Voltron: Defender of the Universe is an American animated television series that features a team of astronauts who pilot a giant Super Robot known as "Voltron". Initially produced as a joint venture between World Events Productions and Toei Animation, the original television series aired in syndication from September 10, 1984 to November 18, 1985. The first season of Voltron, featuring the "Lion Force Voltron", was adapted from the Japanese anime television series Beast King GoLion. The second season, featuring the "Vehicle Team Voltron", was adapted from the unrelated anime series Armored Fleet Dairugger XV.
Voltron was the top-rated syndicated children's show for two years during its original run, and it spawned two follow-up series, several comic books, and a 1-hour special.
Development
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The original series was created by Peter Keefe and John Teichmann in 1984 using material that they had licensed from the Japanese animated series Beast King GoLion and Armored Fleet Dairugger XV. But since they had no means of translating the Japanese series into English, Keefe and Teichman surmised the plots, commissioned writer Jameson Brewer to write all-new dialogue, edited out the more violent scenes, and remixed the audio into stereo format. The series was an immediate hit in the United States, topping the syndication market for children's programs in the mid-1980s.
The Japanese Future Robot Daltanious series was originally planned to be adapted by World Events Productions as part of Voltron. When requesting master tapes from Toei Animation for translation purposes, the World Events Productions producers requested "[the] ones with the lion." Mistakenly, Toei then proceeded to ship World Events copies of Beast King GoLion, another "combining-robot" cartoon which featured lion-shaped fighting robot starships.. Because the World Events producers greatly preferred GoLion to Daltanious, the GoLion episodes were adapted instead, going on to become the most popular portion of the original Voltron run. A third version/series of Voltron based on yet another Japanese series, Lightspeed Electroid Albegas, was also in progress, but it was dropped when World Events Productions joined with Toei to make new GoLion-based shows, due to that show's popularity over the Dairugger run.
Voltron variations
Lion Force Voltron (Voltron of the Far Universe; Voltron III)
The first series was primarily edited from Beast King GoLion (Hyakujû-ô Goraion), and it features a team of five young pilots commanding five robot lions which can be combined to form Voltron. In this undefined future era, the Voltron Force is in charge of protecting the planet Arus (ruled by Princess Allura) from the evil King Zarkon (from planet Doom), his son Lotor, and the witch Haggar, who creates huge "ro-beasts" to terrorize the Arusian people. Despite being the first of the two robots to appear on American television, the "GoLion" version of Voltron was regarded as "Voltron III" within the storyline because, within the original planned "three-Voltron" continuity, Arus was the furthest setting from Earth's side of the universe ("Voltron I" being intended for the Near Universe, and "Voltron II" being intended for the Middle Universe).
Vehicle Team Voltron (Voltron of the Near Universe; Voltron I)
The second series was primarily edited from Armored Fleet Dairugger XV (Kikô Kantai Dairugger XV), with the storyline considerably changed. In this iteration of Voltron, the Galaxy Alliance's home planets are now overcrowded, and a fleet of explorers is sent to search for new planets to colonize. Along the way, they attract the attention of the evil Drule Empire, long engaged in an ongoing war against the Alliance, and the Drules proceed to interfere with the mission of the explorers and the colonists. Since the Arusian Voltron is too far away to help these explorers, a totally new Voltron has to be constructed to battle the Drule threat.
This Voltron Force consists of fifteen members, divided into three teams of five, known respectively as the Land, Sea, and Air Teams. Each team is specialized in gathering data or fighting in their area of expertise. Each team can combine their vehicles into a bigger machine, with each combined 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)
When necessary, all fifteen vehicles combine to form the mighty Voltron. In the toyline this Voltron was referred to as Voltron I because it was set closest to Earth. However, the assembly of the Vehicle Team Voltron could not be maintained for longer than five minutes at a time; it was explained in the first episode that when it was combined, the Vehicle Team Voltron only had enough stored solar energy to operate for five minutes.
Gladiator Voltron (Voltron of the Middle Universe; Voltron II)
The proposed third season was to have been based on Lightspeed Electroid Albegas (Kosoku Denjin Albegas). Although Matchbox did produce and market toy versions of the three robots (Black Alpha, Red Gamma, Blue Beta) under the "Voltron II" name, the series never actually aired. Due to the extreme popularity of the Lion Force Voltron and the lack of popularity of the Vehicle Team Voltron series, World Events Productions eventually elected against another alternate Voltron, and plans to adapt Albegas were aborted.
Subsequent projects
Fleet of Doom (1986)
In 1986, World Events hired Toei Animation to produce the one-off crossover television special Voltron: Fleet of Doom, which mixed in GoLion and Dairugger XV footage with new animation. The special was made for the international market and, as of the middle of September 2016, it had not been released in Japan.
