Voltron Film Information

Any child of the 80's will remember shows like Thundercats, Transformers, and G. I Joe. Somewhere in that mix, the name Voltron invariably appears. Voltron tells the story of five teenagers (or young adults - the ages are not always clear) from Galaxy Garrison who set out for deep space and the planet Arus. An Emperor named Zarkon and his Prince, Lotor, have been annexing planets and planetary systems to their empire. Galaxy Garrison wants to put an end to the tyranny.

The five arrive on Arus, after escaping from capture by Zarkon. In the Castle of Lions, they discover an ancient legend, the legend of Voltron. The Castle awakens the five Lions, gigantic robots shaped like the big cats, making the five an assault force. These lions later combine into a single warrior robot named Voltron, complete with blazing sword.

With Voltron, the Voltron Force fend off the attacks of Zarkon and Lotor through that region of space. Let's see. A team of five young people, piloting five large robots, combining those robots into one, larger, robot, and on top of it all, they all wear different colored costumes. Where have we seen that before?

If you said "Power Rangers," you're not too far from the truth. The two share many of the same concepts, but Voltron came first, at least here in the States. To better understand the similarity, and then to discuss the upcoming film project, we first must look at the source.

Many Voltron viewers are completely unaware that the show is not an American production. Not only does the show originate in Japan, it's actually an amalgamation of two different anime franchises! World Events Productions supervised the The word "Voltron" is completely an American invention.

The shows which became Voltron were known as Beast King GoLion and Armored Fleet Dairugger XV. GoLion became the Lion Voltron most will remember. Though lesser known, Dairugger XV became the Vehicle Voltron. A third anime, Lightspeed God Albegas was once in talks to become a third Voltron, the Gladiator Voltron. Wolrd Events Productions originally planned to have a three-pronged franchise of Voltrons, with the Lion Voltron as Defender of the Far Universe, the Vehicle Voltron as Defender of the Near Universe, and the Gladiator Voltron as Defender of the Earth. Though Gladiator Voltron never materialized on screen, Voltron became an icon of television in the 80's, and still lives on today.

The similarities to Power Rangers are best understood by looking at the history of Japanese television. In Japan, the idea of a five-person special task force, with powered weapons, motorcyles, and giant robots ("mecha" in Japanese) goes back to 1975 to Himitsu Sentai Goranger. This launched the sensation known as Super Sentai. Each year, a new Super Sentai airs on Japanese television, with each incarnation embodying the main underlying concepts (a team, giant robots, colored uniforms, etc). The shows usually carry the word "ranger" as part of the title.

In 1993, Haim Saban brought the previous year's Sentai, Kyoryu Sentai Zyuranger to American television as Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers. Each subsequent incarnation of Power Rangers is really just a refit of the previous year's Japanese show. If you want to know what next year's Rangers will look like, watch Japanese TV today.

These Super Sentai franchises launched a trend in Japanese television. As can be expected, the trend created competition, with the Ultraman Series, the Metal Heroes, and Kamen Rider being the most notable. With the underlying concepts so well-ingrained in the Japanese popular conscious, what became Voltron was born.

Now, more than 20 years later, forces are at play to bring the franchise to theaters. Further adaptations of Voltron have occured already, such as Voltron: the Third Dimension, a CGI-animated series. Desire to break into the big screen has been around for some time. In 2005, producer Mark Gordon, of League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, cobbled together a team to produce a film version of the classic show. In December of 2006, a script was announced as complete for the project. The film Gordon entered negotiations with New Regency in 2007 to house production.

Given the success of 2007's Transformers, the interest in the production has renewed. Some plot details reveal the film set in a post-apocalyptic Earth, with a team of pilots leaving to find the titular sword-wielding robot to defend Earth from alien invaders. The film will likely stray a bit from the classic story, but not by much. Relativity Media entered negotiations in August of this year to fund the film. Reports suggest the production team may use cost-cutting CGI techniques seen in 300.

A title, Voltron: Defender of the Universe has been set for the film. Unfortunately, World Events Productions and Toei are fighting over the legal rights to the film.

Nevertheless, the film is underway, and will likely reach the screen in 2010. Many await its release, some deride it. Regardless of outcome, it does signal a renewed interest in the past, specifically the 80's. How many more familiar franchises will become film adaptations in the next few years? It remains to be seen.