Blasting off on a desperate mission to save Earth from the evil plottings of the tyranical
space-lord, Ming the Merciless, Dr. Hans Zarkov and Dale Arden have joined me, Flash Gordon,
on a fantastic journey into worlds where peril and adventure await us!
Flash Gordon was a half hour long cartoon. It followed the stories of Flash Gordon, the matinee
serial idol of old, and his friends. In the second season they became 12 minute episodes. The series
premiered on September 22, 1979 and was a production by Filmation Productions in association with King
Features.
In 1979, Filmation produced its most ambitous animated series to that point, Flash Gordon (a.k.a The
New Adventures of Flash Gordon). The series, like Tarzan LOTJ and other Filmation work from this period,
featured depth, realism, and extensive rotoscoping. Also featured was animation over live action
spaceship model shots. Filmation sold the series to NBC as a prime time feature legnth film and a
saturday morning sixteen chapter serial.
Faithful to artist Alex Raymond's classic comic strips, the series featured lavish, ambitious animation.
Robert Ridgely, the voice of Filmation's Tarzan also voiced the lead in Flash Gordon.
As was the case with the earlier
Tarzan Lord of the Jungle, Flash Gordon managed to capture the
decadent, romantic look and feel of the 40s adeventure newspaper strips. Bursting with exotic locales
(Arboria, Vultan's Sky City, Ming's marble-columned palace) and bizarre alien life forms (Gill-men,
Beast-men, Lizard-women, carnivatrees, etc) is still impressive by today's animation standards and worth
seeking out. It is hands down the finest and most faithful television--or film--adaptation of Raymond's
classic strip.
|
Voice Cast:
Flash Gordon...................... Robert Ridgely
Dale.............................. Diane Pershing
Dr. Zarkov........................ Alan Oppenheimer
Aura.............................. Melendy Britt
Ming The Merciless................ Alan Oppenheimer
Thun.............................. Allan Melvin
Vultan............................ Allan Melvin
|
Episode Guide
Season 1 (1979-1980; 30 minute episodes)
Season 2 (1980-1981; 12 minute episodes)
- Gremlin The Dragon
- Royal Wedding
- Sir Gremlin
- Deadly Double
- The Game
- The Seed
- Witch Woman
- Micro Menace
- Flash Back
- The Warrior
- The Freedom Balloon
- Sacrifice Of The Volcano Men
- Beware Of Gifts
- The Memory Bank Of Ming
- The Survival Game
- Gremlin's Finest Hour
Animated TV Movie (1982)
