Thread: Battle of the Planets
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17th Apr 2007, 9:30 PM #1
Battle of the Planets
Back in the late '70s a cartoon series arrived on BBC1 which blew the other stuff out of the water. "Battle of the planets" aired on a mid-week slot as part of the childrens' programming and was distinctive for a few reasons. Very few of us kids knew it was Japanese in origin at the time, although now it's obvious, and this gave the whole series a very strong image.
It was cribbed from a more violent 1972 series called "Gratchaman" (abrieviated title there) which a bloke called Sandy Frank got the rights for in the US. The American version was dubbed with American artistes (including the great Casey Casem!) It was renamed "Battle of the planets" and new animation of cute robot 7-zark-7 was inserted as a way of narrating the action and making more sense out of the Japanese plots. 7-zark-7 was based under the sea in 'Centre Neptune' (some kind of Earth defence base).The main heroes were a team of kids called G-Force, whose spaceship had the ability to 'transmute' into a flaming pheonix. Infact, birds were very much the theme with G-Force.
The five teenagers were Jason, Princess, Mark, Tiny and Kee-opp and all used to dress in bird-like costumes and drive various vehicles (stored in the spaceship). Their superior was a bit like Commisioner Gordon in 'Batman' as I recall. Come to think of it, their main nemesis was Zoltar, who looked a bit like The Joker.
Zoltar, to be frank, was a tranny from outer space. Either I'm dreaming or I remember an episode were one of G-Force tore his mask off and he was revealed to be a woman??! Either way, he/she wore lipgloss and what looked like purple tight spandex (including a ridiculous mask with bat-ears). He led the forces of planet Specter, and got his orders from some ancient spirit being. Far out!
Zoltar would bomb planet Earth to shit with a variety of giant machine creatures only to have 7-Zark-7 comment how everything was 'fine' and there were no casualties...like whatever.
Anyway, BOTP was great, even if it was meant to be inferior to the Japense version. Anyone recall it with fondness?
Here's a reminder...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FoO5H_UKCrw
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17th Apr 2007, 9:55 PM #2Captain Tancredi Guest
Oooh, did I have a thing about Princess...
This would have been a couple of years before I developed a crush on the line drawing of a girl in the French textbook. And I wonder why I can't get women...
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17th Apr 2007, 9:59 PM #3
I remember a late night debate with one of my university housemates about whether the show was called "Battle of the Planets" or "G-Force". We were both right - he grew up in Gibraltar and saw the Turner produced adaptation while I saw the one m'love describes above. BotP lacked quality character names like "Dick Daring" and "Ace Goodheart" but it had alien worlds and space excitement which none of the other versions had.
Transmuuuuuuuute.Dennis, Francois, Melba and Smasher are competing to see who can wine and dine Lola Whitecastle and win the contract to write her memoirs. Can Dennis learn how to be charming? Can Francois concentrate on anything else when food is on the table? Will Smasher keep his temper under control?
If only the 28th century didn't keep popping up to get in Dennis's way...
#dammitbrent
The eleventh annual Brenty Four serial is another Planet Skaro exclusive. A new episode each day until Christmas in the Brenty Four-um.
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17th Apr 2007, 10:00 PM #4
I think everyone of a certain age remembers Battle of the Planets with much affection. However, aside from the fabulous titles and music, watching it now is a severe disappointment- it's obvious how much the episodes are chopped and they seldom make a great deal of sense, sadly.
However, when I was 5 it was one of the most exciting shows there was!
Si xx
I've just got my handcuffs and my truncheon and that's enough.
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17th Apr 2007, 10:06 PM #5Captain Tancredi Guest
Mother once told me off for saying "transmute" in a game I must have been playing with my friends, because she was of the belief that I shouldn't say anything if I didn't know what it meant. Which is ironic when you think that fifteen years later I wrote an MA dissertation on modernist poetry- the sort where nobody knows what it means.
