Mobile Suit Gundam Wing
"Gundam Wing" was not the first series in the "Gundam" franchise to be dubbed and distributed in the U.S. (the compilation movie version of the original "Mobile Suit Gundam", as well as the OVAs "" and "", preceded it by about two years), but it is well known as the first "Gundam" series to be aired on American television. This dub was produced by Bandai Entertainment and the voice work was done by Ocean Productions. The series aired on Cartoon Network's weekday afternoon after-school programming block Toonami; premiering on March 6, 2000. In the first extended promo leading up to the series' premiere, voice actor Peter Cullen narrated the back story, evoking memories of "Voltron's" opening credits. The promo was said to be so riveting that Bandai decided to use it as the official promo for the series.
Mobile Suit Gundam
"Gundam" was not popular when it first aired, and in fact came close to being cancelled. The series was originally set to run for 52 episodes but was cut down to 39 by the show's sponsors, which included Clover (the original toymakers for the series). However, the staff was able to negotiate a one-month extension to end the series with 43 episodes. When Bandai bought the copyrights to build plastic models for the show's mecha, which was a relatively new market compared to the old Chogokin series Clover was making, things changed completely. With the introduction of their line of Gundam models, the popularity of the show began to soar. The models sold very well, the show began to do very well in reruns and its theatrical compilation was a huge success. Audiences were expecting another Super Robot TV show, and instead found "Gundam", the first work of anime in an entirely new genre: the Real Robot genre. The Anime ranked #2 on "Wizard's Anime" Magazine on their "Top 50 Anime released in North America", and is regarded as changing the concept of Japanese robot anime and the turning point of history in Japan.