Flash Gordon Inspiration: The First Animated Series (Season 2)

Season 2 of the Flash Gordon animated series was eagerly anticipated by fans of Season 1, but like so many other second seasons of science fiction television shows of that era, it was destined to disappoint us. The cliffhanger endings and overarching plots were abandoned as a matter of convenience, which resulted in a loss of dramatic urgency and purpose. Instead of each episode representing a chapter in a continuing story, it was chopped into two unrelated, self-contained mini-episodes. Scenes were recycled even more heavily than in the first season. Humor was attempted with increasingly lame one-liners and joke endings. And most notoriously of all, it introduced a new main character: Gremlin.

Gremlin was a pink baby dragon that filled the ostensibly cute comedy relief role popularized by R2D2 in Star Wars. At that time, it seemed every science fiction or fantasy television show had a mascot of this sort calculated to appeal to younger viewers and parents. At first, predictably, it was robots: Buck Rogers in the 25th Century had Twiki, Battlestar Galactica had Muffit II, Jason of Star Command had W1K1, Space Academy had Peepo. Soon, it was wee folk: Blackstar had the Trobbits, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe had Orko, She-Ra: Princess of Power had the Twiggets. There are many examples, but Gremlin was one of the earliest in animated shows.

Gremlin didn't appeal to me or anyone I knew. He seemed to be not of the Flash Gordon universe, but rather an obvious intrusion from an entirely different genre. With Gremlin's introduction as a central character, the show was effectively rebranding itself as entertainment for the youngest possible audience and thereby alienating its existing fanbase (at least as far as I knew). The animated series ended upon the second season's conclusion, and it would not surprise me if Gremlin were part of the reason.

I probably stopped watching the animated series after one or two episodes of the second season when it originally aired. I felt betrayed and insulted by its abandonment of what made Flash Gordon great. I've seen them all now, thanks to the DVD collection, but watching Season 2 is a joyless slog. There is nothing inspiring here. My suggestion is to move on or return to Season 1, which may not be perfect, but at least it is Gremlin-free.

Flash Gordon Inspiration: The First Animated Series (Season 1)

"Blasting off on a desperate mission to save Earth from the evil plottings of the tyrannical space lord, Ming the Merciless, Dr. Hans Zarkov and Dale Arden have joined me, Flash Gordon, on a fantastic journey into worlds where peril and adventure await us."

In 1979, Flash Gordon returned to life as an animated television series by Filmation starring the voice talents of:

• Robert Ridgely as Flash Gordon, Prince Barin, et al;
• Alan Oppenheimer as Ming the Merciless, Dr. Hans Zarkov, et al;
• Diane Pershing as Dale Arden, Queen Azura, Queen Desira, and Queen Undina;
• Allan Melvin as Thun, King Vultan, et al; and
• Melendy Britt as Princess Aura, Queen Fria, and Liza.

According to a Wikipedia article on the subject,

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.

According to some IMDb trivia,

Dino De Laurentiis became a "ghost" producer on the series when Filmation developed monetary problems completing the animation involving the use of computers to create the spaceship animation, one of the first uses of computers in traditional animation. Since DeLaurentis was seeking the rights for the use of the Flash Gordon property for a live action film, and Filmation held the rights for all filmed media for the Flash Gordon characters, Filmation and DeLaurentis came to a deal. In exchange for the funding to complete the animation on the series, DeLaurentis would get the live action film rights to Flash Gordon while Filmation would retain the rights to animated projects featuring Flash Gordon.

Flash Gordon, the animated series, was first broadcast on American television in 1979 when I was ten years old, and I was instantly a fan. I had watched the movie serials on Matinee at the Bijou, so I was familiar with the format: the continuing story with cliffhanger endings and episode recaps. The animated series simultaneously adapted both the early years of the comic strip and the movie serials whilst adding its own unique spin. To my ten-year-old self, the animated series was, for a time, the crown jewel of the Saturday morning cartoon lineup, and it fired my imagination. Decades later, with unlimited access to the series via the DVD set, I can see that it isn't the monument of near perfection I remembered it being, but I shan't belabor the point. Suffice it to say that if you watch it at weekly intervals, as originally intended, the experience will be more pleasant and the flaws somewhat less apparent.

Despite its flaws, I think Season 1 of the animated series can still provide inspiration for one's Savage World of Flash Gordon game (or any Flash Gordon role-playing endeavor for that matter). The interesting thing about the various iterations of Flash Gordon is that none of them are identical. Each version takes certain liberties and emphasizes different aspects of the original comic strip. Any of them can be mixed or matched to suit your own vision of what Flash Gordon role-playing ought to be.

As for Season 2, well, that's another chapter. Tune in next time...