My Favorite 'Toons: RoboCop: Alpha Commando

Since the 1980s, kidvid has always had the argument about whether or not to make a kids' cartoon based on a clearly R-rated movie. The ROBOCOP franchise won that argument, not just once but twice: the 80s version mostly based on the first movie (except when they brought Clarence the gang leader back to life) and this 90s version--which I think is better than the first, maybe better than the live-action movies, in my humble opinion.

According to this show, it's the year 2030 in New Detroit City, where crime still runs rampant but RoboCop, aka Alex Murphy, had been taken offline five years ago. Then the U.S. government's covert law enforcement group Division Alpha puts Robo back online as an agent, teamed up with Alpha Agent Nancy Miner, an Asian American divorcee with a young son named Matt, a habit of complaining about not having enough money, and a penchant for recklessness on the job. Her last partner was killed by a robot, so upon first meeting RoboCop, she refused to work with another robot. Then Murphy gives his catchphrase, "I am not a robot." By the end of their first mission, though, Miner declares Robo "the best man I've ever worked with."

RoboCop's technical support comes from Dr. Cornelius Neumier, a twentysomething tech genius and Nick Carter lookalike (with glasses) who's the show's confirmed coward. He's not much in a fight, but he comes through for Robo and company when it counts. "Neumie" also has a rival in Charlotte (pronounced "Charlotta") Tannenbaum, a female genius jealous of his being recognized more than she--simply because he's male. This doesn't stop Neumier from having a schoolboy crush on the woman in two episodes: "The Weakest Link" and "O Tannenbaum, Whoa Tannenbaum" (the Christmas episode).

RoboCop is still a city police officer, so he still has to answer to Sgt. Joe Reed, his boss at Metro West Precinct and a character from the live-action movies, who here sports a grey Mohawk and a bit of paunch but is still a tough guy. Robo's other boss, from Division Alpha, is the shadowy Alpha Prime, who is revealed to be using a gadget-laden wheelchair when in the field.

Now to the villains: DARC (Directorate of Anarchy, Revenge and Chaos) is headed by the evil cyborg Mister Brink, whose claw replaces the right arm he lost fighting Murphy back when they were still fully human. His minions include Supervisor Gonov and Ilsa Lustig, the Boris & Natasha knockoffs; the ERG, a totally manufactured creature who longs to be human; and Marta Kluge, a woman with a cybernetic exoskeleton and a killer manicure. There is also Rexor, a giant robot who doesn't quite understand RoboCop's human feelings, which is probably why he lets Robo literally trip him up in the show's opening.

For me, the best part about ROBOCOP: ALPHA COMMANDO is its sense of humor, a PG version of the humor in the three original movies. Not only is there Neumier's cowardice to laugh at, but a lot of the villains admit that their unhappy childhoods made them bad guys. But the funniest parts of the show are the segments of NEWSBITE, the most popular newscast in New Detroit, with its Ken-and-Barbie anchors Gerald Prattle and Fawn Glibly. It's the cartoon's tribute to MEDIABREAK, the newscast from the first two ROBOCOP movies.

Instead of boring you with episode synopses, let me tell you about the most moving scene of the series for me. In the two-part episode "Family Reunion," DARC locates and kidnaps RoboCop's wife and young son, who had been in the Witness Protection Program after Murphy became a cyborg. Robo comes to their rescue not letting on who he really is but giving them Alex Murphy's old badge with a recording of him saying he'll always love them. As the two escape, RoboCop looks on and sheds a tear while whispering, "Goodbye."