In the early 1980s, there was a Pac-Man cartoon. In 2012, Namco Bandai now says, there will be a new one.
Set in Pac-Land, the original Hanna-Barbera cartoon was more of a Pac-Man sitcom with Pac-Man, his wife Pepper and their baby Pac-Baby. The show lasted two years, going off the air as Pac-Man fever began to wane.
According to Namco Bandai's Japanese website, a 26 episode 3D Pac-Man television series will be debuting in 2012. This is most likely the new animated series that Marvel exec Avi Arad is developing in which Pac-Man is a high school student who has to save the world with the help of his four ghost friends, Inky, Blinky, Pinky and Clyde. The cartoon was made public at the E3 gaming expo in Los Angeles last month.
"We wanted to keep Pac-Man the same lovable guy he has always been, but (put him) in the 21st century," Arad said in June. "We (also) wanted to talk about real stories and … see how they can relate to our lives, being in high school and being a teenager. At the end of the day, it's the story of a reluctant hero."
This year marks the game's 30th anniversary.
Pac-Man Anime in Development? [AnimeNation]