Carl Macek, American Anime Producer, Passes Away
If you’re a Robotech, anime, or animation fan, this is not a happy day. Carl Macek, who was instrumental in bringing anime to western audiences, passed away.
Carl’s career was truly amazing, and for all the details I’ll let Jerry Beck, his friend and one time business partner, tell you all about everything he did. For me, the one I’ll always remember him for is Robotech.
The first time I became aware of Robotech was before it was even called Robotech. There was an add in the back of a sci-fi magazine for it, and had the above picture. Which had me hooked instantly. I mean, how could you look at that and not want to see it? You just can’t.
I’d see it on television a few years later and, much to the annoyance of everyone who knew me, I became a somewhat unbalanced fan. I watched the episodes over and over and over again to the point that I, to this day, I could probably just lay back, close my eyes, and run the episodes in my head. They’re pretty much imprinted on my brain. But Robotech, and long with a handful of other shows and movies, was one of the key influences that put me on the path to becoming an animator.
In addition to contributing to my geekiness, Robotech brough anime to a broader range of people than ever before, and started the process of opening the floodgates of anime into the west. Carl cracked open the floodgates even further a few years later when he brought over the now-classic Akira not only to video but released it in theaters - which just didn’t happen at the time.
He was, at times, a source of controversy for some of his dubs and some of the edits he had to make to some of the shows, changes that were largely necessitated by the way business dictated they be done at the time. But this isn’t the day for debating the good or the bad. Suffice it to say that anime in the west wouldn’t be what it is today without him.
Nor would animation. He was also helped found Spumco with John K. That’s the studio that produced Ren and Stimpy. Imagine a world without that. Yeah, too scary.
There is a great podcast interview with Carl that you can listen to here, at Anime News Network, and was recorded just this past January (the interview starts about 8 minutes in). It’s funny and absolutely fascinating for anyone interested in just how anime started making it’s way over here in the late 70’s. If you want to know why and how he did things the way he did…pretty much all the answers are there. It’s around a 2 hour interview and, honestly, well worth the time. Someone on another message board described losing Carl as being like losing a library, and I have to agree. He was heavily involved in the science fiction and fantasy world and his stories about those days are priceless.
For those interested, Robotech: The Macross Saga is available, free and legal, on Hulu. I’ll be doing a little binge tonight, and listening to the podcast while I work today.
Carl Macek 1951-2010