The Third Dimension (1998)
After some initial interest, the computer-generated series Voltron: The Third Dimension was released in 1998, set five years after the end of the original Lion Voltron series. The series was met with a mixed response, due to various changes, such as the revamped looks of the Lion Voltron, King Zarkon, and Prince Lotor. The series served as a sequel to the Lion Force Voltron series; among the tools used to bridge the gap between the two series was an official starmap as designed by Shannon Muir and finalized in partnership with World Events Productions. After Voltron: The Third Dimension, World Events Productions went back to the drawing board to develop a more traditionally animated series in an attempt to recapture the spirit of the original.
Voltron: Defender of the Universe (plans for a live-action movie, 2005â€")
In July 2005, producer Mark Gordon (Grey's Anatomy, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen) announced plans to create a live-action film adaptation of the Voltron franchise in collaboration with producers Pharrell Williams, Mark Costa, and Frank Oelman. Pharrell Williams was also reported to compose the musical score the film. The project's development was funded by Jim Young's Animus Films. In December 2006, screenwriter Enzo Marra was announced to have completed a script for Gordon. In August 2007, the production entity New Regency entered negotiations with The Mark Gordon Company to adapt Voltron. Interest in the property heightened after the box office success of Transformers, another film involving shape-changing robots. Marks's script was described as "a post-apocalyptic tale set in New York City...[in which] five ragtag survivors of an alien attack band together and end up piloting the five lion-shaped robots that combine and form the massive sword-wielding Voltron that helps battle Earth's invaders." " On August 18, 2008, Relativity Media entered negotiations with New Regency to finance and produce the film, though on a more moderate budget, utilizing cost-saving CGI techniques such as those used in 300. Max Makowski was slated to direct. As of the end of August 2008, the title had been set for Voltron: Defender of the Universe. Relativity would've released the film in North America while New Regency's distribution partner, 20th Century Fox, would handle international distribution. But at that time, Ted Koplar, through his World Events Production Company (Koplar took over the company as the health of Peter Keefe declined; Keefe died in 2010 at age 57), was fighting a legal battle with Toei Company Ltd. over the movie rights as of November of that year. On September 16, 2010, concept art for the movie was released. On March 8, 2011, it was announced that Relativity Media and World Events had entered a bidding war on who would make the film. Thomas Dean Donnelly and Joshua Oppenheimer entered into collaboration on writing the script. On July 21, 2011, Atlas Entertainment & Relativity Media announced they would bring Voltron: Defender of the Universe to the big screen. Relativity Media would distribute. On November 4, 2016, it was announced that Universal Pictures and DreamWorks Animation will make the film with David Hayter writing the script.
Voltron Force (2011)
The animated series Voltron Force premiered on Nicktoons in June 2011. The series follows the exploits of a group of three young cadets brought together by the original members of the Voltron Force to defend the galaxy against a resurrected Lotor, now ruling the planet Drule after a military coup d'état. Voltron Force is a World Events Production in conjunction with Kick Start Productions and Classic Media.
Legendary Defender (2016)
The Netflix exclusive series Voltron: Legendary Defender, produced by DreamWorks Animation, is a reboot of the Voltron story. The series premiered on June 10, 2016, with Joaquim Dos Santos and Lauren Montgomery serving as showrunners. On January 5, 2016, Netflix announced that Voltron would debut in 2016 as an original animated Netflix series in partnership with DreamWorks Animation (DWA), part of an expanded multi-year agreement between the two groups. In February, teasers revealed the title of the new series to be Voltron: Legendary Defender. On March 25, 2016, a teaser trailer was released, announcing that the first season, consisting of 13 episodes, would premiere June 10, 2016. A second season premiered on Netflix on January 20, 2017.
Episodes
Characters
DVD releases
In Australia, DVDs of all episodes of Voltron were released by Madman Entertainment as the 20th Anniversary Edition, Lion Force Voltron Collection. The original series was released in five volumes between August 2004 and July 2005, under the name Voltron: Defender of the Universe. Each box was in the color and style of one of the lions with a metallic glossy inner DVD-case. Another three volumes of "Vehicle Team Voltron" were released between August and December 2005. In addition, a "Best of" 2-DVD set released in November 2006 featured five episodes from each series. Finally, a 24-disc boxset subtitled The Lion and Vehicle Force Complete Collection was released on June 24, 2009. Madman Entertainment has since relinquished the rights to the Voltron series and has since been re-released by Beyond Home Entertainment. Previous licensees of Voltron in Australia have been CBS/Fox Video and Manga Entertainment.
