Rocket Robin Hood

There is simply no explaining the appeal of Rocket Robin Hood. Many of the stories were silly tipping over into ridiculous, the animation was cut rate at best, the whole premise was largely preposterous, and yet it is one of those programs that indelibly imprints itself on the young mind, a fond memory of television cartoons of days long past.

The series was high concept to say the least: in the year 3000, a descendant of the original Robin Hood reforms the Merry Men, complete with namesakes of the originals, to combat a new Prince John, despotic ruler of the National Outer space Terrestrial Territories, and his evil, but cowardly lackey, the Sheriff of N.O.T.T.. While the bow and arrow was still Robin's weapon of choice, most everything else was updated. He now had rayguns, electro-quarter staves and rocket ships at his disposal, not to mention abandoning a dark old forest hideout for bright and cheery New Sherwood Asteroid as a headquarters.

The first year of the program was nothing special. The series at this point was definitely aimed at younger children and featured such juvenile shtick as leprechauns, friendly dinosaurs and space cowboys, not to mention having a senile Merlin the Magician, travelling salesmen and annoying relatives popping by New Sherwood for visits. It was, to say the least, an undistinguished beginning.

All that changed with years two and three. Prince John and the Sheriff were all but jettisoned from the program and the stories became darker; the villains more diabolical; the adventures more fantastic. Here begin the stories that would be remembered, the frightening, thrilling moments that decades later are still unforgotten.

Indeed, who could ever forget the giant mutant brain created by the hideous Dr. Medulla? Who could not recall the Dracula like Dr. Mortula and his plans to forever blot out the sun above his world or fail to remember the shadowy Dr. Nocturne, with his living shadows, extinguishing entire stars to plunge the entire galaxy into darkness? Then there was the most unforgettable of all, the adventure that grown adults still remember their younger selves being chilled by, the battle with the demonic Infinata, ruler of the nightmare realm called Dementia 5.

It is too easy to see the many flaws of Rocket Robin Hood. The silly early episodes, the poor man's animation and the blatant splicing together of whole sequences from earlier episodes to make "new" stories in the final days of the series: these failings are obvious and indisputable to any adult eye. But then, Rocket Robin Hood was never meant as entertainment for adults.

There is something magical about a program that can leave memories so vivid in the mind after so many years. There was something special about the villains, the images and the concepts that were able to overcome the almost laughable poverty row production values and create an indelible impression in the minds of young viewers. There is something intangible, indefinable and inescapable about the show that still pulls those who saw it as children, now older and wiser, back to watch it again with more discerning eyes that see all the many flaws and yet remember only the magic.

"Come gather around me. Space travellers surround me. Hark now to the ballad of Rocket Robin Hood."

this show has been dated quite a bit because it is so old but i was so excited to see it running in reruns on the cartoon channel! the show is very old but it is Canadian and is so "retro-cool" i could scream. i remember watching this show as a kid and can't believe i still love it this much. the drawings/animation are pretty dated but that is one of the things that makes the show so interesting. if you are a fan of today's high tech cartoons with their "smoother" animation you won't like this show to much but for those of us who do this is a can't miss show. not sure if it was on much, or well know, in the united stated. the stories can sometimes be slow paced and it is really frustrating sometimes that they always repeat the entire very long opening credits scene after each break but that is because it was filmed and put on television originally in serial style.

I have the entire visual and aural tableau of Rocket Robin Hood indelibly etched into my brain from watching this countless times as a young person. This was aided and abetted by the fact that the show repeated its theme song incessantly in each episode, as well as repeated various parts of each episode to pad out the time. This imparted a strange overlapping, "Groundhog Day' feeling to watching the show. And the whole concept of merry old Robin Hood and his men in some way-out future is totally Lysergic to begin with -- and the cra-zay electronic sound effects only added to the bizarre alternate reality depicted. Those noises were pure, unadulterated SYNTHESIZER-rama.

I watched this several times on teletoon retro. I also remember seeing it maybe 5 years ago too.

Like dumb kids we called it Krantz crap cartoons. It IS pretty bad animation, but I like the idea of Robin Hood in space. This is certainly not anywhere close to being a favourite show of mine. In fact almost the opposite is true. But I did get some enjoyment from it, if for nothing else the wild idea of a space Robin Hood.

I hope they keep running this even if it is old. Cause it's fun to kick back and watch it when you've got nothing else to do and see what cartoons were like way back when.

Now for you guys that like all the new stuff, you probably will dis this pretty bad, but you gotta look at when it was made. 1966 is almost ancient history.

Looking back on this, I guess I should explain the "Krantz crap" comment. Krantz films distributed several animated shows (I think Trillium in Toronto actually made Rocket Robin Hood) and the name of course always came up at the end. I think Krantz did Spiderman cartoons, Rocket Robin Hood, and maybe others.

Extremely crude, terribly animated, eminently watchable series from the late sixties. Ralph Bakshi again shows his imaginative hand, even if the other is tied firmly behind his back.

All the well-known characters of the medieval romance are back, this time 1000 years in the future. The Solar System is dominated by the evil, monolithic N.O.T.T., and Robin and his merry men resist and rebel against all it stands for. Using a bevy of futuristic weaponry, including the formidable Electro-Quarterstaff, Robin and his Band "rob the Astro-rich to give to the Astro-poor".

As a young child I was wildly in love with this shlocky series. If I had to choose between the fabulously underdressed Maid Marion and the supernaturally-capable Samantha Stevens I'd have been one unhappy camper. Still a good watch, I hope a live-action picture is made of this one day. Maybe with Nathan Filion in the lead...