Captain Future

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Captain Future is an American pulp series by Edmond Hamilton that was released from 1940 to 1944. She was best known in Europe for the anime series that was broadcast on television in the early 1980s.

The origin of the series

The original series idea, called Mr. Future, Wizard of Science , was developed by Mort Weisinger , an editor at Better Publications, during the 1939 World Science Fiction Convention . A mutated superhero with outstanding physical and mental abilities should be the main character. Three minor characters were intended as helpers: a robot that is telepathically controlled by Mr. Future, a crystalline form of life from Jupiter and an ancient man who has read every book in the world and presents his knowledge as a walking lexicon . This was supposed to combine the then popular subgenres space opera and superheroes. Edmond Hamilton, lead author of the novels, took a lot of persuasive power to dissuade the editors from their original ideas. However, the title remained almost the same at the beginning: Captain Future, Wizard of Science , but later changed to Captain Future, Man of Tomorrow .

Basics of the plot

Captain Future's parents were the scientists Elaine and Roger Newton, who were pursued by a criminal named Victor Corvo and therefore fled to the moon . In a hidden base under the Tycho crater , they wanted to create artificial beings that would serve as helpers to humanity.

They were accompanied on their escape by Simon Wright, a terminally ill, aging scientist whose brain had been separated from the body and transferred to a container to enable it to survive.

Together, the trio of scientists first created the robot Grag (as a prototype of an artificial life form, so to speak), then the android Otto . In the television series, the times are not clear: In the first episode, The Ruler of Megara , it is said that the story begins in the year 2200. In the second episode, however, Captain Future speaks to Joan and says: "[...] in our 21st century [...]". No calendar information is given in the series of novels, but various statements indicate that the plot takes place several centuries after the 20th century. The original synopsis of “Mr. Future “was born in 1990.

Shortly after Curtis Newton was born, Victor Corvo found the hidden lunar base and murdered Curtis' parents. In return, Grag and Otto killed Corvo and his henchmen. Curtis Newton grew up on the moon and was trained by Simon Wright, Grag and Otto. Having come of age, he decided to devote himself to fighting crime and therefore adopted the name "Captain Future".

In the further course of the novel series, Captain Future meets Ul Quorn, the son of Victor Corvo, who presents himself to him as an equal opponent with comparable scientific abilities.

characters

In the following, the most important characters in the stories about Captain Future are presented.

Captain Future
Captain Future is referred to in Hamilton's novels as the "sorcerer of science" and is considered to be the most capable scientist in the solar system. His real name is Curtis Newton (short: Curt).
Prof. Simon Wright
The "living brain" Simon Wright exists, separated from his body, in a special container. Vision, hearing and speech are made possible by sensors and a speech processor. In the volume “Star Trail to Glory”, Curt equips the container with tractor beams and thus enables Simon absolute mobility. Since Simon doesn't have to breathe, he can even fly in space .
Grag
Grag, the robot, is the first creation of Captain Future's parents. Originally, he was described as strong, but only of limited intelligence (which is why Otho was created as a more intelligent and, above all, more human-like successor). In the television series, however, he has considerable scientific knowledge and plays the role of the technical practitioner. Grag is accompanied by his pet, the moon creature Yiek .
Otho
Otho (in the German cartoon version: Otto ) is an android that can change its appearance almost at will (among other things by temporarily softening the "flesh" and then remodeling it). He and Grag often have differences of opinion. Even Oak , the pet of Otho, is able to change its shape.
Joan Randall
Joan Randall (in the German cartoon: Joan Landor ) is an agent for the Planetary Police. Obviously, she feels a lot about Captain Future. As can be learned from the additional material on the DVD, she got blonde hair for the television series in order to look more modern.
Ezra Gurney
Marshall Ezra Gurney (in the German cartoon version : Ezella Garnie ) is also an employee of the Planetary Police. As an old, experienced police officer, he is available to help Captain Future in most cases.
Ul Quorn
Ul Quorn (in the German cartoon version : Vul Kuolun ) is the son of Victor Corvo, the murderer of Captain Future's parents, and thus his worst adversary.

The Captain Future Universe

First civilizations emerged

The history of mankind begins in the Deneb solar system , which was the starting point and center of the first galactic culture. The Denebier explored the universe and created specially adapted peoples for the various planets and moons they discovered , who could live there without special aids such as gravium adapters.

