as he finds humans 'inefficient'. After 'dad-unit' has his say, Jones begins life as a typical middle school student with a light bulb for a head. He quickly finds fitting in to be very difficult as most of the school finds him strange, including the students, teachers, and especially a technophobic principal. Shortly after blowing a fuse in front the entire school, Jones loses all will to study humans, until he falls for a mess of a girl in an overly exaggerated set of braces with a metal leg and instantly changes his attitude on the matter. Humans are now interesting creatures that desire 'further study'. As the series progresses, Jones confronts typical middle school issues such as love, fads, bullies, and Physical Education.
Robot Jones is a young robot tasked by his parents to attend a middle school for humans so that he may study them. Initially, Jones is hesitant to do so as he finds humans 'inefficient'. After 'dad-unit' has his say, Jones begins life as a typical middle school student with a light bulb for a head. He quickly finds fitting in to be very difficult as most of the school find him strange, including the students, teachers, and especially a technophobic principal. Shortly after blowing a fuse in front the entire school, Jones loses all will to study humans, until he falls for a mess of a girl in an overly exaggerated set of braces with a metal leg and instantly changes his attitude on the matter. Humans are now interesting creatures that desire 'further study.' As the series progresses, Jones confronts typical middle school issues such as love, fads, bullies, and Physical Education.


==The Voice==
==The Voice==
For the first season of Whatever Happened to... Robot Jones? The titular character had a computer-generated voice that stood out amongst the other characters' voices (with the exception of Jones' parents, also using computer-generated voices). Series creator Greg Miller has stated that he wanted a true synthetic robot voice and researched a lot of speech programs when starting the show, even discussing the topic with Bell Laboratories. Contrary to popular belief, Jones' voice was not produced with Macintosh Macintalk's Junior Speech but was actually produced using Microsoft Word 98's Junior Speech text-to-speech function. Miller confirms this in a Facebook interview. He chose Word because of its controls in speed and pitch. Miller created the Jones Audio himself, even spelling each word phonetically for it to be pronounced correctly and adjusting the pitch to get the "acting" right. The executives at the Cartoon Network found the voice unusual and requested a more 'Hollywood' voice for Jones. This led to Jones's being voiced by an actual voice actor (Bobby Block) at the start of Season 2. In addition, the Pilot and older episodes were re-dubbed using Block's voice for re-runs of the series. Episodes containing the original computer-generated voice are currently being sought after by fans of the series. The voice change was made early in the production of Season 2.
For the first season of ''Whatever Happened to... Robot Jones?'', the titular character had a computer-generated voice that stood out amongst the other characters' voices (with the exception of Jones' parents, also using computer-generated voices). Series creator Greg Miller has stated that he wanted a true synthetic robot voice and researched a lot of speech programs when starting the show, even discussing the topic with Bell Laboratories. Contrary to popular belief, Jones' voice was not produced with Macintosh Macintalk's Junior Speech but was actually produced using Microsoft Word 98's Junior Speech text-to-speech function. Miller confirms this in a Facebook interview. He chose Word because of its controls in speed and pitch. Miller created the Jones Audio himself, even spelling each word phonetically for it to be pronounced correctly and adjusting the pitch to get the "acting" right. The executives at the Cartoon Network found the voice unusual and requested a more 'Hollywood' voice for Jones. This led to Jones's being voiced by an actual voice actor (Bobby Block) at the start of Season 2. In addition, the pilot and older episodes were re-dubbed using Block's voice for re-runs of the series. Episodes containing the original computer-generated voice are currently being sought after by fans of the series. The voice change was made early in the production of Season 2.


==Other Lost Aspects==
==Other Lost Aspects==
In addition to the original Jones voice, several small aspects of Whatever Happened to... Robot Jones? Are now lost as well. The Season One episode "Growth Spurts" was edited in later airing to remove a poster in the background containing the phrase 'Kick-Ass', changing the phrase to simply 'Kick'. The original airing of the episode remained lost until it was uploaded to the Portuguese cartoon website, Tooncast.
In addition to the original Jones voice, several other small aspects of ''Whatever Happened to... Robot Jones?'' are now lost as well.  


Three episodes are believed to have been put into production before the series was cancelled:
The season one episode "Growth Spurts" was edited in later airing to remove a poster in the background containing the phrase 'Kick-Ass,' changing the phrase to simply 'Kick.' The original airing of the episode remained lost until it was picked up by Cartoon Network's Latin-Spanish sister channel, [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tooncast Tooncast]. The show aired reruns on there for a couple of years since 2015, but for some reason, it may have been recently taken off Tooncast's schedule around September of 2017.
 
