Cartoon Network’s Robotomy: The Robotic Massacre We All Forgot About
Back in the final quarter of 2010, Cartoon Network was in the beautiful infancy of a renewed golden age. Both Adventure Time and Regular Show were in the midst of their first couple of seasons and these introductions were just on the heels of some longtime shows like Flapjack and Chowder wrapping up their much beloved animated (and sometimes live action) stories. Alongside the duos of Finn and Jake & Mordecai and Rigby, we can’t forget some other titles of the time: Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Ben 10 - long standing veterans of Cartoon Network which were not going anywhere anytime soon.
Although there were definitely some heavyweights running rampant on the “children’s” cable channel (you’ll see why the quotations are there in just a second), something very chaotic - and violent, for that matter - was trying to make a name for itself on Mondays at 8:30 pm. Arriving from the minds of Mr. Michael Buckley (primarily a children’s author) and Mr. Joe Deasy (a writer for animated works), a new series took shape that was described by Mr. Buckley himself as “Superbad meets Transformers meets WWE.”
While the mere thought of such a crossover is surely an exciting prospect, that’s much too simple of a fantastical fusion when describing what is Robotomy. The main stars of this well - shocking - dystopia are Thrasher and Blastus, two teenage alien robots living on the planet Insanus. That is where any semblance of normalcy ends. Unlike Adventure Time, Regular Show, Flapjack or Chowder or any other CN show where death may only occur in the most pivotal moments of the story - it just doesn’t stop in Robotomy. Let me explain.
Since there are no humans on Insanus - or anywhere in Robotomy’s galaxy (as evident throughout the ten episodes that ever aired), the endless and robotic killing that goes on in this show thankfully didn’t seem to have any sort of disturbing impact for viewers. . . even though there seems to be some kind of life-ending danger around every corner for our young main characters.
This includes on the way to school, during school, at the mall (renamed the Maul), at firework shows and also at the planet’s own version of year-round football games. This seems to be the norm for everybody on Insanus. Even the senior citizens have their own way of getting in on the fun - when they get too old, they tend to self-destruct - before they can, one of Insanus’ many traditions is to recycle them into giant grenades and catapult them onto other planets!
You would think that there would be no characters left after a couple of episodes but it seems like the entire supporting cast are always put back together just in time for next week’s episode. Besides the main characters, my favorites were Thunderbite (the school’s principal - an olive-colored giant skull who gets around on spider legs) and Megawatt, a stereotypical jock who purposely blows up all the girls who fawn over him - just because he can.
As mentioned before, this very unique show only lasted for just about ten episodes before being cancelled in January 2011. While the ninth episode should have been the last since it involved Thrasher and Blastus taking on a massive vampiric slug (that used to be Thrasher’s grandmother) in the skies of Insanus, the final entry does enough to show how strong the bond is between the two main mechanical teens.
A mysterious woman romances Blastus and just about gets away with stealing all the presents from their wedding - sounds ridiculous enough, right? Even though the show’s death came just as quick as most of the characters, Robotomy was remembered several years later. In 2018, Blastus made a cameo in another Cartoon Network show called OK KO! Let’s Be Heroes. He was one of the “heroes” that the show’s main antagonist, Strike, defeated while trying to destroy all Cartoon Network good guys.
Where to watch this destructive, chaotic and mindless show? Sadly, Robotomy doesn’t seem to be available on HBO Max, Tubi or any official streaming platform - as of right now. But many Youtube and Internet Archive users have graciously shared their versions on those two websites so Insanus can keep on blowing up for many, many years to come. Oops, spoiler alert!
If there’s one last note to make about this ill-fated animated show, it’s surely about the voice cast. Not only did John Gemberling (Krapopolis, The Great North) voice Blastus but the renowned Patton Oswalt stepped in to bring Thrasher to life. Other household stars like Jack McBrayer, Gilbert Gottfried, Lewis Black and Kate McKinnon all had guest star placements. Gottfried played the role of a bunch of killer dolls and McKinnon was Trasher’s crazy grandmother!
Robotomy may only be ten short episodes but surprisingly there is a lot to see - and hear. While the show’s ebb and flow with the concept of death left nothing to in-story consequences, the mechanical chaos was still really, really fun and you just kept on wanting to see more of Insanus’s world and what it had in store week after week. Believe it or not, Cartoon Network and Adult Swim both had problems owning it - one found it too mature and the other found it too childish.
I, on the other hand, found it great. A funny show about a violent world.
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