Defenders of the Earth 1986-1987 Animated Television Series

1986 animated television series

Defenders of the Earth
Genre	Superhero Activeness/Chance Science fantasy
Based on	Mandrake the Magician The Phantom past Lee Falk Flash Gordon by Alex Raymond
Written by	Bryce Malek Dick Robbins
Directed by	Will Meugniot John Gibbs Ray Lee
Starring	William Callaway Adam Carl Ron Feinberg Buster Jones Loren Lester Sarah Partridge Diane Pershing Peter Renaday Lou Richards Peter Marking Richman Dion Williams
Composer	Robert J. Walsh
Country of origin	United States
Original linguistic communication	English language
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	65
Production
Executive producers	Lee Gunther Margaret Loesch Bruce L. Paisner
Producers	John Ahern Rick Hoberg Bill Hutten Glenn Johnson Tony Love Don Sheppard Lee Orgel George Singer Nib Hutton Tony Love
Running time	thirty mins
Production companies	Curiosity Productions King Features Entertainment
Distributor	Orbis Communications (1986) Rex Features Amusement (Hearst Communications)
Release
Original network	Syndication
Original release	September 8, 1986 (1986-09-08) – May 1, 1987 (1987-05-01)

Defenders of the Earth is an American blithe television serial produced in 1986, featuring characters from 3 comic strips distributed by King Features Syndicate—Flash Gordon, The Phantom, Mandrake the Magician, and Mandrake's banana Lothar—opposing Ming the Merciless in the year 2015. Supporting characters include their children Rick Gordon (son of Wink), L.J. (son of Lothar), Kshin (adopted son of Mandrake), and Jedda Walker (daughter of the Phantom).^[1]

The bear witness lasted for 65 episodes; there was also a short-lived comic book serial published past Star Comics (an banner of Marvel Comics).^[2] The closing credits credit Rob Walsh and Tony Pastor for the primary title music, and Stan Lee for the lyrics. The series was subsequently shown in reruns on the Sci Fi Aqueduct as function of Sci Fi's blitheness block, Cartoon Quest .

Flash Gordon has likewise been seen in two other animated series: The New Adventures of Flash Gordon (1979–82), and Flash Gordon (1996–97).^[3]

Premise [ edit ]

Flash Gordon and his son Rick escape from Ming the Merciless, who has exhausted the natural resources of his domicile planet Mongo and desires to exploit Earth. Ming tries to brainwash Flash's wife Dale Arden, only she resists until death, whereafter her psyche is later on included in the Defenders' supercomputer Dynac X.^[4] Afterwards, Flash and Mandrake organize the Defenders confronting Ming.

Characters [ edit ]

Protagonists [ edit ]