Three episodes are believed to have been put into production before the series was cancelled, and were storyboarded but never actually animated:
*The first would have been about the history of robotics, possibly explaining a little more about this robot-assimilated society the series revolves around.
*The first would have been about the history of robotics, possibly explaining a little more about this robot-assimilated society the series revolves around.
*The second, called the 'Talk Show' episode, would have had Robot Jones appear on a parody of the Oprah Winfrey show (called the 'Soapy Winfall' show in-universe). Storyboards for this episode have been made available from series writer Chuck Klein's blog spot.
*The second, called the 'Talk Show' episode, would have had Robot Jones appear on a parody of the Oprah Winfrey show (called the 'Soapy Winfall' show in-universe). Storyboards for this episode have been made available from series writer Chuck Klein's blog spot. On the images of the boards, there is a sheet of paper underneath the boards, readable as https://i.imgur.com/OzT2MmI.png (I don't know how to format this, please help)
*The content of the third episode is unknown as of now. Miller claims "it was so long ago, I forget...".
*The content of the third episode is unknown as of now. Miller claims "it was so long ago, I forget...".
All episodes were storyboarded but never actually animated.
<br/>
Two episodes are also rumoured to have existed as the fourteenth show of the series: "Risk" and "Robotic Graffiti." Most people claim that the two episodes could be fake or fan-created as a predicted educated guess while the official Season 2 premiere was actually pushed back to October of 2003 (after Season 1 ended in September of 2002), because the person on TvTome.com rumoured the two episodes in the first place without knowing ''anything'' about the second season's episodes that have not yet been publicly aired.<ref name="RiskGraf">[https://web.archive.org/web/20021021173516/http://tvtome.com:80/tvtome/servlet/ShowMainServlet/showid-11350/ "Risk / Robotic Graffiti" rumored on TvTome.com]</ref> On the other hand, in 2012, an anonymous fan (later known as "Wer Wie Was" on the Illiop.com forum) has posted a theory on Wikipedia thinking that these two episodes were potentially banned by the executives at the Cartoon Network for violent, mature content, then posted another theory on an Illiop.com forum believing that the two episodes were actually scrapped or unfinished,<ref>[http://forum.illiop.com/index.php?topic=460.msg1199#msg1199 Illiop.com forum post regarding the real case behind "Risk"/"Robotic Graffiti"]</ref> but so far, no physical evidence of this has been put forward, so it is unknown whether these two episodes actually existed in the first place or were discovered to be fake.


Two episodes are also rumored to have existed as the fourteenth show of the series: "Risk"<ref name="RiskGraf">[https://www.bcdb.com/cartoon/51101-Risk Risk] and [https://www.bcdb.com/cartoon/51102-Robotic-Grafiti Robotic Graffiti] on Big Cartoon Database</ref> and "Robot Grafitti"<ref name="RiskGraf" />. A fan has posted a theory (not knowing ''anything'' about scrapped episodes, only from watching a banned ''Ren & Stimpy'' episode "Man's Best Friend") on Wikipedia that these two episodes were potentially banned by the executives at the Cartoon Network for excessive violence, harsh language, and sexual and/or scatological jokes, but this is simply untrue-- The ''real'' mystery behind these two episodes is whether they were scrapped and if they were finished or not.
On a Toonzone forum, someone posted that there is a Halloween special for the show<ref>[http://www.toonzone.net/forums/threads/robot-jones.3159071/ Toonzone forum comment about the unaired Halloween episode.]</ref> and it hasn't aired. It was confusingly rumoured to be yet another unknown episode of the series as that user didn't mention the title of the episode (possibly because the names of the Season 2 episodes were not made publicly available yet at the time), but after a user uploaded a [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=erWa8PBBXPM Cartoon Cartoon Fridays Halloween promo] to YouTube on November 30th, that Halloween episode for ''Robot Jones'' actually turned out to be "House Party," one of the episodes that have already been aired and seen. "House Party / School Newspaper" was aired on October 31, 2003 (Halloween night). So now the rumoured Halloween episode (being mistaken for a recently-discovered unknown episode) is now confirmed fake.


A user also commented on an (old) forum that there is a Halloween special for the show that hasn't aired, but so far, no physical evidence of this has been put forward.<ref>[http://www.toonzone.net/forums/threads/robot-jones.3159071/ A user's comment about an unaired Halloween episode of the show.]<ref/>
And finally, according to [https://www.facebook.com/OperationRobotJones/posts/555286887825999 a FaceBook interview with show creator Greg Miller], it is clear that the planned series finale could involve Robot Jones rallying (or even building) a robot army to exterminate the human civilization and rule the planet, but unfortunately before this could be revealed, the show was cancelled, resulting in "Rules of Dating" to be the last episode of the show (even though that one wasn't actually intended to be the ''actual'' series finale in the first place).


