My brother preferred the space-faring Vehicle Team Voltron.  Me, I always had a thing for the Lion Force.

"Defender Of The Universe!"

I think it had a lot to do with the pilots.  Keith, Lance, Pidge, Princess, and Hunk were just more likeable and more fully fleshed out than the fifteen-member crew of the Space Team.

That, and the whole lion thing.

Recently, a number of images have turned up on the web (courtesy of JoBlo.com), showcasing what appears to be conceptual artwork for the long-gestating, live-action Voltron feature film.

I’ve posted them here so you can have a look-see:

"Looks like Lance forgot to connect the Dynotherms again..."

Here’s another one:

"What happened to Yellow Lion? A Robeast, that's what!"

And last, but not least:

"Are we witnessing the creation of the Blue Lion?"

I’m thrown by how faithful the images are to the original Japanese design:

"The original Lion Voltron."

(If you look really closely at the first image, you can just make out the House Of Arus’ family crest on Voltron’s chest and even the star emblem on Voltron’s “belt!”)

There’s a lot they got right (no hands, for one thing), but the biggest thing for me being a fan of the original cartoon:

Voltron has a face.

An honest-to-goodness face!

With eyes and ears, a nose, and a mouth.

Just like me!

Alright, they’re kitty-cat ears, but still, it looks like something a human being would design, which makes sense.  I’m guessing the Lions are built on Earth this time, instead of originating on some far-off, alien planet (Arus), as in the original cartoon.

Creatively, it makes more sense to have the action take place on Earth.  Mainstream movie goers unfamiliar with the whole “giant-robot-made-up-of-smaller-lion-robots” thing will have one less fantastic element to swallow.  Also, watching a recognizable landmark like the White House get vaporized in Independence Day has way more impact than, say, watching a futuristic-looking castle on some alien planet get crushed by a rampaging Robeast.

The redesigned Lion robots are sleeker, less boxy, and more cat-like (the big guy himself seems a bit more maneuverable as a result) but also bear a disturbing resemblance to the cluttered, messy designs of another, uber-popular, 80s cartoon-turned-live-action-film-franchise:

"Very cat-like, no?"

I’ve voiced my dissatisfaction with the design of the robots in Michael Bay’s two blockbuster Transformers films on numerous occasions.  (You can read more here.)

"Busy like a bee, alright... The design, that is."

While fitting considering he’s named after a bug, Bumblebee’s insectoid head isn’t exactly easy on the eyes:

"A Face Only A Mother Could Love..."

Sure, his eyes are expressive, but beyond that, there’s not much else for the average human moviegoer to relate to.

Admittedly, the Transformers come from an alien planet light years away from our own, so “realistically” why should they have human facial features?  Or legs, for that matter, when a single, giant wheel will do?

Of course, that doesn’t explain the presence of  feline Decepticons like Ravage, pictured above.

Or Earth scorpion-like baddies.  Named Scorponok.

But I digress.

It’s nice to see a human-looking mug on the giant Japanese robot of my youth.

Also, the eyes of the Lions glow differently depending on the color of the Lion – a nice touch.

Promising.  Very promising.

Must’ve taken forever to make…

The artist, Eric Odmyr, says it took over 30 hours, spread out over a few days, to complete.

The music – a song by Bunnymajs called “WHAT DID YOU SAY?” – fits nicely with the retro 8-bit theme, don’t you think? (Thought the music was taken from an old school game myself until I read otherwise on the animator’s YouTube page here.)

Too cute!

A preview of the entire "Super F-ed Up Bros. World 1-1" piece.

It seems that the original Super Mario Bros. World 1-1 continues to be a source of inspiration for artists everywhere (in this case, South Korea).

Just to warn you, the entire piece is a bit graphic in terms of it’s depictions of highly stylized, over the top violence; to view the entire piece, violent bits and all, click here to go to the artist’s page on deviantART.

(I love the way he incorporates the title screen and card and the cool Starman effect midway through.)

You can check out more of his stuff at his work blog here.