About a billion years ago, a fleet of settlers reached the solar system and colonized the worlds they found there. A rich culture with heavy interstellar traffic developed. At that time there was no asteroid belt . After a few million years, a cosmic catastrophe occurs and interstellar traffic comes to a standstill.

100 million years before the calculation of the time, only the people of Mars and Katain still dominate interplanetary space travel . On earth and other planets, the descendants of the settler fleet live at Stone Age level . Katain goes under, its population migrates towards Sirius . The fragments of the planet form the asteroid belt.

It is unclear whether the vanished Martian high culture of the so-called "machine masters" is a direct descendant of the second Martian culture, or whether it has to be viewed as a separate high culture. In the days of Captain Futures, however, practically nothing is known of the second Martian culture - let alone the first.

Future epoch

The solar system has a unified government based in New York. Apparently, the earth was the starting point for a renaissance and is currently a cultural and political leader. Despite considerable economic differences - most Jupiterans and Plutonians still live as farmers and hunters in the jungle or in ice fields - the social penetration of the peoples is considerable. Representatives of all peoples can be found at almost all posts.

In the future epoch, other peoples are discovered, such as the winged Qualus of Saturn, the settlers of the microcosm, the magicians on Styx (moon of Pluto), the seamen of Neptune and the lunarians who were believed to have set and to whom the moon Ganymede was left.

Outside the solar system there are various human-inhabited systems, such as Antares , Fomalhaut , Wega and Sagittarius , whose inhabitants control interstellar flight and engage in mutual trade. The solar system is far from these, however, was and is being ignored.

In the future

Far in the future, when the stars begin to cool, the people of the solar system will have had an epoch of interstellar expansion and retreat. The human races are fighting a desperate war against the "cold", skeletal humanoids who get by without oxygen. The "cold" turn out to be an artificially created human race that will not survive the upcoming rebirth of the universe, which will ensure the survival of classical people.

Races in the Captain Future Universe

Despite some considerable deviations from the terrestrial peoples and other very humanoid peoples such as Martians or Saturnians, the more exotic peoples such as Mercurians (cat characteristics), Saturnian Qualus (winged people) or Neptunian sea people are only variants of the Denebic colonists. Martians, terrestrials and Venusians are mutually fertile, but in futures times there are reservations against mixed race despite the lack of any noteworthy racism . Consequently, all the peoples of the solar system and their extrasolar relatives are referred to as humans, including the artificially created android Otho.

Non-human intelligent life forms are the Allus , inhabitants of a multidimensional universe, who want to conquer the three-dimensional cosmos; telepathically gifted plants that rule the planetoid Starfall, and the non-breathing extrasolarians, from which Captain Future takes the idea of ​​the vibratory drive.

technology

Captain Future's spaceship, the Comet , was designed by himself and is superior to all other spaceships in the solar system. The Comet has a compact laboratory that qualifies it as a research ship. It is also equipped with a cloaking device that makes it appear like a comet and armed with "proton cannons". Only late in the novel series does the ship receive a faster than light speed propulsion. In the cartoon series, it also has a small dinghy, the so-called Cosmoliner .

Book publications

The Pulp range

The Pulps appeared quarterly from 1940 to 1944. In total, the series brought it to 17 novels, all of which, with three exceptions, were written by Edmond Hamilton . Was published Captain Future of Better Publications , the publishers were Leo Margulies with Mort Weisinger (1940-1941), originated the idea, and Oscar J. Friend (1941-1944). The series was an attempt to transfer the popular superhero theme to space opera . However, Captain Future could not be maintained as an independent series of issues, after all, the stories were published in the sister magazine Startling Stories .

Each issue of Captain Future Magazine contained (along with a few other science fiction stories) a complete novel about Captain Future and his fellow campaigners. After the magazine had become a victim of the paper shortage in World War II , additional Captain Future stories appeared occasionally in Startling Stories until 1946 and 1950–1951 . From 1968 onwards, some Captain Future novels were published as paperback versions, some with new titles, this is noted in the list accordingly.

Publication of the novels in Germany

In the 1950s the Erich Pabel Verlag published 14 stories in the novel booklet series Utopia Zukunftsroman or Utopia large volume under the title Captain Future . Some of the translations were shortened. In contrast to the later publications, numerous terms were still translated into German, which later remained untranslated.

From 1981 to 1984 15 novels were published as a German licensed edition by Bastei Lübbe Verlag as a paperback series; now under the title Captain Future . Five novels appeared in German for the first time; some of the novels already translated by Pabel received an unabridged translation for the first time.

