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Cartoons: Flash Gordon
(1979-1980)
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Episode Reviews
Filmography
Gallery
History of Flash Gordon
Quick Facts
Voice Cast
The entire series in one set! Awesome!
History of Flash Gordon:
"Flash
Gordon" began life as a science-fiction comic strip.
Created by Alex Raymond, the strip debuted in newspapers on January 7,
1934. "Flash Gordon" was created to compete with the already
established "Buck Rogers in the 25th Century" sci-fi strip. Flash
easily grew as popular as Buck, and in many ways surpassed Buck in
long-lasting familiarity with the public.
Unlike Buck Rogers, Flash Gordon's adventures were always designed with a great sense of style. You could say that Flash Gordon is the James Bond of science-fiction. The women characters were definitely drawn very provocative. That was one element that drew criticism from various groups of people for years. I think it was probably the 1960s, when kitchy fashions were publicly acceptable, that the sexiness of Flash Gordon's heroines was okay with most audiences.
"Flash Gordon" went through many strip artists and writers, but that's not all. "Flash Gordon" has been present in just about every form of known media, including books, comic books, film, and television...many times over!
Filmation's animated series was simply called "Flash Gordon", but it was promoted in various places as "The New Adventures of Flash Gordon". The history behind this animated series is very interesting and involved. It was originally conceived as a live-action film for television. However, it became apparent that a live-action version was going to be very cost prohibitive, so an animated film was commissioned in its place.
The animated film was awesome! Filmation's animation was never better! Plus, it was just a really well-done story! The results were so well-received that it was decided to air "Flash Gordon" not as a one-shot film, but as a series! The film was heavily re-edited to play as a weekly serial and many additional episodes were ordered.
NBC was unhappy with the serial nature of the first season of "Flash Gordon", as it didn't work well in reruns. This is a pity, because the first season of "Flash Gordon" was a hit. For the second season, the format was drastically changed. Each episode had two shorter episodes, and featured a cute little baby dragon named Gremlin for comic relief. Although still fantastic animation, and great little stories, the change in format and bungled scheduling caused a sharp decline in ratings, and the series was cancelled shortly thereafter.
It was two years later, in 1982, when the original TV movie concept of "Flash Gordon" was aired, under the title, "Flash Gordon: The Greatest Adventure of All". In this film you see a lengthy prologue and many scenes that never aired in the TV series. It was well-done, and critically well-received, but never again aired after its premiere. This is considered by many to be one of the best film versions of "Flash Gordon" ever made, live-action or animated.
Quick Facts:
Filmography:
"Flash Gordon" (1979-1980)
Studio: Filmation Studios
Episode Review:
1-16. There's really no reason to separately review each of the first sixteen episodes from this series. Each episode is really just a small part of the major story. A tyrant named Ming the Merciless is doing bad stuff on the planet Mongo. Flash Gordon and his friends take him out. That's it. Pretty simple premise.
The animation of this entire cartoon series is really top-notch and probably the best Filmation ever produced! The adventure is high and things never get boring. There's always something happening. Sometimes there's almost too much happening to keep up with.
I think of all adaptations made of the Flash Gordon comic strip, this cartoon series is definitely the most accurate. I think creator Alex Raymond, himself, would be proud of this cartoon. Especially the first season, which is serialized like the comic strip. There's lots of razzle dazzle, which is something Raymond always went for, and the sexy women characters. I think the sexy women characters is a big part of what Flash Gordon has always been about, and I'm glad Filmation incorporated them into this series. So many of the old Flash Gordon movies, TV shows, and so on try to cheat out of it, but you have to have the female members of the supporting cast. What's a Flash Gordon story without a good Dale Arden, or a sizzling hot Princess Aura? Space babes are part of the glamour of Flash Gordon, and as important to any of his adventures as the monsters or spaceship battles.
Another neat thing about this first season of "Flash Gordon" is the fact that it IS presented like a movie serial. The Flash Gordon serials of years before became enormously popular, but none of them told a story that was as great in scope as this cartoon series. Before the 1990s, special effects in live-action films were often very crude due to technological limitations. It's understandable that you could do things in cartoons back then that you couldn't do in "real" movies. Filmation made this grand cartoon adventure of "Flash Gordon" as big and splashy as possible.
Sixteen is an odd number of chapters for a serial, however. Typically, the magic number is 12 or 15 but hey, works for me.
