G-Force: Guardians of Space facts for kids

Quick facts for kids G-Force (Guardians of Space)
Title screen
Created by	Turner Program Services King Features Entertainment Sparklin' Entertainment
Directed by	Fred Ladd
Starring	Sam Fontana Cam Clarke Barbara Goodson Jan Rabson Gregg Berger Bill Capizzi
Country of origin	United States Japan
No. of episodes	85
Production
Executive producer(s)	Fred Ladd
Running time	22 minutes
Release
Original network	TBS
Picture format	full-frame
Original release	1986 (1986)

G-Force: Guardians of Space is an American animated TV show from 1986. It's the second time the Japanese anime series Science Ninja Team Gatchaman (from 1972) was brought to American TV. The first was Battle of the Planets in 1978.

G-Force was made by Sandy Frank Entertainment and Turner Broadcasting. They wanted to create a version of Gatchaman that was closer to the original Japanese story. This was easier to do in the 1980s because TV rules were more relaxed than when Battle of the Planets was made.

In the show, five brave teenagers — Ace Goodheart, Dirk Daring, Agatha June, Pee Wee and Hoot Owl — fight against the aliens Galactor and Computor to save Earth.

About the Show

In the mid-1980s, Battle of the Planets was slowly leaving TV screens after being popular for many years. The show was often moved to early morning timeslots before it stopped airing completely. TBS, a cable network, also showed Battle of the Planets for a while.

Even though Battle of the Planets was ending, Sandy Frank Entertainment still owned the rights to the first Gatchaman series. Turner Broadcasting became interested in making a new version of Gatchaman. They thought the series still had a lot of potential. They bought the rights from Sandy Frank to create G-Force. The name "G-Force" was already used for the hero team in Battle of the Planets, and it was kept for this new show.

To make G-Force, Turner asked Fred Ladd for help. Fred Ladd was famous for bringing Japanese cartoons like Astro Boy and Kimba the White Lion to the U.S. He had been asked to work on Battle of the Planets earlier but couldn't because he lived in New York, and that show was made in California.

Fred Ladd's company, "Sparklin' Entertainment", made two test episodes for Turner. After seeing them, Turner gave the go-ahead to produce the full series. Work on G-Force started in the fall of 1986.

Changes in G-Force

Dr. Benjamin Brighthead with the members of his G-Force organization in their civilian clothing

Music and Sound

G-Force got a brand new music score, created by composer Dean Andre. This new music was mixed with some of the original music from the 1970s Gatchaman show.

Sometimes, the original Gatchaman soundtrack had quiet parts. These silent moments were filled in with extra music by Dean Andre. This was a common practice to keep the show exciting and prevent viewers from getting bored during slower parts. Battle of the Planets also did this. In G-Force, a simple, repeating synth tune was often used when the original Gatchaman music faded out. This synth tune was actually a simpler version of the show's main theme song.

The first two episodes of G-Force were pilot episodes. For these, all the original Gatchaman music was replaced with new music by Dean Andre. However, because of time limits, most of this new music wasn't used in the rest of the episodes. The other episodes kept most of the original Gatchaman music.

Episode Order

Unlike Battle of the Planets, which jumped around the Gatchaman episode order, G-Force mostly followed the original order. It only skipped Gatchaman episodes 81 (because it had intense content) and 86 (for unknown reasons). This meant 85 episodes were dubbed for G-Force.

The last 18 episodes of Gatchaman (episodes 88-105) were not adapted for G-Force. This means the G-Force series didn't have a proper ending. The reasons for this are not fully known. Some people think only 85 episodes were bought, or that there wasn't enough money to adapt the rest. Also, the Gatchaman series became much darker towards its end, which would have made it harder to adapt for a children's show like G-Force.

It wasn't until 2005-2006 that all 105 Gatchaman episodes were available in English, thanks to ADV Films.

Character Names

G-Force, from left to right: Ace, Hooty, Pee Wee, Aggie and Dirk.

For G-Force, the original Gatchaman character names were changed again for English-speaking audiences. Battle of the Planets had already changed them years before. But G-Force's creators came up with their own new names to be different and avoid confusion.

