Sci-Fi and Fantasy Cartoons

[dwndrgn]

Somebody in my office said something that sounded like ThunderCats and it reminded me of the cartoon. Am I the only nerd who loved watching that along with Transformers? And Voltron? I miss them.

On a similar note, I recall an old TV show that was not a cartoon but was done in the style of the old Godzilla movies. There was this cute little boy who had a watch/communicator and when he was in trouble or needed help he would use it to call his buddy, this giant robot. For the life of me I cannot recall the name of the robot or the show (of course they are probably the same). It must have been on in either the late 70's or early 80's. Anyone have any clues?

 

[Foxbat]

Gigantor!
Woohoo! Somebody else remembers that cartoon. I didn't dream it after all!
I think it was much earlier than the 80s though. Probably late 60s.

 

[dwndrgn]

THANK YOU! Now I have a name to do some research! Cool beans!

 

[Twelve]

Somebody in my office said something that sounded like ThunderCats and it reminded me of the cartoon. Am I the only nerd who loved watching that along with Transformers? And Voltron? I miss them.

Alright, DAWN DRAGON...you're just achieved 12's Cool Award. Wear it proudly, for I have given VERY few such an honor!

First it was the kung-fu flicks...

And now THUNDERCATS, TRANSFORMERS, and VOLTRON!! I'm crazy down with that....I can never forget thost cartoons. I believe Transformers is the greatest cartoon of all time!

Thundercats best quote, "Thunder-Thunder-Thundercats! Hooooooooooo!

Transformers "Transform, and Roll out!!"

Voltron "Form feet and legs! Form arms and body! And I'll form the head!!" or "Form Blazing Sword!"

Ah, the memories...the memories...

But I didn't stop there. I watched Gobots(though it was the bootleg Transformers), Defenders of the Earth, Captain Planet, Robotech, G I Joe, He-man....oh, let me stop!!


12

 

[dwndrgn]

Wow, thank you Twelve...I don't think I've ever been so honored

I did waatch Gobots, definitely not up to the Transformers standard, the others sound familiar but I don't recall if I watched them, except for He-Man - I loved that one! Skeletor was sooo goofy! And She-Ra - have you ever seen a woman so snooty and full of herself?? He-Man rocked. And don't forget Schmoo..

How about this quote..."Snarf!"

 

[dwndrgn]

Gigantor!
Woohoo! Somebody else remembers that cartoon. I didn't dream it after all!
I think it was much earlier than the 80s though. Probably late 60s.

Aw shoot. I just did some research and this wasn't the one I was thinking of. It was actually a live-action show although it may have been a movie as opposed to a series.

BTW, Gigantor came out in the mid 60's and if you are interested here is the official website: http://www.gigantor.org

 

[dwndrgn]

I found one that I remember watching but this isn't the one I was thinking about. This one was similar but the man became the robot/alien being and it was called Ultra-Man. Apparently they used the Godzilla suit for one of the monsters in this one! Here is a site that shows all of the monsters: http://www.waynebrain.com/ultra/monsters/monsters.html

I'm still on the search...

 

[dwndrgn]

Ok, I finally found it!!! Yay! It was called Johnny Sokko and his Flying Robot. Woo hoo way to go internet! And, I also discovered that it is not available at Amazon (even if I had the money, I couldn't buy it

). Sigh. Well at least I know that I wasn't crazy!

Editing for truth: Apparently used vhs copies of some of the series are available at Amazon. They don't have the original movie, Voyage Into Space though. Judging from the reviews seen at Amazon, there were quite a few kids out there like me wondering if this robot thing was some sort of childhood dream.

 

[Brian G Turner]

Oh, cartoons.

Absolutely loved them up. Thundercats was great excepting for the constant repetition of theme (even as a kid).

Btw - anyone here thinking of the Godzilla cartoon (with Godzooki?). Singalong:

Down in the depths,
30 storey's high,
Breathing fire
With his head in the sky:
Godzilla!
Godzilla!
Godzilla!
(softer) And Godzooki...

No matter the ocean they were in, it was only ever up to Godzilla's knees.

 

[dwndrgn]

I think I only saw the cartoon version once...having been a fan of the live-action I may have disdained the cartoon version (being a snooty child...). There is a great song, I think by Blue Oyster Cult about Godzilla and your little theme song just reminded me of it...

Here is part of it:

With a purposeful grimace
And a terrible sound
He pulls the spitting
High tension wires down
Helpless people on a subway train
Scream bug-eyed as
He looks in on them
He picks up a bus
And he throws it back down
As he wades through the buildings
Toward the center of town
Oh, no, they say he's got to go
Go, go, Godzilla!
Oh, no, there goes Tokyo
Go, go, Godzilla!
History shows
Again and again
How nature points up
The folly of men...

Great, now I'll have that in my head all day long...

 

[Foxbat]

A couple of others I remember: Marine Boy (with his Oxygum)

and another I can't quite remember the name of (think it was in the 80s) about three guys and they had these vehicles packed with missiles and stuff that they used to regularly save the Earth with. I think one of the machines was a bike called Wild Weasel.

And another couple I thought of that were quite good. Ulysses (and then a number ...can't quite remember). Basically the Odyssey in a SciFi environment.

Another space one involving evil vegetation and a kid and a few other oddballs. I'm sure there was a character called Trillian in this one.

God! I've spent far too long in front of the TV.

 

[dwndrgn]

A couple of others I remember: Marine Boy (with his Oxygum)

and another I can't quite remember the name of (think it was in the 80s) about three guys and they had these vehicles packed with missiles and stuff that they used to regularly save the Earth with. I think one of the machines was a bike called Wild Weasel.

