(also known as ''SRMTHFG'' or simply ''Super Robot Monkey Team'') is an
animated
Animation is a filmmaking technique whereby image, still images are manipulated to create Motion picture, moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on cel, transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and e ...
television series created by Ciro Nieli. It is produced by
Walt Disney Television Animation
Disney Television Animation (DTVA; also shortened to Disney TVA), formerly known as Walt Disney Pictures Television Animation Group and Walt Disney Television Animation, is an American animation production company that serves as the television a ...
, with animation being done by The Answer Studio in Japan. The series was the first original show produced for the Jetix block and for the Jetix and
Disney
The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...
channels worldwide, where the show premiered on September 18, 2004. It ran for four seasons composed of 52 episodes, each 22 minutes long.
Set on the fictional planet of Shuggazoom, the series follows the adventures of five
cyborg
A cyborg (, a portmanteau of ''cybernetics, cybernetic'' and ''organism'') is a being with both Organic matter, organic and biomechatronic body parts. The term was coined in 1960 by Manfred Clynes and Nathan S. Kline.Chiro. When he was exploring the outskirts of the city, he stumbled upon a giant abandoned
robot
A robot is a machine—especially one Computer program, programmable by a computer—capable of carrying out a complex series of actions Automation, automatically. A robot can be guided by an external control device, or the robot control, co ...
partially overgrown with plants but still accessible. Once inside, his curiosity got the better of him and he pulls an old power switch among a series of stasis tanks. In doing so, he awakened the five robotic monkeys that form the Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce. In the process Chiro also fused himself with the mysterious supernatural energy of the Power Primate, allowing him to transform into a stronger, braver fighter and the leader of the team. With the aid of the five Robot Monkeys: Sparx, Antauri, Gibson, Otto and Nova, their mission is to save Shuggazoom City from the evil Skeleton King, the main villain of the series, as well as any other evil forces that may threaten it.
Since Chiro was not born a
superhero
A superhero or superheroine is a fictional character who typically possesses ''superpowers'' or abilities beyond those of ordinary people, is frequently costumed concealing their identity, and fits the role of the hero, typically using their ...
, or with any enhanced abilities, the five Robot Monkeys take up training him to hone his abilities which results in him leading the team. With each member possessing a different set of skills Chiro acts as a unifying force keeping them on point where they otherwise might fall to differing opinions, in addition to being familiar with the current culture of Shuggazoom. With the monkeys continuing to train Chiro he grows into the leader they need with the potential to fulfill his greater destiny as protector of the universe.
When fighting with larger enemies the Hyperforce uses the Super Robot, which can operate as a single entity or split into six separate vehicles for versatility. Its main attack, when combined as the whole robot, is Lasertron Fury. This powerful energy beam that is fired from its chest is capable of destroying large objects or hostile entities while an array of smaller weaponry is used to handle other lesser threats. The Super Robot also serves as Chiro and the Monkeys'
headquarters
Headquarters (often referred to as HQ) notes the location where most or all of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. The term is used in a wide variety of situations, including private sector corporations, non-profits, mil ...
and home while parked on its landing pad in Shuggazoom City.
Over the course of the series the history of both Shuggazoom and the Robot Monkeys is expanded upon revealing they were created long ago specifically to combat the evil Skeleton King by a brilliant inventor known only as the Alchemist. Having unintentionally released a great evil into the world with his experiments the Hyperforce was his attempt to prepare for an uncertain future where defenses would be needed. The Hyperforce itself also expanded as the series ran to include various allies and a rogues gallery of enemies as recurring characters.
Voice cast
Main
*
Greg Cipes
Gregory Michael Cipes (born January 4, 1980) is an American actor. He is best known for his voice roles as Beast Boy in ''Teen Titans'', ''Teen Titans Go!,'' '' Young Justice'', and ''Beast Boy: Lone Wolf''; Michelangelo in ''Teenage Mutant Nin ...
as Chiro
*
Kevin Michael Richardson
Kevin Michael Richardson (born October 25, 1964) is an American actor. Known for his distinctively deep voice, he has mostly voiced villainous characters in animation and video games. In film, Richardson voiced Goro in ''Mortal Kombat'' (1995) ...
as Antauri
*
Tom Kenny
Thomas James Kenny (born July 13, 1962) is an American actor and comedian. He has been voicing SpongeBob SquarePants (character), the titular character in ''SpongeBob SquarePants'' and associated media since its debut in 1999. Kenny has voice ...
as Gibson
*
Kari Wahlgren
Kari Wahlgren (born July 13, 1977) is an American voice actress who has provided English-language roles for animated movies, TV series, and video games. She got her start in anime voice-overs as List of FLCL characters#Haruko Haruhara, Haruko H ...
as Nova
*
Clancy Brown
Clarence James Brown III (born January 5, 1959) is an American actor. Prolific in film and television since the 1980s, Brown is often cast in villainous and authoritative roles.
