Spiral Zone facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Spiral Zone |
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Spiral Zone title card
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| Genre | Animation Action |
| Created by | Diana Dru Botsford |
| Developed by | Jim Carlson Terrence McDonnell |
| Directed by | Pierre Decelles Georges Grammat |
| Starring | Mona Marshall Frank Welker Dan Gilvezan Michael Bell Hal Rayle Denny Delk Neil Ross |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 65 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Edd Griles Donald Kushner Peter Locke Mark Ludke Ray Volpe |
| Producer(s) | Diana Dru Botsford |
| Running time | 20 min. |
| Production company(s) | Atlantic/Kushner-Locke The Maltese Companies |
| Distributor | Orbis Communications |
| Release | |
| Original network | first-run syndication |
| Original release | September 21 – December 18, 1987 |
Spiral Zone is an American animated TV show from 1987. It's a science-fiction action series. The show was made by Atlantic and Kushner-Locke. Animation was done by studios in Japan and South Korea.
The idea for Spiral Zone came from a toy line in Japan. The story is about a group of soldiers from different countries. They fight to free the world from a bad scientist. This scientist controls a large part of Earth. The show only had one season with 65 episodes.
Contents
Story of the Spiral Zone
The story takes place in the year 2007. A very smart but evil scientist, Dr. James Bent, creates a big problem. He uses a special space shuttle to drop dangerous "Zone Generators" on Earth. These generators cover half the planet. This area is called the Spiral Zone because of its shape.
Millions of people get trapped in the Spiral Zone. A dark mist fills the air. People caught in the Zone change. Their eyes turn yellow and they get red patches on their skin. They lose their ability to think for themselves. Dr. James Bent, now called Overlord, makes them his slave army. He controls them from the Chrysler Building in New York City.
Overlord has a group of followers called the Black Widows. They are Bandit, Duchess Dire, Razorback, Reaper, Crook, and Raw Meat. They are protected from the Zone's mind control. This is thanks to a special device called the Widow Maker. However, being in the Zone for a long time affects their bodies. They get the same skin patches and yellow eyes as other Zoners. The Spiral Zone has dark skies and strange Zone spores growing everywhere. Overlord wants to take over the whole world. He plans to control everyone using his Zone Generators. The Zones need human energy to grow. This is why Overlord does not kill the people inside.
Many major cities are taken over by the Zone. Because of this, countries around the world work together. They put aside their differences to fight the Black Widows. Only five special soldiers can fight in the Zone. They wear special suits that protect them from the Zone's effects. Zone Generators are hard to capture because they have booby traps. Overlord also drops more generators on cities and military bases. This forces the Zone Riders into tough situations.
Main Characters
The Black Widows
Dr. James Bent (Overlord) created the Zone Generators. He also found a way to protect himself and his soldiers from the Zone's effects. This process makes them immune to the mind control. But, they still get skin lesions and yellow eyes from being in the Zone.
- Overlord (Dr. James Bent) - He is the leader and a rebel scientist.
- Bandit - He is a master of disguise and a terrorist.
- Duchess Dire (Ursula Dire) - A charming British woman. She is good at planning missions and is a tough criminal.
- Razorback (Al Krak) - He is skilled with blades.
- Reaper (Mathew Riles) - He is a manhunter.
- Crook (Jean Duprey) - A French scientist. He tricked Reaper into becoming immune to the Spiral Zone.
- Raw Meat (Richard Welt) - A truck driver. Bandit tricked him into joining the Black Widows.
Black Widow Vehicles
Overlord rides a vehicle called the Bullwhip Cannon. It has eight wheels and a large laser cannon. The other Black Widows use Sledge Hammers. These are small, one-person tanks. They have triangular tracks and spinning mace arms. They also have a special delta-winged aircraft called the Intruder.
The Zone Riders
Overlord's first attack put all the world's major capital cities into the Zone. This caused a lot of chaos. It also made countries like the United States and the Soviet Union work together. British scientists created a rare material called Neutron-90. This material helps fight the Zone bacteria. However, there is only a small amount of Neutron-90 left. The only lab that made it was destroyed by the British government. There was only enough material left to build combat suits for five soldiers. These soldiers are called the Spiral Force, or "Zone Riders."