The Defenders of the Globe

Flash Gordon (voiced by Lou Richards) — Leader of the Defenders of the Globe: a infinite pilot and the father of Rick Gordon.
The Phantom (voiced by Peter Marking Richman) — Essentially identical to Lee Falk's character, merely differing from the original in that by chanting "Past jungle constabulary, the Ghost Who Walks calls along the power of ten tigers", he momentarily receives superhuman strength. His real proper noun is Kit Walker. His horse Hero and wolf Devil make cursory appearances. The cease credits draw this Phantom by saying "This is the 27th Phantom."
Mandrake the Magician (voiced by Peter Renaday) — A hypnotist and mystic capable of manipulating others' perceptions nigh at volition. He is frequently portrayed equally a secondary leader of the Defenders, and sometimes the narrator of their decisions.
Lothar (voiced by Buster Jones) — Mandrake's assistant and bodyguard, depicted equally a powerful fighter, an able mechanic, and a primary tactician. The activity figure'southward packaging describes Lothar as a "Caribbean Ninja".
Richard "Rick" Gordon (voiced by Loren Lester) — Richard is an impulsive computer genius and the son of Flash Gordon. Rick, along with many of the other teenagers of the bear witness, attended Central High located in Central City. Rick Gordon was initially intended to be Kit Walker, the son of the Phantom.
L.J. (voiced past Dion Williams) — Short for 'Lothar Jr.', Fifty.J. is the street-wise martial arts practiced son of Lothar, and Rick's best friend. When in 1 episode, the Defenders locate a crystal which shows them their greatest desires, 50.J.'south is to defeat the antagonist Octon.
Jedda Walker (voiced by Sarah Partridge) — Jedda is the girl of the Phantom and displays telepathy and limited extrasensory powers, usually expressed by communication with her black panther Kisa. In that location is petty-or-no mention of her mother, though in i episode she is the reluctant stepdaughter of Queen Hadea. Some installments imply a relationship with Rick Gordon. Jedda Walker was initially intended to be Jedda Gordon, daughter of Flash Gordon.
Kshin (voiced by Adam Carl) — Kshin is an orphaned boy adopted by Mandrake and trained every bit his apprentice. His origins are revealed in the late season episode "The adoption of Kshin", where it is shown he was a young street orphan found by Mandrake after a gang of boys tried using him as a lark in a failed choice-pocketing attempt. He is unremarkably accompanied by the extraterrestrial "Zuffy", initially found by Rick Gordon on the planet Mongo.
Dynac Ten (voiced by Diane Pershing) — Dynac X is the central figurer of the Defenders' Headquarters, whose operating system is stated to incorporate the psyche of Flash Gordon's wife. Though she is never addressed by proper name in the series, the comic book adaptation of the first two episodes identifies the slain "Mrs. Gordon" equally Dale Arden. Diane Pershing is the merely performer from the Filmation cartoon who reprised her role.

Antagonists [ edit ]

Ming the Merciless (voiced by Ron Feinberg) — A warlord or supervillain bent on exploiting Earth's natural resource, based on 'Water ice Station Earth'. This version is made more than grotesque than his traditional appearance to avoid racial stereotyping; a similar treatment would be used on the Standard mandarin in the Iron Man blithe series and on Dr. No in James Bond Jr. , in that all three characters received light-green pare and pointed ears.
- Prince Kro-Tan (voiced by Hal Rayle) — Ming the Merciless' son
- Princess Castra (voiced by Jennifer Darling) — Ming the Merciless' daughter
- Octon (voiced past William Callaway) — an octopus-like artificial intelligence, equivalent to an 'evil version' of Dynac X, which advises Ming the Merciless of methods to conquer the World or defeat the Defenders. His proper name is derived from that of an opponent of Mandrake's in the latter'southward eponymous comic strip, wherein information technology identifies a crime lord also known as the Cobra.
- Garax (voiced by William Callaway) — the leader of Ming'due south mechanical soldiers, the Ice Robots. He is the but i of these to recur, and the just one given any stardom from the others, who are frequently slain en masse past the Defenders.
- Mongor — a giant serpent-like pet of Ming the Merciless
Kurt Walker (voiced by William Callaway) — Aliased "Due north'Dama the Weather Demon", Kurt is the older brother of the Phantom. When competing in a trial with Kit for the correct to become the next Phantom, Kurt won only was passed-over in favor of Kit due his father knowing that he had lied and cheated, equally well equally abandoning his brother after causing a stone autumn that had injured him. This results in him being disinherited past their father, and the contempt he has for Kit. Kurt is specifically created for the series and has never appeared elsewhere.
The Sky Band — A coalition of raiders depicted in the Phantom comics; here depicted as space-pirates.
Queen Hadea — ruler of the subterranean 'Netherworld', where she is the latest in a dynasty of monarchs served by pale, deformed humanoids. In her start appearance, Hadea desires to take the Phantom as a consort. After later offer to heal the injured Jedda Walker, she displays a brief involvement in assuming a maternal role in the girl'southward life. Her great ambition is to capture the powerful 'Necklace of Oros', which confers control of others in the user's presence.
Graviton — the original owner of the Necklace of Oros, and implied to have dwelt amongst the Moai of Rapa Nui, Graviton is an extradimensional beingness of unknown origins, who seeks to recover the Necklace from Earth and found himself as a dictator.