And finally, according to an interview with Greg Miller on FaceBook, there was also a planned series finale where Robot Jones exterminates the human civilization and rules the planet Earth.<ref>[https://www.facebook.com/OperationRobotJones/posts/555286887825999 Greg Miller details the planned ending of Robot exterminating the human race, and states that it canonically happened even if it was never shown on television.]<ref/>
==Episode Availability==
The show has a total of 25 segments + 1 seven-minute pilot episode + a music video, totalling up to 27 segments total. 3 episodes are unconfirmed to exist, and 4 others have remained unfinished due to the show's cancellation. Calculating the total amount of known segments on this list, the show would've had a total of 34 segments in all.


<gallery mode=packed heights=175px>
As of October 2017, a user by the name of WMbravesRJ02, who uploaded all the first season episodes with the original voice (recorded via camera) recently closed his Vimeo account. Another user, BigFatRobot2002, who backed up all of the first season episodes with the original voice audio has synced the English audio to the DVD-quality Tooncast video sources (removing the Spanish and Portuguese language tracks) in higher quality and uploaded them, along with Tooncast rips of the second season episodes as well, on a Google Doc. https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B3bfMI5ZZEpGaXJVd1RQczJHQU0
File:Obsession2.jpg|One of the storyboards of the alleged talk show episode (#1).
File:Obession3.jpg|One of the storyboards of the alleged talk show episode (#2).
</gallery>


==Episode Availability==
The original Latin Spanish and Brazillian Portuguese rips from Tooncast, which BigFatRobot2002 obtained the DVD-quality rips from, also have also been uploaded to a Google Doc. Latin Spanish dubs of most episodes (excluding Groovesicle and the pilot episode, two of which are unconfirmed to have existed in Spanish) have been found; Only 10 episodes are available in Brazillian Portuguese. https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B3bfMI5ZZEpGX2RuNTQ0ZXpCUFk
The show has a total of 25 segments + 1 seven-minute pilot episode + a music video, totaling up to 27 segments total. 2 episodes are unknown to exist and 5 of them have remained unfinished due to the show's cancellation. Calculating the total amount of known segments on this list, the show would've had a total of 34 segments in all.


