Voltron (1984 TV series) facts for kids
| Voltron | |
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| Genre | Science fiction, Action Adventure, Mecha, Superhero |
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| Anime television series | |
Quick facts for kids Lion Force Voltron(Based on Beast King GoLion) |
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| Directed by | Franklin Cofod |
| Produced by | Ted Koplar, Peter Keefe |
| Written by | Jameson Brewer |
| Music by | John Petersen |
| Studio | World Events Productions Toei Animation (epis. 1–52) |
| Licensed by | NBCUniversal Television Distribution (on behalf of DreamWorks Classics) |
| Network | First-run syndication |
| Original run | Part I: September 10, 1984 – November 27, 1984 Part II: October 21, 1985 – November 18, 1985 |
| Episodes | 72 |
| Anime television series | |
| Vehicle Team Voltron (Based on Armored Fleet Dairugger XV) |
|
| Directed by | Franklin Cofod |
| Produced by | Ted Koplar, Peter Keefe |
| Written by | Jameson Brewer |
| Music by | John Petersen |
| Studio | World Events Productions Toei Animation |
| Network | First-run syndication |
| Original run | December 14, 1984 – February 18, 1985 |
| Episodes | 52 |
Voltron is a Japanese-American animated television series produced by World Events Productions for a total of 124 episodes. The series is an adaptation of the Japanese super robot anime series Beast King GoLion, which was dubbed into English and edited to create Voltron episodes. Later episodes also use footage from the mecha anime Armored Fleet Dairugger XV.
Contents
Premise
From days of long ago, from uncharted regions of the universe, comes a legend, the legend of Voltron, Defender of the Universe. A mighty robot, loved by good, feared by evil. As Voltron’s legend grew, peace settled across the galaxy. On planet Earth, a galaxy alliance was formed. Together with the good planets of the solar system, they maintained peace throughout the universe. Until a new horrible menace threaten the galaxy. Voltron was needed once more. This is the story of the super force of space explorers, specially trained, and sent by the alliance, to bring back Voltron: Defender of the Universe.
The first season is about five pilots who command 5 robot lions which combine to form Voltron. These pilots use these machines to protect the planet Arus from the evil Warlord King Zarkon and witch Haggar who creates Robeasts to terrorize the planet ruled by Princess Allura.
Vehicle Voltron
From days of long ago, from uncharted regions of the universe, comes a legend, the legend of Voltron, Defender of the Universe. A mighty robot, loved by good, feared by evil. As Voltron’s legend grew peace settled across the galaxy. On planet Earth, a galaxy alliance was formed. Together with the good planets of the solar system, they maintained peace throughout the universe. Until a new horrible menace threatened the galaxy. Voltron was needed once more. This is the story of a super force of space explorers, entrusted by the alliance with the ancient secret on how to assemble Voltron: Defender of the Universe.
The second season of the show was called Vehicle Voltron based on Armored Fleet Dairugger XV which spawned also a television special called Voltron: Fleet of Doom. The premise of season two is the Galaxy Alliance's home worlds have become overcrowded and search for new planets to colonise. This puts the Alliance in conflict with the Drule empire.
Each team is specialized in gathering data or fighting in their area of expertise. Each squad combines their vehicles into a bigger machine, with each vehicle differing among the three teams. These fighters are:
- The Aqua Fighter (Sea Team)
- The Turbo Terrain Fighter (Land Team)
- The Strato Fighter (Air Team)
Voice cast
- Neil Ross as Keith and Pidge
- Michael Bell as Lance and Sven
- Lennie Weinrib as Hunk and Prince Lotor
- B. J. Ward as Princess Allura and Haggar
- Peter Cullen as Coran and Narrator
- Jack Angel as King Zarkon
- Tress MacNeille as Queen Merla
Changes from the Japanese version
Though airing in syndication, which offered other anime shows such as Robotech greater freedom to deal with subject matter such as death that were off-limits in most US network children's programming, WEP's adaptation of Voltron was heavily edited to conform to the more conservative standards of children's television in the United States, as well as the standard name change of characters and concepts in GoLion and Dairugger.
Plot changes
GoLion
- In Voltron, the show begins with the five pilots sent by the Galaxy Alliance, whose space-exploration mission takes them to a planet devastated by war. In Voltron, the pilots arrive on Arus and are captured and taken to Planet Doom. They then escape, return to Arus, and become the pilots of the robot lions and Voltron. In GoLion, the initial scenes are actually of Earth; the pilots have returned from their mission (in the then-futuristic year of 1999) to find that the entire population of Earth has been killed in a nuclear war. They are then captured and taken to Planet Galra, where the plot proceeds similarly, only the planet they find the lions on is called Altea. In the Voltron version, some footage of the pilots' arrival on Arus was taken from Armored Fleet Dairugger XV.
- In GoLion, Takashi 'Shiro' Shirogane (Sven in Voltron), the original pilot of Blue Lion, is killed in a battle with Honerva, and his similar-looking younger brother Ryou appears later in the series to join in the fight against Emperor Daibazaal. In Voltron, dialog was inserted to indicate that Sven is merely injured and has been sent away to a hospital planet to recover, and the character of Ryou was rewritten entirely into Sven being enslaved after said planet was taken over, then escaping and managing to reunite with his friends.
- In GoLion, Hys (Nanny) is fatally shot in the heart while protecting Raible (Coran). This scene was completely removed from Voltron, and later episodes used stock footage from earlier in the series to insert the character into scenes that took place after her original death.
- In GoLion, a slave girl named Lisa was a survivor of the nuclear war. Near the end of her debut episode, Tsuyoshi 'Hothead' Seidou (Hunk in Voltron) urges her to wake up and join in the fight against Emperor Daibazaal (King Zarkon in Voltron), however she is too crushed by her despair to trust even a fellow human (that race being responsible for the destruction of her homeworld) and chooses to step off a cliff the two were standing on, rather than live without her brother. In Voltron, this sequence was removed, and it was explained to the audience that this girl, now named Twyla, had been allowed to go home to her own planet (a planet other than Earth).
Episodes
Home media
The show was released on DVD by the likes of Media Blasters and Gaiam Vivendi Entertainment, and was released on a Complete Series DVD set by Universal Pictures Home Entertainment with their distribution deal with DreamWorks Animation on September 10, 2019.
Video game
A 2011 PlayStation game based on the 1984 show was developed.
See also
In Spanish: Voltron para niños
