Defenders of the Earth - The saviors of the earth
| Television series | |
|---|---|
| German title | Defenders of the Earth - The saviors of the earth |
| Original title | Defenders of the Earth |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| year | 1985 |
| length | 20 minutes |
| Episodes | 65 in 1 season |
| music | Robert J. Walsh |
| German-language first broadcast |
April 15, 1991 on Tele 5 |
Defenders of the Earth is an American cartoon series from 1986. In Germany it was shown on the private broadcaster Tele 5 in the early 1990s .
action
The focus of the series is a group of famous heroes, consisting of Alex Raymond's science fiction heroes Flash Gordon and Lee Falk's cartoon characters Mandrake the Wizard , jungle hero Phantom and Lothar, Mandrake's helper and strongest man in the world. Together they fight against the evil ruler Ming, the classic opponent Flash Gordons, who tries to conquer the earth in 2015.
In order to address the target group of children, the newly created troop was supplemented with a new, youthful generation of heroes. This consists of Flash's son Rick Gordon, Lothar's son Lothar Junior (mostly called “LJ” for short ), the daughter of the phantom Jedda Walker and the orphan K'shin, who is looked after by Mandrake. Then there was K'shin's alien pet, Zuffy the Zuffoide.
There are some differences between the original cartoon characters and their series counterparts. Lothar, who originally appeared only as Mandrake's servant in the comics, has been expanded into an independent adventurer figure. Mandrake, who has mainly hypnotic powers in the comic, has now been given powerful magical powers. And villain Ming, who was originally clearly of the Asian type, has now been depicted with green skin to avoid the stereotypes of the evil Asian.
Characters
The saviors of the earth
- Flash Gordon
- The well-known future hero and space pilot is also the leader of the Defenders of the Earth . Although he has an impressive physique, in return he does not have the special powers that are typical of superheroes. But he more than compensates for this with his famous skills as a fighter jet pilot and his accuracy as a shooter with the laser blaster. His wife Dale Arden was kidnapped by Ming and murdered by the Flash while attempting to rescue her.
- Phantom (civil: Christopher "Kit" Walker)
- Also known as the “walking ghost”, Phantom is an almost mystical hero who comes from a long dynasty of masked right-backs. the fact that the noble office of avenger was always passed on from father to son has earned the phantom the reputation of being immortal. In the tropical jungle, his home and area of activity, he is worshiped almost godlike by the locals because of his benefits for them. The shamans of the tribes gave him the strength of ten tigers, which he can summon if necessary and thus achieve superhuman strength and speed. His horse Hero and his wolf Devil support him in battle .
- Mandrake
- Except for telekinesis and astral projection, the wizard does not really have any magical powers, but is such a skilled illusionist that he knows how to fool the enemy into almost anything that seems useful to him. Although his physical fighting strength is of rather modest qualities, these trickery makes him an irreplaceable member of the Defenders.
- Lothar
- Down-to-earth and always there when it comes to getting hold of without hesitation. Because Lothar has extraordinary physical strength that enables him to perform herculean actions. The taciturn African American has the lifting power of a crane and the rights of a steam hammer. A serious opponent for Ming's minions.
- Jedda Walker
- She has long been the Phantom Dynasty's first direct female heir to the throne. The determined and impulsive young woman often shows little understanding for her father Phantom's concern for her and often insists on getting her will through against his. The agile lady is a dynamic and skilled fighter. Furthermore, she always carries her black panther Kisa with her, who not only protects her in every situation with claws and claws, but with whom she can also communicate using her telepathic abilities.
- Richard "Rick" Gordon
- He's the offspring of Flash. And like his father, a potential hero and hot spur has also been lost in the young man. Rick doesn’t have any superpowers of any kind, but that doesn’t prevent him from intervening courageously and distributing one or two blows when it comes to Ming’s men (his mother’s murderers). In addition, when it comes to IT, programming, computer skills, etc., nobody comes close to him that easily. He can handle machines like no other and has already made one or the other useful invention for the Defenders.
- "LJ" (Lothar Junior)
- The young black man is Lothar's son, but unfortunately he has not inherited his above-average physical strength. However, the self-confident boy knew how to compensate for this effortlessly and diligently uses various Asian fighting styles to teach his enemies more. While his father's advantage is strength, LJ's advantage is speed.
- K'shin
- The Asian orphan (Engl. Orphan , misinterpreted in the synchronization as "orphaner") is the youngest of the Defenders, and as such always trying his comrades to prove that he is a full member of the Defenders of the Earth. The boy is the foster son and student of Mandrake, although his illusionistic skills have so far not gone beyond a few simple tricks. However, he has copied the shrewd young defender at LJ one or the other kick and blow. K'shin is usually accompanied by his small, alien pet Zuffy, whom Flash and Rick Gordon brought with them from the planet Mungo.
- Dynak-X
- is the computer system of the Defenders headquarters and is based on the thought patterns of Flash's faded wife Dale Arden Gordon. Dynax is the last connection to his late mother for his son Rick. Dynax controls all systems of the base and acts not only as a security / defense and administration computer, but also manages the Defenders database.
The alien invaders
- Ming, the merciless
- He is an extraterrestrial despot and dictator. As the latest addition to his realm and for the extraction of natural resources, he would like to see our blue planet, which brings him into conflict with the Defenders in general and his old nemesis Flash Gordon in particular. Ming has an almost inexhaustible army of soulless ice soldiers who he sends out on their dishonest missions from his arctic base, Ice Station Earth. Ming has two children: Prince Krotan and Princess Castra (married to Prince Barin).
