G-Force: Guardians of Space (1986) is the second of three English adaptations of Tatsunoko Production's 1972 Japanese animated television series Science Ninja Team Gatchaman, following Sandy Frank Entertainment's initial 1978 effort Battle of the Planets and preceding ADV Films recent 2005 attempt, known as just Gatchaman. With G-Force, Sandy Frank Entertainment collaborated with Turner Broadcasting to create a newer, more faithful translation of Gatchaman for a new audience, and such a translation was made possible with the relaxed television standards of the 1980s, a luxury that the more Star Wars-themed Battle of the Planets did not enjoy.

As of sometime in 2007, Sandy Frank Entertainment's rights to the original Gatchaman series, including its adaptations Battle of the Planets and G-Force: Guardians of Space (both of which are owned by Sandy Frank, and in the case of BotP, produced by) have expired and are being re-negotiated. To date, it is still unknown and unclear as to how this will affect the future of both G-Force and its predecessor Battle of the Planets.

Summary

An excerpt from '''The Best of G-Force''' DVD:

Five teen-age champions!

The evil aliens Galactor and Computor, along with their armies of androids and giant monster machines, want to take over the Earth! Galactor will stop at nothing to complete his goal, but fortunately Earth has G-Force - a team of five youngsters willing to lay down their lives to protect the planet! Join Ace Goodheart, Dirk Daring, Agatha June (Aggie), Pee Wee, and Hoot Owl (Hooty) as they fight to keep the Earth safe!

Overview

Logo and title screen.

With Battle of the Planets having run its course and still holding the domestic rights to the first Gatchaman series, Sandy Frank continued to market BotP wherever they could while seeking ways to continue making use of their license. They then began negotiating with Turner Broadcasting (who was the last to air BotP on a wide scale on their TBS network) to see if they were interested in creating a newer, more faithful adaptation of Gatchaman, which would be easier to accomplish with the newly relaxed television standards of the Reagan era-1980s, the same forces that previously cracked down on most if not all violent and controversial elements on TV shows and animation throughout the 1970s which is why Battle of the Planets was so sanitized compared to the original Gatchaman. The two companies eventually came to a mutual agreement, and began collaborating on a new adaptation of Gatchaman in which Sandy Frank provided all of the necessary film, sound and print materials while Turner would do all of the actual work themselves.

To help develop this project, Turner enlisted the help of Fred Ladd, a pioneer in the field of translating and distributing Japanese animation in the U.S (with famous works such as Astro Boy, Gigantor & Kimba the White Lion, under his belt) to produce and oversee the adaptation, which would come to be known as G-Force (the same title given to the collective group of protagonists in Battle of the Planets, which in turn would be used for the same purpose on the new version), a naming decision which later proved to cause more harm than good. Unlike Battle of the Planets which enjoyed the luxury of a multi-million dollar budget coupled with some of the best talent the animation industry had to offer, G-Force was produced on a much smaller budget and scale across the board (which included talent pools and production facilities/tools), a handicap that was ultimately reflected on the final product.

Changes and additions in the adaptation

Dr. Benjamin Brighthead with the members of his G-Force organization in their civilian clothing.

Editing & Censorship

For Turner's G-Force, none of Battle of the Planet's original elements (such as 7-Zark-7, 1-Rover-1, the concept of space travel and space battles and all of the added American footage) were retained, preferably replaced with a more accurate translation of the original Gatchaman series with far less alterations. Most of the plot, backstories, violence and deaths remained intact, only edited or "softened" with added dialogue where it was too explicit (i.e profanity, certain on-screen gun usage, deaths via firearms and/or overly violent means and inter-team violence).

Music

An additional music score was also in the works for G-Force, which would've replaced the score that Hoyt Curtin composed for BotP (the purpose of both being to fill in silent gaps in the original Gatchaman 's soundtrack and supplement its existing music score) but those plans fell through due to budget constraints, and only a single piece of background music (excluding the new opening/closing theme) was able to be afforded (a repetitive synth instrumental that filled in almost every silent gap in the Gatchaman soundtrack).

Episode Order

Unlike Battle of the Planets, which bounced around the Gatchaman episode order and adapted them as the producers' saw fit, G-Force followed the original Gatchaman episode order for its entire run, only skipping Gatchaman episodes 81 (due to strong content, also dropped from BotP) and 86 (for unknown reasons) for a total of 85 dubbed episodes (the same amount of episodes adapted for Battle of the Planets coincidentially). However, only the first 87 (85) of Gatchamans 105 episodes were adapted for G-Force which resulted in the adaptation stopping cold at a cliffhanger, with many crucial plotlines (such as the deaths and revelations of certain characters and villains) left unresolved. The reasons behind this decision are not exactly known; some sources claim that only 85 episodes were contracted and bought for this adaptation while others claim that budget constraints or abandonment of the project cut it short. Also to be taken into consideration is the fact that the Gatchaman series became increasingly darker and violent towards its end, which would've made adapting those last episodes difficult and/or costly. It wasn't until ADV Films' uncut and unedited release of the first Gatchaman series in 2005-2006 that all 105 episodes were adapted and available in English.

