Battle of the Planets: 70's Sci-Fi Animation

by G. Jack Urso 

Battle of the Planets! G-Force! Five incredible young people with superpowers. And watching over them from Centre Neptune, 7-Zark-7 — Watching, warning against surprise attacks by alien galaxies from beyond space. G-Force! Fearless young orphans protecting Earth's entire galaxy. Always five, acting as one Dedicated. Inseparable. Invincible! 

                                                 —       Opening Narration to Battle of the Planets

Battle of the Planets originated in Japan as Science Ninja Team Gatchaman (1972-1974). In 1977, producer Sandy Frank licensed the series following the excitement generated by Star Wars. Indeed, one can see the influence of Star Wars not only in the design of the backwards slanting title, but also in the title itself — Battle of The Planets — the soaring orchestral music, and the addition of the robot 7 Zark 7, a close rip-off of R2D2 in both design and name. The series began syndication in 1978 and was usually broadcast weekday afternoons after school hours and before the 6 p.m. news. The complete series is available below from my personal archives.

Frank whittled the original 105 Gatchaman episodes down to 85.  The Japanese series was more violent than Battle of the Planets, showing characters die, and included the occasional swear word.  People didn’t swear in Battle of the Planets, and they didn’t die either. 7 Zark 7 often noted in his expositions between scenes that characters who appeared to die on screen (when a ship exploded for example) parachuted to safety or otherwise somehow escaped unharmed. Gatchaman's action took place on Earth while Battle of the Planets went interplanetary  and visited Earth-like planets. The Science Ninja Team Gatchaman was renamed G-Force. G-Force's ship, the God Phoenix in Japan, was changed to just the Phoenix for U.S. audiences. The masked archenemy Zoltar, a hermaphrodite named Berg Katse in Gatchaman, suddenly had a sister in Battle of the Planets.

One of the best decisions Frank made was to hire Hoyt Curtin to compose the theme song. Curtin, who also composed the theme for Jonny Quest, produced the opening credits music for Battle of the Planets that nearly matches the Jonny Quest theme in tempo, pacing, and excitement, and is regarded as a classic in its own right. Similarly, Frank didn’t skimp on the voice cast. Instead of unknown actors, Frank chose some of the era’s better-known film, TV, and vocal talent, including Casey Kasem (Mark), Ronnie Schell (Jason), Janet Waldo (Princess), Alan Dinehart Jr. (Tiny), Alan Young (Keyop, 7 Zark 7), Keye Luke (Zoltar), and Alan Oppenheimer (Commander Gorok and others).  

Despite the watering down of the original episodes, Battle of the Planets quickly found a ready audience in U.S. youth eager for any kind of outer space fantasy with masked villains, giant spacecraft, robots, and heroes with superpowers — and G-Force delivered! For many late Baby Boomers and Gen Xers, Battle of the Planets was their introduction into Japanese anime and it is no coincidence that there was a corresponding rise in interest following the series broadcast.

In the wake of the initial release of Star Wars in 1977, it seemed like every Hollywood producer and network executive made a bid for a piece of the action. Soon, along came a wave of TV shows that sought to capitalize on the phenomenon. Battlestar Galactica (1978) and Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (1979) are the two most think of in this regard, but there were a plethora of other shows including Quark (1977), Logan’s Run (1977), and several Saturday morning live-action efforts, such as the related series Space Academy (1977) and Jason of Star Command (1978), among others. While Gatchaman predates Star Wars, Battle of the Planets is a premier example of the influence of George Lucas' masterpiece on pop culture. 

The current copyright holder of Battle of the Planets prohibits uploading any  individual episodes of the series, but a complete episode list is provided below. For a small flavor of the series, Battle of the Planets: The Movie, a compilation of three episodes of the series, is available on the Aeolus 13 Umbra YouTube channel. It is noteworthy for retaining some of the original more-violent Gatchaman content not in the Battle of the Planets series. Unfortunately, Alan Young was replaced as the voice of 7 Zark 7 and the opening theme was remixed with a stronger rhythmic base, making one appreciate the original performances all that much more. 

             Battle of the Planets: The Complete Series Episode List

1	Attack of the Space Terrapin	44	The Sky is Falling!, Part 1
2	Rescue of the Astronauts	45	The Sky is Falling!, Part 2
3	The Space Mummy	46	Raid of the Red Scorpion
4	The Space Serpent	47	Mammoth Shark Menace
5	Ghost Ship of the Planet Mir	48	Fastest Gun in the Galaxy
6	Big Robot Gold Grab	49	Giant From the Planet Zyr
7	Ace From Outer Space	50	Secret Island
8	Fearful Sea Anemone	51	Giant Space Bat
9	The Jupiter Moon Menace	52	Attack of the Alien Wasp
10	A Swarm of Robot Ants	53	Decoys of Doom
11	Space Rocket Escort	54	Zoltar Strikes Out
12	Beast with a Sweet Tooth	55	The Great Brain Robbery
13	Perilous Pleasure Cruise	56	Raid of the Space Octopus
14	Thing with 1,000 Eyes	57	Silent City
15	Microfilm Mystery	58	Peril in the Pyramids
16	The Alien Beetles	59	Rage of the Robotoids
17	A Whale Joins G-Force	60	The Alien Bigfoot
18	Mad New Ruler of Spectra	61	Invasion of the Locusts
19	The Sea Dragon	62	The Space Safari
20	Magnetic Attraction	63	Museum of Mystery
21	The Musical Mummy	64	Peril of the Praying Mantis
22	The Fiery Lava Giant	65	The Awesome Ray Force
23	The Bat Ray Bombers	66	The Duplicate King
24	Race Against Disaster	67	Defector to Spectra
25	The Ghostly Grasshopper	68	Panic of the Peacock
26	The Galaxy Girls	69	Mission to Inner Space
27	Curse of the Cuttlefish, Part I	70	Spectra Space Spider
28	Curse of the Cuttlefish, Part II	71	Super Space Spies
29	Demons of the Desert	72	Cupid Does It to Keyop
30	Siege of the Squids	73	Tentacles From Space
31	Orion, the Wonder Dog of Space	74	Island of Fear
32	The Fierce Flowers, Part I	75	The Awesome Armadillo
33	The Fierce Flowers, Part II	76	Invasion of the Space Center, Part I
34	The Space Rock Concert	77	Invasion of the Space Center, Part II
35	Prisoners in Space	78	Save the Space Colony
36	Victims of the Hawk	79	Charioteers of Changu
37	Raid on Riga	80	Vacation on Venus
38	Seals of Sytron	81	Rockets Out of Control
39	Giant Gila Monster	82	G-Force Defector
40	Capture of the Galaxy Code	83	Strike at Spectra
41	Raid on a Nearby Planet	84	G-Force in the Future
42	Keyop Does It All	85	The Conway Tape Tap
43	Peaks of Planet Odin	N/A	Battle of the Planets: The Movie

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