This profile was edited with FearKiller's Pimp MySpace 2.2In 1978, Sandy Frank Productions acquired rights to the original Japanese Gatchaman, cut out huge chunks of the original animation, and rewrote the plots and dialogue using what they had left. Despite fans' complaints about Zark and Rover's trite humor, Battle of the Planets was campy fun, and just about everybody who loved it as a kid loves it as an adult.To fill in the time they cut from the originals, Sandy Frank Productions added 7-Zark-7, 1-Rover-1, the flight to Spectra, and the rec room the team hung out in when they weren't off saving the galaxy. Star Wars was popular at the time; as a result, 7-Zark-7 looks an awful lot like R2D2's long-lost cousin. Occasionally, pieces of early episodes were spliced in: the team transforming into bird style, and everyone driving out separately to meet up with the Phoenix. The result is early and/or low-quality animation is often spliced in against something that's much better.A number of episodes, including the last four, were never translated, probably due to violence and the death of one of the main characters.If you were a fan of Battle of the Planets, you know the characters as Mark, Jason, Princess, Keyop, and Tiny. Dr. Nambu was Chief Anderson. Katse was called Zoltar, and X was called O Luminous One or The Great Spirit. Unlike in Gatchaman, Katse was not a hermaphrodite, but a man with a sister. Zoltar's sister's name was Mala...though there was a hint in one of the final episodes that Katse might not be what he seems.BOTP was geared toward a young crowd, 7-Zark-7 played the voice of parental reason (or the superego, if you're psychologically minded). He was also incredibly neurotic - a worrier and a big control freak. He spent a lot of time reassuring watchers that all was well and good among the team members. And that nobidy died in that surprise attack by Spectra on that city of 5 billion.This being the pervasive pattern of the show, it's a good thing the last few episodes were never translated. If they had been, Zark would have had a really tough time explaining that everything was going to be okay:First of all, how would he have explained that Zoltar wasn't really a brother and sister, Zoltar and Mala, but one person, whom the Great Sprit had created out of fraternal twins.Zark: "Okay, kids, it turns out that Zoltar has a really serious problem none of us knew about. But that's okay. Everything will be okay."And when Jason discovered that he couldn't even stand up straight because he was dying of brain damage?Zark: "Really, kids, it was just a really bad migraine. Everything will be okay."And then Zoltar beats the living hell out of Jason, shoots him in the head thirty or forty times for good measure.Zark: "Kids, there wasn't any blood. That means they missed. Really. All forty times."Zoltar is having so much fun beating Jason that he figures he'll drug him up, keep him alive a bit longer, and do it some more.:Zark: "Kids, sadism such as this is the result of a bad childhood. We need to feel sorry for him. And don't worry, everything will be okay."And then Jason dies.Zark: "Hey kids, don't worry, everything wil be...oh, s**t."And then Zoltar commits suicide, screaming "Die, die, everyone die!"Zark jumps in after him.And you thought nobody ever died in this show...
Content from Gatchaman, BOTP & G-Force Web Site
