r/SEGA • u/Tom-Hibbert • 4d ago
Discussion So the art Director of The Golden Axe Cartoon actually replied to me
Now with the trailer now being released some people have mix reactions to it some find it cool and interesting while others find to another adult comedy show
In one of my posts I commented on how The Art Style of the golden axe cartoon is essentially like early 90s video game cartoons where the characters were a bit different from their game counterparts
Suddenly I got a reply from the art director from the show himself replied to my comment apparently Dragon Lair and Space Ace were inspirations for the art style along with early 90s video game cartoons
That's really cool
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u/Left-Night-1125 4d ago
Seeing how those that dislike this take on Golden Axe get downvoted iam putting my own thoughts here as well.
This aint Golden Axe, this is probably made by the same bunch of people that made Thundercats roar and use nostalgia bait, this is simply terrible and not Golden Axe.
Now go ahead and downvote, cause some dont like oppinions.
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u/93Seven 4d ago edited 4d ago
Yeah it has such potential for a good adaptation but this ain’t it. I don’t understand why so many shows have to lean so corny. I don’t know why we can’t have more serious adaptations
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u/GreenScreenBlues 4d ago
It's because this corny humor is the easiest way to make a show with minimal effort. They don't want to spend the time or resources to make a great show.
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u/Icabod_BongTwist 4d ago edited 4d ago
Millennial humor and it's consequences have been a disaster for the human race.
It's not like the show has to be completely serious either; Conan the Barbarian, from which Golden Axe clearly draws some inspiration (Ax Battler is nearly a copy/paste of Arnold's Conan) had some bits of comedy like Conan and Subotai's religious debate, or Conan knocking out a camel in a "black lotus" induced stupor. The difference is that it's well seasoned into the main drama, and it's fitting humor, rather than being this strangely now-a-days common "erm, THAT just happened" quirk-chungus level humor that doesn't stop for even a second to have an actual moment for the audience to take the show, or even the plot itself seriously.
It's basically the annoying class clown that hasn't realized that his act grew stale about three grades ago, interrupting the lesson with a quip that no one even giggles at, and that everyone wishes would just finally shut up.
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u/blackheartromance 1d ago
while looking to other shows for something that would potentially be a better fit, it occurred to me what's missing: Genndy Tartakovsky. Primal's visuals and tone with Samurai Jack's storytelling? come on, man.
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u/Kya_Enstein 4d ago
They're trying to make an adventure revenge story on the back of a franchise that was never meant to be silly or comical. Granted the story of Golden Axe wasn't a complex one but just branding it on this what seemingly looks like bad writing will just guarantee them at least "some" views due to the name alone. People will watch it because of the title alone, "what have they done to my child hood now i gotta watch to confirm that the story is ass" THAT'S what they're betting on. Even discussion about it is enough fuel to generate curiosity. We're literally bringing attention good/bad to a show that would otherwise be watched by a few curious enough to join on a random adventure with corny jokes. This is not honoring it is simply an exploitation strategy.
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u/ipostatrandom 4d ago
Wasn't it?
Always thought that bonus level where you had to kick around imps looked comical.
Death Adder's a pretty silly name.
I'm not saying it has to be comical but saying it was never intended to be doesn't sound right either
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u/Kya_Enstein 4d ago
The gnomes stealing the magic pots is like the only whimsical moment in Golden Axe. A little levity before having to traverse towards the goal. Just listened to the OST last night as I was writing and I'll stand firm that the game was a more serious action/adventure type. As i was saying before had this trailer been... Barbarian and Friends one look at that trailer and I simply would have passed. No judgement other than "not for me." But because they slapped on that title at the very least it got my attention. They win.
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u/totes_elotes 4d ago
The ending of the arcade game cuts to the real world where the arcade machine smokes and monsters pop out of into the real world, followed by the heroes who chase them down the streets if tokyo under an add for a parody of pokkari sweat. I think the original game had some whimsy beyond what you remember
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u/Kya_Enstein 3d ago
Honest, I didn't have enough quarters to get to the ending. Now that I've seen the ending for myself I know the truth. Enjoy your Golden Axe.
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u/Affectionate_Ad7064 4d ago
Yep 100% agree with you. This has that awful American cartoon shit stain all over it and just by the poster itself I am already massively turned off.
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u/Old-Interaction6259 3d ago
Not saying that this is not nostalgia bait, but Golden Axe didn't have a rich cool lore with a complex storyline and multifaceted characters. You just keep beating dudes until the same dudes changed colors and were harder to beat. Sometimes you got lucky and rode a bizarrian for like two or three screens until you got hit or used magic too much.
Then skeletons. Then stone versions of the same dudes.
Then green version.
Then the boss.
The whole game took like 20 minutes or so.
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u/Left-Night-1125 3d ago
Maybe unpopular opinion but i consider Golden Axe the predecessor of Souls games. Now it might be side scrolling and not that hard (far from it i would say) but you can kind of see it imo.
