Who here was a big fan of the Mega Man cartoon from the mid-90s? Sure, the dialog was campy and the animation hilariously inconsistent, but it was one of the most fun Saturday-morning shows at the time. Despite the program’s high ratings, however, it was cancelled after two seasons and a single third-season episode (frightening how history repeats itself, eh?).
Anyway, online hobby magazine ASM was able to get in touch with Joe Ruby, an American animator who, along with his partner Ken Spears, created Scooby-Doo and founded the production company responsible for several shows including Mega Man. The two-part interview was conducted back in 2005 but was never published until now for unknown reasons. Still, there are plenty of fascinating nuggets to be gleaned.
The draw of the interview is definitely the discussion about Mega Man. Ruby touches upon many facets of the show’s development, including Mega’s redesign as a muscular teen, the keeping of Mega’s default color scheme when switching weapons in order to prevent confusion amongst the animators, and Rush’s uncanny resemblance to his Ruby-Spears canine predecessor. There were even plans to spin off a Mega Man X show following that unforgettable crossover episode!
For the Mega Man half of the interview, hit up the first link below. For a bevy of production artwork and storyboards, some of which I’ve included in the gallery below, hit up the second link.
Joe Ruby on the American Mega Man cartoon! [Sipher Says Stuff]
From the Lost ASM Archives: A Little Q&A With Joe Ruby [ASM]
