wait remember Storm Hawks I really think you do as this has been one of the most requested videos
I think I've ever had it was a Cartoon Network and YTV collaboration project that was created
by ASAP Ace fibkey that aired from 2007 to 2009 for two action-packed seasons stormhawks was a
wildly fun and inventive series that took place in a fantasy world that was just so immersive and
exciting with a found family band of characters that are each so unique and interesting the show
had a lot to offer its audience unfortunately it didn't really get a fair shot to shine in
the spotlight before its abrupt demise at its core Storm Hawks is a constant struggle
for every character the struggle to do good the struggle to survive every character has
their own motivations and development we see our main characters Prevail and their Heroes fall we
experience what raw power at the hands of the evil cyclonians can do and how that power can
corrupt anyone there's just so much to unpack and so much to wrap your head around I know it was a
lot for me at first as watching the the series was actually my first experience with the show
it was a natural transition for me to check this show out after looking through Slugterra but I had
a lot of fun with it and I'm excited to get into what made the show so strong so if you enjoy the
video you better subscribe let's take flight into the world of Storm Hawks all hope lost until now
our setting is the Fantastical world of Atmos right off the bat it is a similar concept to
the World building of Slugterra but honestly a bit more visually understandable Atmos mainly consists
of large plateaus of land sort of like giant mesas that are known as teras below those towering mesas
is the NoNo land in Slugterra we call it the dark Caverns but in Storm Hawks it's known as the
wastelands This lends itself to a simple ongoing sentiment from our heroes when they're fighting
in the air don't fall the fiery wastelands are incredibly dangerous and filled with monstrous
creatures as a result the main method of travel from one Tera to another would have to be flight
everything from airships to weapons are reliant on these magically powerful crystals that create
energy and come in many different flavors some have specific uses for example there are speed
advantages with the velocity Crystal the burner Crystal emits light and there's a cheese Crystal
that turns things into cheese what I wouldn't give for that other crystals are just highly rare and
Powerful so they're highly he sought after like the Aurora Stone infinity stone in the Helix
Crystal not that I want to spend the whole video comparing this to Slugterra but from my experience
from one show to the other this at least in my mind points to the Slugs and their powers in
that show there's a lot of familiar Concepts at a base level here that make it a lot easier to enter
this world being familiar with those structures so I'd say it's quite the positive thing going
into Storm Hawks visually I'm on board story wise I'm invested in character wise I care the main
characters of Storm Hawks are Arrow Piper junko Finn stork and radar the series starts off with
our gang of Heroes battling our main antagonistic force in an action-packed two-parter we learn most
of what we need to in the intro their enemies are the cyclonians but more specifically their
evil ruler named master cyclonus in the intro we learn of the backstory that includes a gang of
established Sky Knights who would Patrol the skies on their transforming motorcycle ships
called skimmers the knights were betrayed by one of their own dark Ace who joined forces
with master cyclonus and defeated them but like I said our story lies with our five main characters
many years later the mantle of Master cyclonus has been taken up by her granddaughter who proves to
be just as maniacal as her grandmother and decides to use her influence followers in
nuclear grade Crystal powered weapons to destroy as many Terrors and Atmos as she can just evil
people doing evil people things we'd love to see it oh crud my name's arrow and I'm a sky Knight
take to the sky with arrows skimmer 3 Ultra the leader of the gang is Arrow voiced by Sam Vincent
who also voices Eli Shane the protagonist of Slugterra see the comparisons just compare
themselves but again this is a good thing I see this as an absolute win arrow is a young redhead
who Sports a traditional heroic personality with a strong bloodline connection to one of the original
Sky Knights that were defeated years prior it's funny how they call him the last descendant of
lightning strike when the series only takes place 10 years after their defeat like just say Dad it's
not like he was a distant ancestor or anything but either way his bloodline and strong moral compass
have paved the way for him to be a traditional leader era was also very talented at flying and
in air combat as he doesn't hesitate to take risks in order to do what needs to be done also because
dark Ace is thought to have killed Sky Knight lightning strike it makes sense that they would
have such a strong connection and hatred towards one another the whole Inigo Montoya complex
and all next we have Piper voiced by chiarazani Piper is by far an essential member of the team
as a crystal specialist she is able to use and refine crystals so that the team has energy to
power their vehicles and weapons and of course charcuterie man I just want them cheese Powers
she also proves to be essential to the team and her meticulously thought out plans although they
ignore her most of the time anyway in improv and if science magic and strategy wasn't enough she
also is a uniquely skilled fighter having mastered the martial art called skyfu personality wise she
is particular and opinionated at the same time oh and I forgot this too towards the second half of
the last season a huge reveal is made emphasizing that Piper is actually more of the chosen one
figure than Arrow which I am curious how that played out for fans back when this originally
premiered I think it's cool how it's portrayed I just did not see it coming at first Finn is
another member of the group voiced by Matt Hill Finn serves as the comic relief he is distracted
Often by women same and can be lazy arrogant and prone to lying but he also has extremely precise
aim making him valuable to the team due to his Sharp Shooting skill what he lacks in personality
