The Super Dimension Fortress Macross - Production

Production

The series title uses the name of the main human spacecraft (which is usually shortened to SDF-1 Macross as it is Earth's first Super Dimension Fortress). The original name for the Macross project was Battle City Megaload (or Battle City Megaroad, as the Japanese transliteration to either ‹l› or ‹r› gives the title a double meaning in reference to the story line: Megaload, referring to the spacecraft containing an entire city of people; and Megaroad, referring to the long journey through space back to Earth). However, the director of Big West, one of the later sponsors of the project, was a fan of Shakespeare and wanted the series and the spacecraft to be named Macbeth (Makubesu (マクベス?)). A compromise was made with the title Macross (Makurosu (マクロス?)) due to its similar pronunciation to Macbeth in Japanese and because it still contained connotations to the original title. The word Macross also comes from a wordplay combination of the prefix "macro" in reference to its massive size (though when compared with the alien ships in the series, it is only a relatively small capital ship) and the distance they must cross.

"The Super Dimension Fortress" prefix ("Chō Jikū Yōsai") is a wordplay on an intermediary working title for the series, which was originally "The Super Dreadnought Fortress Macross" ("Chō Dokyū Yōsai Makurosu").

Originally proposed in 1979 to capitalize in the great success of Mobile Suit Gundam, the show created by Studio Nue (from an original concept by member Shoji Kawamori) was sponsored by a group called the "Wiz" (Uizu) Corporation, who was prepared to fund a 48-episode run. "Wiz" wanted to produce the Sci-Fi show as an outer space comedy, but this clashed with Studio Nue's original idea of a more serious and epic "space opera" storyline. The resulting animosity between both companies made the initial production of the series very difficult and full of delays.

However, by 1981, Wiz had gone out of business, and the "Megaload/Megaroad" (Macross) project seemed to be in permanent hiatus. Studio Nue bought the rights of the show from "Wiz" and searched for a sponsor with no avail. Big West, an advertising agency looking to branch out into animation sponsorship, approached Studio Nue about the project and agreed to sponsor it. However, it insisted on a leaner budget, not convinced that the show would pan out as profitable. Big West pared the episode count to 27 episodes (meaning the show would have ended with the battle against Boddole Zer's fleet). Even then, Big West found that the show was going to run more expensive than it had bargained for, and to secure more money, entered into a partnership with animation studio Tatsunoko Production which included international distribution (what would culminate in the creation of the "Robotech" adaptation a few years later).

Among other production headaches, the master copy of one nearly-completed episode was reportedly accidentally left on a train by a courier, forcing the members of the production staff themselves to search for the footage - otherwise they would have to re-animate it all, at a considerable cost in time and money. Eventually they found the reel, and so disaster was averted.

When Macross debuted on October 3, 1982 (with only three episodes made so far), its stunning success among Japanese television audiences convinced Big West to approve an extension to 36 episodes, allowing the staff to end with the "two years after" story arc.

Studio Nue was unable to carry all of the animation work itself at the time (although the success of Macross meant that it was able to do so with nearly all of its other animation projects), and so work was contracted out to a number of satellite studios, including Artland (Haruhiko Mikimoto's employer), the nascent AIC and Gainax studios, as well as the Tatsunoko-supplied AnimeFriend and Star Pro. AnimeFriend and Star Pro are infamously notorious among fans of the show for having brought in very spotty, off-model and continuity error-laden animation work.

There were plans for a splashy ending to the series, one that would have shown major characters Misa Hayase and Hikaru Ichijo blasting off in the colonization ship SDF-2 Megaroad-01, but the sequence was scrapped due to lack of time and budget. However, due to fan demand this sequence was later used in the Macross Flashback 2012 OVA released in 1987.

The Super Dimension Fortress Macross was produced as the first of the three Super Dimension mecha anime TV series in Japan. It was followed by The Super Dimension Century Orguss (1983) and The Super Dimension Cavalry Southern Cross (1984). These shows were related in name only.