Golkonda-Verlag has been working on a complete edition of all Captain Future novels since 2011 , which also forms the basis of the audio books that have been published since 2012. It all started with two anthologies of the Captain Future stories from the magazine “Startling Stories”: “The Return of Captain Future” and “The Death of Captain Future”, which had not been published in German before. All other volumes have been re-translated.

overview

author Original title First
publication		 Captain Zukunft
(1950s)
novel booklet series (Erich Pabel Verlag) 		Captain Future
(1981–1984)
(Bastei Lübbe Verlag) 		Captain Future
(since 2011)
(Golkonda Verlag)
Captain Future Magazine
Edmond Hamilton 01 Captain Future and the Space Emperor Winter 1940 - The living legend The star emperor
02 Calling Captain Future Spring 1940 311 Panic in the cosmos Collision target earth Earth in danger
03 Captain Future's Challenge Summer 1940 147 Battle for Gravium The Gravium sabotage The challenge
04 The Triumph of Captain Future
(later reissued as Galaxy Mission ) 		Fall 1940 142 Captain Future steps in The life lord The triumph
05 Captain Future and the Seven Space Stones Winter 1941 151 diamonds of power Diamonds of power The seven space stones
06 Star Trail to Glory Spring 1941 - Star road to fame Star Road to Fame
07 The Magician of Mars Summer 1941 - The Martian Mage The Martian Mage
08 The Lost World of Time Autumn 1941 144 Lost in the stream of time Lost in the stream of time Lost in the stream of time
09 Quest Beyond the Stars Winter 1942 153 Danger from the cosmos The source of matter Beyond the stars
10 Outlaws of the Moon Spring 1942 - The Lunarians' legacy -
11 The Comet Kings Summer 1942 349 In the shadow of the Allus In the shadow of the Allus -
12 planets in Peril Autumn 1942 351 hero of legend Hero of the past -
13 The Face of the Deep Winter 1943 - Asteroid of death -
Joseph Samachson as Brett Sterling 14 Worlds to Come Spring 1943 155 Attack from a foreign dimension Invasion of the Sverd -
Edmond Hamilton as Brett Sterling 15 Star of Dread Summer 1943 309 Treason on Titan Star of horror -
Edmond Hamilton as Brett Sterling 16 Magic Moon Winter 1944 - - -
Joseph Samachson as Brett Sterling 17 Days of Creation
(later reissued as The Tenth Planet with the new pseudonym William Morrison) 		Autumn 1944 369 Captain Future's final adventure - -
Startling Stories
Edmond Hamilton 18 Red Sun of Danger
(later reissued as Danger Planet ) 		Fall 1945 305 The crypt of the kangas - -
Edmond Hamilton 19 Outlaw World Winter 1946 354 The radium trap - -
Manly Wade Wellman 20 The Solar Invasion Fall 1946 307 The stolen moon - -
Edmond Hamilton SS01 The Return of Captain Future January 1950 - - The return of Captain Future
SS02 Children of the Sun May 1950 Children of the Sun
(1968 along with other stories) 		- Children of the Sun
(in: The Return of Captain Future)
SS03 The Harpers of Titan (later reissued
as part of Doctor Cyclops ) 		September 1950 - - The Harpers of Titan
(in: The Return of Captain Future)
SS04 Pardon My Iron Nerves November 1950 - - Nerves of Steel
(in: The Return of Captain Future)
SS05 Moon of the Unforgotten January 1951 - - Moon of the Unforgettable
(in: The Death of Captain Future)
SS06 Earthmen No More March 1951 - - No more earth man
(in: The Death of Captain Future)
SS07 Birthplace of Creation May 1951 - - Cradle of Creation
(in: The Death of Captain Future)
Asmiov's
Allen Steele October 1995 The Death of Captain Future - - The revenge of Captain Future

Remarks:

  1. ↑ For US pulps, winter was the first quarter of the year (winter, spring, summer, fall); the first issue of Captain Future was published in January 1940.
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g h Appeared as Utopia science fiction , stapled.
  3. ↑ a b c d e f Appeared as Utopia Großband . Slightly smaller format than the Utopia science fiction; but with perfect binding.
  4. ↑ a b Announced for September 2020.
  5. ↑ Numbers SS01-07 are short stories that take place a few years after the novels.

