History Anime / RobotCarnival

* ExplosiveOverclocking: in "Ending", the ''Robot Carnival'' supercharges its engines to surmount a dune at the cost of [[spoiler:its entire superstructure, with only the first 'O' reaching an appreciable distance]].

!! This film contains examples of:

* RealityEnsues: In "A Tale of Two Robots". What would a battle between two SteamPunk mecha with 19th-century technology be like? Well, they ''could'' be armed with projectile weapons, but it'd still take them several hours to walk all the way across town to confront each other.

** This also goes for both "A Tale of Two Robots" and "Nightmare" themselves, being the only two (out of the principal 7 shorts) to be given new (and more Western-palatable) names for the early 90's American release. "[=AToTRs=]" was formally "Legends of Meiji Machine Culture: Westerner's Invasion" and "Nightmare" had the far less complicated (but stll cool) "Chicken Man and Red Neck."

*** The theme park itself in "Star Light Angel" is pretty much just Tokyo Disneyland with the serial numbers filed off; Disney had opened the park only four years before this film was released.

* CameBackStrong: Damaged night-unto deactivation while trying to protect the girl he loved from an invading robot army, the robot from Deprive managed to hook himself to a factory system that let him arrange a breand-new body with some ''major'' upgrades.

* EyeBeams: The apparent leader of the bad-guy robots in "Deprive" has one of these. It hurts the hero when he's struck by it, but doesn't seem to do any real injury.

* BecomeARealBoy: The segment "Cloud".

* {{Cyberspace}}: In "Star Light Angel", the ride the main girl ends up on after running away from her friend seems to be a virtual reality ride that taps into its riders' minds. Notably, there's a HologramMalfunction when Robot Suit Guy accidentally re-awakens the main girl's crushing heartbreak.

* LeftTheBackgroundMusicOn: Played with in the "Nightmare" a/k/a "Chicken Man and Red Neck" sequence. The score and a few sound effects are all that can be heard on the soundtrack, drawing a parallel with ''Disney/{{Fantasia}}'' (particularly the "Night on Bald Mountain" segment)... but the volume of the soundtrack actually ''decreases'' when the camera moves away from the parade of monsters to a drunk waking up in a nearby alleyway, and then ''increases'' when he wanders out. The music is temporarily ''treated'' as though it were actually being played audibly in the scene, but of that the film gives no confirmation.

* ShoutOut: The "Nightmare" sequence makes obvious references to Disney works such as the "Night on Bald Mountain" segment from ''Disney/{{Fantasia}}'' and ''The Legend of Sleepy Hollow''.

*** The theme park itself in "Star Light Angel" is pretty much just Tokyo Disneyland with the serial numbers filed off; Podcast/AnimeWorldOrder has simply called it Copyright Infringement Park. (Disney had opened the park only four years before this film was released.)

** The English dubbing of this particular piece drew some criticism because the voice actors put on thick Japanese accents when they delivered their lines. The original director, however, apparently wasn't offended.
*** The piece itself is a parody of Japanese propaganda films of UsefulNotes/WorldWarII -- the MadScientist villain is a greedy {{Eagleland}} type-2 Ugly American who's convinced that he can conquer Japan and ransack its treasures all by himself.

* NoExportForYou: For almost thirty years, the only legitimate copies of ''Robot Carnival'' in the West were copies of the Creator/StreamlinePictures VHS (which went out of print in the mid-Nineties) and a Region 2 DVD (that had a similarly short lifespan on the shelves). Not until February 2015 did any company -- Creator/DiscotekMedia, for the record -- announce any intention of distributing it on R1 DVD.

* StockSoundEffects: In the "Opening" segment, when the boy runs in the desert, some H-B sound effects are heard. Kazutoshi Sato is good at using some cartoony sound effects, isn't he?

* StockSoundEffects: In the "Opening" segment, when the boy runs in the desert, some H-B sound effects are heard. Kazutoshi Sato is good at using some cartoony sound effects, isn't he?

** This also goes for both "A Tale of Two Robots" and "Nightmare" themselves, being the only two (out of the principal 7 shorts) to be given new (and more Western-palatable) names for the early 90's American release. "AToTRs" was formally "Legends of Meiji Machine Culture: Westerner's Invasion" and "Nightmare" had the far less complicated (but stll cool) "Chicken Man and Red Neck."

* NoExportForYou: For almost thirty years, the only legitimate copies of ''Robot Carnival'' in the West were copies of the Streamline Pictures VHS (which went out of print in the mid-Nineties) and a Region 2 DVD (that had a similarly short lifespan on the shelves). Not until February 2015 did any company -- Creator/DiscotekMedia, for the record -- announce any intention of distributing it on R1 DVD.

* NoExportForYou: For almost thirty years, the only legitimate copies of ''Robot Carnival'' in the West were copies of the Streamline Pictures VHS (which went out of print in the mid-Nineties) and a Region 2 DVD (that had a similarly short lifespan on the shelves). Not until February 2015 did any company -- Discotek Media, for the record -- announce any intention of distributing it on R1 DVD.

During the early 1990's, this anthology was shown frequently on the [[Creator/{{Syfy}} Sci Fi Channel]] and later on the Turner Network, often paired with other feature-length anime films such as ''Anime/VampireHunterD'', ''Anime/DemonCityShinjuku'', and ''Anime/TwilightOfTheCockroaches'', making ''Robot Carnival'' one of [[GatewaySeries the first tastes of anime to many American viewers]].

* MissingMom: The protagonist of "Presence" states that he lost his mother when he was young and that he has "never known a mother's love". To this [[FreudianExcuse early trauma]] he attributes his difficulties with women; he marries a driven career woman who isn't very motherly at first, and the first time someone else -- his own creation -- offers him unconditional love, he finds himself unexpectedly ''terrified'' by it and deactivates her immediately.

*** The theme park itself in "Star Light Angel" is pretty much just Tokyo Disneyland with the serial numbers filed off. (Disney had opened the park only four years before this film was released.)

*** The piece itself is a parody of Japanese propaganda films of WorldWarII -- the MadScientist villain is a greedy {{Eagleland}} type-2 Ugly American who's convinced that he can conquer Japan and ransack its treasures all by himself.

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During the early 1990's, this anthology was shown frequently on the SciFiChannel and later on the Turner Network, often paired with other feature-length anime films such as ''Anime/VampireHunterD'', ''Anime/DemonCityShinjuku'', and ''Anime/TwilightOfTheCockroaches'', making ''Robot Carnival'' one of [[GatewaySeries the first tastes of anime to many American viewers]].

* CircusOfFear: The eponymous carnival. It was once a normal circus, but years of disrepair have turned it into a mechanical nightmare that turns the people of the towns it encounters into new performers... or [[StuffBlowingUp makes them explode]].

* GiantMecha: The segment "A Tale of Two Robots -- Chapter 3: Foreign Invasion" feature two giant robots battling over Japan, the Western invader in his giant robot opposed by some kids in a robot designed for a parade.

* RockBeatsLaser: Played with and (perhaps intentionally) subverted in the "A Tale of Two Robots" segment. While both {{Giant Mecha}} seem to be at the SteamPunk level of technology, the robot belonging to Doctor Volkessen is definitely more advanced, having a real cannon on its shoulder (as opposed to the repurposed fireworks used by the heroes) and brick-and-mortar "armor". While the heroes win, it was likely just dumb luck (although their leader is quick to attribute it to patriotic HeroicResolve), and their GiantMecha is definitely much the worse for wear... while the villain's robot winds up ''floating'' homeward.

* SilenceIsGolden: Only "A Tale of Two Robots" and "Presence" have any spoken dialogue.