Battle Of The Planets E22: The Fiery Lava Giant

“Those men were giants all of them.” 

-a respectful nod to the men of Mount Rushmore-

Battle Of The Planets (1978-1980), like a lot of 1970s television of all genres, was a little casual about editing continuity or attention to detail. After all, it was only at the very end of 1976 that the VHS was essentially born. The idea that our favorite shows and films would actually make it to the home market or even be seen again seemed fairly unlikely to many. Rewinding, pausing, looking at the details simply wasn't considered. Gerry Anderson of Thunderbirds, UFO and Space: 1999 acclaim made this very point on the subject in the book What Made Thunderbirds Go! The Authorized Biography Of Gerry Anderson. So, there are some significant editing snafus from the era that simply weren't a huge concern. An American-edited children’s cartoon called Battle Of The Planets, sourced from Science Ninja Team Gatchaman, is no exception.

One particular editing snafu seems to forget the rescuee. After the character of Amelia is saved at one point Amelia then suddenly appears to no longer be with the team. Okay, maybe she was sent back to the Phoenix. Okay we can go with that. But then suddenly she is back with the team in Spectra’s lair and Tiny abruptly goes missing. Okay perhaps Mark has sent Tiny to get the Phoenix. Yes, that appears to be it as it is then confirmed visually that Tiny is in the cockpit. Oh no, but when the Phoenix arrives to pick up Mark, Princess, Jason and Keyop along with Amelia, Amelia is once again no longer there. Poor girl. When the team jumps up and into the Phoenix Tiny is surprisingly back with the team on the ground. My gosh what is happening? Always five acting as one apparently. But a serious question then, who the hell is flying the Phoenix? At some point I will have to check out the Science Ninja Team Gatchaman (1972-1974) original (The Magma Giant, Emperor Of Hell) on this one. Either the Americans sliced and diced the original to shreds reconfiguring it all out of order for Battle Of The Planets or simply extracted the errors from a poorly edited Japanese original. Alas we would one day have VHS, DVD and more to completely dissect these inconsistencies for a good bit of fun. Despite the imperfections in these productions they are truly magnificent and made lovingly by hand. As kids we were far more forgiving. Those were the days.

As simple as these productions are it was always the animation and out of this world design work that would seize and win the day for this writer and they have kept me coming back for more nearing 50 years later.

As such I've provided plenty of images of the wonderful moments included in the entry spotlighting the many vehicles used by the team in the form of the Summit or Sonic Jet, Space Mobile, Space Buggy and Sonic Cycle.

A respectful homage is paid to the men of Mount Rushmore in monument mountain as the team dispatches to Space Island.

It’s ironic the American translation of Science Ninja Team Gatchaman for Battle of The Planets felt the need to supplant alleged violent images from the Japanese original with footage of 7-Zark-7. This is noted as I watch Battle Of The Planets, Episode 22, The Fiery Lava Giant, only to be reminded how often the writers of this American version felt the compulsion to script dialogue for the robot in the form of his fosdick. The sexual innuendos fly often between Zark and his faceless female love Susan. Apparently these writers were clearly horn dogs and felt compelled to incorporate some adult humor in place of the violence. It’s amusing, but the original animation is an irreplaceable and flawless work.

Despite the occasionally disappointing choices for the American adaptation there is incredible emotional power in the US series and all of it is brought to fruition by way of its talented, compelling American voice cast.

*Footnote: This writer and fan of the series continues to examine each and every Battle Of The Planets episode by matching the English-adapted equivalent in corresponding order to the Science Ninja Team Gatchaman release. There are missing adaptations from that original series. So there are gaps. But episode 22 here corresponds with the next episode of the Japanese original in chronological order.

Science Ninja Team Gatchaman title: The Magma Giant, Emperor Of Hell. 

Up next: The Bat Ray Bombers.

The Phoenix (In Watercolor)

My efforts to paint continue.

I had wanted to do something from Science Ninja Team Gatchaman (1972-1974) a.k.a. Battle Of The Planets (1978-1980). I had really wanted to paint the G-2 or G-4, but ultimately settled on the queen mother of all mech equipment on the series in the form of The Phoenix, also a mad favorite.

As you can see I have added the nose accordingly. For a time I played with adding the G-4 operated by Keyop, but decided against it. These things are always imperfect, because it's ultimately an artistic expression. Even animators express a creator's design. These are just fun interpretations of some of the most wonderful designs in animation and a great way to create something personally rewarding. Anyway, see for yourself.

The images I took note the progress over a few weeks. It's not an overly complex piece but it's vibrant. It's always fun to see it come together and this one went as quick as transmute to the fiery Phoenix herself.

Once it was completed, I looked at a few potential mattes for the painting (as noted at the bottom in samples), but settled on the final product (the last image), which included a kind of red velvet matte with a terrific frame made of stars. I thought it looked a bit patriotic with all of the red, white and blue despite the irony of it being a Japanese-created design by Tatsunoko Productions.

Anyway, onto the next one. G-Force!

Battle Of The Planets Ep21: The Musical Mummy

"Crazy Music." -Keyop-

"Yeah, it's weird." -Mark (not at all referring to the always memorable, fantastically bold score by Hoyt Curtin and Bob Sakuma employed for the stateside series)-

Before deep diving into our latest entry, Battle Of The Planets, Episode 21, The Musical Mummy, we look back at a little Tatsunoko Studios animation history.