{| class="wikitable"
{| class="wikitable"
|- style="vertical-align:top;horizontal-align:center;"
|- style="vertical-align:top;horizontal-align:center;"
|<span style="font-size:80%">Episode</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">'''Episode'''</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">Name</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">'''Name'''</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">Original Voice</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">'''Original Voice'''</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">Bobby Block</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">'''Bobby Block'''</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">Episode</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">'''Episode'''</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">Name</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">'''Name'''</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">Original Voice</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">'''Original Voice'''</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">Bobby Block</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">'''Bobby Block'''</span>
|-
|-
|<span style="font-size:80%"></span>
|<span style="font-size:80%"></span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">Pilot</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">'''Pilot'''</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">[https://vimeo.com/173806783 Found]</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">[https://youtu.be/RPNSq_JGE98<span style="color:green;">'''Found'''</span>]</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">[https://vimeo.com/129942747 Found]</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">[https://vimeo.com/129942747<span style="color:green;">'''Found'''</span>]</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%"></span>
|<span style="font-size:80%"></span>
|<span style="font-size:80%"></span>
|<span style="font-size:80%"></span>
Line 56: Line 56:
|<span style="font-size:80%"></span>
|<span style="font-size:80%"></span>
|-
|-
|<span style="font-size:80%">S1E1A</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">'''S1E1A'''</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">Electric Boogaloo</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">'''Electric Boogaloo'''</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">[https://vimeo.com/173810197 Found]</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">[https://youtu.be/e6rdOKop-8s<span style="color:green;">'''Found'''</span>]</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">[https://vimeo.com/129767228 Found]</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">[https://vimeo.com/129767228<span style="color:green;">'''Found'''</span>]</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">S1E1B</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">'''S1E1B'''</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">The Groovesicle</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">'''The Groovesicle'''</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">[https://vimeo.com/47405569 Found]</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">[https://vimeo.com/47405569<span style="color:green;">'''Found'''</span>]</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">x</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%"><span style="color:red;">'''Lost'''</span></span>
|-
|-
|<span style="font-size:80%">S1E2A</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">'''S1E2A'''</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">Politics</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">'''Politics'''</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">[https://vimeo.com/180206626 Found]</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">[https://youtu.be/geDWI3vk-pg<span style="color:green;">'''Found'''</span>]</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">[https://vimeo.com/129942748 Found]</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">[https://vimeo.com/129942748<span style="color:green;">'''Found'''</span>]</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">S1E2B</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">'''S1E2B'''</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">Growth Spurts</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">'''Growth Spurts'''</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">[https://vimeo.com/175716351 Found]</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">[https://youtu.be/W5tVMSAW7Mw<span style="color:green;">'''Found'''</span>]</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">[https://vimeo.com/129805185 Found]</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">[https://vimeo.com/129805185<span style="color:green;">'''Found'''</span>]</span>
|-
|-
|<span style="font-size:80%">S1E3A</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">'''S1E3A'''</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">P.U. to P.E.</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">'''P.U. to P.E.'''</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">[https://vimeo.com/131549494 Found]</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">[https://vimeo.com/131549494<span style="color:green;">'''Found'''</span>]</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">[https://vimeo.com/130481731 Found]</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">[https://vimeo.com/130481731<span style="color:green;">'''Found'''</span>]</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">S1E3B</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">'''S1E3B'''</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">Vacuum Friend</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">'''Vacuum Friend'''</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">[https://vimeo.com/179482142 Found]</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">[https://vimeo.com/179482142<span style="color:green;">'''Found'''</span>]</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">[https://vimeo.com/130481731 Found]</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">[https://vimeo.com/130481731<span style="color:green;">'''Found'''</span>]</span>
|-
|-
|<span style="font-size:80%">S1E4A</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">'''S1E4A'''</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">Parents</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">'''Parents'''</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">[https://vimeo.com/174720752 Found]</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">[https://youtu.be/Do3pVU1sIJw<span style="color:green;">'''Found'''</span>]</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">[https://vimeo.com/129942746 Found]</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">[https://vimeo.com/129942746<span style="color:green;">'''Found'''</span>]</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">S1E4B</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">'''S1E4B'''</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">Embarrassment</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">'''Embarrassment'''</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">[https://vimeo.com/176639952 Found]</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">[https://youtu.be/iKOOqP_3_WA<span style="color:green;">'''Found'''</span>]</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">[https://vimeo.com/129767229 Found]</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">[https://vimeo.com/129767229<span style="color:green;">'''Found'''</span>]</span>
|-
|-
|<span style="font-size:80%">S1E5A</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">'''S1E5A'''</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">Cube Wars</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">'''Cube Wars'''</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">[https://vimeo.com/131570056 Found]</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">[https://vimeo.com/131570056<span style="color:green;">'''Found'''</span>]</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">[https://vimeo.com/129767224 Found]</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">[https://vimeo.com/129767224<span style="color:green;">'''Found'''</span>]</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">S1E5B</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">'''S1E5B'''</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">Sickness</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">'''Sickness'''</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">[https://vimeo.com/131570056 Found]</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">[https://vimeo.com/131570056<span style="color:green;">'''Found'''</span>]</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">[https://vimeo.com/129979552 Found]</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">[https://vimeo.com/129979552<span style="color:green;">'''Found'''</span>]</span>
|-
|-
|<span style="font-size:80%">S1E6A</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">'''S1E6A'''</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">Jealousy</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">'''Jealousy'''</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">[https://vimeo.com/178625582 Found]</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">[https://youtu.be/d5cuUV_81pY<span style="color:green;">'''Found'''</span>]</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">[https://vimeo.com/130483928 Found]</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">[https://vimeo.com/130483928<span style="color:green;">'''Found'''</span>]</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">S1E6B</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">'''S1E6B'''</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">Scantron Love</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">'''Scantron Love'''</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">[https://vimeo.com/177577007 Found]</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">[https://youtu.be/9H1DYkqpGcM<span style="color:green;">'''Found'''</span>]</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">[https://vimeo.com/130483928 Found]</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">[https://vimeo.com/130483928<span style="color:green;">'''Found'''</span>]</span>
|-
|-
|<span style="font-size:80%">S2E1A</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">'''S2E1A'''</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">Gender</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">'''Gender'''</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">x</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%"><span style="color:red;">'''Lost'''</span></span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">[https://vimeo.com/129942739 Found]</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">[https://vimeo.com/129942739<span style="color:green;">'''Found'''</span>]</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">S2E1B</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">'''S2E1B'''</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">Math Challenge</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">'''Math Challenge'''</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">x</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%"><span style="color:red;">'''Lost'''</span></span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">[https://vimeo.com/129942739 Found]</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">[https://vimeo.com/129942739<span style="color:green;">'''Found'''</span>]</span>
|-
|-
