wait remember Motor City it was Disney xd's highly styled futuristic car racing Extravaganza
sick whips cool visuals and Mark Hamill what else could you ask for in a show like this it
may be a second season yeah let's ask for that it always seems like action shows whenever they come
out always get the short end of the stick either being mistreated and mishandled by the network or
just not getting the respect that a lot of them deserve in the case of Motor City it was a bit
of everything so today I wanted to take a look back at Motor City how this show came to be and
why I think it's highly underrated so if you enjoy this video you better subscribe let's shift into
one of the coolest shows that Disney ever had Motor City see me for what I truly am follower
in Motor City we are introduced to a new futuristic version of Detroit that is
directly built on top of the old Detroit it was dubbed Detroit Deluxe and below the real freedom
is had in one of the last places that the evil Abraham Kane hasn't been able to get his hands
on yet Motor City which is basically what remains of old Detroit the billionaire Abraham Kane rules
over Detroit Deluxe with a tight fist imposing strict laws on the citizens that live there where
car related transportation is banned our main focus is on a defiant group called The burners
a bunch of rebels who fight back against Kane from controlling Motor City as well it's kind of funny
when you think about this Mark Hamill voices Kane instead of being on the rebel forces side it feels
intentional but Mark Hamill is a master at voicing villainous characters so either way he elevates
the character greatly as a believable antagonist the leader of the burners is Mike voiced by Reed
Scott a 17 year old with the personality of a main protagonist he's funny he's kick butt he plays it
really cool and he puts out this air of confidence that drives his will to take down Kane no pun
intended originally he was working for Kane until he realized who he truly was giving him a personal
reason to fight against Kane knowing firsthand what he has done and is capable of there's Chuck
voiced by Nate Torrance he's the smart one of the group being the one who was an expert at
computers and uses his hacking skills to Aid in any situation the group faces but at the same
time he's pretty much the least Brave constantly fearing doing anything while the rest of the
burners make it look so easy doing dangerous missions nonchalantly Julie voiced by Kate
masuchi is the sneaky one using her internship at Kane CO as a disguise to gather inside information
and have some eyes on the inside but even more closer to Kane as a person as she is actually his
daughter but has no interest in the person he is and just like the rest of the burners would like
to stop him although the burners are unaware of that fact they have no cause to be suspicious as
she's just as much in it with them Dutch voiced by Kell Mitchell is also quite smart being the
the burner's technology guy constantly upgrading the rides for the team but he is very much a loner
in his own right not being as open to trust others and has a major distaste for Detroit Deluxe with
no desire to go back but he puts his all into his passion so you know that the whips in the
show are given such care and treatment as often as he can do so with them along with any tools in
their Arsenal that are worked on for the crew and of course there is Texas voiced by Jess harnell he
is the muscle truly balancing out the team with more impulsivity and less thinking about a plan
propping him up as the number two in the burners possibly becoming the leader whenever Mike would
step away while never questioning Mike as a leader Texas offers some fun conversations with the rest
of the burners some great back and forth but plays his role in the group with ease while
on the surface it may seem like each character fits some form of archetype they play them with
style and subtle Notions that differentiate away from just being this person fitting this
role they all feel unique and necessary to be there sharing screen time and working
together but let's take a look into how this show came to be there was something that guy said
he knows about me we'll be right back to Motor City on Disney XD Motor City Is Awesome [Music]
Motor City comes from the mind of Chris pranowski most famous for a bunch of other awesome shows
like Mega's XLR and downtown Motor City was born from The Concept 10 years prior to it coming out
for Disney having been pitching it with no bites until then but for this show once it was picked
up they wanted to really add something special to the look hiring on Robert Valley to work on the
character design that's why these characters have this resemblance to the gorillas a virtual band
that has always had a very distinct look and style so in the landscape of animation on television
it truly stands out compared to the look of many other shows the show was animated in Flash showing
how that no matter which way you create something if you use it effectively you can truly create
something special going the extra mile to take the heads of the characters which look 2D like
the rest of the show but rendering them as full 3D objects that offer full visual perspective
from the characters at any view aiding in how smooth the show looks when all said and done Chris
urged the animation team to go wild and make it as Paul polished and stylized as possible giving us
one of the best looking cartoons period when it would come to the writing they wanted to create
something that had true substance to it whereas Mega's XLR focused more on the fun of the Action
Motor City wanted to combine engaging action with a deeply written narrative along with that is the
comedy in the show having it mainly come from the interactions between the characters in the
way things are said and the reactions some have to it but as we will touch on later in this video the
show had one major issue that issue being Disney and their treatment of the show itself [Music]
first I must say one thing as it is the first thing you can take away from the show right
when you see it the way it looks it feels so unique to anything else out there at the time
and heck even today to a large extent it feels like something new something fresh that demands
your eyes attention to taking every fluid and gorgeously animated movement the characters
made from the chill moments to the intense action scenes the show never failed to visually stun your
senses while the action would be super fast it was never hard to follow along with what was happening
it felt engaging and pulled you into why this visual style works so well built with a fusion
of dark tones that contrast the Vivid colors that would pour through the darkness gave life to both
versions of Detroit that we see especially between the futuristically and above and the
falling apart City or what's left of it below adding in the characters we follow in the show