His film roles include Rawhide in ''The Adventures of Buckaroo Ban ...
as Otto
*
Corey Feldman
Corey Scott Feldman (born July 16, 1971) is an American actor and musician. As a youth, he became well known for his roles in popular 1980s films such as '' Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter'' (1984), '' Gremlins'' (1984), '' The Goonies'' (198 ...
as Sparx
*
Mark Hamill
Mark Richard Hamill (; born September 25, 1951) is an American actor. He is best known for starring as Luke Skywalker in the ''Star Wars'' franchise, and the Joker (character), Joker in various animated DC Comics projects, starting with ''Batm ...
as Skeleton King
*
Ashley Johnson
Ashley Suzanne Johnson (born 1983) is an American actress. She became known as a child actor for her role as Chrissy Seaver on the sitcom ''Growing Pains'' (1990–1992). As an adult, her television roles include Amber Ahmed on '' The Killing' ...
as Jinmay
*
James Hong
James Hong (born February 22, 1929) is an American actor, producer and director. Known as one of the most prolific character actors of all time, he has worked in over 400 productions in U.S. media since the Golden Age of Hollywood in the 1950s. ...
as Mandarin
Recurring
*
Hynden Walch
Hynden Walch (born February 1, 1971) is an American actress best known for voicing Starfire in the ''Teen Titans'' franchise and Princess Bubblegum in ''Adventure Time''. She also voiced Penny Sanchez in '' ChalkZone'', Elsie in ''Stanley'', ...
as Sorceress Valeena
*
Jeff Bennett
Jeff Bennett (born October 2, 1962) is an American voice actor. He voiced the titular character of ''Johnny Bravo'', Dexter and Dee Dee's Dad in ''Dexter's Laboratory'', List of The Powerpuff Girls characters#Ace, Ace, List of The Powerpuff Gi ...
and
Eric Idle
Eric Idle (born 29 March 1943) is an English actor, comedian, songwriter, musician, screenwriter and playwright. He was a member of the British comedy group Monty Python and the parody rock band the Rutles. Idle studied English at Pembroke Co ...
as Lord Scrapperton
*
Jeffrey Combs
Jeffrey Alan Combs (born September 9, 1954) is an American actor. He is best known for starring as Herbert West in the ''Re-Animator'' film series (1985–2003) and portraying multiple characters in the ''Star Trek'' universe, most notably the ...
as Gyrus Krinkle
* Mark Hamill as Skeleton King Droid
*
Arthur Burghardt
Arthur Napier Burghardt (born August 29, 1947) is an American retired actor, best known for portraying Jack Scott on the soap opera ''One Life to Live''. In animation, he is known for lending his deep bass voice as Devastator in '' The Transfo ...
as Commodore Game Master
*
Tara Strong
Tara Lyn Strong (; born February 12, 1973) is a Canadian and American actress. She is known for her voice work in animation, websites, and video games. Strong's voice roles include animated series such as '' The Powerpuff Girls'', '' The Fair ...
as Alliana
Episodes
Production
''Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go!'' was created by director and producer Ciro Nieli. In 2003, an executive from Disney accepted the project.
The series is influenced by
Japanese animation
is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...
. It is also inspired by ''
Star Trek
''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the Star Trek: The Original Series, series of the same name and became a worldwide Popular culture, pop-culture Cultural influence of ...
'', ''
Super Sentai
The is a Japanese superhero team media franchise consisting of television series and films produced by Toei Company and Bandai, and aired by TV Asahi. The shows are of the '' tokusatsu'' genre, featuring live action characters and colorfu ...
'', ''
Power Rangers
''Power Rangers'' is an American media franchise created by Haim Saban, Shuki Levy and Shotaro Ishinomori built around a live-action superhero television series, based on the Japanese tokusatsu franchise ''Super Sentai''. It is currently ow ...
