Referred to by some as the "
anime antichrist," Carl Macek is nonetheless responsible for the creation of many anime fans. Macek put together the
Robotech TV show out of three separate anime series (
Macross,
Southern Cross, and
Mospeada), and helped to set the stage for the population explosion of anime once those fans reached college age.
Macek also worked on other animation projects for the film and television industries, including the movie Heavy Metal, episodes of C.O.P.S., and so forth.
After leaving Harmony Gold, Macek founded his own translation studio, Streamline Video, to dub anime and other movies for VHS release and Japan Airlines flights. Macek considered himself more an "artiste" than a mere translator, and took it upon himself to "improve" the titles he brought across, by changing bits of dialogue (most famously Goemon the Samurai's "Once again, I have cut a worthless object" in Castle of Cagliostro to "Should've worn an asbestos suit") and adding more dialogue wherever there was even the vaguest possibility of lip movement. He also refused to release subtitled versions simply because he did not personally like them.