The New Adventures of Flash Gordon (1979)

Original title

Flash Gordon

Genre

comedy television series

Country

United States

Length

2 seasons, 32 episodes

Rated

AA

Rating

7.1 of 10 from 32 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

A space hero and his friends travel to a distant planet to fight a tyrannical ruler and his army. They form alliances with local leaders to help their cause.

fast-pacedlightheartedaction-packednostalgicfunadventurouscolorfulcampy

What happens

The New Adventures of Flash Gordon, also known as The Adventures of Flash Gordon or simply Flash Gordon, is a 1979–1982 animated television series. The series is actually called Flash Gordon but the expanded title is used in official records to distinguish it from previous versions. Filmation produced the series in 1979, partly as a reaction to the mammoth success of Star Wars in 1977. The series was an homage to the original Flash Gordon comic strip and featured many of the original characters, including Flash's girlfriend Dale Arden, and the scientist Hans Zarkov. The series is still regarded as one of the most faithful adaptations, and one of Filmation's finest overall efforts. The basic story follows Flash and his companions as they travel to Mongo, where they are forced into battle by its ruler, Ming the Merciless, his daughter Princess Aura, and his army of Metal Men. To help their cause the heroes lead the formation of an alliance beginning with King Thun, leader of the Lion People; Prince Barin, ruler of Arboria; and King Vultan, leader of the Hawkmen. The original project was produced as a made-for-television feature film. When NBC saw the finished work, it was decided to turn the work into an animated TV series. The change in format resulted in the story being significantly expanded with a subplot of Ming secretly giving military technology to Hitler being dropped, as well as being set in the present day rather than during World War II. When the series was canceled after its 2nd season, the original footage was reassembled with the original soundtrack, including the final role of Ted Cassidy, and aired on primetime in 1982 as a TV movie, Flash Gordon: The Greatest Adventure of All. The series was later shown in reruns on the Sci-Fi Channel's Cartoon Quest. The show marked the first animated Flash Gordon series, although the Flash Gordon character had appeared in animated form before in Popeye Meets the Man Who Hated Laughter. Flash later appeared in the animated series Defenders of the Earth (1986–1987) and Flash Gordon (1996–1997). (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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