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17th Apr 2007, 10:09 PM #6Either I'm dreaming or I remember an episode were one of G-Force tore his mask off and he was revealed to be a woman??!
What with the two male leads, one whiter-than-white and one rather more roguish, and the Princess female lead, the show neatly rode that Star Wars popularity of the late-70s. It was certainly very exciting indeed when I was in Primary School.
Inseparable, invincible!!!
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17th Apr 2007, 10:25 PM #7
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17th Apr 2007, 11:04 PM #8
This has reminded me that I had a BOTP avatar for a short while in the early days of PS! I loved the show, and clearly recall the unmasking of Zoltar episode - long blonde hair IIRC.
What was the name of the robot dog that accompanied 7-Zark-7? I used to like his electronic bark!
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17th Apr 2007, 11:57 PM #9
1-Rover-1 I think.
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18th Apr 2007, 1:28 AM #10
I only watched it for the upskirt shots.
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18th Apr 2007, 9:46 AM #11
Wasn't that in fact every scene with Princess in it? Plus the opening titles?
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18th Apr 2007, 12:16 PM #12
I love this show! Its rubbish but quite good fun.
I loved the show, and clearly recall the unmasking of Zoltar episode - long blonde hair IIRC
The G-Force cartoon was almost a straightforward translation of Gatchaman.
Oh the complicated world of 70's Japanese cartoons!
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18th Apr 2007, 9:40 PM #13
Zoltar looked like this:
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18th Apr 2007, 9:42 PM #14Pip Madeley Guest
This thread is now Recommended.
So don't let me down, team. Or you're all fired.
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18th Apr 2007, 9:54 PM #15
According to the internet, there were 85 episodes... and one of them dies in the last episode!! I don't remember that - maybe I wasn't allowed to watch it for fear of being scarred for life.
But anyway, back to discussing Princess's almost non-existent hemlines...
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19th Apr 2007, 7:48 AM #16
I liked it when Princess and Mark came to visit 7-Zark-& and suddenly the whole way they were animated was completely different!
Susan, who used to call 7-Zark-7 at Centre Neptune had an amazingly sultry voice.... it's no wonder he used to have to get his fan out to coool down after her calls.
Si xx
I've just got my handcuffs and my truncheon and that's enough.
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19th Apr 2007, 7:57 AM #17WhiteCrow Guest
Yes I remember this well - and it was homaged really well in Megas XLR
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19th Apr 2007, 7:33 PM #18
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20th Apr 2007, 12:55 PM #19Pip Madeley Guest
Me first.
From the Battle of the Planets clips I've seen, it's really poor animation with English voiceovers.
But I know nothing, I'm only young.
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20th Apr 2007, 1:02 PM #20
Ay, in our day you were lucky to get poor animation with English voiceovers. You kids today...
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20th Apr 2007, 1:19 PM #21
Kids don't know they're born these days, when I were a kid we never had poor animation & voice overs, we had Black & White stop motion paper cut outs with one person doing all the voices.
Those were the days, Captain Pugwash was all we had.
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20th Apr 2007, 1:24 PM #22One Day, I shall come back, Yes, I shall come back,
Until them, there must be no regrets, no tears, no anxieties, Just go forward in all your beliefs,
and prove to me that I am not mistaken in mine!
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20th Apr 2007, 1:26 PM #23
That seems likely. It never jarred until I saw it again a few years back, when it was really noticeable.
Si xx
I've just got my handcuffs and my truncheon and that's enough.
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20th Apr 2007, 3:12 PM #24
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20th Apr 2007, 3:33 PM #25
I remember the two-parter with the plants (as referred to earlier in this thread), Didn't the plants produce some kind of pink gas that sent everyone to sleep or something?
I recall that Princess was captured by the plants but in her non-G-force form (as in pre-transmuuuuuute stage) - or something like that anyway
I loved this cartoon - in a way I don't want to se it again now as I think I will be disappointed
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