- Octon
- With a spherical shape and various hydraulic legs, Octon is Ming's robotic servant and his right hand. He is at his master's side with words and deeds and also takes on subordinate administrative tasks to relieve his master. It is not uncommon for the submissive machine vassal to become the innocent target of the furious anger of the psychotic dictator in the event of failures against the Defenders .
- Garax
- Take command of Ming's army, the ice robots. The soulless creature is unscrupulous and has enormous physical strength. He hates the Defenders on principle and leaves no stone unturned to bring down the protectors of the blue planet.
- Mongoose (Mongor)
- is the kite-like pet Ming, who mostly writhes around bored at the feet of his master. But if Ming is threatened immediately, Mungo doesn't feel too bad either to grapple with advancing enemies and bite off the head of the unexpected snack.
- Princess Castra
- The daughter Mings is likely to give her despot father some headaches. Because she is of his blood, but does not understand and share the motives of her father in the least. As a result, it often becomes an unexpected ally of the Defenders when the situation seems almost hopeless. She is married to Flash's best friend, Prince Barin.
- Prince Krotan
- The ancestral owner Mings, who is very much like his father and is therefore a very unsympathetic contemporary. Krotan hates the Defenders and craves power at all costs. The slimy upstart would not shy away from intriguing against his father or sister himself if he could take advantage of it. Krotan has his eye on Jedda Walker and even tried to force the beautiful young woman in one episode to become his wife.
- Kurt Walker
- Like Kit Walker, his brother is a descendant of the Phantom Dynasty. However of a rather dubious character. He once cheated in the competition for the successor of his father and was then banished by him. Years later, Ming picks up the unreasonable embittered man and incites the madman, equipped with new powers, against his brother.
- Sky band
- The Sky Band is an association of pirates and hereditary enemies of the Phantom Dynasty that has existed for centuries. While they used to sail the seas, in modern times they make the vastness of space unsafe. At that time the Baroness was the leader of the Sky Band, today it is her great-granddaughter Christina.
- Queen Hadea of Netherworld
- The beautiful queen rules the Netherworld (the underworld in the German episodes) - a desolate, dead place without sunlight, and the only ones who serve her are scantily clad, ugly beings. When it is time for her to choose a king to rule by her side, she chooses Phantom, whom she has cast an eye on and does not shy away from blackmailing him with the life of his daughter so that he can join you stay. Hadea's great weaknesses are jewelry and jewels and power, which is why she is so fascinated by the necklace from Oros and wants to have it for herself.
- The ice robots
- The ice robots form Ming's army. Your ice shell cannot be melted by exposure to sunlight or simple ambient temperature. However, if an ice robot is destroyed by something like a laser beam, a puddle and chunks of ice are usually left behind. If the robots were not completely destroyed, they can be reassembled from the pieces of ice.
- Frost slaves
- The frost slaves are biological beings (e.g. humans) who have been forced to drink a serum that turns them into frost slaves. As such, they are covered by a layer of ice and no longer have a will of their own.
Production and publication
The series was created as a collaboration between King Features (the licensee of the newspaper strips from which the characters originated) and the animation studio Marvel Productions . The series was written by Alan Swayze , assisted by Allan Cole . It was King Features 'first attempt to have a group of their cartoon characters go on adventures together (such as DC Comics ' Justice League of America ).
The first broadcast of the pilot episode "The Flight from Mongo" took place in the USA on September 8, 1986. The series was actually produced in 1985, but since there was no slot available for another series, it had to be postponed. A total of 64 episodes of 30 minutes each were broadcast, but a second season was not produced.
In Germany, the series was broadcast at the end of the 1980s under the title “Defenders - Die Retter der Erde” on the private broadcaster Tele 5 . As a result, the series is still remembered by many young adults in Germany today. After the end of the channel, the broadcasting rights went to the private broadcaster kabel eins , where they existed until October 1997.
In 1998 Select Videos released two videotapes of three episodes each containing the first 6 episodes. In 2003 a DVD was released under the title "Defenders of the Earth - The Story begins ..." , which only contained the first episodes. In 2005 the entire series was finally released on DVD, divided into two DVD boxes with a total of 13 DVDs.
synchronization
| role | English speaker | German speaker |
|---|---|---|
| K'shin | Adam Carl | Jan-David Rönfeldt |
| Lothar | Buster Jones | Joachim Richert |
| Lothar Junior | Dion Williams | Thomas Karallus |
| Rick Gordon | Loren Lester | Sascha Draeger |
| Flash Gordon | Lou Richards | Lutz Mackensy |
| Mandrake | Pete Renaday | Achim Schülke |
| The Phantom | Peter Mark Richman | Gerhard Marcel |
| Jedda Walker | Sarah Partridge |
Pia Werfel Brigitte Böttrich Carolin van Bergen |
| Ming | William Callaway | Gottfried Kramer |
Merchandise
- Toy manufacturer Galoob released several action toys based on vehicles from the series in the 1980s.
- In the Marvel publishing a four-part Defenders comic series was released in January 1987th
- In Germany, at the end of the 1980s, a range of chewing gum cigarettes with a portrait of the Defenders was also available on the market.
Computer games
In 1990 the computer game company Enigma Variations secured the Defenders rights and developed a jump 'n' run video game for Amiga , Amstrad CPC , Atari ST and C64 . The player steered Flash Gordon in third-person perspective through Ming's fortress and fought against the despot and his henchmen.
Web links
- Defenders of the Earth - the savior of the world in the Internet Movie Database (English)