Who needs the Wild Wild West when David Gallagherr’s Mech West can reimagine steam-powered machines properly? I’m not talking about the celebrated television show which delivered cowboy diplomacy in the best way possible. Instead, the film, despite its flaws, had a cool moment with that huge mecha spider as the ultimate threat which had to be brought down. Although the series rarely featured steampunk at that extreme level, I don’t think many other takes featured robots powered by coal.
In this YouTube animated series, smaller sized machines need to be fed to keep on going. They’re like little bitumen powered bunnies, and I suspect most of these machines are pack mules or utilitarian for a lot of settlers. When they can’t provide milk, some bots have autonomy and others not. Some are mules and others replace the pony express. It’s a different world other weird west tales have not always explored.
The sentience of some machines ranges from pack mentality to basic AI. Six is the star of this series. As a spunky self-aware machine with an E.T. like curiousity for the world, he’s adorable! Technically, whether he was stolen remains unclear to audiences, but once freed, this rambunctious critter loves to explore.
When he meets Pearl (Natalie Rarick), this tiny service bot finds a friend! And yes, I have to consider this little one as male, since there’s not feminine like qualities being displayed. This young lady is charming and compassionate. After working at her brother’s farm, she doesn’t believe these machines should serve humanity. Pico (Luis Bermudez) says otherwise. Although she’s no Luke Skywalker, I suspect the Star Wars A New Hope rough comparison is just that.
By the second episode, just what role each character has to play in this series is well-defined. Pearl soon learns the bandits want Six! And while many people are not sure what Casey (Truman Florence, a travelling sales agent) can offer, it seems his connections may serve this rag tag team later on. I suspect he’ll earn his keep in no time. As for when there will be more episodes, I hate to say maybe not until next year.
As a series reliant on crowdfunding to keep production going, I hope interest will continue growing. A better idea is to hope some Los Angeles producer will take notice and pick it up. Not only is the art design PIXAR perfect but also the story will have instant fans asking which animated robot is the most beloved–Wall*E, Baymax, B-Bot, or Iron Giant? When there aren’t many non-speaking types, the choices are limited. My money is on Six. There’s something to be said about being portable and an emergency flashlight when in a fix!
5 Stars out of 5
Mech West Trailer
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