Radio plays and audio books

Along with the broadcast of the series on ZDF, Polydor Records released two radio plays on the series in 1980 and 1981 , although these were only the unedited soundtrack of the ZDF synchronization. There was no additional narrator who describes invisible events for better understanding.

Between 2012 and 2018, 25 “staged audio book versions” were published by Highscore Music (now: Maritim ) based on the new edition of the stories and novels by Golkonda-Verlag . As far as possible, the speakers of the ZDF synchronization and the music of Christian Bruhn were used .

Sebastian Pobot , the producer of the audio books, declared after the death of the speakers Wolfgang Völz (2018) and Helmut Krauss (2019), as well as because of the very old age of Friedrich Georg Beckhaus and Jochen Schröder, that he was forced to follow the season that had already been produced ( the triumph adjust) the readings, "because without the distinctive voices of the many great speakers would Captain Future no longer the same." In the last two seasons ( the challenge , the triumph ) had already Tommi Piper from the initially infected and 2018 died Wolfgang Volz, the Take on the role of Otto.

role speaker
teller Helmut Krauss
Captain Future Hans-Jürgen Dittberner
Otto Wolfgang Völz
Tommi Piper * (since 2018)
Grag Friedrich G. Beckhaus
Prof. Simon Wright Jochen Schröder
Joan Landor Marie Bierstedt *
Ezella Garnie Klaus Dittmann *

Speakers marked with * differ from the ZDF version.

The Return of Captain Future (2012)

  1. The return of Captain Future
  2. Children of the sun
  3. The Harper of Titan
  4. Nerves of steel

The Death of Captain Future (2013)

  1. Moon of the unforgotten
  2. No more earth man
  3. Cradle of creation
  4. The Death of Captain Future (download only)

The Star Emperor (2014/2015)

  1. Death on Jupiter
  2. The power of the star emperor
  3. The track
  4. The place of the dead
  5. The secret knowledge of the ancestors

Earth in danger (2016)

  1. Threat from space
  2. Spaceships graveyard
  3. The arrival of Doctor Zarro
  4. The street of the hunters
  5. World of illusions
  6. In the depths of space

The Challenge (2018)

  1. hour zero
  2. Conference in space
  3. In the world of the oceans
  4. Threat from below
  5. Dangerous dizziness
  6. Fight under the sea

Anime television series

Anime television series
title Captain Future
Original title キ ャ プ テ ン フ ュ ー チ ャ ー
transcription Kyaputen Fyūchā
CaptainFuture.svg
Country of production JapanJapan Japan
original language Japanese
Year (s) 1978-1979
Studio Tōei Dōga
length 24 minutes
Episodes 52 + 1 (J) / 40 (D)
Director Tomoharu Katsumata
music Yūji Ōno (J) / Christian Bruhn (D)
First broadcast November 7, 1978 - December 18, 1979 on NHK
German-language
first broadcast		 September 27, 1980 on ZDF
synchronization

Based on 13 original stories , Tōei Dōga (now Tōei Animation ) produced the 52-part Japanese animated series ( anime ) Captain Future , which was broadcast weekly from November 7, 1978 to December 18, 1979 on the NHK television channel . On December 31, 1978, a 55-minute New Year's special called Karei naru Taiyōkei Race ( 華麗 な る 太陽系 レ ー ス ) was broadcast. It was directed by Tomoharu Katsumata, the character designs came from Takuo Noda and Toshio Mori.

The music comes from the jazz musician Yūji Ōno . The opening credits were Yume no Funenori ( 夢 の 舟 乗 り , "Ship Trip of Dreams"), texted by Keisuke Yamakawa and sung first up to episode 30 by Yūki Hide and from episode 31, as well as the special by Yukihide Takekawa . As the final title Popura-dōri no Ie ( ポ プ ラ 通 り の 家 , "House / Family of Poplar Street") was used by the same lyricist, but sung by Peekaboo ; in the special, however, Oira wa Sabishii Spaceman ( お い ら は 淋 し い ス ペ ー ス マ ン , "I am a lonely space man") with the text by Masahiro Noda and the vocals by Yūki Hide.

In terms of content, the series sometimes differs greatly from the books. a. from the orphan boy Johnny Kirk , a marginal character in a novel, the supporting character Ken Scott , and the roles of the moon dog Yiek and the asteroid chameleon Oak have been expanded. In the TV series, Captain Futures' crew consists of Professor Simon Wright (a living brain in a special flying container), Grag (a steel robot with tremendous powers) and Otto (a plastic man with the ability to change shape). Other members of the Future team are Joan Landor (a young planetary police agent) and Eszella Garnie (a veteran marshal in the planetary police ).

