M.A.S.K. (TV series)
M.A.S.K. is a 1985 French/American animated television series produced by DIC and ICC TV Productions, Ltd. The series was based on the M.A.S.K. action figures produced by Kenner Products. It was animated in Japan by Ashi Productions and K.K. DIC Asia (later known as K.K. C&D Asia). Overview. M.A.S.K. (an acronym for Mobile Armored Strike Kommand) is a special task force led by Matt Trakker, who operate transforming armored vehicles in their ongoing battle against the criminal organization V.E.N.O.M. (an acronym for Vicious Evil Network of Mayhem) with an emphasis on superpowered helmets (called "masks") worn  by the characters of both factions. V.E.N.O.M.'s primary goal was obtaining money through either robbery, extortion, counterfeiting, kidnapping, or attempting to steal historical artifacts, but M.A.S.K. always found a way to foil their plans. Episodes. A total of 75 syndicated episodes over two seasons were broadcast from September 1985 to November 1986. The first season consisted of 65 episodes. The second season, whose theme centered around auto racing instead of crimefighting, lasted only ten episodes. Production. One of many cartoons produced during the 1980s as a vehicle for toy merchandising, "M.A.S.K.", was a hybrid of popular era cartoons "" and  The Transformers. When originally broadcast, "M.A.S.K." was the first closed-captioned series to air in first-run syndication. Home video. Several episodes of the series were released under Karl-Lorimar's "Kideo Video" branding on VHS in the 1980s, with two episodes per tape. The "racing" second season was distributed by Tempest Video. In the United Kingdom, two releases titled "M.A.S.K The Movie", and "M.A.S.K The Movie II" were released by Tempo Video, featuring episodes edited into a feature-length format. M.A.S.K. episodes have been released on DVD in three different regions. Reception. While certain critics criticized the show for  showing the weaponry and vehicles "at the expense of anything deeper in terms of plotting and characterization", the show was quite successful. IGN voted "M.A.S.K." the 99th-best animated series in 2009, calling it one of the most popular cartoon/toy marketing franchises of the 1980s, stating that it took many of the strengths of "G.I. Joe" and "Transformers" while taking few of their flaws. In other media. On 15 December 2015, "The Hollywood Reporter" reported that Hasbro and Paramount were creating a movie universe combining Micronauts with "G.I. Joe", "", "M.A.S.K." and "Rom". "The Hollywood Reporter" reported on 21 April  2016 that Michael Chabon, Brian K. Vaughan, Nicole Perlman, Lindsey Beer, Cheo Coker, John Francis Daley, Jonathan Goldstein, Joe Robert Cole, Jeff Pinkner, Nicole Riegel and Geneva Robertson-Dworet had joined the writers room. On 18 April 2018, it was announced that F. Gary Gray will direct the live-action movie. On 28 February 2020, Chris Bremner has been announced to pen the script.