Operation: Aliens – The cartoon of the aliens that we almost obtained in the 90s

James Cameron’S Aliens It is one of the most beloved sci-horror franchises ever made, full of Xenomorphs who snatch through Space Marines, with classified violence, horror of the body and all that grit.

At the beginning of the 90s there was a plan to transform it into a Saturday morning cartoon. The show was called Operation: Aliens. It has never been transmitted. But parts of it exist in nature, and toys and the merch from the franchise did it.

In 1992 while Alien 3 It was developed, Kenner collaborated with 20th Century Fox to build an entire multimedia vision Aliens. There was an animated proposal series, Action Figures, a board game and other equipment.

The show would follow Ripley, Hicks, Bishop and a team of postponed colonial marines that exploded Xenomorphs through the galaxy. The horror side would have been involved, exchanging alien nightmares for explosion effects and alien fights.

The animation work had already started and a Korean study was involved in the production of an animated pilot or at least in soul/commercials under the name Operation: Aliens. There were Storyboard frames, production stops, works of art, title logo projects, promotional materials. But then, suddenly, Fox pulled the plug in the summer of ’92. The pilot has never been shown. It has never been leaked.

As for the reason why the project has been canceled, several reasons are hypothesized. A big factor was that Alien 3Published in May 1992, he did not perform so strongly or comfortably in the eyes of the public. Another was the pure difficulty of hygiene Aliens Enough for children without losing the main identity.

The Xenomorphs of HR Giger, the atmosphere tense, brutality, all this is difficult to soften. The managers probably realized that the show would be too frightening for children or too diluted for fans.

Even if the show has never aired, the merch line has done. Kenner has released action figures (Ripley, Bishop, Hicks, Apone, Drake among others), toy aliens of various strange forms (Bull Alien, Scorpion Alien, Gorilla Alien), a board game under the Operation: Aliens Label and comic-style mini-stories in commercial cards that borrowed from the concepts of the toy line.

What we have today are some screenshots, art, title cards design and faded voices. Some frames of commercials made for the toys line show colonial marines in combat against the Xenomorphs on space stations. There are storyboards, unused animation portions described in the losed media clubs. But nothing is available as a complete episode.

In a sense Operation: Aliens He gives us an idea of ​​how Studios tried to travel a thin line in the 90s: how to take something grown and violent and make it for toys, but still retains enough what people loved.

Sometimes that balance worked (Rambo: strength of freedom, Conan: the adventurer) and sometimes collapsed under the weight of expectations or moral control. Operation: Aliens It seems to be one of the latter.

Although he never moves, Operation: Aliens He has become legend among fans. The toys that have sent they still transport a strange aura, action figures designed for a show that does not exist. Collectors still hunt them.

Unused art and screenshots feed speculation and What-IFS. What if we had seen Ripley in front of Xenomorphs in the form of cartoons? What if the children woke up on Saturday morning? Friend, I would have liked to see this animated series to be done! In the end, I guess the risk seemed too high.