Force Five

Last updated
Force Five
Force Five Series.jpg
Created by
Based on(see below)
Written by
  • Collins Walker
  • Mike Haller
  • Lynn Garrison
Directed byJim Terry
Collins Walker
Music by Shunsuke Kikuchi
Country of origin
No. of series5
No. of episodes130 (286 in original versions)
Production
ProducerJim Terry
EditorStewart Nelsen
Running time23 minutes
Production companies
Original release
Network First-run syndication
ReleaseSeptember 8, 1980 (1980-09-08) 
December 4, 1981 (1981-12-04)

Force Five is an American adaptation of five different anime television series. In the United States, this series was primarily shown only in New England, Pennsylvania, and Virginia, though it did make brief appearances in other markets, such as Texas, and Northern California on KICU-TV 36. It was also shown in Toronto, Ontario, Canada on CFMT channel 47 and in Asia on Star Plus during the 1990s. It was produced by Jim Terry and his company American Way, and it consisted of five imported Japanese giant robot serials (originally produced in the mid-1970s by Toei Animation) in response to the popularity of the Shogun Warriors toy collection. Mattel was one of the sponsors of the series.

Contents

In an anthology style, the five shows were broadcast simultaneously with one episode of each serial assigned a specific weekday. Additionally, all of the shows were edited into two-hour films and marketed on video tape by Family Home Entertainment. In the UK, Krypton Force released several of these programmes but under different series titles.

Force Five series

Force Five consisted of the following five series:

#SeriesNo. of
episodes
Adaptation ofNo. of
episodes
1Force Five: Gaiking26 Dino-Mech Gaiking (1976)44
2Force Five: Danguard Ace26 Planetary Robot Danguard Ace (1977)56
3Force Five: Starvengers26 Getter Robo G (1975)39
4Force Five: Grandizer26 UFO Robot Grendizer (1975)74
5Force Five: Spaceketeers26 Sci-Fi West Saga Starzinger (1978)73

Originally, Great Mazinger was meant to be among the five shows, but at the last minute was swapped out for Starzinger .

Notes

  1. Original creator of Gaiking, Starvengers and Grandizer.
  2. Original creator of Danguard Ace and Spaceketeers.
  3. Former American Way.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anime</span> Japanese animation

Anime is hand-drawn and computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, anime refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and Japanese, anime describes all animated works, regardless of style or origin. Many works of animation with a similar style to Japanese animation are also produced outside Japan. Video games sometimes also feature themes and art styles that are sometimes labelled as anime.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dubbing</span> Post-production process used in filmmaking and video production

Dubbing is a post-production process used in filmmaking and video production, often in concert with sound design, in which additional or supplementary recordings (doubles) are lip-synced and "mixed" with original production sound to create the finished soundtrack.

<i>Robotech</i> Science fiction media franchise

Robotech is an American science fiction franchise that began with an 85-episode anime television series produced by Harmony Gold USA in association with Tatsunoko Production; it was first released in the United States in 1985.

A soap opera, daytime drama, or soap for short, is typically a long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored by soap manufacturers. The term was preceded by "horse opera", a derogatory term for low-budget Westerns.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Science fiction on television</span> Television genre

Science fiction first appeared in television programming in the late 1930s, during what is called the Golden Age of Science Fiction. Special effects and other production techniques allow creators to present a living visual image of an imaginary world not limited by the constraints of reality.

<i>Serial Experiments Lain</i> 1998 television anime series

Serial Experiments Lain is a Japanese anime television series created and co-produced by Yasuyuki Ueda, written by Chiaki J. Konaka and directed by Ryūtarō Nakamura. Animated by Triangle Staff and featuring original character designs by Yoshitoshi Abe, the series was broadcast for 13 episodes on TV Tokyo and its affiliates from July to September 1998. The series follows Lain Iwakura, an adolescent girl in suburban Japan, and her relation to the Wired, a global communications network similar to the internet.

<i>Voltron</i> American science fiction franchise

Voltron is an American animated television series franchise that features a team of space explorers who pilot a giant super robot known as "Voltron". Produced by Peter Keefe and Ted Koplar through his production company World Events Productions, Voltron was an adaptation of several Japanese anime television series from Toei Animation. The original television series aired in syndication from September 10, 1984, to November 18, 1985. The first season of Voltron, featuring the "Lion Force Voltron", was adapted from the series Beast King GoLion. The second season, featuring the "Vehicle Team Voltron", was adapted from the unrelated series Armored Fleet Dairugger XV.

<i>Astro Boy</i> Japanese manga series

Astro Boy, known in Japan as Mighty Atom, is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Osamu Tezuka. It was serialized in Kobunsha's Shōnen from 1952 to 1968. The 112 chapters were collected into 23 tankōbon volumes by Akita Shoten. Dark Horse Comics published an English translation in 2002. The story follows Astro Boy, an android young boy with human emotions who is created by Umataro Tenma after the recent death of his son Tobio. Eventually, Astro is sold to a robot circus run by Hamegg, but is saved from his servitude by Professor Ochanomizu. Astro becomes a surrogate son to Ochanomizu who creates a robotic family for Astro and helps him to live a normal life like an average human boy, while accompanying him on adventures.