it really gives us some fantastic World building where the world itself feels like a character what
I like about the car factor in the show is that the cars here feel like a character just as much
as anything else for the show obviously being the main vessel for the action in the series they all
just look so stylized and well suited for the world the show creates Motor City feels like
it understands what it is and the story it wants to tell giving a nice blend of great storytelling
between fully fleshed out and unique characters and impressive action sequences that will have
you at the edge of your seat as they play out even Side characters that we spend time building up and
focusing on feel so well put together like Jacob another character that worked directly with Kane
But ultimately saw the evil inside of him driving him down to be in Motor City with the rest of our
other main characters he plays a supporting role giving some wise words to the burners he knows
what he's talking about and offers some great perspective for everyone I spoke in my Mega's
XLR video about the character of goat and how this real life person who was a friend played
themselves across several shows but this character of Jacob isn't officially goat it still is in some
ways resembling that character honoring a friend and I think that's pretty cool in fact a lot of
people we meet specifically from Detroit Deluxe who are somewhat involved with working for Kane
having some form of relationship or connection to the others down below giving the burners a lot
more deeper character development and personal Stakes attached to what they do there's these
other characters that truly flesh out the world like other rebel Force groups like Tara that
lived on the outskirts of both Detroits and are labeled as an eco-friendly group with reasonings
behind this being originally where they lived was destroyed by caneco's dumping of toxic waste
causing those who live there to have mutated facial features and now hide their faces under
gas masks but for them the revenge on caneco goes beyond just them as they also set up attacks on
anyone in Detroit Deluxe meaning even the innocent citizens get hurt and Tara doesn't worry about who
is in their way or there is The Eccentric Duke of Detroit who brings this level of flair to
the show that goes above and beyond to be such an entertaining figure parading around as this
massive rock star figure who unlike most in these worlds has money and flaunts it in others faces
he goes between being another antagonist for the burners and being a frenemy giving respect to the
burners when he feels they've earned it Motor City feels alive because these characters and
supporting characters building up some incredible lore for the series that gets you into this world
and interested in the stories and conflicts that take place over the show's 20 episodes but with
how great I and so many others think this show is why did it only have 20 episodes what ended
the show's run so early let's take a look at how Disney handled this show this isn't gonna be good
yeah but it'll be entertaining watch Motor City only on Disney XD the burners are always on the
Move [Music] Motor City originally premiered on April 30th 2012 with the show lasting for
one season ending on January 7 2013 only producing 20 full episodes of the show it wasn't for a lack
of quality because I mean come on just look at the show it's gorgeous and there was a fan base
building up because of these characters this setting and the Beautiful animation but Disney
for whatever reason decided to promote this show as little as possible seemingly feeling like they
were hiding its existence from the world giving it earlier Slots of air time rather than Prime Time
meaning catching an episode is a lot harder to do shifting it around at times making it even harder
but what made it the hardest was the order in which they aired the show since there is a through
line narrative to the show seeing it in order especially for character introductions an episode
pacing for the story was a crucial reason on why the show flows so well from episode to episode how
we look into individual main characters and how Side characters are introduced but for Disney why
would they care aside from the beginning and the end of the series the show had so many episodes
shifted in between that made the show a lot more confusing even if you were able to catch an
episode on the channel mix all of that with a long Hiatus for the show as well as during the Hiatus
the rest of the series accidentally leaked from Disney online but was quickly hidden once more
but the internet the internet so these episodes were spread around really fast all this resulting
in the cancellation of the show on November 5th 2012 with the remaining episodes being shown on TV
until it officially finished them out fans of the show were crushed and have since had to carry the
greatness of the show on their shoulders to get people interested in It ultimately in hopes that
Disney would take notice of the many petitions and efforts to get the show to come back or give the
IP back to titmouse so they can handle other forms of bringing it back but Disney has since just sat
on the show never really doing anything more with it than the original run in ways seemingly hiding
it from existence as if Disney themselves or at least one person who was higher up in charge not
liking or ever liking what the show was or maybe they just didn't see the performance from it they
wanted viewership wise when it first was coming out but once again that would be their fault for
how they released the show and what times they did it's pretty sad to see this any show being
treated this poorly by Network sucks to see and with Chris pranowski especially as this wasn't his
first rodeo with networks treating his Creations poorly honestly all three major networks screwed
his works over with downtown for MTV which was under Viacom who also owns Nickelodeon then with
Mega's XLR with Cartoon Network and now here with Disney and Motor City Chris just has such a great
talent for making some incredible shows so it hurts to see this happen to another show of his
Motor City was truly a special cartoon it had action it had cars and it had heart wrapped in
a beautiful art style that gives this show some extra soul I do think that this show deserved
a lot better and I'm happy that the fanbase place for the show has grown through the show spreading
out to others since its cancellation so if you never watch this show I urge you to seek it out
especially if you're a fan of Chris's other work but if you have seen it let me know your
thoughts on Motor City in the comments as well as if you'd like to see another season of the
show one day come to fruition thanks so much for watching like And subscribe later [Music]
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