|<span style="font-size:80%">S2E2A</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">'''S2E2A'''</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">Family Vacation</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">'''Family Vacation'''</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">x</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%"><span style="color:red;">'''Lost'''</span></span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">[https://vimeo.com/129767230 Found]</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">[https://vimeo.com/129767230<span style="color:green;">'''Found'''</span>]</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">S2E2B</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">'''S2E2B'''</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">Hair</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">'''Hair'''</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">x</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%"><span style="color:red;">'''Lost'''</span></span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">[https://vimeo.com/129767230 Found]</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">[https://vimeo.com/129767230<span style="color:green;">'''Found'''</span>]</span>
|-
|-
|<span style="font-size:80%">S2E3A</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">'''S2E3A'''</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">Garage Band</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">'''Garage Band'''</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">x</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%"><span style="color:red;">'''Lost'''</span></span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">[https://vimeo.com/129767231 Found]</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">[https://vimeo.com/129767231<span style="color:green;">'''Found'''</span>]</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">S2E3B</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">'''S2E3B'''</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">Work</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">'''Work'''</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">x</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%"><span style="color:red;">'''Lost'''</span></span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">[https://vimeo.com/129767231 Found]</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">[https://vimeo.com/129767231<span style="color:green;">'''Found'''</span>]</span>
|-
|-
|<span style="font-size:80%">S2E4A</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">'''S2E4A'''</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">The Yogmans Strike Back</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">'''The Yogmans Strike Back'''</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">x</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%"><span style="color:red;">'''Lost'''</span></span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">[https://vimeo.com/130481730 Found]</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">[https://vimeo.com/130481730<span style="color:green;">'''Found'''</span>]</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">S2E4B</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">'''S2E4B'''</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">Hookie 101</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">'''Hookie 101'''</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">x</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%"><span style="color:red;">'''Lost'''</span></span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">[https://vimeo.com/130481730 Found]</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">[https://vimeo.com/130481730<span style="color:green;">'''Found'''</span>]</span>
|-
|-
|<span style="font-size:80%">S2E5A</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">'''S2E5A'''</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">House Party</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">'''House Party'''</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">x</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%"><span style="color:red;">'''Lost'''</span></span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">[https://vimeo.com/129942745 Found]</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">[https://vimeo.com/129942745<span style="color:green;">'''Found'''</span>]</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">S2E5B</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">'''S2E5B'''</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">School Newspaper</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">'''School Newspaper'''</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">x</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%"><span style="color:red;">'''Lost'''</span></span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">[https://vimeo.com/129942745 Found]</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">[https://vimeo.com/129942745<span style="color:green;">'''Found'''</span>]</span>
|-
|-
|<span style="font-size:80%">S2E6A</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">'''S2E6A'''</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">Safety Patrol</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">'''Safety Patrol'''</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">x</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%"><span style="color:red;">'''Lost'''</span></span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">[https://vimeo.com/130481729 Found]</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">[https://vimeo.com/130481729<span style="color:green;">'''Found'''</span>]</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">S2E6B</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">'''S2E6B'''</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">Popularity</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">'''Popularity'''</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">x</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%"><span style="color:red;">'''Lost'''</span></span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">[https://vimeo.com/129948369 Found]</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">[https://vimeo.com/129948369<span style="color:green;">'''Found'''</span>]</span>
|-
|-
|<span style="font-size:80%">S2E7A</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">'''S2E7A'''</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">Summer Camp</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">'''Summer Camp'''</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">x</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%"><span style="color:red;">'''Lost'''</span></span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">[https://vimeo.com/130481724 Found]</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">[https://vimeo.com/130481724<span style="color:green;">'''Found'''</span>]</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">S2E7B</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">'''S2E7B'''</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">Rules of Dating</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">'''Rules of Dating'''</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">x</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%"><span style="color:red;">'''Lost'''</span></span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">[https://vimeo.com/130481728 Found]</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">[https://vimeo.com/130481728<span style="color:green;">'''Found'''</span>]</span>
|-
|-
|<span style="font-size:80%">S2E8A</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">Risk</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">x</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">Unconfirmed</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">S2E8B</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">Robot Grafitti</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">x</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">Unconfirmed</span>
|-
|<span style="font-size:80%"></span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">History of Robotics</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">N/A</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">N/A</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%"></span>
|<span style="font-size:80%"></span>
|<span style="font-size:80%"></span>
|<span style="font-size:80%"></span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">'''Risk'''</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%"><span style="color:red;">'''Lost'''</span></span>
|<span style="font-size:80%"><span style="color:grey;">'''Existence Unconfirmed'''</span></span>
|<span style="font-size:80%"></span>
|<span style="font-size:80%"></span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">'''Robot Grafitti'''</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%"><span style="color:red;">'''Lost'''</span></span>
|<span style="font-size:80%"><span style="color:grey;">'''Existence Unconfirmed'''</span></span>
|-
|-
|<span style="font-size:80%"></span>
|<span style="font-size:80%"></span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">Talk Show</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">'''History of Robotics'''</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">N/A</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%"><span style="color:red;">'''Lost'''</span></span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">N/A</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%"><span style="color:grey;">'''Existence Unconfirmed'''</span></span>
|<span style="font-size:80%"></span>
|<span style="font-size:80%"></span>
|<span style="font-size:80%"></span>
|<span style="font-size:80%"></span>
Line 201: Line 192:
|-
|-
|<span style="font-size:80%"></span>
|<span style="font-size:80%"></span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">unknown episode</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">'''Talk Show'''</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">N/A</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%"><span style="color:red;">'''Lost'''</span></span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">N/A</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%"><span style="color:grey;">'''Existence Unconfirmed'''</span></span>
|<span style="font-size:80%"></span>
|<span style="font-size:80%"></span>
|<span style="font-size:80%"></span>
|<span style="font-size:80%"></span>
Line 210: Line 201:
|-
|-
|<span style="font-size:80%"></span>
|<span style="font-size:80%"></span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">untitled Halloween episode</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">'''3rd unknown episode'''</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">N/A</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%"><span style="color:red;">'''Lost'''</span></span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">N/A</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%"><span style="color:grey;">'''Existence Unconfirmed'''</span></span>
|<span style="font-size:80%"></span>
|<span style="font-size:80%"></span>
|<span style="font-size:80%"></span>
|<span style="font-size:80%"></span>
Line 219: Line 210:
|-
|-
|<span style="font-size:80%"></span>
|<span style="font-size:80%"></span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">untitled series finale</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">'''untitled/planned ending'''</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">N/A</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%"><span style="color:red;">'''Lost'''</span></span>
|<span style="font-size:80%">N/A</span>
|<span style="font-size:80%"><span style="color:grey;">'''Existence Unconfirmed'''</span></span>
|<span style="font-size:80%"></span>
|<span style="font-size:80%"></span>
|<span style="font-size:80%"></span>
|<span style="font-size:80%"></span>
|<span style="font-size:80%"></span>
|<span style="font-size:80%"></span>
|<span style="font-size:80%"></span>
|<span style="font-size:80%"></span>
|}
|}
 
