This week the sci -fi classic Space Sentinels
Join Hercules, Mercury, Astrea and of course Sentinel-One!
Space Sentinels was a Saturday morning cartoon series that sadly only ran for one series in 1977.
The series was originally titled Young Sentinels but, in light of the enormous success of Star Wars, the title was changed to Space Sentinels. Unfortunately, all the animation and voices had been undertaken so throughout the series the superheroes are never referred to as Space Sentinels.
It debuted on American NBC on September 10th 1977 and was produced by Filmation giving the Sentinels a very different animation feel to the typical Hanna Barbera cartoons such as Scooby-Doo and The Flintstones.
This science fiction action cartoon follows a superhero team on their quest to protect planet Earth. So who were behind the cartoon, what was the premise, and who were the characters?
Filmation
Filmation was an American production company who had brought together the experience of Lou Scheimer, Norm Prescott and Hal Sutherlan’s experience in producing commercials for Gillette and cartoons such as Popeye.
Founded in 1962 Filmation focussed on live-action programming for television from its headquarters in Reseda, California from 1963-1989.
Like many Saturday morning cartoons of the time the scripts emphasised healthy morals including understanding, tolerance, friendship and awareness of the environment so many of the villains of the thirteen episodes were either misguided or, at least misunderstood.
Premise
As sci-fi cartoons were starting to emerge Space Sentinels were on the vanguard. Three young people from Earth had been selected centuries ago and had been teleported to another planet where they were trained, given eternal youth and superpowers. They were then returned to Earth to protect the planet and the local vicinity using their superhuman powers.
Their operations all happen in a spaceship, hidden in a caldera (a large, cauldron-like hallow that forms after the emptying of the magma chamber in an eruption).
They are all supervised by Sentinel One, a supercomputer (think A.I. for the 1970s), that coordinates all the Sentinel teams throughout the universe.
Characters
Our three main superheroes were all named after Roman gods;
Hercules: Based on the Roman stories of Hercules this blue-eyed blond-haired Adonis of a man possesses superhuman strength. He is obsessed with exercise and healthy eating in part as a reminder to a society that was starting to creep towards a more convenient lifestyle, yes in 1977. His body strength and power are formidable and, although not the leader, often tries to take up this role.
Mercury: He is seen as the joker of the group and is proficient in martial arts. Like the other Sentinels, he has the power of flight and can fly at the speed of light, however, he often prefers to travel on land and can run at the same speed.
Astrea: The official leader and, radical for the time, was a black woman. She had the power of being able to morph into any Earth animal and would often be able to solve their current mission and defeat the villain.
Sentinel One: He was my personal favourite. Nicknamed S1 was hardwired into the spaceship constantly monitoring galactic situations, alerting the team to threats and providing advice. In this role, he communicates as a bald, holographic head protected within the spaceship. Throughout the episodes, other Sentinel computers were seen such as Sentinel Seven, a female voice and holographic head and Prime Sentinel, a bearded older holographic head.
‘Moe’ or Maintenance Operator: Was the maintenance robot who was box-like and in charge of the maintenance of the spacecraft. A little like R2-D2 but spoke in colloquial English-American and was amazingly were voiced by the executive producer of Filmation Lou Scheimer who provided some of the comic relief in the show.
Missions
For missions on Earth, the team is launched through upright tubes and would fly to their destination by using rocket belts in their suits, although Mercury could of course fly faster than this. For the interplanetary and interstellar missions, Sentinel One transported them, faster than the speed of light, to their mission to rescue Earth or the solar system where they would thwart a misguided villain and save the say.
Left you wanting more? All thirteen episodes were released in 2006 along with five episodes of freedom force all uncut and digitally restored.
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I loved this too on a Sunday afternoon. I only feature animation currently but loved all these and had totally forgotten about Degrassi Junior High, a real favourite here. Thanks so much for reading and taking the time to comment.
This was my favourite programme as a kid. That reminds me, will you be featuring Monkey Magic, The Red Hand Gang, Degrassi Junior High and Big John, Little John?