'', ''
Voltron
''Voltron'' is an American animated television series franchise that features a team of space explorers who pilot a giant super robot known as "Voltron". Produced by Peter Keefe (executive producer) and Ted Koplar through his production comp ...
'', and ''
Star Wars
''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera media franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and Cultural impact of Star Wars, quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop cu ...
''. Animator and designer
Lynne Naylor
Rae Naylor is a Canadian animator, artist, designer, director, and producer for television. She is best known for co-creating DreamWorks' '' The Mighty Ones'', co-founding the animation studio Spümcø with John Kricfalusi, Bob Camp, and ...
, who worked on ''
Samurai Jack
''Samurai Jack'' is an American science fantasy action-adventure animated television series created by Genndy Tartakovsky for Cartoon Network and Adult Swim. The show is produced by Cartoon Network Studios. Tartakovsky conceived ''Samurai Jac ...
'' and ''
Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi
''Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi'' is an American animated series created by Sam Register and produced by Renegade Animation and Cartoon Network Studios, which aired on Cartoon Network from 2004 to 2006. The series stars fictionalized and animated version ...
'', served as the art director. Her husband, Chris Reccardi, writer for ''
Samurai Jack
''Samurai Jack'' is an American science fantasy action-adventure animated television series created by Genndy Tartakovsky for Cartoon Network and Adult Swim. The show is produced by Cartoon Network Studios. Tartakovsky conceived ''Samurai Jac ...
'' and ''
The Powerpuff Girls
''The Powerpuff Girls'' is an American Superhero fiction, superhero animated television series created by animator Craig McCracken and produced by Hanna-Barbera (later Cartoon Network Studios) for Cartoon Network. The show centers on Blossom ...
'' and additional staff for ''
Tiny Toon Adventures
''Tiny Toon Adventures'' is an American animated television series created by Tom Ruegger and produced by Warner Bros. Animation. It originally aired from September 14, 1990 to December 6, 1992, airing in syndication before eventually settling a ...
'' was the assistant director. The art style was a tribute to classic anime, such as ''
Speed Racer
''Speed Racer'', also known as , is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Tatsuo Yoshida. It was originally serialized in print in Shueisha's 1966 ''Shōnen Book''. It was released in form by Sun Wide Comics and later re-re ...
'', ''
Astro Boy
''Astro Boy'', known in Japan as , is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Osamu Tezuka. It was serialized in Kobunsha's ''Shōnen'' from 1952 to 1968. The 112 chapters were collected into 23 volumes by Akita Shoten. Da ...
'', and ''
Cyborg 009
is a Japanese science fiction manga created by Shotaro Ishinomori. It was serialized in many different Japanese magazines, including '' Monthly Shōnen King'', ''Weekly Shōnen Magazine'', '' Shōnen Big Comic'', '' COM'', ' ...
'', and was influenced by the works of
Ken Ishikawa
was a Japanese manga artist. He is renowned as the co-creator (with Go Nagai) of the ''Getter Robo'' anime series, as well as four of their subsequent manga continuations. According to Nagai, he considered Ishikawa his greatest friend and ally. ...
,
Go Nagai
, better known by the pen name , is a Japanese manga artist and a prolific author of Japanese science fiction, science fiction, fantasy, Japanese horror, horror, and erotica. He made his professional debut in 1967 with ''Meakashi Polikichi'', b ...
,
Sanpei Shirato
, known by the pen name , was a Japanese manga artist and essayist known for his social criticism as well as the realism of his drawing style and the characters in his scenarios. He is considered a pioneer of the controversial ''gekiga'' genre o ...
,
Shotaro Ishinomori
, né , was a Japanese manga artist, cartoonist, writer and director. Known as the "King of Manga" (漫画の帝王 (''Manga no Teiou)'' or 漫画の王様 (''Manga no Ousama)''), he is regarded as one of the greatest and most influential mang ...
, and
Osamu Tezuka
Osamu Tezuka (, born , ''Tezuka Osamu'', – 9 February 1989) was a Japanese manga artist, cartoonist and animator. Considered to be among the greatest and most influential cartoonists of all time, his prolific output, pioneering techniques an ...
. Other crew members include Tad Stones, who also worked on ''
Buzz Lightyear of Star Command
''Buzz Lightyear of Star Command'' is an American animated science fiction comedy television series produced by Walt Disney Television Animation and co-produced by Pixar Animation Studios. It is a spin-off of Pixar's ''Toy Story'' franchise a ...
