Thunderbirds

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NMM Supermarionation puppets 2016
Television series
German title Thunderbirds (at the beginning: thunderbirds)
Original title Thunderbirds
Country of production United Kingdom
original language English
Year (s) 1964-1966
length 45 minutes
Episodes 32
genre Sci Fi
idea Gerry Anderson , Sylvia Anderson
music Barry Gray
First broadcast October 2, 1965 (GBR)
German-language
first broadcast		 September 23, 1968 on ARD
occupation

Original voices

Thunderbirds is a British puppets - science fiction series of the animation company of Gerry and Sylvia Anderson . The series was produced from 1964 to 1966. Thunderbirds was the fourth series that was produced by Gerry Anderson's company “AP-Films” ( APF , later renamed “Century 21 Productions”) using the Supermarionation process. It was the most commercially successful and experienced a total of two seasons with 32 episodes. The first broadcast took place in September 1965. The voices of the characters came in part from the Andersons themselves. The music for the series was written by the English composer Barry Gray , who had also set Anderson's other series to music.

content

The series is about an international rescue group, International Rescue , whose headquarters are in hiding on an island in the Pacific . This organization is headed by the former astronaut Jeff Tracy . He is supported by his five sons, each of whom has a special spaceship / vehicle for different rescue missions. The sons are all named after former American astronauts from the Mercury program :

Scott (flies Thunderbird 1 , named after Scott Carpenter ), Virgil ( Thunderbird 2 , Virgil Grissom ), Alan ( Thunderbird 3 , Alan Shepard ), Gordon (Aquanaut of Thunderbird 4 , Gordon Cooper ) and John (astronaut of the Thunderbird 5 space station , John Glenn ).

In addition, the Tracys get support from the genius Brains , who is responsible for the many inventions, as well as from the family servant, Kyrano , and his daughter TinTin .

The rescue team comes into play in the event of major dangers in which the local auxiliary forces are insufficient. Thanks to their technically advanced emergency vehicles, they succeed in every mission. Often times the accidents in which International Rescue has to intervene are caused by the genius villain The Hood , whose real name is never known. In combating this, the Tracys also receive support from the English agent Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward , who arrives at their locations with a Rolls-Royce with the designation FAB 1 , which has been heavily expanded with technical gadgets .

background

For the basic structure of the stories, Anderson was inspired by the reports of the German mine disaster at Lengede , in which heavy equipment had to be transported to rescue the unfortunate miners. The "race against time" was the main problem with the rescue company and this is also one of the main themes in the various series episodes.

Anderson chose the name for the series after reading a letter from his older brother in which he mentioned an air force base called "Thunderbird Field".

The production staff of Anderson's company APF was expanded again compared to the previous series Kommando Stingray and the shooting took place in a larger studio in the English city of Slough .

The pilot episode Trapped In The Sky took an hour and the head of the station's ITC Entertainment , Lew Grade , was so taken with the story that he gave Anderson a contract to expand all consequences from the originally planned 25 minutes to one hour.

After experiencing these puppet shows, Anderson stayed true to science fiction. However, he not only shot puppet animated series such as Captain Scarlet and Revenge of the Mysterons , but also real series with real actors. These were the series UFO (1970), Moon Base Alpha 1 (1975) and Space Cops - Tatort Demeter City (1994). There was also a CGI reboot by Captain Scarlet in 2005 with the title Gerry Anderson's New Captain Scarlet .

Others

consequences

The following list is taken from the DVDs.

DVD 1

  1. The flying prison
  2. Trapped in the crater
  3. Lady Penny's Adventure
  4. Disaster in New York

DVD 2

  2. Red Arrow out of control
  3. Twelve hours of fear
  4. Race against the clock

DVD 3

  2. The sunken treasure
  3. In the dead end
  4. The secret of the pyramid

DVD 4

  2. Company solar probe
  3. Operation Fireflash
  4. A surefire safe

DVD 5

  2. The super mouse
  3. City on fire
  4. doppelganger

DVD 6

  2. The man from MI5
  3. Blind alarm
  4. Danger from the sea
  5. Don't make a wrong move!

DVD 7

  2. The Duchess's painting
  3. On the verge of calamity
  4. Attack of the alligators

DVD 8

  2. Dangerous spin
  3. The chamcham trick
  4. The security risk

DVD 9

  2. Inferno in the Atlantic
  3. Path of destruction
  4. A certain Mr. Hackenbacker

DVD 10

  2. Lord Parker is on vacation
  3. Pirate station out of course
  4. The Christmas coup

Feature films

No. English title German title Episodes Year of production length Remarks
1. Thunderbirds To The Rescue (not published in Germany) Trapped in the Sky & Operation Crash-Dive 1965/1980 95 minutes Compilation movie
2. Thunderbirds In Outer Space (not published in Germany) Sun Probe & Ricochet 1965-1966 / 1981 92 minutes Compilation movie
3. Countdown To Disaster (not published in Germany) Terror in New York City & Atlantic Inferno 1965-1966 / 1982 91 minutes Compilation movie
4th Thunderbirds Are Go Firebirds ready to go - 1966 93 minutes first movie
5. Thunderbird 6 Thunderbird 6 - 1968 89 minutes second movie
6th Thunderbirds Thunderbirds - 2004 95 minutes Movie remake as a real film adaptation

More TV series

In the United States was Thunderbirds in Power Rangers style than Turbocharged Thunderbirds revived. There was also a Japanese cartoon version from 1982 entitled Thunderbirds 2086 .

Thunderbirds Are Go (2015)

With Thunderbirds Are Go , the adaptation of the original series by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson, announced in 2003 with a trailer, was published by ITV Studios and Pukeko Pictures in a British / New Zealand co-production. As announced in a press release on February 4, 2013, the series is based on both CGI animation and footage from real model stages. It was first broadcast on April 4, 2015 on Children's ITV (CITV). The characters, vehicles and set design have been modernized, but reflect the original series in many details.

The first season consists of 26 episodes of 22 minutes each. On December 18, 2014, the second season for 2016 was announced.

Since May 2018, Thunderbirds Are Go Season 1 has been synchronized in German on Amazon Prime Video. Season 3 is currently running in England on ITV and CITV.

Actual filming

In 2004 a real-life version was released under the title ' Thunderbirds ', directed by Jonathan Frakes . For example, The Hood is portrayed by Ben Kingsley , while Brains is played by Anthony Edwards from the television series Emergency Room . The girl TinTin is played by Vanessa Hudgens .

literature

  • Sylvia Anderson: Yes, M'Lady , London (Smith Gryphon Publishers) 1991. ISBN 1-85685-011-0
  • Simon Archer / Marcus Hearn: What made Thunderbirds Go! The authorized biography of Gerry Anderson , London (BBC Worldwide Limited) 2002. ISBN 0-563-53481-8

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Dinky Toys  - The toys for the series (gerry-anderson-serien.de), accessed on June 25, 2014
  2. ↑ Pip Bulbeck: ITV Studios Sells 'Thunderbirds Are Go!' to Australia's Nine Network . In: The Hollywood Reporter . June 16, 2014. Retrieved June 17, 2014.
  3. ↑ Rebecca Hawkes: Thunderbirds Are Go! First picture released from ITV's new show . In: The Independent , June 19, 2014. Retrieved June 20, 2014. 
  4. ↑ “Thunderbirds returns to our screens: The facts” ITV, January 19, 2015.
  5. ↑ Matt Kamen: ITV's Thunderbirds reboot gets second season . In: Wired UK . December 18, 2014. Retrieved January 7, 2015.