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Defenders of the Earth

Defenders of the Earth is an American animated television series produced in 1986, featuring characters from three comic strips distributed by King Features SyndicateFlash Gordon, The Phantom, Mandrake the Magician, and Mandrake's assistant Lothar—opposing Ming the Merciless in the year 2015. Supporting characters include their children Rick Gordon (son of Flash), L.J. (son of Lothar), Kshin (adopted son of Mandrake), and Jedda Walker (daughter of the Phantom).[1]

Defenders of the Earth

Bryce Malek
Dick Robbins

United States

English

1

65

John Ahern
Rick Hoberg
Bill Hutten
Glenn Johnson
Tony Love
Don Sheppard
Lee Orgel
George Singer
Bill Hutton
Tony Love

30 mins

September 8, 1986 (1986-09-08) –
May 1, 1987 (1987-05-01)

The series lasted for 65 episodes; there was also a short-lived comic book series published by Star Comics (an imprint of Marvel Comics).[2] The closing credits credit Rob Walsh and Tony Pastor for the main title music, and Stan Lee for the lyrics. The series later aired in reruns on the Sci Fi Channel as part of its animation block, Cartoon Quest.


Flash Gordon has also been seen in two other animated series: The New Adventures of Flash Gordon (1979–82), and Flash Gordon (1996–97).[3]

Premise[edit]

Flash Gordon and his son Rick escape from Ming the Merciless, who has exhausted the natural resources of his home planet Mongo and desires to exploit Earth. Ming tries to brainwash Flash's wife Dale Arden, but she resists until death, whereafter her psyche is later included in the Defenders' supercomputer Dynac X.[4] To protect Earth from Ming's invasion, among other threats, Flash joins forces with Mandrake, his assistant Lothar and The Phantom, alongside their children, to form the Defenders.

(voiced by Lou Richards) — Leader of the Defenders of the Earth: a space pilot and the father of Rick Gordon. In the Audiobooks he is voiced by Pat Fraley.

Flash Gordon

(voiced by Peter Mark Richman) — Essentially identical to Lee Falk's character, but differing from the original in that by chanting "By jungle law, the Ghost Who Walks calls forth the power of ten tigers", he momentarily receives superhuman strength. His real name is Kit Walker. His horse Hero and wolf Devil make brief appearances. The end credits describe this Phantom by saying "This is the 27th Phantom".

The Phantom

(voiced by Peter Renaday) — A hypnotist and mystic capable of manipulating others' perceptions almost at will. He is often portrayed as a secondary leader of the Defenders, and sometimes the narrator of their decisions.

Mandrake the Magician

(voiced by Buster Jones) — Mandrake's assistant and bodyguard, depicted as a powerful fighter, an able mechanic, and a master tactician. The action figure's packaging describes Lothar as a "Caribbean ninja". In the Audiobook he is voiced by Pat Fraley

Lothar

Richard "Rick" Gordon (voiced by ) — Richard is an impulsive computer genius and the son of Flash Gordon. Rick, along with many of the other teenagers of the show, attended Central High located in Central City. Rick Gordon was initially intended to be Kit Walker, the son of the Phantom. In the Audiobooks he is voiced by Cam Clarke.

Loren Lester

L.J. (voiced by Dion Williams) — Short for 'Lothar Jr.', L.J. is the street-wise expert son of Lothar, and Rick's best friend. When in one episode, the Defenders locate a crystal which shows them their greatest desires, L.J.'s is to defeat the antagonist Octon.

martial arts

Jedda Walker (voiced by Sarah Partridge) — Jedda is the daughter of the Phantom and displays telepathy and limited extrasensory powers, usually expressed by communication with her Kisa. There is little-or-no mention of her mother, though in one episode she is the reluctant stepdaughter of Queen Hadea. Some installments imply a relationship with Rick Gordon. Jedda Walker was initially intended to be Jedda Gordon, daughter of Flash Gordon.

black panther

Kshin (voiced by Adam Carl) — Kshin is an orphaned boy adopted by Mandrake and trained as his apprentice. His origins are revealed in the late season episode "The adoption of Kshin", where it is shown he was a young street orphan found by Mandrake after a gang of boys tried using him as a distraction in a failed pick-pocketing attempt. He is usually accompanied by the extraterrestrial "Zuffy", initially found by Rick Gordon on the planet Mongo.

Dynac X (voiced by ) — Dynac X is the central computer of the Defenders' Headquarters, whose operating system is stated to contain the psyche of Flash Gordon's wife. Though she is never addressed by name in the series, the comic book adaptation of the first two episodes identifies the slain "Mrs. Gordon" as Dale Arden. Diane Pershing is the only performer from the Filmation cartoon who reprised her role.

Diane Pershing

Production[edit]

Marvel Productions and King Features Syndicate worked together to develop the show.[5] Marvel Productions had brought in consulting company Q5 Corporation to help develop the show. Q5's consultants consist of psychology PhDs and advertising, marketing and research professionals.[6] The animation for the series were done overseas at Daewon Media and Sei Young Animation (now merged with Dong Woo Animation) and AKOM in Seoul, South Korea, and Toei Animation in Tokyo, Japan.

Defenders of the Earth (Gesamtedition) (1-Blu-ray) – only German language – no extras

Defenders of the Earth (Superbox) (4-disc set DVDs) – only German language – no extras

Defenders of the Earth (Volume One) (6-disc set DVDs) – only German language – earlier release, no extras

Defenders of the Earth (Volume Two) (6-disc set DVDS) – only German language – earlier release, no extras

In other media[edit]

Comics[edit]

In 1987, Star Comics (Marvel Comics' children's imprint) published a comic book series which only lasted four issues. It was written by Stan Lee (#1) and Michael Higgins (#2–4) with art by Alex Saviuk.[14] The last issue featured a "next issue" caption, but #5 was never published.


In 2013, Dynamite Comics published Kings Watch, a bi-monthly limited series written by Jeff Parker teaming the Phantom, Mandrake, Lothar, and Flash Gordon, taking on not just Ming, but characters from all over the King Features universe. The comic lasted five issues.[15]

Books[edit]

There have been DOE-related books, including The Creation of Monitor, A House Divided, The Sun-Stealers and Computer Checkmate.

Action figures[edit]

A line of action figures produced by Galoob included Flash Gordon, Mandrake, Lothar, the Phantom, Ming, and Garax.[16] As part of the show's 35th anniversary, National Entertainment Collectibles Association (NECA) produced variants of its King Features characters in the style and colors of the Defenders of the Earth.

Video games[edit]

A video game was released by Enigma Variations Software in 1990, for the Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, SAM Coupe and ZX Spectrum systems. It is a side-scrolling action game featuring the heroes Flash Gordon, Lothar, the Phantom and Mandrake from the series on a quest to rescue their children, who have been kidnapped by Ming. The player controls Flash, and is able to call on the other characters to assist him in bypassing the defences of Ming's castle.

A parody, called Protectors of the Earth, is made up of comic strip characters , Mary Worth, Garfield and Mark Trail.[17]

Dr. Rex Morgan

produced a sketch where Flash Gordon, Mandrake and the Phantom operated as part of a Neighborhood Watch.

Robot Chicken

Don Markstein's Toonopedia: Defenders of the Earth, defenders

at IMDb

Defenders of the Earth

Official Episode guide