The series in Germany

In Germany, ZDF began broadcasting the television series on September 27, 1980. This had been shortened and changed in the order of the multiple parts. In addition, errors had crept in due to the multiple translations of the names, as these were first translated from the English-language books into Japanese for the production of the anime and then into German for the ZDF version. For example, Joan Randall , written in Japanese ジ ョ ー ン ・ ラ ン ド ー ル ( Jōn Randōru ), was translated as Joan Landor when the series was exported . The same applies to Ul Quorn, which was written in Japanese ウ ル ・ ク ォ ル ン ( Uru Kworun , where kwo is made up of ku + small o ) and was then incorrectly translated into German as Vul Kuolun.

The anime series was the first of its kind in Germany, aimed at children beyond elementary school age. The then head of the children's and youth program, Josef Göhlen , was convinced that science fiction stories would be positively received by children. The series was edited for German television based on the understanding of the protection of minors at the time and was successful in Germany through the sale of merchandise items. The broadcast, however, led to protests from parents and youth organizations; even a school book warned about the series.

Today, Captain Future enjoys cult status in the German-speaking area , not least thanks to the futuristic soundtrack created by Christian Bruhn , which is completely different from the music of the Japanese original. In the theme song , Bruhn plays the piano and his then wife Erika sings the soprano .

In 1998 the track The Final by Phil Fuldner , a remix of the Captain Future track Enemies Attack , made it into the top ten of the German single charts.

The television series and the special were released on DVD in Germany . The order of the story arcs does not correspond to the German broadcast, but the original order in Japan.

Episodes

In the original there are 52 episodes of approx. 30 minutes each, these form 13 superordinate episodes consisting of 4 episodes each. There is also a one-hour series special. In Germany all episodes have been cut. To this end, four original episodes were first lined up and then cut into three episodes of around 25 minutes each. An exception is the episode "The Secret of the Seven Stones", which also consists of four episodes in Germany. The series special Star Road to Glory (Japanese Karei naru Taiyōkei Race , dt: "Solar System Race to Glory", also known under the title of the volume Star Trail To Glory ) has not been dubbed in German. It is available in the German DVD collection in Japanese with German subtitles.

In Germany, the episodes were broadcast in the order in which they were dubbed. Since the episodes refer to each other in terms of content, inconsistencies arise. Below are the episodes for comparison in the original Japanese broadcast order with a translation of the Japanese titles.