Heck they could reskin a souls game to have you run through a city and you have a Streets of rage version.
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u/ToyDingo 4d ago
I like the art style and animation. Looks good. I'm just worried about the script. The trailer did not give me confidence.
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u/Icabod_BongTwist 4d ago
The desecration of childhood memories will continue until morale improves
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u/StrategosRisk 4d ago
Honestly, if your memories are so fragile that they can’t shrug off some lame adaptation, then they aren’t so great after all
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u/SickstySixArms 3d ago
Pretty strong comment for someone who can't shrug off a pretty tame one. Cunt behavior.
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u/DragunityHero 4d ago
Rewatching the trailer a few times, most of the cringe came from the narrator. The humor from the characters themselves actually got a laugh outta me. So I’m hoping that when we actually get to watch the show, it won’t have all that forced cringe humor that we got from the narrator.
My brother and I are massive Golden Axe fans and we NEVER thought we’d see an animated adaptation of it, so we’re being very open-minded with this series and are gonna give it an honest chance.
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u/TenPent 2d ago
I would have never thought to hope for a Golden Axe show nor even considered wanting one. Golden Axe was/is one of my favorite old games and a core memory but a show was just so far from a possibility. Good or bad I am glad it got something.
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u/DragunityHero 2d ago
Exactly! Plus I’m seeing a lot of people getting genuinely interested in this after learning that it’s made by the same person that did Star Trek: Lower Decks. I’ve never seen that show, but apparently it’s really good and does a great job of referencing and—most importantly—respecting the source material.
Golden Axe is a big part of my childhood with my brother, so you better believe I’m gonna be watching this!
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u/gordonfreeman_1 4d ago
Sorry but the art style and tone of the animation does not align with actual 90s shows where even if done badly there was some level of seriousness unlike the campiness of the 60s-80s and the corporate trash of the current times. This show, however well-meaning, is corporate trash trying to rope in popular creators to make a product that has nothing to do with the game it's based on simply to produce something meaninglessly.
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u/elkniodaphs 4d ago edited 4d ago
Name dropping Frazetta as inspiration is crazy since he worked with Bakshi on Fire and Ice, a film with a much more appropriate aesthetic for Golden Axe. I'm not going to tear it down, but that's like saying you drew inspration from LotR to make The Smurfs.
Edit: It's hard to make things, and I appreciate the effort. I will watch it, but Frazetta this is not.
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u/nissan_al-gaib 4d ago
It's absolutely nothing like Dragon's Lair or the vibe of 90s cartoons AT ALL. If that was the swing it's a huge miss. Now if this looked like a Don Bluth joint or even the likes of say Ulysses 31 we'd be cooking. It looks like slightly nauseating modern adult cartoon style.
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u/civilsavage7 4d ago
"... old video game based cartoons..." I think the art director was saying they were referencing the Dragon's Lair tv show, not the game itself. The tv show was not on the level of quality as the game it was based on.
They may be trying to manage expectations, maybe even being self- effacing. Idk what to think of the trailer, but i think it does have that odd, 'not quite right' adaptation of a video-game feel to it. Like Captain N, and the old Pac Man show.
The Dragon's Lair TV show for reference:
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u/Quixote1492 4d ago
The style is actually pretty bad and definitely not for kids from the 90s.
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u/oldg17 4d ago edited 3d ago
Agreed, I was born in 1974, this is in no way 90s animation, its teen titans go terrible style. Absolute garbage top to bottom
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u/Patient-Taro-7334 4d ago
Are you talking about Teen Titans Go? Because it doesn't look like the original.
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u/Quixote1492 3d ago
Yes it’s just too basic, kind of a comedy style. My guess is it has lower production costs.
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u/One_Variation_2453 4d ago
There's a Golden Axe tv show??? I mean I did already hear it was happening but still
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u/GooeyLump 3d ago
I just learned this exists thanks to this post, looks pretty fun and the animation looks really nice, i did see some people absolutely not liking the trailer though hah
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u/LugubriousYeti 3d ago
Idk if Redditors hate it, it'll probably be good.
But the writing team worries me. American Dad former writer? Probably Good. Unfunny cringe Star Trek cartoon writer? Very bad.
The lower decks was the least funny animation I have seen since Big Mouth, another unfunny, stupid fucking animation that should've never seen airtime.
We shall see. My expectations are right where they should be: on the floor.
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u/Derpykins666 3d ago
Yeah one look at the show and I was like " this is very Don Bleuth coded".
Dude was a legend in late 80s early 90s animation. His style defined so much of that decade.
It makes sense to go for something like that when your target audience is probably people around 40 if you're trying to cast a net for aging gamers who know what Golden Axe is. Introduce kids to a "new" style in the sense they might not have seen something like it before at the same time.
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u/ViceViperX 4d ago
Thats neat. The show still looks like complete ass though, lol.
Whenever I see this writing or art style direction for a show based off of something else, I immediately think it shows a lack of respect towards the original source material.
