Tobot facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Tobot |
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Opening title card for the English dub
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| Directed by | Nico |
| Country of origin | South Korea |
| Original language(s) | Korean |
| No. of seasons | 4 (English version) 19 (Korean version) |
| No. of episodes | 102 (English version) 392 (Korean version) |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) | Young Toys Retrobot Studio Button (Tobot V/Tobot Galaxy Detectives) |
| Running time | 22 minutes (English version) |
| Release | |
| Original network | JEI TV, Tooniverse |
| Original release | March 2010 – December 2015 |
Tobot is a cool South Korean animated television series that first aired in 2010. It was created by companies called Young Toys and Retrobot. The show is famous for its amazing transforming cars. These cars can turn into powerful robots! Some special Tobots, like Tobot W and Tobot Y, can even fly.
An official English version of the show was made in Canada by Ocean Productions and Blue Water Studios. This version aired in 2018 and was available on Netflix.
Contents
What is Tobot About?
The story of Tobot begins with a smart scientist named Dr. Franklin Char. He was investigating some strange car accidents when he mysteriously disappeared. This event activated his special inventions: the "Tobots"! These are cars that can transform into robots. They use a special key called a "Tokey" to change their form.
Dr. Char's first two Tobots were Tobot X and Tobot Y. He entrusted them to his twin sons, Ryan and Kory. Ryan got Tobot X, and Kory got Tobot Y. Together, these brave kids and their robot friends work to solve mysteries, fight bad guys, and keep their neighborhood safe.
How Did Tobot Begin?
The idea for Tobot came from Young Toys in the early 2000s. They wanted to create an animated series and toys that would appeal to younger kids. Shows like Transformers and Power Rangers were popular with older elementary school children. Young Toys decided to make Tobot for kids in primary school and kindergarten.
What's really interesting is how they made it. Usually, toy companies get licenses from animation studios after a show is already made. But Young Toys did the opposite! They first created the animated series and its characters. Only after that did they start producing the cool Tobot toys. This way, the toys and the show were perfectly matched from the start.
What About Other Tobot Shows?
The Tobot universe has grown quite a bit! A spin-off series called Athlon Tobot aired for three seasons from 2016 to 2017. After that, the series got a fresh start in 2018 with a reboot called Tobot V. In the English version, this show is known as Tobot: Galaxy Detectives.
Tobot V was animated by Studio Button, a different animation studio. They also made shows like Jurassic Cops and Fire Robo. Just like the original series, Tobot: Galaxy Detectives was also available on Netflix. Tobot V ran for three and a half seasons, from 2018 until 2022. A new sequel to the original series, called Tobot: Heroes of Daedo City (or Daedo's Heroes), was released in 2023. For this new series, Retrobot returned as the animation studio. It features exciting new Tobots that are designed after Hyundai cars, instead of Kia vehicles.
Interesting facts about Tobot
- The name "Tobot" comes from combining "robot" with "auto" (meaning car)!
- To celebrate the fifth anniversary of Tobot, Young Toys built a huge statue of a Tobot that was eight meters tall (which is about 26 feet) and weighed three tons. The statue was placed at the Sky Park and was on display for fans to see until 2019.
- You can watch Tobot in both Korean and English. The episodes are available on Young Toys' official YouTube channel.
- The toys from the show became super popular in South Korea. In fact, in 2013, the Tobot toy line was even more popular than Lego there!
