Sav the Episodes!
This is the original pilot for Molly, Star Racer, which later became Oban, Star-Racers.
Years ago, I met Savin Yeatman-Eiffel at MTV Animation, when he was pitching an animated show called Squat. We kept in touch for a while and I even got to tour his studio, Sav The World!, when I was visiting Paris. A few years later, the entire studio picked up and moved to Japan to make Oban. For a while, you could watch it on ABC Family/Jetix in the US, and later, Toon Disney. Now the complete series is finally available on DVD.
For fans of anime-inspired kids’ shows, this French/Japanese co-production is far superior to most in character design, animation, imagination, and plot.
More on the jump, so jump!
Oban Star-Racers - Volume 1: The Alwas Cycle and Oban Star-Racers - Volume 2: The Oban Cycle have been released by Shout Factory. Bonuses include a behind-the-scenes doc, concept art, and a MIPCOM presentation!
Here are some interviews (1, 2) with Savin where he discussed the evolution of the show. Particularly interesting to me is the story of how he had to resist suggestions to turn Molly into a boy!
And if you are into vinyl figures, Muttpop has some preliminary designs up for the soon-to-be-released Oban vinyl.
PS: Yes, Savin is related to that Eiffel. He is the great-great-grandson of Gustav.
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