17 and 18. Gremlin the Dragon: I thought Gremlin the baby dragon was a nice touch for the series. It didn't hurt the animation, the series was always meant to be light-hearted, anyway, and the stories were still good, albeit shorter and more simple. This episode introduces Gremlin, who Flash and Dale find endangered by the Beast Men and rescue. He soon becomes their pet. In this episode we see:
Royal Wedding: Prince Barin marries Princess Aura. Ming the Merciless decides to crash the wedding and kidnap his daughter and Dale with a giant robot. This was a great story that had Gremlin in it, but only as an additional character, and not the focus of the story. The continuity in these shorter stories is as strong as ever. Ming is the fallen king who tries desperately to reclaim his throne. Flash Gordon ruins it for him, again!
Voice Cast:
Robert Ridgely as Flash Gordon/Prince Barin
Diane Pershing as Dale Arden/Queen Azura/Queen Desira/Queen Fria/Queen Undina
Alan Oppenheimer as Dr. Hans Zarkov/Gundar the Desert Hawk/Ming the Merciless
Alan Melvin as King Vultan of the Hawkmen/Thun the Lion Man
Melendy Britt as Princess Aura
Lou Scheimer as Narrator
Unlike Buck Rogers, Flash Gordon's adventures were always designed with a great sense of style. You could say that Flash Gordon is the James Bond of science-fiction. The women characters were definitely drawn very provocative. That was one element that drew criticism from various groups of people for years. I think it was probably the 1960s, when kitchy fashions were publicly acceptable, that the sexiness of Flash Gordon's heroines was okay with most audiences.
"Flash Gordon" went through many strip artists and writers, but that's not all. "Flash Gordon" has been present in just about every form of known media, including books, comic books, film, and television...many times over!
Filmation's animated series was simply called "Flash Gordon", but it was promoted in various places as "The New Adventures of Flash Gordon". The history behind this animated series is very interesting and involved. It was originally conceived as a live-action film for television. However, it became apparent that a live-action version was going to be very cost prohibitive, so an animated film was commissioned in its place.
The animated film was awesome! Filmation's animation was never better! Plus, it was just a really well-done story! The results were so well-received that it was decided to air "Flash Gordon" not as a one-shot film, but as a series! The film was heavily re-edited to play as a weekly serial and many additional episodes were ordered.
NBC was unhappy with the serial nature of the first season of "Flash Gordon", as it didn't work well in reruns. This is a pity, because the first season of "Flash Gordon" was a hit. For the second season, the format was drastically changed. Each episode had two shorter episodes, and featured a cute little baby dragon named Gremlin for comic relief. Although still fantastic animation, and great little stories, the change in format and bungled scheduling caused a sharp decline in ratings, and the series was cancelled shortly thereafter.
It was two years later, in 1982, when the original TV movie concept of "Flash Gordon" was aired, under the title, "Flash Gordon: The Greatest Adventure of All". In this film you see a lengthy prologue and many scenes that never aired in the TV series. It was well-done, and critically well-received, but never again aired after its premiere. This is considered by many to be one of the best film versions of "Flash Gordon" ever made, live-action or animated.
Quick Facts:
Filmography:
"Flash Gordon" (1979-1980)
Studio: Filmation Studios
| Season |
Season
Episode # |
Total
Episode # |
Title |
Airdate |
Allies |
Villains |
| 1 |
1 |
1 |
A Planet in Peril |
|||
| 1 |
2 |
2 |
The Monsters of Mongo |
Dale Arden, Hans Zarkov,
Princess Aura [later], Thun. |
Ming the Merciless, Prince
Barin, Princess Aura, Vultan. |
|
| 1 |
3 |
3 |
Vultan- King of the Hawkmen |
Dale Arden, Hans Zarkov, Prince
Barin [later], Princess Aura, Thun, Vultan [later]. |
Ming the Merciless, Prince
Barin, Vultan. |
|
| 1 |
4 |
4 |
To Save Earth |
Dale Arden, Hans Zarkov, Prince
Barin, Thun, Vultan. |
Ming the Merciless, Princess
Aura. |
|
| 1 |
5 |
5 |
The Beast Men's Prey |
Dale Arden, Hans Zarkov, Prince
Barin, Thun, Vultan. |
Beast Men, Captain Erzing, Ming
the Merciless, Princess Aura. |
|
| 1 |
6 |
6 |
Into the Water World |
Dale Arden, Hans Zarkov, Undina