Invader Zim
''Invader Zim'' is an American animated science fiction horror comedy television series created by comic book writer and cartoonist Jhonen Vasquez for Nickelodeon. The series centers on the titular character Zim (voiced by Richard Steven Ho ...
'',
Rich Fogel
Rich Fogel is an American Emmy Award-winning animation writer. He has worked on series such as ''The Smurfs'', ''Batman Beyond'', ''Justice League'', and ''Pinky and the Brain''.
Screenwriting credits
* series head writer denoted in bold
Televisi ...
, a writer for ''
Justice League
The Justice League, or Justice League of America (JLA), is a group of superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The team first appeared in ''The Brave and the Bold'' #28 (March 1960). Writer Gardner Fox conceived the ...
'' and ''
Pinky and the Brain
''Pinky and the Brain'' is an American animated sitcom created by Tom Ruegger for the Kids' WB programming block of The WB, as a collaboration of Steven Spielberg with his production company Amblin Entertainment and Warner Bros. Television Ani ...
'', Chris Mitchell, who worked on ''
SpongeBob SquarePants
''SpongeBob SquarePants'' is an American animated television series, animated comedy television series created by marine science educator and animator Stephen Hillenburg for Nickelodeon. It first aired as a sneak peek after the 1999 Kids' C ...
''(which also involved Tom Kenny and Clancy Brown), and Kevin Hopps, who also worked on ''
Animaniacs
''Animaniacs'' is an American Animated series, animated Comedy television, comedy Musical film, musical television series created by Tom Ruegger and produced by Warner Bros. Television Animation. It originally aired on Fox Broadcasting Company ...
''. Sebastian Evans composed the score of the show. The theme song of ''Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go!'' is performed by Japanese synthpop/new wave band
Polysics
is a Japanese techno/ electronic band from Tokyo, who dubs its unique style as "technicolor pogo punk". It was named after a brand of synthesizer, the Korg Polysix. The band started in 1997, but got their big break in 1998 at a concert in Toky ...
.
Release
Broadcast
''Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go!'' premiered on
ABC Family
American cable television, cable and satellite television network Freeform (TV channel), Freeform was originally launched as the CBN Satellite Service on April 29, 1977, and has gone through four different owners and six different name changes dur ...
's
Jetix
Jetix (stylized in all caps) was a children's entertainment brand owned by The Walt Disney Company. The brand was for a slate of action and adventure-related programming blocks and television channels. Jetix programming mainly originated fr ...
programming block on September 18, 2004. It also aired on
Toon Disney
Toon Disney was an American multinational pay television channel owned by Disney Branded Television, a subsidiary of Disney-ABC Television Group. The channel's target audience was children aged 7–11, and older children and adolescents aged 8� ...
's
Jetix
Jetix (stylized in all caps) was a children's entertainment brand owned by The Walt Disney Company. The brand was for a slate of action and adventure-related programming blocks and television channels. Jetix programming mainly originated fr ...
block, until the
Jetix
Jetix (stylized in all caps) was a children's entertainment brand owned by The Walt Disney Company. The brand was for a slate of action and adventure-related programming blocks and television channels. Jetix programming mainly originated fr ...
programming block was taken off of
ABC Family
American cable television, cable and satellite television network Freeform (TV channel), Freeform was originally launched as the CBN Satellite Service on April 29, 1977, and has gone through four different owners and six different name changes dur ...
in August 2006, and the series began to air exclusively on
Toon Disney
Toon Disney was an American multinational pay television channel owned by Disney Branded Television, a subsidiary of Disney-ABC Television Group. The channel's target audience was children aged 7–11, and older children and adolescents aged 8� ...
. The show was planned to air on ABC Kids on September 17, 2005, but it was scrapped. It was shown on Jetix UK from January 1, 2005 until July 22, 2006. In 2005, ''Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go!'' aired on Champ TV in South Korea. The entire series was broadcast in the United Kingdom on GMTV's ''
Toonattik
''Toonattik'' was the flagship children's strand of the British breakfast television station, GMTV (known on-air as CITV at weekends), which ran from 5 February 2005 to 26 December 2010. The strand aired on weekend mornings from 07:25 (sometime ...
''. In Ireland, it was released on ''
RTÉ Two
(; ; RTÉThe É in RTÉ is pronounced as an English E () and not an Irish É ()) is an Republic of Ireland, Irish Public broadcasting, public service broadcaster. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on RTÉ Television, television, RT� ...