Episode list
Japan Germany
(translated) original title EA Title in the German broadcast EA
1. The horror of the space ruler The ruler of Megara
The space ruler shows himself 07/11/1978 The transformation back October 18, 1980
The prison of the lake of fire 11/14/1978 Hunt for the mighty shadow 10/25/1980
The miracle of the flying fortress 11/21/1978 Battle of the planets 11/08/1980
Decisive battle of the midday moon 11/28/1978
2. The lost world of time The time machine
SOS 100 million years ago December 05, 1978 trip to the past 09/27/1980
The secret of the holy star Ko'om 12/12/1978 The secret of the star Koom 04/10/1980
The formation of the solar system December 19, 1978 Five billion years back 10/11/1980
A journey back five billion years December 26, 1978
3. Solar system race to glory (Star road to fame)
One-hour series special December 31, 1978 The episode was not broadcast in Germany, but is included in all German DVD and Blu-ray collections in Japanese with German subtitles.
4. Challenge - The underwater city of the storm The battle for the Gravium mine
The conspiracy of the king of destruction 01/09/1979 The wrecker's plan 01/03/1981
A trap on the ocean floor January 16, 1979 The underwater trap 01/10/1981
The monkfish of horror 01/23/1979 The soul transplant 01/17/1981
The secret of the king of destruction 01/30/1979
5. The other side of the shining star field In search of the source of matter
The time of the air-losing planet 02/06/1979 Air and water shortages on the planet Laguna December 13, 1980
The tragedy of the dark star 02/13/1979 Trapped on the green planet Kol December 20, 1980
The law of the guards 02/20/1979 Saving the Source December 27, 1980
The resurrected planet 02/27/1979
6. The crisis of the transparent planet The wizard from Mars
The challenge of Ul Quorn 03/06/1979 Kuolon's challenge 02/14/1981
The depths of the earth where the dark people live March 13, 1979 Flight into the fifth dimension 02/21/1981
Alone on the planet 03/20/1979 The invisible planet 02/28/1981
The phantom people of the transparent planet 03/27/1979
7. The seven treasures of the solar system The secret of the seven stones
The mysterious stones of the sleeping galaxy 04/03/1979 The space circus and the mysterious stones 11/15/1980
Death agony in the galaxy circus 04/10/1979 Among circus artists 11/22/1980
Captain Future is dead! 04/17/1979 A fake captain dies 11/29/1980
The unknown micro-universe 04/24/1979 The adventure in the microcosm December 06, 1980
8. The dark star is approaching The black planet
The swirling tombstone 05/01/1979 Solar system in danger 01/24/1981
The howling glacier 05/08/1979 Adventure in the ice desert 01/31/1981
The monster hunter tells 05/15/1979 A mirage disappears 02/07/1981
The civilization of the phantom star of illusions 05/22/1979
9. Space Capture Ship Rebellion Trapped in space
The prison ship is hijacked! 05/29/1979 A spaceship is hijacked 03/07/1981
The escape from the Milky Way 06/05/1979 Escape from the Milky Way 03/14/1981
Departure from Zaro 06/12/1979 Who dares Wins 03/21/1981
Space Men from the Star Nebula 06/19/1979
10. Duel on the moon of magic The role of his life
Captain Future wanted! 06/26/1979 Actors wanted 03/11/1982
Dangerous location 07/03/1979 Film or diamonds? 03/18/1982
Planet of illusions 07/17/1979 Last location: Magical Moon 03/25/1982
Use the ultimate weapon 07/31/1979
11. The Comet King's Conspiracy The electric people
The missing spaceships 08/07/1979 Spaceships gone! December 3rd, 1981
The governor of the comet 08/14/1979 Surprises at the electric light festival December 10, 1981
The true form of the Allus 08/28/1979 Alulus, a being from the fourth dimension 12/17/1981
World of Nightmares - The Fourth Dimension 09/04/1979
12. Danger - The Smugglers of Eternal Life The dangerous elixir of life
The Smugglers' Syndicate of Eternal Life 09/11/1979 The machine city 01/07/1982
Challenge from the ruler of eternal life 09/25/1979 A suspect disappears 01/14/1982
The illusion of life and death 10/09/1979 The source of eternal spring 01/21/1982
The city of eternity October 23, 1979
13. The salvation of the planet Tarast Planet in danger
The saving hero from the legend 10/30/1979 Call for help from the planet Tarust 01/28/1982
The plan to save Grags 11/06/1979 Finding Grag 02/04/1982
The hell punishment of loneliness 11/13/1979 The legendary hero Fatul 02/11/1982
The riddle of the hero Kafuru 11/20/1979
14. The secret of artificial evolution A dangerous secret
The puzzle of the space ruins 11/27/1979 The space ruins 02/18/1982
The riddle of the half-beast men December 04, 1979 With the beastmen 02/25/1982
Showdown in the city of death December 11, 1979 The cave of life 03/04/1982
On the other side of light and dark December 18, 1979

synchronization

The German synchronization was created by the Arena Synchron Berlin.

role Japanese speaker ( seiyū ) German speaker
Captain Future Taichirō Hirokawa Hans-Jürgen Dittberner
Otto Keiichi Noda Wolfgang Völz
Grag Ken'ichi Ogata Friedrich G. Beckhaus
Prof. Simon Wright Kiyoshi Kawakubo Jochen Schröder
Joan Landor Eiko Masuyama Anita Kupsch
Ezella Garnie Kazuhiko Kishino Michael Chevalier
Ken Scott Kazuhiko Inoue Sven Plate
President Cashew Tarō Jin Horst Schön
Cashews Secretary Ann Yumi Nakatani Rebecca Völz
Anderson Friedrich Schoenfelder
Dr. Zaro Herbert Stass
Ruler of Megara Klaus Miedel
Wrecker, Su Virru Lothar Blumhagen
Vul Kuolun Joachim Kerzel
Nurara Heidrun Kussin
Big ear Gerd Duwner
Chameleon Ulrich Gressieker
Darmoore Ernst Wilhelm Borchert
King Murul Friedrich W. Building School
Lakuku Lutz Riedel
Kim Ivan Hubert Suschka
Shiri Madeleine proud
Unyi Arnold Marquis
teller Tarō Jin Helmut Krauss

The anime international

In addition to Japan and Germany, the television series u. a. also in Venezuela and in Arabic. In France and Belgium it is called Capitaine Flam , in Italy and Spain it is called Capitan Futuro . The individual synchronization versions also received, in some cases, individual and atmospherically very different soundtracks .