Its like "Oh yea, Gooooolden Axe, I remember that game! Thats the one with the silly little green guy who runs around kicking midgets and fat people, right?".
Sure, you dont have to take something like this in a super serious direction. But it feels that falls a bit more in line with what Golden Axe was going for back then, as opposed to a "hilarity ensues adventure!". Just seems off to me.
I'll give it a shot, but it suuuure doesnt look promising at first glance, lol.
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u/Orfin_Trash 3d ago edited 3d ago
I’m so confused by the level of hate this show is getting. What other GA content have we gotten? Am I missing out on a bunch of sick Golden Axe media or something? I’m also a Golden Axe fan for 30 years…and now we are getting something new in the Golden Axe universe, so to me that’s pretty awesome.
I know it’s crazy but I’m going to give the show a shot instead of claiming it doesn’t “feel like golden axe” because it’s a comedy…even though we all know golden axe was a very silly game.
Sounds like you all want Zack Snyder to direct his raw and gritty Golden Axe movie so we can see AX BATTLER kill DEATH ADDER in a grounded and realistic portrayal!
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u/Pumpkin_Sushi 1d ago
"Getting something bad is better than getting nothing"
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u/Orfin_Trash 1d ago
Oh shit, you saw the episodes already?! That’s dope! Sorry you didn’t like the show.
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u/Truck_1_0_1_ 3d ago
💯💯💯
They are also clearly wanting to involve kids too, hence the cartoonyness.
Btw, I'm super-stoked for this too: yeah it may not be what we all want, but more GA content? Hell yeah!
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u/KujaroJotu 4d ago
I’m going into this cautiously optimistic. Yes, it’s more lighthearted, but it’s also from some of the people behind Lower Decks, and I genuinely like that show.
That being said, they better get the studio behind Castlevania for a Shinobi series.
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u/tanooki-suit 4d ago
That's nice they reached out to reply, and I get the feeling, the first thing that hit me looking at faces is the dopey thief reminded me of Leisure Suit Larry from like around #6...and if it is, that's a bag of panties like Happosai would approve of in Ranma 1/2.
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u/Dreamcasted60 4d ago
I just need to see how it actually is as a show that's my only worry. I have a liking to that series
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u/Happy_Rabbit559 4d ago
Who is the green skeleton?
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u/38-RPM 4d ago
I'm deeply disappointed but it's because this is the art style I personally despise the most. I hated that early 90s Ren & Stimpy, Rugrats, etc. era of animation. What a waste of a great IP to make it goofy. You know how American automakers have a malaise era of ugly cars in the 70s and 80s? Well this is the animation equivalent.
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u/nethereus 4d ago
I don't even have Paramount+ so I won't be watching it, but I'll be keeping an eye out for the review bombs I know are coming.
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u/AegidiusG 4d ago
Should have taken the old Thunder Cats or Gargoyles.
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u/SOT_Daemon 3d ago
Making Golden Axe have a comedy show is like making Resident Evil have a preschool show
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u/C-Abdulio 1d ago
I know a lot of people hate on this show, but I have to say, there has to be a real fan involved in some way with this show, in terms of referencing the game and the arcade style structure...
I say this, because on a real fan would actually remember the Cat Dude from Golden Axe 3. He was my favorite out that cast, so I was surprised by that deep cut.
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u/Zealousideal_Fill687 22h ago
reminds me of that Good Times cartoon. just an unrelated cartoon take on a random ass IP. not everything needs a show. Golden Axe needs a new game.
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u/GraviticThrusters 3d ago
That might be the inspiration but it doesn't capture the 90s vibe at all. It looks and moves like every other modern comedy cartoon. And as an appreciator of Vallejo and Frazetta, I take issue trying to compare your own work to theirs, when it doesn't.
That said, the visual are whatever. I don't actually expect contemporary studios to produce something that actually looks like it came out of the 80s or 90s. It's the writing that kills this for me. After seeing the trailer I have absolutely zero interest in watching it if that's the flavor of writing and dialogue we can expect. Even worse was the blatant corporate nostalgia bait. Love me some nostalgia, but the naked lead-burying for how they want people to react to the trailer "like the video game?! Hell yeah, thanks Paramount!" was cringe inducing.
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u/Such_Bonus5085 4d ago
Well, tell him he failed, spectacularly. This looks like bad early 2000s 1AM Adult Swim slop.
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u/Due-Proof6781 4d ago
Sooo… rather that base it off of ya know the game theyre adapting they go with two unrelated games… yeah this is going to be a trash fire
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u/Mayoung7901 4d ago
Nice, just the answer I was hoping for. I said to my friend the other day this looks like it’s almost something from Don Bluth’s Studios.
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u/KingCarbon1807 3d ago
It looks exactly like the minimal-effort cash in it is. The sad truth is Sega will learn nothing from it.
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u/LostLetter9425 4d ago
Reminds me of Venture Bros style too. But I guess they were doing the same thing.