Character Names & Terms

G-Force, from left to right: Ace, Hooty, Pee Wee, Aggie and Dirk.

Other changes

• In G-Force, the Pee Wee character remained mostly identical to his original Gatchaman counterpart Jinpei, as opposed to Battle of the Planets which drastically altered the Jinpei character from a typical 10 year old to Keyop, a young android/test tube experiment with a speech impediment.

Galactor with his numerous soldiers.

• In Gatchaman and Battle of the Planets, the two primary antagonists (known as Berg Katse/Zoltar & Sosai X/The Great Spirit respectively) shared a strictly subordinate/master relationship, which was changed to more of a master/consultant relationship in G-Force, with Galactor (Berg Katse) becoming the master and Computor (Sosai X) now relegated to his consultant. The reasons for this change are unknown.

Production Staff

Owned and distributed by: Sandy Frank Entertainment (formerly marketed by Turner Program Services and King Features Entertainment, whose rights reverted back to Sandy Frank in 2003)

Producer: Fred Ladd

Voice Director: Fred Ladd

Additional Music Composer/Music Editor: Dean Andre

Videotape Editor: Kurt Tiegs

Post-Production: Bruce Austin Productions

Voice Cast (uncredited):

Ace Goodheart: Sam Fontana

Dirk Daring/Red Impulse: Cam Clarke

Agatha June/Pee Wee: Barbara Goodson

Hoot-Owl/Dr.Brighthead/Computor: Jan Rabson (some episodes), Gregg Berger (others)

Galactor/Opening Credits Announcer: Bill Capizzi

Team variations across different versions

The re-naming of the various characters and terms in G-Force are highlighted as follows (in correspondence to their Gatchaman equivalents, among others):

• Although he was obviously the Swallow, Jimmy called himself the Falcon.

Other character variations across different versions

Identity change variations across different versions

Debut & Reception

TBS Run (1986)

The revamped G-Force premiered as a "test run" on Turner's own TBS network in the summer of 1986 and ran for just a week before mysteriously disappearing afterwards. The reasons for this are still unclear and/or unknown, but it wasn't on long enough for viewer receptions or higher-ups to even gauge its viability as some have indicated. Supposedly, it was replaced by re-runs of Gilligan's Island the following week. Some sources say that G-Force was created solely for overseas syndication (and not U.S. consumption), and that the purpose behind the TBS "test run" was to clear a contractural agreement and also list the show as having "aired" in the U.S. to help it sell around the world. Regardless of whether this was true or not, the show was syndicated internationally in the following years, finding a decent following abroad while the U.S. was left without any incarnation of Gatchaman for years.

Cartoon Network Run (1995-1997, 2000)

Almost a decade later, Cartoon Network, another of Ted Turner's networks and still in its infancy was in dire need of newer and fresh programming, which conveniently provided an opportunity for G-Force to make its (proper) U.S. debut as Turner still had a stake in the show at the time. G-Force premiered on Cartoon Network on January 2, 1995 as a mainstay of the network's action programming, and was finally aired in its entirety via weekday and weekend rotation.

The show did modestly rating-wise and developed a small following, but neither were on the scale that Battle of the Planets had and enjoyed in its day. More infamous was the mass confusion and backlash that occurred upon G-Force 's premiere. Many who recalled and were fans of its predecessor Battle of the Planets were confused and completely thrown off upon watching G-Force (due to both being culled from the same material, Gatchaman and prominently using the name "G-Force"), assuming it was an altered version of BotP at first and not a newer, entirely separate adaptation of Gatchaman.

By 1996, Cartoon Network shunted the show to late nights and weekends only, and it lingered there for a while until they finally cancelled it on July 5, 1997 (the weekend before Cartoon Network's "Powerhouse" format re-launch), marking the last time G-Force has aired in its entirety in the U.S to date. Since its original U.S run, the show has made brief re-appearances in 2000 (on Cartoon Network's late-night "Toonami Midnight Run" block) and again in 2004 (on ADV's "The Anime Network"), never airing more than a handful of episodes.

Reception

G-Force was (and still is) often lambasted and poorly-received by fans of Battle of the Planets and to a lesser extent Gatchaman, who criticized its voice acting and new character names, preferring their Gatchaman/BotP equivalents. The most common complaint amongst fans and new viewers alike was the distracting synth instrumental that played in the background of every episode, a result of the aforementioned budget constraints. These flaws proved to be enough for some to overlook G-Force's good qualities and avoid the show altogether, and all this among other factors (such as Cartoon Network not having had a strong national presence during the show's original U.S run) resulted in G-Force failing to be as successful as Battle of the Planets was.