As noted in our previous entry, Episode 20, Magnetic Attraction, president and then producer of Science Ninja Team Gatchaman (1972-1974; 105 episodes), Ippei Kuri, discussed the difficulty of obtaining quality animators for the series.

Indeed the images and drawings for Battle Of The Planets (1978-1980; 85 episodes) are truly awesome at times. The art/cel work itself is simply gorgeous. Animators were always initiating thick black lines and a great use of a vast array of colors and shades.

In Newtype USA (August 2004) in the article Inside Tatsunoko Production, Kuri discussed what the Japanese animator was up against when it came to budgetary restrictions and cited Disney as a contrasting example of the American methodology versus the one necessary for animating in Japan.

Kuri accurately explained the contrast. "America had a history starting with Disney that used lots of frames, just for the mouth movements" (p.22). Kuri remarked that such an approach on the mouth would have chewed up the Japanese budget in no time by using up a fairly finite number of cels. Kuri notes that Disney's success was in its ability to create motion. The lower cel count used in anime unfortunately limited movement. Kuri explained that in Japan animators had to be creative and essentially fill a given frame with loads of visual information. His interview offered interesting insight into the process. "Even when there's no movement, we have to entertain. We put in shadows or little details to allow [the pause] to hold its own. The pictures themselves are elaborate. If Disney had done that back then, it would have taken them forever to finish anything. If we could make one of the frames detailed enough, we could usually make it work for about three seconds. In Japan, we make lots of scenes where just the mouth is moving, or just the eyes sparkle. If you make the pictures really detailed, it becomes entertaining, and people will watch it." In Japan, animators achieved the desired effect.

Battle Of The Planets may not always move with the kind of human fluidity our eyes would prefer, but many of its cels are glorious to behold and enjoy for any fan of art and its creative beauty. Kuri's examination explains in good detail the approach that worked so very well in the series on such basic scenes as the twinkle on Mark's sonic boomerang or singular, gorgeously drawn images during the fiery Phoenix or of any vehicle or character. The details were immense.

We continue to look back at that ace work with Battle Of The Planets, Episode 21, The Musical Mummy.

The Musical Mummy may not be one of the series finest moments but even weak Battle Of The Planets is better than no Battle Of The Planets at all.

The entry revolves around yet another poorly designed robot plan by Zoltar and Spectra as the deadly robot is controlled by a magic music flute. Huh?! Only through the sounds made by Zoltar is the Musical Mummy able to create devastation. Once the flute falls into the hands of anyone else, in this case Keyop, the Musical Mummy folds like a house of cards and explodes. What kind of villainy is this dumb? Honestly, this is one strange little episode. A scarecrow like villain transforms into Zoltar (often masking his guise).

Ronnie Schell steps out of his Jason character in one scene to provide the voice of Mark. Casey Kasem must have taken a bathroom break. Honestly, if this wasn't a series created by Japanese animators one might think it was the result of stoners from the 1960s. As Mark notes, "it's weird."

But once again Battle Of The Planets is based upon and edited from an original series in Japan called Science Ninja Team Gatchaman and God bless those Japanese for placing an emphasis on scientists as heroes as they do here in this episode. Spectra is abducting them and they must be saved for they are our heroes and future. Where so many superhero series place emphasis on super powers and spandex, the heroes here are G-Force saving the brains behind keeping our planet safe. You don't see that every day. Even the intellectual giant that is Chief Anderson becomes a target.

The Musical Mummy has a few interesting moments when Keyop takes control of the flute and Mark tells him to keep on "yankee doodling," but otherwise it's missing some dramatic intimacy between characters preferring to focus on the group dynamic as an ensemble piece with some considerable action moments against a modern day mummy design that is a fascinating technological marvel.

Now more times than we can count (well we probably could count) the G-5 or Phoenix was often damaged in combat with Spectra. Sometimes it appeared irreparably damaged, but Center Neptune always put the repairs back in place and it wasn't long before they were always five and acting as one again. In The Musical Mummy, Princess' G-3 Sonic Bike in civilian form crashes and is clearly a mangled mess. I can't recall how often that happened, but apparently her bike is repaired just as quickly as the Phoenix despite its fate. G-Force has quite the underrated repair team at that Center Neptune. Zark really should have provided a proper shout out now and again.

In the end, Mark declares "we can't let him escape" as Zoltar eludes their clutches yet again giving us another opportunity to see more of the team's great battle against Spectra. Zoltar lives to fight another day and we get to enjoy it.

Another final note is the traditional shot of this makeshift family of super orphans ending with a bit of levity and humor and laughter to balance the episode's dramatic tension. It was a frequent convention for the final moments of a TV series in the 1970s like The Herculoids, Johnny Quest and even many live action series and of course at times for Battle Of The Planets too.

They just don't make them like they used to.

Science Ninja Team Gatchaman title: The Neon Giant That Smiles In The Dark.

Up Next: The Fiery Lava Giant.

Vintage 1970s tech in the world of an amazing science organization called Gatchaman.