- Cdr Dirk Courage - The leader of the Zone Riders, from the United States.
- MSgt Tank Schmidt - A heavy weapons expert, from West Germany.
- Lt Hiro Taka - An expert in sneaking into places, from Japan.
- 2nd Lt Max Jones - A special mission expert, from the United States.
- Cpl Katerina Anastacia - A medical officer, from the USSR.
Later in the series, the Zone Riders find more Neutron-90. There is enough to build two more suits. These suits are given to Lt Ned Tucker, a demolition expert from Australia, and Lt Benjamin Davis Franklin, a field scientist.
Zone Rider Vehicles
The Zone Riders operate from a mountain base. It is called the Mission Command Central, or MCC. Dirk Courage uses a vehicle called the Rimfire. It is a monowheel (one-wheeled) vehicle. It has a large cannon on top. The other Zone Riders use armored combat monocycles. They also wear special backpacks.
Episodes
- Holographic Zone Battle
- King of the Skies
- Errand of Mercy
- Mission Into Evil
- Back to the Stone Age
- Small Packages
- Zone of Darkness
- The Gauntlet
- Ride the Whirlwind
- The Unexploded Pod
- Duel in Paradise
- The Impostor
- The Hacker
- Overlord’s Mystery Woman
- The Sands of Amaran
- Zone Train
- Breakout
- When the Cat’s Away
- Island in the Zone
- The Shuttle Engine
- The Mind of Gideon Rorshak
- Canal Zone
- The Lair of the Jade Scorpion
- The Man Who Wouldn’t Be King
- The Way of the Samurai
- The Best Fighting Men in the World
- The Ultimate Solution
- Hometown Hero
- In the Belly of the Beast
- The Last One Picked
- So Shall You Reaper
- The Secret of Shadow House
- Zone of Fear
- Bandit and the Smokies
- Heroes in the Dark
- Zone with Big Shoulders
- Behemoth
- The Power of the Press
- Starship Doom
- The Electric Zone Rider
- Australian in Paris
- The Enemy Within
- Anti-Matter
- The Siege
- A Little Zone Music
- Element of Surprise
- Seachase
- The Right Man for the Job
- High and Low
- Profiles in Courage
- The Darkness Within
- Power Play
- Duchess Treat
- Oversight
- Assault on the Rock
- They Zone by Night
- Conflict of Duty
- The Final Weapon
- The Face of the Enemy
- Brother’s Keeper
- Little Darlings
- Nightmare in Ice
- Evil Transmissions
- Zone Trap
- Countdown
Japanese Spiral Zone Toys
The suits and some vehicles in the Spiral Zone TV show came from a toy line. These action figures were made by a Japanese company called Bandai. They were sold from 1985 to 1988. The toy series was called Special Force Group Spiral Zone. It showed special soldiers fighting a war in the early 21st century.
The toy line had 12 items. These included three 6-inch action figures. They had lots of equipment and could move in 30 different ways. There were also clothing sets, backpacks, and a vehicle called the Monoseed. Besides toys, there was a notebook, a novel, and a music album. The album had songs and stories.
Bandai had plans for more toys. These included a fourth action figure and more vehicles. Some of these planned vehicles were a tank, a small flight pod, and a radio-controlled jeep. There was also a fast-attack vehicle and a two-legged mech. Many of these unreleased vehicles later appeared in the TV show. For example, the Monoseed and Monoseed Mk II inspired the Zone Riders' motorcycles. One of the unreleased backpacks became Max Jones' Zone Runner backpack.
The Japanese Spiral Zone figures are very popular with toy collectors. They are known for their great detail and high quality. Because of this, they often sell for high prices.
The American Spiral Zone animated series was translated into Japanese. It aired on the satellite network NHK-BS2 in 1990. The order of the episodes was changed for the Japanese broadcast. For example, the first episode in the US was the third episode in Japan. The show's opening song stayed the same. The full Japanese version of Spiral Zone was released on VHS tapes in Japan from 1991 to 1992.
See also
In Spanish: Zona Espiral para niños