Production [ edit ]

Marvel Productions and Rex Features Syndicate worked together to develop the show.^[5] Marvel Productions had brought in consulting visitor Q5 Corporation to aid develop the show. Q5's consultants consist of psychology PhDs and advertizing, marketing and research professionals.^[vi] The animation for the serial were done overseas at Daewon Media and Sei Young Animation (at present merged with Dong Woo Animation) and AKOM in Seoul, Republic of korea, and Toei Animation in Tokyo, Nippon.

Episodes [ edit ]

Dwelling releases [ edit ]

In 1987, select episodes of the show were released on iv VHS cassettes by Family Dwelling Amusement in North America.

Roughly two decades after production was completed, the series was released effectually the world on DVD, featuring various episodes and packaging depending on region.

United States [ edit ]

On October 10, 2006^[7] and April 3, 2007^[8] the series were released to DVD by BCI Eclipse Entertainment LLC (under its Ink & Paint archetype animation entertainment label) in Region ane, containing all 65 original broadcast episodes in two Complete Series volumes and presented in original storyline continuity gild.

These release includes interviews with story editor Bryce Malek, writer David Wise, and artist Michael Swanigan—each of whom reflect on various points of the creative process, including the origins of the characters, legal issues surrounding the properties, controversial content, and ways in which the production differed from others of its time.

Mill Creek Entertainment re-released the complete series on DVD in Region 1 on May 18, 2010.^[9] ^[ten]

The series is streaming on Amazon Prime Video and Tubi Tv set.

Federal republic of germany [ edit ]

NEW KSM Pic has released the series in Germany:

Defenders of the Earth (Gesamtedition) (1-Blu-ray) – only German language linguistic communication – no extras
Defenders of the Earth (Superbox) (4-disc set DVDs) – merely German language – no extras
Defenders of the Earth (Volume One) (vi-disc set DVDs) – but German language language – before release, no extras
Defenders of the Earth (Volume Ii) (6-disc set DVDS) – merely German language – earlier release, no extras

Australia [ edit ]

Forcefulness Entertainment has released the serial in Australia:

Defenders of the Earth (vi-disc set)
Defenders of the Earth (eight-disc set), disc 7 features the film "The Story Begins" and disc 8 the picture show "Prince Kro-Tan".

The starting time episode appears on the BCI Eclipse DVD releases for:

Blithe All-Stars collection
The New Adventures of Flash Gordon: The Complete Series

BCI has too released two 5-Disc sets that cover the entire series:

Defenders of the Earth—Complete Serial Book 1 (5-Discs) 33 Episodes^[11] ^[12]
Defenders of the Earth—Complete Serial Volume ii (5-Discs) 32 Episodes (April 3, 2007) ^[12] ^[13]

U.K. [ edit ]

Selected episodes are available in the UK, in compilations including:
Hollywood DVD LTD

Defenders of the Earth—The Story Begins

Delta Music PLC

Defenders of the Earth vol 1
Defenders of the Globe vol two
Defenders of the Globe vol 3
- The above volumes include three episodes each, covering the first viii episodes of the series and the series finale, "Ming's Thunder Lizards".
Defenders of the Earth Moving picture—"The Book of Mysteries"
- "The Book of Mysteries" combines episodes 31–35
Defenders of the Earth Movie—"Prince Kro-Tan"
- "Prince of Kro-Tan" combines episodes 46–50
Defenders of the Earth Movie—"Necklace of Oros"
- "Necklace of Oros" combines episodes 56–60

The complete series was then released in the UK by Fabulous Films and Fremantle Media on February 18, 2013.

Sweden [ edit ]

VHS-Select Video (7104/73) Ondskans Makt (1987) incl episodes - Ondskans Makt (?), Bröder (?), Dynak i Fara (?) - Only Swedish voice

In other media [ edit ]

Comics [ edit ]

In 1987, Star Comics (Curiosity Comics' children's imprint) published a comic book serial which only lasted four issues. It was written by Stan Lee (#1) and Michael Higgins (#2–iv) with art past Alex Saviuk.^[14] The last issue featured a "adjacent issue" caption but, #5 was never published.