==Gallery==
=Video Gallery=
===Screenshots===
<div style="margin:0 auto; text-align: center;">  
<gallery mode=packed heights=175px>
 
File:Obsession2.jpg|One of the storyboards of the alleged talk show episode (#1).
<div style="width:320px; display:inline-block; margin-right:25px; margin-bottom:0px;">
File:Obession3.jpg|One of the storyboards of the alleged talk show episode (#2).
{{#ev:vimeo|https://vimeo.com/127629469|320x240|center|The newly discovered episodes.|}}</div>​
</gallery>
 
===Videos===
<div style="width:320px; display:inline-block; margin-right:25px; margin-bottom:0px;">
{{Video|perrow  =3
{{#ev:youtube|https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MoxyMnsfVf4|320x240|center|Some old commercials for the show that use the older voice.}}</div>​
  |service1    =vimeo
 
  |id1          =127629469
<div style="width:320px; display:inline-block; margin-right:25px; margin-bottom:0px;">
  |description1 =The newly discovered episodes.
{{#ev:vimeo|https://vimeo.com/83932806|320x240|center}}</div>​
  |service2    =youtube
 
  |id2          =MoxyMnsfVf4
<div style="width:320px; display:inline-block; margin-right:25px; margin-bottom:0px;">
  |description2 =Some old commercials for the show that use the older voice.
{{#ev:vimeo|https://vimeo.com/87367908|320x240|center}}</div>​
  |service3    =vimeo
 
  |id3          =83932806
 
  |description3 =A promo (with the original voice).
<div style="width:320px; display:inline-block; margin-right:25px; margin-bottom:0px;">
}}
{{#ev:dailymotion|http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x5m5rcv|320x240|center|Kick-ass poster can be seen at 20:59}}</div>​
{{Video|perrow  =3
 
  |service1    =vimeo
</div>​
  |id1          =87367908
  |description1 =CN Fridays bumper.
  |service2    =dailymotion
  |id2          =x5m5rcv
  |description2 =Kick-ass poster can be seen at 20:59.
  |service3    =youtube
  |id3          =xcb5De3UHpk
  |description3 =Better-audio VHS rip of "Pilot", "Politics", and an incomplete "PU to P.E.".
}}
==References==
==References==
<references />
{{reflist}}


[[Category:Lost animation]]
[[Category:Lost animation]]
[[Category:Lost audio]]
[[Category:Lost TV]]
[[Category:Lost TV]]
[[Category:Partially found media]]
[[Category:Partially lost media]]

Revision as of 20:15, 6 May 2019

RobotJonesTitle.png

Opening title card to Whatever Happened to... Robot Jones?

