{"id":2088117,"date":"2025-10-13T16:57:11","date_gmt":"2025-10-13T16:57:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2088117"},"modified":"2025-10-13T16:57:11","modified_gmt":"2025-10-13T16:57:11","slug":"the-canceled-alien-cartoon-that-could-have-become-a-classic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/the-canceled-alien-cartoon-that-could-have-become-a-classic\/","title":{"rendered":"The Canceled Alien Cartoon That Could Have Become A Classic"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div data-article-body=\"true\">\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Who else remembers all of those <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.slashfilm.com\/1875459\/movies-forgot-turned-into-animated-series\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:children's animated series based on adult-oriented movies;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">children&#8217;s animated series based on adult-oriented movies<\/a> that were a thing in the 1980s and &#8217;90s? The <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.slashfilm.com\/1939210\/rambo-controversial-trend-children-tv-shows\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:controversial trend started with &quot;Rambo: The Force of Freedom,&quot;;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">controversial trend started with &#8220;Rambo: The Force of Freedom,&#8221;<\/a> but RoboCop, The Toxic Avenger, and other heroes associated with violent justice also starred in their own shows aimed at youngsters. What&#8217;s more, the horror genre spawned some animated children&#8217;s entertainment, with &#8220;Little Shop,&#8221; &#8220;Attack of the Killer Tomatoes,&#8221; and &#8220;Swamp Thing&#8221; probably giving viewers their earliest nightmares.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">That said, none of those properties compare to <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.slashfilm.com\/713259\/every-alien-movie-ranked-from-worst-to-best\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:the bleak horror that defines the &quot;Alien&quot; franchise;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">the bleak horror that defines the &#8220;Alien&#8221; franchise<\/a>, which makes one wonder: What would a Xenomorph-loaded cartoon look like? It&#8217;s a baffling concept to imagine, but Kenner Products supposedly acquired the rights to produce a series called &#8220;Operation: Aliens&#8221; in the early &#8217;90s to coincide with its &#8220;Alien&#8221; toyline coming out. A quick Google search even reveals some stills from the &#8220;Operation: Aliens'&#8221; pilot episode, so there may actually be some substance to the rumors.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Sadly, although the poor reception to &#8220;Alien 3&#8221; reportedly led to Kenner&#8217;s cartoon series being canceled, the toyline still came to fruition, lasting from 1992 until 1995. (Better late than never, as the company also planned on making &#8220;Alien&#8221; toys in 1979.) The figures were primarily inspired by the creatures in James Cameron&#8217;s &#8220;Aliens,&#8221; so their scary demeanors weren&#8217;t exactly softened to encourage parents to buy them for their kids. However, the cartoon itself would probably have been less scary than the &#8220;Alien&#8221; films, as it was reportedly influenced by another sci-fi franchise&#8230; set in a galaxy far, far away.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Read more: <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.slashfilm.com\/1722719\/best-movies-the-twilight-zone-episodes-inspiration-ranked\/?zsource=yahoo\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:The 5 Best Movies Inspired By Twilight Zone Episodes, Ranked;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">The 5 Best Movies Inspired By Twilight Zone Episodes, Ranked<\/a><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"mb-4 text-xl font-bold md:text-2xl\">Kenner Products saw Alien as its new Star Wars<\/h2>\n<figure class=\"relative mb-4\">\n<div class=\"relative\"><button aria-label=\"View larger image\" class=\"group absolute bottom-3 right-3 size-10 md:size-[50px] lg:inset-0 lg:size-full lg:bg-transparent\" data-ylk=\"elm:expand;itc:1;sec:image-lightbox;slk:lightbox-open;\"><span class=\"absolute bottom-0 right-0 rounded-full bg-white p-3 opacity-100 shadow-elevation-3 transition-opacity duration-300 group-hover:block group-hover:opacity-100 md:p-[17px] lg:bottom-6 lg:right-6 lg:bg-white\/90 lg:p-5 lg:opacity-0 lg:shadow-none\"><svg viewbox=\"0 0 22 22\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"size-4 lg:size-6\" width=\"22\" height=\"22\"><path d=\"M12.372.92c0-.506.41-.916.915-.916L21 0l-.004 7.712a.917.917 0 0 1-1.832 0V3.183l-6.827 6.828-1.349-1.348 6.828-6.828h-4.529a.915.915 0 0 1-.915-.915M1.835 17.816l6.828-6.828 1.349 1.349-6.829 6.827h4.529a.915.915 0 0 1 0 1.831L0 21l.004-7.713a.916.916 0 0 1 1.831 0z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/button><dialog aria-label=\"Modal Dialog\" aria-modal=\"true\" class=\"fixed inset-0 z-4 size-full max-h-none max-w-none bg-white hidden\"\/><\/div><figcaption class=\"relative text-sm mt-1 pr-2.5\">\n<p>Yoda watching attentively in Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back &#8211; Lucasfilm<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Prior to releasing its &#8220;Alien&#8221; line, Kenner Products enjoyed great success with its &#8220;Star Wars&#8221; toys, which the company released from the late-1970s until the mid-1980s. When that well dried up, the company sought out another hit sci-fi franchise to turn into a successful toyline and children&#8217;s media property \u2014 and that&#8217;s how the idea for &#8220;Operation: Aliens&#8221; was born.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Needless to say, the plan didn&#8217;t work out. As previously mentioned, the &#8220;Alien&#8221; toyline was short-lived, and the cartoon didn&#8217;t go ahead, suggesting that Kenner&#8217;s higher-ups didn&#8217;t have faith in these toys matching the success of its &#8220;Star Wars&#8221; paraphernalia. Still, who&#8217;s to say that &#8220;Operation: Aliens&#8221; wouldn&#8217;t have worked out as its own separate entity? After all, history has shown that cartoons based on edgy franchises can be awesome, even if some of them are a tad &#8230; let&#8217;s say morally misguided?<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Besides, introducing viewers to horror at a young age is an effective way of preparing them for the scary realities of life. &#8220;Operation: Aliens&#8221; could have been a powerful show in that regard, too, but alas, we must spend the rest of our lives wondering what could have been.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">If you&#8217;re looking for the easiest way to keep up with all the major movie and TV news, why not <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/subscribe.slashfilm.com\/newsletter-syndicated\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:sign up to our free newsletter;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">sign up to our free newsletter<\/a>?<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Read the <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.slashfilm.com\/1964389\/canceled-alien-cartoon\/?zsource=yahoo\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:original article on SlashFilm;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">original article on SlashFilm<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><em> \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em> \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.yahoo.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Who else remembers all of those children&#8217;s animated series based on adult-oriented movies that were a thing in the 1980s and &#8217;90s? The controversial trend started with &#8220;Rambo: The Force of Freedom,&#8221; but RoboCop, The Toxic Avenger, and other heroes associated with violent justice also starred in their own shows aimed at youngsters. What&#8217;s more, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2088118,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25172],"tags":[342143,393490,393489],"class_list":["post-2088117","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment","tag-alien","tag-childrens-entertainment-2","tag-kenner-products"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/The-Canceled-Alien-Cartoon-That-Could-Have-Become-A-Classic.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2088117","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2088117"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2088117\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2088119,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2088117\/revisions\/2088119"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2088118"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2088117"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2088117"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2088117"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}