"Battle of the Planets" (1978) TV series 1978-1985

Director:

David E. Hanson

Writers:

William Bloom (writer) (1978)
Kevin Paul Coates (writer) (1978)
(more)

Seasons:

1

Release Date:

18 September 1978 (USA)

Genre:

Animation | Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi

Plot:

A five-member superhero team called G-Force fights to defend Earth and its space colonies from the threat of the planet Spectra.

Plot Keywords:

Leader | Superhero | Robot | Friend | Manga

Cast

Alan Young

...

7-Zark-7 / ... (unknown episodes)

Series Directed by
Alan Dinehart		(1 episode, 1978)
David E. Hanson		(unknown episodes)

Series Writing credits
Jameson Brewer		(1 episode, 1978)
William Bloom		(unknown episodes, 1978)
Kevin Paul Coates		(unknown episodes, 1978)
Muriel Germano		(unknown episodes, 1978)
Peter Germano		(unknown episodes, 1978)
Sidney Morse		(unknown episodes, 1978)
Jack Paritz		(unknown episodes, 1978)
Howard Post		(unknown episodes, 1978)
Dick Shaw		(unknown episodes, 1978)
Helen Sosin		(unknown episodes, 1978)
Harry Winkler		(unknown episodes, 1978)

Series Produced by
Alan Dinehart	....	producer (1 episode, 1978)
Warner E. Leighton	....	associate producer (1 episode, 1978)
Jameson Brewer	....	executive producer (unknown episodes)
Sandy Frank	....	executive producer (unknown episodes)
David E. Hanson	....	producer (unknown episodes)

Series Original Music by
Hoyt Curtin		(unknown episodes)
Dennis Dreith		(unknown episodes)

Series Production Management
Emil Carle	....	production manager (unknown episodes)

Series Art Department
Alex Toth	....	design consultant (1 episode, 1978)

Series Sound Department
Alan Dinehart Jr.	....	assistant recording director (1 episode, 1978)

Series Animation Department
Harold Johns	....	animation supervisor (unknown episodes)
Alex Toth	....	character designer: "7-Zark-7" (unknown episodes)

Series Editorial Department
Pamela Bentkowski	....	assistant editor (1 episode, 1978)
Franklin Cofod	....	supervising editor (unknown episodes, 1978)

Series Music Department
Hoyt Curtin	....	composer: theme music (2 episodes, 1978)
Paul DeKorte	....	music supervisor (unknown episodes)
Richard Greene	....	musician: violin (unknown episodes)
Igo Kantor	....	music supervisor (unknown episodes)

Series Other crew
David Levy	....	program executive (1 episode, 1978)
Leonard Reeg	....	creative consultant (1 episode, 1978)
Bob Robinson	....	assistant to producer (1 episode, 1978)
Tom Swafford	....	program executive (1 episode, 1978)
Tom Wogatzke	....	titles (1 episode, 1978)
Alan Dinehart Jr.	....	assistant voice director (unknown episodes, 1978)
Irving Klein	....	production executive (unknown episodes, 1978)
Alan Dinehart	....	voice director (unknown episodes)
George Serban	....	program consultant (unknown episodes)
Winifred Treimer	....	standards and practices (unknown episodes)

Production Companies

• Gallerie International Films Ltd.
• Tatsunoko Productions Company

Distributors

• AVRO Television (1980-1981) (Netherlands) (TV)
• Cuatro (2005) (Spain) (TV)
• Playback (2002) (UK) (video)
• Rhino Entertainment Company (USA) (DVD)
• Sandy Frank Film Syndication

Other Companies

• C & D Productions Inc.  ink and paint
• T.V. Recorders  recording
• Take One  camera

Also Known As:

G-Force (USA) (informal alternative title)

Runtime:

Argentina:30 min

Country:

Japan | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Argentina:Atp | USA:TV-Y7 | Australia:PG (DVD rating)

Company:

Gallerie International Films Ltd.

Trivia:

The show Battle of the Planets was marketed to capitalize on the momentum created by Star Wars (1977), released in the prior year. The words Battle (instead of War) and Planets (instead of Star) are plays on that theme. The character 7-Zark-7 was a play on "droid" names created in "Star Wars", that utilized letters and numbers, such as C3PO and R2D2.

Quotes:

[opening narration]
Narrator: Battle of the Planets! G-Force, five incredible young people with superpowers! And watching over them from Centre Neptune, 7-Zark-7! Watching, warning against surprise attacks by alien galaxies from beyond space. G-Force! Fearless young orphans, protecting Earth's entire galaxy. Always five, acting as one. Dedicated! Inseparable! Invincible!

Movie Connections:

Edited from "Kagaku ninja tai Gatchaman" (1972)

Great big slices of American cheese!

Having run madly around the school playground as a member of G-Force, I have fond memories of this series. I was lucky enough to discover some UK re-runs recently and I must say it doesn't disappoint. This had to be one of the most bizarre cartoon series ever. Sub-anime cartoon action, with a core of good Vs evil morality and a strange taste in feathery superhero costumes.

Basically, our five brave orphan heroes spend their day chilling and waiting to be called into action - when they are, it's off in the Phoenix zap about and save our galaxy from another lacklustre take-over attempt by Spectra - embodied be the Evil Zoltar.

Intros from soothing robot narrator 7-Zark-7 (and his robot dog 1-Rover-1) push the plots along, and somehow our heroes save the day by flying about a bit, throwing some banter about and coaxing this weeks traitor back to the good guys before wherever they are explodes. Zoltar then promptly escapes to pester the good peoples of Earth and her colonies another day.

You will not find a better example of 70's haircuts, camp villains, naff plots and creaky cold-war style American morality. It's a winner!

A few things to treasure... One: All the computers still work on ticker-tape in the future... fantastic! Two: Camp bad-guy Zoltar not only had all the best lines, but some of the most fulsome lips in the cartoon universe. Three: Possibly the most melodramatic opening spiel in tevevision history (even beats the A-team!) Four: 7-Zark-7's ongoing romance with 'Susan' the sexy computer voice that delivered the mission at the start of the show.

In the UK, you can catch 'Battle of the Planets' on Bravo, usually in the dead of night. On reflection, perhaps this is a good thing - the children of today might not be able to handle the sheer drama and tension.

And yes, I did have a crush on Princess. And I still do.