Comic

Parallel to the German television broadcast, Bastei-Verlag published a self-produced "Captain Future" comic series from October 1980 to 1983 with a total of 80 booklets, some of which were also published as sequels in the television magazines Hörzu , Gong and Bild + Funk from the end of 1980 onwards. From March 1981 to March 1985, an additional 18 “Captain Future” paperbacks were published, in which many of the cover drawings came from the illustrator and later computer game graphic designer Celâl Kandemiroğlu .

The plot of the comic books was loosely based on the television series and had little in common with Edmond Hamilton's novels other than the character names. The comic series u. a. rated as "second class" and "quickly produced and not very carefully done". In March 1985, the production of the "Captain Future" paperbacks was stopped due to increasing sales difficulties.

CD, DVD and Blu-ray releases

Soundtrack

  • CD with the music of Christian Bruhn : Captain Future , Colosseum CST 34.8051
  • CD with the original soundtrack of the series: キ ャ プ テ ン ・ フ ュ ー チ ャ ー - Original Sound Track , Nippon Columbia COCX-31686 → 87 (double CD)
  • CD / LP with remixes of the Bruhn soundtrack: Captain Future Re-animated , Colosseum CAS 8501, with remixes by Le Hammond Inferno , Air Liquide , Herr Stenzel , NOHA , Balduin , Egotronic , Viktor Marek , Superpreachers etc.
  • Cover version by Phil Fuldner : The Final - The Captain Future Theme , BMG kosmo records 74321 57160 2

DVD

German publications

  • Captain Future DVD complete box (2016, eight DVDs, German language version, HD master)
  • Captain Future Volume 1 (2016, two DVDs, episodes 1–12, HD master)
  • Captain Future Volume 2 (2017, two DVDs, episodes 13-22, HD master)
  • Captain Future Volume 3 (2017, two DVDs, episodes 23–31, HD master)
  • Captain Future Volume 4 (2017, two DVDs, episode 32–40, HD master)
  • Captain Future DVD Collection 1 - Episode 1–25 (2003, four DVDs, German language version, ZDF master)
  • Captain Future DVD Collection 2 - Episode 26–40 (2003, three DVDs, German language version, ZDF master and film A brilliant race over the solar system in the original Japanese version with German subtitles)

Foreign language publications

  • Capitaine Flam Box with seven DVDs - episodes 1–52 (French, uncut)
  • Capitaine Flam DVD Course à travers le system solaire - Le Film! (French)
  • Capitan Futuro nine individual DVDs - episodes 1–52 (Italian, Japanese, uncut)

Blu-ray

  • Captain Future Complete Box (2016, all 40 episodes, four Blu-rays)
  • Captain Future "Limited Collector's Edition" (2016, 40 episodes in the ZDF cut version and 52 episodes in the Japanese original version, nine Blu-rays)
  • Captain Future - Collector's Edition (2019, nine Blu-rays, 40 episodes in the ZDF cut version and 52 episodes in the Japanese original version)
  • Captain Future Volume 1 (2016, a Blu-ray, episode 1–12)
  • Captain Future Volume 2 (2017, a Blu-ray, episode 13-22)
  • Captain Future Volume 3 (2017, a Blu-ray, episode 23-31)
  • Captain Future Volume 4 (2017, a Blu-ray, episode 32-40)

Foreign language publications

  • Capitaine Flam Box with six Blu-rays - episodes 1–52 (French and Japanese, uncut)

Homage

In the Perry Rhodan series, the fictional character of Curtiz Newton was created as an homage to the Captain Future series .

Games and other merchandising items

The games published for the television series in German-speaking countries include the board game "Captain Future - The Conquering of the Planets" by Wolfgang Kramer and the Captain Future card quartet , both published by ASS Altenburger .

Panini published a Captain Future sticker album with pictures from the series.

In Japan, the Popy company launched detailed models of the Comet and the Cosmoliner. Enclosed were about 4–5 cm tall unpainted figures of Captain Future, Grag, Otto, Yiek and Oak (Professor Simon Wright was missing).