he makes up for in Scopes but in reality he does balance out the team and provides an extremely
flawed character that occasionally learns from his mistakes and is still astonishingly loyal to the
group after all when the team is constantly faced with so many of their idols and allies siding with
the cyclonians for different reasons including money Fame and their livelihoods and more Finn
wouldn't do any of those things his heart is always in the right place junko is the engineer
of the group voiced by Colin Murdoch junko is actually not human like Arrow Piper and Finn he
is a wallop a species that is kind of like a rhino known for his strength but is also stereotyped as
low intelligence while junko is strong breaks the stereotypes as he is definitely intelligent
he's at least smarter than me I don't know the first thing about aircraft mechanics all I know
is that plane go personality wise he fits into the gentle giant Trope being a very sensitive
and warm guy he also tends to be extremely timid lacking confidence in himself stork is
also another non-human member of the group he is voiced by Scott McNeil and is the pilot of their
ship the Condor he is of the merb species his personality is quickly established as paranoid
and doom-pilled a lot of these traits could be traced to his original Terra as merbia is known
for its constantly occurring natural disasters that would obviously require any inhabitants to
be hyper aware of their surroundings it could also be thanks to the number of years spent trying to
survive in the wastelands he is the smartest out of the whole group with an incredible memory and
is also recognized for his inventions that are proven to be incredibly useful in Saving Lives
although stork can be seen as cowardly in many instances his character actually tends to change
over the course of the series and it becomes more confident and proves that you can be both afraid
and selfless at the same time radar is the last member of the group he is non-verbal but when
he does make noise those sounds are provided by Ace himself radar is kind of a cross between a
rabbit or a lemur but seems to have more emotional intelligence than being just a pet he is the group
group's official Vibe Checker knowing immediately whether or not someone poses a threat to the group
he's also arrows co-pilot and seems to be bonded with arrow the most out of anyone in the group
originally he was found by Arrow seven to eight years prior and the two of them have been together
ever since Arrow also grew up alongside Piper and Finn and the three of them didn't meet junko until
later on when they were defending their Fortress from a cyclonian youth Brigade which included
junko he decided to change sides and join the rest of the group to reform the Storm Hawks after Arrow
was told it was his Destiny to reform them they traveled to the Wasteland to retrieve the old
Storm Hawks Condor ship which was at the time currently housing stork who was taking Refuge
when his home was attacked by cyclonians and so the team was formed the series developed from
one of Ace's past show ideas revolving around two concepts one transforming flying motorcycles and
two the fighters on those vehicles that Ace dubs the sky Knights these thoughts were then developed
into the series we know today with the next step being creation of the character Ace specifies
that each character is actually just versions of himself as a kid or of kids that he knew growing
up at their core they were all just struggling for something for Arrow it was the struggle to do the
right thing junko is struggling with confidence Finn is struggling to be humble Piper struggles
to be patient and Stork is just struggling to survive from start to finish Ace estimates that
it would take around four to four and a half months to complete a single episode they were
expected to deliver a show every two weeks and at any given time the creative team was working on
around six episodes at once this shorter animation production time could be thanks to the Unique
Style shared with other shows animated by his company nerdcore like Slugterra and Hot Wheels
Battle Force 5. as I talked about my Slugterra video nerdcore was founded in 2002 by Ace and
Chuck Johnson after leaving a larger animation Company the company was later acquired by dhx
entertainment which later rebranded as wild brain the animation is mainly CG but in Storm Hawks we
get a bit more detailing that really makes it look you unique it's thanks to both a fusion of
CG and 2D animation which Ace calls Blockbuster Saturday morning animation he says that it still
has that feeling of a television show but with all the fancy additions and finishing that they
could give it and it is not only unique but it actually does look good I already praised
the style in my Slugterra video and I have to say that it also does a good job in making CG not feel
too aggressively CG it also allows the series to show off the Landscapes and the settings that the
characters are in which is essential in trying to immerse your viewer in a fantasy world stormhawks
does an amazing job at showing off the world that they have built if anything in the series
Falls flat it most definitely would not be that I like details but when you have too many details it
transform into bike boat and ride something that the series boasts is a very diverse age
demographic Ace mentioned that it's thanks to the sophisticated stories that they would try and tell
he says they are not super formulaic and are stories that the creative team themselves would
be interested in following as adults while the series still includes the visual gags and super
action-packed sequences for thrill-seeking younger kids they also put heavy emphasis on well-rounded
characters that really drive the heart of the show for the most part I kind of agree that characters
do have extremely interesting and unique backgrounds Which shapes their characters in
the show as the story moves along but in general a lot of this potential is overlooked or thrown
away the strongest episodes in the series are the ones which focus on the actual furthering of the
plot but for me those episodes were too few and far between the second half of the second season
is well regarded as the most engaging portion of the series really digging into the larger
continuing plot not necessarily obsessing over small filler episodes but overall I think think
