Battle of the Planets is an American adaptation of the Japanese anime series Science Ninja Team Gatchaman (1972).[2] Of the 105 original Gatchaman episodes, 85 were used in the Battle of the Planets adaptation, produced by Sandy Frank Entertainment.[3] The adaptation was generally faithful to the plot and character development of the original Gatchaman series, but significant additions and reductions were made in order to increase appeal to the North American television market of the late 1970s, as well as avoid controversy from parents; these included the removal of elements of graphic violence and profanity.[4]
It was the most successful anime series in the United States during the 1970s, airing on 100 network affiliates during after-school hours by 1979.[5] As of June 2013, Sentai Filmworks have licensed the Gatchaman franchise.[6] An oft-delayed CGI film based on the franchise, Gatchaman, last slated for a 2011 release from Warner Bros., was officially canceled in June 2011. However, a live-action Gatchaman feature film was released in Japan in August 2013. As of 2018, the series has been made available for streaming on Hidive.[7]
History
In April 1977, TV producer Sandy Frank attended the MIP-TV conference in Cannes. It was here Frank first encountered the Japanese animation Gatchaman from producer Tatsunoko Production run by the Yoshida brothers.[8] Frank committed to a Western release after seeing how successful the film Star Wars was in May 1977.[9]
Battle of the Planets is the title of the American adaptation of this series created by Frank. New footage was authorized and Frank hired writers to add dialogue to fit the look of the animation, without reference to original scripts.[9] Of the 105 original Gatchaman episodes, the adaptation used 85.[10]
Plot
Battle of the Planets cast five young people as G-Force, consisting of Mark, Jason, Princess, Keyop, and Tiny. G-Force protects Earth from the planet Spectra and other attacks from beyond space. The most prominent field commander of the Spectra forces was a villainous, masked individual known as Zoltar. Zoltar would receive his orders directly from a being he would refer to as the "Luminous One." The Luminous One would appear as a ghost-like, disembodied, floating head. While the Luminous One's origins were not explained on the show, it is clear he is the ruler of Spectra and its invading armies.[11]
The main ship of the G-Force team was called the Phoenix, which could carry, transport, and deploy four smaller vehicles, each operated by one team member. The four vehicles included a futuristic race car with various hidden weapons driven by Jason; this vehicle was concealed within the Phoenix's nosecone. The "galacti-cycle," a futuristic motorcycle Princess rode, was stored within the left-wing capsule of the Phoenix. Keyop's "Space Bubble," an all-terrain, tank-like vehicle capable of VTOL as well as being a submersible craft, was held in the right storage capsule of the Phoenix. And lastly, a futuristic jet fighter Mark pilots was stored in the top rear section of the Phoenix command island structure, and which used its tail fin to make up the center tail fin of the Phoenix. The fifth crew member, Tiny, was assigned to pilot the Phoenix rather than one of the detachable craft.
A regularly featured plot device was the transformation of the Phoenix into a flaming bird-shaped craft able to handle virtually any exceptional situation for a brief period by essentially turning itself into pure energy called the Fiery Phoenix. The Phoenix primary weapon was a supply of rockets called "TBX missiles" in the series. It also occasionally flaunted a powerful solar-powered energy blaster, although the team had the misfortune of choosing very cloudy days to use it.
Other media
Subsequent variations
In 1986, Gatchaman was re-worked in the US as G-Force: Guardians of Space by Turner, with a good deal of the original content edited out of Battle of the Planets put back into the show. It followed the plot of the original Gatchaman much more faithfully than Battle of the Planets because of this. Missing was Hoyt Curtin's original score. New voice acting was used.
Two soundtrack albums and several DVDs have been released.
The two Japanese follow-up series, Gatchaman II and Gatchaman Fighter, were combined into 65 episodes and released as the Saban-produced show Eagle Riders. All 65 episodes aired in Australia, but in the United States, only 13 episodes were aired.
TV movie
Voice cast
Apart from the pilot episode, Battle of the Planets featured a generic end credits sequence which only credited the regular cast, Alan Young, Casey Kasem, Janet Waldo, Ronnie Schell, Keye Luke and Alan Dinehart. But in addition to the regulars, several uncredited performers voiced secondary characters in many of the episodes. These include Takayo Fischer, William Woodson (who was also the announcer for the opening titles, episode previews and trailers), Frank Maxwell, Edward Andrews, Wendy Young (daughter of Alan Young), and David Jolliffe (who also voiced Jason in the pilot). The pilot episode features a different end credits sequence which also credits Jolliffe, William Woodson and Alan Oppenheimer. It is unclear which character Oppenheimer voiced in the episode (it may have been Gorok, the episode's villain; or it may have been Chief Anderson, who was cut from the final version of the episode), and he never worked on the series again.
Regular Cast:
Additional voices provided by:
- Alan Young as 7-Zark-7, Keyop, additional voices
- Casey Kasem as Mark, additional voices
- Ronnie Schell as Jason (regular voice), Tiny (episode 1), additional voices
Episodes
Soundtrack
- Battle of the Planets track listing[18]
- 1) Main Theme – Title Card
- 2) Dramatic Curtain
- 3) Ready Room
- 4) Alien Trap
- 5) BP-Mysterioso 4 – BP-Mysterioso 3 – BP-Mysterioso 2
- 6) BP-Teenage Mysterioso
- 7) Love In The Afterburner
- 8) 7-Zark-7's Song – Zarks Theme Alt – Zark Disco
- 9) Keyops 1 – Robot Hijinks
- 10) Firefight
- 11) BP-Orion Cue #1 – Orion 4 – BP-Orion Runs
- 12) Alien Planet
- 13) Two Monsters – Star Fight
Reception
In the United Kingdom, the show was voted #42 on Channel 4's 100 Greatest Kids' TV Shows in 2001.[19]
The show was voted #62 on Channel 4's 100 Greatest Cartoons in 2004.
According to Wizard magazine, Battle of the Planets is considered to be one of the 100 greatest animated shows.[20]
In 2009, IGN ranked BotP as the 44th-greatest animated show of all time in their Top 100 list.[21]
Legacy
Scrapped reboot
An animated reboot, with the working subtitle Phoenix Ninjas, was planned to have been produced by Nelvana, d-rights and Tatsunoko.[22][23][24] Aimed at the 6-11 male demographic, the project was conceived when d-rights expressed interest in Nelvana rebooting the franchise following the success of the second generation of Beyblade.[25] No new information on the project has surfaced since 2016 and has since been scrapped as Nelvana's parent company Corus Entertainment removed the press release from their official website.
Further reading
- G-Force: Animated (TwoMorrows Publishing: ISBN 978-1-893905-18-4)
External links
References
- Top 100 Animated TV Series IGN, 14 January 2009^
- From 'Speed' to outer space Japan Times, retrieved July 28, 2010^
- Hal Erickson. Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003 McFarland & Co, 2005^