- The Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers
-
"Galaxy Rangers" redirects here. You may be looking for Kyoryu Sentai Zyuranger, also known by the international title "Galaxy Rangers".
The Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers Genre Space Western
Action/AdventureFormat Animated series Created by Robert Mandell Voices of Robert Bottone
Alexander Marshall
Maia Danziger
Corinne Orr
Laura Dean
Jerry Orbach
Earl Hammond
Ray Owens
Hubert Kelly
Doug Preis
Henry MandellCountry of origin 
United StatesLanguage(s) English No. of seasons 1 No. of episodes 65 (List of episodes) Production Executive producer(s) Abe Mandell Producer(s) Robert Mandell
Bob ChrestaniRunning time 30 minutes Production company(s) Gaylord Entertainment Company Broadcast Original channel first-run syndication Original run September 14, 1986 – December 11, 1989 External links Website The Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers (broadcast between 1986 and 1989) was an American animated Space Western television series created by Robert Mandell and Gaylord Entertainment Company.
The series combined sci-fi stories with traditional wild west themes. It was one of the first anime-style shows produced mainly in the USA, although the actual animation was done by the Japanese animation studio Tokyo Movie Shinsha. At the time it aired, The Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers was considered a revolutionary children's show.[1]
Contents
Story
The show is set in the future, some time after the year 2086, when two aliens from the planets Andor and Kirwin travel to Earth to search for allies against the expansionist Crown Empire led by the Queen of the Crown. In return for the help, the two aliens gave mankind construction plans for a hyperdrive device. After this key event in human history, interstellar travel flourished and a huge number of colonies emerged in distant star-systems. Alongside the growth of human activities in space, criminal activities also grew, and the new colonies required defense against various threats, including the Crown Empire. A group known as "BETA" (Bureau for Extra-Terrestrial Affairs) was founded to cope with these tasks, with a "Ranger" division being a part of it.
Most of the colonies portrayed in the show specialized in either agriculture or mining "star stones". Many of the planets on the show have names that evoke ideas of a Western setting, Nebraska, Mesa, Ozark, and Prairie being a few.
BETA is shown to be the major military and exploratory arm of Earth. The organization's headquarters are on Earth. BETA sustains several bases on and around Earth, such as the Longshot Research Facility in the Grand Canyon and the BETA space station in Earth's orbit.
The Series-5 Brain Implant, or S5 is implied to be the closest mankind will ever get to merging with cybernetics. The S5 implant enables a dramatic boost of innate abilities due to its unique conversion of bio-electrical power generated by alpha radiation stored within the badges worn by the Galaxy Rangers.
The Crown Empire, also known as the "Crown", is ruled by the Queen of the Crown. She controls a large number of planets in a vast section of the galaxy. The Queen controls her empire using creatures called Slaverlords with whom she has a psychic link. Slaverlords derive their power from the psychic energy of other beings. After the Empire encountered humans, the Queen discovered that they were more suitable for energy extraction than any other previously encountered species.
Characters
Main article: List of The Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers charactersEpisodes
Main article: List of The Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers episodesTheme song
The theme song for the show, "No Guts, No Glory", was featured in the opening credits preceded by a spoken introduction. The song was written by Phil Galdston and John Van Tongeren.
Stations
- KSTW 11 - Seattle, Washington
- WDCA 20 - Washington, D.C.
- WNUV 54 - Baltimore, Maryland
- KBHK 44 - San Francisco, California
- KTVT 11 - Dallas, Texas
- KZKC-TV 62 - Kansas City, MO
- WPIX 11 - New York, New York
- KCOP 13 - Los Angeles, California
- KDNL 30 - St. Louis, Missouri
- WGNX 46 - Atlanta, Georgia
- WBFS 33 - Miami, Florida
- WSBK 38 - Boston, Massachusetts
- KHTV 39 - Houston, Texas
- WUAB 43 - Cleveland, Ohio
- WPWR 50 - Chicago, Illinois
- KUSI 51 - San Diego, California
- WPSG 57 - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- WCAY 30 - Nashville, Tennessee
DVD releases
Koch Entertainment currently owns the DVD distributions rights to Galaxy Rangers through Koch Vision.[2] Four Galaxy Rangers DVDs, each containing four episodes, were released in the United States.[3] Koch has released the entire series which consists of two box sets.[4] The first set was released on May 13, 2008 and the second set was released on August 19, 2008.[5]
Reception
The show has become a cult favorite and been considered innovative and ahead of its time.[6] It had a unique sense of humor and each character was well drawn and lacked clichés to sell toys, a trait which many series had at that time.[7][8][9][10]
References
- ^ "Galaxy Rangers Rockets to Disc". Animation Magazine. http://www.animationmagazine.net/article/3037. Retrieved 2010-03-07.
- ^ "Galaxy Rangers - Koch acquires adv of the Galaxy Rangers for DVD". TVShowsOnDVD.com. http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Galaxy-Rangers/1753. Retrieved 2009-05-08.
- ^ "Galaxy Rangers - 'New in Order' Collectable Multi -DVD Sets Announced for the Classic Cartoon". TVShowsOnDVD.com. http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Galaxy-Rangers-Collection-Volume-1/8892. Retrieved 2009-05-08.
- ^ "Galaxy Rangers - The Collection: Volume 1". TVShowsOnDVD.com. http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/releases/Galaxy-Rangers-Volume-Release/7531. Retrieved 2008-09-21.
- ^ "The Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers - News". The Official Website of The Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers. http://www.thegalaxyrangers.com/news/default.asp?id=13. Retrieved 2008-09-21.
- ^ "Galaxy Rangers: No Guts, No Glory, No Clue". Popmatters. http://www.popmatters.com/pm/column/galaxy-rangers-no-guts-no-glory-no-clue. Retrieved 2010-03-07.
- ^ ""Galaxy Rangers" Resin Statues". Animation Insider. http://www.animationinsider.net/article.php?articleID=585. Retrieved 2009-09-13.
- ^ "PR: Adventures Of The Galaxy Rangers - The Collection: Volume 1". Toon Zone. http://news.toonzone.net/articles/21922/pr-adventures-of-the-galaxy-rangers---the-collection-volume-1. Retrieved 2009-09-13.
- ^ "Galaxy Rangers: Collection 2" Saddles Up Successfully and Rides Into The Sunset". Toon Zone. http://news.toonzone.net/articles/25868/galaxy-rangers-collection-2-saddles-up-successfully-and-rides-into-the-sunset. Retrieved 2009-09-13.
- ^ "Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers: The Collection Volume 1". DVD Talk. http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/33230/adventures-of-the-galaxy-rangers-the-collection-volume-1/. Retrieved 2009-10-15.
See also
Further reading
- The Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers Annual 1989 ISBN 0-948936-88-6
External links
- The official website
- The Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers at the Internet Movie Database
- The Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers at TV.com
- The Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers at the Comic Book DB
- The Hearst Animation Official Galaxy Rangers Website
- The Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers at Hulu
- Toonopedia - Galaxy Rangers
- (German) Galaxy - Rangers
Categories:- 1980s American animated television series
- 1986 television series debuts
- 1986 television series endings
- American science fiction television series
- Anime-influenced animation
- First-run syndicated television programs in the United States
- Marvel UK titles
- Space Westerns
- Toys of the 1980s
- Western (genre) television series
- Space adventure television series
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