the Queen of Coralia. |
Captain Erzing, Gill Men, Ming
the Merciless, Princess Aura. |
|
| 1 |
7 |
7 |
Adventure in Arboria |
Dale Arden, Hans Zarkov, Prince
Barin, Thun, Vultan. |
||
| 1 |
8 |
8 |
The Frozen World |
|||
| 1 |
9 |
9 |
Monster of the Glacier |
|||
| 1 |
10 |
10 |
Blue Magic |
|||
| 1 |
11 |
11 |
King Flash |
|||
| 1 |
12 |
12 |
Tournament of Death |
|||
| 1 |
13 |
13 |
Castaways in Tropica |
|||
| 1 |
14 |
14 |
The Desert Hawk |
|||
| 1 |
15 |
15 |
Revolt of the Power Men |
|||
| 1 |
16 |
16 |
Ming's Last Battle |
|||
| 2 |
1 |
17 |
Gremlin the Dragon/Royal Wedding |
|||
| 2 |
2 |
18 |
Sir Gremlin/Deadly Double |
|||
| 2 |
3 |
19 |
The Game/The Seed |
|||
| 2 |
4 |
20 |
Witch Woman/Micro Menace |
|||
| 2 |
5 |
21 |
Flash Back/The Warrior |
|||
| 2 |
6 |
22 |
The Freedom Balloon/Sacrifice of
the Volcano Men |
|||
| 2 |
7 |
23 |
Beware of Gifts/The Memory Bank
of Ming |
|||
| 2 |
8 |
24 |
Survival Game/Gremlin's Finest
Hour |
Episode Review:
1-16. There's really no reason to separately review each of the first sixteen episodes from this series. Each episode is really just a small part of the major story. A tyrant named Ming the Merciless is doing bad stuff on the planet Mongo. Flash Gordon and his friends take him out. That's it. Pretty simple premise.
The animation of this entire cartoon series is really top-notch and probably the best Filmation ever produced! The adventure is high and things never get boring. There's always something happening. Sometimes there's almost too much happening to keep up with.
I think of all adaptations made of the Flash Gordon comic strip, this cartoon series is definitely the most accurate. I think creator Alex Raymond, himself, would be proud of this cartoon. Especially the first season, which is serialized like the comic strip. There's lots of razzle dazzle, which is something Raymond always went for, and the sexy women characters. I think the sexy women characters is a big part of what Flash Gordon has always been about, and I'm glad Filmation incorporated them into this series. So many of the old Flash Gordon movies, TV shows, and so on try to cheat out of it, but you have to have the female members of the supporting cast. What's a Flash Gordon story without a good Dale Arden, or a sizzling hot Princess Aura? Space babes are part of the glamour of Flash Gordon, and as important to any of his adventures as the monsters or spaceship battles.
Another neat thing about this first season of "Flash Gordon" is the fact that it IS presented like a movie serial. The Flash Gordon serials of years before became enormously popular, but none of them told a story that was as great in scope as this cartoon series. Before the 1990s, special effects in live-action films were often very crude due to technological limitations. It's understandable that you could do things in cartoons back then that you couldn't do in "real" movies. Filmation made this grand cartoon adventure of "Flash Gordon" as big and splashy as possible.
Sixteen is an odd number of chapters for a serial, however. Typically, the magic number is 12 or 15 but hey, works for me.
17 and 18. Gremlin the Dragon: I thought Gremlin the baby dragon was a nice touch for the series. It didn't hurt the animation, the series was always meant to be light-hearted, anyway, and the stories were still good, albeit shorter and more simple. This episode introduces Gremlin, who Flash and Dale find endangered by the Beast Men and rescue. He soon becomes their pet. In this episode we see:
- Dale Arden
- Flash Gordon
- Gremlin
- King Vultan
Royal Wedding: Prince Barin marries Princess Aura. Ming the Merciless decides to crash the wedding and kidnap his daughter and Dale with a giant robot. This was a great story that had Gremlin in it, but only as an additional character, and not the focus of the story. The continuity in these shorter stories is as strong as ever. Ming is the fallen king who tries desperately to reclaim his throne. Flash Gordon ruins it for him, again!
- Dale Arden
- Flash Gordon
- Gremlin
- King Vultan
- Ming the Merciless
- Prince Barin
- Princess Aura
- Thun the Lion Man
Voice Cast:
Robert Ridgely as Flash Gordon/Prince Barin
Diane Pershing as Dale Arden/Queen Azura/Queen Desira/Queen Fria/Queen Undina
Alan Oppenheimer as Dr. Hans Zarkov/Gundar the Desert Hawk/Ming the Merciless
Alan Melvin as King Vultan of the Hawkmen/Thun the Lion Man
Melendy Britt as Princess Aura
Lou Scheimer as Narrator