Best 70s action cartoon?

[Chris Wood]

What is your favorite 70s action cartoon? It was a terrible time for US cartoons, with severe censorship and not many quality productions. Things were staring to heat up in Japan though. Lots of groovy disco themes. Anyway, my top three:


1. Star Blazers (Uchu Senkan Yamato) - An easy number one. This show totally blew me away as a kid. The animation, the characters, the stories, etc, just destroyed any and all American cartoons of the time. The amazing thing is that the first series came out 3 years before Star Wars. A true sci-fi classic, if you can overlook the bellbottoms. See Star Blazers/Yamato

2. Battle of the Planets (Gatchaman) - not quite as deep as Star Blazers, but still good character development, great action, and supercool music. Beats the heck out of the Power Rangers. Could've done without that obnoxious 7-Zark-7 though. See Gatchaman/Battle of the Planets

3. Superfriends - About the only American show worth watching in the 70s. An incredible all-star cast which has yet to be equaled, and more unintentional hilarity than you can shake a stick at. Great music, passable animation and stories. I do wish the Legion of Doom would put Marvin and Wonderdog six feet under though. See Superfriends for the funniest page on our heroes.

[Chris Wood]

Err............anyone?

[BlackCat]

I'll be the first to step up! I voted for The New Adventures of Batman for the great VAs.

[zimbach]

While Starblazers is by far the best overall show of all of these, it's also kind of slow-paced. Yes, it has its moments, but if we're talking about action, then Battle of the Planets beats it by a hair in spite of the horrendous editing and 7-Zark-7.

Thank you, Sandy Frank, for bringing Gatchaman to these shores, but "BOOOOO!" for what you did to get it here.

[mbaker]

"Star Blazers" easily beats the competion from that era. "Battle Of The Planets" may not be as deep as Star Blazers, but it comes realy close with A good bit of action and plot for it's day. "Superfriends" comes in behind the two shows despite it's unintentional comedy.

[rabidrednek]

Starblazers was #1!

Battle of the Planets, well, great action, hated the characters as they were portrayed. Liked them much better when I saw them on Cartoon Networks version G-Force.

[spyke]

batle of the planets
flash gordon
tarzan lord of the jungle
new adv. of batman
star trek TAS
space sentinels
freedom force

[J.C.]

Superfriends got my vote since, other then Godzilla, it's the only one up there that I can really say I was ever a fan of in my life. But the few episodes of Battle of the Planets which I've seen were pretty good.

[StrangerAtaru]

I've actually never seen any of those shows, but I have seen a 1970's animated series years after it aired. Does "Mobile Suit Gundam" sound familiar? (OK, I saw it in 2001-2, but that was a 70's action show in Japan, 1979 precisely)

[Chris Wood]

Originally posted by zimbach
Yes, it has its moments, but if we're talking about action, then Battle of the Planets beats it by a hair in spite of the horrendous editing and 7-Zark-7.
Thank you, Sandy Frank, for bringing Gatchaman to these shores, but "BOOOOO!" for what you did to get it here.

Yes, Battle of the Planets must be watched in its original "Gatchaman" form to be truly understood and appreciated. A lot of plot subtleties and character development, not to mention deaths, are missing from the "Battle" version. A shame since scenes like the death of Jason, or Condor no Joe, are some of the series strongest. Unfortunately the disco-esque soundtrack of Gatchaman is rather awful, albeit typical for the time.

[JohnCrichton]

2. Battle of the Planets/Gatchaman - not quite as deep as Star Blazers, but still good character development, great action, and supercool music. Beats the heck out of the Power Rangers. Could've done without that obnoxious 7-Zark-7 though.

Although let's not forget that the show wouldn't have existed were it not for "Power Rangers", seeing as the show that inspired it, Goranger, started back in the 60's



And that the stunts pulled off by Rangers is a true feat of skill on the parts of real life gymnasts and creative use of camera work. G-Force just needed some people who could draw really well.

[Chris Wood]

Originally posted by JohnCrichton
Although let's not forget that the show wouldn't have existed were it not for "Power Rangers", seeing as the show that inspired it, Goranger, started back in the 60's



And that the stunts pulled off by Rangers is a true feat of skill on the parts of real life gymnasts and creative use of camera work. G-Force just needed some people who could draw really well.

Gatchaman also had people who could write well, something none of the various "Ranger" series have ever had.