Status: Partially Lost

Whatever Happened to... Robot Jones? was a 'Cartoon Cartoon' that ran for two seasons from 2002 to 2003 on Cartoon Network. The series consisted of 12 shows with two episodes per show and filled a 30-minute time slot. The cartoon was notable for its style, mimicking cartoons produced in the early 80s in addition to many references and plots devices based on fads of the era. For example, an episode based on the Rubik's Cube series of puzzle boxes. Whatever Happened to... Robot Jones? was produced using traditional cel animation when most productions had moved on to computerized animation, furthering the style that was desired. However, the series was released to praise from critics for its unique animation style.

Plot

Robot Jones is a young robot tasked by his parents to attend a middle school for humans so that he may study them. Initially, Jones is hesitant to do so as he finds humans 'inefficient'. After 'dad-unit' has his say, Jones begins life as a typical middle school student with a light bulb for a head. He quickly finds fitting in to be very difficult as most of the school find him strange, including the students, teachers, and especially a technophobic principal. Shortly after blowing a fuse in front the entire school, Jones loses all will to study humans, until he falls for a mess of a girl in an overly exaggerated set of braces with a metal leg and instantly changes his attitude on the matter. Humans are now interesting creatures that desire 'further study.' As the series progresses, Jones confronts typical middle school issues such as love, fads, bullies, and Physical Education.

The Voice

For the first season of Whatever Happened to... Robot Jones?, the titular character had a computer-generated voice that stood out amongst the other characters' voices (with the exception of Jones' parents, also using computer-generated voices). Series creator Greg Miller has stated that he wanted a true synthetic robot voice and researched a lot of speech programs when starting the show, even discussing the topic with Bell Laboratories. Contrary to popular belief, Jones' voice was not produced with Macintosh Macintalk's Junior Speech but was actually produced using Microsoft Word 98's Junior Speech text-to-speech function. Miller confirms this in a Facebook interview. He chose Word because of its controls in speed and pitch. Miller created the Jones Audio himself, even spelling each word phonetically for it to be pronounced correctly and adjusting the pitch to get the "acting" right. The executives at the Cartoon Network found the voice unusual and requested a more 'Hollywood' voice for Jones. This led to Jones's being voiced by an actual voice actor (Bobby Block) at the start of Season 2. In addition, the pilot and older episodes were re-dubbed using Block's voice for re-runs of the series. Episodes containing the original computer-generated voice are currently being sought after by fans of the series. The voice change was made early in the production of Season 2.

Other Lost Aspects

In addition to the original Jones voice, several other small aspects of Whatever Happened to... Robot Jones? are now lost as well.

The season one episode "Growth Spurts" was edited in later airing to remove a poster in the background containing the phrase 'Kick-Ass,' changing the phrase to simply 'Kick.' The original airing of the episode remained lost until it was picked up by Cartoon Network's Latin-Spanish sister channel, Tooncast. The show aired reruns on there for a couple of years since 2015, but for some reason, it may have been recently taken off Tooncast's schedule around September of 2017.

Three episodes are believed to have been put into production before the series was cancelled, and were storyboarded but never actually animated:

  • The first would have been about the history of robotics, possibly explaining a little more about this robot-assimilated society the series revolves around.
  • The second, called the 'Talk Show' episode, would have had Robot Jones appear on a parody of the Oprah Winfrey show (called the 'Soapy Winfall' show in-universe). Storyboards for this episode have been made available from series writer Chuck Klein's blog spot. On the images of the boards, there is a sheet of paper underneath the boards, readable as https://i.imgur.com/OzT2MmI.png (I don't know how to format this, please help)
  • The content of the third episode is unknown as of now. Miller claims "it was so long ago, I forget...".


