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This article is about the 1984 TV series. For a list of other meanings, see Voltron: Defender of the Universe (franchise) (disambiguation).

From days of long ago, from uncharted regions of the universe, comes a legend; the legend of Voltron, Defender of the Universe, a mighty robot, loved by good, feared by evil. As Voltron's legend grew, peace settled across the galaxy. On Planet Earth, a Galaxy Alliance was formed. Together with the good planets of the solar system, they maintained peace throughout the universe, until a new horrible menace threatened the galaxy. Voltron was needed once more. This is the story of the super force of space explorers, specially trained and sent by the Alliance to bring back Voltron, Defender of the Universe!

Opening tag line

Voltron: Defender of the Universe is the 1984-1985 half-hour animated series produced by World Events Productions (aka WEP) that introduced Voltron to the world. Though the Lion Force incarnation is far more well-known, the series as originally broadcast consisted of episodes featuring both the Lion Force and Voltron Vehicle Force.

The series' content is actually translated and edited from two Japanese anime series, Beast King GoLion (Lion Force episodes) and Armored Fleet Dairugger XV (Vehicle Force episodes). The Japanese source material endured much editing in the conversion to its American incarnation. Besides making changes to unify the two originally unrelated series into a common universe, edits were made to comply with US children's television standards which prohibited scenes of death, religious references, and heavy violence. In addition, further edits removed any cultural indicators of the show's Japanese origin, as WEP thought this would hinder American children's' reception of the show. As this Japanese origin made it very difficult to include the sort of lesson-themed episodes or post-episode moral/education shorts common to many other American cartoons of the 1980s, the writers would occasionally work a very brief scientific lesson into an episode whenever it was relevant.

The show and merchandise success generated a variety of subsequential spinoff series like Voltron: The Third Dimension in 1998 with 2 seasons, another sequel in 2011 called Voltron Force, and a Netflix exclusive full-on reboot in 2016 called Voltron: Legendary Defender.

Plot[]

Voltron: Defender of the Universe is an animated series that follows the adventures of a team of space explorers who pilot lion-shaped robots called Voltron Lions or mechanical vehicles that can combine to form a giant robot, the Voltron. In both the Lion and Vehicle series, the team faces off against the evil forces of King Zarkon and his empire, who seek to conquer the universe and defeat Galaxy Garrison.

Lion Force[]

In the Lion series, the team consists of five pilots: Keith, Lance, Pidge, Hunk, and Princess Allura, along with their robotic helper, Coran. They pilot five lion-shaped robots that can combine to form the mighty Voltron. Together, they defend the galaxy from various threats, including Zarkon's Robeasts and his fleet of ships.

Vehicle Team[]

In the Vehicle series, the team uses a different set of vehicles that can combine to form Voltron. The team, led by Jeff, also battles against Zarkon's forces, utilizing their unique vehicles' abilities to protect the universe.

Episode list[]

Origin of the series[]

WEP staffers, including Ted Koplar, WEP President, attended an international programming convention in Cannes, France, where they saw footage of some Japanese anime series that they thought, once translated and localized, could appeal to a North American audience.[1]

A tentative deal was struck for WEP to examine 3 series: Daltanius, Albegas, and Armored Fleet Dairugger XV. The Japanese production company, however, accidentally sent Beast King GoLion instead of Daltanius. Upon viewing GoLion, Ted Koplar, president of WEP, decided that it had the most promise.

Having chosen the Japanese source material, WEP's plan was to create syndication package consisting of three Voltron incarnations:

Though the Japanese source series were all unrelated, creative editing and writing would portray all Voltron incarnations as coexisting within the same universe. Distributed as a single show, when the episodes of one Voltron incarnation were exhausted, the next would begin. This allowed Voltron to be marketed as a single show with a minimum of repeats over a year.

The pilot episode was presented at the NAB conference in spring 1984, to positive reception.

On Sept 10, 1984, Voltron III premiered to the world, reaching 65% of US households and was a surprise success.

After exhausting the run of Lion Force episodes, the series changed to Voltron I, the Vehicle Force. It was not as well-received, and plans to translate Voltron II were scrapped. Original American episodes were then created and aired, with Voltron III.

Content edits[]

In transforming the original Japanese series to Voltron, scenes depicting death, religious symbology (e.g. crosses), sex, and violence were cut out. According to Marc Handler, story editor, "anything that we knew a broadcaster would cut, we had to cut,"[1], noting that the WEP staffers did not have personal objections with the removed content; they just had to satisfy broadcasters.

When scenes of death could not be cut, for instance, during large battles or when prominent characters were killed, dialog would give an alternate explanation of events. Enemy soldiers were described as "robot warriors", thus sidestepping concerns when they were destroyed. Mortally-wounded characters would be reported to be recovering in the infirmary, though they would never be seen on-screen again.

The other major category of edits was of those intended to remove all traces of Voltron's Japanese origin. WEP thought the series would have a better chance of success if American children to never suspect that Voltron was anything other than American-produced. This meant the removal of scenes that depicted Japanese text, chopsticks, anime-style facial expressions and word balloons, and other Japanese cultural indicators.

Voice acting and sound effects[]

Voltron was notable at the time for using a SAG cast and doing ensemble recording. According to Franklin Cofod, director, using a SAG voice cast was "virtually unheard of" at the time for children's programming.[1]

Voice actors[]

Furthermore, Voltron was the second show to be produced in 2-channel stereo (after NBC's The Tonight Show). When Voltron went into production, the FCC was still in the process of approving the format for stereo broadcasting, and WEP anticipated this by mixing Voltron in stereo and including that fact in the marketing of the show.[1]

Music[]

The music score for Voltron was original to the US version; it did not use music from the Japanese sources.[1] Voltron's score was composed by John Peterson.

The series has spawned a single soundtrack released for Voltron: Defender of the Universe.

Cover Season Tracks Release
51yS15FAvbL. SS500 Season 1 52 June 11, 2008

Enemies[]

The Lion Voltron and the Vehicle Voltron fought two different enemies in the Japanese versions, but in the American edits, they tried to link them both together.

List of edits to eliminate scenes of death[]

From claiming the soldiers and ships were actually robots, to eliminating all scenes with blood, to making up nonsense about alternate dimensions, etc. everything was done to eliminate death from Voltron, to appease American censors at that time.

Goofs[]

Broadcast history[]

(Everything in this section[citation needed])

  • 1981-83 TV Tokyo in Japan (GoLion from 1981-82, Dairugger from 1982-83)
  • 1984-86 Aired in U.S. first-run syndication
  • 1989-96 USA Network
  • 1997-2000 Cartoon Network (Toonami)
  • 2006 Cartoon Network (Adult Swim)
  • 2008 Boomerang
  • 2008 Xbox Live
  • 2009 Playstation Network (U.S. only)

References[]

External Links[]

VE Voltron Television Series
Television Series
Original Japanese Series Mirai Robo Daltanious (1979)Beast King GoLion (1981) (episodes) • Armored Fleet DaiRugger XV (1982) (episodes) • Lightspeed Electroid Albegas (1983)
Voltron Series Voltron: Defender of the Universe (1984) (episodes) • Fleet of Doom (1986)Voltron: The Third Dimension (1998) (episodes) • Voltron Force (2011) (episodes) • Voltron: Legendary Defender (2016) (episodes)
Additional Voltron Content Voltron Pilot (1983)Voltron: Defender of the Unvierse (2007)Voltron 84 (2017)
Related Articles
Production Companies DreamWorks AnimationKickstart ProductionsStudio MirToei AnimationWorld Events Productions
Other articles Content editsList of editsExceptions to Editing Character Deaths
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