the show is pretty great but its biggest flaw is that it's left with so much potential that's the
word I want to use because it did build a tangible world something that took its time to develop and
felt lived in and on to that the action in the show being top-notch and having a heavy focus on
delivering a lot of entertainment through that I personally love the creatures and the monsters we
find throughout the land they feel creative and most times terrifying to take head-on the world
is just so cool to see something I think Ace and the team he worked with are great at doing
for their shows they always emphasize the world around them from the designs of the world to the
creatures that fill it it has the progression of a video game building up this team working towards
your goal but still having these Standalone side moments that would take the front Seed where the
main story wouldn't come back into play until later when it needed to start heating up again
which I think played into people starting to turn away from the series as season 2 would
start really pushing the story harder starting to give you answers and a lot of understanding of the
world would come to light which can be a lot to ask for if the first season was mostly anything
but that unfortunately right as it seemed as the story was starting to fully kick off in the second
season were built up with this giant plot the final battle something incredible was about to
happen and it was left on a gigantic Cliffhanger because it was canceled the last episode aired
in April of 2009 and we know that it was not necessarily planned out by Ace or the creative
team in an interview in 2007 Ace mentions that the series has been ordered for a total of 52 episodes
and that he has plans to continue the series past that point he was mainly talking in the form of a
couple feature-length episodes after the initial 52 most likely detailing the ensuing fight against
Master cyclonus after the team follows her into The Far Side how chilling I feel like Storm Hawks
has a lot to offer in terms of Storytelling and World building it was able to establish
some really solid foundations that we were just getting to build upon before its abrupt end I will
argue that it could have used its time better but despite that it absolutely deserved more
room to grow and Thrive I just loved the concept of terras in the Wasteland although villain
motivations are pretty simple and black and white the motivations of our heroes are established
so well each character has flaws and room to grow that again they just needed time for so
what happened to the series if Ace was planning on continuing it from the start well Cartoon Network
decided to not renew the series for a third season like I mentioned from Ace's interview
in 2007 he was looking to extend the series beyond the TV series and create feature-length episodes
of what I assume would be the Storm Hawks final battle with Master cyclonus but unfortunately we
don't know much more than that it could be that it couldn't compete with other similar shows
airing around the same time like avatar The Last Airbender but again we don't know that for sure
it may not have had enough support to continue on even though there was a solid fan base but
shows on other networks were one thing dealing with how its own network in the states Cartoon
Network was starting to become a different network for a while is another from the live
action era being this huge Focus for them as well as the cartoons that would birth from the other
side of that being in their own wheelhouse and their rise sweeping over the cartoon world can
be Cutthroat to get a nice and supportive audience for your show but it gets harder when everything
that truly took away viewership opportunities was all mainly on your same network they were planning
on further expansions of the Storm Hawks brand as there was a game that was in development called
storm Hawk sky race which was an MMORPG that allowed the player to build their own Sky Knight
and personalize their armor weapons and vehicles in the game they would be allowed to fight against
other players and compete in tournaments receiving crystals and rewards the game unfortunately never
got out of beta but fans were able to test out the beta version on the nerdcore website but the site
was taken down after what we could assume was the company being absorbed into dhx entertainment now
wild brain in addition to that game there were also some Comics that were in development that
unfortunately didn't go very far there was one issue distributed at Toronto animecon in
2009 that featured one story technically it was an ashkan comic which means that it was mainly
created to establish copyright while no more of the line of comics were created there was a mini
comic titled stormhawks the Escape that was a DVD exclusive when the first season was released on
DVD there was a merchandising promotional strategy and plan too originally to start in the spring of
2008 which included lots of toys Vehicles action figures Collectibles and more and I'm not gonna
lie some of them look really really cool the series even had fast food toys because of course
it did the stormhawks brand was going to have a lot to offer the creators clearly had a strong
plan for all of it and had a lot of passion behind it similar to Slugterra they could go the way of
the show now which on YouTube has come back in the form of shorts continuing parts of the story's
post the show ending which has garnered some attention so it may be a cool Avenue to take Storm
Hawks as well make it into the online ecosystem and Garner the fans back around another ride in
the sky to finish what was started it one thing I hate is when a cartoon cannot wrap up its story
and you're left on this incredible Cliffhanger and unfortunately Storm Hawks falls into that
category of a lot of build up a really cool Cliffhanger and no closure so despite not having
a satisfying ending to the series The fandom still lives on and these fans that are online
are still very active campaigning for the series to make a comeback or to just get people into it
so keep fighting Sky Knights you never know what is possible in this day and age would you like to
see Storm Hawks come back in some shape or form and what were some of your favorite parts of
the series let me know in the comments thanks so much for watching like And subscribe later foreign