Here are the main hero names in G-Force compared to Battle of the Planets and Gatchaman:

• Ace Goodheart (Gatchaman: Ken, Battle of the Planets: Mark)
• Dirk Daring (Gatchaman: Joe, Battle of the Planets: Jason)
• Agatha June (Gatchaman: Jun, Battle of the Planets: Princess)
• Pee Wee (Gatchaman: Jinpei, Battle of the Planets: Keyop)
• Hoot Owl (Gatchaman: Ryu, Battle of the Planets: Tiny)
• Dr. Brighthead (Gatchaman: Dr. Nambu, Battle of the Planets: Chief Anderson)

The main villains were renamed too:

• Galactor (Gatchaman: Berg Katse, Battle of the Planets: Zoltar)
• Computor (Gatchaman: Sosai X, Battle of the Planets: The Great Spirit)

The only names kept from Battle of the Planets were the team's name, "G-Force", and their ship, the "Phoenix".

Other Changes

• In G-Force, the character Pee Wee stayed very similar to his original Japanese version, Jinpei. In Battle of the Planets, Jinpei was changed a lot to become Keyop, a special lifeform who spoke differently.
• 

  Galactor and his army of soldiers.
• In Gatchaman and Battle of the Planets, the two main villains (Berg Katse/Zoltar and Sosai X/The Great Spirit) had a clear boss-and-follower relationship. In G-Force, this changed to more of a boss-and-consultant relationship. Galactor became the boss, and Computor was more like his advisor. This change happened because some people didn't like how "The Great Spirit" was shown in Battle of the Planets. Scenes where Galactor bowed to Computor were reduced.
• G-Force episodes didn't have title cards at the beginning, which made it hard to know the episode names. Later, fans found out the episode titles through fan clubs and the internet.

Voice Cast

• Ace Goodheart: Sam Fontana
• Dirk Daring/Red Impulse: Cam Clarke
• Agatha June/Pee Wee: Barbara Goodson
• Hoot-Owl/Dr.Brighthead/Computor: Jan Rabson (some episodes), Gregg Berger (others)
• Galactor: Bill Capizzi
• Opening Credits Announcer: Norm Prescott

(The voice actors were not originally listed in the show's credits.)

Team Variations Across Different Versions

Other Character Variations Across Different Versions

Identity Change Variations Across Different Versions

‡The original Japanese language version of Gatchaman contains a small amount of words in English.

