Remembering Carl Macek

Carl Macek, one of the creators of the popular anime series “RoboTech,” has passed away at the age of 58.

Macek’s began his work in the field in 1985, when he produced the 85-episode sci-fi epic “Robotech,” a sprawling saga in which humanity must fend off three successive alien invasions that threaten to destroy the Earth.

Macek created “Robotech” by combing three unrelated Japanese series, rewriting each so that it became one chapter in a multi-generational story. He edited out the brief nudity and mild profanity that was fine by Japanese standards but would never fly for a cartoon on American broadcast television. But what he didn’t do was tone down the story.

As a result, “Robotech” was, at the time, unique among animated programs on American TV. Major characters aged over time, learned from their experiences and sometimes even died defending their home planet. “Robotech” was a cartoon in which war was real and violence had consequences. As a result, it gained a strong cult following that continues today.

Even so, “Robotech” wasn’t quite popular enough for Macek to find stable financial backing for his proposed sequel series, “Robotech II: The Sentinels.” So he moved on, co-founding Streamline Pictures along with animation historian Jerry Beck.

He later went on to found Streamline Pictures, which was known for releasing major anime titles such as “Akira” and “Vampire Hunter D”. He was also directly involved in the first English adaptations of many of Hayao Miyazake’s classics such as “Laputa: Castle in the Sky”, “Lupin III: Castle of Cagliostro”, “My Neighbor Totoro.”