And another couple I thought of that were quite good. Ulysses (and then a number ...can't quite remember). Basically the Odyssey in a SciFi environment.

Another space one involving evil vegetation and a kid and a few other oddballs. I'm sure there was a character called Trillian in this one.

God! I've spent far too long in front of the TV.

Well crud! I don't remember any of these! I must not have spent enough time in front of the tv! And that means I missed out on all of these cool sounding shows. Dangit!

Here is some info for you on the Ulysses one:
Ulysses 31 aired in the mid-to-late 80s, produced by DIC studios.

I couldn't find any of the others as I didn't have enough info to search. Searches for Wild Weasel got me info on jet fighter planes and nothing on Trillian. If any of you are interested in searching out info regarding cartoons you can look here: http://www.bcdb.com/pages/Ratings/

Fascinating stuff!

 

[Brian G Turner]

I remember the Ulysses cartoon! Sometimes quite disturbing - and erally fascinating, actually. Good job, too, as I could never get into reading the Odyssey - especially after just reading the Iliad. Completely different books.

 

[Foxbat]

Yep. Ulysses 31. That's it. Thanks.

The one with the vegetation: I seem to remember the plot a bit - boy's father is a scientist that creates plant life. Plant life goes out of control and mutiplies. Plant life subsequently goes on to invade planets and take them over (they are able to grow into various pseudo-mechanical devices, weapons etc). Boy and other characters travel around in a spaceship saving worlds. Trillian might have actually been Gillian (with a hard G) and was a 'he' - some kind of wizard or holy man. I can't quite remember.

P.S. Brian: I understand they are filming Troy right now in Malta - due for release next year I think. Thought you might find that tidbit of interest

 

[dwndrgn]

Yep. Ulysses 31. That's it. Thanks.

The one with the vegetation: I seem to remember the plot a bit - boy's father is a scientist that creates plant life. Plant life goes out of control and mutiplies. Plant life subsequently goes on to invade planets and take them over (they are able to grow into various pseudo-mechanical devices, weapons etc). Boy and other characters travel around in a spaceship saving worlds. Trillian might have actually been Gillian (with a hard G) and was a 'he' - some kind of wizard or holy man. I can't quite remember.

P.S. Brian: I understand they are filming Troy right now in Malta - due for release next year I think. Thought you might find that tidbit of interest

I'll see if I can find the Evil Plant one. Sounds veeery interesting like the person that wrote it was under the infuence of some sort of plant...

Troy - yes starring Brad Pitt. Plus I just saw a tidbit of something else kind of interesting - Tom Cruise in a samurai movie. I'm not sure of the story or anything else for that matter. I'll have to do some research. The Seven Samurai has to be one of the best films ever. If it is that one, I'll cry because Tom Cruise will surely ruin it.

 

[Twelve]

"The Transformers!
More than meets the eye!
Autobots face their battle to destroy the evil forces of the Decepticons!
The Transformers!
Robots in Disguise!(with a robotic voice)
The Transformers!
More than meets the eye!
The Transformers!"

I'll NEVER forget that theme song!!

12

 

[Twelve]

Wow, thank you Twelve...I don't think I've ever been so honored

I did waatch Gobots, definitely not up to the Transformers standard, the others sound familiar but I don't recall if I watched them, except for He-Man - I loved that one! Skeletor was sooo goofy! And She-Ra - have you ever seen a woman so snooty and full of herself?? He-Man rocked. And don't forget Schmoo..

How about this quote..."Snarf!"

Yeah, He-Man was off the hook. His way to overcome any kind of evil was simply to SMASH it. I mean, his strength was just too much.

I remember one time Skeletor came up with this device that can make folks vanish forever. What did He-Man do when he got a hold of it? He tried to SMASH it. And so he tried....his body was slowly disappearing, but in the end, when all the viewers thought that He-Man would die: BOOM! The device was gone.

Another time, He-Man was in the middle of the earth, and the plates started to move. He held them in place. I mean, c'mon, how are you going to HOLD THE EARTH IN PLACE???

SNARF...yeah, I remember that cat.

And She-Ra...she may have been cocky, but all boys thought that she was the idea of a true woman. Ahhh...thank God I quickly escaped that phase...*chuckle*

Now, I want everyone here to realize that I'm truly holding myself back in this thread. If I unveiled my true cartoon knowledge, all would flee in shame.

12

 

[littlemissattitude]

I vaguely remember some of the cartoons you're mentioning, but just vaguely.

My misspent youth was wasted on Rocky and Bullwinkle. But, hey, doesn't Mr. Peabody and his Boy Sherman, with their Way-Back Machine, count as a science fiction cartoon? I think that's where I got my love of time-travel stories. Of course, they always completely distorted history, but that was part of the fun of it.

And then there was Land of the Lost (not a cartoon, but a Saturday morning show, anyway)...time travel again, come to think of it, back into the Mesozoic and all those dinosaurs. I sense a definite trend here.

Well, anyway. Carry on.

 

[Brian G Turner]

P.S. Brian: I understand they are filming Troy right now in Malta - due for release next year I think. Thought you might find that tidbit of interest

Oh, lordy! I am so apprehensively excitable about all those films with ancient themes being made!

 

[Brian G Turner]

And She-Ra...she may have been cocky, but all boys thought that she was the idea of a true woman. Ahhh...thank God I quickly escaped that phase...*chuckle*

Well, it was Teela from He-Man who floated my boat as a kid.

And I do remember the "New Shmoo"! Once upon a time I could do the voice - then mine broke.