Voltron
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Voltron is a shape-changing giant robot first featured in the 1980s television series "Voltron, Defender of the Universe". There has since been a second series, made in the 1990s using CGI techniques. Recently, Voltron reached a new popular culture audience after being featured in the satirical web-based cartoon strip "Get Your War On" and being referred to often by the eccentric rap group, Wu-Tang Clan.
The 1980s Voltron series was based on two vaguely-related Japanese anime series (both originally produced by Toei Animation & Bandai, the masterminds behind the popular Super Sentai Series in Japan), dubbed and strung together by American TV production and distribution company World Events. The series was not a straight dub, however, as much of the violence of the original Japanese series was removed (among other things).
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Animated Series
Lion Voltron (Voltron of the Far Universe)
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The first episodes, usually the best remembered, were based on the 1981 series Centibestial King GoLion (百獣王ゴライオン - Hyakujūō Goraion), and featured a team of five young pilots commanding five robot lions, which could be combined to form Voltron. In this era, the Voltron force was in charge of protecting the planet Arus (ruled by Princess Allura) from the evil King Zarkon, his son (Lotor), and the witch Hagar, who would create huge Robeasts to terrorise the people of Arus. (This storyline is similar to those of the Toei Super Sentai shows, which formed the basis for Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.)
Vehicle Voltron (Voltron of the Near Universe)
Later episodes were based on the 1982 series Armored Fleet Dairugger XV (機甲艦隊 ダイラガーXV - Kikō Kantai Dairagā XV), and changed the storyline considerably. In this iteration of Voltron, the Galaxy Alliance's home planets have been overcrowded, and a fleet of Explorers have been sent to look for new planets to colonise. Along the way, they attract the attention of the evil Drule, who proceed to interfere with the explorers and the colonists. Since the Voltron of Planet Arus was too far away to help the explorers, a new Voltron is constructed using three teams (Land, Sea and Air) composed of 5 vehicles each, to battle the Drule threat.
Gladiator Voltron (Voltron of the Middle Universe)
There were plans for yet another Voltron, which would have been based on the series Light Speed Electric God Albegas (光速電神アルベガス - Kōsoku Denjin Arubegasu). This one would have been three smaller humanoid robots that combined to form one larger robot. Due to the strong popularity of the Lion Voltron, the unenthusiastic response to the Vehicle Voltron and Albegas' being a flop in Japan, World Events Productions, the St. Louis, Missouri-based company who owns the rights for both Voltron series, ultimately decided against another alternate Voltron series. Matchbox released a toy of Gladiator Voltron labeled Voltron II, in addition to Voltron I (Vehicle Voltron) and Voltron III (Lion Voltron).
To appease fans who wanted to see something spawned from the Voltron II toy, Gladiator Voltron made a brief, one-panel appearance in the Devil's Due comic in 2004.
New Projects
- Voltron: The Fleet of Doom - In 1986, World Events had Toei Animation produce some additional footage to create this crossover television special which was otherwise mainly composed of recycled GoLion and Dairugger footage. Made for the international markets, this special has not been released in Japan, as of this writing.
- Voltron in the 3rd Dimension - After some initial interest, a computer-generated series was released in 1998 to a mixed response because of its departure from the original Lion Voltron's anime look. 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.
Comic Books
Lion Voltron recently was revived in print through a hit comic-book series from Image Comics.
Differences between the Japanese and American Versions
Besides the name changes, and to conform to the stricter censorship standards of American television, some modifications were made to both series.
General Modifications
- Shots of shooting/explicit torture (e.g. whipping) prisoners/civilians/slaves, shots of corpses removed.
- Grunts being shot (as infantry) or being blown up (when in ships/fighters) were referred to as "robots", as are spacefleets.
- In the case of special characters, they ejected/were rescued and taken to treat their injuries, even though they died in the Japanese series.
Series specific changes:
Golion:
- Takashi's (Sven) character died when he battled Honerva (Hagar). His younger brother Sho was the one who fought Sincline (Lotor) at the siege of Planet Garla(Doom). Sho and Sincline fell to their deaths whereas in Voltron they fell into a pool and survived.
- It was a goddess not Honerva that split up Golion due to his arrogance (Golion is supposedly sentient, although this was subtly discarded in the series)
- The Merla arc never existed; World Events requested Toei for more episodes. The original series ended with the destruction of the giant Daibarzaal(Zarkon) robot which killed him.
Dairugger
- Manabu(Jeff) has a serious relationship with Haruka (Lisa)
- Chip was never Pidge's brother.
- All the Galaxy Alliance officers the episode focused on were killed, unless it was explicitly shown they survived (i.e. they are in suceeding episodes), likewise, this is also the condition for Drule officers and leaders.
- The series started with the Drules and the Galaxy Alliance having tense relations with the Drules attacking the Explorer on the grounds it violates their space. In the Japanese series, both powers were unaware of each other and there was no overcrowding for the Alliance, the Explorer is merely an exploratory vessel and the Drules are stretching their power, not looking for a new world.
External Links
- World Events Productions homepage (http://www.wep.com/)
- The Official Voltron Force Homepage (http://www.voltronforce.com/)