The history of anime can be traced back to the start of the 20th century, with the earliest verifiable films dating from 1917. Before the advent of film, Japan already had a rich tradition of entertainment with colourful painted figures moving across the projection screen in utsushi-e (写し絵), a particular Japanese type of magic lantern show popular in the 19th century. Possibly inspired by European phantasmagoria shows, utsushi-e showmen used mechanical slides and developed lightweight wooden projectors (furo) that were handheld so that several performers could each control the motions of different projected figures.

Technozoids, also referred to as simply Zoids, is a Japanese science fiction media franchise created by Tomy that feature giant robots called Technozoidaryans, otherwise known as Technozoids, Zoidaryans or Zoids for short. A Zoid is essentially a large mechanical animal, with designs being based on animals; including dinosaurs, insects, arachnids and mythological creatures.

<i>Gigantor</i> 1960s Japanese animated TV show featuring a giant robot

Gigantor is a 1963 anime adaptation of Tetsujin 28-go, a manga by Mitsuteru Yokoyama released in 1956. It debuted on US television in January 1966. As with Speed Racer, the characters' original names were altered and the original series' violence was toned down for American viewers. The dub was created by Fred Ladd distributed in the US by Peter Rodgers Organization.

A compilation film, or compilation movie is a film composed of scenes and shots taken from two or more prior films or television programs and edited together so as to make a new film, whether on the same or a different subject. The most common example would be a documentary film on an historical event composed of footage from various newsreels and other film documentaries on the same subject. New footage and/or a new soundtrack may also be included in a compilation film, but the compiled, older footage makes up the majority of its principal material. Compilation film does not include, however, a simple editing together of several short films, complete in themselves and distinguished as such from each others, which should be considered as film anthologies.

A clip show is an episode of a television series that consists primarily of excerpts from previous episodes. Most clip shows include a frame story in which cast members recall events from past installments of the show, depicted with a clip of the event presented as a flashback. Clip shows are also known as cheaters, particularly in the field of animation. Clip shows are often played before series finales as a way to summarize the entire series, or once syndication becomes highly likely as a way to increase the number of episodes that can be sold. Other times, however, clip shows are simply produced for budgetary reasons.

<i>The Popeye Show</i> American animation anthology series

The Popeye Show is an American cartoon anthology series that premiered on October 29, 2001, on Cartoon Network. Each episode includes three Popeye theatrical shorts from Fleischer Studios and/or Famous Studios. The show is narrated by Bill Murray, who gives the audience short facts about the history of the cartoons as filler material between each short. Animation historian Jerry Beck served as a consultant and Barry Mills served as writer and producer. A total of 45 episodes were produced, consisting of a total of 135 shorts.

<i>Starzinger</i> Japanese anime television series

Sci-Fi West Saga Starzinger, known as Spaceketeers in the United States, is an anime series produced by Toei Animation. It is a sci-fi remake/adaptation of Wu Cheng'en's fantasy novel Journey to the West. It was directed by Yugo Serikawa and written by Leiji Matsumoto. It aired in Fuji TV in Japan from April 2, 1978, to August 24, 1979. In the United States, it was referred to as Spaceketeers and was part of Jim Terry's Force Five series. In the United Kingdom, it was referred to as Sci-Bots on VHS releases. In Latin America, it was known as El Galáctico.

Anime-influenced animation is a type of non-Japanese work of animation that is noticeably similar to or inspired by anime. Generally, the term anime refers to a style of animation originating from Japan. As Japanese anime became increasingly popular, Western animation studios began implementing some visual stylizations typical in anime—such as exaggerated facial expressions, "super deformed" versions of characters, and white radical lines appearing on the screen when something shocking happens or when someone screams, etc.

<i>Robotech</i> (TV series) 1985 animated series

Robotech is an American 85-episode adaptation of three unrelated Japanese anime television series made between 1982 and 1984 in Japan; the adaptation was aired in 1985. Within the combined and edited story, Robotechnology refers to the scientific advances discovered in an alien starship that crashed on a South Pacific island. With this technology, Earth developed giant robotic machines or mecha to fight three successive extraterrestrial invasions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Glen Murakami</span> American animator, artist, character designer, director and producer

Glen Murakami is an American animator, artist, character designer, director and producer best known for his work on Teen Titans, Batman Beyond, Teen Titans Go!, Ben 10: Alien Force and Ben 10: Ultimate Alien. Murakami is the creator and producer of the Cartoon Network series Teen Titans.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nickelodeon (Latin American TV channel)</span> Pay television channel

Nickelodeon is a Hispanic/Latin American pay television channel, counterpart of the American network of the same name. It is owned by Paramount Networks Americas and was launched on 20 December 1996. Aside from airing Nick and Nick Jr. content, it has produced original programming for the channel and has been sold to local distributors worldwide except for Cuba as cable television is banned in that country.

Peter Eugene Keefe was an American television producer best known for creating the popular series Voltron, an English-dubbed combination of Beast King GoLion, and Armored Fleet Dairugger XV, two similar but unrelated "mecha" anime series originally created and produced by Toei Animation. Keefe's work on the series is credited with introducing American audiences to Japanese animation and influenced later shows like the Dragon Ball, Pokémon, and Power Rangers franchises, although earlier Japanese TV programs like Astro Boy, Speed Racer and Ultraman had aired on American television prior to the premiere of Voltron.