Prior to the release of the boxed sets, a promotional DVD was released for Voltron. It was packed in a threefold glossy cardboard folder. The folder featured full-color artwork and text about the then-upcoming release of Voltron on DVD. The disk had an image of Voltron, and was labeled for promotional use only. It featured the first episode, "Space Explorers Captured", and several promos for other series.
In Region 1, Voltron was released on DVD in its original broadcast form and remastered by New Yorkâ€"based distributor Media Blasters in eight volumes between September 2006 and July 2009. The volumes contain approximately fifteen episodes each, along with special features such as interviews with producer and director Franklin Cofod, and various others involved in the original and current productions. The first five volumes together contain all the Lion Force episodes, which were broadcast as seasons 1 and 3, while the next three contain the Vehicle Team episodes, broadcast as season 2.
The Fleet of Doom special was released on DVD early in 2007, as an online Voltron.com exclusive. Fleet of Doom was a special crossover film where the Vehicle and Lion Voltrons joined forces to defeat the "Fleet of Doom" (Doom and Drule Empires). The special was originally released in 1986, but was never released in Japan. Media Blasters released Fleet of Doom on July 28, 2009 as a full retail release. A Blu-ray version was planned, but it was delayed many times and was finally officially canceled.
The first volume of the original series was released in the UK in 2007 by Manga Entertainment.
According to TVShowsOnDVD.com, Voltron: The Third Dimension was to be released on DVD at some point, but no release date has been announced currently.
Media Blasters also released the two Japanese shows that made up Voltron â€" Beast King GoLion and Armored Fleet Dairugger XV â€" each in their original, unedited Japanese form, with English subtitles. Volume 1 of GoLion was released on May 27, 2008, Volume 2 on August 12, 2008, and Volume 3 on November 25, 2008. GoLion was re-released as a complete chronology set with all 52 episodes on April 13, 2010. The first Dairugger XV DVD collection was released on February 23, 2010, the second Dairugger XV collection was released on May 25, 2010. The third and final collection was originally scheduled to be released in September 2010, but was repeatedly delayed and finally released on January 4, 2011.
As of mid-2011, Classic Media (DreamWorks Classics) now owns the rights to Voltron on DVD.
Digital releases
As of July 2011 all Lion Force episodes have been released on Hulu. Netflix also has both Lion Force and Vehicle Force available for instant streaming. Minisodes of the first twenty episodes of the first season can be streamed for free online on Crackle.
Following the success of Voltron: Legendary Defender, Netflix released 12 episodes of Defender of the Universe as Voltron '84 on March 24, 2017. Each episode is introduced by members of the cast and crew of Legendary Defender.
Soundtracks
The Voltron television franchise has produced soundtracks for three of its series which have been released exclusively on the iTunes and the Google Play stores. The first soundtrack release was on September 27, 2012 for the original Lions series with music composed by John Petersen. The second soundtrack release was on October 1, 2012 for the Third Dimension series with music composed by Stephen Martson and the third release on July 21, 2016 for the first season of the Legendary Defender series with music composed by Brad Breeck, Brian Parkhurst and Alex Geringas. Currently there are no plans to release any of the soundtrack to a non-digital version such as a physical album or CD.
Comic books
1980s
In 1985, Modern Comics, an imprint of Charlton Comics, produced a three-issue mini-series based on the Lion Voltron television show.
2000s
In 2002, comic book publisher Devil's Due announced that it had acquired the rights to publish Voltron comic books. Devil's Due, through Image Comics, published a five issue mini-series (preceded by a #0 issue from Dreamwave) which featured the Lion Voltron incarnation of the character and rebooted the property. This was then followed by an ongoing series self-published by Devil's Due, which was placed on hiatus in 2005 after the eleventh issue, due to poor sales.
Devil's Due announced in January 2008 that the five-issue mini-series, the eleven issues of the ongoing series, and the #0 issue would be collected into a Voltron Omnibus trade paperback that would also include the unpublished twelfth issue of the ongoing series that would wrap up all the storylines.
In July 2008, a new five issue mini-series was released by Devil's Due, which picked up where the ongoing series left off. This series further explored the origins of Lion Voltron's creation, from 12,000 years in the past to the present day. The mini-series showed Voltron existing as a single construct created by sorcerers and scientists, resembling a knight. During its battle with the first Drule Empire, Voltron was tricked by Haggar into landing on a black comet with the gravitational attraction of a singularity. Voltron was then attacked by Haggar, and blown into five pieces. However, the intervention of a sorcerer resulted in the five pieces becoming the five lions as they descended onto Arus.
The original five issue mini-series was adapted as the 2007 motion comic Voltron: Defenders of the Universe - Revelations. Its sequel, Voltron: Defenders of the Universe - Paradise Lost, adapted the first story arc of the ongoing series, introducing the V-15 and its pilots. The Devil's Due run is now collected digitally exclusively through Devil's Due Digital.