Both Popy in Japan and Mattel in Europe brought out a set of the three characters Captain Future, Grag and Otto under the name "Future Stars". However, these 8-10 cm tall figures were only sparsely painted and lovelessly produced (the weapons of the figures in the Mattel version were a lighter blue and were made of harder plastic than in the Popy version). The Cosmoliner was also available in a matching size, which was available either individually or as a set with the figures.

Few manufacturers from the garage kit scene (such as Scalemodel Company, BurTECH and most recently Panik! Props) have released models and kits made of various materials in small and very small editions in recent years, the spectrum ranges from hand-carved and made-to-order manufactured precious wood model to highly detailed rapid prototyping with an accuracy that could not be achieved by the earlier manufacturers Popy and Mattel with the state of the art at the time.

filming

In March 2010 it was announced that Christian Alvart had secured the filming rights to Captain Future and is working on a real film version in 3D. In 2015, an animated trailer for Captain Future appeared on Youtube. According to Alvart, this happened unintentionally and by no means wanted, as not all rights were with him at the time. In 2016, Christian Alvart told the Internet TV broadcaster Rocket Beans TV in an episode Kino + that he now owns all rights to Captain Future and to the German music of Christian Bruhn. Alvart is currently looking for investors to realize this project for the cinema. According to Alvart, this will require 40 to 100 million euros.

literature

  • Hardy Kettlitz: Edmond Hamilton. World destroyer and author of Captain Future . Shayol, Berlin 2003, ISBN 3-926126-25-6 .
  • Reinhard Prahl and Thorsten Walch: Long live Captain Future. 40 years of cult in Germany . in Farbe und Bunt, Osdorf 2020, ISBN 3-95936-186-6 .
  • Martin Böhnert: Three Guys and a Girl in Space. Gender construction in the sci-fi animes Captain Future, Saber Rider and Cowboy Bebop. In: Urania Milevski, Paul Reszke, Felix Woitkowski (eds.): Gender and Genre. Popular seriality between critical reception and gender-theoretical reflection . Königshausen & Neumann , Würzburg 2018, ISBN 978-3-8260-6057-1 , pp. 317-335 ( online ).

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Allan Steele: The Death of Captain Future (with introduction and author's note) in The Space Opera Renaissance , ed. David G. Hartwell and Kathryn Cramer, 2006, pp. 556-586. (English)
  2. ↑ Edmond Hamilton: An Inside Look At Captain Future . In: Pulp . Issue 3. 1971.
  3. ↑ Reinhard Prahl and Thorsten Walch: Long live Captain Future. 40 years of cult in Germany . in Farbe und Bunt, Osdorf 2020, p. 141.
  4. ^ Jörg Weese: E-mail interview with Josef Göhlen . In: hillvalley.de . February 2011 (PDF; 303 kB)
  5. ↑ Dr. Jörn Krieger, Jörg Weese: Interview with ex-ZDF series boss Josef Göhlen . In: abiszubi.de . February 2011. (PDF; 207 kB)
  6. ↑ dpa: The composer of "Marble, Stone and Iron Breaks" turns 80 . In: Derwesten.de . October 14, 2014.
  7. ↑ Captain Future episode guide on fernsehserien.de
  8. ↑ List of Captain Future booklets at Bastei . In: salige.bplaced.net
  9. ↑ List of Captain Future paperbacks at Bastei
  10. ↑ Comic Jahrbuch 1986, p. 327.
  11. ↑ Comicspiegel No. 3, Winter 1980, p. 10.
  12. ↑ Market information from Verlagsunion Wiesbaden from July 9, 1985.
  13. ↑ a b Captain Future on universum.de
  14. ↑ Stéphane Clement: Planète Jeunesse - Capitaine Flam: l'Ultime Course à travers le Système Solaire. In: www.planete-jeunesse.com. Retrieved January 13, 2017 .
  15. ↑ Article Curtiz Newton in Perrypedia
  16. ↑ Christopher Webster: EXCLUSIVE: Pandorum's Christian Alvart talks CAPTAIN FUTURE adaptation . In: quietearth.us . March 16, 2010. (English)
  17. ↑ Rocket Beans TV: [4/4] Kino + # 104 with Christian Alvart | Captain Future, DVD tips from Alvart | 03/17/2016. March 18, 2016, accessed December 19, 2016 .

Web links

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