Episode List

1. The Robot Stegosaur (#1. Gatchaman vs. Turtle King)
2. The Blast at the Bottom of the Sea (#2. The Evil Ghostly Aircraft Carrier)
3. The Strange White Shadow (#3. The Giant Mummy that Calls Storms)
4. The Giant Centipoid (#4. Revenge of the Iron Beast Mechadegon)
5. The Phantom Fleet (#5. Ghost Fleet from Hell)
6. The Micro-Robots (#6. The Great Mini Robot Operation)
7. The Bad Blue Baron (#7. Galactor's Great Airshow)
8. The Secret of the Reef (#8. The Secret of the Crescent Coral Reef)
9. The Sting of the Scorpion (#9. The Devil from the Moon)
10. The Antoid Army (#10. The Great Underground Monster War)
11. The Mighty Blue Hawk (#11. The Mysterious Red Impulse)
12. The Locustoid (#12. The Giant Eating Monster Ibukuron)
13. The Deadly Red Sand (#13. Mystery of the Red Sand)
14. The Rainbow Ray (#14. Fearful Ice-Kander)
15. The Giant Jellyfish Lens (#15. The Frightening Jellyfish Lens)
16. The Regenerating Robot (#16. Mechanica, the Indestructible Machine)
17. The Beetle Booster (#17. Great Insect Operation)
18. The Whale Submarine (Pilot Episode # # (#18. Revenge! The Whale Operation)
19. The Racing Inferno (#19. Hell's Speed Race)
20. The Mightiest Mole (#20. A Critical Moment for the Science Ninja Team)
21. Race of the Cyborgs (#21. Who is Leader X?)
22. The Fiery Dragon (#22. Firebird vs. Fire Eating Dragon)
23. The Mammoth Iron Ball (#23. Giant Raging Mecha Ball)
24. The Neon Giant (#24. A Neon Giant Laughs in the Dark)
25. The Rock Robot (#25. Magma Giant, The Emperor of Hell)
26. The Secret Sting Ray (#26. The Godphoenix Reborn)
27. The ANIrobot (#27. Galactor's Witch Racer)
28. Invisible Enemy (#28. The Invisible Demon)
29. The Project Called "Rock-E-X" (#29. Galack X, The Devil-Man)
30. The Attack of the Mantis (#30. Kamisoral, the Guillotine Iron Beast)
31. The Sinister STAR-ONE (#31. Plan to Assassinate Dr. Nambu)
32. The Giant Squid (#32. The Gezora Operation, Part 1 )
33. In The Tentacles' Grip (#33. The Gezora Operation, Part 2)
34. Operation Aurora (#34. Evil Aurora Operation)
35. The Sun-Bird (#35. Fires of the Blazing Desert)
36. The Deadly Sea (#36. Little Gatchaman)
37. The Particle Beam (#37. Renjira, the Electron Iron Beast)
38. The Dinosaur Man (#38. The Mysterious Mechanical Jungle)
39. The Monster Plants (#39. Jigokiller, the People-Eating Plant, Part 1 )
40. Those Fatal Flowers (#40. Jigokiller, the People-Eating Plant, Part 2)
41. Killer Music (#41. Murder Music)
42. Swan Song Prison (#42. The Great Escape Trick)
43. Human Robots (#43. A Romance Destroyed By Evil)
44. The Shock Waves (#44. A Challenge From Galactor)
45. The Case of the Kalanite (#45. The Sea Lion Ninja Team in the Night Fog)
46. The Deadly Valley (#46. Gatchaman in the Valley of Death)
47. The Super-z-20 (#47. The Devil's Airline)
48. The Camera Weapon (#48. Shutterkiller, the Camera Iron Beast)
49. The Mechanical Fang (#49. The Terrifying Mechadokuga)
50. The Skeleton Curse (#50. Tracodon, the Dinosaur Skeleton)
51. Wheel of Destruction (#51. Cataroller, the Rolling Monster)
52. The Secret Red Impulse (#52. Red Impulse's Secret)
53. The Van Allen Vector (#53. Farewell, Red Impulse)
54. The Vengeance (#54. Gatchaman Burns With Rage)
55. The Micro-Submarine (#55. The Desperate Mini-Submarine)
56. The Bird Missile (#56. Bitter Bird Missile)
57. Battle of the North Pole (#57. The Evil White Sea)
58. The Super-Lazer (#58. Hell's Mecha-Buddha)
59. Mystery of the Haunted Island (#59. Secret of the Monster Mecha Factory)
60. G-Force Agent 6 (#60. Science Ninja Team G-6)
61. Dream of Danger (#61. The Ghost of Red Impulse)
62. The Snow Devil (#62. Blizzarder, the Snow Devil)
63. The Strange Strike-Out (#63. Massacre of the Mecha Curve Ball)
64. A Deadly Gift (#64. A Deadly Christmas Present)
65. The Iron Beast (#65. Super BEM, the Synthetic Iron Beast)
66. When Fashion Was Fatal (#66. The Devil's Fashion Show)
67. The Proto Monster (#67. Mortal Blow! The Gatchaman Fire)
68. Radioactive Island (#68. Particle Iron Beast, Micro Saturn)
69. The Devil's Graveyard (#69. Cemetery Under the Moonlight)
70. Mummy Mania (#70. Uniting Goddesses of Death)
71. The Abominable Snowman Cometh (#71. The Immortal Leader X)
72. Plague of Robots (#72. The Swarm! Attack of the Mini Monstermechs)
73. The Mammothodon (#73. Get Katse! )
74. Secret of the Power (#74. The Secret of the Bird Styles)
75. The Crab Robot (#75. Jumbo Shakora, the Sea Devil)
76. The Reverser Ray (#76. The Bracelet Is Exposed)
77. Shock Waves (#77 Berg Katse's Success)
78. Battle on the Ocean Bottom (#78. Deadly Danger! 10,000 Meters Beneath the Sea)
79. Stolen Identity (#79. Gatchaman Secrets Stolen)
80. The Mind-Control Machine (#80. Return! Boomerang)
81. Force of the Mega-Robots (#82. Aim for Crescent Coral Reef!)
82. The Flame Zone (#83. A Desperate Ring of Fire)
83. Web of Danger (#84. Smog Fiber, Spiderweb Iron Beast)
84. The Secret of G-4 (#85. He's G-4!)
85. Galactor's Deadly Trap (Pilot Episode #2) (#87. Patogiller, the Triple United Iron Beast)