'' as part of "The Den" children's programming block. In 2007, the series was released on Mio TV in Singapore.
The series was produced for
widescreen
Widescreen images are displayed within a set of aspect ratio (image), aspect ratios (relationship of image width to height) used in film, television and computer screens. In film, a widescreen film is any film image with a width-to-height aspect ...
, but originally shown cropped due to network restrictions.
Home media
''Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go!'' was later made available to stream on
Disney+
The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...
.
It never got the season sets, but it did had 3 DVD discs with 1 episode that comes with the action figures, they got episodes "Flytor", "Lords of Soturix 7" and "Planetoid Q".
Reception
Critical response
Shreya Suresh Kumar of '' ComingSoon.net'' said, "This series has a perfect blend of humor, action, and sci-fi elements, making it an exciting experience. It features a stellar voice cast with Greg Cipes, Kevin Michael Richardson, Tom Kenny, and Kari Wahlgren. It is a series that appeals to everyone, from children to adults." Charlotte Gorrell of ''
MovieWeb
Valnet, Inc. is a Canadian media company established in August 2012 by Hassan and Sam Youssef in Montreal, Quebec. It operates primarily in the entertainment media industry, where it has sought to acquire producers of content in this space. In ...
'' stated, "It is a great series for the entire family, and a great introduction to science fiction for a young audience. At the same time, the humor in the one-liners appeals to a more adult audience. It uses the same personalities and eccentric imagery that are popular in anime. The futuristic world, mixed with a bright colors and a relatable protagonist, combines into a great family-friendly series."
Accolades
The series was nominated for Best Sound Editing in Television Animated at the 2006 Golden Reel Awards. It was nominated for Best Sound Editing in Sound Effects, Foley, Dialogue, ADR and Music for Television Animation at the 2007 Golden Reel Awards.
Possible revival
In December 2014, across an interview with ''AnimeSuperhero.com'', Ciro Nieli stated, "There's a finale planned for that and I don't know how I'm gonna do it but I swear that I'm gonna do it someday. I can do it as one movie or I can do it as a whole season, it just depends on how much breadth I want to give it. Look at the last episode. You can either pick it up from there or you can go 'Five years later: it's the war of the undead vs the robot chimps.' It's this crazy battlefield where all forces have kinda teamed up against the ultimate evil. It'd be awesome. It's all figured out pretty much. Everyone bugs me about it all the time and I really wanna sit down and ''tell'' everybody what happens but I'd rather just make it someday and give it to them. Worst case scenario: before I die I'll do a perfect graphic novel of it and then Disney can sue me posthumously 'cause they now completely own it and that's how it goes. I guess I could make a comic and change the names and hairdos…" In June 2018, Greg Cipes shared one of Ciro Nieli's concept art on
Twitter
Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...
, as it could be either a reboot or continuation for a fifth season, while showing off two new characters set to appear. As of December 2024, there has yet to be updates about the show's revival.
In March 2025, Greg Cipes announced he has
Parkinson's disease
Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a neurodegenerative disease primarily of the central nervous system, affecting both motor system, motor and non-motor systems. Symptoms typically develop gradually and non-motor issues become ...
as he shared on his Twitter it is unknown if he will return to reprise his role as Chiro in the revival.
Game Boy Advance Video
Game Boy Advance Video is a format for putting full color, full-motion videos onto Game Boy Advance ROM cartridges. These videos are playable using the Game Boy Advance system's screen and sound hardware. They were all published by Majesco Ent ...
''Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go!'' - Volume 1.
* In 2006,
Hasbro
Hasbro, Inc. (; a syllabic abbreviation of its original name, Hassenfeld Brothers) is an American multinational corporation, multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment holding company founded on December 6, 1923 by Henry, Hillel and Herma ...
released several
action figure
An action figure is a poseable character model figure made most commonly of plastic, and often based upon characters from a film, comic book, military, video game, television program, or sport; fictional or historical. These figures are usually ...
s inspired by ''Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go!''.
* In 2012,
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' (''TMNT'') is an American media franchise created by comic book artists Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird. It follows Leonardo (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), Leonardo, Donatello (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), D ...
episode "The Weird World of Wyrm" rehashed the same plot to episode "Meet the Wigglenog" and Wigglenog makes a cameo.