In June 2013 Dynamite Comics announced the launch of Kings Sentry , a new series written by Jeff Parker teaming the Phantom, Mandrake, Lothar, and Flash Gordon, taking on not just Ming, but characters from all over the King Features universe. At the fourth dimension of announcement information technology was not known if the characters' children would announced.^[fifteen]

Books [ edit ]

There have been DOE-related books, including The Creation of Monitor, A Firm Divided, The Dominicus-Stealers and Computer Checkmate.

Action figures [ edit ]

A line of action figures produced past Galoob included Flash Gordon, Mandrake, Lothar, the Phantom, Ming, and Garax.^[sixteen] Equally office of the show's 35th anniversary, National Entertainment Collectibles Association (NECA) produced variants of its King Features characters in the style and colors of the Defenders of the World.

Video games [ edit ]

A video game was released by Enigma Variations Software in 1990, for the Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, SAM Coupe and ZX Spectrum systems. It was a side-scrolling activeness game featuring the heroes Flash Gordon, Lothar, the Phantom and Mandrake from the series on a quest to rescue their children who have been kidnapped by Ming. The role player controls Flash, and is able to call on the other characters to assist him in bypassing the defences of Ming's castle.

Parodies [ edit ]

A parody, called Protectors of the Globe, is made up of comic strip characters Dr. King Morgan, Mary Worth, Garfield and Mark Trail.^[17]
Robot Chicken produced a sketch where Wink Gordon, Mandrake and the Phantom operated as part of a Neighborhood Watch.

References [ edit ]

^ Perlmutter, David (2022). The Encyclopedia of American Animated Television set Shows. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 150. ISBN 978-1538103739 .
^ Markstein, Don. "Defenders of the Earth". Don Markstein's Toonopedia . Retrieved Apr ii, 2022.
^ Erickson, Hal (2005). Idiot box Drawing Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003 (second ed.). McFarland & Co. pp. 331–333. ISBN 978-1476665993 .
^ McLean, James (October 4, 2007). "Flash in the Pan: Defenders Fails to Ignite". toonzone.net. Archived from the original on January 19, 2010. Retrieved Dec 29, 2009.
^ Imbesi, Pete (May 5, 2017). "xv CLASSIC Cartoons Marvel SECRETLY Produced". CBR . Retrieved February 16, 2022.
^ Haithman, Diane (September 3, 1987). "How Epitome Makers Shape Kids' TV : Q5 Firm Advises ABC on the Look and Style of Cartoon Shows; Some Writers Call It Intrusion". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved Feb 16, 2022.
^ "Defenders of the Earth - Book i". Telly Shows on DVD. October 10, 2006. Archived from the original on August 15, 2016. Retrieved June 6, 2016.
^ "Defenders of the World - Volume 2". Tv Shows on DVD. April iii, 2007. Archived from the original on August 15, 2016. Retrieved June 6, 2016.
^ David Lambert (March eighteen, 2010). "Defenders of the Earth - Another Rescue by Mill Creek with 'The Consummate 65 Episode Serial' DVDs". TVShowsOnDVD.com. Archived from the original on October xi, 2012. Retrieved Nov 12, 2011.
^ "Defenders of the Earth - The Complete 65 Episode Series". Tv Shows on DVD. May eighteen, 2010. Archived from the original on August 15, 2016. Retrieved June 6, 2016.
^ "Defenders of the Globe – Volume 1 DVD Information". TVShowsOnDVD.com. Archived from the original on May 25, 2011. Retrieved Nov 12, 2011.
^ ^a ^b "Defenders of the Earth DVD news: Volume 2 finishes up series". TVShowsOnDVD.com. Archived from the original on May 25, 2011. Retrieved Nov 12, 2011.
^ "Defenders of the Earth – Book 2 DVD Information". TVShowsOnDVD.com. March 4, 2007. Archived from the original on May 25, 2011. Retrieved November 12, 2011.
^ Defenders of the Earth
^ Kings Scout article at Newsarama.com
^ "Defenders of the Earth". Virtualtoychest.com. Retrieved November 12, 2011.
^ van yourgirlfrienddotorg's channel. "Protectors of the Earth". YouTube. Retrieved November 12, 2011.

External links [ edit ]