Space Strikers
Space Strikers is a 1995 animated television series based on the 1870 Jules Verne novel Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea. Episodes center around the crew of the spaceship Nautilus, led by Captain Nemo, in an attempt to liberate Earth and other planets from the control of Master Phantom. The series aired on UPN from September 10 to December 3, 1995.[1] Action sequences were shown in "Strikervision" 3-D. The French version of the series was titled 20 000 Lieues dans l'espace (translation: "20,000 Leagues in Space").
| Space Strikers | |
|---|---|
| Written by | Jean Chalopin Ted Pedersen |
| Directed by | Bruno Bianchi Tom McLaughlin |
| Creative director | Choi An Hee |
| Theme music composer | Shuki Levy Haim Saban |
| Composer | Michel Dax |
| Country of origin | France United States |
| Original languages | French English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 26 (13 in the U.S.) |
| Production | |
| Executive producers | Vincent Chalvon-Demersay Jacqueline Tordjman |
| Producers | Dana C. Booton Jean Chalopin Sam Ewing Eric S. Rollman |
| Editors | Shuichi Kakesu Michel LeFrançois Nathalie LeGuay |
| Running time | 30 min. |
| Production companies | Saban Entertainment Saban International Paris |
| Distributor | Saban International |
| Release | |
| Original network | M6 (France) UPN (United States) |
| Audio format | Dolby Surround |
| First shown in | January 23, 1993 (South Korea) |
| Original release | September 10 – December 3, 1995 |
Plot
Space Strikers has a single continuous plot running through all twelve episodes. The universe is inhabited by humans and a variety of other space-faring species. They are under threat from the mostly-robotic armies of Master Phantom, a human cyborg who believes Captain Nemo left him to die. Earth and multiple other planets have already been conquered at the start of the first episode. Members of various other species join the human crew of the Nautilus to fight back, including an anthropomorphic wolf, an anthropomorphic dolphin, a Cupid-like creature, and a variety of robots.
Due to their previous friendship and shared academy training, Captain Nemo and Master Phantom attempting to outwit each other is recurrent theme in the show.
Strikervision
At various times in an episode, a small green icon appears in the corner of the screen to alert the viewer to put on 3D glasses. Early 3D sequences typically feature repeated background and foreground images moving in opposite directions over the characters or ships on screen, giving the illusion of rotation or movement. Later instances of 3-D imagery often show spaceships flying past the screen, made possible by the show's use of 3D computer graphics for many of its spacecraft.
Voice cast
- Norman Blackmore
- Les Doolan
- Jimmy Flinders - Captain Nemo
- HF Guilford
- Orville Ketchum - Admiral Maalko
- Ruth Lazar
- Kellie O'Connell
- Harry Pitts
- Nick Scott
- Reed Waxman
Uncredited
Music
In addition to Ron Wasserman composing original music for this series, Shuki Levy also co-composed for this series, recycling some of the music from Starcom: The U.S. Space Force which he would later reuse for the English dub version of Season 1 of Digimon Adventure.
Episodes
Season 1
| # | Title | Original air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Best of Friends, Worst of Enemies" | September 10, 1995 |
| 2 | "Cash for Merchandise" | September 17, 1995 |
| 3 | "Victory's Gift" | September 24, 1995 |
| 4 | "The Second Wave" | October 1, 1995 |
| 5 | "The Surrender" | October 8, 1995 |
| 6 | "In the Shadow of the Wolf" | October 15, 1995 |
| 7 | "Mission to Joncar" | October 22, 1995 |
| 8 | "Mission of Mercy" | October 29, 1995 |
| 9 | "A Taste of His Own Medicine" | November 5, 1995 |
| 10 | "The Bargain" | November 12, 1995 |
| 11 | "The Dark Stone" | November 19, 1995 |
| 12 | "Mission to Earth" | November 26, 1995 |
| 13 | "The Green Dragon" | December 3, 1995 |
References
- Erickson, Hal (2005). Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003 (2nd ed.). McFarland & Co. p. 772. ISBN 978-1476665993.
- Perlmutter, David (2018-05-04). The Encyclopedia of American Animated Television Shows. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 572. ISBN 978-1538103739. Retrieved 2019-01-27.
- "Richard Epcar Voice Over Resume" (PDF). Resume. Retrieved 2019-01-27.
External links
- Space Strikers at IMDb
- (in French) Space Strikers in Planete-Jeunesse