DVD releases & availability

The Best of G-Force DVD cover

Also, as previously mentioned, Sandy Frank Entertainment's (owners of both Battle of the Planets and G-Force: Guardians of Space) distribution and marketing rights to the original Gatchaman series, including all of its adaptations and spin-offs, were believed to have expired as of now, leaving the fates of both G-Force and its predecessor Battle of the Planets up in the air and most likely killing the already slim probability of any future G-Force releases on DVD.

To date only a handful of G-Force episodes have been released on home video, totaling to just 13 of its 85 episodes when adding up all of the ones in the following DVD releases:

• '''The Best of G-Force''' (Region 1 NTSC DVD released on September 28, 2004): A compilation DVD featuring seven random G-Force episodes, mostly out of episode order.
• '''G-Force: Guardians of Space''' (Region 0 PAL DVD released on May 13, 2003): Eponymously-titled DVD featuring the first three G-Force episodes.
• '''Battle of the Planets Volumes 1-6''' (Region 1 NTSC DVDs released between 2001-2002): The first six volumes of Rhino's Battle of the Planets release contain one episode of G-Force per volume as "extras" (Episodes 1-6, in the same order as the respective volumes). After Volume 6 this practice was stopped.

The fate of the show itself is uncertain, as it remains shelved for what seems like an indefinite amount of time. However, just as there is a market and following for shows such as Battle of the Planets & Robotech despite releases of their original versions (Gatchaman http://www.advfilms.com/titles/gatchaman/ and Macross http://www.robotech.com/store/viewcategory.php?id=14 respectively) being readily available, there too is a following and demand for G-Force on DVD, just not on the same scale as the former two.

Trivia

• Unlike its Gatchaman and Battle of the Planets breathren, G-Force didn't have title cards at the beginning of its episodes which made following the show and its individual episodes quite difficult. Foreign-language dubs of G-Force attempted to correct this oversight by having the narrator announce the episode title at the start of each episode. Also, episodes which were listed and titled as two-parters in Gatchaman and Battle of the Planets were not titled as such in G-Force, but the plots in those episodes remained more or less intact. The show's episode titles were later revealed and available to the masses via fan clubs and the internet http://www.chronicsite.com/gatchaman/eplist.html.

• Episodes 18 ("The Whale Submarine") & 87 ("Galactor's Deadly Trap") of G-Force served as the two pilots for the adaptation, and are unique amongst the rest of its episodes for having replaced all of the original Gatchaman music with new music composed by Dean Andre, which was part of the proposed additional music score that would've replaced Hoyt Curtin's score for Battle of the Planets. Due to budget constraints, the new score wasn't utilized beyond the pilots and left on the cutting room floor, with the rest of the episodes retaining the Gatchaman score and supplementing it with the sole synth instrumental that was able to be afforded.

• The aforementioned synth track that was played throughout the show is actually a stripped-down rendition of the opening theme to the show. Incidentally, most of the new music that was exclusively played in the pilots turned out to be variations of the opening theme as well, a testament to how tight G-Forces budget was. However, some sources indicate that earlier versions of the two pilots (unavailable to the public) contained a more varied score than the final broadcast versions.

• G-Force was the first-ever anime to air on Cartoon Network, followed by Robot Carnival, Vampire Hunter D, Twilight of the Cockroaches (all three on January 29, 1995 in "Night of the Vampire Robots") and Speed Racer (Spring 1996), all airing before the debut of Toonami (March 1997) which popularized anime on the network.

• During it's short stint on the weekend "Toonami Midnight Run" block in early 2000, G-Force was featured in a number of on-air promotions for Cartoon Network's Toonami which continued to air even after the show had left the air.

• Between the efforts of both Battle of the Planets and G-Force, 99 out of Gatchamans 105 episodes were adapted. Incidentally, the six remaining episodes were very crucial to the series' overall storyline and also contained its true ending. They also featured some of the series' most violent and risque moments, and were skipped in both BotP & G-Force as it was more convenient to do so than anything else. As previously mentioned, ADV Film's uncut Gatchaman release finally adapted all 105 episodes into English, more than 30 years after the show first aired and almost 30 years since its first English adaptation.

Further reading

• G-Force: Animated (TwoMorrows Publishing: ISBN 9781893905184)http://books.google.com/books?id=Agv8Lfp4DvUC&pg=PA5&dq=Gatchaman&lr=&as_brr=3&ei=4EfASP3rF5mMjAGEtMXrDQ&sig=ACfU3U3a6PsMmIwPeu59bc7DgxVqvCwoRg#PPP1,M1

External links

• ''Fairlight's Gatchaman Battle of the Planets Fansite''Screenshots, chararcter bios, and downloads.
• ''Gatchaman'' - Home of the White Shadow
• Gatchaman Online and ''Gatchaman'', ''BotP'', & G-Force

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