[Chris Wood]

Originally posted by JohnCrichton
Although let's not forget that the show wouldn't have existed were it not for "Power Rangers", seeing as the show that inspired it, Goranger, started back in the 60's

Actually, I believe it is the other way around. Gatchaman began in 1972, and GoRanger followed 3 years later in 1975. So it is quite possible that the Ranger series derive some of their inspiration from Gatchaman.

[grundle]

I voted for Godzilla.

I love the exciting stories, and the action and adventure.

The show assumes that the viewer is intelligent and has an interest in science.

There are many references to classic science fiction and ancient Greek mythology.

Hoyt Curtain's musical score is excellent.

I love the animation and the backgrounds.

[Eibhlin]

I know this is a late post in a poll that is probably dead, but I had to voice my opinion here, I couldn't help it. Please don't be too mad at me.



The best sci fi action series of the seventies was definitely Starblazers, bar none. The story might have been somewhat slow I agree, but it was epic storytelling that hooked me from the instant I saw the show. There simply was not anything before or since that had that type of storytelling.

The best sequence in all animation? Episodes 23 and 24, of the Comet Empire season, TV season 2. This may spoil the series for some, but I think most here have seen these pair of episodes.

Episode 23 ends with what looks to be a victory for Earth's enemies, The conquering Comet Empire landing off the coast of Japan after the staggering defeat of Earth's defense forces, Prince Zordar laughing over an image of the destroyed moon. The only Earthship left, the Argo/Yamato is in a pitched battle with their nemisis, the Gamilons. The old ship is heavily damaged in the fight and some it's crewmembers are dead, its captain wounded and bleeding. ( I had never actually seen blood in a cartoon until this episode.)

And it ended... the good guys were down, the bad guys were seemingly victorious. That was something that never happened before for me either. I had to see what happened next. I couldn't wait!

And was totally blown away by episode 24. This show had it all. It is still my favorite anime series, cartoon series EVER. Starblazers was and still is in a class by itself.

BTW Desslar, I couldn't guess what your favorite of the shows polled was... nope.. you only use the series 'honorable villan" as your sceenname and avatar. That rocks.

So in honor of that, I have changed my avatar.

[Chris Wood]

The best sci fi action series of the seventies was definitely Starblazers, bar none. The story might have been somewhat slow I agree, but it was epic storytelling that hooked me from the instant I saw the show. There simply was not anything before or since that had that type of storytelling.

The best sequence in all animation? Episodes 23 and 24, of the Comet Empire season, TV season 2. This may spoil the series for some, but I think most here have seen these pair of episodes.

Episode 23 ends with what looks to be a victory for Earth's enemies, The conquering Comet Empire landing off the coast of Japan after the staggering defeat of Earth's defense forces, Prince Zordar laughing over an image of the destroyed moon. The only Earthship left, the Argo/Yamato is in a pitched battle with their nemisis, the Gamilons. The old ship is heavily damaged in the fight and some it's crewmembers are dead, its captain wounded and bleeding. ( I had never actually seen blood in a cartoon until this episode.)

And it ended... the good guys were down, the bad guys were seemingly victorious. That was something that never happened before for me either. I had to see what happened next. I couldn't wait!

And was totally blown away by episode 24. This show had it all. It is still my favorite anime series, cartoon series EVER. Starblazers was and still is in a class by itself.

BTW Desslar, I couldn't guess what your favorite of the shows polled was... nope.. you only use the series 'honorable villan" as your sceenname and avatar. That rocks.

So in honor of that, I have changed my avatar.

Wow, didn't expect to see this thread again. Yes, Yamato (Star Blazers) is my favorite anime ever. I agree that ending of the 2nd season was very thrilling. It was a shocker to see the entire Earth fleet destroyed. The 2nd season is arguably the franchise finest moment. However, the ending of the 2nd movie, which of course follows largely the same story, is even more powerful. It's hard to watch without getting just a little misty-eyed.

Congratulations, you're the first to guess the origin of my avatar and screenname. Actually I would have gone with Zenigata, but it was already taken.

[Beat]

I can't vote for Battle of the Planets after seeing Gatchaman. If someone had the guts to stand up to Peggy Charren, and put the BOTP va's and budget to air Gatchaman in an uncut form during prime-time, it would be an icon today.

Therefore, Star Blazers wins by default. A true classic, and the best of Leji Masumuto's non Harlock shows.

[The Detective]

Well, I can't say that anything on that poll jumped out at me as being particularly good, but I have to admit to never having seen "Star Blazers" or "Battle of the Planets" as those two seem to be in everyone's top two, I'll just take everyone's word for it.

And I really need to at least rent that Superfriend DVD set. Just for fun. It's been so long since I've seen any Superfriends.

</The Detective>