Two episodes are also rumoured to have existed as the fourteenth show of the series: "Risk" and "Robotic Graffiti." Most people claim that the two episodes could be fake or fan-created as a predicted educated guess while the official Season 2 premiere was actually pushed back to October of 2003 (after Season 1 ended in September of 2002), because the person on TvTome.com rumoured the two episodes in the first place without knowing anything about the second season's episodes that have not yet been publicly aired.[1] On the other hand, in 2012, an anonymous fan (later known as "Wer Wie Was" on the Illiop.com forum) has posted a theory on Wikipedia thinking that these two episodes were potentially banned by the executives at the Cartoon Network for violent, mature content, then posted another theory on an Illiop.com forum believing that the two episodes were actually scrapped or unfinished,[2] but so far, no physical evidence of this has been put forward, so it is unknown whether these two episodes actually existed in the first place or were discovered to be fake.

On a Toonzone forum, someone posted that there is a Halloween special for the show[3] and it hasn't aired. It was confusingly rumoured to be yet another unknown episode of the series as that user didn't mention the title of the episode (possibly because the names of the Season 2 episodes were not made publicly available yet at the time), but after a user uploaded a Cartoon Cartoon Fridays Halloween promo to YouTube on November 30th, that Halloween episode for Robot Jones actually turned out to be "House Party," one of the episodes that have already been aired and seen. "House Party / School Newspaper" was aired on October 31, 2003 (Halloween night). So now the rumoured Halloween episode (being mistaken for a recently-discovered unknown episode) is now confirmed fake.

And finally, according to a FaceBook interview with show creator Greg Miller, it is clear that the planned series finale could involve Robot Jones rallying (or even building) a robot army to exterminate the human civilization and rule the planet, but unfortunately before this could be revealed, the show was cancelled, resulting in "Rules of Dating" to be the last episode of the show (even though that one wasn't actually intended to be the actual series finale in the first place).

Episode Availability

The show has a total of 25 segments + 1 seven-minute pilot episode + a music video, totalling up to 27 segments total. 3 episodes are unconfirmed to exist, and 4 others have remained unfinished due to the show's cancellation. Calculating the total amount of known segments on this list, the show would've had a total of 34 segments in all.

As of October 2017, a user by the name of WMbravesRJ02, who uploaded all the first season episodes with the original voice (recorded via camera) recently closed his Vimeo account. Another user, BigFatRobot2002, who backed up all of the first season episodes with the original voice audio has synced the English audio to the DVD-quality Tooncast video sources (removing the Spanish and Portuguese language tracks) in higher quality and uploaded them, along with Tooncast rips of the second season episodes as well, on a Google Doc. https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B3bfMI5ZZEpGaXJVd1RQczJHQU0

The original Latin Spanish and Brazillian Portuguese rips from Tooncast, which BigFatRobot2002 obtained the DVD-quality rips from, also have also been uploaded to a Google Doc. Latin Spanish dubs of most episodes (excluding Groovesicle and the pilot episode, two of which are unconfirmed to have existed in Spanish) have been found; Only 10 episodes are available in Brazillian Portuguese. https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B3bfMI5ZZEpGX2RuNTQ0ZXpCUFk

Episode Name Original Voice Bobby Block Episode Name Original Voice Bobby Block
Pilot Found Found
S1E1A Electric Boogaloo Found Found S1E1B The Groovesicle Found Lost
S1E2A Politics Found Found S1E2B Growth Spurts Found Found
S1E3A P.U. to P.E. Found Found S1E3B Vacuum Friend Found Found
S1E4A Parents Found Found S1E4B Embarrassment Found Found
S1E5A Cube Wars Found Found S1E5B Sickness Found Found
S1E6A Jealousy Found Found S1E6B Scantron Love Found Found
S2E1A Gender Lost Found S2E1B Math Challenge Lost Found
S2E2A Family Vacation Lost Found S2E2B Hair Lost Found
S2E3A Garage Band Lost Found S2E3B Work Lost Found
S2E4A The Yogmans Strike Back Lost Found S2E4B Hookie 101 Lost Found
S2E5A House Party Lost Found S2E5B School Newspaper Lost Found
S2E6A Safety Patrol Lost Found S2E6B Popularity Lost Found
S2E7A Summer Camp Lost Found S2E7B Rules of Dating Lost Found
Risk Lost Existence Unconfirmed Robot Grafitti Lost Existence Unconfirmed
History of Robotics Lost Existence Unconfirmed
Talk Show Lost Existence Unconfirmed
3rd unknown episode Lost Existence Unconfirmed
untitled/planned ending Lost Existence Unconfirmed

Gallery

Screenshots

Videos

The newly discovered episodes.

Some old commercials for the show that use the older voice.

A promo (with the original voice).

CN Fridays bumper.

Kick-ass poster can be seen at 20:59.

Better-audio VHS rip of "Pilot", "Politics", and an incomplete "PU to P.E.".

References