In 2011, Dynamite Entertainment announced plans to publish Voltron comics, while Viz Media's young readers imprint, Viz Kids, announced plans to publish a series of graphic novels called Voltron Force, on which Bian Smith would serve as head writer, and Jacob Chabot and Dario Brizuela would serve as lead artists.
In September 2015 Dynamite is slated to release Voltron: From The Ashes written by Cullen Bunn with art by Blacky Shepherd.
Toys
Matchbox
Matchbox imported the Lion Force Voltron, Gladiator Voltron and Vehicle Force Voltron diecast toys from Popy of Japan in 1984. The company also released 6-inch figures of the Voltron robots that were more affordable, but lacked the detail level of their larger counterparts and could not separate into their component forms.
Panosh Place
At the peak of the series' popularity, Panosh Place released new Voltron toys, including action figures of the characters and a larger Voltron toy that could fit them.
Trendmasters
To coincide with the 1998 broadcast of Voltron: The Third Dimension, the now-defunct Trendmasters reissued the Matchbox diecast Lion Force Voltron, with a few changes to the mold and a total of 17 weapons in comparison to the original's sword and shield. Trendmasters also released the newer Stealth Voltron variant, as well as character action figures and the robots Voltrex and Dracotron.
Toynami
Shortly after the demise of Trendmasters, Toynami acquired the Voltron license and released their Masterpiece Voltron toy in 2005. Boasting more detail and articulation than the previous toys, the Masterpiece Voltron sold for US$139 to US$149.99 at the time of its release. In 2007, Toynami sold an all-plastic version of the Masterpiece Voltron for up to one-third of the first release's price (ranging from US$49 to US$60). For the 25th anniversary of the cartoon franchise in 2009, the plastic Masterpiece Voltron was reissued in a metallic repaint.
Mattel
In late 2011, Mattel released toys for the new Voltron Force series, while its online collectors' site MattyCollector.com sold brand new toys for the classic series - including a 23-inch Voltron that fits 4-inch pilot figures in each lion.
Playmates Toys
In 2017, Playmates Toys released toys based on Voltron: Legendary Defender.
Bandai
In early 2017 Bandai Japan, who produced the toys of Beast King GoLion and Armored Fleet Dairugger XV back in their initial releases, released a Soul of Chogokin version of the GoLion robot. The box was repackaged as Voltron for its American release.
Lego
In August 2017, Lego announced that a forthcoming Lego Ideas set based upon classic Voltron will be placed into production.
Other merchandise
Privateer Press released a Voltron: Defender of the Universe expansion set for their Monsterpocalypse battle miniatures game series in 2010.
Video games
In December 2009, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment announced the first ever Voltron video game would be released on mobile phones in the US, including the iPhone. The game would have 30 levels and 6 acts, isometric gameplay and gamers will command robot lions to traverse the galaxy and take on King Zarkon’s evil droid armies. In 2011, Voltron: Defender of the Universe, produced by THQ and Behaviour Interactive, was developed for home console play. A 1-5 player co-op game, it was released on November 29, 2011 for the PlayStation Network and November 30, 2011 for the Xbox Live Arcade. The First Trailer has been announced on IGN.com and tentatively priced at $10. Players will be able fight as the individual lions in an overhead shooter style gameplay to then form Voltron to take on Robeasts in a fighter style combat.
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 and 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.
- Scenes of torture and atrocities inflicted by the alien conquerors on their slaves (such as a "contest" where alien soldiers would be rewarded according to how many prisoners they managed to decapitate in a given time) and some shots of corpses were removed.
- 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.
Animation staff
- Original story: Saburo Yatsude
- Chief Director: Katsuhiko Taguchi
- Character Designer & Chief Animation Director: Kazuo Nakamura
- Episode Directors: Kazufumi Nomura, Kazuyuki Okaseko, Hiroshi Sasagawa, Katsuhiko Taguchi, Katsuhito Akiyama
- Scenarists: Ryo Nakahara, Masaaki Sakurai, Susumu Takahisa
- Music: Masahisa Takeichi (incidental), Asei Kobayashi (opening/closing themes)
- Theme song performance (GoLion): Ichirou Mizuki (OP- Tatakae! Goraion, ED- Gonin de Hitotsu)
- Production: Toei Animation Co., Ltd. / Toei Advertising Co. Ltd (credited as "Toei Agency")
References
External links
- Voltron on Netflix
- Voltron: Defender of the Universe on IMDb
- Voltron (anime) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia
- Voltron at TV.com
- Voltron: Defender of the Universe at YouTube
- Voltron digital comic books from Devil's Due Digital.